Developing the Rasengan

Hayato read quietly for a while, already weighing his options. He had his own understanding of how to train in the Rasengan.

The path to mastering the Rasengan could be divided into three main stages: rotation, power, and maintaining it.

However, Minato was still at the preliminary conceptual stage. He had drawn inspiration from the Tailed Beast Bomb and wanted to stabilize chakra by taking shape transformation to its limit. But clearly, he hadn't yet given much thought to the stages of rotation and maintaining it.

"What do you think? Pretty amazing, right? In my vision, once this jutsu is complete, it'll be a jutsu that requires no Hand Seals." Minato said proudly.

But Hayato thought to himself that, for him, this was like an open-book test. The answer was already right in front of him; he just had to follow the steps and put it into practice.

"Brother Minato, I have an idea," Hayato suddenly said.

Minato raised an eyebrow, curious. "Oh? Let's hear it."

Instead of immediately explaining his idea, Hayato lifted the cup in his hand and asked Minato for a chopstick.

Though puzzled, Minato went to the kitchen, fetched a wooden chopstick, and handed it to Hayato.

Hayato put the chopstick into the cup and began stirring the water clockwise, faster and faster, until a small whirlpool formed.

Minato leaned closer, watching Hayato's hand and the whirlpool created by his stirring.

"Brother Minato, look. If we can control chakra like this and make it spin like water, wouldn't that let us keep its energy stable?" Hayato said as he stirred.

A spark of delight flashed in Minato's eyes. He'd been thinking about how to stabilize chakra, but had never considered making it spin like water.

"That makes sense! Hayato, you really are a genius!" Minato said excitedly, patting him on the shoulder.

Then Minato immediately grabbed some paper and a pen to write down the idea. He also drew a spiral with arrows on the page.

Hayato watched Minato's excitement and simply smiled.

He knew that even without his suggestion, Minato would have thought of this approach sooner or later.

But now he'd had a hand in developing the Rasengan, and he'd feel more confident using it in the future.

The two discussed the idea of the Rasengan in greater depth. Although Hayato knew how to train for it, they still needed to explore the specifics of how to put it into practice.

Just then, Kushina came over carrying three bowls of noodles.

"Let's eat first. We can talk after," Kushina said with a smile.

At that, Minato and Hayato both put their excitement aside and nodded.

Hayato took a bowl of Udon, thanked her, and started eating heartily. Kushina really was a good cook. The noodles were perfectly soft and chewy, and the broth and seasoning were just right.

"Delicious!" Hayato couldn't help exclaiming.

Kushina was delighted to see how much he was enjoying his food.

Before long, Hayato had finished his bowl. Seeing this, Kushina stood and asked, "There's more in the pot. Want me to get you another bowl?"

"Sorry for the trouble, Sister Kushina," Hayato replied with a smile.

Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was time to say goodbye. Hayato checked the time and stood. "Sister Kushina, Brother Minato, thank you for having me today. It's getting late, so I should go."

Minato glanced at the clock too. It really was late, so he stood and offered, "I'll walk you home."

"No need. I can make it back on my own," Hayato said, waving him off.

Seeing this, Minato didn't insist.

"Hayato, are you going to train at the same place as today tomorrow?" Minato asked.

Hayato nodded. "Unless something else comes up, I should be there."

"All right, then I'll get the equipment ready and come find you tomorrow," Minato said.

Hayato nodded once more, then left Kushina's home.

After Hayato had gone, Kushina turned to Minato and asked, "Minato, what did you say you were going to get ready?"

"Hehe, training equipment. Hayato helped me out again today," Minato said with a smile.

Kushina thought of Hayato, with his slightly youthful appearance but mature manner, and couldn't help remarking, "Hayato really is an exceptional kid."

"Yeah," Minato agreed.

Meanwhile, after Hayato got home, he was even more eager to train. What he'd learned from Minato today made him realize he needed to get stronger as soon as possible. And starting tomorrow, he'd have another training task: mastering the Rasengan.

In the courtyard, Hayato began his Taijutsu practice and strength training for the day. He trained hard, drenched in sweat, striving to make every movement flawless. He knew that only with a strong Taijutsu foundation could he control his chakra better and bring out the Rasengan's power.

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight fell across the land, Hayato had already made his way to the lake as usual. He looked around and saw that Minato was already waiting for him.

"Morning, Hayato," Minato greeted him with a smile.

"Good morning, Brother Minato," Hayato replied with a smile.

Minato handed Hayato a water balloon. "Let's start by practicing control with this today."

Hayato didn't start developing the Rasengan right away. Instead, he began his Water Surface Walking practice for the day. He moved lightly over the surface, almost as if he were gliding across it. Only when the numbers on his status panel stopped increasing did he finally stop.

Tree Climbing and Water Surface Walking no longer improved his Ninjutsu stat. He'd already mastered them completely.

He knew his chakra control had reached a new level, and that he could now try developing the Rasengan.

He went over to Minato and saw that the water balloon in Minato's right hand was bulging in all directions, but after a while, it still wouldn't burst.

Minato wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It looks like this isn't as simple as I imagined."

Hayato smiled. "We're developing a brand-new jutsu. It was never going to be easy. Take it slow, one step at a time."

As he spoke, he focused on the water balloon in his own right hand and tried using his chakra to make it spin.

Minato scratched his head. Wasn't this a little backward?

Shouldn't he be the one encouraging Hayato? How had things ended up the other way around?

Sometimes he had the strange feeling that Hayato was more like someone his own age—or, no, even an older senior.

Meanwhile, Hayato tried again and again, but still couldn't make it work.

But he didn't lose heart. He knew that the road to mastery was never smooth.

So he began discussing the problem with Minato, analyzing why they'd failed and trying different approaches.

They experimented again and again, failing each time, but every failure brought them one step closer to success.

"Brother Minato, let's keep a record. We can write down the direction and force of the chakra flow each time, then see if there's a pattern," Hayato suggested.

Minato nodded, and the two of them went over to the side and began writing and drawing in a notebook, recording the data and results of each experiment.

"Try some new directions, too. We might get an unexpected result," Minato encouraged him.

And so the two worked side by side, giving it their all. They believed that as long as they kept at it, they'd succeed in developing the brand-new Rasengan.