"Yo! Morning, Shane!"
The lively streets of Konoha bustled with noise and color as merchants opened their stalls and children ran about. A blond-haired boy and a red-haired girl walked shoulder to shoulder, their easy familiarity betraying a closeness they both half-denied and half-cherished. The boy, his blue eyes bright with warmth, raised his hand in greeting toward a dark-haired figure walking not far away.
The black-haired boy turned at the call. Shane Mountain.
All three of them were about the same age fresh graduates of the Ninja Academy, new genin with their entire shinobi journey ahead of them.
"Oh, it's Minato and Kushina. Out on another date, are we?" Shane grinned as he spoke, his tone deliberately teasing.
The effect was immediate. Kushina's face flushed scarlet, her temper and embarrassment colliding in a flustered outburst. "Wh-What date?! Who's dating this guy? We just happened to run into each other, that's all!"
Her words tumbled out in a rush, almost tripping over themselves. Minato, calm as always, simply smiled, though a faint hint of helplessness softened his expression. Shane only chuckled, choosing not to press further.
Instead, he asked, "So, you two don't have any missions today either?"
Minato shook his head, his tone edged with resignation. "No. Jiraiya-sensei's been dispatched to the front lines. For the time being, our squad is… well, little more than a name on paper."
Though only ten years old, Minato Namikaze was remarkably mature. He understood more clearly than most that once a war began, it rarely ended quickly. Years might pass before peace returned.
And so, he had never put all his hopes on learning directly from Jiraiya. If he wanted to grow stronger, the responsibility fell on his own shoulders. Well on his own, and perhaps…
Minato's gaze slid toward Shane Mountain. His friend's strength already surpassed his own. Shane had not only devised powerful techniques but was rumored to be experimenting with new jutsu whose might rivaled even the Rasengan.
Yes, the Rasengan.
Because here was the truth: Shane Mountain wasn't an ordinary boy.
That's me. Shane Mountain. A traveler from another world.
A year ago, I awoke to find myself in this world, the world of Naruto. Somehow, fate had placed me in the same class as Minato Namikaze, the future Fourth Hokage.
In that year, I made sure to stay close to him. With the mind and experience of an adult soul inside a child's body, I found ways to earn his trust. I even nudged Minato and Kushina closer together earlier than in the original history I remembered. The two were already circling each other like young lovers, though Kushina still grew bashful whenever anyone teased her about it.
Of course, like any traveler between worlds, I had a golden cheat my "finger of fate." For me, it was a mysterious space, a realm that connected me to other versions of myself across different universes.
When I first arrived, dazed and disoriented, I stumbled into that space. There, I encountered… myself. Or rather, the "me" who had crossed into the world of One Piece. That version of me was born into nobility, already terrifyingly strong by the time we met. When our fists touched in greeting, something unbelievable happened. Power and memory flowed between us.
Suddenly, I carried not only my shinobi self's potential but the honed physique and battle instincts of a pirate lord, complete with the will-shattering power of Haki.
When I emerged from that meeting, I had leapt directly into the level of a jōnin. My body brimmed with raw strength, and my chakra reserves swelled threefold beyond Minato's.
And Minato's chakra, let me be clear, was never small. For someone destined to be Hokage, stamina and chakra capacity were no weak points. That I now possessed three times his reserves was nothing short of monstrous. Techniques like the Rasengan that would exhaust others? I could wield them with ease.
Only a few weeks ago, while tinkering with the concept of the Chidori, I had demonstrated the Rasengan to Minato. His sharp eyes had caught it immediately. He'd begged me to teach him, and I had shared the first two stages of training. I wondered now how far he had gotten.
My question was soon answered.
"Heh! Shane, meet me this afternoon at Training Ground Seven!" Minato's grin was bright, his voice brimming with excitement.
Ah. So that was it. I already knew what he wanted, but I simply nodded. There was no reason to refuse.
The three of us parted ways. Minato and Kushina continued their stroll yes, their "not-date" while I turned toward my own errands.
Lately, I'd been considering my future. The team I'd been assigned to after graduation? Useless. My so-called teammates were weak and likely to abandon the ninja path after their first taste of bloodshed. My squad leader was a jōnin in name only average to the core. My Haki told me as much. He could offer advice, perhaps, but little more.
No, if I was to advance, it would be by my own hand.
Sometimes I wondered about my other self the pirate Shane Mountain. It had been a year since we last connected. Was he still alive? Stronger? Changed by his world as I was by mine?
A shiver of unease always followed that thought. Different worlds, different influences. Though we began as the same person, time had surely shaped us into distinct versions. The cautious shinobi Shane, still new to this realm. The bold, reckless pirate Shane, years deep into his saga.
After lunch, I gathered my gear and made my way toward Training Ground Seven. The familiar clearing spread out before me, and there was Minato, already waiting.
"Minato!" I called with a smile as I leapt to his side. "So, did you finish it?"
His eyes gleamed. "After two weeks of practice… I finally did it!"
I stepped back, gesturing toward a nearby wooden post. "Show me the result. Hit it."
Without hesitation, Minato summoned chakra into his palm. A sphere of raging blue energy whirled to life, unstable yet fierce. With a shout, he slammed it forward.
BOOM!
The wooden post shuddered under the impact. A swirling crater scarred its surface, fibers splintered outward in a spiral. Minato exhaled, triumphant, and turned to me for judgment.
"Not bad," I said, nodding. "That's the second stage complete."
As his brow furrowed in confusion, I raised my own hand. Chakra gathered smoothly, condensing into a perfect sphere. I pressed it lightly against another post.
But instead of bursting apart, my Rasengan drilled inward like a merciless grinder. Wood shredded into dust, scattering across the ground. In seconds, my sphere had bored a clean hole straight through the post yet still it spun, whole and undiminished, in my palm.
Minato's eyes widened. "What?! That… that's completely different! Shane, how did you keep it from exploding?"
I grinned, pulling a balloon from my pocket. With a quick breath, I inflated it and tied the knot before handing it to him. "It's simple. Maintain the chakra's stability in your palm. The final stage of Rasengan training begins now."
Minato blinked at the balloon, utterly baffled. "A… balloon?" His expression was one giant question mark.
"Yes," I confirmed, my smile widening. "Your task is to contain all the force, all the rotation, inside this tiny balloon. That is the true third stage."
And thus, Minato Namikaze's journey toward the perfected Rasengan truly began.
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