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[thinhammer]

[ He opens the feed with a couple fries still sticking out of his mouth. Everything is lost now that he's discovered junk food. Sure, Konoha had it's own version of quick-and-greasy, but nothing he'd ever consumed in his world tasted like this. It's second only to his one true love -- ramen -- of which there is a distinct lack in this area except for in cup form. It's a good thing he's not picky.

He chews thoughtfully for a minute while he stares directly into the camera, but conveniently swallows and speaks up just before it gets awkward. ]

So I was trainin' the other day. Doin' some kicks and stuff, practicin' on a clone. [ Yeah, that got him some weird looks. Who wouldn't find the sight of a dude beating an exact clone of himself up and laughing about a little weird? ] And I realised somethin' when I tried to summon Old Man Toad..... I can't do it anymore. I tried and tried, I got so desperate I woulda even settled for meetin' Gamatatsu.. but nothin'. They live back on Mount Myoboku, and that's still in my world, so my summoning contract with them isn't gonna work anymore, is it?

[ He scratches his face idly, as if talking about missing his sentient toads is a totally normal thing. He really doesn't know any better. ]

So, I was wonderin'... Does anyone know where I can get a frog or a toad or somethin'?

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[cuff]

Old Man Toad? [ That sounds like the beginning of a kids book but that'd probably be kind of rude to say so he's... keeping his trap shut. ]

I dunno what kinda or somethin's you're thinking of after toads, but i'm pretty sure there's some frogs to be dug outta the wilderness around here. Without, y'know, goin too far.

[thinhammer]

Yeah, he's the chief toad, the one I had to impress to get my contract.

[ Duh, dude. That's definitely common sense. Toad Summoning 101. But it's okay, Naruto will let your blunder slide in favor of getting REALLY EXCITED about what you just said. ]

What, seriously? Just. Out in the forest? For anyone to dig up and take home?

[cuff]

Wait, you have a what- a chief of the toads? [ Little bro you are the most confusing with your village names and places and life, but he's just trying to go with the flow here. And getting distracted. ]

Uhh. Yeah, that's the long and short of it. For anyone at all, just hopping around, doing their thing.

[thinhammer]

Yeah, 'course. He's kinda like the boss, even though he still gets his orders from Grandpa Toad Sage.

[ It's no wonder he's getting confused, really.. Naruto isn't exactly making it easy. But about that frog thing.... ]

Hhhmm.. I wonder how I'd keep 'em in the house. [ His toads have always lived on their own island, after all. ] Maybe let 'em live in the bathroom...?

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[malodorous]

At a pond. Or a stream.

Shallow freshwater bodies, really. Any one.

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[thinhammer]

...Ain't all froggy water kinda murky? I've never seen no freshness about it.

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[malodorous]

... It's just a word for water that's not salt water.

Like, you know, from the ocean.

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[daimeinashi]

[There's so much staring happening right now, Naruto. So. Much.]

How much blood did you waste.

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[thinhammer]

[ His eyes flick down to look at the mottled scar on the pad of his thumb. Oh yeah. ]

Eh, not that much. I only passed out once!

[ He seems to think that if he smiles and puts his hands behind his head like this, then Sai will understand and side with him. ]

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[daimeinashi]

[Na...ruto.....

Sai's face is doing a strange contorting sort of thing, like it's trying to figure out how to work the muscles to form a proper(ly horrified) expression.]

And you...didn't think after the first few tries that there might be something wrong? Have you ever failed a summoning jutsu before?

[His pitch even goes up a little at that. Congrats, Naruto, you've gotten a distressed Emotion out of lineface ninja about 150 chapters early, developmentwise.]

[ Audio ] ID; Dominique Destine

[pmsgargoyle]

Summoning doesn't work possibly because you are in a new Universe, with no way of being accessed unless through the Porter.

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[thinhammer]

Yeah, I know that! [ Kind of. He'd had a vague idea, but it's nice to hear some confirmation, even if it's not entirely certain. ] There ain't no Frog Island around here after all, y'know. And summoning contracts aren't like.. immediate anyway. Sometimes they don't even work at all if they're too busy.

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[pmsgargoyle]

Even if they were here, I don't think summoning is naturally possible in this world, anyway. [ she tried. ]

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[fastballspeciaaaaal]

I bet I can catch a froggy for you! I'm real good with animals.

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[thinhammer]

Yeah? I dunno how I am with animals but uh.. Old Man Toad didn't wanna give me a contract till I proved myself, and that took a long time....

[ He'll have to work on that. ]

You ever caught a frog before?

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[fastballspeciaaaaal]

Lots 'a times! I can show you how if you want, it's super easy. Unless you're weird about touching frogs.

[eastdetective]

What do you mean by summoning? And what do toads have to do with it?

[thinhammer]

Oh! [ YES a chance to show off what he knows!!! He pauses to think for a moment and then- ] Uh. [ -he realises he doesn't actually know all that much about the intricate details, so instead he settles on what he definitely knows. ]

... My teacher was a Toad Sage and he let me make a contract with the toads -- or I guess he asked them if they'd let me make a contract with 'em, 'cause I had work really hard to prove myself to the Chief Toad, but once I did he let me sign the contract and now I can summon them to wherever I am by makin' some seals and bitin' my thumb! ...Or, at least I could back in my own world.

[eastdetective]

[Now Conan didn't have high expectations for the people he met here. He'd reluctantly gotten used to the idea that there were many things here that made no logical sense and that he would be unable to explain.

Yet.

He still hadn't given up on his belief that anything in the world could be explained with science and logic, given enough effort.

That still made no sense at all.]

What do contracts have to do with toads and summoning? And why do you have to bite your thumb? That sounds unsanitary.

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[oceanthief]

How do you fight with a frog?

[does he set it on fire like he did to himself that one time and fling it at people? Lapis tilts her head to the side thoughtfully. actually...assuming he could throw it fast enough, that would probably be a horrifying attack to field.]

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[thinhammer]

They're like this big-- [ He flings his arms into the air and no, they're really not that big. They're much bigger, but the gist is there. ] --and they're really good at fightin'. They can do their own jutsu, spit oil and water and stuff and, and Gamabunta has this huuuuge sword he can use to chop even bigger monsters up!

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[oceanthief]

Oh.

[they're sentient and they fight on their own. that makes a lot more sense, especially for someone from a race of aliens who've seen their fair share of bizarre extraterrestrials. although it does make her a little bit curious...]

I thought that humans were the only species on earth that could do anything like that.

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[gentledheart]

[The feed is zoomed in a little too far when she starts recording. A frown on her normally serene face and after some moving and shaking the image settles on a much less up close view, though some of the frown is still in place. ] Is that the only jutsu you've lost the ability to complete?

[Serious question done; now for the fun one.]

Frogs used to live by the river in Konoha, maybe we you can find them there here as well.

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[thinhammer]

Uuuuh, I think so. I can still use sage mode, and my chakra cloak too.. And I can still make shadow clones...

[ Those are all the important ones, right? Moving on. ]

Oh, ya think? Maybe we should go look sometime, huh? We could check every river here, and then try every river where you live!

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[gentledheart]

Good. I would be worried if you had other jutsu that you couldn't use anymore as well.

[did he say we? He said we. She dips her head to hide the growing pink tinge to her cheeks.]

We could do that. I wouldn't mind helping you look for frogs.