Cultivating the Summoning Technique

Naruto pretended to focus on his training, showing no interest in Jiraiya's performance. Inside, he couldn't stop scoffing.

Of course he wanted Jiraiya as his teacher. Jiraiya was a Kage Level powerhouse, after all, and learning from him would bring plenty of benefits.

Take the Rasengan. Naruto knew how to train in it, but he couldn't openly learn it without everyone around him realizing he had a secret.

Following Jiraiya would change that. Jiraiya would teach him the Rasengan, along with plenty of other distinctive Ninjutsu, such as Senjutsu and the Wild Lion's Mane Technique.

And if he wanted to take down Gaara next, he would need to summon Gamabunta.

But he wasn't acting this way to play hard to get. He had a grudge.

When he had watched the original anime in his previous life, he'd never understood why Ninja like Jiraiya and Kakashi had never visited Naruto or looked after him.

Jiraiya had probably only come looking for him now because of that damned Toad Sage's prophecy.

Seeing Jiraiya come up short made him feel a little better. Only when Jiraiya called to him did he turn around with a puzzled look and ask:

"Hey, old man, what do you want?"

Jiraiya bristled at being called an old man. He pointed at Naruto and shouted:

"You little brat! If Kakashi hadn't asked me to train you for a month, I wouldn't want to see you at all!"

"Kakashi-sensei sent you? I thought he'd given up on me." Naruto looked hurt and muttered unhappily.

Jiraiya's brow twitched at Naruto's expression. He had already reviewed everything that had happened to Naruto since graduation.

He had a fair idea what Naruto was thinking: resentment and dissatisfaction.

Jiraiya also felt a pang of guilt.

It was true. Since his beloved student, the Yellow Flash, had died twelve years ago, Jiraiya had returned only once, for the Yellow Flash's Funeral. He'd glanced at the infant Naruto in his swaddling clothes, then hurried away again.

Just like that, twelve years had passed.

He had only just learned what Naruto's life had been like during those years. He'd even had a furious argument with the Third Hokage about it yesterday.

He truly regretted it now.

Naruto knew Jiraiya wasn't a calculating old schemer like the Third Hokage. Jiraiya had simply spent his life chasing his dream, following the prophecy the Old Toad had fed him.

Was Jiraiya wrong? Of course not.

Naruto admired him for it.

Anyone who had a dream and spent their whole life pursuing it deserved respect.

Nor would Naruto throw a tantrum and demand that Jiraiya care about him.

The trouble was that the old Naruto had lived a miserable life, and the few people he could call "family" had never cared for him.

But if you didn't care about me, then whatever ties we had before are gone. You're not my father's teacher as far as I'm concerned. You and I had no other connection.

Of course, if you're willing to teach me from now on, I'll be grateful and repay you for it.

That was how Naruto saw it. He owed no one anything, and he wouldn't make more of anyone's kindness than it deserved.

Although Naruto had begun training under Jiraiya, Might Guy still taught him the entire training plan for the coming month.

Naruto even sent fifty Shadow Clones to study Taijutsu with Might Guy every day.

The next morning, Jiraiya took Naruto to a river to see how far his training had progressed.

Unlike in the original story, Naruto now possessed the God-Tier Bloodline-level Uzumaki Clan Sage Body. He had also broken Orochimaru's Five Elements Seal through his own efforts.

That allowed him to suppress the Nine-Tails' Chakra with ease, and he had enormous reserves of Chakra himself.

All of it astonished Jiraiya. Could it be because Naruto was the Child of Prophecy?

To test Naruto's fundamentals, he told him to walk on water. Naruto had already practiced and mastered it on his own, much to Jiraiya's delight.

So Jiraiya decided to teach Naruto Mount Myōboku's unique Summoning Technique. It was what the Toad Sage wanted, too.

The Child of Prophecy had to have a bond with Mount Myōboku!

Just as the Sage of Six Paths had sought out the Toad Sage, Gamamaru, to study Senjutsu a thousand years ago.

"Can you sense another source of Chakra inside you, Naruto?" Jiraiya asked, his expression grave.

Naruto's heart tightened. He knew exactly what Jiraiya meant: Nine-Tails Chakra.

Pretending to search his memory, Naruto took a long while before answering. "I have felt it before. It was red Chakra, shaped like a fox. It felt evil."

He was talking about the time after the bell test, when Kakashi had refused his request for individual training. His anger and hurt had triggered an outburst, but his Uzumaki Clan Sage Body and his own reason had forced it back down.

"Then try to draw out that red Chakra now," Jiraiya said.

Naruto understood. Jiraiya was teaching him a Jinchūriki's most basic skill: drawing on a Tailed Beast's Chakra.

In the months since his arrival in this world, Naruto's strength had grown so quickly thanks to the system that he'd almost forgotten about using the Nine-Tails.

But he wasn't like the Naruto of the original story. He intended to walk the path of a Demon; he couldn't win over the Nine-Tails through his actions as the original Naruto had.

And now he had no reason to.

I have the Mangekyō Sharingan!

If the Nine-Tails won't listen, I'll beat him until he does!

Naruto pretended to strain to gather the red Chakra, but even after a long time, he produced nothing.

"Naruto, you already have more Chakra than I can believe, but that other source of red Chakra inside you is an immense treasure. It would be a shame not to use it."

"It could become a powerful weapon that belongs to you alone. Ignoring it would be like starving while holding a golden bowl."

At that, Jiraiya couldn't resist pinching Naruto's cheek. He went on:

"You don't have to train the same way everyone else does. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. You have your own style!"

"With that much Chakra, you should let it loose and use it to train. You can use far more Ninjutsu and special moves than most people."

Naruto couldn't agree more with Jiraiya's assessment.

Hadn't he been using dozens of clones from the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to unleash Ninjutsu at the same time and defeat his enemies and Sasuke?

"Then what special move are you going to teach me?" Naruto asked, feigning curiosity.

"The Summoning Technique! My own powerful Summoning Technique!" Jiraiya said with a smile.

"Summoning Technique!"

Jiraiya bit his right thumb, smeared blood across his left palm, then slammed that palm onto the ground with a shout.

Poof!

A huge toad appeared beneath Jiraiya. It opened its mouth and spat out an enormous green Scroll wrapped in its tongue.

"This is the Scroll passed down through the generations for making a contract with the Toad Clan."

Following Jiraiya's instructions, Naruto opened the Scroll, wrote his name in blood, and pressed all five fingertips beside it.

Then he gathered Chakra at the spot where he wanted to summon a toad and placed the hand he'd used to sign the contract there.

The Hand Seals were: Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Ram!

"Summoning Technique!"

Naruto slammed his palm onto the ground. A ring of mysterious black symbols appeared around his hand.

Poof!

Naruto lifted his palm. A tiny tadpole was wriggling on the ground.

Damn it!

How am I as hopeless at this as Naruto was in the original story?

Naruto roared inwardly.