[After Sasuke's defection, both Naruto and Sasuke began growing rapidly along their respective paths.]
[First, on Naruto's side: under Jiraiya's guidance, his fundamentals improved quickly. He even learned the Great Ball Rasengan, and managed to get the Nine-Tails to start "paying rent"—allowing him to unleash the power of up to four tails.]
On the screen, a scene of Jiraiya teaching Naruto flashed by.
"Today, we're going to take your usual training up a level," Jiraiya's voice sounded.
The two of them appeared in the sky, standing opposite each other, and below them was an empty plaza.
"This is somewhat experimental, and I don't know exactly what will happen. Are you mentally prepared?"
Naruto nodded in response, a hint of apprehension in his eyes.
Jiraiya clapped his hands together and spit out a toad over a meter tall. It landed steadily between them and sized up Naruto.
As Jiraiya spoke with the toad (Toad "Gerotora"), the Shinobi World learned that he was planning to partially unseal the Nine-Tails, intending to test the limits of how much of its chakra Naruto could handle.
The toad jumped onto Naruto's belly and pressed its front paws against the sealing formula.
---
[Konoha, Year 50. Hokage Office]
Minato and Kushina's hearts immediately leaped into their throats.
Kushina's voice even went shrill. "Jiraiya-sensei is being way too reckless! The seal of the Nine-Tails isn't something you just loosen casually! He's not even from the Uzumaki clan!"
Even she herself, a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki who had learned to control its power, would never dare to loosen the seal so casually.
If something went wrong, it would absolutely cause another Nine-Tails rampage—and ahead of schedule at that.
Minato tried to soothe her. "Kushina, don't worry. Since Jiraiya-sensei is willing to experiment, he must have a way to stop it if things go wrong."
Kushina stared at the screen with a mix of doubt and anxiety, her hands clenched so tightly her knuckles went white.
The rest of the Shinobi World thought the same as Minato.
One of the legendary Sannin—surely he could keep a child under control, right?
---
[Konoha, Year 60. Hokage Office]
Tsunade watched the scene of Jiraiya spitting a toad out of his mouth with a look of disgust.
"Old man, look at the other two students you raised. One spits toads, the other likes spitting snakes. Disgusting. Couldn't you have taught them something better…"
Hearing that, Hiruzen could only sigh helplessly.
Mount Myōboku was Jiraiya's own destiny, and snake-related Jutsu were Orochimaru's personal preference. Neither of those came from him.
When they were young, he had taught them proper, orthodox Ninjutsu. Who knew they would go down these strange paths later?
"What they learn is up to them."
Hiruzen found himself a convenient excuse, but his voice still carried a hint of guilt.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "So what did 'you' teach them?"
Hiruzen decided to shut up, silently puffing on his pipe, pretending to watch the Sky Screen.
---
On the screen, as the toad pressed down on Naruto's belly, Naruto was instantly enveloped in red chakra. Three tails emerged behind him, whipping through the air.
Just as Naruto was trying to suppress the Nine-Tails' chakra, the scene shifted into his consciousness space.
Behind a massive yellow grille, the Nine-Tails—a colossal beast—was sealed.
It lay there, its golden pupils glowing like two lanterns in the darkness.
"Let me give you a hand."
The Nine-Tails' voice rumbled. "Don't hold back. You want power, don't you?"
"But speaking of which, you're truly pathetic and laughable. The man you're trying so desperately to win back abandoned the village on his own. He's probably already forgotten about you and found himself a partner of equal strength, don't you think?"
With that, the Nine-Tails stirred up a massive wave in Naruto's consciousness space, knocking him to the ground. Naruto tumbled through the water, unable to steady himself.
The Nine-Tails reached a claw through the grille and closed it around him, crushing him like a bug.
Clearly, in this struggle, Naruto was utterly defeated.
What followed was an image of Naruto on the screen, unleashing four tails. His entire body enveloping in red chakra, barely humanoid in shape.
Four tails lashed wildly behind him, the very air trembling.
Jiraiya leaped high into the air, a tag with the character "Seal" in his hand, ready to seal the four-tailed Naruto.
---
[Konoha, Year 50]
"See? I told you Jiraiya-sensei must have had a way…"
Before Minato could finish his sentence, his words got stuck in his throat.
On the screen, the rampaging Naruto blasted Jiraiya head-on with a Tailed Beast Ball.
The force of the attack carved a massive tunnel several meters wide, extending all the way into the forest behind the building, leveling everything in its path.
Kushina's face went pale. "Is this the 'way' you were talking about?"
Minato's words were caught in his throat, so he let out a dry cough. "…Jiraiya-sensei probably has a backup plan."
But when the scene shifted again, it was already inside a hospital.
Naruto lay on a bed, half his body wrapped in bandages, clearly seriously injured.
As Naruto woke up, dazed and confused, and sat up—the Shinobi World saw, lying beside him, Jiraiya, his entire body wrapped in layers upon layers of bandages, like a mummy.
[In his lifetime, Jiraiya experienced the threat of death twice: once when he peeked at Tsunade bathing, and once with four-tailed Naruto.]
---
[Konoha, Year 60. A valley outside Konoha]
Naruto looked Jiraiya up and down, his eyes full of suspicion.
"Pervy Sage, you're pretty weak, aren't you?"
"With strength like that, you still dare to teach me?"
Jiraiya instantly flared up. "You brat! I was obviously trying to protect you! If I had gone all out, I could have easily subdued you."
He put his hands on his hips, trying to regain his dignity.
"But this does remind me of something."
"Your training from now on will be gradual. No recklessness."
"'You' were the one being reckless, no?" Naruto shot back without missing a beat.
Jiraiya decided to change the subject. "Well… now that the Sky Screen has shown it, at least I know how much control you'll have in the near future. That's very important."
He genuinely had to thank the Sky Screen. Knowing Naruto's limits would allow him to avoid danger in advance. Otherwise, he might have trained him at that exact pace—and that really would have been dangerous.
Sasuke, standing nearby, was also curious. The Naruto on the screen with four tails unleashed—had his strength reached Kage-level?
The oppressive pressure of that chakra was palpable even through the screen.
---
Meanwhile, back at the Hokage Office.
Hiruzen shook his head. "Jiraiya is truly reckless."
"We'll have to give him strict orders not to do anything like this again."
Tsunade slammed her hand on the table in fury, rattling the teacups. "What is wrong with this man?! Looks like I didn't hit him hard enough that time!"
Her face flushed bright red—whether from anger or embarrassment, it was impossible to tell.
*****
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