[Kurama chuckles lightly at the question. He lets her tuck herself behind him without missing a beat, if anything shifting a little to be more directly between her and the tree.]

You could say that.

[Depending on whether she's paying attention to her navi stuff, she might or might not notice the energy spike when Kurama's ki reaches out for the tree. They're more agreeable to being brought along than driven off, a natural response to the potential for food, but he insists forcefully.

Slowly, the tree begins to shuffle away back into the forest.]