Chapter 223: Two Learners, One Technique
Nawaki's mouth was still hanging open.
He stared at the shattered remains of the tree, then at Ragnar's hand, then back at the tree again as if hoping the scene would somehow make more sense the second time.
It did not.
"Wow!"
He pointed at the broken trunk with a trembling finger.
"This, this, this... what kind of ninjutsu is that, Boss?!"
The sheer force of it had left him completely stunned.
At first, when the blue sphere struck the tree, Nawaki thought the shallow crater in the bark was the full extent of the damage. Impressive, sure—but not impossible to imagine.
Then the entire tree split apart from the inside.
That was when he understood.
This was not a technique that simply smashed things.
It burrowed in.
It tore through the target internally.
It destroyed from the inside out.
The tree was thick enough that two adults linking arms might not have been able to wrap around it. A trunk like that should have stood for years, maybe decades.
Yet under Ragnar's technique, it had broken apart like rotten wood.
If that hit a person...
Nawaki swallowed hard.
Wouldn't it tear them apart on the spot?
Minato's gaze remained fixed on the wreckage, but unlike Nawaki, his shock had already begun transforming into thought.
"Ragnar," he said quietly, "this jutsu is extremely powerful. At the very least, it should rank at A-level. What do you call it?"
Ragnar looked at the fading chakra traces in his palm and answered calmly,
"Rasengan."
"Rasengan..." Minato repeated under his breath.
For some reason, the name stirred something inside him.
It sounded unfamiliar.
And yet not entirely unfamiliar.
The feeling was strange enough to irritate him. The shape of the jutsu, the concept behind it, even the flow of its chakra—it all struck some hidden part of his instincts. It was as if he were looking at something he had never seen before, yet had always been trying to imagine without realizing it.
Meanwhile, Nawaki had recovered from his shock in the most Nawaki way possible.
"Spiral ball!"
He threw one arm forward dramatically, trying to imitate Ragnar's movement.
Nothing happened.
Not even a flicker of chakra.
Ragnar looked at him, then smacked the top of his head.
"I only showed it to you," he said flatly. "I didn't explain the method. How exactly were you planning to use it?"
Nawaki rubbed his head and let out an awkward laugh.
"That... makes sense."
Ragnar shifted his eyes toward Minato.
Logically speaking, if anyone in this world was naturally suited to understanding the Rasengan, it would be Minato. Even though Ragnar had brought the technique out first, Minato's instincts, talent, and way of thinking aligned with it almost perfectly.
If anyone here could see through its essentials after just one look, it would be him.
And as expected, Minato had already begun analyzing it.
After a brief silence, Minato spoke slowly.
"The Rasengan is a very unusual jutsu," he said. "First, it requires no hand seals at all. That alone breaks from the normal structure of ninjutsu."
Nawaki blinked and listened intently.
"Second," Minato continued, "its principle seems to rely on extreme chakra compression combined with constant rotation. Maintaining both at the same time would demand very precise chakra control."
Ragnar said nothing.
He simply listened.
Minato's eyes sharpened as his thoughts became clearer.
"And third... this may be the most important point."
He looked at Ragnar's hand.
"It appears to be a non-elemental jutsu. Pure chakra shape transformation. If that's true, then in theory, an elemental nature transformation could be added on top of it later. If someone succeeded in that, the destructive power would increase even further."
When he finished speaking, the training ground fell silent for a brief moment.
Nawaki had only understood about half of it.
Ragnar, on the other hand, was mildly impressed.
Minato had essentially laid out the exact core of the technique in a few sentences.
He really was absurdly sharp.
Ragnar tilted his head toward Nawaki.
"You heard him. What he just said is the foundation of learning the Rasengan."
Nawaki nodded vigorously.
"I heard it!"
Then after a pause, he added more honestly,
"I mean... I heard all the words. I just don't completely understand them yet."
Minato gave a helpless smile.
Ragnar was less merciful.
"That's because your fundamentals are weak."
Nawaki's face fell immediately.
Minato hesitated for a second, then looked at Ragnar with surprising seriousness.
"Ragnar," he said, "since this is your original jutsu... I know it may be presumptuous, but I'd like your permission to practice it as well."
His tone was sincere.
Then, without hesitation, he bowed deeply.
Ragnar did not react strongly.
To him, the answer was obvious.
"If you want to learn it, learn it."
That was all.
No suspicion. No selfishness. No attempt to hide it.
Ragnar had no interest in hoarding techniques simply because he had created them. Minato was talented enough that even if Ragnar never showed him the Rasengan, he would likely arrive at something similar sooner or later.
Teaching him now merely moved that moment forward.
Minato straightened up, clearly moved.
"Thank you," he said seriously.
