Chapter 157: Gamabunta Arrives! The Nine-Tails' Chakra!
The world twisted violently around Naruto. He felt a sudden, gut-wrenching lurch, as if being pulled through a needle's eye.
One moment, the familiar wood grain of the Hokage's desk filled his vision. The next, everything was a dizzying smear of green and blue.
Just as quickly as it began, the sensation stopped. Naruto stumbled, his feet sinking slightly into soft, cool grass.
He gasped, filling his lungs with fresh, clean air. It was worlds away from the dusty village center, carrying the rich scent of damp earth, blooming wildflowers, and distant pine.
"Whoa... Where... Where are we?" Naruto spun around, his blue eyes wide with shock.
They were in a vast, open clearing surrounded by towering trees that seemed to scrape the sky. The sun was high, and the only sounds were the rustling of leaves and the distant chirping of birds. It was completely silent and unfamiliar.
"A second ago, I was still in the Old Man's office!" Naruto exclaimed, scratching his head in confusion. "And now... we're here!"
His confusion quickly melted into manic excitement. "Wow! That was so cool! Teacher, what kind of ninjutsu was that? Was that your jutsu? Can you teach me? Can I learn it? That was faster than anything!"
Naruto bounced excitedly around Uchiha Akira, his eyes practically sparkling with adoration. "You've gotta show me how to do that, Teacher! Please?"
"That's enough, Naruto," Akira said, his voice calm but firm, cutting through Naruto's excited chatter. He placed a hand on his student's head to still him.
"That jutsu is far beyond you right now. We're here for your training. It's time for the real business."
Akira nodded toward Jiraiya, who had been watching with an amused glint in his eye.
The Sannin's playful demeanor vanished. He took a deep, steadying breath, and his expression became unusually solemn, almost grave. He stepped forward to stand directly in front of Naruto.
"Naruto," Jiraiya said, his voice low. He reached behind his back and produced an enormous, weathered scroll, thick as a tree trunk and bound in heavy clasps.
With a grunt, he heaved it onto the ground. With a sharp 'thud' and a puff of dust, he unfurled it.
It wasn't just a bang; it was a series of thwacks as the heavy parchment unrolled across the grass, stretching on and on.
The scroll was truly enormous, easily stretching more than ten meters long. The parchment was yellowed with age, and its surface was covered, edge to edge, with densely packed names written in an ancient, flowing script. Each name was signed in what looked like dried blood.
"What... what is this?" Naruto's gaze was instantly captivated by the immense scroll. He crept closer, staring in awe at the sheer number of signatures.
"This," Jiraiya announced, his voice resonating with importance, "is the Summoning Contract for the toads of Mount Myōboku."
[Inorin's Note: Mount Myōboku (Myōbokuzan) is the sacred land of the toads, one of the three legendary sage regions. A Summoning Contract is a pact allowing a shinobi to summon a specific species for aid in battle.]
"Only by signing your name here, in your own blood, can you earn the right to summon the toads of Mount Myōboku as your battle partners," Jiraiya explained.
"Summoning... toads?" Naruto repeated, his enthusiasm visibly deflating.
He pictured a small, slimy, croaking thing. That sounded... incredibly weak.
"C'mon, Per-," he caught himself, "Jiraiya-sensei. Toads? Aren't they... kinda lame? It won't summon something really weak, will it?"
Jiraiya's eye twitched, seeing Naruto's disappointment. "Brat! Don't you dare underestimate the toads of Mount Myōboku!" he boomed.
"They are incredibly powerful! They are sages, warriors, and my trusted allies!"
"Look here." Jiraiya kneeled and pointed to a bold, confident signature amidst the countless names. "This is my name, Jiraiya."
He then shifted his finger slightly, pointing to another name written just near his own. The script was precise, elegant, and powerful.
"And this one..." Jiraiya's voice softened. "This is your father's name. Minato Namikaze."
[Inorin's Note: Minato Namikaze was the Fourth Hokage (Yondaime Hokage) and Naruto's father, renowned as the "Yellow Flash of the Leaf" (Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō).]
Naruto's breath hitched. His entire body trembled violently, as if struck by lightning.
He fell to his knees, his fingers hovering just over the signature, afraid to touch it.
[Minato Namikaze]
This... this is...
This is Dad's writing. The name left by my father.
