Although he was a little speechless at Panda Ming's antics, Yuki Seisui still tossed a jug of sake over.
He'd bought it earlier that morning before heading to the meeting point.
The Ninja World had no shortage of strange customs.
Kids could be sent to the battlefield, yet they weren't allowed to drink alcohol until they were eighteen.
Yuki Seisui had only managed to buy it by claiming it was for an adult relative. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten it at all.
Whether the shopkeeper actually believed him, that was a different matter.
Panda Ming caught the jug happily. "Boss went out hunting bamboo rats today," he said cheerfully. "Later, go ask for a few. It'll be a nice change of flavor."
"Bamboo rats?" Uchiha Haru, cradling Kuma in her arms, asked curiously, "What are bamboo rats?"
"They taste pretty good," Seisui replied, licking his lips. "They're animals that live in bamboo forests."
As he spoke, Yuki Seisui formed a hand seal, summoning two shadow clones beside him.
One of them glanced at Uchiha Haru, waved, and said, "Hey there."
The other leaned toward Minato, whispering with a mysterious expression, "Minato, wanna learn the secrets of love?"
Minato blinked in surprise, then glanced at Yuki Seisui before whispering back, "What secret?"
"Be bold, be careful, and grow a thick skin!"
Yuki Seisui shot them a look, clearly exasperated. "How can a serious guy like me have such ridiculous shadow clones?"
"Get to training Sage Mode already!"
"Pfft." The two clones gave him a look of contempt, then silently sat down cross-legged.
Having shadow clones trained in Sage Mode meant that when they were dispelled, the chakra they'd accumulated would return to the original body, a fast-track method for training.
Once the clones had begun their meditation, Yuki Seisui turned back to the others. "Didn't I promise to teach you the Rasengan?"
"Well, today's the day!"
Since he needed to train in Sage Mode anyway, he'd decided to bring everyone to the Panda Clan's territory.
This place was rich in natural energy, perfect for training Sage Mode.
Uchiha Haru put Kuma down and focused intently.
Kuma, now on the ground, scampered over to Panda Ming and lay down beside him, watching Haru with curious eyes.
To demonstrate, Yuki Seisui began forming a chakra ball in his hand, an elemental-free Rasengan.
"This is the Rasengan."
He casually grabbed a thick bamboo rod from who knows where and threw it onto the ground, the clatter ringing out like metal.
Uchiha Haru immediately activated her Sharingan, her eyes locked on Seisui's movements.
Minato eyed the bamboo stick thoughtfully. From the sound it made hitting the ground, it was clearly very tough.
"The Rasengan packs a punch. Even something this sturdy—" he said, referring to the bamboo, "—can be crushed with ease."
With that, Yuki Seisui pressed the Rasengan into the bamboo.
The solid stick split and shattered along its natural grain as if it were paper.
"What a waste!" Panda Ming shouted from a distance, his heart aching at the sight.
Both Minato and Uchiha Haru gasped, eyes wide with disbelief at the display of power.
Yuki Seisui didn't pay them any mind. He continued, "The Rasengan is a powerful technique that compresses chakra into a tight sphere. Then, by spinning it rapidly and chaotically, it generates a destructive tearing force."
"And of course, someone's bound to ask…"
"'Seisui, Seisui, doesn't this jutsu require extremely precise chakra control?'"
"That's right!"
"But the jutsu itself is actually quite simple."
"You just need to compress non-elemental chakra and spin it continuously."
Uchiha Haru's Sharingan tomoe spun as she mimicked Yuki Seisui's gestures. A small blue sphere began forming in her palm.
Minato stared at her, wide-eyed. "Wait, y-you already did it?!"
Haru shook her head. "Not really. I just mimicked the chakra flow of the technique. I couldn't replicate it properly."
She pressed the Rasengan-like orb toward the ground, and as expected, the chakra dissipated before it could make contact.
Yuki Seisui wasn't surprised in the least.
The Sharingan could replicate techniques by observing hand signs and chakra movement, but the Rasengan had no hand seals, nor did it follow any fixed chakra path.
It was simply concentrated chakra spinning in the palm.
And that spin, that was the Rasengan's core.
"First, compress your chakra into your palm," Yuki Seisui instructed. "Then, make it spin. Once you get that down, try spinning it in multiple directions at once."
He didn't bother using the original training method from the story.
Minato and Uchiha Haru weren't clumsy beginners like Naruto had been in his early days.
They were geniuses.
Minato, especially, was the one who would go on to create the Rasengan.
So, there was no need to hold their hand.
After explaining the core concept, Yuki Seisui left them to train while he began his own Sage Mode practice.
He could already extract natural energy and blend it with chakra, but the process was still too slow.
To this point, he hadn't successfully entered Sage Mode even once.
"Panda Ming, give me a bamboo shoot!"
Panda Ming tossed one over without even looking up.
Yuki Seisui peeled it and bit straight into it raw.
Then he sat cross-legged and began sensing natural energy.
By dusk, the Panda Sage arrived, dragging a few bamboo rats along.
Seeing Minato and Haru still working hard on their Rasengan training, he dropped the bamboo rats on the ground, clearly not worried they'd escape, and said, "You two teammates of Seisui?"
Haru and Minato exchanged glances, then nodded in unison.
Seeing their response, the Panda Sage clasped his hands behind his back and declared, "I am the strongest being in this land, The Panda Sage!"
"Greetings, Sage!" Minato said first, showing proper respect.
He had already made a contract with the toads of Mount Myoboku and had met the Great Toad Sage before. This kind of situation wasn't new to him.
Uchiha Haru followed suit, bowing and greeting the sage as well.
"Hahaha!" The Panda Sage laughed proudly. "Looks like my mighty reputation has spread far and wide!"
"Boss, didn't you just introduce yourself?" Panda Ming exposed him without hesitation. "You've never even left this place. Who would know who you are?"
"You brat!" the Panda Sage barked, face turning stern. "I am the illustrious Panda Sage! Of course people know me!"
Just then, Yuki Seisui suddenly opened his eyes. A flicker of golden light flashed through them.
After all that effort refining Sage chakra, he had finally done it.
"Sage Mode: Activate!"
With a firm clap of his hands, he let out a low cry. A soft white glow enveloped his body, and his eyes turned golden.
"Hm?" The Panda Sage, who had been ready to discipline his unruly student, froze.
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
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