Exactly!
Since Naruto was destined to become the Seventh Hokage, there was no way he would die before reaching that goal!
"So it doesn't matter who it is, Dad or the Pervy Sage! Hurry up and put me through special training!"
Naruto's boundless energy instantly swept away the heavy gloom that had been hanging over everyone.
"I'm going to master the Rasengan! Cure Grandma's hemophobia! And stop Orochimaru's schemes!"
Even in the darkness, his bright blond hair was impossible to miss. That spirit that never knew how to back down burned fiercely in his blue eyes.
"You really don't know the meaning of discouragement, do you?" Sasuke said with a laugh, scolding him lightly. The oppressive feeling in his chest faded, replaced by a stronger determination not to fall behind.
Sakura felt the same. She was one of the main combatants in the upcoming battle as well. There was no way she could afford to stagnate.
"Alright, good kids, it's bedtime," Minato Namikaze said. "Naruto too. Training can wait until tomorrow. It's already time to sleep. Before that, don't forget to go wash up with Sasuke, Obito, and Kakashi."
"Huh?! What?! There's only one day left!"
Naruto's yelp earned him no leniency at all.
"Don't forget what you promised Kushina," Minato said calmly. "A hot bath every day, and going to bed on time."
"…Okay." Naruto drooped, his shoulders slumping.
Since they were the last group, the inn's bath was practically monopolized by the four boys.
The once-energetic Naruto Uzumaki was now soaking in the tub, leaning against the edge and sighing endlessly.
"Sigh… it's so nice, Sasuke. You can already use Chidori."
"Sigh… it's so nice, Obito can already hunt with Wood Release."
"Sigh… it's so nice, even Kakashi-sensei when he was a kid…"
"Keep sighing like that and believe me, I'll fire Shiden/Chidori straight into the water," young Kakashi and Sasuke said almost in unison.
Naruto's resentful little glare was about to drive them both mad.
Obito, who was also in the tub, groaned. "Naruto, please spare both yourself and me. I really don't want to walk out with an exploded hairstyle. That'd be humiliating."
Next door, in the women's bath, Rin and Sakura could clearly hear their conversation.
"Only Naruto could manage to irritate Sasuke-kun and that elite-looking young Kakashi-sensei at the same time," Sakura said.
Rin laughed softly. "Obito's pretty talented in that area too."
So maybe what White Zetsu said actually made some sense?
While they were whispering, Obito next door had already started doing something reckless.
"Naruto, how about you try forming the Rasengan again? Sasuke and I can analyze it with our Sharingan. Kakashi might be annoying, but his analytical skills are really good."
"That's great! Take a close look for me!"
As he spoke, Naruto immediately began forming a Rasengan right there in the bath.
"You idiot! Don't—!" Sasuke didn't even have time to finish.
The Rasengan instantly sucked in the water and soap, whipping everything into a violent swirl. Foam surged up, nearly spilling into the women's bath next door.
"Are you stupid?! Don't you know the Rasengan pulls in water?!"
The entire room was soon filled with bubbles. Sasuke and Obito had no choice but to activate their Sharingan. Young Kakashi wasn't so lucky. The thick scent of soap overwhelmed him, his sense of smell completely useless as he stumbled around in the foam, venting all his anger on Obito.
"Obito Uchiha!!! Look at the stupid idea you came up with!"
"Uh—sorry, sorry!" Seeing Kakashi genuinely angry and knowing it really was his fault, Obito hurriedly used his Sharingan to grope through the foam for him.
He accidentally tugged something loose, but there was no time to worry about that. When he finally dragged Kakashi out, he saw him covering his face.
In his hand was the towel he used to hide it.
"S-sorry…" Obito immediately apologized, knowing how much Kakashi hated showing his face.
Naruto, who had been pulled out by Sasuke, saw it too.
"Ahhh! Kakashi-sensei's mask came off!"
Listening from next door, Sakura and Rin were itching with curiosity, almost tempted to become peeping toms like Jiraiya.
Young Kakashi snatched the towel back from Obito, quickly covering his face again and tying it behind his head.
"Tch. What a letdown," Naruto said. "No sausage lips, no buck teeth. Boring."
"No, actually… he looks pretty decent," Sasuke commented coolly. As the former second son of a prominent clan, his sense of aesthetics was still intact.
Obito nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, yeah."
"Never bring this up again," young Kakashi said with a tired sigh. "Now, back to the Rasengan."
They were basically clean already, and with the bath completely filled with foam, it wasn't like they could wash any more anyway.
Naruto glanced at the tub overflowing with bubbles and felt a bit guilty.
Back when he was alone, even if he caused trouble, at worst he'd just get scolded.
Now, in situations like this, he couldn't help worrying that his dad would end up getting dragged into it too.
"I didn't expect it to turn out like this, I mean…" His voice carried a trace of grievance. "I thought at most it would just splash some water."
Sasuke said calmly, "Didn't you see the bar of soap next to you? If it were only water, it wouldn't react that violently. Add soap, and of course it's different."
"Huh?"
That remark suddenly sparked something in Naruto's head.
"Hey, wait!" Naruto said. "Sasuke, your Chidori uses Lightning Release chakra, right?"
The young Kakashi pointed his thumb downward at him.
"Chidori is a ninjutsu I developed. Thanks."
Sasuke shot him an exasperated look. "Don't argue with an idiot."
Naruto didn't flare up over being called an idiot this time. Instead, he pressed on.
