The next day began with the familiar rhythm of gravel crunching under sandals as the duo walked back to the forest clearing.
"I'll pop this damn water balloon today! Believe it!" Naruto was already pumped, his face set in a mask of gritty determination as they reached the area. He immediately turned to a tree to mark the start of his second day of focused hell.
"What's holding you back? Is your focus slipping?" Shorai glanced sideways at him, pausing before heading toward his own secluded training spot.
"No... it just won't pop! I keep stirring it, but there's no progress!" Naruto gripped the balloon, glaring at it as though he could force it to burst through sheer will.
"Right... the progress is hidden from you," Shorai said with a half-smile. He understood the problem. Naruto was spinning the water blindly, unable to perceive the currents concealed by the opaque balloon.
"You are fighting the container, not the content."
"That as well!" Naruto exhaled, then paused, his eyes snapping to his friend. "Shorai! Are you also practicing the Rasengan?"
Shorai froze. A cold prickle of meta-knowledge ran down his spine. 'I thought to avoid this... I can't interfere with his specific breakthrough. If I give him the answer, he loses the growth.'
He stared at his feet for a moment, then looked back at Naruto's questioning face. "I tried... but my progress is quite slow. I still have a way to go before reaching true mastery."
"Huh? What do you mean? Did you pop it?" Naruto asked, his curiosity momentarily eclipsing his frustration.
"I did," Shorai replied calmly.
"W-wha—?" Naruto jolted. "How? What's the trick?"
"Step at a time, Naruto. Step at a time. Pay attention to what you do, and more importantly, how it feels. Perhaps what you lack isn't power, but awareness." Shorai began walking away, tossing a final hint over his shoulder. "Maybe the clue you need is right around you, but you just can't see what's in plain sight."
"What does that even mean? Hey! Shorai!"
Shorai didn't answer. With a quick burst of Shunshin, he vanished into the deeper woods.
Reaching his spot, he summoned his two clones. The air shimmered with the familiar smoke of his perfect Shadow Clone Jutsu. He distributed chakra pills to offset their 10% reserves and set the barrier tags.
"Another day, another toll to bear. The same routine?" the Whimsical Clone asked, already munching on a pill.
"Yesterday was the blueprint. Today is the execution," the Original said. "You two carry distinct pieces of my temperament. I have observed your tendencies. Perhaps you are the divided currents of my own mind."
He looked toward the Stoic Clone. "You are suited to Water's stillness."
Then he turned to the Whimsical Clone. "And you are suited to the chaos of Wind."
"Of course. Dork is good with the plainest, most unimpressive element. What a sight," the Whimsical Clone sneered.
"Original, do not blame me if a clown chokes on his own saliva," the Stoic Clone replied, a cold smirk touching his face. "It appears to be an effect of the split. I find Water easier because I am goal-oriented and less distracted than either of you.
"I have progressed beyond simple condensation. Drawing moisture into my palm and returning it to chakra is easy now. But manipulating water once it has left the body—or water already present around us—remains slow. The lightning habit is a persistent parasite."
Shorai nodded. "Today, we close more of those gaps. Stoic, you will handle liquid-state manipulation. Whimsical, focus on the movement of air—acceleration and stillness."
"Now, make me a pond and stop wasting time," the Stoic Clone commanded.
Shorai smiled, activating the Reality Stone. The ground dipped and filled with a thought. Then, he turned to the Whimsical Clone, his hand tracing a circular motion.
'Create a mental anchor point. A bridge between the physical and the Soul Space. A two-way interactive portal for the mind. Condense.'
Cloudy crimson light swirled with black shadows, warping the air into a localized nebula of energy. Shorai looked at the portal, then at the Whimsical Clone. "Here. Simulation into practice."
"Uhu. How about you try it first, Original?" the Whimsical Clone said, waving a finger. "You didn't specify the safety parameters in your first command. I'll wait."
Shorai sighed, his eyes narrowing at his own cautious nature reflected back at him. 'Portal spot. Modify. Ensure the mental transfer is stabilized. No psychic fragmentation. Absolute safety for the mind.'
"There. Enjoy," Shorai said. The clone grinned and stepped into the swirling dark.
—
The hours blurred. While his clones toiled in the mental and elemental realms, Shorai focused on the Rasengan's efficiency. By 3:00 PM, a stable, perfect blue vortex sat in his palm. It was beautiful—a miniature hurricane of pure energy.
'Chakra control and Yin application... anything is possible when you understand the geometry of energy,' he thought.
By 10:00 PM, Shorai was a mess of sweat and dirt. The clones approached him as the sun dipped below the horizon.
"Water bends more easily now. Transforming chakra into its liquid state is faster," the Stoic Clone reported. "I am beginning to correct the vibration flaw. But a warning: as we train stillness, your Swift Release will suffer. The habits are contradictory."
"Relearning is part of the cost," Shorai replied. "The two tendencies oppose each other."
