Jiraiya is enjoying himself. He has such lovely young specimens to study today. Behind him, Naruto is yelling about his continuing inability to summon anything bigger than a tadpole.
"WHAT THE HECK IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TOAD AND A TADPOLE, ANYWAY?" Naruto yells.
Jiraiya ignores him. The girls bathing in the river are much better viewing.
"OI! PERVY SAGE!" Naruto yells. "COULDN'T YOU AT LEAST ACT LIKE YOU HAVE SOME FAITH IN ME?!"
Jiraiya turns to glare at Naruto in time to see Naruto's eyes glaze over. The boy collapses, falling over backwards in the dirt. "Not again," groans Jiraiya. "But I suppose it can't be helped, what with him having used up all his chakra." Jiraiya sighs. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but it really can't be helped. He hoists Naruto up over his shoulder and heads to a remote location.
For Naruto to tap into the Nine Tailed Fox's power, Jiraiya is certain the boy will need to be thrust straight into a life-or-death situation. He glances up at the giant, carve face of Minato. "I'm sorry for what I am about to do, Lord Fourth," Jiraiya apologises.
Once he has found a suitable location, Jiraiya lays Naruto on the ground and creates a vast chasm in the ground. Then he turns back to Naruto and inspects the anti-gravity seal on Naruto's arm. Jiraiya grins when he realizes that he can tell how the seal works just by looking at it. Maybe he should have a seal-master off with that upstart Iruka. Jiraiya then does what somebody should have thought to do when Naruto first made the seal: he cuts off Naruto's access to it with a Five Pronged Seal. Now Naruto won't be able to simply float his way out of trouble. Jiraiya wonders if Naruto has anything else he could use to prevent the plan from working.
Not that it matters, Naruto is too low on chakra to use his own chakra, so no matter how he gets out of the situation, it will be with the Nine Tails' chakra. Jiraiya hates having to force Naruto into this corner, but it must be done. Naruto's stupid resistance against using the Nine Tails' power was completely unexpected. He'd talk to Naruto about it to figure out what's really bothering him, but Jiraiya doesn't like talking about feelings. Besides, Naruto can always go talk to that Iruka who he likes so much.
And no, Jiraiya is not jealous at all. No way!
His preparations complete, Jiraiya takes Naruto behind some bushes, so he can't see the giant, gaping hole in the earth, and throws a bucket of water on Naruto's face. "Rise and shine!" Jiraiya says, cheerfully.
Naruto sits up, shakes the water off his head and says, "What was that for?"
"To knock some sense into you, since you have none." replies Jiraiya. "We've been training for three weeks now, and you've gotten practically nowhere. If you continue like this, the whole thing is pointless."
"Hey! I'm trying my hardest!" whinges Naruto.
"Are you?" says Jiraiya, crossing his arms. "It seems to me you could be taking this a step further. If you were to risk your life for this training, then perhaps you will pull it off."
"Hey! I've been training like I'm gonna die, dattebayo!"
"Really? Well how about you put your life at risk for this training? Are you willing to go all the way?"
"Of course!" says Naruto. "There's no point if I don't risk everything!"
"Good." Jiraiya pushes Naruto backwards, through the bushes and into the ravine. "Then summon or die. I blocked off your anti-gravity seal, so you can't use that. You have no choice but to summon." As Naruto falls, Jiraiya stands at the edge of the precipice and watches his attempts to stop his fall. It is futile, though. Naruto's only hope now is to pull out the chakra of the nine tailed fox. However, Jiraiya is ready to save Naruto if it comes to that.
Naruto tries desperately to turn on the anti-gravity seal, but he cannot. Pervy Sage really did block it. Not even Iruka-nii can do that. Is Pervy Sage really a better sealmaster? Naruto tries to use the Temporal Distortion seal, but it takes a lot of chakra, and he does not have enough. It really is summon or die.
But how can he summon with no chakra?
Naruto realizes with a jolt that he is about to die.
Die.
He feels his pulse beat loudly.
Naruto closes his eyes.
He hears water dripping. Where is the water coming from? Naruto opens his eyes. He is inside a dark, wet sewer. Naruto is no stranger to mess, but he wants to make this place more cheerful.
