Growing Pains

Although the Spirit Light Jade relied on a large amount of chakra to power its launch, its destructive force still far surpassed the Rasengan's by more than a little.

This wasn't because the former consumed more chakra. The fundamental reason was the difference in how their power erupted. Compared to the Rasengan, the Spirit Light Jade used its energy more efficiently when it burst, and its force was much harder to deflect or diminish.

When the Rasengan erupted, its power took the form of a single spiral. After hitting an enemy, the rapidly rotating chakra would grind away at the target like a vortex, at high pressure and speed. But because it relied on a one-way spiraling force, the Rasengan often sent enemies spinning away after impact. That was all well and good against ordinary ninja, but powerful opponents could use that spiraling force to deflect some of the impact as they were thrown back, greatly reducing the damage they took. That was why, later on, when Naruto faced powerful enemies, the Rasengan was practically useless at the start of a fight. He could only use it to finish them off once they had nearly lost the ability to fight back.

But the Spirit Light Jade developed by Yuehua Ai was different. It retained all the Rasengan's strengths while improving on most of its weaknesses.

The Spirit Light Jade released its chakra differently from the Rasengan. The Rasengan erupted in a single spiral, while the Spirit Light Jade erupted in two spirals, one clockwise and one counterclockwise. Their opposing directions canceled out the possibility of the force being deflected, while the Spirit Light Jade clung tightly to its target. At the same time, the two forces interfered with the enemy's movements and held them in place. Then, the power of the two main streams of chakra converged on the center of the Spirit Light Jade, detonating its collapsing core and stacking an explosion on top of the second burst of damage.

Though it lacked the Rasengan's spiraling penetration, the Spirit Light Jade was more powerful and had a higher hit rate thanks to its restraining field.

For an offensive ninjutsu, crowd control and a high hit rate were far more advantageous than penetrating power!

"Whoosh, whoosh—"

A swirl of wind curled upward as chakra, shimmering with a gentle white light, streamed toward Yuehua Ai's fingertips. In the blink of an eye, a chakra orb the size of a dragon's eye floated above his index finger.

A thin veil of static crackled around the milky-white orb, and white sparks occasionally flashed across it. Though the orb itself had no lightning nature, its rapidly spinning chakra and fluctuating energy caused the air around it to ionize.

"Bang!"

Yuehua Ai straightened his arm and pointed his finger like a gun.

A flash of white light streaked away, trailing a long tail of flame like a meteor. In an instant, it pierced the curtain of rain and shot toward the river in the distance!

The water in that spot seemed to freeze abruptly. Then, strange ripples twisted across the current, and a light began to flare. What started as a single bright spot rapidly expanded!

"Boom!"

Like a muffled thunderclap, a massive ring-shaped cloud of shock waves spread across the river. The water was forced aside, revealing a vast, three-meter-wide hole. The river couldn't fill it back in right away.

"Phew—"

Yuehua Ai let out a long breath. Looking at his handiwork on the river, he shook out his small, aching hand and nodded in satisfaction.

The Spirit Light Jade consumed far too much chakra. With Yuehua Ai's reserves, he could manage no more than two in a fight, even if he didn't use any other ninjutsu.

The Spirit Light Jade fell between A-rank and S-rank ninjutsu, and a fully formed one could completely overwhelm ninjutsu of the same rank. But in a fight between ninja, a technique's power wasn't everything. If he faced a group of enemies and used up all his chakra throwing two Spirit Light Jades without fully defeating them, the situation afterward would hardly be promising.

So although the Spirit Light Jade was Yuehua Ai's trump-card technique, he shouldn't use it lightly in a real fight—unless he had chakra reserves like Nagato's.

Having a powerful ninjutsu that wasn't practical to use was frustrating. To find a powerful technique suited to his current circumstances, he had directly modified the Spirit Light Jade. He preserved its basic principles while making it smaller and reducing the amount of chakra it required. That was how he came up with the Spirit Light Bullet, a simplified version of the Spirit Light Jade. The technique he had just used by the river was the newly modified Spirit Light Bullet!

The Spirit Light Bullet had made a dramatic display on the river, but to Yuehua Ai, who had already tested the Spirit Light Jade's explosion, its true power was merely decent.

After all, it was a simplified version, and he had tested it over water. The spectacle was impressive, but on land, its destructive power wouldn't come close to what he had just seen. Its strength was only on par with an ordinary Explosive Tag; it was just that its energy erupted in a more advanced way.

The Spirit Light Bullet couldn't compare in power to the full version of the Spirit Light Jade, but at this point, it offered far better value for Yuehua Ai's chakra.

The enemies he had faced so far would be done for whether they took a Spirit Light Jade or a Spirit Light Bullet. Compared to the Spirit Light Jade, which could drain him dry, the Spirit Light Bullet could be fired five or six times with ease. It was undoubtedly the best fit for him.

Using a ninjutsu with such formidable attack power also put high demands on one's physique. As Yuehua Ai was using chakra to nourish the meridians in his hand, a gentle, teasing voice sounded from behind him.

"Ai, you're at it again. If Jiraiya-sensei finds out, he'll lose his mind all over again!"

Yuehua Ai knew who had come without even turning around. For a sensory ninja like him, there weren't many people who could approach without his noticing.

Looking at the many bloated, belly-up fish and frogs floating on the river, Yuehua Ai awkwardly grabbed his hair. His Spirit Light Bullet had just killed or stunned every living thing within a radius of more than ten meters. The fish were one thing, but the frogs gave him a headache. They reminded him of the time Jiraiya had caught him secretly roasting frogs.

