Naruto and Sasuke's Bond Technique, Get! / Chapter 22: Kumogakure: I'm In-Huh, I'm Back Out

After a long while, Namikaze Minato finally heard a voice.

"Uchiha Chonhua wins. You two may form the Seal of Reconciliation."

Kinoshita-sensei's announcement left Minato stunned. He'd lost? When had that happened?

Suddenly, the world spun around him, and the entire scene twisted out of shape.

The next moment, a chorus of noisy voices rushed in. Minato was dazed. He realized what had happened and let out a wry laugh.

Looking at Uchiha Chonhua, who stood smiling across from him, Minato formed the Seal of Reconciliation with him.

"It was a genjutsu. When did you cast it?"

"From the very beginning."

The answer left Minato astonished. From the very beginning? But the person he'd been fighting had undoubtedly been the real Uchiha Chonhua. He was absolutely certain of that.

So it was a delayed-trigger genjutsu?

"You've been studying an ever wider range of techniques."

Minato sighed with admiration. He'd experienced Chonhua's ninjutsu and Taijutsu firsthand many times over the past three years. Now Chonhua had learned genjutsu too, and he even had Medical Ninjutsu to boot.

Minato couldn't help admiring him. How did one person have the energy to study so many different disciplines? And be good at every one of them, too?

Perhaps he was witnessing the birth of an all-around ninja.

If Uchiha Chonhua had known what Minato was thinking, he would've said, "It's a cheat. I've got a cheat."

He was simply using Uchiha Itachi's talent to study the disciplines Itachi hadn't pursued.

The only thing he'd worked hard to learn himself was Medical Ninjutsu. Oh, and the new technique he was currently studying, one that didn't exist yet.

"Wow, you're amazing, Chonhua!"

Kushina Uzumaki excitedly rushed over, her eyes shining as she stared at Chonhua.

"That girly boy was no match for you at all, ya know."

"G-Girly boy!?"

Minato's face fell. He was crushed.

He had a good impression of his classmate Kushina. She shared his dream, and he loved her red hair.

He'd never imagined that she saw him as a girly boy.

"Minato's impressive too. His Wind Release can already undergo a change in nature, giving it a sharp, slicing quality."

Uchiha Chonhua showed Kushina the sleeve that had been cut.

"Change in nature?" Kushina asked, puzzled. "What's that?"

"Eh, never mind. No matter how impressive he is, he's still not as impressive as you. Just now, he was so scared he stood there like an idiot."

It seemed Kushina needed to brush up on her ninja knowledge.

"That was because he was caught in a genjutsu. Kushina, you transferred here after missing your earlier academic classes. That won't do—you're going to embarrass yourself like this. You need to catch up on the lessons you missed."

Uchiha Chonhua said, "I'll tell Big Sister Tsunade about your situation."

"..."

Kushina Uzumaki clutched her head in frustration. "Aah, I don't want to study!"

Chapter 21: Naruto and Sasuke's Bond Technique, Get!

Uchiha Chonhua stared intently at the rubber ball in his palm and channeled chakra into it.

The rubber ball began to bulge, its surface pushing outward and sinking inward in irregular patterns, as if something inside were charging around wildly.

At last, with a muffled pop, the rubber ball couldn't take it anymore and burst apart.

Uchiha Chonhua smiled with delight.

"I did it. The second stage of training is complete!"

"Next..."

Uchiha Chonhua calmed his mind. He would press on and recreate the Rasengan in one go.

His control over chakra was exceptionally precise, thanks to the results of studying Medical Ninjutsu for more than three years.

The Rasengan's initial form was the pinnacle of shape transformation, and it relied precisely on chakra control.

Uchiha Chonhua had Uchiha Itachi's talent, so in theory the Rasengan shouldn't have been all that difficult for him.

Still, to be safe and get it right on the first try, he chose the three-step training method Jiraiya had used to teach Naruto in the original story.

