After Naruto found out that the Gamaken could spit out coins, he wanted it to spit out more.
But the toad turned him down.
According to the Gamaken, it can only spit out coins under certain conditions—it has to eat gold first,
and only then can it produce coins!
In other words—trade gold for coins!
But where was Naruto supposed to get gold?
If he had gold, he wouldn't need the toad to give him coins!
"If you really want to get rich with the Gamaken, then I'm afraid you'll have to go mining," Jiraiya joked.
Naruto rolled his eyes.
Feed gold from a gold mine to the Gamaken?
How's that any different from throwing meat into a dog's mouth?
Naruto didn't believe for a second that the Gamaken was that selfless—
that it would just turn gold into coins for free.
He poked the Gamaken's forehead. "Hey, Little Coin, can you find gold mines?"
If the Gamaken could find gold, then maybe it was actually useful.
But sadly… it couldn't.
"Coins."
"You can't find gold mines, so where do you even get gold to eat?
And how do you make those coins?"
Naruto looked at the Gamaken shaking its head. He wasn't sure if it was telling the truth.
He rubbed its skin with his finger.
Its shiny golden skin didn't feel like a real frog's. It felt more like some kind of metal.
Could it be that the toad turns the gold it eats into part of its body?
A golden-body toad?
"I've got a question for you, Little Coin."
"Coins?"
"Why did you choose me to be your master?"
Naruto only tamed the big toad by beating it in a fight. He got Gamaken to follow him because that toad was easy to deal with.
But he didn't know why the Gamaken picked him.
Back then, he and the toad just stared at each other for a while,
and the toad suddenly gave him its bond token coin.
He didn't believe the Gamaken was some honest little guy.
"Coin, coin," it said.
Jiraiya translated, "It said it's because your hair is gold. It really likes it!"
"Because… my hair?"
Naruto glanced at the Gamaken.
Did this guy think I'm one of its kind or something?
But I don't eat gold...
In the days that followed, Naruto and the Gamaken got more used to each other,
and Naruto slowly started to understand its personality.
It definitely wasn't as obedient as Gamaken,
but it also wasn't as smart as the others.
Compared to Gamaken and the big toad boss, the Gamaken was like a kid with secrets—
simple, but hard to figure out.
"Jiraiya, how can you understand toad language?" Naruto asked.
"Good question!"
Jiraiya spread his arms dramatically,
then looked seriously at Naruto and said, "Because I'm the Toad Sage! Of course I can understand toads!"
"..."
"Can I learn it too?" Naruto asked.
He didn't want to always rely on Jiraiya to translate what the Gamaken was saying.
Jiraiya wouldn't always be around.
"Well… you really want to learn?" Jiraiya rubbed his chin like he was thinking hard.
Naruto nodded and asked, "Can you teach me?"
"I can… but you have to agree to three conditions!" Jiraiya said.
"What conditions?"
"I haven't thought of them yet. I'll let you know when I do."
"..."
Naruto raised a finger and said calmly, "One."
"One? You're bargaining with your teacher?" Jiraiya stared at Naruto like he couldn't believe what he just heard.
"Just one. I can help you once. But whether I actually help depends on my mood."
"Depends on your mood?"
Jiraiya couldn't believe it. He had never met a more difficult student than Naruto.
Thinking back to his two former students—
Nagato and Minato—they might not have blindly followed his every word, but they were always respectful and did what he asked. Good kids, really.
But Naruto? Totally impossible to deal with.
"I'm not teaching you for just one favor."
Jiraiya rolled his eyes and lost interest. Then, as if switching topics completely, he noticed a pretty lady nearby and went off to do "research."
Naruto didn't really care.
Even if he couldn't speak to the gold coin toad in toad language, the toad could still understand him, so it wasn't too bad.
Lying on the golden toad's back, Naruto started thinking—maybe he could watch another show or something.
Since Jiraiya was off "gathering material," he wouldn't be back anytime soon. That meant Naruto had some free time again.
Suddenly, Naruto thought about the Nine-Tails inside him.
Ever since he came to this world, he had never heard the Nine-Tails speak, and he had never entered the seal space to meet it.
With AI-chan around, he had almost started to think he was AI-chan's Jinchuriki instead.
"AI-chan."
[Ding! I'm here, Master~♫]
"How can I meet the Nine-Tails?" Naruto asked.
[Master can try sensing the seal inside your body and enter it~♫]
Sense the seal inside?
Naruto closed his eyes and used his chakra to feel his body. Before long, he noticed a chakra seal in his belly.
He tried connecting to the seal using his own chakra.
In the next moment, his chakra was pulled into it, and the seal seemed to glow a bit... but he didn't see the Nine-Tails.
"AI-chan, what exactly should I do?" Naruto asked again.
[Master can try using some of the Nine-Tails' chakra~♫]
Following the tip, Naruto tried to guide the leaking Nine-Tails chakra toward the seal.
As soon as the Nine-Tails' chakra touched the seal, both Naruto's mind and the chakra were pulled inside.
Everything in front of him shifted, and his mind appeared in a leaking underground tunnel.
"This must be where the Nine-Tails is locked up."
"And this body... even the walls around me..."
Even though this was just his consciousness, Naruto could still touch the walls like they were real. It was strange.
Suddenly—
He felt a wave of the Nine-Tails' chakra!
"Guess it noticed I came in."
Naruto raised an eyebrow and walked toward the source of the chakra. After turning a corner and passing through a lit area, he saw a giant iron gate.
"This should be it."
From what he remembered, the Nine-Tails was sealed behind a gate like this.
He walked closer and saw that it was pitch black inside, except for a faint orange-red glow of chakra.
I wonder if I can control the light here in my mind.
Just as Naruto was thinking that, a voice came from behind the gate.
"Hey brat, come a little closer!"
The voice was deep, powerful, and even had a strange, dangerous edge to it.
Naruto didn't move. He just stood there calmly and looked through the gate.
"Stop pretending, Kurama."
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