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Resolution

Naruto opened his eyes. The sting of the burn marks he received was still there. His hands were gripping a headband. He raised himself from the pillow into an upright position. He glanced at the headband with a horizontal cut, made by his sharp nails when he used the fox power. Naruto remembered the last few days and everything that had gone side-ways for him and his friends. Things started since Sasuke lost to his older brother, then Naruto should have acted back then. He kept thinking Sasuke and Sakura would be two constants in his life—everything would have been alright if he stood back and did not try hard enough.

Teamwork was better than individuality, and it was a lesson Kakashi taught them, but this wasn't teamwork. This was complacency.

While Sasuke pushed through, often becoming more alone, Naruto and Sakura had lazed about, thinking he would always be by their side and be the reliable teammate he was. However, Sasuke had objectives, and he was frantic about it. Naruto understood that and understood his motives.

"I'm going to Orochimaru."

With marks all over his skin and cold red eyes, a boy said that with an indifferent tone to Naruto. The waterfall was loud in Naruto's memories. The Valley of the End, with its imposing statues, caused some amount of uncertainty in Naruto ever since they arrived there. The ensuing battle was harsh and uncertain. His heart thought he'd die many times in that fight. Never had Naruto felt so insecure when fighting someone. It was like his first mission blues, only much harsher than before—he was fighting his rival to the death back then in a place where nobody was, Naruto fought alone in a deserted historical place, against the guy he admired for so long.

"Naruto. This—This is my only wish of a lifetime."

There was a crying girl, too weak to make any change. She pleaded for him for things to go back to the way things were. Naruto sighed hard as he could not deliver on the promise of bringing him back. In his mind, images from the past: A group of three, an idiotic brat, a broody brat, a screaming brat, and a lazy adult. They formed Team 7 back then, and things were up for Naruto ever since. Maybe it was why he conformed to everything and hadn't fought harder, because Sakura and Sasuke were there for him. He could relax and take things easy until everything blew up in Team 7's faces. Then, there was no going back—if there was even something to go back to. His mind kept blurring memories and adventures of the past. Naruto put into question everything, and he found he hated how things had turned out for being too complacent.

The thirteen-year-old glanced at his chest. Sasuke inflicted the lighting wound twice on Naruto, one in his right lung, one below the heart. They were already healing faster than many could have predicted. In a few days, there wouldn't be a scar left. It was always like this. No wounds ever blemished Naruto's body after it healed since he was little.

The sting of betrayal was profound for Naruto, for Sasuke to attack him so quickly, to attack him so viciously without hesitation. However, now that the dust settled and the battle was over, Sasuke leaving…

Naruto had a lot of time to ponder what happened back in that valley.

Until the end, all your attacks aimed to kill me, so why am I still alive?

For the first time, Naruto doubted their bond. Naruto fervently defended their friendship in the valley, but now he doubted if he would feel the same if he ever met Sasuke again.

Sorry, Sakura. I don't think I can fulfill our promise.

Naruto was only human, ostracized in this village to the point of extreme lynching. After that, he hid his worst emotions, but right now—

Sorry, Sakura. Next time he and I meet, I will probably rip his head off…

Betrayal from his first friend, one who shared the pain of loneliness. Sasuke abandoned the chance to overcome that loneliness so easily and plunged himself into a lonelier road. One with so much betrayal and darkness—Naruto had a lot of anger in his body, even though his posture was still straight, and his expression was glum. Sasuke betrayed him, and now Naruto was angry. This bond of theirs wasn't friendship. It wasn't a close bond like Naruto thought it was.

What did he know of Sasuke?

And what did the raven-haired boy see of him?

It was all so stupid in the end. Sasuke and Naruto connected through their loneliness. However, their petty rivalry always put a significant barrier that Naruto couldn't cross easily.

It was hard going back to the goofball he was before. He always acted like this to make people look at him, but what now?

When he was in the team, that was the default personality to fall back to. It was inoffensive and made people laugh instead of glaring and cursing his existence, but after thirteen years, Naruto tired of performing this act—trying to appease everyone. In the place of an overconfident and fun-loving, Naruto was just a tired and angry teenager. What he had in life was very little, you could count it in just one hand: his dream of becoming Hokage, a team that can't really become close, and the six people in the world who supported him, the number was six, but old man Hokage died. So he now had five people in his life. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune, Teuchi, Ayame, Iruka.

Losing Sasuke to Orochimaru was a hard blow, but Uzumaki Naruto still had so much to live.

And with a breath of determination, he leaped out of bed and started doing heavy exercises—the room had pipes going to the ceiling, so it was easy to hang and practice reverse sit-ups with his feet dangling on the bar. It was embarrassing to say, but Sasuke had the physical advantage in their fight. His punches and kicks were weighty, and Naruto could only bridge the gap using the fox powers, and that was no natural way to get stronger.

Relying on a hatred-filled fox to do the work for you was plain wrong.

