A week later, within the borders of the Land of Fire, on the outskirts of a famous hot spring street, Jiraiya sat beside a small river, his eyes shining as he looked at the latest edition of an idol photobook in his hands.
To Jiraiya's side, Minato was practicing ninjutsu.
Before leaving the village under Jiraiya's tutelage, Minato had already learned the Rasengan under Kizaru's guidance.
And now, Minato was practicing the upgraded version of the Rasengan, the Wind Release: Rasengan.
The principle of Wind Release: Rasengan was to add wind chakra nature transformation to the Rasengan, giving it excellent cutting ability during attacks.
Although both were A-rank ninjutsu, the learning difficulty and attack strength of Wind Release: Rasengan far surpassed that of the ordinary Rasengan.
"Boom!"
With a loud bang, a huge rock in front of Minato was cut into countless uneven pieces by Wind Release: Rasengan.
Hearing the commotion, Jiraiya could only put away the idol photobook in his hands due to the flying debris.
Looking at Minato panting in front of him and the pile of scattered rocks in front of him, Jiraiya smiled with satisfaction.
The talent of this child, Minato, was truly astonishing!
Not only did he have excellent reflexes, but he also had outstanding talent in ninjutsu.
At less than ten years old, he had completely mastered the wind chakra nature transformation, mastered several Wind Release ninjutsu, and now even mastered Wind Release: Rasengan.
During the time spent with Minato, Jiraiya had deeply experienced Minato's excellent talent and personality.
Perhaps his disciple, Minato, was really the prophesied child as Kizaru had said!
"Hahaha! Well done, Minato!" Jumping down from the stone he was sitting on, Jiraiya laughed heartily and walked up to Minato.
"Sensei, I did it!" Smiling happily, Minato looked up at Jiraiya and said excitedly, "I finally mastered the Wind Release: Super Spiral Flash Crush Rasengan!"
"Uh... Haha! Minato, this is the Wind Release: Rasengan created by Kizaru." A drop of sweat dripped from Jiraiya's forehead as he corrected Minato.
His disciple was good at everything, but his naming style was really too... artistic!
"Big brother Kizaru's name for Wind Release: Rasengan is too ordinary, lacking in uniqueness! I still think Wind Release: Super Spiral Flash Crush Rasengan sounds better."
"Hahaha!"
Seeing Minato insisting on his chosen name, Jiraiya could only laugh awkwardly.
After laughing, Jiraiya looked up at the sky, his expression returning to seriousness.
"It's about time we return to the village. The Chunin Exams this time are highly valued by the old man."
"Yeah!" With anticipation of seeing his big brother Kizaru and Kushina again, Minato nodded with a smile.
"Oh! Sensei, I'm all fired up!"
Directly opening the Sixth Gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation, enveloped in chakra and steam, Duy used Shave and moved at super high speed.
Appearing in front of Kizaru in an instant, Duy extended his right index finger and used Finger Gun!
Armed with Armament Haki and Iron Body, plus chakra protection, Kizaru, in order to feel Duy's progress, resisted this attack.
Pushed back by the shockwave of Finger Gun, Kizaru's suit on his right chest area was pierced, leaving a tennis ball-sized hole.
In the middle of the hole, where Kizaru's hardened chest muscle was, Duy's Finger Gun created a small pit.
With a backflip, Duy retracted his index finger, and Kizaru recovered from the attack on his right chest muscle area,.
Looking down at the purple bruise on the chest muscle at the hole in his clothes due to the hematoma, Kizaru smiled and nodded.
"It's really scary, almost got pierced!"
"Indeed, Kizaru-sensei, I still need to work harder for my youth!"
Seeing that his full-power attack still couldn't pierce Kizaru's skin, Duy admired Kizaru's strong body while lamenting that his efforts were still not enough!
"Ohohoho! Well done, Duy! You're the first one to make me bleed so far."
"Ohohoho! That's youth for you! Sensei, let's continue training!" Clenching his hands into fists, arms on both sides of his body, Duy shouted excitedly.
"Not bad at all! Come on, Duy! Let's try the Tempest Kick this time." Rubbing his eyes, Kizaru encouraged.
"Yes, sensei!" Duy exclaimed loudly, twisting his body and stepping his right foot back to the side.
"Oh-ha!"
