Rasengan Complete!

After a night of rest, the injuries on Naruto's hands had improved significantly.

Senzu Beans could heal him outright... but Jimo figured that if he did, the stubborn kid would spend the whole night working on the Third Stage—maintaining the Rasengan...

Jiraiya had been sleeping outside these past few days... Jimo had been having a miserable time at the inn...

Naruto slept just as Jimo remembered. In the middle of the night, he would keep shouting, "Rasengan! Rasengan!" and leave Jimo tossing and turning all night.

As the three of them walked along, Naruto asked Jiraiya what the Third Stage of training involved.

"You can ask Jimo. Maybe he'll explain it better than I can!"

Jiraiya kept walking without a care.

Jimo tossed Naruto a balloon. At first, Naruto thought it was filled with water again, but when he saw how lightly it floated over, he realized it was an air-filled balloon.

"That's the Third Stage!"

"Pop!"

Before Jimo could finish, Naruto used Chakra to burst the balloon.

"Could you let me finish first?"

Jimo gave Naruto a rap on the head.

"Take a look at this balloon in my hand. See anything different about it?"

Jimo took out another balloon and held it on his palm.

Naruto studied it for a long while. Apart from the balloon resting steadily on Jimo's palm, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Jiraiya frowned.

"That kid's talent is ridiculous... He's already controlling the Chakra in the Rasengan this well after such a short time..."

Jimo found a tree and slapped the balloon against it. The moment it burst, it bored a hole through the trunk.

An orange-yellow Chakra sphere appeared in Jimo's palm. At its core, it spun erratically like a miniature typhoon.

"In the First Stage, you used a Water Ball and stirred the water with Chakra until the balloon burst. That helped you get used to making Chakra rotate in random directions, and to spinning it at high speed against the water's resistance."

"The Rubber Ball in the Second Stage was meant to teach you to compress the amount of Chakra you inject—in other words, to increase its power!"

"The Third Stage..."

Before Jimo could continue, Naruto answered for him.

"The Third Stage is maintaining the Chakra's stability while increasing its power! You have to keep the balloon from bursting even as the Chakra spins rapidly in random directions and you inject more of it!"

"Clever!"

Jiraiya couldn't help praising him.

Before this training, Jimo had taught Naruto a trick.

He had previously taught Naruto how to use a Chakra Jade and throw it.

"Just like when you gather a Chakra Jade, first compress the Chakra into a sphere! Then make the Chakra inside that sphere swirl!"

As he spoke, Jimo demonstrated...

He had been laying the groundwork for teaching Naruto to form the Rasengan from the very beginning...

Jiraiya had lost count of how many times Jimo's talent had amazed him. By now, he was used to it.

With this training, Naruto had even overcome the need to use both hands to change the Chakra's rotation from one direction to random directions.

"That kid's got a knack for this... He actually came up with a technique that's extremely similar to the Rasengan..."

Jiraiya watched the pair's progress all the way there.

Before they even reached Short Book Street, Naruto could already perform the Rasengan with one hand. Its power wasn't as great as when he formed it with both hands, but in a fight, he could unleash it much faster.

Since Naruto had completed his Rasengan training ahead of schedule, the three of them reached Short Book Street earlier than expected.

"Run! There's a monster!"

Several residents came running toward them.

"A snake—a huge snake..."

Hearing that, all three turned toward the direction the residents had come from.

A grand building had already collapsed.

"Could it be Orochimaru...?"

Jiraiya frowned...

"This is bad..."

Before Jiraiya could react, Jimo had already flown off on the Flying Nimbus toward the scene.

"What a convenient ability..."

Jiraiya grabbed Naruto by the scruff of the neck and hurried away.

"Long time no see, Tsunade... You're certainly hard to find."

Orochimaru spoke in a sinister voice.

Tsunade felt deeply uncomfortable under his gaze...

"You didn't come all this way just to tell me you wanted to catch up, did you?"

Tsunade watched him warily... She had been away for so long and had always made a point of avoiding news about the village.

"Then I'll get straight to it. I need a favor..."

"If you're asking me to treat your hands, don't bother. I'm no longer a medical ninja..."

The moment Tsunade saw him, she had noticed that Orochimaru's hands hung unnaturally, trembling slightly.

"Only a medical ninja as skilled as you could treat an injury this severe," Kabuto said from the side.

"That bad? How did it happen...?"

Tsunade knew what Orochimaru was capable of. He had never been shy about hurting himself.

"I was injured by the old man while killing the Third Hokage," Orochimaru said calmly. "Don't look at me like that... Everything with form will eventually wither. People are no exception..."

"Besides... if you heal my hands, I can use a forbidden technique... to bring back the two people you love most... Think it over."

Just as Orochimaru continued to toy with Tsunade's emotions, a pillar of light descended from the sky.

"Those who toy with the dead will go to hell!"

A full-power Kamehameha blasted Orochimaru. The powerful wave sent him and Kabuto flying.

"Since we've had an interruption, there's no point in talking any longer. I'll give you a week... I look forward to your answer..."

Orochimaru's voice came from far away...

"Whew... Good thing... I made it in time..."

Jimo leaped down from the Flying Nimbus and bowed respectfully to Tsunade.

"I'm Jimo, a Chunin of Konoha. Please wait, Lady Tsunade... Lord Jiraiya is on his way..."

Tsunade stared at Jimo, utterly bewildered. She had fought in the ninja wars and seen all kinds of strange techniques, but this was the first time she had seen someone fire Chakra directly like that.

The two of them looked him up and down as if they wanted to dissect him.

"Kid, you're... a Chunin?"

Tsunade asked doubtfully. Judging by the crater in the ground, that wasn't a technique a Chunin should be able to use...

"Yes, Lady Tsunade..."

After answering a few questions, Jiraiya arrived, panting.

"Tsu... Tsunade... Long time no see..."

"Forget whether we've seen each other. The kid behind you is about to be shaken to death..."

Tsunade pointed behind Jiraiya. Naruto's face was purplish, foam was spilling from his mouth, and he had passed out.

"Never mind... Let's talk somewhere else..."

Jiraiya carried Naruto over his shoulder, and the group decided to head to a tavern in town, where they could eat while they talked.