Naruto tucked Himawari in bed before looking at the door to the main carriage. After a moment of thought, he decided to skip the idea of eavesdropping on the sisters and instead shoved his head out the window. Looking forward, Naruto noticed a faint silhouette sitting on top of the train engine.
"This kid …" He mumbled before pushing half his body out of the train and flipping to the top. The violent wind hit his face, causing his hair to sway as he approached the engine cart.
"Enjoying the view?"
"Dad?" Boruto looked back curiously. "What're you doing here?"
"Checking up on you," he stood beside Boruto before taking a seat and crossing his legs. "Is there something on your mind?"
"Nah," he shook his head. "I just wanted to enjoy the wind for a bit."
"You and Hima didn't sleep at all last night. She's already out, why don't I tuck you in bed as well?"
"I don't feel like sleeping, Dad," Boruto shook his head. "I've been thinking of this jutsu …"
"Lay it on me," Naruto said.
"Remember my Vanishing Rasengan? The one that combines with Yin Release to disappear when I throw it."
"I do," Naruto said. "You initially thought that you'd failed, but you'd just instinctively made a nature release Rasengan."
"Yeah … So, how do I do it with other natures?"
"Are you thinking of creating one based on Lightning? That's your predominant element, right."
"Yeah," he nodded. "I want to compress lightning into a ball form so that when I throw it, it can explode like a grenade, stunning my opponent. But I can't seem to stabilize it enough to make it work. The best I can do is to keep it in my hand and impact the enemy with it, kinda like the Chidori."
"Hmm," Naruto showed a thoughtful expression. "What about adding a second chakra nature to it? Like trying to merge it with your Yin Release Vanishing Rasengan. Since that one is inherently more stable and Yin is compatible with Lightning, you shouldn't have too many issues if you try to make it work."
"It's not possible to merge two chakra natures. That makes a Kekkei Genkai, Dad," Boruto said with some frustration.
Naruto chuckled patiently. "Sometimes, when you talk about nature release so freely, I forget that you aren't actually a jōnin yet," he said. "A Kekkei Genkai is a bloodline ability that allows one to derive a new element entirely from their bloodline. What I'm talking about is to use two chakra natures in a single jutsu. Many jutsu are based on the merging of multiple chakra natures. Take Kirigakure's signature jutsu, for example. They don't create mist by the sole utilization of Water Release. It is a mix of both Fire and Water in a delicate balance that makes sure that the water that is created isn't steam but also spreads around quickly, that is done through a modified utilization of Yang Release. You've seen Mist-nin use their Mist Creation jutsu, right?"
"Mm-hm …" He nodded.
"As for what you want to do," Naruto suddenly extended his palm forward as his chakra started condensing. It formed a pure sphere of rapidly rotating chakra in it. "This is the normal Rasengan, right? Now we will make it a Lightning Rasengan." As he said so, the violently fast blue chakra turned far more aggressive, taking on a purple hue that made it seem like it was downright peaceful before. "This should be the form of the Lightning Rasengan that you have achieved, right?"
"It is …" Boruto was a little speechless at the ease with which Naruto formed the Lightning Rasengan.
'It took me a whole week to be able to form that jutsu … And mine still isn't as stable.'
"Now, we have two possible paths for this. One is to have such precise control that you can stabilize it inside a ball of your pure chakra that won't let anything out until you want it to. Or to use Yin Release in conjunction."
"No way …" Boruto mumbled as he saw a light blue sheen appear over the Lightning Rasengan that turned the sphere slightly translucent. "You're doing it right now."
"Of course," Naruto said with a slightly satisfied smile as he enjoyed showing off in front of his son. "This is probably what you wanted," he said as he played with the covered Rasengan as if it were a ball, bouncing it in his hand. "Try throwing it somewhere in the distance."
Boruto panickedly caught the fragile grenade that Naruto casually threw at him.
"Go on, throw it," Naruto prompted. "Just not in the path of the train."
The blonde examined the marble-like sphere in his hand before sighing helplessly. He then threw it as far as he could.
Just as the orb impacted the ground, it exploded into a huge blast of lightning that covered hundreds of meters around it, almost reaching the train if Boruto hadn't thrown it far enough away.
