Chapter 21: Rasengan (Part Two)
For someone like Tobirama Senju at this stage, a technique like the Rasengan was immensely valuable. And once he developed the Flying Thunder God Technique, its value would rise even further.
After all, the Rasengan was originally created to complement the blinding speed of Flying Thunder God. So it was no surprise that a speed-focused ninja like Tobirama would be interested, even in the incomplete version Hajime had.
But when would Tobirama eventually consider the Rasengan "outdated"? The answer: when he completed the Flying Thunder God Slash.
To continue developing the Rasengan, Hajime needed help from a cloning technique. But where would he get that?
After a brief internal struggle, Tobirama sighed and gave in. He'd already handed over three jutsu—what was one more?
"I can teach you a clone technique. Shadow... hmm, how about the Water Clone Jutsu?"
Thankfully, he wasn't at the point of throwing out high-level techniques like candy. The B-ranked Shadow Clone was a bit much, but the C-ranked Water Clone was still highly practical.
Hajime didn't push his luck. As long as he could squeeze out some benefits, he was happy. He dispersed his chakra and began practicing the technique right away.
Clone techniques were incredibly useful—some of the most versatile in battle. In many cases, 0.5 + 0.5 > 1.
Splitting his thoughts into two distinct streams felt bizarre, but fascinating.
Given Hajime 's current ability—at least at the elite jōnin level—learning a C-rank technique was a breeze. By the next day, he had mastered the Water Clone Jutsu.
Tobirama, still recovering from his injuries, stayed around for the time being. Once Hajime had the clone technique down, he immediately began experimenting with Rasengan synthesis.
Cautious and safety-conscious as always, Hajime and Tobirama traveled to a secluded spot far from camp—just in case things got... explosive.
"Here goes."
He glanced at Tobirama, the words serving as both a heads-up and a light disclaimer: You're standing kinda close. If anything goes wrong, it's on you.
Hajime used the Water Clone Jutsu, distributing chakra to the clone. Then he extended his left palm, channeling chakra into it, while hovering his right hand above it for compression.
Once the chakra sphere had a certain degree of solidity, the clone's hands began rotating it clockwise. In honor of the original creator—Naruto—Hajime mimicked his famously clumsy method: his clone's hands flailed like cat paws, scrambling this way and that.
As the clone's hands sped up, the dense chakra sphere started spinning. Initially slow, the spin soon reached a point where the sphere's center seemed to generate gravity, pulling the outer chakra into an accelerating whirl.
Then—a crisp, hollow sound rang out, like wind blowing through a steel pipe.
The previously weightless chakra suddenly gave Hajime 's palm a tangible heaviness, its concentrated spin and pent-up impact giving the illusion of mass.
"There's hope…"
The Rasengan had begun to take shape, and its power was promising. But just as a smile crept onto Hajime 's face, the smooth surface of the chakra sphere began to ripple and distort.
Instinctively, Hajime tightened his grip to stabilize it—but that only made things worse. The sphere trembled violently, and then...
Boom! Like a balloon popping, the chakra sphere exploded in his hands. The clone instantly collapsed into a puddle, and Hajime himself was thrown backward, landing in a heap.
Nearby grass and flowers bore the brunt of the blast.
And Tobirama? He had already retreated the moment things looked unstable. No way he'd fall victim to a rookie explosion. As a veteran of countless "ninjutsu development accidents," he knew exactly when to duck and cover.
"Didn't manage to stabilize the last phase," Hajime muttered, crawling back up, covered in dirt.
But he wasn't discouraged. He'd seen real progress—there was no time to mope. He launched a second attempt. Then a third. A fourth. A fifth.
All failures.
Watching silently all this time, Tobirama finally spoke. "Ahem. Want me to give it a shot?"
"Be my guest," Hajime said, taking a much-needed break and curious to see Tobirama's approach.
Tobirama created two clones. He'd already figured out the trick.
If you broke the Rasengan down into three parts—chakra output, rotation, and shape control—the first two were relatively crude. The real challenge lay in maintaining its form.
Tobirama cupped his hands and released chakra. One clone handled the shape, the other the spin.
On just the third try, he reached the same level Hajime had just achieved.
Even if he was following Hajime 's method step-for-step, Tobirama's talent for jutsu development was still astounding.
Then came another pop—another burst chakra sphere. Tobirama instantly blinked out of danger, leaving his clone to take the hit.
Hajime looked at him with slight resentment—those were Shadow Clones. Ah, the luxury of B-rank jutsu...
Tobirama wasn't bothered by failure. If anything, his eyes burned brighter with each attempt.
More explosions followed, one after another.
Tobirama had entered full-on ninjutsu development mode, his focus far surpassing Hajime 's. They made no progress on the first day. On the second, they exchanged ideas. By the third, Tobirama was so immersed he stopped eating and speaking.
On the morning of the fourth day, Hajime was dozing under a tree when he heard that familiar pop. He turned over, unmoved.
By now, he was used to it. The hard part wasn't forming the Rasengan—it was keeping it stable. Nothing new.
Except... something felt off.
He didn't hear an explosion this time.
Suddenly alert, Hajime sprang to his feet and looked toward Tobirama.
Disheveled and exhausted from a sleepless night, Tobirama stood there with both clones, his eyes shining—not from fatigue, but triumph.
They had finally stabilized the Rasengan.
At this stage, it was no longer just a chakra sphere. It was a proper Rasengan.
"You... That's insane!" Hajime was floored.
He wasn't comparing Tobirama to himself, but to Naruto—the fastest learner of the technique, who still took a full month to master it.
And Tobirama? This was only Day Four.
"Talent?" Tobirama shook his head. "No. I just used the dumbest method possible."
The dumbest method?
Hajime blinked, confused. Was that supposed to be modesty—or a backhanded jab?
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