He turned to the crimson portal and stepped in. The transfer was a rush of freezing cold and absolute silence. As the jutsu was released, the tidal wave of information hit his brain—weeks of simulated training compressed into a second of agony.
Sitting in a meditative pose, Shorai focused on his neuro-plasticity, mending the heat in his mind. Finally, he deactivated the Stone and let the darkness of sleep take him.
—
"C'mon. A new day dawns…"
The voice was warm, like sunlight through a window, yet it carried an echo of something ancient. A physical sensation—a gentle touch on his forehead—pulled him toward consciousness.
Shorai stirred, his eyes snapping open to the morning sun. He was alone on the grass.
'Again... what is that voice?' His brows furrowed. It was disturbing to have his senses bypassed so easily, yet the feeling it left behind was one of profound comfort, a sense of being known that he hadn't felt since his transition to this world. 'Is this a remnant of the entity? A dream? Or is the reality of this world becoming... sentient?'
He rose slowly, checking his body. Nutrient depletion sat heavy in his limbs, but his chakra felt more refined—more layered.
"At last! The next stage!" Naruto's shout echoed from nearby.
Shorai walked toward the sound, withdrawing a bottle of water from a scroll. It did little for the hunger gnawing at him, but the cool drink eased the dryness in his throat and cleared some of the fatigue from his head. Naruto was practically jumping with joy while Jiraiya watched with a knowing smirk.
"I figured it out! I saw a cat playing with a ball, and I saw it! Two ways! Shorai, look!" Naruto demonstrated with a water balloon. Pop!
"Artificial splitting of the process. Unorthodox," Shorai noted, offering a genuine smile. "Stabilizers. Instead of one complex current, you're dual-wielding the focus. Clever, Naruto."
"Pff... Ha ha ha!" Jiraiya laughed, throwing a solid rubber ball to Naruto. "That was the easy part. This stage is a hundred times more challenging. You need power now."
Jiraiya demonstrated, his own ball exploding with a violent, structural snap. Naruto tried to replicate it, but the ball remained perfectly still.
"You lack power, Naruto," Shorai commented softly. "You're stirring with enough force for a balloon, but not enough to shape the air itself."
He watched the blond boy struggle, then murmured beneath his breath, "You have an ocean within you, yet you are only drawing from a cup."
"Indeed," Jiraiya said. "I'm off to gather information. Good luck, you two."
"Make sure it is information about Tsunade—not a vixen's measurements," Shorai called as the Sannin hurried away.
Jiraiya stopped for a brief moment.
"Hey…"
Naruto's expression twisted, clearly preparing to protest—whether at Shorai's vague advice or Jiraiya's obvious priorities.
Before either of them could pull him into it, Shorai vanished in a flicker of Shunshin.
—
By the fifth morning of their stay, Shorai woke with a quiet sense of triumph.
'The Rasengan is complete. Ten percent to form it, two percent to maintain it. The efficiency is where it needs to be.'
He summoned his clones for one final push. "Stoic, continue with Water. Whimsical—and I—will tackle vibration and motion together. We need to see the molecules if we are going to accelerate this process."
Within the Soul Space, Shorai directed the Reality Stone.
'Warp our perception. Let us perceive the frequency of the air. Highlight its molecular movement. Then reproduce that same molecular presence around my physical body outside.'
The world shifted. The air was no longer transparent; it became a sea of vibrating particles, a chaotic dance of gaseous forms. Seeing the underlying physics allowed Shorai to refine his lightning and wind affinities with terrifying precision.
Hours later, he reproduced the simulation around his physical body in the real world. By evening, he shifted his attention back to Swift Release. Whatever progress he made with stillness, he could not allow his most reliable combat movement to dull.
He practiced Shadowless Flight. It felt like sliding through silk. But when he attempted the Stage Two Phantom Step, the new stillness cultivated through his Water training caused the vacuum to collapse.
Boom!
He tumbled out of the step, coughing as the air rushed back into the void.
'Chakra habits are jealous mistresses,' he thought, wiping dust from his face. 'Relearning it is.'
On the seventh morning, Shorai found Naruto and Jiraiya standing amid a fresh trail of destruction in the clearing.
"I cleared the air-ball stage!" Naruto shouted, his hands bruised but his spirit blazing.
"Impressive, Naruto. Truly," Shorai said through a yawn, his gaze settling on the deep gouges carved into the earth.
"I was about to come looking for you, Shorai," Jiraiya said, his eyes scanning Shorai's disheveled state. "You have been a ghost these past few days. But training time is over."
Shorai wiped his face, his expression turning sharp. "A lead?"
"Yes. Tsunade is in Tanzaku Town," Jiraiya announced. "We move out immediately."
Shorai nodded, his mind already racing ahead to the meeting of the three Sannin. As he knelt to heal the burns on Naruto's hands, a single thought dominated his mind:
The mirage is ending. The real fight begins now.