Only after resting for a while did Jiraiya take Naruto to continue with the second stage of training.
Diligence and hard work were good things, but hurting himself over them would defeat the purpose.
"Now, let's move on to the second stage of training."
Jiraiya took Naruto into a forest far from the shopping district.
For one thing, it would keep others from spying on them. For another, a ninja practicing ninjutsu in a crowded place would cause far too much destruction and create a bad impression.
Besides, the forest was big enough for Naruto to do whatever he wanted.
Even if they ran into a wild boar or some other beast, there was no need to worry. They could just send the boar straight into their stomachs.
"Yeah! Finally, some proper training!"
Naruto was very excited. The more he trained, the closer he felt to mastering that powerful ninjutsu that required no hand seals.
"Hey, catch."
Jiraiya tossed something to Naruto.
"A rubber ball? Huh? This kind of thing again?"
Naruto caught it and gave it a squeeze, voicing his confusion.
"This time, you have to burst this! It's a hundred times tougher than a water balloon!"
Jiraiya took another rubber ball out of his clothes and poured chakra into it. In less than a second, he burst it, making it look effortless.
Hearing that, Naruto hurried to try it himself, but even with his other hand helping, he could not burst the rubber ball at all.
"It's so... tough!"
Naruto spoke through gritted teeth.
"The first stage was rotation. The second stage is power. Without water, it's hard to picture which direction the chakra is spinning in, so rotating your chakra is difficult too."
Jiraiya explained.
"It really is."
By then, Naruto had already tried several times, but