"So Chidori really is Lightning Release?"
"Of course it is. And the Great Fireball Technique is Fire Release. What's the problem?"
Naruto asked obediently, "Then what kind of Release is the Rasengan?"
Uh…
That question genuinely stumped both Sasuke and the young Kakashi.
"The Rasengan is a non-elemental ninjutsu."
Minato Namikaze's voice suddenly came from outside.
"Ah! Dad!"
"Minato-sensei!"
Naruto and Obito spoke at the same time.
Minato's voice carried a hint of indulgence toward his son and students. "With that much noise, it'd be hard not to notice."
The four boys hurriedly got dressed and came out, continuing to ask Minato about the Rasengan.
"So the Rasengan you developed doesn't require hand seals and doesn't belong to any elemental nature at all?" young Obito asked.
"That's because," Minato said, "the Rasengan is actually an incomplete ninjutsu."
"What?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock. "I saw you in another world use the Rasengan to beat up the Obito from that world. Was that also an unfinished Rasengan?! It was insanely strong! One hit slammed him straight into the ground!"
Young Obito protested immediately. "What 'this world' or 'that world'? Call that guy the Masked Man! Don't lump me together with him!"
Minato soothed them and even bought ice-cold milk from the vending machine with his own money.
"The Rasengan is currently classified as an A-rank ninjutsu," Minato said. "If it were fully completed, I believe it could reach at least S-rank. But with the war going on at the time, there wasn't enough time to refine it. I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to see a fully completed Rasengan."
There was an unintentional note of sadness in his words.
In this world, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and Naruto's father, had never gotten the chance to witness that moment.
Naruto was actually very perceptive and sensitive. He caught the hidden meaning in Minato's words, and his mood immediately dipped.
Minato quickly added, "But I believe the me of this world must have placed great hope in you, hoping you could complete the true Rasengan."
Complete the true Rasengan?!
"Why me?"
"Hm…" Minato tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Because the Rasengan is the ninjutsu that suits you best. At least, that's what I think."
Naruto still had more questions, but Minato suddenly put on a serious expression.
"Look at the time. Go to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow to continue training."
With no choice, the kids all went back to their rooms.
Naruto had too much on his mind to fall asleep. He only managed a brief nap before waking naturally in the middle of the night.
His thoughts lingered on the unfinished Rasengan his dad had left behind, and on the scene where water and soap turned into foam under the Rasengan's rotation.
'Because the Rasengan is the ninjutsu that suits you best.'
'The ninjutsu that suits you best.'
Lying on the bed with his legs kicked up, Naruto's mind filled with two techniques: Shadow Clones and the Rasengan.
He first tried imagining each Shadow Clone holding its own Rasengan.
But that idea quickly collapsed. He knew he couldn't pull that off anytime soon. He couldn't casually unleash an A-rank ninjutsu the way his dad could.
So he changed his line of thinking.
This time, he imagined two, even three Shadow Clones holding a single Rasengan together.
"!!!"
The image made him sit bolt upright.
It might actually… work!!
He quietly glanced at his dad, who was still "fast asleep" on the other side of the room. Then he crept out of bed, tiptoed to the door like a thief, slipped outside, and gently closed it behind him.
He even left a Shadow Clone in the bed, just in case he was discovered.
What he didn't know was that the moment the door closed, the "sleeping" Minato Namikaze opened his eyes, a faint smile curving at the corner of his lips.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Naruto slipped alone into an open stretch of forest, clinging tightly to that flash of inspiration. Again and again, he experimented with using Shadow Clones to help form the Rasengan, letting his main body focus entirely on the weight of the technique in his hand. His goal was clear: to maintain the Rasengan at one hundred percent power even after the clones dispersed.
After dozens of attempts, success finally came. With a short running start, the Rasengan struck the target tree trunk cleanly and perfectly.
One hundred percent Rasengan power!
From the front, it looked like nothing more than a small, spiral-shaped indentation.
It was as if Naruto had stamped the tree with a seal, a mark belonging to the Uzumaki Clan!
But the Rasengan's true power didn't stop there. Driven by instinct, he moved to the back of the massive tree, one so thick that even three Shadow Clones couldn't wrap their arms around it.
"!!!!"
Step by step, Naruto circled to the rear and froze.
The entire tree was intact only on the side he had hit. The back looked as if it had been bitten clean through by some colossal beast, leaving behind a crater more than two meters wide!
The spherical cavity had devoured nearly four-fifths of the trunk. Even holding together for a dozen seconds was already its limit.
As the remaining bark began to creak under the strain, the upper half of the tree swayed violently. A moment later, it collapsed with a thunderous crash!
Even people in the nearby town could feel the massive tremor. In the quiet pre-dawn hours, countless birds were startled into flight, wings fluttering noisily through the forest as they searched for new places to perch.
The rush of joy faded, replaced by overwhelming exhaustion.
Naruto fell backward onto the ground and stared up at the sky, now tinged with the faint white of early dawn.
"So tired…"
He'd just sleep for a bit.
…
When he woke up again, it was because Sasuke kicked him.
Blinking his eyes open, Naruto found himself staring at—
Sasuke, Obito, Sakura, Rin, and both versions of Kakashi-sensei, young and adult.
Something felt off. Rubbing his eyes, Naruto frowned.
"Where's my dad?"
Adult Kakashi's expression was unusually solemn as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"Listen to me, Naruto."
"Minato-sensei… he's gone."
…
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