*Grumble...*
A loud growl echoed through the space. Goku was clutching his stomach, slumped over on a cushion.
"So hungry..." he whined. "Hey, Naruto, got anything to eat?"
Before Naruto could answer, Goku was already digging through his own pockets. "I only have one of these." He pulled out a glossy green bean that looked a lot like a fava bean.
The moment Naruto saw it, he froze. 'A Senzu Bean?!'
It was one of the most powerful items from the Dragon Ball world, a sacred treasure that could restore a person's health and stamina in an instant, healing any injury as long as they were still breathing. It was a cure for everything except disease and natural death.
"This is called a Senzu Bean!" Goku announced proudly. "Eat one and you won't be hungry for ten days. It's awesome! Here, you can have half." He moved to break the small bean in two.
"Wait!" Naruto called out. 'A Senzu Bean is like a second life,' he thought. 'It would be an incredible waste to eat it just for an empty stomach. We shouldn't act like Yajirobi.'
"I don't have one of those," Naruto said, "but I have this."
With a flick of his wrists, a mountain of food materialized, covering the floor of the Seal Space. There was roasted chicken, glazed duck, yakitori skewers, tonkatsu, katsudon, gyudon, mountains of fried chicken and yakisoba, and steaming bowls of every ramen imaginable, tonkotsu, tomato, miso, curry, shio, and shoyu, along with piles of tempura and egg-fried rice.
The aroma that filled the air was overwhelming, and a small puddle of drool was already forming at Goku's feet.
"So," Naruto said, gesturing from the feast to the bean in Goku's hand, "how about a trade?"
"Here," Goku said, shoving the bean into Naruto's hand without a second thought. He pointed a trembling finger at the feast. "So, can I eat all this?"
"Have as much as you want."
"Hooray!" In the next instant, Goku pounced on the mountain of food.
Naruto smiled to himself as he carefully placed the precious bean into a sealing scroll. On the outside, he drew the character for "Life." It was, after all, a second chance.
Inside the Seal Space, Naruto wasn't a god, but he was close. He could freely alter the environment and manifest anything he could imagine. The only limitation was that these objects couldn't be brought into the real world, as they were formed from his own chakra, ki, and other latent energies. He had been craving ramen lately, so he had created a wide variety of it.
As for whether any of it was actually edible, Goku's reaction was a clear answer.
"Delicious!" Goku shouted after inhaling a bowl of fried rice. He immediately grabbed a large serving of gyudon and began to devour it.
"What a savage little brat," Kurama grumbled, watching Goku's messy display with a look of disdain. Goku wasn't eating so much as inhaling. He seemed to chew each mouthful only once or twice before swallowing it whole.
Twenty minutes later, Kurama stared, his massive eyes wide with disbelief. 'Is this kid a monster?'
The mountain of food was disappearing at an astonishing rate. In less than half an hour, every last bit of it was gone, vanished into Goku's stomach. His belly was like a black hole, barely bulging no matter how much was stuffed into it.
'The size of a Saiyan's stomach has to be one of the world's greatest mysteries,' Naruto thought.
"I'm full," Goku announced with a satisfied burp, lying back on his cushion with his small stomach finally protruding.
"Hey brat..." Kurama growled from his corner.
"What's wrong, Kurama?" Naruto asked in curiosity.
"Get me a portion, too," the fox grumbled. "Watching him made me hungry. I haven't eaten anything for decades."
Three minutes later, Kurama let out a contented sigh, his muzzle still dusted with grains of rice. "Ahh, that was delicious."
'Maybe he's got something else amazing in those pockets,' Naruto thought, sidling up to Goku to see if he could find any other treasures. But aside from the Power Pole on his back, Goku had nothing.
Oh well. Getting a bit of the Ultra Divine Water and a Senzu Bean was already more than he could have hoped for. It was greedy to want anything more.
After eating his fill and resting for a moment, Goku was back on his feet, ready to go settle the score with Demon King Piccolo. Unfortunately for him, leaving was not an option. Not even the adult Goku, after training on King Kai's planet, had been able to escape the Seal Space. This younger version stood no chance. No matter what he tried, he was stuck. And even if he could get out, he would just find himself clueless stuck in Elemental Nations.
How to get him back to his own world was a serious problem. When the adult Goku had vanished, Naruto could explain it away as a revival. But this Goku had no hal, he was clearly alive, which made that excuse impossible.
'How does this even work?' Naruto wondered. There was something strange about the Seal Space, a secret he hadn't yet uncovered.
A new thought struck him: if a living person like Goku could be pulled in here, then in theory, he could travel to the Dragon Ball world himself. It was just a theory, of course. And if he ever did go, he would have to be careful. He wasn't sure he could handle a full-on assault from the Androids if he landed in the wrong timeline.
Goku's frustration didn't last long. After realizing he couldn't get back to Korin's Tower, he just crossed his arms and thought for a moment before his gaze landed on Naruto, a wide grin spreading across his face and a familiar spark in his eyes.
"Naruto, you're strong," he said, practically bouncing with excitement. "Let's have a fight!"
Naruto grinned. He was curious to see how far he had come in comparison to power scaling to Dragon Ball-verse. "Alright!"
'Hmph. A couple of brats,' Kurama muttered, lying in a corner with a look of utter disdain. But from the corner of his eye, he watched them, a flicker of interest betraying his feigned indifference.
"Leaf Hurricane!" Naruto shot forward in a golden flash.
'Afterimage Technique!' Just before the kick connected, Goku flickered, leaving an illusion in his place.
But for Naruto, who could sense ki, the illusion was easy to see through. The next second, he appeared directly above Goku.
"Lion's Barrage!"
"Monkey Fist!" Goku countered, moving with an ape-like agility that allowed him to weave through Naruto's attack. Though Goku hadn't properly learnt ki sensing, his incredible combat instincts served the same purpose.
A flurry of punches and kicks met in mid-air, a rapid-fire chorus of "Atatatata!" echoing from both of them.
"Kamehameha!" Goku yelled, cupping his hands.
"Kamehameha!" Naruto mirrored the stance, a swirling ball of blue energy forming in his own palms.
As their battle intensified, Kurama's expression shifted from disdain to intrigue, and finally to a deep, existential questioning of his own nature.
'Between those two and me,' he thought, 'who's the real monster?'
He watched them for a moment longer, then reached into his own fluffy fur and pulled out a small notebook. He opened it to the first page and drew a heavy line through the entry at the very top.
"Well," he grumbled, "I guess 'Strongest Monster' isn't my title anymore." He snapped the notebook shut with a sigh.
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