Complete!

Time flew by, and before they knew it, Konoha Year 41 was drawing to a close.

In a small grove, Shita Genichi gazed at the tiny blue sphere of chakra in his hand and broke into an immensely satisfied smile. "Finally... I did it!"

From March until now, in December, he had finally mastered the Rasengan.

The reason it had taken so long wasn't that Shita Genichi's talent and aptitude were ridiculously poor. It was... that he had far too little chakra.

He couldn't cheat with the Shadow Clone Technique, and he had no way to devote all his time to training the Rasengan, either.

On top of that, although he had the chakra reserves of someone in their teens, they still weren't much. He couldn't keep training for very long each time.

And so it had taken him nearly ten months to finish.

Compared to Naruto, he was worlds apart.

But he had done it in the end.

"I wonder if the Yellow Flash has finished developing the Rasengan yet. If he hasn't, heh..."

Shita Genichi's smile began to turn a little creepy. He quickly reined it in, then gripped the Rasengan and slammed it into the tree trunk in front of him.

Wood chips flew everywhere!

The Rasengan spun at high speed, drilling a huge hole into the tree like a power drill. Then, with a powerful twist from Shita Genichi, it punched right through the trunk, which was thick enough to take a person's arms to encircle, and shot out the other side.

"Impressive!"

Shita Genichi praised it silently.

But when he felt his body growing weak, he couldn't help feeling a little helpless.

He had too little chakra.

Even with a Rasengan no bigger than a pigeon's egg, he could use it at most twice before collapsing and being unable to get back up.

"Sure enough, what limits most ninja might not be access to ninjutsu, but... chakra!"

Shita Genichi mused to himself, "I have to find a way to increase my chakra reserves. Otherwise, I won't live up to my reputation as a genius."

"Besides, even if I learn more and more ninjutsu in the future, it'll be useless if I don't have the chakra to use them."

The first person Shita Genichi thought of when it came to increasing his chakra reserves was Orochimaru.

The next thing he thought of was the Tailed Beasts.

"Becoming a Jinchūriki is definitely out of the question for me. With my chakra reserves, there's no way I could suppress one."

"As for Orochimaru..."

Cell transplantation, Human Body Modification, and even Living Corpse Reincarnation.

Shita Genichi frowned slightly. It all seemed incredibly troublesome.

Fortunately, he still had plenty of time. There was no need to rush.

After gathering his things, Shita Genichi turned and headed home.

The next day.

As soon as he arrived at school, Shita Genichi heard some news from Shizune.

Kakashi had applied for early graduation!

Good grief!

He'd been at school for less than a year, and he was already graduating.

Still, the Ninja Academy really couldn't teach Kakashi much more.

He had mastered the Three Body Technique, excelled at Taijutsu and shuriken throwing, and had learned Earth Release nature transformation. On top of that, he had his family's Hatake Sword Technique.

For Kakashi, staying at school was simply too boring.

It didn't suit his personality.

Shita Genichi could tell that, although Kakashi seemed cold on the surface—an apparent opposite to the hot-blooded Might Guy—in reality, Kakashi was driven by a fierce ambition.

He couldn't stand wasting time at school, so he had chosen to graduate early.

"Genichi, you're no weaker than Kakashi. Are you going to graduate early, too?"

Shizune's voice interrupted Shita Genichi's thoughts.

Shita Genichi shook his head. "I won't be graduating that soon."

He was afraid of dying!

He'd take another year of laying low if he could!

Unless he had no other choice, graduating early wasn't a good idea.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for vacation.

But on this day, Shita Genichi, Shizune, Might Guy, Nohara Rin, and even Uchiha Obito were all waiting at the school gates.

Because today was the day of Kakashi's graduation exam.

After waiting for about half an hour, Kakashi came out.

In an instant, everyone's eyes fell on the Forehead Protector Kakashi was wearing.

The worry in Nohara Rin's heart finally eased.

"Congratulations, Kakashi. Starting today, you're a real ninja."

Shita Genichi congratulated him with a smile.

The others chimed in as well.

Kakashi said, "Genichi, if you wanted to, I'm sure you could pass the exam, too."

Yuhi Kurenai said, "You two are famous geniuses at the academy. Of course you'd have no trouble."

"But speaking of which, Genichi, are you going to graduate early?"

Shita Genichi shook his head, then looked at Kakashi. "Kakashi, let's spar. I just developed a new ninjutsu!"

He developed a ninjutsu himself?

Kakashi and the others were all surprised.

Uchiha Obito curled his lip.

As if developing a ninjutsu were that easy.

Had he just tweaked the Three Body Technique or shuriken throwing and decided to call it a new ninjutsu?

Uchiha Obito wasn't the only one who thought so. Sarutobi Asuma did, too.

It wasn't that they looked down on Shita Genichi. As someone with a deep-rooted family legacy, Asuma knew better than most how difficult it was to create a new ninjutsu.

But Shizune, Kakashi, and Might Guy all believed him completely.

Might Guy even shouted, "Then let's have a youthful, fiery duel! Genichi, I'm rooting for you!"

Shizune raised her little fist. "Go, Genichi!"

Soon, the group arrived at the academy training ground.

Might Guy took on the role of referee. "Begin!"

As his arm came down, Shita Genichi and Kakashi clashed.

After more than a dozen exchanges, Shita Genichi relied on his combat experience to seize an opening and hurl Kakashi away. He then raised his right hand, gathering chakra in his palm as a small Rasengan rapidly took shape.

At that moment, Shizune and the others couldn't help widening their eyes.

"Impressive!"

"That's a lot of chakra!"

"It really is a new ninjutsu!"

Shizune and the others cried out in amazement.

Kakashi, still on the ground and not yet back on his feet, was also stunned by the Rasengan. "That's a lot of chakra. If it hit me, I'd definitely..."

"Kakashi, watch out!"

Shita Genichi charged at Kakashi.

What nobody noticed was that, just then, outside the training ground, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hatake Sakumo, and several Ninja Academy teachers were watching in silence.

When the Rasengan appeared, they were all astonished.

Hatake Sakumo's eyes widened, then he smiled. "This child really does have extraordinary talent!"

He had heard his son talk about Shita Genichi, and had seen him more than once himself. Even then, he'd thought Shita Genichi was exceptional. And sure enough, he was.

"A hand-seal-free ninjutsu. That's at least A-rank!"

The teacher Yome was the one who spoke.

Sarutobi Hiruzen gave a slight nod. "Pure shape transformation and highly concentrated chakra. It's extremely difficult."

"Sakumo, get ready, just in case something happens."

Hatake Sakumo nodded, but smiled. "Still, I believe in this child. And I believe in Kakashi, too."

As he finished speaking, a thunderous boom came from the training ground, and the others' vision was obscured by smoke and dust.

Futaki Ryusei couldn't hold back any longer. He used the Body Flicker Technique to reach the training ground, then swept his hand through the air, clearing the smoke.

Shita Genichi stood in front of a crater, breathing slightly heavily. Broken wood lay inside it.

Substitution Technique!

Futaki Ryusei breathed a sigh of relief.

Nearby, Kakashi, who had dodged the attack, swallowed.

Thank goodness he'd dodged it.

"Th-that was amazing!"

Uchiha Obito gaped in shock.