"Huh?" Naruto froze when he heard the Great Toad Sage's words. Once he recovered, he cried, "Grandpa Sage, how did you know we were facing a huge problem?"
The Great Toad Sage smiled. "Little Naruto, this is Mount Myōboku. I've seen everything you've done since you arrived."
"Nothing here escapes my notice," the Great Toad Sage said meaningfully.
As he spoke, a talisman the size of a human palm floated from his body toward Naruto.
"Naruto, this is the Sage Talisman that has been passed down on Mount Myōboku for thousands of years," the Great Toad Sage said. "It contains an immense amount of sage power. Give it to the Nine-Tails."
"The Nine-Tails will know what to do next." Then the Great Toad Sage's snores echoed through the palace.
"Uh..." Naruto reached out to catch the drifting Sage Talisman and asked inwardly, puzzled, "Kurama, do you know what the Great Toad Sage is trying to do?"
"I have a pretty good idea. Naruto, just do what the Old Toad told you," the Nine-Tails' voice rang out in Naruto's mind.
"Come on, Kurama, tell me what the plan is." Although they had only truly gotten to know each other a day ago, Naruto acted as though he and the Nine-Tails had been close for years.
"Naruto, I have two options now. The first is to feed this Sage Talisman to the Ten-Tails' severed hand and let it keep growing, while I replace the remnant consciousness inside it. The advantage is that you'll be able to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki even without the Rinnegan," the Nine-Tails' voice explained in Naruto's mind.
"Hmm..." Naruto pondered for a moment, then asked, "What's the other method?"
The Nine-Tails did not answer directly. Instead, he asked a seemingly unrelated question. "You've noticed something unusual about yourself