Chapter 18 Rasengan
"Here" said Jiriaya, setting down two large sacks full of water balloons in front of Naruto.
"What are these for?" asked Naruto, taking a water balloon and examining it.
"Training" replied Jiraiya. Naruto had no idea what the Pervy Sage was taking about. "Okay, watch." Jiraiya took one of the balloons and Naruto watched as he swirled the water in the balloon with his chakra until the balloon burst.
"Whoa!" exclaimed the hyperactive blonde ninja. Jiraiya explained to Naruto to burst the balloon by swirling the water using only his chakra. "Now, you already know the 'water walking' exercise and the 'tree climbing' exercise. The tree climbing exercise teaches you to maintain a certain amount of chakra by focusing your mind and keeping that concentration. The water walking exercise releases a fixed amount of chakra continuously. For this, use the water walking technique to spin the water with a continuous flow."
"Spin the water with a continuous flow?" asked Naruto asked.
"Hmm, let's see" thought Jiraiya for a second. "Alright, first use the tree climbing exercise to maintain a moderate amount of chakra in your hands and then use the water walking exercise to release and spin it continuously."
Naruto had the idea now. Basically, he had to continuously spin it until it boiled and the balloon burst. Jiraiya explained that there were about 150 water balloons in the bag and he would only teach Naruto the second step in learning the Rasengan once all of the balloons were popped with Naruto's chakra. Before returning to his research, Jiraiya explained that Naruto would probably need both hands to control the chakra at first, but should then work on controlling it with a single hand after the first few balloons.
The rest of the day consisted of Naruto trying to burst the balloon. However, all he managed to do was get the water to swirl in a single direction. While the balloon was deforming, it was nowhere near what Jiraiya's balloon had looked like. Jiraiya's balloon had multiple points, chaotically erupting out of it until the balloon finally burst. Naruto's balloon only deformed until it was in an elongated disk.
It wasn't until late the next day that Naruto finally got an idea on how to do the first step. Tora, the Demon Cat of the Hidden Leaf, came upon Naruto training and found a stray water balloon. "Hey! Give that back you damn cat!" screamed Naruto as Tora began playing with the balloon, knocking it back and forth until the balloon burst, soaking the cat. The burst scared Tora off, but Naruto had an idea. He took a balloon in one hand and began focusing his chakra.
"I wonder if the kid learned anything?" thought Jiraiya, whose attention had been momentarily averted from the bikini-clad girls in the river next to their training area. Naruto did, as he clasped the balloon in both hands and began swirling the chakra, creating different directions of the swirl. A few moments later, the balloon burst.
"Yeah! I did it!" shouted the excited ninja.
"Keep it down out there. I'm trying to take a nap" said Kurama, while he was trying to take a nap; he had been keeping an eye on his jinchuriki's progress.
"Well too bad. I'm now one step closer to getting that awesome jutsu down, so stop complaining!" replied Naruto.
Suddenly, Naruto hear a rustling in the bushes as Kiba came running out. "Oh, Naruto?" said Kiba, wondering why Naruto was there. However, his head refocused on the task at hand. "Hey, have you seen that damn cat anywhere? I could have sworn I smelled it, but it faded off."
"Cat? Oh, you mean Tora?" asked Naruto as Kiba nodded.
"The Hokgae gave me and Ino that mission. Thanks to you, I'm stuck doing missions without my team for the next month!" said Kiba, referring to the fact that both of his teammates were in the finals and that they had the entire month off from mission work to train, while he had been eliminated by Naruto.
Naurto told him that Tora came running through here a few minutes ago, and soaked itself with one of his water balloons. Unfortunately, this wiped most of the scent on Tora and it would be a bit before the scent was strong enough again. That cat was seriously becoming a genin's bane as Kiba took off in the direction that Naruto directed him in.
"So it looks like you've got it" said Jiraiya. Naruto nodded in excitement. "Alright, now only 149 more balloons to go."
Jiraiya smiled as Naruto's spirits dropped. He had been hoping to move onto the next stage, but now he had to repeat the same thing for all 149 remaining balloons.
