prologue part 2

"Hey, perv, you awake?" Naruto stood behind the collapsed Ebisu. "Well, there's only one way to find out." Naruto bent down. "Hidden Finger Jutsu, Thousand Years of Death!" Ebisu didn't budge; he was down and out.

"Man, he's totally out of it. Some trainer he is, pathetic... OK FROG MAN, WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ANYWAY?"

With a flamboyant and arrogant performance, the old man began his theatric introduction. "I'm glad you asked. I am the hermit of Mount Myoboku, the wise and immortal spirit. That's right, it is I, the Toad Mountain Sage."

"What? Toad Sage?" *Poof* As fast as it came, the toad that was summoned by the Toad Sage disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving no trace behind.

"Exactly."

---

Naruto, down a teacher and with no options left, begged Jiraiya to train him, chasing him down until he finally agreed. Naruto and Jiraiya sat in front of a calm river. "Ok, now show me that technique you were using earlier."

Naruto got up and walked up to the river. "Ok, here goes." He focused and infused his soles with chakra and took a step onto the river. He took wobbly steps as he bounced on the surface layer of the river. Not long after, he fell in.

Jiraiya let out a hearty laugh at Naruto's expense. "Not again." Naruto was getting tired of his seemingly unending failures. "You really do need my help," Jiraiya was mildly amused.

"Ugh, I should know by now to take my clothes off first." Naruto stripped down, leaving nothing on but his boxers and ninja headband. "Hey, go on and build up your chakra again."

"Can't I dry off a little first?"

"Now, do it."

"Hmph." Naruto went straight to it and started building up his chakra as instructed. Jiraiya stared intently at Naruto, shock appearing on his face. "Wha, amazing."

Naruto looked at Jiraiya curiously. "Hmm?"

"You know, you have quite a tight little body." All of Naruto's concentration went down the drain as he stumbled in shock.

"What the!? Do you mind, old man? I'm trying to focus over here."

"Oh, sorry about that. Please go right ahead."

"Jerk."

Naruto slipped back into his concentration and began building up his chakra. In moments, a seal appeared on his stomach. Jiraiya stared at it intently and moved in front of Naruto. 'So this is the formula used to imprison the Nine-Tailed Fox. A double tetragram seal with an eight-sign seal, hmmm. That way, if any of the demon's chakra escapes the tetragram seal, it will be safely channeled into and suppressed by the boy's own chakra. The Fourth Hokage, he did this for the boy's protection.' Jiraiya smiled at the impressive work done by the Fourth Hokage.

'But since then, a five-pronged seal has been added, an odd-numbered seal on top of an even-numbered seal. Hmmm, that explains it. That's why the boy's chakra and the demon's are merging in an unstable way. It's no wonder he can't control his chakra very well.' 'This was the work of someone else. If I had to guess, then I'd say it was Orochimaru.' Jiraiya stood up and hid his right arm behind his back. On his fingertips, small flame-like chakra ignited, blue in color with white transparent kanji taking form on each fingertip.

"Ok, raise your arms up over your head," Jiraiya ordered Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto was skeptical.

"Come on, it's a trust exercise. Raise them high," Jiraiya insisted while still hiding his arm behind his back. Naruto reluctantly raised his arms into the air. "Well, this is a weird way to get started."

Jiraiya, not wasting any time, quickly proved he was not someone worthy of trust. "FIVE PRONGED SEAL: RELEASE!" Jiraiya buried his palm into Naruto's gut, breaking the seal Orochimaru placed on Naruto during the Chunin Exams.

Naruto was angry but didn't argue for long and went to continue his training as told. To Naruto's shock, he could do it. It was as easy as walking on land. He jumped for joy, laughing his heart out.

Jiraiya decided it was time to teach Naruto how to control the Nine-Tails' chakra. He told Naruto about the two chakras that lie within him, and Naruto remembered the day he fought Haku on the Great Naruto Bridge. His surge in power had allowed him to defeat Haku and protect Sasuke. And just like that, the day's training was over, and they went to relax, soaking in the hot spring to end the day.

---

The training continued the very next day as Naruto trained, guided by Jiraiya. Naruto wasn't convinced by Jiraiya's methods. "Why do I need to summon that red chakra anyway? What does it have to do with that technique you're gonna teach me anyway?"

"Listen, boy, for the technique I'm gonna teach you, that chakra you've been using up until now is nowhere near powerful enough. If you wanna pull off this technique, you need to tap into the chakra that's been lying dormant within you, summoning it up at a moment's notice."

"Yeah, that sounds cool and exciting, but how do you even know I have this chakra in me?"

Jiraiya grinned. "I'm glad you asked. It's because I'M A SAGE!" Naruto almost fell as the joke caught him off guard.

"*Sigh* Talk about giving an answer without giving an answer."

"Anyway, the special chakra that only you have is gonna be your greatest weapon. I am sure of it."

Naruto continued his training with his shadow clones in order to master the Nine-Tails' chakra. After a few hours of training and defeating all his clones, Jiraiya finally spoke. "Nicely done."

"Well sure enough, just like I thought, I'm the strongest me." Naruto collapsed to his knees from exhaustion.

"It seems at long last you've used up almost all your chakra. I can finally teach you that technique."