First Encounter with the Nine-Tails and Gamabunta

Naruto trained until dusk, but he still could not summon a single toad.

He felt frustrated and began to wonder if his talent was nothing special after all.

Late that night, Naruto lay in bed. Once he sensed that Jiraiya had left and the Anbu Ninja could no longer see him directly, his eyes turned bloodred. His eight-pointed-star Mangekyō Sharingan opened.

The Mangekyō Sharingan seemed made to counter Tailed Beasts. Naruto steadied his mind and, with its power and his Fuinjutsu Talent, soon sensed the Nine-Tails sealed inside him.

His vision went dark. When it cleared, he found himself in a damp, gloomy place. Before him stood an enormous metal gate with a huge sealing talisman affixed to it.

Clearly, this was where the Nine-Tails was sealed.

"Come closer, brat!"

The Nine-Tails' enormous face appeared behind the gate. Its eyes glowed red with malice, and its voice was full of temptation. "I've seen everything you've done these past few months! I don't know where you got your power, but you've grown even hungrier for more!"

"Come to me. I can give you greater power!"

Naruto took a few dazed steps forward, drawing closer to the Nine-Tails.

The corners of the Nine-Tails' mouth rose into a wicked sneer.

Just as it raised a sharp claw to strike Naruto's head, Naruto sprang backward. He looked at the Nine-Tails with mocking eyes. "Got you, moron!"

"You damned brat!" The Nine-Tails glared at Naruto in a fury. A torrent of Chakra surged out, only to be held firmly back by the sealing talisman.

"Ha. Nine-Tails, there are two things you need to understand." Naruto raised one finger. "First, don't think you're so tough. Beating you would be a piece of cake!"

The Nine-Tails grew even angrier and roared, "Come on, then! Show me how you'll beat me!"

"You just had to ask for it!" Naruto sneered and flicked his right hand forward. A Black-and-Gold Rope shot out, lengthening as it went. It slipped through the sealed gate and bound the Nine-Tails' body, limbs, and head tight.

The Nine-Tails struggled furiously, only to discover that it could not draw on a shred of its power.

The Immortal-Binding Rope was a Divine Power, born from combining max-level Adamantine Sealing Chains with max-level Fuinjutsu Talent. It was easily more than ten times as powerful as Adamantine Sealing Chains!

Once the Nine-Tails was caught by the Immortal-Binding Rope, it had no chance of turning the tables. Naruto could do whatever he wanted with it.

Naruto leaped up and landed hard on the Nine-Tails' huge nose, hurting it so badly that tears nearly spilled from its eyes!

It glared at Naruto, its eyes filled with murderous intent.

At that, Naruto raised his right foot and kicked it viciously in the eye.

Bang! Bang!

"Aah!"

The Nine-Tails was in so much pain that it could not even cry. It swallowed its anger and no longer dared provoke Naruto. After all, it could not use any of its strength.

Once the Nine-Tails had settled down, Naruto raised a second finger and said smugly, "Second, take a look at this!"

He revealed his eight-pointed-star Mangekyō Sharingan.

At the sight of it, the Nine-Tails flared with rage again, then immediately deflated.

Over the past thousand years, it had been controlled by the Mangekyō Sharingan at least three times: first by Indra, then Madara Uchiha, and finally Obito Uchiha.

It had come to hate and fear those evil eyes.

Yet it could do nothing about them.

Naruto stared mockingly at the Nine-Tails through his Mangekyō Sharingan. He wanted its power, of course, but there were only two ways to borrow it.

The first was to follow the original story: purge the darkness from his heart, then wrestle with the Nine-Tails Chakra. Ideally, he would earn the Nine-Tails' trust and make it willing to join forces with him.

The second was to use the Mangekyō Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails each time he wanted to use its Chakra.

The first option was impossible for Naruto now. He had already fallen into darkness, and he would also need Killer B's help to find that mysterious place.

The second option would consume too much of his Visual Prowess. Every use would worsen his eyesight.

