[Ding!] [Congratulations, Host: Bond with original character "Kurama" has reached Level 7 (maximum)!] [Points gained: 800!]
The system notification sounded in Naruto's mind, but all his attention was focused on the enormous fox before him.
Kurama still had his head lowered, one paw partly covering his face, but the system's message had exposed what it truly felt inside.
"All right, you understand now, right?" Naruto spoke lightly. "I forgive you for everything you said earlier. So stop acting like that."
So did Naruto truly forgive Kurama completely, without any lingering resentment over what it had done in the past?
The answer was yes.
In Naruto's view, it was a very simple principle. If a murderer killed someone, the one who should be hated and punished was the murderer holding the knife—not the weapon, which had been used by the murderer and possessed no will of its own.
That was how Naruto saw Kurama's role back then—it had been more like a destructive "weapon" used by Obito.
For harm caused by those who had no choice, or who had been maliciously exploited, Naruto was willing to offer understanding and forgiveness, just as he did for Kurama now.
Of course, the scope of that "forgiveness" had its limits. It did not include acts of extreme selfishness—such as wanting to drag the entire innocent world into death because the person you loved had died, or faking your death for years and then, upon seeing the teacher who had once cared for you, immediately plotting to kill that teacher's wife.
Then deceiving yourself by claiming that everyone you had killed could be "revived" in an illusionary world.
Still, Naruto's ability to forgive Kurama so easily and completely might have contained a little selfishness too—he truly liked this somewhat