The silence that followed by Great sage Gamamaru's pronouncement hung heavy in the ancient chamber, broken only by the distant drip of water somewhere deep within the temple.Naruto stood frozen, unsure whether he should respond to the Great Sage's cryptic words or wait for someone to explain what was happening.
Fukasaku hopped forward, his staff clicking against stone with each movement. "Before we proceed with any training, we need to assess the boy's internal situation. The Nine-Tails sealed within him—we need to understand how it's affecting his chakra system, how stable the seal is, and whether he can be trained safely without risking a catastrophic release."
"Is that really necessary?" Naruto asked, his voice smaller than he'd intended. The idea of someone poking around inside him, examining the demon that had cost him so much, made his skin crawl with discomfort.
"Absolutely necessary," Fukasaku said firmly. "Jiraiya-boy told us about the corruption seal that was placed on you. We need to see what that's done to your internal chakra structure before we can design appropriate training. Sage training is dangerous enough for normal students—for a jinchūriki with seal complications, we need to be extra cautious."
Jiraiya placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, his expression serious. "It won't hurt, kid. Fukasaku-sama is going to send a small amount of his chakra into your system to examine your pathways and the seal. You might feel a slight tingling sensation, but that's it. Just stay still and try to keep your own chakra calm."
"Sit down, boy," Fukasaku commanded, indicating a spot on the floor in front of him. "Cross-legged, hands on your knees, close your eyes. This will be easier if you're not watching."
Naruto complied, settling into the meditation position Hiruzen had taught him years ago. The stone floor was cold beneath him, that made his skin prickle. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing, trying to ignore the anxiety churning in his stomach.
"Jiraiya-boy, be ready," Fukasaku said quietly. "If something goes wrong—if the seal reacts badly or if the Nine-Tails becomes aggressive—you'll need to pull me out immediately."
"Understood," Jiraiya replied, his voice tight with concern.
Naruto felt Fukasaku's small hand press against his abdomen where the seal was located. The toad's palm was surprisingly warm, and for a moment nothing happened. Then came the sensation Jiraiya had described—a tingling that started at the point of contact and began spreading through his body like warm water flowing through his chakra pathways.
But from Fukasaku's perspective, the experience was far more complex and disturbing.
The moment his chakra made contact with Naruto's, Fukasaku felt himself being pulled inward—not physically, but consciously. His awareness separated from his body and dove into the boy's chakra network like a diver entering unknown waters. This was a technique he'd performed hundreds of times on hundreds of students, a standard diagnostic procedure that revealed the state of someone's internal chakra structure.
The pathways themselves were enormous—wider and more developed than they should have been for someone Naruto's age, clearly expanded by years of containing the Nine-Tails' massive chakra reserves. But there were irregularities too—places where the flow was disrupted, where something was interfering with natural circulation. The corruption Jiraiya had mentioned was visible as dark spots along several major pathways, like bruises on otherwise healthy tissue.
But what drew Fukasaku's attention—what pulled his consciousness deeper despite his intention to remain in the peripheral pathways—was the seal itself. He could feel it calling to him, or perhaps pulling him, drawing his awareness toward the center where the Nine-Tails was contained.
And then he was there, standing (in as much as consciousness could stand) in a space that shouldn't exist—a mindscape constructed around the seal, a mental representation of the prison that contained the demon fox.
What he saw made his centuries of experience falter.
There were two doors. Two massive gates, standing side by side but separated by perhaps ten feet of empty space. Both were constructed of the same dark metal, both covered in intricate seal work that glowed with faint blue light, both radiating power that made even Fukasaku's consciousness recoil slightly.
This was wrong. There should only be one door, one gate, one seal containing one demon. The Nine-Tails was a single entity, not something that required dual containment. Unless...
Behind the left gate, visible through bars that were both physical and metaphysical, Fukasaku glimpsed orange. Not just orange—vibrant, burning orange like sunset given malevolent life. A massive eye opened behind those bars, its pupil the same orange color as its iris, creating a monochromatic stare that radiated power and intelligence and something that might have been curiosity mixed with contempt.
The Nine-Tails. Or at least, what the Nine-Tails should look like based on every description Fukasaku had ever heard. Massive beyond comprehension, its form barely contained even by a seal designed by the Fourth Hokage himself, radiating chakra that felt hot enough to burn.
But then Fukasaku's attention was drawn to the right gate, and what he saw there made his mind struggle to process the impossibility.
Behind the second door was another fox. Similar in size, similar in form, but fundamentally different in ways that transcended mere appearance. This one was black—not the absence of color but actively black, like darkness given shape and substance. And its eyes, when they opened to regard Fukasaku's intrusion, glowed red. Not orange-red or brown-red, but pure crimson like fresh blood, like the color of killing intent given physical form.
Two foxes. Two demons. Two sources of them sealed within a single boy who should only have been carrying one burden.
Fukasaku had perhaps half a second to register this impossibility before both sets of eyes focused on him simultaneously. The orange fox's gaze carried heat and power. The black fox's gaze carried something colder and infinitely more dangerous—malevolence so pure it transcended mere hostility into something approaching cosmic hatred.
Both entities moved at once. Not physically—they remained behind their respective gates—but their chakra lashed out like whips, like weapons, like the manifestation of their will to expel this foreign consciousness that dared observe them.
The repulsion was immediate and catastrophic. Fukasaku felt himself being ejected from Naruto's mindscape with force that would have caused physical injury if this had been a physical interaction. His consciousness was simply expelled, thrown out, rejected by powers that far exceeded his ability to resist despite his centuries of sage training and mastery.
He snapped back to his body with enough force that he actually stumbled backward, his staff the only thing keeping him from falling completely. His breathing was labored, his heart racing despite his control, and for just a moment genuine fear showed on his face.