Thinking of Jiraiya's expression—helpless and on the verge of collapse, before finally erupting in anger—Yuehua Ai cursed his bad luck. His rear had nearly been beaten until it smoked that time. He didn't want to go through that again!

Putting on his most pitiful expression, Yuehua Ai blinked his bright eyes and grinned.

"Konan, you won't rat me out, will you?"

Konan snorted. This guy only called her Konan when he was pleading and acting pitiful. The rest of the time, he just called her by her name without so much as an honorific!

She knew exactly what he was up to. Still, watching him put on such an innocent, adorable, and pitiful expression made her laugh despite her repeated attempts to hold it in.

"All right, stop acting pitiful. Ai, you're laying it on way too thick!" Konan said with fondness in her eyes, though her tone was exasperated.

"Heh heh!"

Yuehua Ai shrugged.

"By the way, Konan, did you come looking for me for something?"

As expected... Hearing him call her Konan again, she pursed her lips helplessly.

"Did you forget that Jiraiya-sensei said a few days ago that he'd be checking our training today?"

Konan continued, sounding annoyed.

"Oh..." Yuehua Ai patted his head, finally remembering. Three days ago, Jiraiya had indeed said he would check their progress today and told them to be ready. But over the last few days, Yuehua Ai had been so absorbed in simplifying the Spirit Light Jade that he'd completely forgotten.

"When does the test start?" Yuehua Ai asked.

"It's starting now. Jiraiya-sensei is already waiting for us over there!" Konan pointed in the right direction, then turned to signal for him to follow.

"Oh, okay!"

Yuehua Ai nodded and obediently followed behind Konan.

Keeping pace behind her, Yuehua Ai watched the girl's lively figure and took in the information his sensory abilities fed back to him. Remembering the subtle change in her expression earlier, he couldn't help muttering to himself, "Jiraiya-sensei really picked a bad day. He could at least have considered how Konan feels!"

"What?" Yuehua Ai's voice had been quiet, but how could that possibly escape Konan's ears up ahead?

"Huh?! Nothing. I was just hoping Jiraiya-sensei's test wouldn't be too difficult!"

"Hmph!" Konan abruptly stopped. Completely unprepared, Yuehua Ai bumped right into her.

"Don't think I didn't hear you, Ai. You really have picked up bad habits from Jiraiya-sensei!"

Yuehua Ai's sudden collision had caught Konan off guard too. When he awkwardly stepped back, she pursed her lips and waved a fist at him.

"How could I? Why would I pick up bad habits from that lecherous old man? I was just concerned about your health. I don't want some girl getting all worked up and scaring herself like last time!"

"Ai!!!"

At Yuehua Ai's words, Konan's face turned bright red, as if it might start smoking. She cried out in indignation, then pinched both of Yuehua Ai's cheeks and gently tugged at them, squishing his little face into all sorts of shapes.

"You little troublemaker, don't say another word! If anyone else hears you, I won't let you get away with it!"

Konan glared fiercely into Ai's eyes.

"Okay, okay!"

Seeing how embarrassed and annoyed she was, Yuehua Ai didn't dare pull any more stunts. He could only mumble his reply.

"Hmph!" Konan shot Yuehua Ai a glance before letting go of his face. At his utterly insincere response, she felt helpless all over again. When she thought about that incident, she couldn't even bring herself to get angry. In front of this little troublemaker, she practically had no secrets!

Two years ago, when she was thirteen, her body had entered puberty, and the troubles of growing up had followed close behind.

Since they had all been orphans from a young age, no one had been around to teach them about the changes their bodies went through. The first changes in certain parts of her body had already left her uneasy, and when she got her first period, seeing the blood she couldn't stop had nearly made her break down completely.

She found her condition impossible to talk about. With no one to confide in, she had nowhere to turn with her anxiety and distress. When the bleeding continued for several days, she began to think she had some incurable disease, and the worry tormented her. She remembered feeling dazed all day long, with no energy to do anything.

Jiraiya was too thickheaded to notice what was wrong with her, and Yahiko and Nagato hadn't noticed either. In the end, Yuehua Ai was the one who realized something was off.

Troubled by what was happening to her body, she had slipped away from everyone after training that day and hurried back to her room alone to cry. Then, as she was cleaning the blood off herself, little Ai had stumbled upon her while coming to ask why she seemed so strange.

With Yuehua Ai having seen everything, she decided she might as well lay it all bare and told him about her worries and distress. To her surprise, he burst out laughing when she finished, told her she'd imagined the whole thing, and then gave her an unforgettable lesson in sex education.

As time passed, she realized that everything Yuehua Ai had explained to her was completely correct. But when she thought back to what had happened, the sheer embarrassment still made her want to disappear. Thankfully, he was just a child, and he knew how to keep his mouth shut. He hadn't told anyone else!

Ugh, I really don't have any secrets left from Ai. He even knows when I'm on my period. Oh, how embarrassing!

Konan sighed inwardly, feeling helpless. No matter how hard she tried to think of a solution, there was nothing she could do!

Watching little Ai put on another innocent, clueless expression, Konan could only grit her teeth in silence.

She rubbed her face, trying to cool the blush.

Once her face no longer felt quite so hot, she gave Yuehua Ai a warning look. After making him swear again and again that he wouldn't tell anyone, she took him by the hand and hurried off toward Jiraiya.