In his heart, his opinion of Ragnar rose even higher.
Strength alone could earn fear.
Talent alone could earn admiration.
But someone powerful enough to create a technique like this and still share it without hesitation...
That was something rarer.
Nawaki suddenly threw an arm around Minato's shoulder.
"Then let's learn it together!" he said excitedly. "We'll compete and see who masters it first!"
Minato laughed.
"Alright."
That easy smile returned to his face—the bright, warm smile that made it almost impossible for anyone to dislike him.
With that settled, the two of them began training immediately.
Ragnar, having nothing urgent to do, simply stayed to watch.
And the difference between the two learners became obvious almost at once.
"Spiral ball!"
Nawaki shouted again, full of force and fighting spirit.
He thrust his palm outward dramatically.
Still nothing.
A few seconds later, a weak flicker of chakra appeared and vanished.
No sphere. No rotation. No compression.
Just enthusiasm.
A lot of enthusiasm.
Ragnar watched him in silence.
Minato, by contrast, did not rush.
He stood off to the side in thought for a while, replaying Ragnar's demonstration in his mind again and again. Instead of forcing chakra into shape immediately, he first considered the principle.
Then he came up with a method.
He found a water balloon and held it in his palm.
Nawaki blinked. "What's that for?"
Minato gave a small smile.
"If I try to control the flow of chakra directly at full complexity, it'll be harder to sense the motion. But if I use water first, I can visualize the rotation more clearly."
He focused.
A moment later, the water inside the balloon began to move.
At first it was uneven, swaying clumsily to one side, then another. But very quickly, the movement grew more complex. The water started spinning in irregular directions inside the balloon, shifting chaotically under Minato's control.
Ragnar watched quietly from the side.
A strange feeling passed through him.
Different time.
Different place.
But still the same path.
It was almost as if fate had a preferred shape after all.
Minato's talent was outrageous.
Because Ragnar had already shown the finished form and because Minato had accurately grasped the principle, there were almost no major barriers left in front of him.
He refined the chakra flow.
Adjusted the direction.
Increased the density.
Again and again.
Then—
Pop!
The water balloon burst apart in his hand.
Nawaki jumped.
"You did it?!"
Minato didn't answer immediately. He was already moving on to the next step.
After several more attempts, a small blue sphere flickered to life in his palm.
Unstable.
Incomplete.
But real.
The chakra rotated rapidly, compressed tightly, and held form without any hand seals.
A Rasengan.
Not yet perfected.
But unmistakably a Rasengan.
Minato exhaled softly and dispersed it.
"I've only grasped the basic form for now," he said with his usual humility. "I still need a lot more practice before I can use it properly in battle."
Nawaki stared at him as though looking at a monster.
"What kind of brain do you even have?" he said. "I haven't learned anything yet, and you already made one!"
Ragnar gave a dry snort.
"He is one of the top geniuses of the Ninja Academy. You, on the other hand, are you."
Nawaki looked wounded.
"Boss, I work hard too... It's just... maybe you don't notice it enough."
Ragnar ignored the complaint.
Minato, being far kinder than Ragnar, tried to help.
"Nawaki is still young," he said. "You don't need to be too strict with him."
Then Nawaki grabbed Minato's sleeve at once.
"Brother Minato, teach me! How did you do it? Explain it properly!"
Minato tried.
"The basic idea is simple," he said. "You need to imagine chakra rotating in multiple directions at once, while also compressing it toward a center point. Then you stabilize the shape and—"
Nawaki's expression became blank halfway through.
Minato paused.
Ragnar crossed his arms.
"See? That's the problem."
Nawaki turned toward him pitifully.
Ragnar said, "Tall buildings don't rise without foundations. You want to fly before you've even learned to walk. Orochimaru may have trained you for a while, but your chakra control basics are still too weak."
Nawaki slumped immediately.
"So I can't learn it?"
"I didn't say that," Ragnar replied. "I said you need to improve your fundamentals first. Chakra control. Precision. Stability. If you build those properly, you'll have a chance."
Minato nodded.
"Ragnar is right. Don't rush. If there's anything you don't understand, I'll help you."
Nawaki let out a long sigh.
What had started as a day of blazing confidence had turned into a harsh lesson in reality.
Then—
A soft voice came from behind them.
"Um... Minato-kun?"
The voice was gentle and carried a trace of shyness.
All three turned.
Ragnar's eyes narrowed slightly.
Standing there was a young girl with long red hair, the color vivid and striking even beneath the fading light. She looked almost like a flower bud on the verge of blooming—young, delicate, and undeniably beautiful.
For a brief second, the training ground seemed to grow quieter.
And Minato's expression changed at once.
He knew her.
(End of Chapter)
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