At night, after finishing his secret solo training, Uzumaki Naruto crept quietly back to his room.
He glanced around and saw that Rorin, Jiraiya, and Fukasaku-sensei were all fast asleep.
Letting out a soft sigh, Naruto turned to look out the window and thought to himself: Although I've made some progress, it's still not perfect. If I don't keep training hard in Sage Mode, who knows when I'll be able to truly complete it. And I can't let anyone find out either.
Making up his mind to spend more time training tomorrow, Naruto slowly pulled up his blanket and drifted into a deep sleep.
...
The next day.
Rorin and Naruto were sparring in taijutsu, while Fukasaku-sensei watched from the side, nodding repeatedly.
"It looks like little Rorin and little Naruto are really getting into the groove."
As for Jiraiya, he had already left Mount Myoboku early that morning.
An hour later, the two boys and the toad stopped to rest, eating their insect bento.
"Oh, looks like I came back just in time, haha!" Jiraiya's voice drifted over.
The two boys and the toad turned toward the sound.
Jiraiya walked over slowly, carrying a bundle in one hand. After setting it down, he sat beside them, grabbed some food, and began eating.
Rorin tilted his head slightly and glanced at the bundle behind Jiraiya, thinking: Could that be…?
After the meal, Jiraiya waved Rorin over and said quietly,
"I assume you've already seen the Rasengan, right?"
Rorin nodded slightly. Then he watched as a Rasengan slowly formed in Jiraiya's hand.
After dispersing it, Jiraiya opened the bundle, took out a water balloon, and tossed it to Rorin. He then took another one and placed it in his own right hand.
"First, you concentrate chakra in your palm. Then, continuously release it," Jiraiya explained while gathering chakra in his hand.
Pop!
The water balloon in Jiraiya's hand burst. He smiled at Rorin and said softly,
"The first exercise is rotation. Your goal is to use chakra to stir the water inside this balloon until it bursts."
Seeing this familiar scene, Naruto walked over curiously.
"Hey, Pervy Sage, are you teaching Rorin the Rasengan?"
Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah. I heard a while back that he wanted to learn a hand-seal-less jutsu, so I thought I'd teach him this one."
Naruto turned to Rorin and said, "Hey, Rorin, I know this jutsu too. Want me to share some tips?"
Rorin waved his hand and politely declined.
"Thanks, Naruto, but I'd rather figure it out myself. There are no shortcuts in learning."
"I see… alright then," Naruto said slowly.
"Alright, Naruto, come back and keep training. Since Rorin is learning a jutsu, we shouldn't disturb him," Fukasaku hopped over and pushed Naruto forward.
"Okay!" Naruto was nudged away from behind.
Fukasaku glanced back at Jiraiya, silently praising him: Nicely done, little Jiraiya!
"Alright then, focus on the first stage for now. Don't rush—this jutsu is harder to master if you're impatient," Jiraiya said with a smile before sitting down.
Rorin nodded and began his first attempt. Unfortunately, although the water balloon started shaking violently, it didn't burst. He frowned slightly.
Jiraiya nodded slowly and then lay down on the ground.
Rorin tried three times. Though none succeeded, he was steadily improving. Finally, on his fourth attempt—
Pop!
The water balloon in his hand burst, drawing the attention of Naruto and Fukasaku.
Jiraiya, who had dozed off lightly, was splashed awake. He looked at Rorin in confusion.
"You succeeded?"
Rorin nodded, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and exhaled. "Yeah, took a bit of time."
Jiraiya froze. That didn't feel like long at all… He recalled that Naruto had spent an entire night figuring it out through his own understanding.
A faint headache crept in as Jiraiya showed a helpless expression. He then pulled out a rubber ball from the bundle and tossed it to Rorin.
"Since you've completed the rotation stage, the next step is power. Just like before, your goal now is to burst this rubber ball."
Rorin nodded, caught the ball, and began training immediately.
Jiraiya stood up. After getting splashed earlier, he was no longer sleepy. Now he was curious—just how fast could Rorin complete the second stage?
Pop!
Before long, after just five attempts, the rubber ball in Rorin's hand also burst.
Jiraiya's mouth twitched slightly. He covered his face with his hand and thought: Hey, hey, kid… could you maybe learn a little slower?!
"What's next, greasy old man?" Rorin turned and asked, his expression 'curious.'
"Cough, cough!" Jiraiya cleared his throat. Then, struck by a sudden idea, he said,
"Well… I didn't expect you to finish the first two stages so quickly, so I haven't prepared anything for the third stage yet. Wait here a moment—I'll be right back!"
Rorin was a little puzzled. Shouldn't the next step be combining the first two stages and forming a membrane around the chakra to stabilize it? That should complete the Rasengan, right?
But since Jiraiya hadn't explained it, he could only pretend not to know.
Naruto frowned slightly as he watched Jiraiya leave.
A quarter of an hour later, Jiraiya returned with another bundle, smiling at Rorin.
He opened it, took out an iron ball, and tossed it to Rorin, speaking in a completely serious tone.
"Alright, you've got power now. The next step is decomposition. When you can crush this iron ball into powder, you'll have completed the third stage."
Rorin's mouth twitched slightly. Meanwhile, the clueless Naruto jumped over and asked,
"Pervy Sage, there wasn't a stage like this when you taught me! Did you teach me a half-finished version?"
Jiraiya looked a bit embarrassed. How did I forget about Naruto…
Rorin looked at the iron ball in his hand and thought carefully. The water balloon was liquid, the rubber ball involved air, and the iron ball was solid… there did seem to be some kind of logic to it.
But whether the final result would still be the Rasengan was another matter entirely.
"I understand. I'll give it a try!" Rorin nodded seriously and glanced at Jiraiya.
Jiraiya scratched the back of his head awkwardly under Rorin's sincere gaze.
"I just remembered—I got it wrong. The third stage isn't this. You just need to combine the first two stages and stabilize it. That's how you complete the Rasengan."
Rorin slowly shook his head and smiled faintly.
"Greasy old man, don't you think this is kind of interesting too? Maybe it'll lead to a completely different kind of jutsu."
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