Talking with a Fox & Lightning

Resting on top of a guard post with a bottle of sake in hand, she took a sip basking in the falling sun, and ever-so-slowly rising moon. 'Naruko. You have some explaining to do.' 'Mhm? Do you mean the Truth Seeking: Rasengan? Oh, it's simple I jus-' 'Not that and you know it!'  Naruko sighed, before closing her eyes.

A moment later she found herself in front of a titanic cage, and she stepped through the bars to stand directly in front of Kurama. "Alright, whaddya want to know big guy?" Titanic red eyes rested on her before teeth peeked out from Kurama's muzzle as he snarled.

"What was that creature, and what was the statue?"

As always, his words caused Naruko's clothes to ruffle, but like usual she ignored it. A sigh escaped her lips after a moment of thinking, and she sat on the damp floor. "To understand what the being that calls himself Tobi is - we first have to understand what a Zetsu is." Her eyes went blank as she seemed to stare through Kurama. "The Infinite Tsukuyomi, by reflecting the Rinnesharingan - the eye of the Jyuubi and its Jinchuriki upon the moon, one can cast a Genjutsu strong enough to ensnare every living being. Then, the roots of the god tree rise up, ensnaring them. At the will of the Jutsu caster, the God Tree will suck them dry of chakra, feeding it to the tree and the Jutsu caster, and the being that is sucked dry will turn into a Zetsu. A white being whose cells have been transformed by the god tree. Becoming a sentient almost plant-like being, with numerous strange abilities."

Naruko shook her head in disgust. "One thousand years ago, when Kaguya reigned over the world, she ensnared a small number of people at a time, making sure that while she grew in power, so did her army, but the population in the Elemental Nations would grow - all so she could one day feast on them, and continue the cycle. Infinite power, and an infinite army. When Kaguya was defeated and sealed away - not all of the Zetsu were destroyed. How could Hagoromo and Hamura do such a thing? These used to be people after all.

I don't know which one of them did this - but they sealed them into the Husk of the Jyuubi, then tossed the Husk of the Jyuubi into the moon, only able to be summoned by another Rinnegan user. The contract that Hagoromo shared with the husk of the Jyuubi echoed down the bloodline. The one calling himself Tobi - is one of, if not the strongest of those Zetsu. But, not by himself. The great strength he's gained - grown, cultivated, and carefully tended to over a thousand years of solitude, he can't use by himself. Although he has some strength, he needs to be attached to someone else's body - particularly someone else with wood style to show it off."

Naruko took a deep breath, sadness obvious in her eyes, and on her face. "What a poor soul. Imagine what it feels to be trapped for hundreds of years after having been tortured, enslaved, and mind broken. Only to come out into a world you didn't understand, and a new master you don't know. As for the statue, that was an image of Kaguya herself."

There was silence for a long while before Kurama said, "You feel bad for him. You feel compassion and understanding. Why?" 

A sad smile spread across her face. "How could I not? It wasn't his choice to be forced into such a cruel life. It was forced onto him by someone turned mad with power and fear. There's no need to feel hatred or rage towards him. He's just another poor soul, tortured and broken by someone more powerful than him. Don't you think, such an existence is sad Kurama? What is there to hate? Hate the madwoman from a thousand years ago who long ago turned insane? Hate life? Hate reality? What's the point of all that hate, that will just eat you up inside."

Naruko's eyes snapped onto his. "There is no point to hatred. Everyone feels it at some point, and what makes us who we are, what can define us - is whether we choose to let that hatred consume us or not. To be fueled by hatred, blinded to all other emotions... what a sad existence that would be."

-Outside of Talk no Jutsu, Kakashi-

'I knew it. I fucking knew it!' A mad cackle escaped from Kakashi's lips as he ducked under the swinging scythe. 'You're crazy Kakashi! The curse doesn't exist Kakashi!' "Just get hit you fucking heathen!"

Ignoring the ramblings of the man who was clearly the insane one, his Sharingan would track the other 3 members of his temporary team currently ganging up on the far slower, and far less immortal Jashinist. 'Good, they're fine. In that case...' 

Kakashi's hand began to spark blue, before the entire hand, and a few inches from the fingertips was pure crackling blue lightning, the humming, sparking, and crackling of electricity being heard throughout the area. "Raikiri!"

Before the insane Jashinist could even react, the Raikiri went directly through his entire neck, completely decapitating him. The head and body fell to the ground, and a moment passed before, "You fucking HEATHEN! I'll gnaw your legs off!"

Kakashi blinked, staring at the talking decapitated head. 'Am I hallucinating again?' 

-Naruko a few days later-

With half-lidded eyes, Naruko rested on top of the guard tower like usual idly staring out into the distance, inside the guard tower a couple of clones were working on Fuinjutsu, and inside the small training ground the base had a singular clone was working on alternating between Fire and Earth Manipulation. 

It had been a boring few days, with most of the Shinobi wanting to talk with her, and overall she had never talked so much, and yet been so bored. How did people live without having over a dozen clones training at once, constantly influencing them with interesting memories, new discoveries, and the like? 'Aah. Maybe this is a good break then if I'm actually believing that... maybe I should take breaks from training more often? Eh... but I'm not strong enough yet to even consider doing that semi-regularly. Maybe I should make clones that are just there to converse with people? Maybe do some pranking with them?' 

It was while thinking and pondering on this that Naruko's internal radar went off, and her eyes widened. 'Shit! What is that, a thousand five hundred, six, seven, no a thousand eight hundred Shinobi! Alongside an incredibly strong Shinobi! Fuck, intel was right! It's a good thing more support has come to this base, and fewer Shinobi have been supporting back bases, as well as the more minor bases along the border.' Standing up she'd shout down below to her clones. "Ring the bell! One thousand eight hundred Shinobi, and a strong Kage-level presence, clearly Lightning nature aligned! A large portion of the Shinobi are lightning-natured as well this is a Kumo attack!" 

Having said that, Naruko jumped down from the guard tower and onto the walls, a grim look settled onto her face. 'Well, I guess I get to see war firsthand, instead of through the eyes of reports and tales.'