"This is insane, Dad. How can you just make such a stable structure with your chakra?" Boruto's voice was quivering, whether in fear or excitement, unclear. "My Lightning Rasengan can barely destroy a tree …"
"Has Sasuke told you about the Susanoo yet?"
"He has …"
"This is the same principle. Compress chakra to increase its quality and solidify it using your mental will. You can substitute it with hand signs, but you will have less control in that case. The Susanoo works the same way, with the Mangekyō as the source of both the compressed chakra and the mental will."
"Mangekyō?"
"Let Sasuke tell you about it, it's his thing," Naruto said, patting his head. "Do you get it?"
"Compressing chakra … and keeping it stable using the mind. I get that … But how did you make it so strong? It was the same size as the one I usually make."
"Same principle," Naruto said. "You compress chakra before converting it into lightning, hence improving the power of that lightning."
"It took you a few seconds to do all that? Without any hand sighs …" Boruto looked flabbergasted.
"You'll be able to do it as well," Naruto rubbed Boruto's head again. "It just takes a long time of practice."
"Whatever you say, Dad …" Boruto wasn't disheartened when he saw the ease with which his father performed a jutsu that could easily be considered beyond S-Class just by how much range it covered. "What about the second method?" He asked with a gleam of excitement in his eyes.
"That is adding Yin Release to the technique," Naruto smiled at the quick rebound that Boruto showed. "This one's a bit more technical since you need to meld two chakra natures together. But it's also easier on the mental will. My last trick was very dependent on your chakra control and ability to compress and manipulate it. This one is more along the lines of a normal jutsu. Pay attention to what happens, okay?"
Naruto created the normal Rasengan in the same way as before, but this time, instead of it turning into lightning directly, it started disappearing in certain spots as lightning appeared on others. Boruto saw the entire Rasengan slowly vanish into nothingness with occasional arcs of lightning running through it.
"Now, this one is much less stable and will explode on contact with any surface," Naruto said with an invisible Rasengan in his hand. As he threw it away, Boruto had the thought that maybe it was just a dud, but the resulting explosion immediately destroyed that thought.
Somehow, merging the jutsu with Yin Release had only made it stronger. Despite Naruto throwing it much further away, the explosion still reached close to the train, allowing Boruto to clearly see that the curtain of lightning had spots that constantly vanished and reappeared, similar to what was happening as Naruto formed the Rasengan.
"Hey," Naruto nudged Boruto. "Did you see how it was made?"
"Kinda … I have an idea. You somehow weaved both Lightning nature and Yin nature chakra together, right? To stabilize it into a sphere shape before throwing it."
"Correct," Naruto nodded, patting his head. "Now, how about you spend a day thinking about how you can cast it, and we will talk tomorrow about how to make that thought a reality?"
"Sounds good …" He nodded.
Naruto didn't say anything for a few seconds, enjoying as the wind hit his face. "… Boruto," he said.
"What is it, Dad?" Boruto asked.
"I'm going to pass my chakra through you," Naruto said seriously. "It will mark you with a special seal that will always allow me to stay connected to you. Not only that, I will be able to locate you and talk to you no matter where you are in this world."
"What?" Boruto asked.
"Its presence is going to be there for your safety, okay, son? You are going on missions now. In case something ends up happening, I want to be able to reach out to you whenever necessary. Think of it as a precautionary measure."
The grave tone of his father seemed to compel Boruto to agree. He trusted that his father wouldn't do anything to harm him and didn't resist. "All right, whatever. You worry too much, you know that?"
"Good," Naruto nodded. "Give me your hand."
As Naruto started passing his chakra into Boruto, the kid felt warm all over, as if he was enveloped in a warm hug. The violent reaction came next, as Boruto's entire existence was branded with the Dominion mark, forcing Naruto to hold him and keep him still. The experience left him sweaty and overwhelmed as he huffed violently while recovering.
Once the procedure was complete, Naruto examined the mark that appeared on the back of Boruto's hand while the kid in question quickly lost consciousness, too exhausted to even stand up.
'It's understandable that the mark would appear here.' Naruto thought to himself. 'Instead of Momoshiki's Kāma, it is my Dominion Mark that he has now …'
***
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