He traced the characters in the air, a sudden, overwhelming wave of emotion choking him. It was real. A tangible link to the man he never knew.
He wasn't just signing a contract. He was following in his father's footsteps. He could place his own name right here, next to his hero.
"I... I'll sign it!" Naruto looked up, scrubbing furiously at his eyes with his sleeve. His voice was thick, but his gaze was filled with an iron-clad, unprecedented determination. "I want to sign it right now!"
A proud, relieved smile spread across Jiraiya's face. "Good. That's the spirit."
He pointed to an empty space near Minato's signature. "You'll sign right here. Use your own blood to write your name."
"After that, I'll teach you the hand seals. You'll use your Chakra to activate the Summoning Technique."
[Inorin's Note: The Summoning Technique (Kuchiyose no Jutsu) is a space-time ninjutsu that allows the user to transport an animal or object across long distances instantly, provided a blood contract is signed.]
Jiraiya patiently guided Naruto through the process, demonstrating the sequence of hand seals: Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram.
He explained how to mold the chakra, how to push it out, and how to slam the hand down to complete the jutsu.
Naruto, for once, was completely silent and focused. He listened with an intensity he rarely showed, absorbing every word, firmly memorizing every single detail.
"Okay, I'm ready!" Naruto declared.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his left hand to his mouth and bit down hard on his thumb. There was no hesitation.
Dark red blood welled up instantly.
He knelt over the ancient parchment, his expression completely serious. Using his bleeding thumb as a pen, he began to write, stroke by careful stroke.
[Uzumaki Naruto]
His handwriting was messy and childish compared to his father's, but he wrote it with all the conviction in his heart. His name, forever etched alongside his father's and the great Sannin.
As soon as the last stroke was complete, Naruto stood up. He wiped his bloody thumb on his pants and stepped back a few paces, planting his feet firmly on the grass.
He closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep, centering breath. In his mind, he reviewed every step, every seal, every instruction Jiraiya had given him.
His hands flew, forming the seals. Boar... Dog... Bird... Monkey... Ram!
"Summoning Technique! (Kuchiyose no Jutsu!)" Naruto yelled, slamming his right palm flat onto the ground beneath him.
He pushed his chakra out, just as he'd been told, feeling it connect with the contract.
However...
Poof.
A tiny, almost apologetic poof of white smoke erupted from under his hand. It was barely a puff, dissipating almost instantly on the breeze.
Naruto stared at the ground. There, sitting in the damp grass, was... a tadpole.
It was a pathetic little thing, smaller than his fist, with a long, wiggling tail and big, dull-witted eyes. It blinked slowly at him.
A... a tadpole?
The air, which had been buzzing with anticipation, fell completely silent.
Naruto was frozen, his hand still on the ground, his face a mask of disbelief.
Beside him, Jiraiya's mouth twitched. A vein throbbed on the Sannin's temple.
"Ahem... cough, cough..." Jiraiya cleared his throat loudly, trying to look dignified.
"Well... it's alright, Naruto. It's... it's often like this the first time," he said, avoiding eye contact.
"Why, I remember back in my day, my first summon... it was... well, it was only a little bit bigger than yours..." He was clearly lying.
Naruto didn't hear him. He looked completely crestfallen. All the color drained from his face, his entire being turning a metaphorical grayish-white as a cloud of depression settled over him.
"How... how could this happen...?" he whispered, devastated.
His disappointment quickly turned to frustration. "I did exactly what you said, you perverted old man!"
The forbidden nickname, born of extreme disappointment, slipped out completely subconsciously.
Jiraiya's face instantly turned thunderous. "IT'S PERVERTED SAGE!" he roared, offended. "S-A-G-E! Get it right, you brat!"
Uchiha Akira, who had been watching the entire exchange with a faint, almost invisible flicker of amusement in his Rinnegan, finally spoke up. His calm voice cut through the argument.
"He's not entirely wrong, Naruto," Akira said, stepping forward. "Your execution of the seals was perfect."
"But your age is a factor. Your baseline chakra control is still... lacking. You tend to use brute force rather than finesse."
"The Summoning Technique requires a precise amount of chakra to be molded and expelled," Akira continued, his tone academic. "Too little, and you get... well, that." He gestured to the tadpole, which ribbited weakly.
"Too much, and you could exhaust yourself or fail the jutsu entirely. It's normal to struggle with proficiency at first. Don't be discouraged."
