'A... Saiyan Jinchuriki?' Naruto's mind reeled, the damp, sewer-like environnt fading as impossible questions flooded his thoughts. 'Am I in Dragon Ball? Or so Naruto crossover? Where... where am I supposed to be?' He forced himself to focus, trying to grasp the reality of the figure standing calmly behind the massive iron bars where a monstrous fox should have been. 'Okay, Saiyans... what do I know?'
He dredged up fragnted knowledge, likely absorbed from so forgotten corner of his past life's mories. Saiyans: a warrior race, obsessed with strength, fiercely proud. They served an emperor, Frieza, until he betrayed them, destroyed their planet, leaving only a handful scattered across the universe. A universe where destroying moons was trivial – done casually by fighters like Master Roshi and Piccolo. Where planets could be shattered with a single energy blast, solar systems threatened, and reality itself felt fragile. Compared to that... the strongest shinobi here, wielding techniques that could atmost seal moon, felt terrifyingly outclassed.
'Moon destruction was early stuff,' Naruto recalled with growing unease. 'Later, Frieza wrecked planets. Then ca threats to solar systems, even the universe... one mistake and *poof*, everything gone.' He shuddered. 'Against that scale, even the Hokage seems... small. A random soldier from Frieza's army could probably wipe the Elental Nations off the map.'
His gaze snapped back to the present, the imnse cage dominating his ntal landscape. 'But where's the Fox?' He scanned the dim expanse beyond the bars again. Nothing. No colossal, nine-tailed beast radiating malevolence. Just... Goku. Panic began its cold crawl up his spine. 'How can Kurama be gone? Did Goku vaporize him because that furball pissed off Goku? Did Goku... eat him? He eats dinosaurs, right? Kurama was supposed to be my power! My cheat!'
"Uh..." Naruto began, voice hesitant as he gestured awkwardly towards the figure. "Mr. Goku? Have you, uh... seen a really, really big fox around here? Nine tails, super angry?"
Goku scratched his head, his expression one of genuine puzzlent. "A big fox? Nope. Haven't seen one. Though I wish there was it's been so long since I have eaten..." He tilted his head, pointing a thumb towards the faint halo hovering above it. "It's just in here. Well," he corrected himself cheerfully, "a dead , anyway. See the halo? Everyone gets it when they die. Hey, how co you don't have one?"
'Right,' Naruto thought dryly, 'because I'm not dead. Just trapped in my own mindscape with a dead alien martial artist instead of a tailed beast.' This was getting weirder by the second.
"So... how did you end up in here, Mr. Goku?" Naruto pressed, desperate for so kind of explanation.
"Beats !" Goku shrugged, looking around the sewer-like space. "One minute I was training like crazy on King Kai's planet, the next – bam! – here I am." He suddenly adopted a fighting stance, throwing a few light air punches that whistled faintly. "Anyway, gotta keep training! There are these two really strong guys, other Saiyans, heading for Earth soon. I'm really looking forward to fighting them! Man," he paused, flexing his hand, "The gravity here is way too light compared to King Kai's place. I'm gonna get rusty if I slack off."
Goku kept muttering about training, Saiyans, and Earth. 'King Kai's planet... two Saiyans coming... he died fighting Raditz!' Naruto's mind raced, piecing it together. 'This must be right after that! When he was traveling Snake Way in the afterlife. Early Dragon Ball Z... before Vegeta and Nappa arrived.'
"Hey, Mr. Goku," Naruto interrupted, pointing towards the gaps between the massive bars. Kurama was far too large, but Goku... "Can't you just... slip through?"
Logically, Goku looked small enough to easily pass between the bars of the seal that was ant to hold a mountain-sized fox.
Goku walked up to the gate and pushed against an invisible barrier. He frowned, looking more confused than concerned. "Nope. I have been trying that for awhile, seems like sothing's stopping ." He crossed his arms, looking slightly put out, like he'd stubbed his toe.
'Sothing's stopping Goku?' Naruto stared, stunned. 'Even back then, his power level was... huge! At least 4,000, maybe more after King Kai's initial training boost? Enough to blow up small planets, probably. Since when is the Eight Trigrams Seal strong enough to contain that?'
