"I've already completed integrating Wind Chakra into the Rasengan. Now I'm trying Lightning Release." Naruto's tone was calm.
"What?" Jiraiya's eyes widened, and his lips twitched.
"Integrating Wind Release nature transformation into the Rasengan? You've already completed it? When did this happen? How come I didn't know?"
"You..."
"Just a while ago." Naruto nodded.
Jiraiya took a deep breath, suppressing his urge to press for more details.
He had gradually grown used to it. Taking this kid too seriously would only make his blood pressure increasingly unstable.
But looking at it this way, Naruto's current strength had far exceeded the level of a Chunin. While taking him along to find Tsunade, he could also teach him some higher-level Ninjutsu theories on the way.
"Pervy Sage, what did you come to see me for?" Naruto brought the topic back.
Jiraiya poked his chest with his thumb. "We need to find Tsunade, one of the Sannin, and also the granddaughter of the First Hokage, and invite her back to Konoha to serve as the Fifth Hokage. So, this Sage has decided to take you out to broaden your horizons."
"Alright, when do we leave?"
"Tomorrow morning, meet at the village entrance. I've already given Kakashi a heads-up. Your missions are temporarily on hold, and you'll be heading out with me to train. Go ahead and continue your training."
"Pervy Sage, don't be late tomorrow." Naruto reminded him.
"Only Kakashi would be late. This Sage would never be late. I'm not even the same species as that masked guy." Jiraiya stomped down the mountain in exasperation.
As he walked, Jiraiya suddenly stopped in his tracks.
'Wait, that's not right. Didn't that brat just say he already integrate Wind Chakra into the Rasengan? How did that brat manage that? How did I forget to ask?'
Jiraiya stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then waved his hand.
'Forget it. It won't be too late to grill him tomorrow once I catch him. Anyway, the road from Konoha to Tanzaku Quarters is long, so there'll be plenty of time.'
With that in mind, Jiraiya strolled back towards Konoha.
After Jiraiya left, Naruto continued researching the Lightning Release Rasengan with his two hundred Clones.
Time passed.
As the sun slid from overhead toward the edge of the mountains, the entire back mountain was dyed a warm yellow.
When the Shadow Clones dispersed on their own due to running out of Chakra, Naruto archived and sorted all two hundred sets of training memories before opening his eyes.
The results of this full day of training were very subtle.
Integrating Lightning Chakra into the Rasengan itself posed no difficulty. Under the precise regulation of Absolute Control, the Lightning Chakra could be threaded like a needle into the spinning layers inside the Rasengan, yielding very impressive data on stability and power enhancement.
But the problem lay in the vanishing trait. No matter how he adjusted the ratio of Lightning Chakra, the timing of its introduction, or the rotation frequency inside the Rasengan, the Rasengan fused with Lightning Chakra simply could not vanish into thin air after leaving his palm like Boruto's Rasengan did.
The Rasengan fused with Lightning Chakra would fly out crackling with lightning, unleashing the paralyzing and piercing effects of Lightning Chakra upon hitting a target, but it wouldn't turn invisible.
Throughout the entire day, there was not the slightest sign of it disappearing.
"What is wrong? Why can't I make it work?" Naruto frowned.
Using Absolute Control, he could execute every single manipulation of Lightning Chakra with millimeter precision, and all parameters had been adjusted to their optimal solutions, yet the vanishing trait simply wouldn't manifest.
This indicated that the essence of the vanishing trait did not lie at the level of Chakra manipulation at all, but rather in another dimension.
Naruto brought up his memories from his past life to compare them once again.
The fact that Boruto's Rasengan could disappear seemed to be directly related to Jōgan.
The Jōgan was Boruto's dōjutsu, capable of seeing through space-time connections and observing the flow of Chakra. An eye of this caliber naturally possessed spatial attributes that went beyond the conventional Ninjutsu system.
Kakashi has copied over a thousand Ninjutsu, and Lightning Release is one of his specialities, so he couldn't possibly have not researched it. This proves that this isn't a simple Lightning Release issue. It seems this path ends here for now.
Since the nature transformation of Lightning Release could not bestow the vanishing trait upon the Rasengan, Naruto stopped banging his head against this wall.
Next, he needed to focus his energy on perfecting the Rasenshuriken.
After that, he had to find some time to try and achieve a fusion of the two Chakra natures, Wind Release and Lightning Release, to break through to a Kekkei Genkai.
Naruto walked back from the back mountain. As he walked, he pondered his next training.
By this time, the streetlights in Konoha had already lit up, and people had resumed their daily routines on the reconstructed streets.
A few women who had just returned from the hot springs passed by Naruto carrying towels. They glanced at him before continuing their idle gossip.
Naruto could intuitively feel that since the Chunin Exams ended, the attitude of many villagers toward him had changed. Though they didn't proactively greet him, the malice they once held had begun to fade. This was the effect of power.
This atmosphere gave Naruto a rare sense of relaxation. However, he had no intention of easily letting off those who had once bullied him.