"He brought Zetsu clones and launched an attack on Konoha," Naruto continued. "An entire army."
"What? That's not good at all," Jiraiya's smile vanished. "How many were there?"
"I don't know," Naruto shook his head slightly, his expression serious. "When I was summoned back by Tamako, I only saw part of the village. However, Konoha's basic defenses held up well — it wasn't as bad as last time when Sunagakure and Otogakure attacked…"
Well, things could've been worse… if not for that.
Jiraiya patted Naruto's shoulder comfortingly,
"You did well, kid. Now, thanks to this, I've made up my mind about what I need to do next."
As he spoke, he stepped aside, revealing the massive frog behind him.
It was a black-bodied frog with bright orange markings, its belly adorned with a strange fleshy tumor surrounded by metal rings.
"Come on," Jiraiya said, "let me introduce you. This is Gerotora."
Naruto looked down at the frog before him in confusion and asked:
"Hey, why have I never seen you before?"
"Because I didn't want to meet you," Gerotora replied bluntly. "I didn't want you to know who I am or for you to go snooping around for my secrets. Whatever you're thinking, this has nothing to do with you."
Upon hearing that, Naruto's eyes widened. He stared at Gerotora intensely for nearly half a minute before finally turning his gaze to Jiraiya.
"Okay… so what exactly is going on here?"
"You cheeky brat…"
"That was quite an introduction," Jiraiya helplessly shook his head, then began explaining. "Gerotora here holds the key to your seal."
"What did you say?"
This time, Naruto finally started listening carefully. Good, Jiraiya really didn't want to repeat himself.
"You heard right — the key to the seal on your stomach. Back then, when Minato set up the seal, he entrusted the key to Gerotora, and me as the guardian. Only I could see it, or unlock it. But now, it's time to pass this responsibility on to you."
"Why now?"
"Come on, do you think I'm still qualified to keep it in my current condition?" Jiraiya rolled his eyes and said. "Let me ask you honestly, if it weren't for Tamako keeping her busy with the village's defense plans, she'd have already broken the seal herself."
Suddenly remembering something, Naruto spoke up.
"Wait… So you're saying that all those years ago, when you took me for training, this frog had been there the whole time?"
"I've always been there," Gerotora said impatiently, crossing his arms over his chest.
Seeing Naruto's stunned expression, Gerotora flicked out his tongue and gave Naruto a light tap on the head.
"Frog summons protect secrets by residing within humans' bodies. So in a way, I've always been with you."
Wait… So there's been a frog living inside you this whole time? And Gerotora seemed completely unconcerned about this?
Naruto decided not to dwell on Kurama's rudeness and bad temper. After all, if it were him, being locked in a tight seal for years would probably drive him crazy too.
"Well now, this is certainly…"
"What were you going to say?"
"Nothing." It seemed this frog didn't care much about others' opinions. This made Naruto admire the frog even more. Or perhaps, piqued his curiosity even more.
"So now it's my turn, right?"
"That's right, kid," Jiraiya said gravely. "You need this to fully control the Nine-Tails' power."
At that moment, Naruto hesitated.
Complete control over the Nine-Tails' power was obviously a good thing for him. However, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. To obtain great strength, one must pay a price.
What kind of price would he have to pay?
"How do I do it?" Naruto asked. "To control the Nine-Tails' power, I must fight it, right?"
"That's right," Jiraiya nodded. "It will be a battle of willpower. If you win, you'll gain full control over the Nine-Tails' power. If you lose, the Nine-Tails will become free, and you… will die. If the Nine-Tails becomes free, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Suddenly, Kurama's voice echoed in Naruto's mind.
"We don't need to have our final battle yet, Naruto. You've already defeated that masked man—you've done well enough. Do you really want to die before fulfilling your mission?"
"My…mission?"
"To end this war."
Wait, Kurama actually cared about something like this?
Naruto had originally thought Kurama would be eager to break its seal and fight him directly.
But now it actually wanted to wait? Willing to take the risk rather than fight him right now?
"I will defeat you and gain freedom," Kurama said confidently, and Naruto could almost picture its sinister grin. "But until then, I want to witness how everything plays out firsthand. I've already waited a hundred years—I don't mind waiting a bit longer."
"Kurama… I…"
"Kurama."
"What?"
"If we're destined to fight eventually, I hope you'll remember me by my name. My name is Kurama."
After ending his mental conversation with Kurama, Naruto raised his head, smiled, and addressed Jiraiya and the gathered frogs.
"Can we possibly delay this matter until after the war ends?"
Jiraiya looked at Naruto in confusion. "...Why?"
"Because I want to defeat Pain and end this war before thinking about this matter again," Naruto said with closed eyes. "And before that, I want to boost my power as much as possible."
Gamabunta, Gamaken, and Gerotora were all caught off guard. Gamabunta and Gamaken both looked clearly concerned.
"Naruto… last time you fought the Nine-Tails…" Gamabunta said heavily, "That power almost destroyed you. Even though you've already learned Sage Mode and advanced it far beyond what we imagined, still..."
"Don't worry. I'll be fine."
Jiraiya said confidently, "He himself admitted that—last time when he fought the Nine-Tails, he didn't know about Sage Mode yet. He just used raw strength to forcefully siphon off the Nine-Tails' chakra."
Now that Kurama had revealed his true name to Naruto, their relationship had clearly improved.
"He's grown far stronger than he used to be," Jiraiya continued, "and he's also learned how to control natural energy. He won't lose his mind like before."
Gerotora bounced restlessly between Jiraiya and Naruto, muttering discontentedly:
"You're saying… this punk is stronger than you?"
"Exactly. He surpasses me now," Jiraiya confirmed firmly. "Also, we've uncovered Nagato's secret. He's manipulating six corpses with chakra—but his actual body isn't among them."
"Hmph…" Gerotora scoffed. "Let's see just how strong he thinks he is. If even you at your peak couldn't beat him, I don't think this kid can either."
"He may be young, but he's no longer just a kid," Jiraiya replied. "Besides, I can't force him to accept the key. After all, it rightfully belongs to him."
He smiled and ruffled Naruto's hair.
"Kid, it's all up to you now."
"Then let's hold off on deciding for now," Naruto answered without hesitation. "We'll decide after the war is over."
He could feel Kurama's anger at his words, but for now, the fox could do nothing but seethe inside the seal.
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