Two-Handed Ball Control

"That was indeed a jutsu, Lord Hokage, and it was... a composite ninjutsu that had never appeared before."

"Oh?" Hiruzen Sarutobi said with interest. "Go on."

Minato hesitated for a moment before finally letting out a breath, his expression complicated as he said:

"It was a combination of Lightning Release and Water Release. According to that child, he discovered it by accident while fishing by the river."

It was an inspiring story.

An orphan who had lived off Konoha's relief funds for years, his life was extremely tight. He wished he could split every penny in two.

Whenever he occasionally went hungry and had no money left in his pockets, he could only go fishing by the river and try his luck.

Yet that orphan had a dream of becoming a ninja.

He had studied and practiced the two basic ninjutsu his parents had left him day and night.

Until one day, when he tried to electrocute fish by the river, he discovered a miraculous phenomenon.

His Lightning Release was basic and weak, far from enough to stun fish.

Yet the clear river water had produced countless bubbles because of it...

"In short... whatever this jutsu may become in the future, that child discovered it by accident."

"It wasn't some Kekkei Genkai."

After speaking, Minato sighed. He had not expected the two seemingly mischievous kids to be living such difficult lives.

But that clearly was not the point.

After hearing him out, Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent for a moment, then sighed as well before asking:

"Minato, then do you have a rough idea of this jutsu's power and potential?"

That was the real question.

"It's hard to evaluate." Minato's expression was complicated, and his gaze was somewhat hesitant.

"The process is too complicated. It requires precise control over Lightning Release and water, and the water cannot be Water Release—it has to be water from the environment."

"Once everything is ready, it also requires a second person to detonate it, or it must be stored and ignited after a delay."

"The entire process requires the caster to have extremely fine chakra control. If anything goes wrong at any stage, not only will the jutsu fail outright, it could also become dangerous."

Minato spoke with a trace of guilt.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression gradually became rather colorful.

What kind of jutsu... could be this complicated?

It even needed a second person to detonate it?

No... wouldn't it be easier to just throw a few more Explosive Tags?

Minato had spent so long building it up—talking about hardship and dreams of becoming a ninja—that Hiruzen Sarutobi had been prepared.

Was Konoha about to welcome another young genius!? Someone like Minato?

But after Minato's explanation, Hiruzen Sarutobi realized he had been thinking too simply.

"Minato..."

The words reached his lips, but Hiruzen Sarutobi paused. In the end, he still put on a kindly smile.

"No matter what, that child's efforts deserve recognition. I'll have someone help improve the child's living conditions."

"If you have time lately, you might as well give that child some guidance. By the way... how far has your hand-signless ninjutsu progressed?"

The topic ultimately circled back to Minato's Rasengan.

Minato smiled confidently. "I've succeeded, Lord Hokage!"

"Is that so? Congratulations, Minato. I knew you were better than that bastard Jiraiya at—"

Creak—

At that moment, the door to the Hokage's Office was pushed open.

In Konoha, there were truly not many people who could enter the Hokage's Office without knocking.

But this cold, handsome man who walked in was undoubtedly one of them.

He had long hair, and the purple eyeshadow on his face accentuated his snake-like eyes. His presence was chilly, yet he possessed a unique charm.

He was Konoha's Cold Lord, one of the Legendary Sannin—Orochimaru.

"Teacher, you wanted to see me."

Orochimaru spoke in a hoarse yet captivating voice. As he spoke, he noticed Minato, with his short golden hair, standing nearby.

Orochimaru recognized him at a glance and gave a slight nod in greeting. "The new hairstyle suits you, Minato."

"..." Minato gave a wry smile. "It was an accident, Lord Orochimaru..."

"I was just telling Minato about it," Hiruzen Sarutobi said. "A child with considerable talent has appeared in the village. At such a young age, he has already begun studying and creating ninjutsu."

"He's very much like you were back then, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru fell silent for a moment. A strange glint briefly flickered through his seemingly placid eyes.

"Is that so..."

That night.

Hideki sat on his bed, holding a round little balloon filled with water.

He tried injecting chakra into the balloon and making it move irregularly. According to Minato, if he could burst the balloon, he would not be far from mastering the jutsu.

Yes, this was actually the second step of Rasengan training.

The first step was gathering chakra in the palm of his hand, but Hideki had learned that long ago. He could even gather it on the back of his hand.

As chakra flowed into the water balloon, the previously obedient balloon suddenly became restless. Its movements were small, though, and it even looked a little bashful.

Hideki tried for quite a while, but he still could not burst the water balloon.

"Whew... this is kind of hard, huh?" Hideki sighed after letting out a breath.

After school today, he had given up going to Konoha Hospital to learn the Mystical Palm Technique. He had not even greeted Might Guy before rushing straight home.

All for the sake of training the Rasengan.

Come to think of it, Hideki regretted it a little.

He was a transmigrator, after all, yet he had actually gotten excited over a Rasengan. How embarrassing.

Especially when Minato had explained the principles behind the Rasengan to the two of them.

Memories from the past had instantly rushed into his mind.

He had watched Jiraiya teach Naruto and Sasuke teach Boruto right there on the screen!

I'll just treat this as a license to legally possess the Rasengan, sigh!

After taking a breath, Hideki focused on his palm again.

He wanted to master the Rasengan as quickly as possible, because once he activated the Yang Release Plan, he probably would not have the energy to study this technique.

One Mystical Palm Technique and one Eight Gates would absolutely drain both his body and his energy.

Early the next morning.

Hideki went out with dark circles under his eyes.

Besides textbooks, his schoolbag also contained two water balloons.

When he arrived at the classroom, Obito had not come so early today. After a day had passed, the classmates' discussions had also quieted down considerably.

"Morning, Hideki!"

"Didn't you sleep well last night, Hideki?"

"Morning..."

Hideki greeted his classmates, then quietly returned to his seat and took out the two water balloons.

That was right.

Hideki was controlling balls with both hands.

The second stage of Rasengan training tested chakra control.

That was Hideki's strength. While mastering the Rasengan, he also wanted to keep up his Hydrogen Release training.

"Ring-ring-ring—!"

The class bell rang, and the teacher stepped onto the podium.

Obito rushed into the classroom at the last second, apologizing to the teacher with an embarrassed grin before taking his seat beside Hideki under the teacher's cold stare.

"Whew... that was close. Grandma wasn't feeling well today, and cooking for myself was really kind of difficult."

Obito spoke with lingering fear, then turned to look smugly at Hideki.

"You're in for a treat today, Hideki. Lord Obito personally made—huh?"

Obito finally noticed Hideki's little movements beneath the desk. His pupils shrank, and his face filled with shock!

"Y-you-you... you can already do that!?"

Hideki's two-handed ball control had clearly stunned Obito.

But right at that moment—

Pop! Pop!

The two water balloons burst one after another, soaking Hideki's pant legs and knocking Obito's jaw to the floor.

"So it worked..." Hideki murmured thoughtfully, utterly calm.

Bursting a water balloon was only natural for Hideki, who had spent a full three months researching Hydrogen Release.

The rubber ball that came next would be the real challenge.

"Hideki, y-you..."

Obito had completely lost the ability to form words.

But the teacher had not. The two of them had caused quite a commotion, and every student in the classroom was looking at them.

This was when the benefits of good academic performance became apparent.

Although Hideki's practical class grades were always middling, he had consistently ranked first in written subjects.

Even Kakashi would have to walk around him when it came to that.

And Obito...

"Uchiha Obito! What are you doing over there!? Get outside and stand!"

"Right now! Immediately!"