After the preliminaries are over, Naruto finds himself having to go into even more training in order to prepare for the finals. Naruto Vol. 14: Jiraiya Returns! shows Naruto's first steps under the tutelage of Jiraiya (Sannin, Toad Sage and writer of risque novels). At first Jiraiya simply tries to lose the knucklehead ninja, but through persistence, and an annoying habit of interrupting Pervey Sage's "research," the training begins.

During the early chakra-control practices, Jiraiya notices that Naruto has a second seal over the one The Fourth Hokage put over the Nine-Tailed Fox's soul. This one is causing an unstable release of chakra and is most likely the cause for Naruto's problems. Once The Toad Sage releases the crude seal that Orochimaru placed on our young hero during in The Forest of Death, Naruto quickly makes progress and might actually be able to pull off a brand new technique, a Summoning Jutsu.

In the end, Naruto is only able to summon the mountain-sized toad when he is in a life or death situation and he confronts the Nine-Tailed Fox within himself. The series of events that lead up to Naruto's eventual ability to tap into this second reserve of chakra is grueling for the young ninja, but well worth the effort.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Ino visit the hospital to check on Sasuke and Rock Lee. But when they go to Sasuke's room, he is gone and it looks like Rock Lee has disappeared as well. It turns out Sasuke has gone off to find Kakashi in order to start up his training for the Finals, and Rock Lee is determined to not let his injuries keep him from fighting as he works past the immense pain that Gaara and his own Jutsu put him through.

Naruto Vol. 14: Jiraiya Returns! kicks off the second season with a hit and really gets you geared up for the final tournaments that are just a month away.