Naruto's shoulders slumped. He hung his head, kicking at a tuft of grass. "Then what's the point? What should I do, Teacher? I can't... I can't even summon a real toad."
Akira's lips curved into a faint smile. "Ordinarily, you would practice for weeks, months even, to build up the necessary control and chakra reserves."
"But... you are not an ordinary case, Naruto. Inside you, there happens to be a ready-made, nearly inexhaustible source of chakra."
Naruto's head snapped up. He was startled, his hand instinctively flying to his stomach, right over the seal.
Jiraiya's expression changed instantly, all humor draining away. His eyes widened in alarm.
"Fifth Hokage!" Jiraiya said sharply, his title for Akira showing his seriousness. "You can't be thinking of... that! He's not ready!"
"That's right," Akira admitted directly, his gaze unwavering.
"It's time. Let Kurama lend a small hand."
Akira walked past the stunned Jiraiya and knelt in front of Naruto, placing a hand on his shoulder. He squatted down, bringing his face level with his student's.
His purple, rippling Rinnegan seemed to pull Naruto's gaze in. "Naruto. Trust me. Close your eyes. Relax your mind. Don't fight what you feel."
The next instant, Akira closed his own eyes. The bright, sunny clearing vanished.
Uchiha Akira's consciousness sank, plunging into a dark and damp space. This was the landscape of Naruto's mind, the sewer that held the Tailed Beast.
[Inorin's Note: Jinchūriki (Human Sacrifice), like Naruto, often have an internal "mental landscape" where they can interact with their Tailed Beast (Bijū). Naruto's is often depicted as a damp sewer or boiler room.]
Drip... Drip...
The only sound was the echoing plop of water droplets falling from an impossibly high, unseen ceiling. They struck the ankle-deep water that flooded the floor, creating slow, concentric ripples.
Akira stood calmly, his clothes perfectly dry, his presence an anomaly in this dismal place. His purple Rinnegan glowed with a deep, profound light, cutting through the oppressive darkness.
In front of him loomed an unimaginably huge cage of massive, red steel bars. A single piece of paper with the kanji for "Seal" (封) was plastered in the center, holding the gates shut.
A low, guttural growl rumbled from the blackness behind the bars, so powerful it vibrated the water at Akira's feet.
"It's you again... Uchiha brat," the voice snarled, dripping with ancient hatred. "What are you doing prying into my prison this time?"
A massive body shifted within the cage. Two colossal, blood-red eyes, pupils slit with malice, snapped open in the dark.
A ferocious, nine-tailed fox head emerged into the dim light. Its orange fur was matted, its lips curled back to reveal rows of dagger-like teeth. A palpable, malevolent chakra, thick with killing intent, rolled off it in waves.
Kurama. The Nine-Tailed Fox.
Akira remained unfazed by the killing intent. "I'm here for a simple request, Kurama. I need you to lend a wisp of your chakra to Naruto."
"Huh?" Kurama's massive eye blinked.
Then, the beast reared back its head and let out a deafening, echoing laugh that shook the very foundations of the mindscape. "LEND?! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The fox slammed its paws against the water, sending a tidal wave splashing against the bars. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, UCHIHA?! You command me? You come into my cage and demand my power?"
"GET OUT! GET OUT BEFORE I TEAR YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS TO SHREDS!"
The violent killing intent intensified, becoming a tangible, suffocating tsunami of pure malice that surged madly towards Akira, seeking to crush his mind.
Akira simply stood there, letting the wave of hatred wash over him as if it were a gentle breeze. He calmly watched the enraged Tailed Beast.
"It seems," Akira said, his voice quiet but cutting through the roar, "that you haven't realized your situation yet."
The tomoe in Akira's Rinnegan spun almost imperceptibly.
In the next instant, a pressure far more ancient, far more terrifying than Kurama's killing intent, exploded from Akira. It was cold, absolute, and indifferent—the power of the Sage of Six Paths himself. It slammed into Kurama, not as an attack, but as a simple statement of fact.
[Inorin's Note: The Rinnegan is a dōjutsu (eye technique) reputed as the most exalted among the "Three Great Dōjutsu". It was first wielded by Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the "Sage of Six Paths," and grants overwhelming power.]