He'd mastered the first two steps quickly. Now, only the final stage remained.

"Gather high-density chakra in the palm of your hand, release it continuously, and keep it stable. Hold it steady."

Uchiha Chonhua shouted, "Stay put!"

Buzz!

The training went smoothly. A whirlwind suddenly rose, setting Uchiha Chonhua's hair dancing.

A miniature typhoon formed in his palm, radiating a deep blue light.

Seeing this, Uchiha Chonhua laughed, then raised his palm and slammed it against a tree!

"Rasengan!"

Boom!

First came a loud bang, followed by a crackling sound. The Rasengan spun, twisting the tree trunk as wood chips flew everywhere.

"Good! More power!"

A sudden idea struck Uchiha Chonhua, and he carefully increased his chakra output.

The Rasengan instantly swelled to the size of a basketball, its destructive power rising sharply.

Crack!

The tree trunk couldn't withstand the punishment. It was blasted through and crashed to the ground with a mighty thud, startling the forest birds into shrieking flight.

"This is the Big Ball Rasengan."

Uchiha Chonhua's lips curled into a satisfied smile.

With his precise chakra control, instantly enlarging an ordinary Rasengan into a Big Ball Rasengan wasn't difficult.

"I've already mastered the Rasengan, a ninjutsu that represents the pinnacle of shape transformation, with a stable outer layer and a chaotic inner core. I also learned Lightning Release Chakra nature transformation before, so I've already mastered Chidori."

He'd mastered every technique in the Naruto-and-Sasuke bond skill set. With Uchiha Chonhua's talent and intelligence inherited from Uchiha Itachi, he could learn anything as long as he put his mind to it.

Now that he'd learned the Rasengan and become familiar with shape transformation, turning Chidori into the Chidori Current system of Lightning Release Ninjutsu shouldn't pose any major challenges.

To learn Chidori, he'd studied Lightning Release Chakra nature transformation...

Uchiha Chonhua narrowed his eyes and held out his palm. A deep blue light appeared again, and the Rasengan formed above his hand.

He added Lightning Release Chakra, completing the process with ease thanks to his precise control.

Then, before his eyes, a white glow emerged from the Rasengan. A moment later, his palm was empty, making it look as though he'd failed.

But Uchiha Chonhua smiled. He made the motion of a baseball pitcher and could feel that he'd thrown something from his palm.

It landed on a tree trunk in the distance with a rumble. Half the trunk was hollowed out, leaving behind a spiral mark.

Boruto's Lightning Style: Rasengan had succeeded.

It was an invisible Rasengan that could be thrown without a sound.

"Ha, in that case..."

Uchiha Chonhua held out his right hand. Lightning gathered in his palm, crackling as it sent sparks flying.

It was as though a thousand birds were chirping—a noisy, piercing sound that had given Chidori its name.

Uchiha Chonhua wanted to get rid of the unnecessary noise and apply what he'd learned from Lightning Style: Rasengan to Chidori.

The next moment, the sound of a thousand birds gradually faded until it was gone.

The crackling lightning settled down. It was as if he were holding a pure white moon in his hand, but Uchiha Chonhua knew that inside that moon was a storm of lightning.

Uchiha Chonhua nodded with satisfaction. "Chidori with its sound is cool, but this is better for fighting."

What he'd learned from the Rasengan could be applied to Chidori's variations, and what he'd learned from Chidori could also be used to improve the Rasengan.

But in the end, the Rasengan was more versatile.

"Boruto's Lightning Style: Rasengan doesn't have a complete change in nature. It's a half-finished technique. But I'm different. I can create a complete secret ninjutsu based on Lightning Release and the Rasengan!"

Even so, Uchiha Chonhua didn't continue.

A secret ninjutsu would inevitably create a huge commotion. Drawing attention to himself in the village wouldn't be good, so it was best to test it somewhere uninhabited outside the village.

Besides, he didn't have enough chakra to use a secret ninjutsu yet.

