Rasengan

Minato was waiting for Eiji at the edge of the forest, just as they had agreed.

He hadn't really expected Eiji to show up. The bastard had ditched his friend for a girl and hadn't trained with him in days. Even on a day off like this, the chances of him coming seemed slim.

Minato was an orphan with no family to rely on. He'd finally found a friend he got along with and could train beside, only for Eiji to forget all about him the moment a girl came along!

While he was quietly nursing his hurt feelings, a familiar figure appeared in the distance.

"Eiji! You finally have time to train with me!"

Delighted to see him, Minato hurried over, ready to drag him into the forest. Then he spotted a familiar red-haired girl behind Eiji.

Kushina had come too!

Minato's face fell. Was Eiji really bringing his wild girlfriend along to train?

Kushina saw his expression sour the moment he noticed her. She folded her arms and snorted.

"What's wrong, pretty boy? Not happy to see me?"

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, no, you're very welcome! Ahaha..."

Minato scratched his head, not daring to say another word. In his mind, he cursed Eiji a hundred and eight times.

After spending so much time with Eiji, Minato was no longer quite the gentle boy he had been in the original story. He'd picked up a sly streak—and plenty of swear words.

"Yeah. Besides our usual daily training, I'm planning to work on a new Ninjutsu today. I think it suits you and Kushina even better, though, so you should learn it too, Minato."

"Really!? That's great!"

Minato was thrilled. He and Eiji were both Civilian Ninjas, after all, without a wealth of Ninjutsu to learn. And Eiji was a genius. Sticking with him was clearly the right move!

As he spoke, Eiji pulled out a large bag of balloons. He and Kushina hadn't come straight to the forest; they'd stopped at the General Store to buy a whole lot of them.

Eiji had told Kushina he needed them to develop a Ninjutsu, leaving her thoroughly baffled.

The technique he intended to practice was, of course, the seal-free Rasengan, a Ninjutsu that could practically take on the whole world.

Minato Namikaze had developed it in the original story. But if Eiji developed it first now and then taught it to Minato, that made Eiji its creator. Perfectly reasonable, right?

"Balloons?"

Minato was confused. What did balloons have to do with the Ninjutsu Eiji had promised?

He's messing with me again, isn't he? Eiji had pulled plenty of tricks on him, and Minato still hadn't settled the score over the Nine-Turn Large Intestine incident!

So his first instinct was that Eiji was up to something again.

"Why are you looking at me like you don't trust me? We're brothers. Why would I bull—why would I mess with you?"

Minato had a feeling Eiji had been about to say something else, but with a real Ninjutsu to learn, he let it slide.

"You can actually do this without balloons, but it's a bit more troublesome. You gather Chakra in your palm like this, and then—"

Eiji held out his hand to demonstrate for Minato and Kushina, but the next second, he froze.

As Chakra gathered and spun above his palm, it began forming a bright blue sphere that gave off a menacing hum!

Isn't that the Rasengan?

Staring at the Rasengan in his hand, Eiji felt a flicker of disbelief.

How did I pull it off just like that?

Wait, Naruto had to work so hard to learn it in the original story, didn't he?

Oh, right. I have the Six Eyes.

The Six Eyes let him control the flow of energy with precision down to the molecular level. Guiding Chakra into a Rasengan was easy by comparison.

"Eiji, is that the new Ninjutsu you were talking about!?"

Minato Namikaze stared at the bright blue ball of energy in Eiji's hand. An instinctive chill ran through him. That thing was dangerous!

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Kushina sensed how terrifyingly powerful the Chakra was too, and even took half a step back.

"Uh, I didn't expect to pull it off so quickly either. I wouldn't recommend trying it this way when you practice... But since I've already made one, let's test its power. Both of you, step back."

Minato and Kushina nodded and obediently retreated several meters.

Eiji picked out a thick tree a meter across, then drove the Rasengan straight into its trunk.

Boom!

The enormous tree blew apart at the middle. Countless splinters flew toward Eiji's face, only to be stopped by Limitless. Minato and Kushina, standing behind him, weren't so lucky; dust and grit nearly got into their eyes.

With another crash, the giant tree slammed into the ground. Clouds of dust engulfed that part of the forest, and startled crows took to the air, cawing sharply.

"Cough, cough..." Minato waved the dust away, then his pupils shrank. Pointing at the tree, now broken in two, he exclaimed, "That's incredible destructive power...!"

Kushina was just as astonished by the technique's strength.

"This technique is called the Rasengan. It's especially well suited to Taijutsu specialists and Ninjas with vast Chakra reserves. It fits both of you."

Minato could hardly wait to try it. Coming today had been worth it—this Ninjutsu had to be perfect for him!

Kushina was excited too. The technique was powerful, and if she said she couldn't get the hang of it, Eiji might teach her hand over hand.

Eiji figured Minato was clever enough to learn it without much trouble. As for Kushina, she had plenty of Chakra. Once she mastered the Shadow Clone, she should be able to pick it up quickly too, right?

"Kushina, first I have to ask: have you learned the Clone Technique?"

"Hm? No. They haven't taught us that at school yet, have they?"

Konoha's first year covered nothing but the Will of Fire. Kushina had entered in Second Year and hadn't learned much at school since. If Tsunade and Mito hadn't taught her the technique, then she really wouldn't know it.

Eiji rubbed his chin, wondering whether to mention it to Tsunade. The Uzumaki Clan really was suited to this Ninjutsu.

"Eiji, does that mean you can't learn it without knowing the Clone Technique?"

Minato grew anxious. He didn't want to wait for school to teach him that before he could learn such a powerful Ninjutsu.

"No. If you're talented enough, you won't need it. I only suggested using clones because it's faster. The experience a clone gains goes back to the original, after all."

Eiji had them fill the balloons with water, then began teaching them how to practice the Rasengan.

The first step was to channel Chakra into a water-filled balloon without letting it burst.

The Rasengan was probably the one Ninjutsu a person transported to the world of the Hokage could realistically master without a teacher. It had a clear training process, after all. If they failed to learn it, they simply hadn't put in enough time.

Minato's talent was extraordinary. Before long, he was gradually getting the water balloon to hold steady. It still burst in the end, but he was inching closer to success.

Kushina had a harder time. She had so much Chakra that, if she failed to control how quickly she fed it into the balloon, it burst. Learning the technique was a struggle for her.

"Eiji, could you teach me?"

"Sure. Hold out your hand."

Eiji didn't think much of it and began teaching Kushina the Rasengan hand over hand. Her cheeks flushed faintly. Just as planned.

Minato kept practicing intently, eager to master this secret technique.

This is huge. I'll treasure it like a family heirloom. This is how I'll make something of myself!

Minato decided to forget about the Nine-Turn Large Intestine incident. Eiji was his brother!