Minato helplessly shook his head, feeling deeply regretful that Fuma couldn't appreciate his artistic naming style.
Fuma ignored Minato's playful mood and instead focused on the buzzing Rasengan in Minato's hand, pondering:
"He's already developed the Rasengan, has he? This kid Minato…"
Fuma couldn't help but recall a joke from his past life: Minato created the Rasengan in one day but took three years to come up with a cool name.
Rasengan, the signature technique of the Protagonist of the Ninja World, was an iconic move throughout the entire series of "Naruto". It held special significance within the entire shinobi world.
In the original timeline, Minato created the Rasengan during the Third Great Ninja War after closely observing the Tailed Beast Bomb in battle. It took him three years to fully develop the technique.
However, the current Minato had been receiving the finest ninja education since childhood, far surpassing his original counterpart's foundation.
During the last war, Fuma's act of using his body to block the Tailed Beast Bomb and rescue Minato and others left Minato both shocked and with a clearer understanding of his own strength. This sparked his burning desire to improve himself.
After returning to the village, Minato had immersed himself fully into the development of the Rasengan, leading to its early creation.
Seeing Fuma deep in thought, Minato wore a proud expression.
"Fuma-bro, the key advantage of the Rasengan is that it doesn't require hand seals, which fits perfectly with my Flying Thunder God technique."
"However, I'm still not satisfied with its power. When facing enemies with high defense, it's not enough to break through."
Fuma glanced at Minato and nodded in agreement. He extended his arm, signaling Minato to demonstrate the Rasengan's effect.
Minato didn't hesitate, as there was no need for courtesy between them. He raised the Rasengan and pressed it against Fuma's sturdy arm.
"Zzzz…"
The Rasengan collided with Fuma's iron-like arm, spinning chakra at an incredible speed. The friction against Fuma's skin produced a sharp buzzing sound.
"Whoosh!"
The Rasengan's attack failed to penetrate Fuma's skin. Its shape destabilized and, after violent collisions, gradually dissipated into streams of chakra, vanishing into the air.
Minato sighed. Although he was well aware of Fuma's terrifying defense, he still felt a slight pang of disappointment.
Fuma looked at his arm, now covered in white marks from the Rasengan's friction.
He clapped his hands in admiration and remarked, "The Rasengan is indeed a powerful technique. If you could refine its nature transformation even further, I might even ask Tsunade to learn it."
Minato's eyes lit up at Fuma's high praise but quickly shook his head, offering a more objective opinion:
"The Rasengan's power still doesn't compare to Tsunade-neesan's monstrous strength. It would be better for her to focus on enhancing her speed and sensory abilities; there's no need for her to learn this."
Fuma raised an eyebrow, teasing, "I meant if Tsunade learned the Rasengan, she could help scrub my back."
Minato, keeping a straight face, wasn't fazed by Fuma's teasing. They had been like this since they were kids, and he was used to it.
What frustrated Minato more was his own dissatisfaction with the Rasengan's current power.
Having experienced the battlefield and witnessed firsthand the power of Hanzō and the rampage of the Tailed Beasts, Minato now had a deeper understanding of the world's strongest shinobi.
Minato's current goal was to have techniques that could harm a Tailed Beast while ensuring his own safety.
He gathered another Rasengan, staring at the rotating chakra as he spoke slowly, "I'm not satisfied with the Rasengan's power either. But improving it is proving to be difficult, so I came to you, Fuma-bro, hoping for some guidance."
Fuma nodded. The Rasengan's power was more than enough against regular ninja, but against Jinchūriki from the major villages or individuals like the Third Raikage, it was insufficient.
These shinobi shared common traits: either exceptionally strong defenses or extraordinary regenerative abilities. To defeat them, more powerful techniques were necessary.
Although the Flying Thunder God technique could guarantee Minato's safety, it was clear that Minato wanted to carry the burden of leadership himself.
Fuma contemplated this. He wasn't a specialist in ninjutsu, a domain better suited to Orochimaru. However, with his experience as a seasoned warrior and his knowledge from his past life, he could still offer Minato some advice.
"The simplest way to enhance a jutsu's power is to increase your chakra. After all, chakra is the foundation of all ninjutsu."
"For the Rasengan, it's the same. While making a large amount of chakra rotate in the form of the Rasengan is a complex task, it's also the simplest path forward."
Fuma's first suggestion was straightforward: like Naruto, Minato could create bigger Rasengans, even larger and more numerous ones!
Minato nodded. While his chakra reserves weren't as vast as Uzumaki Kushina's, he still had top-tier reserves for a shinobi.
Minato's Rasengan grew larger until it was the size of a basketball. He signaled Fuma with his eyes.
If you wanted to test the power of a jutsu, live testing was the most accurate way. Fuma was currently fulfilling that role.
Fuma's face darkened. How did he end up with such a troublesome student?
Reluctantly, Fuma extended his hand, gripping the enlarged Rasengan with his five fingers.
"Bang!"
The basketball-sized Rasengan exploded, leaving Fuma's hand covered with complex white marks but no deep wounds.
Fuma felt the heat from the explosion on his palm and commented, "Increasing the Rasengan's size by using more chakra is effective, but it's a crude method. Rather than boosting its power, you're just expanding its area of effect."
Minato agreed, nodding his head. He had long recognized this issue.
No matter how large the Rasengan became, it didn't change its core nature—it was still a high-density spinning chakra ball.
In other words, if a regular Rasengan couldn't break through an enemy's defense, then even a Giant Rasengan wouldn't be able to do so. The fundamental destructive power hadn't increased.