If he was going to pay that price, he might as well fight with the Mangekyō Sharingan's Time Acceleration or Time Reversal ability and finish an enemy in one move.

All things considered, controlling the Nine-Tails to use its power was more trouble than it was worth for now.

"I didn't come here to use you or control you. I was just curious and wanted to see you for myself."

Naruto shrugged. "Now I have. You're nothing special. Boring. I'm leaving!"

With that, Naruto left without waiting for the Nine-Tails to reply.

Behind him came the Nine-Tails' roar:

"You damned brat! If you're leaving, take this lousy rope with you!"

Naruto already had an idea for how to summon a toad successfully.

He opened the System Mall and saw the entry on his Personal Status Panel:

Summoning Technique (Uninitiated)

He still had 448 points.

"System, exchange points for two Skill Upgrade Scrolls and use them to raise my Summoning Technique level."

Ding! Summoning Technique has reached Minor Accomplishment. Host has spent 200 points.

When Jiraiya saw Naruto successfully summon a great toad the next morning, his eyes filled with approval.

Jiraiya had taken seven days to learn the technique and summon a toad himself. Naruto had done it in just one. Jiraiya thought the boy was remarkably talented; it never crossed his mind that Naruto was cheating.

"Summoning Technique!"

Naruto formed the Hand Seals and slapped his right hand against the ground, releasing most of his Chakra through it.

Bang!

A huge cloud of smoke appeared. Naruto found himself standing on something enormous, dozens of meters above the ground.

"Jiraiya, why did you summon me?" Gamabunta glared down at Jiraiya, his tone unfriendly.

Neither Manda nor Gamabunta, two of the mightiest giant beasts, had an easygoing temper.

Gamabunta assumed Jiraiya had summoned him again. He had no idea it was the brat standing on his head.

"Uh, well..."

Jiraiya scratched his head awkwardly. Even he found Gamabunta intimidating, but there was little he could do about it.

When facing powerful enemies or other unusual situations, he needed Gamabunta's strength. Gamabunta, on the other hand, rarely needed his help.

Their relationship was hardly equal. Jiraiya might not fawn over him, but he did not dare offend him either.

Manda had an even worse temper. Every time he appeared, he gave Orochimaru a vicious tongue-lashing. Fortunately, Orochimaru was thick-skinned enough not to care, and ruthless enough to offer Manda living sacrifices.

"Hey, big toad! I summoned you, not Jiraiya!" Naruto patted Gamabunta's head with a grin.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Annoyed, Gamabunta shook his huge head violently, trying to throw Naruto off.

Naruto kept a steady flow of Chakra in his feet and fought to maintain his balance on Gamabunta's head.

After several attempts failed to shake Naruto loose, Gamabunta grew angrier. "What's your name, brat? You've really made me mad!"

"Me? Naruto Uzumaki. Heard of me?" Naruto asked pointedly.

"Naruto Uzumaki?"

Gamabunta was startled. The Toad Sage had mentioned that name to him recently. Naruto seemed to be the Child of Prophecy Jiraiya had been searching for, and someone the Toad Sage held in particularly high regard!

Hearing the name forced Gamabunta to think twice despite his anger.

After a while, Gamabunta spoke in a calmer tone. "Since you summoned me, you'll have to stay on my head until nightfall if you want to be my master."

"Haha, no problem! I can do that!"

Naruto agreed at once with a grin. He lay flat against Gamabunta's head and released just enough Chakra through his hands and feet to cling tightly to the toad's skin.

At the same time, he secretly left a Flying Thunder God Mark on Gamabunta's head.

Gamabunta began hopping wildly, trying to fling Naruto off.

Naruto struggled to hold on. Whenever he could not and was thrown into the air, he discreetly used the Flying Thunder God Mark to return to Gamabunta's head.

By secretly cheating and relying on the exceptional Chakra and stamina recovery granted by his Uzumaki Sage Body, Naruto held out until night fell.

"Phew... Fine. You win!" Gamabunta said breathlessly. Then, with a bang, he vanished.