After training, the two sat on a large rock in the training area to rest.
"Minato, I want an ice pop." Jiraiya said, winking.
Minato nodded and agreed with a gentle smile, then disappeared in an instant.
Shintaro noticed Minato's aura vanish suddenly, turned in surprise, and looked at Jiraiya. Only then did he confirm that Minato had truly disappeared, not just moved a few hundred meters away.
At this moment, Jiraiya also glanced at him. Shintaro didn't dare to look further and turned away.
Disappearing instead of moving at high speed indicated that Minato's ninjutsu involved spatial manipulation.
'This world seems more interesting than I thought,' Shintaro thought to himself.
Since Minato vanished instantly, even the Six Eyes couldn't unravel the mystery.
To see through this spatial ninjutsu, Minato might need to demonstrate it within Shintaro's field of vision.
Before the shock in his heart completely subsided, Minato's figure reappeared in the training area.
He was holding a bottle of water and two ice pops. He handed one to Jiraiya and sat down to sip his water.
Jiraiya took the ice pop, unwrapped it, and asked, "Which side do you want?"
"Doesn't matter..." Minato initially thought it didn't matter but suddenly realized something.
"The words are the same there..." An idea popped into his mind, and he immediately jumped up and shouted, "That's it, Jiraiya-sensei!"
"If the extraction is the same no matter the direction..." He felt he had uncovered the secret to a new technique.
But Jiraiya indifferently said, "Huh? What's up? Don't you want to eat? Then I'll eat both!"
Minato concentrated on developing the new technique, leaving Jiraiya alone and returning to the center of the training area to continue trying.
"Fix, rotate, and maintain from two directions simultaneously. We'll definitely succeed this time!" Minato raised his right hand and started to condense chakra.
Whether it was due to nerves, this time it took him a long time to condense the chakra, and slowly the chakra appeared in his hand.
Two streams of chakra emerged in his palm simultaneously, starting to rotate in different directions, and a chakra ball quickly formed. This time was different from the others; this time the chakra ball remained very stable.
The two chakras continued to spin at high speed internally without affecting the external stability at all.
"For the first time... it's forming!!"
The strong wind from the chakra ball blew Minato's yellow hair, and a bright smile filled his handsome face, "...Let's call it—"
At this moment, Jiraiya finished chewing his ice pop and approached just as Minato was about to announce the name loudly, "[Kourin Reika Hakkitsu Muji-Jiraiya Soushikinogan]!!!"
"Ugly and long... You have no talent for naming..." Jiraiya looked at Minato, who thought he had achieved something very clever, speechless.
Minato's voice even reached Shintaro and Kurenai, and they both agreed, "Bad name."
The name was very logical, but unfortunately, it was ugly.
Shintaro saw the blue chakra ball in Minato's hand from a distance, and while activating the Six Eyes to analyze the ninjutsu, he sighed, "If I had to name it, I would call it [Rasengan]."
After a while, Minato dispelled the [Kourin Reika Hakkitsu Muji-Jiraiya Soushikinogan], and Shintaro also completed the analysis of this ninjutsu with the long and ugly name.
Jiraiya said to Minato at this time, "Anyway, the development of the new technique should end now. I have other application matters to attend to, so I'll leave for a bit. You can take this opportunity to get some good rest, understand?"
Minato seemed still immersed in the new technique he had just mastered, and casually replied, "Yeah..."
Jiraiya just left the training area.
Minato was leaning against a rock near the forest, continuing to refine his new technique. It seemed unrealistic for him to rest at this moment.
On the other hand, Shintaro was in a good mood after imitating such a powerful technique. He happily continued to teach Kurenai how to use Genjutsu.
Kurenai thought Shintaro was just mocking Minato's bad naming and thought to herself, 'I didn't expect Shintaro to have such a childish side.'
❀❀❀
Time passed, Shintaro and Kurenai had almost completed their training progress for the day, Minato was also familiar with his new technique, and the three of them were ready to leave the training area.
At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared in the forest; it was Uzumaki Kushina.
Shintaro was the first to notice Kushina hiding in the forest.
Minato waited until Kushina poked her head out before looking up in surprise: "Eh?! Why are you here, Kushina... Is it okay?"
Kushina raised her voice a bit guiltily and explained, "Ah! No! S-Sandaime-sama gave special permission... He said it was okay to leave the barrier...!"
"I see, no wonder the usual supervisor isn't here."
Minato easily believed Kushina's words.
Shintaro, who was about to leave, had a look of surprise on his face, 'Do you believe this?! Is the IQ of Konoha Jonin so low?'
The Six Eyes did not see the ANBU responsible for guarding, and the seal on Kushina's body seemed significantly loosened. Clearly, Kushina had snuck out by herself.
'This isn't a good place to stay for long.'
Shintaro raised his alertness internally, while also pulling Kurenai away.
Holding her hand, Kurenai felt a moment of embarrassment.
"Compared to this... It's my fault earlier! I was mad at you..." Kushina bowed sincerely and apologized.
Minato was stunned for a moment, then lowered his eyebrows and said, "No... I should be the one apologizing... I failed to keep my promise to you..."
"..."
After he finished speaking, he was silent for a while and decided to reveal his true feelings: "Actually, the reason I wanted to complete the ninjutsu earlier even if it meant breaking my promise to you is because this ninjutsu was created to protect you."
"Eh?"
Kushina heard Minato talk about the initial intention of developing the new technique for the first time.
"...Because we are in the midst of war, you might be sent to the battlefield someday. Therefore, I specifically developed this designed to counter Bijuu, to fight enemy Jinchuuriki."
Minato expressed his true thoughts, then looked at Kushina with a gentle expression.
"Because I—don't want to lose you."
Minato's words were like a soft yet powerful cannonball, exploding a flower called heartbeat in Kushina.
However, as Kushina's heart trembled, the Kyuubi inside her suddenly became enraged and directly seized control of her body.
Kushina's pupils turned into the fierce fox's vertical pupils.
In Kushina's spiritual world, the Kyuubi, partially unsealed, bewitched Kushina with words, "I should have told you not to trust anyone, this person is using you!"
However, Kushina worried about Minato's safety and shouted his name.
Minato noticed Kushina holding her head and bending over in pain, and asked concernedly: "What's wrong, Kushina?!"
Kushina roared, and then a significant amount of terrifying chakra erupted from her body.
"This Bijuu transformation!!" Minato was shocked, then was thrown by a close-range punch from the rampaging Kushina.