Hokage: The Birth of the Rasengan!

The New Year break had just ended, and Konoha Ninja Academy was welcoming the start of a new term.

The school year in this world was divided into three terms: April to July, September to December, and January to March. (Just like in modern Japan.)

It was now January, the start of a new term as winter gave way to spring.

As usual, Third Sarutobi Hiruzen attended the opening ceremony and delivered an important speech.

Whenever a new term began, the old man who had led Konoha for many years always had something to say to the children.

He spoke not only about the Will of Fire and the ideals passed down through generations, but also shared amusing anecdotes and insights from his training, along with practical, accessible advice on ninjutsu. His speeches were never dull.

During his speech, he would sometimes pick a few students at random to answer their questions. This year was no different.

"...When training in ninjutsu, we often focus too much on a technique's power..."

In plain, lightly humorous language, the Third explained some basic yet profound principles.

After finishing a section on ninjutsu, he paused. His kind gaze swept over the students standing in neat rows below, and he prepared to choose a few children with their hands raised, as he usually did.

At that moment, a student in the Class 2 third-year formation calmly raised his hand, immediately drawing his attention.

Higashino Shinichi.

The Third's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. A moment later, a warmer smile appeared on his face. He raised a hand toward the boy and gently beckoned.

"You there, from Class 2 in the third year. Please stand up. Do you have a question, or a point of view you'd like to share?"

Shinichi stood and bowed respectfully toward the stage. Then, with just the right amount of confusion and uncertainty on his face, he began, "Well, Third, I've been trying to develop a new ninjutsu for the past two years. In the end... well, I suppose I succeeded, but you could also say I failed, because I found that the technique seems to have a major problem that I can't solve on my own."

"Oh? You've been developing a new technique?" The Third's smile grew, his expression encouraging. "It seems we have a Genius here, someone brave enough to explore new things."

He praised the boy warmly, though deep down, he didn't take the claim too seriously.

In his view, this so-called new technique was probably a crude modification or combination of existing techniques. Reaching C-Rank would be impressive; even approaching the threshold of B-Rank would be exceedingly rare.

"What's your name, young man?" the Third asked pleasantly, as if hearing it for the first time.

"Higashino Shinichi."

"Then, Shinichi, why don't you tell us more about it? Or perhaps demonstrate your new technique so I can see what the problem is. I might be able to offer you some advice."

Shinichi hesitated. He glanced at the crowded rows of students around him, seeming unsure how to proceed.

The Third understood and smiled. "It seems Shinichi's new technique is rather powerful and would cause quite a commotion. It wouldn't be convenient to demonstrate it here. How about you come up onto the stage?"

"Yes!"

Shinichi answered and stepped out of his class's formation. He walked through the crowd toward the stage, while murmurs broke out among the students below.

"Shinichi? He actually developed a new ninjutsu himself?"

"No surprise there... He always seemed to know so much."

"Oh, it's him! That maniac! Every morning when I get to school, I see him using Shadow Clones to beat himself up!"

"Is that Higashino Shinichi, the one who defeated Kakashi back then?"

"It was just luck. Kakashi's already become a Chunin. He must be much stronger now. They're not even on the same level anymore!"

"What technique did he develop? Didn't you help him with it?" the Class 1 homeroom teacher asked curiously.

"I don't know. He never mentioned it to me," Teacher Matsumoto replied, shaking his head.

Whispers of surprise, curiosity, and doubt rippled through the rows. Every eye focused on the back of the boy walking steadily toward the stage.

"Shinichi, go ahead and demonstrate your technique. Don't worry. I'm right here," the Third said with an encouraging smile, his gaze kind.

The two advisers accompanying him, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, also looked over with curiosity.

"Yes!"

Shinichi took a deep breath, his expression growing focused. Slowly, he raised his right hand and spread his fingers.

At first, only an invisible current of air gathered faintly in his palm, as though Chakra were beginning to collect there.

"Hm?"

The Third gave a small murmur of surprise. But in the next instant, his habitual, kindly smile vanished.

He wasn't the only one. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's expressions changed almost at the same time.

Above Shinichi's palm, the gathered Chakra quickly became visible to the naked eye!

It formed streams of bright blue Chakra, flowing at tremendous speed and compressed to an astonishing degree as they began to spin!

Vmmm!

A low, faint vibration rang out, like air being torn apart and drawn back together.

In the blink of an eye, a pale blue orb about the size of a fist hovered above his palm, made entirely of highly condensed Chakra spinning at a furious rate!

Inside the orb, clear strands of Chakra whirled like a storm, stirring up chaotic currents of air that visibly ruffled Shinichi's sleeves and the hair above his forehead.

The Rasengan!

The new technique Shinichi claimed to have developed was none other than the advanced, Sealless Jutsu that Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze would create in the future. Inspired by the Tailed Beast Ball, it would be classified as an A-Rank Ninjutsu!

At this point in time, Minato Namikaze might still have been thinking it over, or perhaps he had only just begun. But the technique was nowhere near complete, and had not yet been revealed to the world. (Note:)

The original work had clearly shown the principles behind the Rasengan and the process of training it.

Stage One—Gathering: Gather Chakra in the palm of the hand.

Stage Two—Balloon: Release Chakra to make the water inside a balloon move irregularly until the balloon bursts.

Stage Three—Rubber Ball: Maintain the released Chakra and make it tangible until it can break the rubber ball.

For the final stage, combine everything that came before: gather high-density Chakra in the hand, release it continuously, keep it stable, and finally condense it into a dense ball of Chakra.

But after completing the rubber-ball stage, Shinichi hadn't been able to move on to the final stage successfully. He figured there must be some trick to the Rasengan that hadn't been shown in the anime.

So he added a fourth stage: the iron-ball exercise. Once he managed to make the iron ball crack, he also succeeded in producing a stable Rasengan.

It was only because of the many Traits he possessed, with the Genius Trait at their core, that Shinichi had the talent and aptitude of a true genius. Otherwise, even with the right ideas and methods, developing the Rasengan on his own would have been difficult.

Shinichi intended to take advantage of this point in time, before Minato Namikaze had developed the technique, to create the Rasengan, an A-Rank Ninjutsu, and reveal it at the opening ceremony—in front of the entire school and Konoha High Command—to cause a sensation.

That way, he could directly generate an overall Trait related to ninjutsu talent!