Minato once again gathered a Rasengan, but this time he infused it with wind chakra. The pale blue chakra ball now had whitish, fan-like blades extending from its surface.
"Wind Style: Rasengan!"
Fuma was amazed. At just 15, Minato was already displaying talent comparable to that of Asura's reincarnation. He was already beginning to strengthen the Rasengan.
"Fuma-bro, if I want to truly evolve the Rasengan, I'm thinking of incorporating wind chakra nature transformation, utilizing its unparalleled cutting ability to enhance the Rasengan's lethality."
"However, there's a problem—when using the Wind Style Rasengan in battle, the explosion could backfire on me. It's a significant drawback."
"My initial idea was to inject more wind chakra into the Rasengan, causing a fundamental transformation."
"If successful, the Rasengan would become a collection of countless microscopic blades capable of slicing at a cellular level. I believe even you, Fuma-nii, could be hurt by it!"
Fuma's face darkened further. Not only was this blonde kid using him to test his jutsu, but now he was openly targeting him for injury. What kind of ungrateful disciple was this?
"Duang!"
After receiving a knock on the head from Fuma, Minato sat beside him, looking pitiful. Seeing Fuma's mood lighten, Minato cautiously continued:
"Even with the regular Rasengan, I can't throw it. Once it leaves my control, it disintegrates. I'm not sure how to move forward from here."
Fuma's expression became serious. This issue wasn't something that could be solved with mere inspiration. Mishandling it could cause permanent damage to Minato's chakra system.
In the original timeline, Naruto nearly shattered his arm's bones and chakra pathways when he first used the incomplete Rasenshuriken.
If it weren't for the powers of the Nine-Tails and Asura's chakra, Naruto might have become permanently disabled.
This was a problem that Fuma couldn't help Minato with.
He couldn't summon the soul of Asura to inhabit Minato's body, and becoming a Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails was even less viable.
"If you insist on developing the Rasengan, then the issue we need to solve is stabilizing the chakra nature transformation within it, allowing you to release the enhanced Rasengan at a distance."
"This is extremely difficult unless you have a second chakra source to stabilize the Rasengan's form. Otherwise, it's hard to achieve. Another option is to have a body tough enough to withstand the chakra storm's backlash."
In the original timeline, Naruto could throw the Rasenshuriken only after mastering Sage Mode. He combined the energy of nature and his own chakra into the Rasengan, which stabilized its power.
This was only possible because the combination of natural chakra and Naruto's massive reserves allowed him to sustain the intense rotation and chakra consumption.
Minato's chakra reserves, while considerable, weren't on the same level as Naruto's. He needed either external help or an alternative strategy.
Minato, envious, looked at Fuma's strong physique and sighed:
"If I had a body like Fuma-nii's, I wouldn't even need to throw the Rasenshuriken. I could just shove it in the enemy's face directly."
Hearing Minato's comment, Fuma casually shook his head and teased:
"In a few more years, I'll show you what it means to punch through a Tailed Beast Bomb. Ninja who rely solely on chakra are just too limited!"
Minato shot Fuma a disdainful look, thinking to himself:
"These naturally talented ninja are the most annoying!"
Little did he realize that at just sixteen, having mastered the Flying Thunder God technique, created the Rasengan, and even begun researching nature transformation, he himself was one of the most talented shinobi.
Effort may not lose to talent, but both effort and talent lose to those with cheats. That was the truth of the ninja world.
A rare hint of worry appeared on Minato's face. The jutsu he had painstakingly created had no clear direction for further development, leaving the blond boy feeling lost.
In the original timeline, Minato was constrained by his lack of raw destructive power, preventing him from becoming a top-tier Kage-level ninja.
If Minato had possessed overwhelming firepower, Obito would have been split in half during the Nine-Tails' rampage.
Fuma looked at Minato's troubled expression and sighed inwardly:
"It's a good thing to realize your shortcomings early."
"You could also try walking the path of a Kekkei Genkai user, creating a new type of jutsu. You have quite a variety of chakra natures, after all."
Minato blinked, puzzled, and asked:
"Kekkei Genkai? Don't those require hereditary traits? I don't think any of my ancestors were renowned for having a Kekkei Genkai."
Fuma chuckled and explained:
"There are generally two types of Kekkei Genkai."
"The first type is organ-based, where a part of a ninja's body functions differently from others, granting them special abilities. For example, the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan or the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan."
"The second type is chakra-based. When two chakra natures fuse, they create a new element, called a Kekkei Genkai."
"For instance, the Ice Release from the Hidden Mist Village or the Magnet Release from the Hidden Sand Village. These too are passed down through bloodlines."
"Kekkei Genkai created from chakra fusion were also invented by ninjas, and over time, they were recorded in their genes and passed down to their descendants."
Minato's eyes lit up once again. For this young genius who rarely encountered challenges, the idea of creating a Kekkei Genkai was incredibly appealing.
Fuma, sensing Minato's growing interest, pressed further:
"If you manage to fuse three chakra natures, it becomes what's known as a Kekkei Tota, which surpasses all other ninjutsu."
"For example, the Dust Release from the Hidden Stone Village is so powerful that even I would have to avoid it."
"Kekkei Tota can also be learned through training. The Second and Third Tsuchikages were master and apprentice, yet the Third Tsuchikage still inherited the Dust Release without any blood connection."
"If you develop a brand-new Kekkei Tota, not only will you gain tremendous power, but any future children you have with Kushina will benefit immensely."
Fuma's encouragement was clear. He hoped that the power of love would give Minato some extra motivation.
Minato's eyes grew brighter, and there was even a faint, mischievous glint in them.
Fuma couldn't help but wonder, "What kind of jutsu is this kid imagining right now?"
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