Minato suddenly opened his eyes, revealing pupils that had turned into blood-red fox eyes, a sight both eerie and strange. Every cell in his body seemed to be rejoicing at that moment, as the fatigue caused by the consumption of chakra vanished instantly. A feeling of fullness surged through his body and mind.
"More, it's not enough!" Minato thought, realizing that his chakra had returned to its peak. However, the amount of chakra he had in his prime wasn't sufficient to complete the advancement of the Rasengan. The inner voice did not respond again, but Minato felt a faint tingling sensation on his skin. It was as if the blood-red chakra overflowed from his body, floating on the surface before forming a layer of chakra film around him.
Minato sensed that his chakra was now fully replenished, and his entire being was filled with an overwhelming sense of power.
"With your current physical condition, this is the maximum you can handle. Any more, and your body tissue will start to break down," the voice within him warned.
Minato nodded. In his sensor, he could feel that the amount of chakra he could now control was nearly twice as strong as his peak state. This was enough to give it a try!
With a buzzing sound, he raised his right hand and effortlessly condensed a Rasengan. Without hesitation, Minato extended his left hand, condensing chakra into his palm while seeking the balance between the two chakra transformations. This time, it took him less than half the time to succeed compared to before. After experiencing that feeling once, it was naturally much faster the second time.
"Whoosh!" The change in the nature of the wind began to form on the surface of the Rasengan, and as it did, the blood-red chakra film on Minato's body began to fade rapidly. When the Rasengan reached its previous state, the chakra film had completely disappeared, and Minato's pupils returned to their normal appearance. However, he continued to inject chakra into the Rasengan.
The previous harsh roar became more and more pronounced, and gradually, wind blades began to take shape around the Rasengan.
"Success?" Minato was thrilled. When his own chakra was reduced to less than a quarter, the Rasengan had formed wind blades shaped like a shuriken. However, each wind blade was only about ten centimeters long. But even so, Minato could sense an extremely dangerous power emanating from the advanced version of the Rasengan in his hand.
Just as Minato was about to stabilize this state, the wind blades around the Rasengan began to tremble violently.
"Unbalanced!" Minato was alarmed. If he were hit by this unbalanced Rasengan head-on, the consequences would be severe, even if he wasn't seriously injured. In such a situation, he knew the importance of remaining calm. Minato's state of mind had been honed during the Ninja War and was extremely resilient.
He focused all his effort on stabilizing the Rasengan in his hand and then suddenly threw it forward. The Rasengan was hurled like a shuriken.
"Instant Step!" Instinctively, Minato used the Body Flicker Jutsu to retreat, and the Rasengan, which had lost his control and balance, exploded only about 30 centimeters away from him.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!" Minato used up the last of his chakra to create an earth flow wall in front of him, twice as thick as an ordinary one.
"Boom!" The power of the Rasengan's explosion still managed to strike the earth flow wall after spreading for several meters. In an instant, the entire wall was shattered, as if it had been slashed countless times. Fortunately, the wall absorbed the brunt of the impact, and Minato remained unharmed.
"That was close," Minato sighed as he collapsed onto the ground, his body limp. In front of him, within a radius of several meters, everything, including the vegetation, looked as if it had been sliced repeatedly. Even he couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. Developing the Rasengan was indeed risky. If he hadn't managed to stabilize it temporarily, he would have been in serious trouble.
"It seems that developing this jutsu comes with significant risks," Minato mused with a bitter smile.
Swish! Just as he was lost in thought, several figures emerged from the dense forest. The noise had been so loud that it was impossible for the sentries not to notice.
"Minato, what happened?" A Konoha Chunin asked with a concerned expression. Minato's rank was higher than his, but more importantly, this Chunin was part of the reinforcements. Without Minato and the others' help, he wouldn't have survived.
"It's nothing. I was practicing ninjutsu and failed," Minato replied with a rueful smile, then staggered to his feet.
The Chunin's eyes flashed with admiration. In the midst of war, Minato, who already had the strength to battle Jonin, was still practicing ninjutsu during a rare break. It was clear that geniuses needed not only talent but also hard work behind the scenes.
"Seniors, I apologize for alarming you," Minato said with a slight bow.
Another Chunin smiled lightly and asked, "No worries. Do you need help getting back?"
Minato had been promoted to a special Jonin, yet he was still polite to them, the Chunins. It was easy to see why people liked him. Even when he later became Hokage, Minato continued to show respect and trust toward his companions, which was one of the reasons he rose to that position.
Minato shook his head. "No, I can make it back on my own."
"Alright," the Chunin replied.
Minato smiled and then walked away with a slightly unsteady step. As he walked, he thought to himself, "It seems I need to choose the right place and time for developing the Rasengan in the future."
The next day, at noon, Minato's chakra and physical strength had fully recovered after a night's rest. Now, he was performing sentry duties. He activated his chakra sensor, his mind also pondering various ninjutsu techniques.
At a certain point, he detected a stream of chakra entering his sensor range. He immediately withdrew his sensor.
Swish! Figures began to move quickly through the dense forest, and the chakra Minato sensed increased rapidly. In just a few seconds, the number of people far exceeded Konoha's current forces.
"Are they here?" Minato smiled. Among those chakra signatures, there were several that Minato found slightly familiar. Clearly, the village's reinforcements had arrived.
A few seconds later, a particularly familiar chakra made Minato exclaim, "They're here too?"
=========================
[Read up to 160+ chapter ahead and more Weakly Chapter Update at p@treon.com/goldengaruda]
=========================