Kurama's roar abruptly choked off. The fox froze, its red eyes wide. It knew this chakra. It was the chakra of its creator, the one who had split it from the Ten-Tails.
"I am not negotiating with you, Nine-Tails," Akira stated flatly.
"Naruto is my disciple. His strength is his own."
"But your power, sealed within him, will become a part of his strength. It is his birthright, stolen and forced upon him, and he will learn to control it."
"You can choose to cooperate and lend him a fraction of your power willingly. Or, you can choose to be... forcibly suppressed by me. And I assure you, you will not enjoy the alternative."
Kurama snarled, its fangs bared, but the overwhelming pressure from the Rinnegan kept it pinned. It had no doubt—zero doubt—that this Uchiha, this man with the eyes of the Sage, possessed the power to do exactly as he threatened.
Silence descended once more, heavy and absolute, broken only by the drip... drip... of the water.
A long, tense moment passed.
Kurama's voice finally rumbled again, quieter this time, and full of begrudging spite.
"Hmph! Don't you think for a second that I'm afraid of you, Uchiha!"
"This great me... I just... I just think this container of mine is too damn embarrassing! My jailer can't even summon a proper toad! It's pathetic!"
"He's making me look bad!"
A wisp of thick, bubbling, orange-red chakra—far purer and more potent than the chakra Naruto's body naturally leaked—slowly seeped out from between the cage bars. It floated towards Akira.
"Take it!" Kurama growled.
"But just this tiny bit! Don't you dare come back asking for more, or I'll kill you! And I'll kill him!"
After saying that, Kurama turned its massive head away with a sniff, pointedly refusing to look at Akira. It adopted an arrogant, tsundere-like posture of, "I'm not helping because you told me to, I'm just annoyed by this brat's incompetence."
Akira's consciousness snapped back to reality. The sunny clearing returned.
"Gah!" Naruto suddenly gasped, his eyes flying open.
He only felt a warm, powerful force explode from his stomach. It wasn't his normal blue chakra; this felt... wilder, hotter, and infinitely stronger. It surged through his chakra coils, making his entire body tingle and his hair stand on end.
"Teacher... what... what was that?" Naruto panted, feeling energized and slightly terrified.
"Kurama has agreed... grudgingly," Akira said, standing up and brushing a non-existent speck of dust from his robe.
"That power you feel is a small portion of his. Use it."
"Try again, Naruto."
"Yes!" Naruto nodded heavily, a fierce grin splitting his face. He could feel the power thrumming under his skin, begging to be released.
He flew through the hand signs again, his movements faster and more confident.
Boar... Dog... Bird... Monkey... Ram!
"SUMMONING TECHNIQUE!" he roared, his voice cracking with effort.
He slammed his palm onto the earth with all his might, pouring not just his own chakra, but also the wisp of red chakra from Kurama, into the jutsu.
BOOM!!!
This time, it wasn't a pathetic poof. It was a deafening explosion.
The ground trembled. A massive, billowing cloud of white smoke erupted from the summoning spot, shooting skyward like a geyser. It was so thick and expansive that it momentarily blocked out the sun, casting the clearing in shadow.
The wind from the explosion buffeted Akira, Naruto, and Jiraiya. The smoke hung heavy in the air for a long moment before it finally began to dissipate.
As the white mist cleared, a gigantic, dark-red figure appeared before them. It was so tall it towered over the surrounding trees.
They first saw the massive, webbed feet, then the dark red, warty skin. The figure wore a deep blue happi coat like a vest, and thick white bandages were wrapped around its waist, securing a tantō—a short sword so huge it would be an ōdachi for any human.
[Inorin's Note: A tantō is a short Japanese sword or dagger. For a giant toad, this "short sword" is the size of a building.]
Its yellow, reptilian eyes, each the size of a boulder, glared down at them. Clenched in its massive mouth was a kiseru, a massive traditional Japanese smoking pipe.
This was, without a doubt, Gamabunta. The Chief Toad. The boss of Mount Myōboku.
A plume of smoke puffed from the pipe. The toad's voice boomed across the clearing, shaking the very leaves on the trees.
"Hey! Which damn brat had the nerve to summon this great me?!"
[Inorin Note:
My apologies for not being able to upload yesterday. This is the chapter that I missed. I am currently trying to improve the quality and increase the content to make the chapters longer. I hope the quality hasn't suffered as a result and that you don't find it boring.
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