Naruto used it as a crutch and a trump card to win his fights, but that needed to end. Naruto had to rely on his own strength from now on, or there would be no saving himself from utter dependence—Naruto had to win his own fights with his own power from now.

If training until Naruto dropped dead would strengthen him, then he would drop dead a thousand times. He saw how hard Lee worked. It was time to take the boy's example and drop dead from hard work, no more complacent Naruto from now forward.

X—X

After ninety minutes of Naruto intensely training his now-healing body, the door opened and entered a ninja with the standard jacket and pineapple hair. Shikamaru was their leader for this excursion, and Naruto felt terrible because he couldn't live up to Shikamaru's expectations. Everyone believed in Naruto—thought he could bring Sasuke back, and all Naruto had shown was a failure. Naruto knew Shikamaru wouldn't blame Naruto for this, making Naruto feel even worse when he thought this way. Shikamaru had narrow brown eyes and a frowning expression. He had shoulder-length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail, along with the damaged Chūnin uniform, wore a short-sleeved gray jacket and the Nara clan symbol on the back. He also wore a pair of his clan's traditional earrings—his blue forehead protector tied around his left arm.

"No rest for the wicked, huh?" Shikamaru said in a good-natured way. He had a few scrapes and gashes in his body, a few bruises, and a bent finger in a cast.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto exclaimed, sweaty. Naruto dropped from the ceiling after working out.

Underneath his skin, muscles healed because of lineage and sealed fox—that strong vitality blended from many aspects of his birth.

Naruto picked up the white patient kimono-top and used it as a towel to wipe off the sweat. Naruto had been working out and had hot sweat running down his body, something he didn't need to show visitors. Shikamaru smiled wryly at Naruto, trying to present himself. Shikamaru was glad Naruto returned alive—Sasuke was more dangerous than he surmised. Although the desperate mission led to Shikamaru leaving Naruto in an intensely perilous situation with a previous comrade, the academy teachers hammered close friends would often lose themselves to their emotions and not fight appropriately in case of betrayal and death would follow. It was one thing they taught out of many that killed so many in the past. To never let close friends fight to the end. So instead, the teachers introduced, in theory, to form hunting teams with personnel as far away emotionally from the target as possible.

"Here I am with a broken finger and fatigue, and you recover faster than I do. What a drag. Anyway, Naruto, is everything working?"

Naruto moved his arm and stretched his shoulder blade, making a loud crack. He did the same for his neck. "Yeah, laying on the bed tired me, had to exercise some kinks off." Naruto smiled a bit as they sat on the bed and talked about what happened ever since he awake, with Shikamaru still having that wry smile as he commented. Shikamaru seemed more mature than before. It made Naruto realize it wasn't only him who thought of the mission and the things that happened. "Hey, Shikamaru. I was in bed for a couple of hours, did everyone?"

"Yeah, everyone came back, though Chōji and Neji are still in intensive care, they were… injured a lot more than me."

"Still, everyone made it out okay, that's a relief, and Gran—Tsunade is here. She can care for them. Don't worry, Shikamaru, they'll pull through." Naruto wouldn't know what to do with himself if somebody had died on this insane mission… He would probably start hating Sasuke even more.

"… You're right."

Nara Shikamaru exhaled a gigantic sigh as if a bit of worry and guilt escaped his body. Then he looked at Naruto instead of the blue azure eyes shining. They were cold as ice. Instead of the grin, there was just a tiny smile on Naruto's face as they settled.

After a moment, Shikamaru spied on Naruto as he made his question. "Sasuke wouldn't…?"

"No. I tried everything, from convincing, pleading, negotiating, and finally fighting to bring Sasuke back. But I lost in the last strike. I didn't have the heart to—I'm sorry."

Naruto looked down at the headband of his first friend, deep claw marks in steel. If at that moment, Sasuke wasn't wearing it in that final blow to protect his forehead. It was a shuddering thought. The claws would rip apart his friend's skull, and his first friend would be dead. At that moment, Naruto was aiming to kill Sasuke by cruelly ripping apart Sasuke's skull. Naruto was glad Sasuke wore his headband. He was truly glad.

"He's gone," Naruto said with a tired voice.

X—X

Sakura, fair skin, green eyes, and pink hair, wearing a red qipao dress with slits on the side and dark-green bike shorts underneath. Sakura had arrived in the hospital and received the news Sasuke wasn't here. Anxiety-riddled, she walked towards Naruto's room after Shikamaru had entered, not having the courage to enter. Outside of the room, Sakura's hand fell from the handle of the door, her eyes scrunched, bags under her wide eyes as she realized there was no going back to team 7. The hospital corridor was clean and sterile. It made Sakura feel even worse under the loneliness.

Why would Sasuke abandon them?

Why was she so weak to rely on Naruto with such a cruel promise?

