A New Captain!

Rasengan, an A-rank Ninjutsu that required no Hand Seals!

Gong Yi knew the exact training method, so he quickly made the necessary preparations.

Balloons and rubber balls were easy to come by, and he bought a whole pile of them.

He filled a balloon with water and tried to make his Chakra accelerate, bursting the water balloon.

Gong Yi completed this step almost effortlessly.

Next, he filled a rubber ball with water. Holding it in one hand, he followed Naruto Uzumaki's training method and controlled his Chakra, making it rotate in one direction.

The rotation grew faster and faster.

Bang!

The rubber ball burst!

All right, he'd cleared the second stage with ease, too.

Gong Yi's gaze sharpened. "Next is the third stage, and the most important one!"

He held out one hand and gathered Chakra in his palm, making it flow from slow to fast in the same direction as before.

A spiraling ball of Chakra gradually took shape.

Just as Gong Yi was getting excited, his Chakra suddenly went out of control. With a bang, both his hands were left covered in blood.

"That was a little dangerous, but it's no big deal!"

Gong Yi focused, and the Healing Technique took effect. His injured hands quickly returned to normal, without a trace of damage.

"If I only had a low-level Recovery Technique, training the Rasengan would be dangerous. But with the Healing Technique, I have nothing to worry about."

Gong Yi smiled and repeated the process.

To be honest, training the Rasengan wasn't all that difficult.

That was especially true for someone with excellent Chakra control. For them, this Ninjutsu was quite simple.

The only thing they might need to watch out for was the damage caused during training.

Naruto Uzumaki had said he learned the Rasengan quickly, but in truth, he'd relied on the Multi-Shadow Clone cheat, his powerful Uzumaki Bloodline, and the nearly infinite Chakra provided by the Nine-Tails.

But if you took all those factors into account, Gong Yi had an even easier time learning the Rasengan than Naruto Uzumaki.

He had the Healing Technique, and his Chakra was practically infinite during training.

His physical injuries healed even faster than Naruto Uzumaki's.

And when it came to Chakra control, Gong Yi was second to none!

With a Spirit stat above thirty and years of carefully rationing his Chakra, he'd brought his Chakra control to its peak.

He'd mastered exercises like tree climbing and walking on water long ago, with practically no difficulty.

That was why, even without the Multi-Shadow Clone technique's experience-multiplying cheat, it hadn't taken Gong Yi long to master the Rasengan.

Five days!

Just five days—two fewer than Naruto Uzumaki had needed in the original story.

Feeling the ball of Chakra spinning in his hand, Gong Yi smiled. He could imagine closing in on an enemy at high speed with his Taijutsu, then unleashing the Rasengan. Who could withstand that?

He casually pressed the Rasengan against a rock, blasting a deep hole into it.

After dusting off his hands, he didn't even bother using the Healing Technique to restore the Chakra he'd spent. He slowly walked back to the house.

He'd completed half of his third research task: developing and mastering two Ninjutsu shape transformations.

But he was at a loss over what to do for the second Ninjutsu transformation.

He'd benefited from Naruto Uzumaki's training experience while developing the Rasengan, but how was he supposed to approach a second Ninjutsu transformation?

"Sasuke Uchiha's Chidori is a shape transformation, but it's based on Kakashi's Chidori. And Chidori already involves Chakra Nature Transformation. With what I know now, I can't study that without a lot more time."

"Besides, I don't have much affinity for Lightning Style, so it'd be difficult to imitate Chidori."

Gong Yi clasped his hands behind his back, troubled.

"Forget it. Getting a head start from the Rasengan was good luck. I can't rush a second shape transformation. I'll first thoroughly analyze the Eight Inner Gates and open two more gates. I also can't neglect training in the Spirit Refining Technique."

Gong Yi had a feeling that as he advanced his Spirit Refining Technique and his Spirit grew stronger, researching Ninjutsu would become much easier.

Perhaps by then, inspiration would come naturally.

Meanwhile, as Gong Yi devoted himself to training, Iga Kawaji walked into the Konoha Hokage Building with a complicated expression.

"Have you made up your mind, Kawaji?"

"Lord Hokage, I have. I'm resigning as the team captain!"

The Third Hokage saw the distress on Iga Kawaji's face and couldn't help sighing.

"Do you have anyone in mind to lead your team from now on?"

Just as in the original story, when Sasuke Uchiha left Team 7 and Kakashi was badly injured, the Hokage would assign new members and appoint a new captain.

After all, they couldn't leave Genin and Chunin who were still growing without a captain.

Iga Kawaji seemed to have expected the question and already had an answer.

"Lord Hokage, I suggest appointing Gong Yi as the team captain!"

The Hokage looked surprised. "Gong Yi is so young, and he doesn't have much mission experience. Isn't that a little rash?"

Iga Kawaji shook his head. "First, Gong Yi is strong enough to be a captain."

The Third Hokage nodded. After all, Gong Yi had ambushed and killed an entire Jonin squad. No one would believe he wasn't strong enough.

Iga Kawaji continued, "Second, can the village really spare any more Jonin to lead Genin on missions?"

The Third Hokage furrowed his brows, unable to argue.

The village seemed peaceful, but under the surface, tensions simmered. They had to guard against Sunagakure and Iwagakure's schemes.

They really couldn't spare many more people.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have assigned Gong Yi and the others to someone with an Anbu background like Iga Kawaji.

"Lastly, and this is what I think matters most!" Iga Kawaji took a deep breath. "Gong Yi is a very decisive child. He can make sound judgments in dangerous situations. He helped us escape the Land of Rain back then."

"I think a talent like him needs more experience leading a team independently. When war breaks out, he might be able to stand on his own!"

"There's no time to wait. We can't let them grow stronger in peace and safety anymore!"