With the conclusion of the Chunin Exams, the Five Great Nations briefly updated smaller ninja villages on recent events occurring across the Shinobi World.
This wasn't because the Five Great Nations had grown weak and needed support—it was simply better to have more eyes watching than for the Five to search alone.
Among the Great Five, Kirigakure and Konoha were the only two villages that hadn't lost their Tailed Beasts.
Of course, this didn't include the renegade Six-Tails Jinchuriki—the six-tails host who had fled from Mist.
Current intelligence regarding Foaming indicated he had not been captured by the Akatsuki organization.
The details were still unclear, but he was definitely still out there somewhere in the ninja world.
In Konoha Village, at the Hokage Building,
Minato sat in the main seat while Jiraiya and Tsunade occupied the sofa beside him.
Shizune wasn't present—lately, she seemed to be spending quite a bit of time with Shisui, the first person to discover Saitama Uchiha's true identity.
"Master Jiraiya, did you come here because something's wrong?"
Smiling gently, Minato regarded the man seated before him—the teacher he deeply respected, and the mentor who had guided his path as a ninja.
"Nothing urgent. Just rested long enough—I'm heading out again! Feels weird staying put for too long!"
Jiraiya had come merely to let Minato know beforehand.
After his encounter with Kakuzu and Hidan, an idea had been growing in his mind, and soon, he intended to verify it himself.
This time during the Chunin Exam, the Jonin from Amegakure named Yufei had further solidified his suspicions.
Still, he wanted to personally investigate matters himself.
He needed to confirm whether Amegakure had any connection to the mysterious organization recently stirring chaos throughout the shinobi world.
Moreover, former students of his—and those legendary eyes—were located in Amegakure.
If someone could gather an incredibly powerful ninja like Saitama Uchiha, then that someone could only be a Sage.
And the first person who came to Jiraiya's mind when thinking of a sage was the child he'd once taught.
That child was named Nagato—an introverted boy, somewhat timid and fragile. Yet he possessed those eyes said to belong only to sages.
Jiraiya tried not to let his thoughts go down that path—he resisted where such ideas might lead.
He planned to sneak into the Land of Rain—even go as far as slipping into Amegakure—to shake off the unease gnawing at him.
"So soon, Master?"
Frowning slightly, Minato thought his master was moving too fast—he'd only just returned a few days ago and already wanted to leave again.
"I'm not leaving right away. You look worried…"
Jiraiya hesitated, noticing Minato's concern reflected in his expression, and replied accordingly.
Though he had come to say his goodbyes, he wasn't planning to depart immediately—just giving advance notice.
It would be better to let him know ahead of time, just in case he disappeared without warning one day.
"Then Master Jiraiya shouldn't be in such a rush to leave. Recently, I actually need your help with some training."
Nodding after hearing Jiraiya speak, Minato added persuasively.
The [Rasengan], an unsealing ninjutsu Minato created specifically to work with the [Flying Thunder God Technique], once held great destructive power as a single-target technique—but by modern standards, it no longer ranked among the strongest in the ninja world.
The ever-shifting tides of the shinobi world were beginning to take a toll on him.
Researching and developing ninjutsu had become an absolute necessity, something he had to carry out in his spare time from serving as Hokage.
As Hokage, it was essential that he remained at the peak of shinobi power at all times.
Otherwise, who would protect Konoha's dignity, honor, and prosperity?
A long time ago, Minato had attempted to incorporate Chakra Nature Transformation into the [Rasengan].
Wind Release, being his innate chakra nature, was naturally his first choice.
The cutting and sharp qualities of Wind Release could multiply the Rasengan's destructive power many times over.
But even more crucially,
After successfully incorporating Chakra Nature Transformation, Minato also developed corresponding Morphological Transformation.
He transformed the Rasengan from a sphere into a shuriken shape.
In other words, it could now be used for long-range attacks.
This advancement proved remarkably successful.
However, a grave risk soon emerged.
The final product — [Wind Release: Rasengan Shuriken] — was indeed powerful, but it was a double-edged sword that hurt both sides equally.
From the very start of its development, Minato received no fewer than ten scoldings from Kushina.
Although Kushina belonged to the Uzumaki Clan and was skilled in sealing techniques,
after giving birth to Naruto Uzumaki, she began delving into Medical Ninjutsu.
Her unique constitution allowed her to quickly master many medical jutsu.
Initially, Kushina supported Minato's research into new ninjutsu. But later, she discovered that this newly developed technique was causing severe physical harm to Minato.
Especially his hands — because of the Wind Natured Chakra incorporated into the jutsu, the technique became extremely unstable and hard to regulate.
Each time he used it, the cells in both his hands and arms sustained massive damage.
Although Kushina's medical ninjutsu could alleviate these symptoms, it was still only a temporary fix.
So, she repeatedly warned Minato, pleading with him to abandon its development.
However, Minato insisted on perfecting the technique and offered her countless explanations — most of which went right over her head.
Eventually, Kushina stayed angry and even enlisted Naruto to ignore Minato at home.
Helplessly, Minato promised he'd never use it lightly — not unless it was absolutely necessary, for both her and Naruto.
And the Wind Nature Transformation was only one path among several that Minato explored.
Currently, he was attempting to infuse Sage Chakra into his [Rasengan].
Already having mastered Sage Art, he had the ability to channel Sage Chakra.
However, his Sage Art, like Jiraiya's, was still half-developed.
Still, his level of mastery exceeded Jiraiya's by quite a bit.
Though Minato Namikaze surpassed Jiraiya in this aspect, since he had learned it far more recently, Jiraiya was able to help him in these areas.
That's exactly why Minato had just asked Jiraiya to stay and assist him for a while.
Infusing Sage Chakra into a ninjutsu was no easy feat.
Its complexity far exceeded even that of Chakra Nature Transformation.
One misstep could lead to a great tragedy.
Moreover, Sage Chakra is a purer form of energy than regular chakra.
This also increases the difficulty of developing new ninja techniques.
Minato's idea was to have Jiraiya assist him from the sidelines, which would allow the two of them to handle any accidents that might occur during the development process.
After all, both were skilled in the [Rasengan], and had cultivated the [Frog Sage Art] at Mount Myoboku.
"Sure thing. No problem!"
Jiraiya knew what Minato had been up to recently. During his last visit to Minato's home, Kushina even asked Jiraiya to persuade Minato to abandon his new ninjutsu development.
But being men with similar temperaments,
Jiraiya understood the heavy responsibility on Minato's shoulders, knowing full well that Minato absolutely had no reason to give up on growing stronger.
Besides, Minato's ninjutsu development wasn't random but followed a certain procedure, progressing steadily step by step.
As ninja, they couldn't avoid dangers.
The risks ninja must face are unpredictable; danger can come from anywhere — it's simply part of life.
Developing new techniques was Minato's choice, and as the Hokage, it was a necessary decision he had to make.
How could he protect all that mattered without true strength?
"Then, Tsunade-sama, why did you come here today?"
Minato shifted his gaze toward Tsunade, the senior kunoichi sitting across from Jiraiya.
Not long ago, he invited Tsunade to become the Honorary Director of Konoha Hospital, responsible for instructing Medical Ninja in ninjutsu.
Tsunade had agreed and, in recent weeks, had made time every week to spend half a day offering instruction at Konoha Hospital.
"Oh, nothing important."
Tsunade waved her hand dismissively.
Recently, she had often visited the hospital and met a girl named Rina, who had a good personality and considerable talent, so she wanted to take her as her apprentice.
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