The two of them ate together. Naruto didn't have much to say, but Jiraiya was the sort who could never keep his mouth shut. He chatted on and on, telling Naruto stories about being a ninja and about his travels throughout the Ninja World.
Naruto wasn't interested in any of it, but he didn't say so. He was much more interested in ninjutsu.
By the time they finished eating, the two of them had grown a little closer.
"Lord Jiraiya, is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" After pouring them both a cup of tea, Naruto sat on the sofa and asked curiously. According to the original story, Jiraiya didn't return to Konoha until the Chunin Ninja Exams, and even then, it was because of Orochimaru.
"Actually, it's nothing in particular. By the way, why can't I sense your chakra? Have you not learned to mold chakra yet?" Jiraiya didn't answer Naruto's question directly. He asked curiously. He'd wanted to ask since they first met, but it had seemed too abrupt then, so he asked now instead.
"About that... I don't really know either." Naruto couldn't tell anyone the truth.
"Oh? Then can I examine you?" Jiraiya hadn't forgotten the main reason he'd come.
"Sure, go ahead." After thinking it over, Naruto held out his hand.
The moment Jiraiya laid a hand on him, he sensed the unfathomable amount of chakra inside Naruto.
Jiraiya had never encountered chakra reserves like these before.
He almost blurted out his shock.
"What's going on? Even if he is from the Uzumaki Clan, he shouldn't have this much chakra." He'd known Kushina and had also taught Nagato Uzumaki. He knew the Uzumaki Clan possessed tremendous chakra reserves, but compared with Naruto's, theirs were still lacking.
Jiraiya's left hand shot out, and he lifted Naruto's shirt to expose his stomach.
Naruto reacted instantly, instinctively wanting to strike, but he suppressed the urge.
He saw a perfectly smooth stomach, complete with a four-pack.
But Jiraiya wasn't satisfied. Instead, his expression grew grave. The thing he'd expected to see wasn't there: the Nine-Tails' seal was gone.
If the seal was gone, where was the Nine-Tails?
Chakra surged from him and entered the Sealing Space.
In the vast, golden space, Jiraiya appeared. The sight before him left him dumbfounded: an enormous red Nine-Tails lay sprawled on the ground, asleep. There was no sealed cage, no other seal in sight.
Of course, there was still a seal. A strand of golden chains was wrapped tightly around the Nine-Tails' neck, sealing its chakra and keeping it from using any. But the Nine-Tails' fur was too thick and the chains too thin, so Jiraiya couldn't see them from where he stood.
"What's going on? The Nine-Tails' seal has been undone. Why hasn't it escaped?"
"Because he can't escape." Naruto's unhurried voice sounded from behind Jiraiya.
Jiraiya jumped, then hurriedly backed away.
"Idiot Naruto! You'll scare someone to death sneaking up on them like that!" Jiraiya had been so shocked by the Nine-Tails that he hadn't noticed Naruto enter.
Naruto didn't say a word. He simply stared at Jiraiya.
For a moment, Naruto considered killing him. The fewer people who knew his secret, the better. Outside his body, he was no match for Jiraiya, but with Jiraiya this close, a surprise attack might give him a chance to kill him.
But after thinking of how Jiraiya had acted in the original story, Naruto stopped himself from striking.
"You're wondering why he hasn't escaped?" Naruto asked outright.
Jiraiya didn't deny it. The Nine-Tails was terrifying. Even lying there, it put Jiraiya under immense pressure. It wasn't something he could defeat.
"Because of this." As Naruto spoke, eight golden chains appeared behind him.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!" Jiraiya was astonished. He was Minato Namikaze's teacher and often visited his home for drinks. He'd spent time with Kushina, too, and had seen her use them.
Adamantine Sealing Chains were designed to restrain Tailed Beasts. Even the Nine-Tails would be suppressed if they wrapped around him. Kushina had ten chains, while Naruto had eight, two fewer. But Naruto's chakra was over ten times greater than Kushina's in both quality and quantity.
"When did you awaken them?" Jiraiya asked curiously.
"I don't remember exactly." Who would remember something like that?
"What happened to his seal?" Jiraiya thought for a moment, then pointed at the Nine-Tails and asked curiously. Without the key, even he couldn't undo the Nine-Tails' seal.
"Maybe I was just too bored. I don't really know what happened. The seal stopped working, then I awakened these, and used them to seal the Nine-Tails again." Naruto put on a vacant expression and casually fobbed him off.
Jiraiya wasn't stupid. Seeing Naruto act like that, he knew he wouldn't get anything out of him. But an unsealed Nine-Tails was still extremely dangerous. If anything happened to Naruto, the Nine-Tails would surely escape.
"Do you want me to seal him again?" Jiraiya stated his purpose outright.
"Not for now. The Nine-Tails and I are good friends." Naruto grinned.
Then he looked at the Nine-Tails.
"Right, Kurama?" The Nine-Tails opened his eyes and looked at Naruto's threatening gaze.
"That's right. The brat and I are good friends." The Nine-Tails bared his teeth. He didn't seem to mind that Naruto knew his name.
Jiraiya watched the strange atmosphere between the boy and the fox, utterly baffled. How could the two of them be friends?
To convince him, Naruto walked up to the Nine-Tails and patted his paw, showing his goodwill.
The Nine-Tails patted Naruto on the head.
"You're getting cocky, Nine-Tails. How dare you pat me on the head?" Since they were touching, Naruto's voice sounded directly in the Nine-Tails' mind.
"If you want me to play along, brat, you have to pay a price." The Nine-Tails bared his teeth. Being able to pat Naruto on the head would keep him in a good mood for a while.
Naruto snorted and said nothing more. He actually hated having other people pat him on the head, but to deal with Jiraiya, he had to let the Nine-Tails take advantage of him. Besides, seeing such a huge fox pat him on the head looked strange to anyone watching.
Jiraiya's mouth twitched as he watched. At least this showed that their relationship wasn't as bad as he'd imagined. He was also puzzled. When had the Nine-Tails become so mild-tempered? Even with Naruto's Adamantine Sealing Chains to suppress him, this shouldn't have happened.
The previous jinchuriki—the one who had helped Naruto—was his mother, Kushina, who was also a powerful ninja. She could suppress the Nine-Tails all by herself, yet her relationship with him had been awful. Basically, they never spoke.
The truth was, the Nine-Tails had been acting haughty, while Kushina feared his power and kept him firmly suppressed, never speaking to him.
Naruto was different. He wasn't afraid of the Nine-Tails. He treated him like an ordinary friend and chatted with him every day. As for taking the Nine-Tails' power, it was a case of both sides being willing.
In the end, Naruto would take the Nine-Tails' power by defeating him fair and square. And for the Nine-Tails, having some of his power swallowed by Naruto was no big deal. It would recover soon enough.