Hinata was in her family dojo, training with her father. He was trying to get her level of gentle fist up to par before the finals, for she had something to prove here. Before she informed him that she had made the finals, practically no one in the Hyuga clan had expected Hinata to make it that far. Most of the members of the main family saw her as a disappointment and felt that she should just forfeit now before she embarrassed the name of the Hyuga in the finals, in front of many powerful lords.
At first, Hinata was thinking to give into the taunts of some members of the main branch, but she decided to push herself to improve, thinking 'what would Naruto do?' He had told her that she was strong and that was all that mattered. While most of the main family had decided to taunt her and call her weak during the past week, her father had actually offered to train her again.
Hiashi did not want to give up his daughter's training years ago, feeling that once he managed to take away her self-confidence issue, that she would begin to blossom as a powerful shinobi. However, the pressure from the rest of the main family forced him to take up Hanabi as his student and potential heir. Before he began training Hinata, her sensei, Kurenai, had informed him that Hinata had made it. Hiashi was surprised that Hinata had managed to pull it off and demanded Kurenai tell him of her exam. She explained that her opponent was a rather strong ninja from the Sand village and that Hinata had managed to best him in combat. Asking what it was that finally gave her the push to do this, Kurenai's answer surprised Hiashi. It was Naruto…he was the one who encouraged Hinata to de her best, he was the one who told her to just ignore Neji's taunts, he was the one who brought out her strength.
During their training, Hiashi could see the determination that Naruto's words had implanted in Hinata were still there as she was finally pushing herself and she was finally showing progress. It was getting later in the day, and he had been working with Hinata since early in the morning. "Hinata, that's enough for today" said Hiashi to his panting daughter.
"N…no, I can k-keep going" she replied. Apparently, a bit of confidence wasn't the only thing Naruto gave her. She was displaying a small amount of stubbornness.
"Whether you can or cannot, you have made good progress this week. I must say that I actually am impressed" complimented Hiashi. This was one of the first times that she had heard something like that come out of his mouth. "Take tomorrow to rest and we will pick up the day after. I think you have enough accuracy and speed now that we can begin the eight trigrams. But you should rest first as the training will only get more difficult."
Hinata understood standing and bowing before her father and leaving the dojo. Outside, Hinata met up with one few truly friendly faces she had known in the Hyuga clan, Ko her personal caretaker and one of her closest friends. Ko was one of the few Hyuga who truly believed that she had talent and was always encouraging her to do her best. It wasn't until just recently that he had truly began to see a drastic improvement in her skills. He offered to treat the young girl to dinner at a place that was known for its sweets and deserts, knowing that Hinata had quite the sweet tooth. For Ko, tonight was also a celebration as he had learned that his wife was now pregnant and they would be expecting their first child in about 8 months.
Returning home, Hinata entered the house and proceeded to her room, passing the dojo, she heard her father's voice and the voice of some of the clan elders.
She couldn't clearly make out the conversation; however she could make out the purpose of the conversation going on. Basically, the clan elders had been questioning Hiashi's decision to train Hinata, declaring her a failure. Hiashi on the other hand, was defending his daughter, claiming that she was finally showing the potential that would make her into a strong shinobi. As the conversation came to a close, one of the elders suggested that Hinata should just be branded and that would be the end of it. They claimed that there was no room in the main family for someone as weak as she was. Again, Hiashi refuted that.
"Nee-san? Why are you crying?" asked Hanabi, finding her big sister standing near the door of the dojo.
"I-it's nothing Hana" replied Hinata. "They still think I am weak? But wait, father believes in me? I won't let him down, and I won't let you down, Naruto."
Hinata turned to her sister. "I'm going out for a bit. Please don't tell anyone" HIinata told Hanabi, who agreed not to say anything.
The next day, Naruto spent finishing off the remaining water balloons. He had required both hands for about the first fifty, but then found it becoming increasingly easier to pop the balloons with one hand once he got the feel for the proper control and release of chakra. Jiraiya decided to call it a day for training as now he had to go and find the required item for the next step of the Rasengan. Besides, Naruto's hands were burning from the constant release of chakra for the past three days.
