Naruto raging whirlpool

*Rumble.* Suddenly, a rumble erupted from the hatchling's stomach.

"Oh, are you hungry, Ash? Let's go buy some ramen." Naruto was just about to head to Ichiraku's when Jiraiya appeared out of nowhere in front of him. Naruto bumped into him and fell backward into the river. Naruto resurfaced after nearly drowning.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU, PERVY SAGE? I almost died there!"

Jiraiya grabbed Naruto by the head and pulled him up so he could stand on the water surface again.

"OW OW OW, STOP!" Naruto tried but failed to remove Jiraiya's vice grip from his head.

"Toads don't eat ramen. Send him back to Mount Myoboku; he'll be fed by the other toads."

Naruto looked at Ash with pity. "To think you can't eat ramen, poor guy. You must be hungry since you haven't had anything to eat." Naruto took a knee and stretched his fist out. Ash understood and met Naruto's fist with his own.

*POOF.* In a poof, Ash was gone, back to Mount Myoboku, leaving Naruto and Jiraiya behind. Despite that, Naruto still felt a small connection to Ash.

"Alright, let's call it a day. We'll continue the training tomorrow."

"Yeah, let's go get some ramen." Naruto walked off the river and towards Ichiraku.

"Okay, just this once I'll humor you." Jiraiya walked along with Naruto in a comfortable silence until they reached Ichiraku.

When they got to the shop, Jiraiya ordered a bowl of ramen while Naruto ordered three.

"Alright, I'm gonna eat. *Slurp.* This is amazing. Why can't the training be like this every day?"

Jiraiya sat next to him, eating his own bowl. "GOOD. EAT UP, it might be your last meal."

"Huh?" Naruto thought he heard him say something but didn't catch it.

*Cough.* "Nothing, nothing. Now eat up. Yeah, that's right, eat like there's no tomorrow. Hahaha."

"I don't know what's so funny and I don't care. I've got food."

Just like that, the two enjoyed the ramen. Like any other meal, Naruto ordered so much thinking Jiraiya would treat him, but Jiraiya ditched him without paying. Naruto ended up paying. Wandering the streets of Konoha, looking at his empty pouch.

"So, are you full?" Looking behind him, Naruto saw Jiraiya.

"RAAAAHHH, quit messing around! You were supposed to treat me!" Naruto charged in to punch Jiraiya.

"Do you want to become strong?" This statement froze Naruto in place.

"Isn't that obvious?" Naruto could tell Jiraiya was being serious for once.

"Are you sure?" Jiraiya asked.

"Of course I am, believe it!" Naruto said while pointing his thumb to his ninja headband. Just like that, Naruto blacked out—the one responsible was Jiraiya himself. He decided to speed things along because of what Fukasaku said about Naruto.

"I hope you enjoyed the ramen, Naruto." 'Please forgive me for what I'm about to do, Fourth Hokage.' In a flash, Jiraiya and Naruto vanished from the bustling street as if they were never there to begin with.

---

In a forest, a blur could be seen dashing from tree to tree. The blur landed in an opening, dropping Naruto on the ground.

"Ugh," looking around, Naruto didn't recognize the place. "Where are we? Tell me."

Without skipping a beat, Jiraiya stepped in front of Naruto. "Stand up."

"What's going on?"

"Naruto, your training ends here."

"WHAT?! BUT I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH YET!"

"NARUTO, starting now this is no longer training. It's become clear that training isn't enough. You must stare death in the face."

"What? Face death?" Naruto wasn't getting it at all.

"That's right. Once you feel the horror of death, your survival instincts will kick in. Once that's happened, you'll understand how to release it—the red chakra."

"If you don't wish to die, do something about it now." Jiraiya gently tapped Naruto's forehead, pushing him back a few meters through some bushes and into a giant bottomless crevasse.

"Naruto, now we shall see whether the power placed in you is a blessing or a curse."

The walls were lined with uniform earth spikes. It looked as if he fell into the mouth of the very planet. "I gotta do something. If I don't, I'll die." Naruto gathered chakra on his hands and legs and tried to grab one of the smooth rock spikes of the wall, but even when implementing the wall-walking technique, he slipped off in no time.

'It's impossible, Naruto. The rocks are too slippery. With how fast you're falling and the limited control of chakra you possess, you won't be able to grab the walls. Naruto, you must see it. You can only depend on the chakra of the Nine-Tails now.'

'If I go on like this, I really am gonna die, die, DIE.'

*POOF.* "FROAKIE!!!" When Ash was in Mount Myoboku, he felt the danger Naruto was experiencing through the bond they possessed, so he pulled on that bond and managed to summon himself to Naruto's side by himself. Only, when he got there, Naruto was falling and he was unconscious.

Naruto woke up in an unfamiliar place that resembled the sewers. *GRRRRRR.* A low-pitched loud grunt echoed through the halls. Naruto followed it, feeling the familiar red chakra more the closer he approached it. Naruto came upon an open area with a giant gate in front of him.

"What is this?" Behind the bars, a giant set of razor-sharp teeth and two giant eyes stared at him with the gaze of a predator.

"What's this... it's huge!"

"Come closer, little boy," the one behind the bars spoke in a deep, terrifying voice. Naruto did what was asked of him and approached the cage.

"How wonderful it would be *Bang!* Giant claws attempted to skewer Naruto, nearly succeeding. Naruto stumbled back and fell over. 'How wonderful it would be to kill and eat you, but this accursed cage confines me. It's that infuriating sealing spell,' the voice snarled.

'You're... the Nine-Tailed Fox.' Realizing who was behind the cage, Naruto finally understood. 'Of course, the red Chakra is this guy's Chakra.' Naruto stood up to face the beast.

'Why are you here, foolish boy? What do you want? Or have you come here to offer yourself up so that I may feast upon your marrow?'

Naruto wasn't the slightest bit intimidated by the fox. 'Enough talk. I'll be taking your Chakra, you got that?'

The beast chuckled and said, 'Well, I suppose I can't kill you. If you die, I die. Your courage is most impressive, boy.' Red Chakra flowed over to Naruto and covered him. 'Very well, as a reward for making it this far, I will loan you my Chakra.'

The Chakra caused Naruto great pain as it seeped into his being and woke him up. Noticing Naruto was awake, Ash was relieved. He felt Naruto's confidence and sudden rise in strength. A Chakra that wasn't Naruto's flowed through him and leaked into Froakie through the bond that tied them. 'Froak,' the creature exclaimed.

Naruto felt Ash on his back but didn't have time to waste. He bit his thumb and went through some seals. '' A large amount of Chakra was poured into the jutsu, but with Naruto's poor control, some leaked out. Rather than letting it go to waste, Ash actively absorbed the Chakra, feeling that it was beneficial to him and taking advantage of the opportunity.

*POOOOOFFF!* A giant cloud of smoke was released, revealing a toad—the biggest Naruto had ever seen. 'Well done, kid,' Jiraiya looked at Naruto with pride and relief.