He paced again, a growing sense of dread replacing his earlier panic. He searched fruitlessly one last ti for any sign of the Nine-Tails. Nothing. Defeated, Naruto slumped onto the damp, taphysical ground. 'Okay... okay. So, no Kurama.' He desperately tried to find a silver lining. 'I'm still an Uzumaki. My own chakra reserves should be massive. Maybe... maybe not having the Fox's volatile chakra interfering will actually let grow faster? Control my own power better?' A tiny spark of hope flickered in the gloom.
"Hey, kid," Goku's voice broke the silence. "What's up? You looked all sad for a second, now you look kinda happy... it's weird." His stomach suddenly let out an enormous *Growl*. "Man, I'm starving! Got anything to eat?"
'Food? You're dead, stuck in a seal, and you're still thinking about food? I've got my own food issues, thank you very much...' Naruto sighed inwardly, shooting a half-exasperated, half-disbelieving glare at the figure behind the bars. 'Great. So I'm a Saiyan Jinchuriki? Does that an I can go Super Saiyan eventually? But Saiyans don't even have chakra... they're not even from this dinsion, let alone this planet!'
His eyes drifted over Goku's orange gi, lingering on the round '亀' (Turtle) symbol on his chest and back.
Wait a second.
Goku.
'The chakra cheat is gone...' The thought snagged, twisting into sothing new. 'But... I got an even better cheat!' His gaze snapped back to Goku, wide with dawning realization. 'I lost one power source... but didn't another one just land in my lap?'
The main character from Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and couple others.
He went from a nobody with a power level of single digits, step by step, with blood, sweat and his enemies tears, until he beca one of the strongest beings in the universe.
A martial arts master from a universe with a completely different, arguably far more potent, power system.
Soone who punched the emperor of the universe, kicked Android ass, surpassed the Supre Kai, and beat Majin Buu then fought God of Destruction. Then fought even stronger beings in the sequel and gas.
'Afterimages... sensing energy... the Kahaha... Flight! The Kaio-ken... the Spirit Bomb!' Naruto's heart began to pound like a war drum. Even this early version of Goku possessed skills that were practically god-tier compared to most shinobi techniques. 'If I could learn even one of those... just the basics... my strength would skyrocket! I could potentially beco stronger than anyone in the village and this planet!'
Forget dusty old scrolls or grumpy teachers. He had a universe-class martial arts grandmaster literally living inside him.
Naruto scrambled to his feet, eyes shining with the intensity of soone who'd just discovered an infinite ran coupon valid for life. He faced the sealed gate, took a deep, steadying breath, and bowed deeply-a perfect ninety degrees, filled with reverence and desperate hope.
"Mr. Goku!" he yelled, his voice ringing with newfound determination. "Please, teach ! Take as your student!"
Goku blinked, startled by the sudden shift in the kid's deanor. "Huh?" He stared at the small, blond boy bowing so earnestly. For a fleeting mont, the image flickered – another kid, bald this ti, arriving on a tiny boat, asking sothing similar of Master Roshi years ago... 'Huh. Kinda nostalgic,' Goku thought idly. 'He looks about the sa age as Gohan, too. And Krillin and Bulma will use the Dragon Balls to wish back when those Saiyans show up anyway. Plenty of ti until then, might as well do sothing...'
Without overthinking it, as usual, he just grinned his typical carefree grin. "Okay."
"Yes!" Naruto pumped his fist, absolutely beaming. "Thank you Sensei!"
Goku waved a hand dismissively, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, sure. 'Sensei'... feels kinda weird, though."
Naruto's mind was already racing, possibilities exploding like fireworks. 'Who needs to be a fragile ninja dodging kunai? I've discovered a truth: Ninjas have limits! Therefore, I reject my ninjahood, Sasuke!'
He could almost picture it... soaring through the sky, energy blasts erupting from his hands... 'Flying around, throwing Ki blasts like *Pew! Pew!* This is gonna be aweso!'
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