"Boy, believe in yourself! Even if you can't use ninjutsu, you can still become a great ninja!"
"Come on! Let's keep pushing our limits! If you can't finish this round, how about doing fifty handstand laps?"
"…"
Chiba gave kid a flat, tired look. Seeing kid's eager enthusiasm, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
He knew kid meant well.
But as a transmigrant, Chiba understood perfectly well the limits of pure taijutsu.
It was powerful—no doubt—but only to a point.
The Eight Gates was the pinnacle of taijutsu, right?
Magnificent, yes—yet fleeting, like fireworks that blaze for a moment and vanish without a trace.
Chiba didn't want to be a firework.
And since he was the same age as Lee, he knew that if he focused only on taijutsu, the best he could do would be to reach Lee's level at most.
And Lee's level?
Even after opening the Sixth Gate in the final battle, all he could do was cheer his master on from the sidelines, powerless to change the outcome.
Chiba was sure—at that moment, Lee must have felt utter despair.
He didn't want to experience that.
So he knew, without a doubt, that focusing solely on taijutsu led to a dead end.
But what choice did he have?
Two years ago, he had transmigrated into the world of Naruto. Soon after, he discovered a strange glowing orb within his consciousness.
Then came the bad news—he completely lacked talent for elemental chakra transformation and genjutsu. Even the simplest Clone Technique and Transformation Technique were beyond him.
However—
After some experimenting, Chiba found that the light orb wasn't entirely useless.
First, it granted him extremely precise chakra control.
second, his taijutsu aptitude was extraordinary. His control over his muscles and body far exceeded ordinary people.
According to his teachers—and even kid—his chakra control and physical coordination surpassed that of many jōnin.
And third…
He learned things incredibly fast.
He suspected all of this was related to the mysterious orb. Over the past two years, he'd also noticed that the orb seemed to strengthen whenever he learned or researched something new.
So, he needed to come up with new ideas.
Sorry, kid!
"Chiba, your ninjutsu and genjutsu talents are poor. Are you really planning to give up on taijutsu too?"
kid's face was filled with disappointment.
He had taken both Chiba and Lee under his wing because they were hardworking and never cared about others' ridicule.
But now, after two years of perseverance, to give up—wasn't that too weak-willed?
"kid, I'm not giving up. I'm just… looking for another path. Lee and I might not be able to perform chakra nature transformations, but we both have chakra. And my chakra control is strong—I believe I can develop techniques that don't rely on elemental changes."
Chiba stood up, still running, panting as he spoke. "Even without hand seals or nature transformations, concentrated chakra itself should have great destructive power."
"But…"
"Like this."
Chiba extended his right hand, gathering chakra into his palm—a dense, compact sphere of pure energy.
It wasn't a Rasengan—not yet—but a tightly condensed chakra orb that shimmered with latent power.
kid glanced at it, then his eyes widened.
This… looks like…
No—it wasn't quite the same. Just a pure, refined sphere of chakra, not the perfected Rasengan.
"We often run past the river, right? I was thinking—if I could make the chakra inside spin, like a whirlpool, it would greatly increase its destructive force."
"Wait…" kid hesitated, then asked, "You've never thought about adding more rotational directions?"
"Eh? Right! Why didn't I think of that?"
Chiba's eyes lit up as if struck by revelation. He immediately tried adjusting the rotations—but within seconds, the orb unraveled and dispersed.
He wasn't discouraged. He prepared to try , but kid spoke gravely:
"kid, that jutsu already exists. It's an A-rank ninjutsu called the Rasengan."
"What? It already exists?"
Chiba froze in disbelief.
kid nodded. "Yes. Your technique is almost identical to the Fourth Hokage's Rasengan."
Lee stood quietly at the side, too stunned to speak. He didn't really understand—but he knew it was impressive.
"I see…"
"Don't worry," kid said with a sigh. "It's common for people to reach similar conclusions independently. If your ninjutsu and genjutsu talent weren't so limited, you could've become a truly exceptional ninja."
Even without the talent for ninjutsu, this kid hadn't given up. He had tried developing non-elemental ninjutsu through pure chakra manipulation. Such creativity and insight—what a pity.
"It's fine, kid. If the Sage of Six Paths closes one door for me, he must have opened another. I should be grateful. Besides, I believe—even without chakra nature transformations—I can still become strong!"
Chiba's voice was firm.
Lee's eyes lit up with admiration. "Even though Chiba-kun can't use ninjutsu, to create something like that by himself—amazing!"
"We'll train in taijutsu," Chiba continued, "but also study non-elemental ninjutsu—and combine them together."
"What you're talking about," kid said with a smile, "is called Nintaijutsu."
He chuckled. "All right then, no matter what, taijutsu is still the foundation. Let's keep training!"
"Yes, sir!"
The three continued their grueling practice, though each carried different thoughts. The air among them grew subtly quiet.
By dusk, they finally parted ways.
Back in his small apartment assigned by the village, Chiba replayed the day's events in his mind.
Of course, his ambitions went beyond "nintaijutsu." But as a civilian, his access to knowledge was limited.
If he started talking about things like "superhuman strength," "natural energy," or "Sage Mode," he wouldn't just attract attention from the upper ranks—he'd probably get a visit from Root and end up drinking tea with kid.
"Sorry, kid," he murmured. "But I really don't have any other path."
He was twelve now—just months away from graduation. In a few years, the Fourth Hokage Great Ninja War would erupt.
Time was running out.
Of course, he hadn't neglected ninjutsu training entirely.
Back home, Chiba began condensing chakra—shaping and compressing it outside his body.
Right now, he could form fine chakra threads to control kunai and shuriken, but that wasn't his goal.
When his chakra was nearly depleted, he opened a notebook and began to write:
"Output not sufficient—still can't pierce solid objects. Need to refine compression methods."
"So far, the most effective technique remains the Rasengan."
"Can't add nature transformation to Rasengan, but there's still room for improvement."
He drew two lines branching from the word Rasengan:
One labeled "Release Speed."
The other, "Compression and Power Increase."
Then he added another note—
"Integrate smoothly into combat. Don't just hold the Rasengan and charge in like an idiot—learn from Naruto's mistakes."
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
https://www.patreon.com/Mindsmithstudio