Only Power

I am a demon, yes. The nine-tailed fox, to be exact. I am the great Kyuubi.

And you, brat, are my vessel.

Oh, don't worry – we're not one and the same. I wouldn't ever lower myself to a human's level. Not I, the strongest of all bijuu.

Especially to a weakling such as you.

…You don't have to take it you know. The glares, the beating, the hatred. You don't have to pretend to be even more worthless than you are. That's what they want, you know. They want you to be weak, so that you will be easier to control.

Yes, perhaps I am trying to turn you against your beloved village. Make you into a human subordinate, although – I would never lower myself to such a level, but perhaps a slave would suit you better— no?

That is just as well. If the village elders had their way, they wouldn't want to kill you. No, they would want you to become a weapon, an emotionless tool, harnessing my power to make them great. They want you, vessel, to use my chakra so Konoha can destroy all the other villages.

I can see it in your eyes – to you, such a fate as being an emotionless tool, it is worse than death.

And you don't believe me. You don't want to believe that those who guide and protect your village can wish such a thing upon a child such as yourself. You want to believe all humans are inherently good – not that they would do such a thing just for power. Not to you.

But such is the nature of all sentient beings – once they see the merest glimpse of power, they can never have enough. The difference between humans and demons are that humans, are, in fact, more ruthless in their attempt to gain more than anyone else.

Demons like me, we desire more power, too. We just don't compare our power to others; it doesn't concern us. It only matters that we can destroy, not how much better we can destroy than others.

Evil? Do you really believe your human judgement affects me in any way? Do you truly believe that I care? Evil is not anything tangible – it's just a human concept. I don't think in terms of good and evil.

To a demon, over everything else, there is only power.

Yes, perhaps you do believe such a thing, believing only in power, is what you call "evil". But answer this: what is evil? The opposite of good? Then, how do you define good but as the opposite of evil?

…Examples aren't worth anything unless you already have a definition, but alright – I'll play your game. Murder? What do you think shinobi do? You may hide it by claiming to be protecting someone, or eliminating a threat, but shinobi kill. They get paid for killing. They kill for money, for glory – and power.

When your authorities can no longer control who you kill, that's when you become a nukenin. After all, a tool that threatens the wielder's safety is too dangerous and must be destroyed. And if the tool doesn't feel like being destroyed, what can it do but run away…?

And your next example is… Causing others pain? Uh, hello? Don't you think it hurts people when you attack them, when you throw a kunai at someone? Can't enemies have pain receptors, too? If shinobi kill, don't you think they inflict pain as well?

Mass-murder? So, one kill is okay, but not several? I don't get how that works, but— So, then, all of your Jounin must be evil. Even if they've never tried to destroy a village, they had to have killed several people to get to where they are. Especially your Hokage. Don't interrupt— Listen to me! Even if a Chuunin killed once every three C-ranked missions, by the time they become Jounin, they will have killed several – perhaps even hundreds! And after their promotions, they might have killed thousands! Does this not make them evil? So, aren't all ANBU evil? And your Sannin, the ones that stayed loyal to your village, are they not as evil as the third? Perhaps they did not perform grotesque experiments on live human beings, yet how is it better to have caused others a similar pain by killing the ones they love?

Fine, maybe the ones you Leaf-nin hurt and kill are enemies. Let's go with that. Well, humans in general are enemies, because they hate demons and would do anything to destroy them. Or else they try to enslave us, trap us within a vessel so that they can use our power. Now, as we usually leave humans alone, demons are actually quite forgiving. But if we ever decide to kill off a village of humans, our actions are justified – humans are enemies, and evil, so therefore it is right to kill them. And if there are people who cared about the ones we killed, who will think there lives are over because someone they loved died, what of it? They're enemies too, right?

All humans should be exterminated.

It's wrong to kill innocents? Who is innocent?

I doubt many innocents were caught, you know. I really only killed your shinobi, since they were the ones fighting. Blame your own if they didn't hide the so-called innocents well enough, if they didn't protect them properly. It's not like I went looking for them.

It's not like a raging nine-tailed demon fox isn't conspicuous enough.

Either way, even these "innocents" loathe us – haven't you seen the way the glared at you, knowing that you house my power? Even if it's changing now, did you not have to work three times as hard just to get them to consider the fact that you're not going to snap and kill everyone in the village, that perhaps you have a right to breathe the same air as them?

Is this fair?

They judged you, didn't they? And they found you guilty of murder at less than one month old. They were willing, even pushing, to kill a newborn in his sleep, even though he'd never done anything to them. Does this not make them evil? Does this not make it right to kill them?

No, I suppose that you would think it doesn't. You are naïve. And that is, doubtlessly, what the Sandaime had intended to achieve by preventing both the elders and the villagers from getting their way. He doesn't want to risk me escaping.

So he shows you as much kindness as he can risk, but he, deep down, believes you to be a dangerous artefact. You are just to be handled with care – that is all. And maybe he does care, at least a little, but his village comes first – and the moment you become too dangerous, you will be eliminated.

And the entire village will rejoice.

You claimed you wanted to be Hokage, so you will be respected. They will never respect you, not as a person. They will respect your power, fear it. They will proudly proclaim your name to instil fear into their enemies. They will only love you because they will be afraid that if they don't, the power you use to protect them will be used to destroy them.

It's not your values that matter, not if you want to be known as a great shinobi, if you want respect. It is how strong you are, how quickly you can destroy your enemies, how many you can destroy at once. Yes, perhaps it will be fear with which they say your name. But there is not even a fine line between fear and respect – they become blurred together, and it is difficult to tell where respect ends and fear begins.

So you might as well go for fear. Like me.

After all, we are all inherently selfish creatures. It is the nature of the living. We all want the best for ourselves, and the only way to get that is through power. This does not necessarily make us evil; if it did, we are all evil anyway so it wouldn't matter.

Vessel, I know you do not believe me. And perhaps you also want to prevent other people from having the same fate – I don't really care. You can continue to believe that. Having something to believe in will give you something to fall back on. But needing something like that will mean you will never be able to run without the fear of stumbling.

Because you will never believe in yourself.

You will never believe solely in your power.

You will always need your sugar-coated views of the world, to believe in black and white.

I will change this for you. I will show you to not only see in black and white, but the several shades of grey as well. And then I will teach you of colour. You may not understand now – you don't believe yourself blind, because you don't know what you're not seeing – but you will.

Even if I have to tear your mind and your heart into thousands of pieces and put them back together, you will be strong. I will not have a weak vessel. I am the strongest of all bijuu, and you will be the strongest of all jinchuuriki.

I don't care if you become the Hokage or an S-Class nukenin, but you will be great.

You don't have to be remembered, but you will be feared. I will be feared.

You will hate me for it. You will hate yourself. But you will believe in your own power. In mine. You will be strong.

You will think I am a vile creature, an evil demon who has tainted you with my presence. You will think I should have never existed. You may be right. I don't care.

I don't believe in good and evil, you see.

Because in the end, there is only power.