"Hey, Pervy Sage! So what's step two?" asked an overanxious Naruto the next day.
"This" said Jiraiya, throwing Naruto a hollow rubber ball, much to Naruto's disappointment. Jiraiya then took a rubber ball himself and proceeded to pop it like the water balloon. "The first step was to get the spin down, the second step is to add power. If there is no water, it is hard to feel the chakra, so it is hard to power it up or control it. Now, here is a bag with 150 rubber balls, you know what to do."
"Hmm, I wonder if it is the same skill set as the last step?" thought Naruto.
"Alright, I'll let you work on it then" said Jiraiya returning to his 'research'.
"Wait!" shouted Naruto. "Didn't you say that you were going to train me?!"
"I said I'd teach you. Don't misunderstand me, I never said it would be that simple" responded Jiraiya. "You need to be able to depend on yourself. That is how you'll become strong. If you can't work out things yourself, then the most you'll come up with are perverted ninjutsu…speaking of which…"
"Don't even think about it you old pervert!" replied Naruto, knowing exactly what Jiraiya was thinking.
Naruto spent the next two days trying to pop the ball while Jiraiya just sat there peeping at the girls in the river next to them. It was getting late in the evening and Naruto was really beginning to feel the burn. "Damn it. The damn ball won't break no matter how much I try!" thought Naruto, who was now lying on the ground as a sharp pain was running through his arms. "Every time I let my chakra flow like that, a pain runs down my arms and hands like my nerves are being prodded. The more I increase the chakra, the worse the pain gets."
"Perhaps that's the key to this step. It's kind of like what I do with my Tailed Beast Ball. I build up my chakra until I can no longer contain it and I release it all at once" explained Kurama.
"Tailed Beast Ball?" asked Naruto.
"It's probably the strongest attack I have, capable of destroying mountains"
"Whoa! Can you teach it to me?" Naruto asked, now wanting to learn yet another jutsu.
"Not until we can fully merge our powers, Kit" replied the Fox. "Anyways, try that. Build up as much chakra as you can and release it all at once."
"Alright, here he go…build the chakra until I can't bear the pain anymore" thought Naruto. He gathered the chakra. The pain in his arms increased until it was at the point of breaking. Naruto then took all that chakra and gripped the ball, forcing it into the ball space between his hands. The ball deformed and finally a small hole in the side opened up and the ball deflated as Naruto dropped to his knees out of breath.
"Oh? Looks like you've got at least the basics of it" said Jiraiya, turning his attention back to Naruto. Unfortunately for him, the girls had left for the day.
"What are you talking about, all I did was make a small hole" replied a slightly depressed Naruto.
"Oh don't be so stubborn. You've come a long way, getting the first two steps done in about a week's time" replied Jiraiya. "You have the basics, so the rest is just a simple trick." Jiraiya took out his brush and drew a small spiral in the center of Naruto's hand.
"Huh? What's this?" asked a curious Naruto. "What do you mean by this is the hint?"
Jiraiya held up a blank piece of paper in front of Naruto. "Look here at this paper" said Jiraiya. Naruto took a look at it until Jiraiya put it down. Then he drew the same swirl in the center of the paper that he had drawn on Naruto's hand. Naruto looked again.
"So what?" asked Naruto.
"It's not that complicated. When I held up the blank paper, you looked at the entire thing as a whole, right?" Naruto nodded his head. "But, when you looked at the paper with the dot, where was your attention drawn to?"
Suddenly, a bright light bulb went off in Naruto's head, practically blinding Kurama. "Damn Kit, its times like this when I'm glad you don't have a lot bright ideas" joked the Fox. Naruto's sweat dropped on the outside as Jiraiya just questioned what he was thinking about.
"It's nothing, just the damn Fuzzball that lives in my head" said Naruto.
"Oh come on Kit, have a sense of humor."
"Alright, so what you are saying is to focus on one point?" asked Naruto.
