Sage

Ch.21

"Around a thousand of your Ningen years ago there was a man, likened to a travelling holy man similar to the monks of today." Naruto grinned at that, already having a feeling for who the Kyuubi was talking about.

"Like me?" The great fox merely levelled an irritated gaze at him, clearly telling him to shut up.

"However he was far more than just a monk, he could see things others couldn't, use powers others found impossible. It took him a great many years to understand his abilities, by the time he was done a great evil had arose in the lands he lived in. It is greatly simplified but the most you need to know is that it was a terrible beast known only as the Juubi." Naruto blinked at that, remembering back to the time he had been first told of the Sage and that illustrated monster he was fighting.

"Many events occurred that are a long story for a different time, however it culminated with the Sage defeating the monster, sealing its energy within himself and becoming the first Jinchuuriki." Naruto was also surprised by that and couldn't help but start drawing parallels between himself and the Sage. "He became known as a great hero, hailed by many as a god for his unworldly abilities that even before becoming a Jinchuuriki surpassed many of your so-called 'legendary' Shinobi of today." The fox snorted to himself, even Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha paled in comparison to the power held by the long-dead Sage.

"However even the Sage had his limits like all you Ningen and eventually, despite the overwhelming power he had accumulated, he was forced to face his own mortality. He feared that the creature he had kept locked away within his body would be released upon his death so he took precautions. When he was old and frail, merely a shadow of his former self, he released the energy within him, shaping it and moulding it into nine separate beings." At that Naruto gained a sudden look of understanding to which the Kyuubi only nodded once.

"You aren't as simple as you appear Ningen. Yes, all nine Bijuu are simply an aspect of our progenitor, the Juubi, given new form and mind. As a final precaution the sage sealed the great beast's body within an enormous construct of stone before throwing it into the sky; I believe your kind call it the moon." Naruto at this point nearly had his jaw on the ground, in a figurative sense, everything he was being told was just incredible.

"Wait, that actually happened?!" The Kyuubi just narrowed his eyes at the small blonde, daring him to interrupt again.

"Yes, the Sage's power even on his death bed was unrivalled; I believe he used the land that once occupied what you know as Mizu no Kuni." The fox seemed somewhat repulsed he was forcing himself to use these human terms just to tell his story. "However that is irrelevant; shortly after giving us life, the Sage succumbed to his own humanity, leaving only a legacy in the form of his two sons, progenitors of the Senju and..." The fox grimaced as if the next words might poison his mouth. "...Uchiha clans." The beast took a moment, seemingly trying to rid himself of the foul taste that word left in his mouth.

"For a time, there was peace. Many remembered the teachings the Sage had passed on in his times. Slowly the Shinobi system as you know it today came into existence as people twisted Ninjutsu into weapons, with more and more Ningen learning to harness Chakra as the Sage once had. Of course all paled in comparison to what he had been, but that never stopped your pitiful kind from trying." The fox let out a low rumbling sigh as he dropped his head back onto his paws, its eyes losing focus slightly as it remembered the times back then.

"Then, as Ningen always inevitably do, your kind tried to reach beyond their grasp. Tales of the Sage faded into legend and myth and the origin of my own kind was lost to the devilish tongue of man. You kind sought mine out, looking to kill us and be proclaimed heroes for 'vanquishing' us like the demons you saw us as. You could not comprehend our power so naturally you either tried to take it from us, or extinguish what you could not understand." The fox sighed loudly, suddenly sounding more like a weary old man than an impossibly powerful construct of Chakra.