With a loud shout, Duy leaped into the air, raised his right foot, and unleashed all the power of his body, kicking towards Kizaru with a slash.
The ultra-high-speed kicking technique under full force compressed the air instantly, forming a slash burning with flames.
Raising his right hand, armed with Busoshoku Haki and chakra burst, Kizaru blocked the flaming slash.
"What a terrifying slash!"
Watching the flames dissipate in the air, Kizaru smiled contentedly and made his evaluation.
Duy, at the level of Elite Jounin, was already among the most outstanding.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
Near the Forest of Death training ground, Nawaki, who had mastered Earth Release shape transformation, formed hand seals and created a huge earth dragon.
The earth dragon emerged from the ground, opening its mouth and rushing fiercely towards Orochimaru not far away.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart!"
Facing his disciple's attack, Orochimaru crouched down and clapped his hands on the ground, creating a several-meter-long earthen wall in front of himself.
The formidable earth dragon crashed directly into the thick earthen wall.
Standing up again, Orochimaru looked at the cracked and crumbling earthen wall under the impact of the earth dragon, satisfied with a smile.
Unable to hold on any longer, the earthen wall created by Orochimaru couldn't withstand the attack of Nawaki earth dragon and cracked open directly.
Prepared in advance, Orochimaru used a substitution jutsu and appeared behind Nawaki, who was still excitedly controlling the earth dragon.
Calmly looking at his disciple, Orochimaru raised his right hand.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
As Orochimaru's voice sounded, several poisonous snakes shot out from his right sleeve, binding Nawaki from behind.
"Ah!" Letting out a cry, Nawaki, who had just been excited, knew that he had lost again.
"As a ninja, you must always be vigilant of your surroundings during battle." Controlling the snakes to bind Nawaki in mid-air, Orochimaru educated.
"Hehe! Orochimaru-sensei, you lost!" Bound by the snakes, Nawaki, who had just shown a flustered expression, suddenly smiled at Orochimaru.
As they spoke, under Orochimaru's gaze, Nawaki turned into flowing mud.
Earth clone! The rope tree had indeed made progress.
Just as Orochimaru was feeling gratified, a hand suddenly emerged from the ground beneath him.
Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique.
The surprise attack succeeded, burying Orochimaru underground while Nawaki jumped out of the earth.
"Orochimaru-sensei, I won!" Extending his right thumb and touching his nose, Nawaki said with a smile.
With his body buried in the earth, only his head poking out of the ground, Orochimaru looked at his disciple and also smiled.
"Rope tree, you've forgotten my teachings again."
"What?" In the midst of their conversation, Orochimaru opened his mouth, and a small snake shot out from it, holding a grasshopper sword.
The grasshopper sword suddenly extended, its sharp tip pressing against Nawaki's neck, who was still feeling proud and excited.
With his mouth open in surprise, facing this sudden attack, Nawaki was directly startled.
"You still have much to learn, Rope tree!"
Orochimaru's voice sounded from behind the bewildered rope tree.
Buried in the earth, Orochimaru, who had launched a surprise attack on Nawaki, turned into a white cloud of smoke.
Watching this scene before him, Nawaki slowly turned around and saw his teacher, Orochimaru, leaning against the tree with his arms crossed.
"Orochimaru-sensei, you..."
"That was a shadow clone."
Explained calmly, Orochimaru left the tree and walked slowly to the front of Nawaki.
"For this Chunin Exam, one of your teammates will be Jiraiya's disciple. Don't let me down, Rope tree."
Facing Orochimaru's somewhat pressured gaze, Nawaki nodded repeatedly and replied, "I will definitely perform well, Orochimaru-sensei."
Looking at Nawaki in front of him, Orochimaru smiled and nodded.
He understood his disciple very well.
Inheriting the bloodline and talent of the Senju Clan, Nawaki's physical qualities were excellent, and his chakra level was extremely abundant, even surpassing his own.
However, despite the outstanding hardware qualifications, Nawaki's software qualifications were only average.
His ability to master ninjutsu was average, his combat IQ was average, and he lacked sufficient vigilance.
For Nawaki's future development, Orochimaru's plan for him was to excel in taijutsu and specialize in earth-release ninjutsu.
Utilizing his excellent physical qualities and abundant chakra levels well, there was still hope for Nawaki to reach the level of an elite ninja.