"Eh, not bad." Jiraiya began his explanation. "When the paper is blank, there is no clear target and your gaze is unstable. Now, when I drew the dot on it, your attention was drawn to the center. Your target becomes clear and your eyes follow it. This is called the 'concentration-of-one'. You become closer to a state where you can draw maximum power because your mind is focused and calm. When you made that hole in the ball, you must have focused a lot of chakra into the palm of your hand and pushed the power to the limit."
"Alright, so focus all the chakra in my palm onto that one dot?" asked Naruto. Jiraiya nodded.
Picking up one more ball for the night, Naruto did as he was instructed, focusing as much chakra as he could muster around that one point in the palm of his hand. When he released it, the ball deformed for a few seconds before exploding in a loud burst.
"Yeah! I did it!" shouted Naruto as he began to feel weak and dizzy again. He collapsed to his knees, having used up too much chakra.
"Alright Naruto. Take a break. We'll continue tomorrow" said Jiraiya.
"No. I…can keep…going" panted Naruto. He then heard a grumble come from his stomach. Perhaps a break was a good thing.
The two of them soon found themselves at Naruto's favorite restaurant in town, Ichiraku ramen. Jiraiya was both amazed and disgusted by the amount of ramen this kid could consume, leaving just over a dozen bowls on the counter.
"Damn, this kid is just like his mother when it comes to ramen" thought Jiraiya, remembering a few things.
The next day, Naruto was able to pop the remaining balls. Like the water balloons, he spent the first 50 or so balls using both hands to contain the chakra, but found himself able to use one hand after getting the feel for it. "Alright! What's next?!" shouted Naruto after finishing up on the last ball.
Jiraiya pulled out an uninflated balloon and blew it up. "Another balloon?" thought a depressed Naruto as Jiraiya tossed it to him.
"The first step was to spin it and the second step was power" explained Jiraiya. "The third step is this." He held the balloon in his hand and got the chakra spinning. Naruto was staring intently at the balloon, but nothing was happening.
"What the heck is this?!" screamed Naruto.
"It may seem like I'm holding the balloon the same way, but watch." Jiraiya pulled out a needle and popped the balloon. Inside, Naruto saw it. Inside the balloon was the Rasengan.
"Whoa, inside, the chakra was spiraling rapidly and increasing in pace, but it maintained a perfect orb!" exclaimed Naruto. "Even with that much power inside, the balloon didn't even twitch until the Pervy Sage popped it. There must be more power and speed then when I popped the rubber ball!"
"Alright, listen up. This third step is giving it all you've got from the first two steps and charging it" explained the Toad Sage. "Basically, you max out the spin and power of chakra, but you will maintain a wall to contain it."
"Heh! So I do the spinning exercise from the last step, but try not to pop the balloon!" realized Naruto.
Naruto spent the rest of the day, trying to get the third and final step down, popping many, many balloons. "Damn it! You've got to be kidding me! I've got to control all that I've learned perfectly. Now I can understand…this third step is on a completely different scale!" he thought. Naruto had about a week and a half to get the third stage down and be able to use the Rasengan until his match with Neji, however, the realization on how difficult was starting to wear at him.
For the past few days, at the same time Naruto was busy with the second stage, Hiashi had begun to instruct Hinata on the Eight Trigrams stance. Ko had volunteered to be the 'practice dummy' when Hiashi went to demonstrate the technique. "Gentle Step: Eight Trigrams, Sixty-four Palms!" Hiashi called out as he struck Ko with 64 rapid and precise strikes. Ko collapsed to his knees after taking the attack. Hiashi had reduced the power of the chakra bursts to the bare minimum so that Hinata could see, but that still didn't mean it didn't hurt.
"Ko!" shouted Hinata, running to his side and beginning to open up the chakra points.
"I'm fine, Hinata-sama. I am doing this for your benefit, so it does not bother me" explained Ko as he found his way back to his feet. For the next few days, Hiashi was instructing Hinata on the first thirty-two strikes; however, there was one major problem….Hinata would not use the chakra bursts. Hiashi knew why. She was still too gentle and did not want to hurt Ko, even after he begged her to use them. If Hinata would not use the chakra bursts in training, there was no way to tell if her strikes were effective. He had to think of another way.