Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 64: A Little Shock

"I heard you used the Nine-Tails' power in the Forest of Death." Jiraiya's arrival was both a mission and a reflection of his own heart. His two most promising disciples had both passed away before him, and the Toad Sage's prophecy of a savior remained distant. When he heard that Naruto had used the Nine-Tails' power without guidance, and even seemed to have complete control over it, a secret expectation quietly began to sprout.

Before his death, Minato entrusted the key to the seal to him, hoping his son would master this power. Naruto, who possesses the Nine-Tails… could he be the child of prophecy?

"It's Kurama," Naruto corrected patiently.

Sasuke, extremely worried, went with Kakashi, so the newly formed master and disciple changed their location and moved to a secluded waterfall on the edge of Konoha.

"Nine Lama?"

"His name."

Jiraiya was taken aback, but quickly understood the implications. He asked in shock, "You communicated with Kurama? It even told you its name?!"

Naruto, with an innocent look on his face, said matter-of-factly, "Kurama is very easy to talk to."

...The Nine-Tailed Fox...easy to talk to? Think about Kushina, who would occasionally go berserk before she came of age, and think about how the first two Jinchuriki of Konoha spent over forty years trying to obtain the Nine-Tailed Fox's name...easy to talk to?!

Jiraiya had an urge to pry open Naruto's head; he really wanted to know if this person's head looked different from ordinary people's.

"Ahem, so you can use the Nine-Tails' chakra at any time, right?" Shocked as I am, I can't forget today's topic. Naruto's chakra reserves are indeed amazing, but with the Nine-Tails as a foundation, the effect of learning summoning techniques should be even better.

"Yes, yes, Kurama said to use it freely."

Huh? Something's definitely fishy here. This child seems to trust the Nine-Tailed Fox a lot... This isn't a good thing.

"There should be a door in your mental world marked with the word 'sealed'. Did the Nine-Tailed Fox tempt you to remove the seal?"

"No." Naruto seemed to think that wasn't enough, so he cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "'Kid, you're too weak right now. Stay away from this broken door.' Those are Kurama's exact words."

"...?"

Is that the Nine-Tails?! Is that really the Nine-Tails?! Where did that thing that was always yelling about swallowing Kushina and flattening Konoha go? Huh? Huh?!

The reality was somewhat unexpectedly abstract, but Jiraiya quickly regained his composure. Since Kurama was cooperating so well, he would make good use of it, as long as he warned Naruto not to break the seal.

So he squatted down and said very seriously, "Remember this, Naruto, no matter what, you must not get close to the seal, not even if Kurama tells you to."

“Once the seal is broken, the Tailed Beast can break free at any time. Once you lose it, Naruto, you will die.”

Naruto, who had already broken the seal several times, smiled and said, "He won't let me die."

This topic was going to be debated for a while. Jiraiya temporarily gave up on trying to change this stubborn way of thinking. Anyway, the key was in his hands, and even if Naruto got caught, he would be there to cover for him. Letting the kid learn from his mistakes was fine too. So he stopped worrying about it and went straight into the training phase.

"First step, exhaust your chakra." Jiraiya confidently issued the order. In his mind, how much chakra could such a tiny child have? Moreover, he was a Jinchūriki, requiring a large amount of chakra to be dispersed to maintain the seal. Even the exceptionally talented Uzumaki clan had their limits.

Naruto blinked, seemingly considering how to complete the command. After a while, he asked, "Are you sure?"

Jiraiya nodded, watching the child with interest, anticipating his next move.

Naruto formed hand seals, and the shallows were instantly filled with countless Narutos. Jiraiya couldn't even estimate the approximate number at a glance.

Hmm... isn't this a bit too much?

"Everyone, let's try out the ideas we've been coming up with these past few days! This is a rare opportunity to really let loose!" Naruto shouted, whether it was his real body or not, and the response from his clones seemed to shake the ground three times. Then they split into two or three groups, spreading out neatly at a certain distance, and began to try things out.

Jiraiya curiously approached the group and found that the three Narutos in this group were holding a fireball the size of a fist and two earth balls, palms up, and he couldn't understand what they were doing at all.

Is he practicing chakra nature transformation? Kakashi said this kid is a natural all-element chakra master, possessing all five elemental chakra natures. Although he's learned a few techniques of every kind, his mastery of chakra nature transformation is best in wind and water, so it's understandable that he wants to practice others. He even came up with the idea of ​​using shadow clones to stack his training progress; that's quite clever.

However, Jiraiya quickly realized he was wrong, terribly wrong! The sphere in Naruto's hand slowly began to change strangely. The fireball's color changed from red to black, seemingly trending towards solidifying from an invisible flame. The earth sphere's color gradually lightened, and the hard earth showed signs of softening.

No matter how you look at it... this isn't a normal attribute conversion! That fireball looks more and more like a certain Sand Village bloodline ninja's special move! That earth ball looks so much like that annoying Cloud Village guy's soft turtle shell! This isn't attribute conversion at all! This is a bloodline limit!!

Regardless of Jiraiya's frustration, Naruto continued to manipulate the chakra creation in his hand. Before long, the fireball-like object showed signs of exploding. Naruto reacted swiftly, throwing it into the air with a backhand flick. The seemingly fiery object burst into a cloud of black smoke, scattering like petals.

"The proportions are off," Naruto muttered to himself as he played with fire, then continued to conjure new fireballs.

Jiraiya wandered aimlessly around Naruto's group, then confirmed an utterly terrifying fact. Naruto not only mastered all five elemental jutsu, but also possessed a bloodline limit that allowed him to fuse two different chakra natures. The only special jutsu he could see so far were Ice Release and Lava Release. Yes, not the common Lava Release, but the unique jutsu of that ninja named Mei Terumi, the one with the Water Mist!

According to Kakashi, Team 7 encountered that woman on their first mission outside the village and witnessed two bloodline ninjas at once... Considering Naruto's sensory abilities, with a wide range and detailed perception... Could he be an all-around ninja who can learn anything just by looking at something, even more exaggerated than the Sharingan?

Jiraiya grew increasingly terrified, but Naruto seemed oblivious, continuing to experiment with various special ninjutsu. Sometimes the commotion was so great that he accidentally destroyed his clones. But he didn't care; instead, he continued to fine-tune the chakra ratio and fusion method until he achieved the fastest, most stable, and most powerful fusion state.

Time passed by, from dawn to noon, and from noon to evening. After having eaten three meals, Naruto finally dispelled all his clones and said in an extremely innocent tone, "How about... I just keep learning like this? I feel like I still have some left. Can chakra really be depleted?"

Jiraiya's vision went black; he was completely numb.