He wasn't in a hurry to produce results now. He planned to graduate as a Genin and try his luck with a card draw, hoping to get someone with a huge chakra reserve.

If he got one, great. If not... he'd just wait until he grew up. By then, he'd definitely have enough chakra.

Three years ago, as expected, the Land of Iron had fallen to Salamander Hanzo. He'd taken the Land of Iron's resources for himself, but rather than return to fight Sunagakure, he'd stayed in the Land of Iron for a year.

Two years ago, after Salamander Hanzo had organized the resources he'd obtained and stocked up on military supplies, he'd led the main Rain ninja forces back to the Land of Rain. There, he'd fought Sunagakure, which was still rampaging through the country at the time.

"I didn't expect this war to still be going on. Sunagakure hasn't managed to defeat Salamander Hanzo."

Jiraiya took a drink, his face flushed.

"Salamander Hanzo's poison is troublesome. Sunagakure doesn't dare get close to him, so they've been fighting with puppets."

Orochimaru was very interested in Salamander Hanzo's poison and curious about its components.

"Puppets can replace ninja to a certain extent, but they're still controlled by ninja, so they're heavily affected by their users. Sunagakure's ninja are afraid of Salamander Hanzo's poison, so they control their puppets from a distance. That weakens their chakra transmission and control precision."

Orochimaru shook his head. "Puppets can't do anything to Salamander Hanzo."

Sunagakure was skilled with poisons too. It was a surprise to see them up against someone even better at using poison.

Tsunade gave a playful smile, making Jiraiya stare at her in a daze.

Orochimaru nodded. "Sunagakure's ninja are afraid of being poisoned, and their puppets are useless. The poisons they're skilled at mean nothing to Salamander Hanzo. Sunagakure is one of the Five Great Nations. It wouldn't look good for them to retreat in disgrace, so they're locked in a stalemate."

"Still, I heard that Chiyo is studying Salamander Hanzo's poison. She's hoping to create an antidote that can counter it."

That caught Tsunade's interest. Chiyo was best known as a puppeteer, but her skill in Medical Ninjutsu was also impressive. Perhaps she really could make an antidote to counter Salamander Hanzo's poison.

Chapter 22: Kumogakure: I'm In—Huh, I'm Back Out

"Congratulations on graduating, Nawaki."

Uchiha Chonhua congratulated Nawaki.

Half a year passed. A new year began, and Uchiha Chonhua entered his fourth year at the Academy.

That year, Nawaki, who was one year ahead of him, graduated and officially became a Konoha Genin.

Nawaki was grinning from ear to ear. He couldn't stop touching the Konoha Headband on his forehead, showing it off to everyone he knew.

"Thanks, Chonhua. Hehe." Nawaki's smile never faded. He looked toward Kage Rock, gazing up at the statues of his grandfather and great-uncle with longing.

"I'm a Genin now, so I'm one step closer to my dream of becoming Hokage. Hehe, Chonhua, you still have another year at the Academy."

Uchiha Chonhua pretended to look displeased and punched Nawaki, then laughed. "It's only a year. Don't get so cocky. There are plenty of Genin in Konoha. Make a name for yourself among them before you start showing off."

"Don't let me graduate only to hear that all you've done is cause trouble, Nawaki."

Nawaki hurriedly waved his hands. "No way! Hey, Chonhua, what kind of person do you think I am? Do I really look like someone who's always getting into trouble?"

Tsunade nodded solemnly beside them. "I think Chonhua's right. Nawaki, don't cause your instructor trouble. If you do, you'll make me look bad."

"Huh? Big Sister, why are you saying that too...? Oh, right, Big Sister, do you know who my instructor is?"

Every graduating Genin was assigned to a three-person team with one instructor, chosen from among the Chunin, Special Jōnin, and Jōnin.

Nawaki was looking forward to meeting his instructor. Surely it'd be a Jōnin, and one of the elite Jōnin at that!