Naruto hears a low growl rumble through the sewer. Curious, he follows the sound to a giant gate made of bars thicker than Choji. Make that three Chojis. Or three of Choji's Dad. They are THICK bars.
Naruto creeps over to investigate. The giant gate is intimidatingly tall. Taller than the cliff around the village, maybe. Naruto stares up at it and sees a paper stuck to the gates. Naruto knows just by glancing at it that the kanji on the paper says 'seal'. A strange, angry chakra is emanating from the murky darkness behind the gate. Someone is in there. Someone deeply unhappy.
Naruto creeps forward. "Hello?" he calls. "Who's in there, 'tebayo?"
A purring growl answers him, as a pair of glowing red eyes float close to the cage, along with a sharp pair of white teeth.
Naruto squints, trying to make out more of the strange, enormous being behind the gate. "Are you the Nine Tailed Fox?" he asks, thinking that this must be the seal the Nine Tails is kept in. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
"I know who you are, boy," growls the fox. "And yes, I am the mighty Nine Tailed Fox."
"I'm falling off a cliff," Naruto tells him. "If I die, will you die too?"
The fox growls low. "Yes, I will die - but only for a short time. I will return, stronger than ever, after a few years!"
"Well, that's nice to know, I guess," says Naruto, sighing. "I had so much I still wanted to do, but it was nice meeting you before I die, Mr. Nine Tails, sir."
The fox growls, but the growl sounds more like a laugh. "Sir? I've never been called that before. I'll tell you what kid: that Old Sage is getting too pushy. How about I help you out of this situation, huh?"
"You'll really help me?" Naruto's face lights up with new hope. "Really truly? Oh please, help! Please, dattebayo!"
A mist of red chakra slides out from under the gate and encircles Naruto. "Have some of my chakra as a gift, boy. Use it to summon one of those silly toads and save us. Any time you are in a bind, feel free to call on my chakra. I'd hate to lose my main source of entertainment."
Naruto considers that statement, then realizes the Mr. Nine Tails Sir is talking about Naruto. "HEY!" yells Naruto, indignantly. "What do you mean by that?"
Mr. Nine Tails Sir just laughs.
Naruto feels a slight tugging sensation and finds himself falling down the abyss. Using the chakra that Mr. Nine Tails Sir gave him, Naruto performs the summoning jutsu. All the chakra is used up, and now Naruto knows how much chakra he needs: A LOT.
Naruto's fall comes to an abrupt halt as he lands on something huge and vast. There is something familiar about the vast expanse of green. Naruto crawls around, investigating. Red, warty skin. Blue happi vest with the kanji for 'shrimp' on the back. Giant pipe sticking out of the toad's mouth.
Naruto is so excited he jumps up and down for joy on top of the toad's head. "I summoned Gamabunta! OH MY GOSH, THE KING OF TOADS IS REAL!" He jumps down onto Gamabunta's nose and grins widely at the toad. "I have a plushie of you! And also, you are on my T-shirt!" Naruto unzips his jacket to show Gamabunta his T-shirt. "I had no idea you were so HUGE, dattebayo!"
"WHERE IS JIRAIYA?! HOW DARE THAT PERVERT TEACH YOU TO SUMMON ME?" roars Gamabunta. "AND HOW DARE YOU BE A FANBOY!?"
"I'M NOT A FANBOY! IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT EVERYTHING PERVY SAGE SENDS ME HAS YOU AND THE REST OF THE MOUNT MYOBOKU TOADS ALL OVER IT!"
"Oh yeah, that's right," says Gamabunta. "We created a children's line just for you. Some other kid uses our merchandise now, a girl, I believe. Now what do you want?"
"Pervy Sage threw me off a cliff," says Naruto, turning on the tears, like he does when he wants Grandpa to give him something. "Please help me get back to the top?"
Gamabunta stares at Naruto. "Don't cry, kid. I'll get you out."
"You're the best!" says Naruto, smiling winningly. "You're way cooler than Pervy Sage!"
In one giant leap, Gamabunta jumps to the top of the ravine. Finally safe, Naruto lets himself relax. Next thing he knows, darkness has enveloped him.