"Sensei Minato's chakra nature… seems to be Wind, right?
And I've heard elders in the clan say that sensei isn't particularly famous for ninjutsu."
Uchiha Maí was a little puzzled. Minato was this strong already? Just from a glance, he had seen through Maí's intention to develop a Fire-attribute nintaijutsu and was still confident he could guide him.
"My chakra nature was indeed only Wind at first," Minato Namikaze said with a relaxed smile. "But once your chakra reserves grow, you can later develop new attributes. For jōnin, it's common to have a second, third, or even fourth attribute. That way, even when facing an opponent with elemental advantage, you're not left helpless.
"As for me, my current chakra attributes are Wind, Fire, and Lightning."
He raised three fingers as he explained.
So that's how it is. Maí nodded slightly, nearly forgetting that Naruto had this kind of setting.
In the early days of Shippuden, before power levels inflated too much, elemental ninjutsu still held strong value. Among the five elements, there was even a system similar to the mutual generation and suppression of the Five Elements.
Later on, as various bloodline limits appeared one after another and combat power skyrocketed, those elemental restraint relationships were gradually downplayed.
Water counters Fire?
That's true.
But that didn't mean a Water-style ninja would automatically defeat a Fire-style ninja. In real combat, it still came down to who struck first, who had more chakra, and who performed better on the spot.
"As for your other question…" Minato smiled faintly.
He spread his palms and began extracting chakra. After a few breaths, two fireballs formed in his hands.
Under Minato's precise control, the fireballs merged into one and transformed into a long flaming serpent that coiled around Uchiha Maí, radiating heat and drying the water from his clothes.
Maí raised an eyebrow and praised him honestly.
"Impressive control."
"It's just flashy tricks with no real combat value," Minato said, scratching his head shyly. "Almost any Fire-attribute jōnin in Konoha could do this much. On the battlefield, with enemies and environmental interference, techniques like the Great Fireball or Phoenix Fire are far more practical."
"True enough."
"All in all," Minato concluded, "I do possess the Fire attribute and have some understanding of Fire Release. And recently, I've also been developing a new ninjutsu - one that doesn't require hand seals.
"The nintaijutsu you're trying to create likely doesn't use hand seals either. That places extremely high demands on controlling the routes and rhythm of chakra flow within the body. Coincidentally, that very hurdle is something I've already overcome in the technique I'm developing.
"So if you have any troubles, tell me. Maybe I can clear them up for you. At the very least, I can help you eliminate some wrong answers."
A new ninjutsu?
That had to be the Rasengan. Minato was already an elite jōnin - he was right at the stage where he should be rolling chakra into a ball.
After thinking for a moment, Uchiha Maí pulled Minato down to squat with him, picked up a stick, and started drawing on the ground.
"In my concept, chakra should flow evenly along this route toward the arm. Then, at the exact moment I throw the punch, it should erupt and deliver a third hit to the enemy. But the timing of the explosion never matches what I expect. I can't tell whether it's a problem with the chakra pathway or simply my level of control…"
"Mhm… mhm…" Minato nodded repeatedly, clearly listening carefully.
After combining it with his own experience, he replied, "I have a hypothesis - though it may not be correct. What if the issue really is the pathway? Try shifting the ninjutsu-side chakra flow from this route… to this one instead."
Oh?
Uchiha Maí was genuinely surprised. Sensei really knew his stuff.
He himself hadn't figured out much yet, and Minato had already spotted something, confidently offering an improvement.
After all, this was the genius who created the Rasengan and improved the Flying Thunder God Technique. Trusting the sensei made sense.
"Then let's test it," Maí nodded, preparing to run through the Hundred Forms · Demon Burn again.
Theory learned on paper always feels shallow; true understanding comes from practice. No technique is developed without experimentation. If you haven't blown up the lab a few times, can you really call yourself an inventor?
…
Two hours later, Uchiha Maí had failed four times in a row. His clothes had been blasted into nothing but a few scraps… and a pair of underwear.
If not for Maí's lightning-fast reactions - raising his arms to shield his face every time his chakra went out of control - the ninja world would have lost a handsome young man.
Minato Namikaze sat cross-legged on the ground, rubbing his chin with his left hand. After thinking for a long while, he said:
"I've got another idea. What if we switch the chakra route to this one… and slow the flow by another five percent?"
Five percent?!
That'll get someone killed!
Uchiha Maí wore an expression of wanting to die but being unable to. Sensei, I beg you, let me go. If I hadn't trusted your advice, I wouldn't have been blown up this many times in one afternoon.
"Haha." Seeing Maí's resentful look, Minato laughed awkwardly and encouraged him. "Careful verification, bold hypotheses. At least we've already ruled out three wrong paths. We're one step closer to success.
"As long as we keep exploring and experimenting, I believe we'll eventually develop this technique."
"I'm out of chakra," Maí tried to dodge.
Not a single drop left.jpg
Under normal circumstances, the power of a ninjutsu doesn't directly correlate with chakra consumption. But when developing Hundred Forms · Demon Burn, Maí was benchmarking it against the power of a standard B-rank ninjutsu used by an average jōnin. Without realizing it, he'd used far more chakra than usual.
After several consecutive attempts, his chakra was completely depleted.
"You're already empty?" Minato looked slightly disappointed and sighed. "In that case, go home and rest. I still need to visit Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy at the hospital.
"Same time tomorrow," he added with a smile. "We'll continue developing your nintaijutsu."
Uchiha Maí: "..."
Please, have mercy.
Of course, there was no way he could actually say that out loud.
Even though the sensei's suggestions today had been completely useless, Minato still carried the halo of the man who, in the original storyline, created the Rasengan and refined the Flying Thunder God.
Superstition, blind faith, or inexplicable confidence - who knew? Maybe one day the sensei would suddenly have a flash of inspiration and offer a truly valuable suggestion.
Over the next few days, Uchiha Maí never missed a session. Every day, he went to the lakeside with Minato, the two of them like a pair of terrible chess players, discussing and tinkering with nintaijutsu together.
After Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy were discharged from the hospital, Minato guided all three of them in cooperative training in the mornings, and spent the afternoons specifically helping Uchiha Maí develop nintaijutsu.
Seeing Minato and Maí together every day, Kakashi and Guy couldn't help feeling a bit jealous.
A disciple of the Sannins, a Hokage's grand-disciple, an elite jōnin of Konoha personally giving private guidance - what kind of treatment was that?
But as the saying goes, only the one drinking the water knows whether it's hot or cold. Uchiha Maí's suffering was something only he himself truly understood.
End of the chapter.