"Fukasaku-sama!" Jiraiya was beside him instantly, steadying him. "What happened? Are you alright?"
Naruto's eyes had snapped open at the sudden withdrawal, concern replacing his earlier anxiety. "Did I do something wrong? Is the seal—"
"The seal is..." Fukasaku struggled to find words, his normally sharp mind still reeling from what he'd witnessed. "Jiraiya-boy, I am not able to get in at all."
The words hung in the air, their implications slowly sinking in. Fukasaku, who had examined thousands of chakra systems over his long life, who had guided the training of multiple generations of summoners, who had diagnostic techniques refined over centuries—had been forcibly expelled from examination.
"What do you mean you can't get in?" Jiraiya's voice carried confusion and growing alarm. "The seal should allow examination by trusted individuals. Specifically so that—"
"It's not the seal keeping me out," Fukasaku interrupted, his voice still rough from the experience. "It's what's behind the seal. Both of them."
"Both?" Jiraiya's confusion deepened. "Both what?"
"The boy has to be the one to do it now," Fukasaku said, his eyes never leaving Naruto. "Whatever examination needs to happen, whatever understanding needs to be reached about what's inside him—he's the only one who can do it. The entities behind those gates won't allow anyone else in. Not me, probably not you, maybe not even the Great Sage himself."
Jiraiya's face turned grim, the implications of Fukasaku's words settling over him like a weighted blanket. His hand on Naruto's shoulder tightened slightly, protective and worried in equal measure.
"What did you see?" His voice was quiet but carried an edge that suggested he already suspected the answer would be something terrible.
Fukasaku took a long breath, steadying himself. "Two gates. Two separate containment seals, side by side. Behind the one gate, the Nine-Tails—orange fur, orange eyes, exactly as described in every historical account. Massive, powerful, radiating the kind of chakra you'd expect from a tailed beast."
He paused, his expression troubled. "But there is another gate and behind it was something else. Another fox of similar size. Black fur, red eyes. It radiated chakra that felt... wrong. Corrupted. Like someone had taken chakra and twisted it into something even more malevolent. Both entities detected my presence immediately and expelled me with force I couldn't counter."
"The seal," Jiraiya breathed
"That would be my assessment," Fukasaku agreed grimly. "The Third Hokage's final sealing with the Reaper Death Seal didn't remove the corruption—it contained it. Created a second prison beside the first. So now the boy carries two demons instead of one. The original Nine-Tails and a corrupted one that might be equally powerful but infinitely more unstable."
Naruto had been listening to this exchange with growing horror, his face pale, his hands clenched into fists on his knees. "Two demons? I have two demons inside me? How is that even possible? How am I supposed to..."
His voice trailed off, unable to complete the question because he wasn't even sure what he was asking. How was he supposed to live with this? How was he supposed to control this? How was he supposed to become a shinobi worthy of his grandfather's sacrifice when he was carrying double the burden anyone had anticipated?
"This changes the training significantly," Fukasaku said, addressing Jiraiya rather than Naruto. "Standard jinchūriki training assumes a single entity that can potentially be reasoned with, possibly even partnered with over time. But two entities, particularly when one is fundamentally corrupted and unstable? That's unprecedented. We'll need to develop completely new approaches."
"Can it even be done?" Jiraiya asked, and the worry in his voice made Naruto's chest tighten with fear. "Can we train him safely given this complication?"
"I don't know," Fukasaku admitted with the honesty of someone too old and experienced to offer false hope. "But we have to try. The prophecy suggests this boy is central to future events. Whether that means salvation or destruction apparently depends on which path he walks—and possibly which of those two entities he listens to."
Gamamaru, who had been silent throughout this exchange, finally spoke from his throne. His voice carried the weight of centuries and the sad certainty of someone who'd seen too many prophecies fulfilled in tragic ways.
"The child must face what lies within him. No one can do it for him. No technique we teach, no wisdom we share, will matter if he cannot confront and master the dual nature of his burden. That confrontation will define everything that follows."
The Great Sage's eyes closed again, as if the effort of delivering this pronouncement had exhausted him. "Train him, Fukasaku. Jiraiya-boy. The child must face what lies within him. No one can do it for him," Gamamaru intoned, his ancient voice echoing through the chamber. "His greatest battle will not be against the enemies outside—but against the darkness within. And that is a battle he must fight alone."
Naruto felt something inside him crumbling under the weight of these revelations. Two demons. Unprecedented burden. Training that might not even be possible. A battle he'd have to fight alone. The prophecy suggesting he could bring either salvation or destruction. It was too much. Far, far too much for an eleven-year-old who just wanted to honor his grandfather's sacrifice and maybe become strong enough that people would stop looking at him with fear.
Jiraiya was in front of him instantly, kneeling despite his age and joints, his hands gripping Naruto's shoulders with firm reassurance. "Hey. Look at me, kid. Look at me right now."
Naruto's head lifted slowly, his eyes shimmering with tears he was desperately trying not to shed. "Pervy Sage, I—"
"Listen to me very carefully," Jiraiya interrupted, his voice carrying absolute conviction. "You are the student of Jiraiya of the Sannin. Do you know what that means? It means you're being trained by one of the three legendary shinobi who've shaped this entire era. It means you have access to techniques and knowledge that most people will never see. It means you're not facing this alone."
"And I know you can do this," Jiraiya replied with absolute certainty.
"You really think I can do this?" His voice was muffled against Jiraiya's shoulder.
He pulled back, meeting Naruto's eyes directly. "So here's what we're going to do. We're going to train. We're going to develop your skills, until you're one of the strongest shinobi, kid.
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