Upon hearing Ren Kurogane explain the reasoning, Minato pondered for a moment before his eyes suddenly lit up. He let out a joyful laugh and looked at Ren. "Ren! You really are a genius!"
Ren maintained a breezy smile on his face, though he felt a slight twinge of guilt. After all, he was essentially a plagiarist.
Still, I'm the one who brought the Rasengan into this world. No one can call me out on it...
Throughout the afternoon, Minato dedicated himself to the third stage of Rasengan training: containing the violent, chaotic chakra within a small, stable sphere.
Meanwhile, Ren practiced his Chidori a considerable distance away. The technique was still highly unstable, liable to go berserk at any moment.
Rumble!
Following a surge of thunderous noise, Ren flickered back to Minato's side. Glancing at the dancing electrical snakes charring the ground in the distance, Ren sighed. "Talk about a close call. That almost took my arm off."
Minato remained expressionless. Two weeks of training alongside Ren had desensitized him to the constant explosions. Although Ren always claimed it was a "close call," Minato had observed that the moment the Chidori showed signs of instability, Ren would disrupt the flow and hurl the chakra away. He hadn't so much as singed the hem of his clothes.
Ren rubbed his slightly throbbing temples. He knew his mental energy was flagging; continuing Chidori practice in this state was asking for trouble.
If only I knew the hand signs for Chidori, Ren thought. Trying to manifest it in a lightning-release state without signs is just too difficult...
Over the next few days, the two continued their joint training. While Ren's progress with the Chidori was slow, it was steady. He had already reached the point where he could use Lightning Release chakra to stimulate his body's cells, granting him a massive boost in speed.
Minato, for his part, had fully mastered the Rasengan and was already brainstorming ways to further develop the technique.
"Ren, do you think the power would increase if I just kept pumping more chakra into the Rasengan?" Minato proposed this bold idea during a lunch break.
"As long as you have enough chakra, the Rasengan can grow infinitely large," Ren replied. Since Minato had brought it up, Ren didn't see the point in hiding it and shared the concept of the Big Ball Rasengan.
Unfortunately, Minato's current reserves were nowhere near enough for such a chakra-heavy technique. He managed to increase the size of the sphere only slightly before a wave of exhaustion washed over him.
"Phew... I thought my chakra reserves were decent, but it looks like I'm still running on empty!" Minato chuckled bitterly, letting the sphere in his palm dissipate.
"Don't get discouraged. Chakra grows as you age," Ren comforted him. "Once we're older, using the Big Ball Rasengan will probably be a breeze."
They were only eleven-year-old kids; their bodies were far from their physical peak, and their chakra capacities still had plenty of room to grow.
Minato nodded, but his mind was already racing toward other ways to perfect the move. "Ren, have you tried evolving the Rasengan further? I feel like this technique has massive potential for growth."
"I have ideas, but my body can't handle them yet," Ren said with a regretful look.
Further development meant adding nature transformation to the Rasengan. However, adding any element was incredibly dangerous. The Rasenshuriken, which Naruto would eventually favor, caused severe back-recoil to the user—so much so that Tsunade would later classify it as a Kinjutsu.
It was only later, with the empowerment of Sage Mode, that Naruto could use the technique without injury thanks to the enhanced durability of a Sage body.
While Ren's physical constitution—bolstered by his One Piece counterpart—could likely withstand the recoil, he wasn't about to expose such a monstrous physique just yet. Otherwise, Danzo might decide to haul him off for "research" in a few years.
With dangerous figures like Danzo in the Konoha high command, if I show off talent that's too far beyond the norm, I could be taken away at any time.
Thinking of this, Ren glanced at Minato. This guy didn't have a single Kekkei Genkai, yet he would eventually reach the level of a Kage based purely on his own absurd talent.
This guy is the real freak.
Little did he know, Minato was currently lost in his own whirlwind of thoughts.
Ren's physical specs are easily several times mine. If even he doesn't dare add an element to the Rasengan, it must be incredibly dangerous! Still, his talent is staggering. Even though we're the same age, he's already left us in the dust. That's it—I'm going to study Sealing Jutsu with Kushina. I might not be able to beat him in Ninjutsu, but he doesn't have any way to learn sealing. I can pull way ahead of him in that field, and then I'll just wait for him to come beg me to teach him!
Minato smiled inwardly at the pleasant thought. That afternoon, he skipped training with Ren and went to find Kushina to study Sealing Jutsu together.
The next morning.
"Team 5, assemble!"
Early that day, Ren finally received a message from his sensei after a long silence. He and his two teammates arrived at the meeting point on time to find their Jonin leader, Cheng Aoyama.
Cheng Aoyama appeared to be in his twenties, roughly 170cm tall with black hair. He wore the standard dark-green Jonin flak jacket, which bore unwashed bloodstains.
"You're here."
Looking at the new students he had taken on this year, Cheng showed little joy. If anything, he felt a pang of pity for them.
Poor little brats. They had the misfortune of being born into an era of war.
Ren and his two teammates exchanged nods, a brief acknowledgment of one another. Seeing how distant the three were, Cheng felt even more weary.
Should I just send them back to the Academy?
The thought flickered by before he dismissed it. It's probably my fault for not having the time to guide them...
Ren's teammates were a boy and a girl: Masakata Yamada and Aya Okita. They were Ren's peers, though they hadn't been in the same class at the Academy.
Once everyone was present, Cheng Aoyama announced their mission.
"We will be conducting a C-rank escort mission. This will take us outside the village. Go back and prepare; we assemble at the main gate in one hour."
Having delivered the abrupt announcement, Cheng vanished, leaving the three Genin staring at each other.
"We... we actually get to leave the village for a mission?" Masakata Yamada looked at the other two in disbelief. Their sensei had been completely absent lately, making him think they had been abandoned. To think their first real assignment would be an out-of-village mission—was this actually happening?
Seeing how excited his teammates were, Ren didn't say anything to dampen their spirits. He smiled and said, "I'll see you both at the gate in an hour then!"
"Yeah!"
The three split up, each heading home to pack their gear for the journey.