Chapter 85: The Toad Lord

Disclaimer:

Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto.

I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 85: The Toad Lord

Naruto's eyes began to change color as strands of demonic energy swirled around his body.

He felt an immediate difference compared to the last time he used the Kyubi's chakra.

His body was now much more resilient than before, and thus it did not suffer nearly as much damage while circulating the venomous chakra through his body.

Jiraiya stood watching. His face remained serene, but his eyes showed how surprised he was.

Naruto was moving a tremendous amount of the Kyubi's chakra, but so far, he showed no signs of losing control of the violent energy.

'Is this the result of Minato's seal?' He could only guess that his student's idea of letting small traces of the demonic chakra mix with Naruto's was to let the boy acclimate to it and perhaps gain a natural resistance.

'Or maybe it is just his natural talent, after all.'

Even if he hadn't heard the reports from the Hokage and Kakashi about Naruto, after observing him for a short time, it was obvious that he had a monstrous amount of talent.

'The last time I saw someone like this was… yes… Nagato.' Jiraiya was forced out of his musings when Naruto finished the jutsu.

"He succeeded…" The Sannin had yet to see the summoned creature, but just by the size of the smoke… he knew who this was.

"Mmm…. what did you call me now for?" The colossal toad moved his eyes upwards and addressed the person standing on his head.

"Say something, damn it! Oi, Jiraiya!"

"Are you the Toad Lord?" Naruto glanced down at the creature below him. He could not see much from his current position, just that this one had pale red skin and was many times bigger than the previous one.

"That voice… who is this?" Gamabunta couldn't recognize the speaker.

"Papa!" Gamakichi jumped on Gamadachi's shoulder and called for his father.

"Oh? Is that you, Gamakichi? What is going on? Where is Jiraiya?" The Toad Lord demanded to know.

"Greetings, Lord Gamabunta." Gamadachi made a reverence. "If you are looking for Jiraiya… he is right over there." The green toad pointed to his left.

The Sannin was standing next to a large rock. He had been wondering if he should hide or not since he knew that Gamabunta didn't like to be disturbed unless there was sake involved, and this was going to put him in a bad mood.

"Hey there…"

Gamabunta narrowed his eyes.

"Jiraiya! What is the meaning of this? Who is on my head?!"

Naruto jumped down and landed somewhat close to the other man.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to stand on your head. I didn't know you were going to appear beneath me…"

"Mmm… who is this? His face looks familiar." The massive toad got his face closer to Naruto.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki…" The toad seemed to recognize the name, but then he noticed something else.

"I can feel traces of that blasted demon fox on this boy!" Gamabunta's demeanor changed very quickly.

Realizing this, Jiraiya decided to intervene before things got out of hand.

"Hold it, Bunta! Naruto is Minato's son!"

The toad moved his eyes to the Sannin. "His son?! Wait… I think I remember him mentioning something about that…"

"It's true… Naruto here is the last legacy left behind by Minato." Jiraiya told him.

Gamabunta seemed to be reminiscing about something.

"That night, when I fought the fox… I think I remember hearing a baby crying." He looked at Naruto.

"So that was you. You do look a lot like your father, now that I think about it. Then… the demon…"

Naruto opened his robes and showed him the seal.

"The Kyubi is right here. I guess you could say it was my father's one and only birthday present."

"A Jinchuriki… like his wife." Gamabunta sighed. "I see now." He glanced at Jiraiya.

"And you let him sign our contract. You could have consulted me at least."

"I got the approval from the elders years ago. They left the final decision to me." Jiraiya looked at Naruto and smiled.

"You won't be disappointed. The boy has as much talent as his father, or maybe even more."

"Hmph! We'll see about that." Gamabunta grunted and turned again towards Naruto. His demeanor became more intimidating now.

"Listen here, boy. I considered your father a good friend of mine, and I was willing to fight at his side. But even if you are his son, and even if you have signed the Toad Contract… you have yet to earn my approval."

"My Lord… isn't it a bit early for this?" Gamadachi looked a bit concerned.

"Papa?... what do you mean?" Gamakichi asked.

Naruto looked directly at the Toad Lord.

"Understandable… it's not like I want things handed to me just because of who my father was. I like to get things done for myself."

"Good! Then I propose a test. If you pass it, you will earn my approval to summon any of my fellow clansmen and aid you in battle."

"Bunta, do you have to do this now? Naruto has just become a genin very recently. Why not wait a few more years to test him?" Jiraiya suggested.

Gamabunta chuckled.

"No need… I can feel it. He is ready." The toad lit his pipe and began to smoke.

"What do you say, son of Minato?"

"What does this test of yours involve?" Naruto felt like since he came to this world, he had been constantly tested. But if this was the way to move forward, he was not going to run away.

"Easy… all you have to do is hold against me for ten minutes. If you get knocked out before the time is up… you fail." Gamabunta stated.

"Wait, you are going to fight him directly?" Jiraiya expected the toad to propose something more harmless for Naruto, but a fight against the Toad Lord was no joke. Even a jonin might not survive five minutes in front of him.

"That's right, ten minutes, not one less. Oh… and you are not allowed to use that fox demon chakra. I already know that beast is strong, but it is you I'm testing now." Gamabunta added.

"Fair enough." Naruto threw his backpack away and adopted a fighting posture. "Whenever you want."

"Jiraiya… take care of the timer." Gamabunta released a puff of smoke.

"Let's see if you are really anything like your father… boy."

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