"This... this is... this ninjutsu is..."
Orochimaru was utterly bewildered now.
How could Lin Mu possibly use this ninjutsu?
Jiraiya, who had just climbed out of the crater in the ground, rubbed his aching shoulder and froze in place as well.
"Rasengan... how is that possible?!"
Jiraiya looked as though he had seen a ghost. He knew how difficult this ninjutsu was.
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had spent three years developing it. Even Jiraiya, who considered himself exceptionally gifted, had spent a great deal of time learning it.
Naruto had successfully used it to knock down Kabuto Yakushi today. That had been unexpected, but it was still understandable.
But Lin Mu shouldn't have been able to use it!
Countless possibilities flashed through Jiraiya's mind.
Could this brat have only pretended he didn't want to learn it, then secretly practiced at night?
No... that couldn't be it!
Learning it took a great deal of time, just as Lin Mu had said, and the practice caused quite a commotion.
If Lin Mu had been practicing in secret, there was no way Jiraiya wouldn't have noticed.
Then... the truth was...
Lin Mu really had learned this ninjutsu through talent alone.
Jiraiya let out a deep sigh. This was the first time he had doubted his own talent so deeply.
As one of the Konoha Sannin, a man whose strength rivaled a Hokage's, he was naturally very gifted.
But even he had put an enormous amount of time and effort into learning the Rasengan!
Naruto Uzumaki had practiced until his arm was nearly ruined.
Yet Lin Mu had somehow used it instinctively, without even quite knowing what he was doing!
Jiraiya was now certain that everything Lin Mu knew about the Rasengan came from listening in on his lessons with Naruto and watching