There was no going back to those fun days. But unfortunately, Sakura's memories had moved those fun memories too deep within, and only bad ones surged forth. Maybe Team 7 was just a brief dream sequence in her mind, and things had remained the same as always. Sakura held both hands over her chest, waiting for a miracle that would not arrive.

"Are you here to visit Naruto?"

The clatter of the Hokage's sandals alerted the pink girl of the presence of her leader, the famous lady Tsunade, the best medic this continent has ever seen. She was a woman with blonde hair and brown eyes, a diamond mark in the center of her forehead. Wearing a green haori and a gray kimono with no sleeves underneath that covered her massive bust and brown sandals, Tsunade sauntered in like a powerful woman who owned this place. And perhaps that was the truth. Tsunade was the village's dictator and held everything and everyone at the point the council coronated her.

"You're Haruno Sakura of team 7? Kakashi talks a lot about you. Anyway, news travels fast."

The Hokage's lips formed a smile. In Sakura's eyes, she was a beautiful woman. So beautiful and powerful, unlike her, who had to rely on the sympathy of others to survive. I've not changed a thing. I'm so weak. Regardless of how Naruto would respond, these thoughts permeated Sakura's mind these couple of days. However, Tsunade went past her with confidence, not caring about Sakura's anxiety, and placed her hand on the door handle.

Tsunade slid the door, revealing both Naruto and Shikamaru inside. Naruto seemed surprised to see his pink-haired teammate. Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at her friend, with golden hair, blue eyes. However, his face was full of bandages, his chest was like a mummy. So Sasuke did this to him?

He did this to his teammate. Where was the boy she loved, the Sasuke, who was withdrawn but still valued his friends? Where has he gone? Was he dead?

Then, who was Sasuke now?

Naruto got hurt like this because of her request… because she was so weak.

"Naruto," Sakura uttered his name in pain, worried about him.

Naruto closed his eyes in anguish, searching for something to say. Shikamaru watched him, waiting for something to come from his mouth, realizing that Naruto would say nothing. Shikamaru closed his eyes and dropped his head forward with sympathy towards both of them.

Tsunade went directly to the bed and disrobed him, pulling apart the gauze, revealing first-degree burns all over.

"Honestly, brat, just this morning, these were three-degree burns from fire techniques hitting your body. You heal way too fast. A normal person would stay here being treated for burns for at least two weeks." Instead, Tsunade's dainty medic hands glowed vibrant green, touching the few spots with bruises and healing the slight burns scattered throughout his body. Sakura looked at Tsunade, working attentively. The desire to learn and mend Naruto was welling up inside, but Sakura had little training in medical techniques. Naruto got hurt because of Sakura. She wanted to be a source of strength for her friend somehow, and seeing Tsunade with her big smile and light in her eyes as she teased and argued with her blond friend made her somewhat want to be in her position. "Not to mention you had to heal two holes in your chest. That little Uchiha messed you up."

Two holes? Holes, what?

Sakura's eyes filled with anguish. There was no going back. Naruto was so hurt like this. She didn't know if she had the heart to forgive Sasuke now. "Naruto. You don't—"

"Sakura. I'm… I'm sorry."

Sakura went and opened the window. "Dummy, what are you apologizing for now? The one who should apologize is Sasuke, not you. He put you in that state."

"But I gave back as hard as I could. I hurt Sasuke so much in our fight."

"It doesn't matter, Naruto. He chose to… to leave the village. It was his mistake. You shouldn't apologize." Sakura silently cried in front of them. This sobbing was for losing team 7, their teammate, and how badly this mission hurt Naruto for her own selfish desires.

"Sakura, I'll keep my promise… I never go back on my word. If I say I'm going to bring him back, I will."

Sakura wasn't so keen on the prospect of facing her past crush, but Naruto gave her such an enormous grin that she couldn't help but smile back—if Naruto wanted to bring his best friend back, then who was she to stop him?

"… I'll bring him back, even if it's in a body bag," Naruto whispered. Only Shikamaru and Tsunade heard him since they were in his bed.

The lazy Chūnin just scratched his neck. Shikamaru agreed with Naruto. Regardless of their history, Sasuke was a traitor and deserved what was coming for him.

Tsunade was petting Naruto's golden hair and sighed. She wasn't particularly close to the last Uchiha or any Uchiha ever since she was the descendant of their rival clan. Most of the village didn't care for the boy either. From what she heard from the Chūnin exam, people seemed to adore the last Uchiha, but that wasn't the entire case. Once Sasuke left the village, he also left people's minds.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Only a few affluent council members and a couple of elders had a vested interest in the now-traitor. The council members wanted to marry their daughters to get their claws in the fortune left behind by a huge clan. The elders just wanted to restore the lineage and wished to push olden laws for it. All the Uchiha boy's privileges, all favoritism, were just superficial for so many years. That Uchiha boy had something genuine in team 7. To just abandon all that over nothing, he gathered no sympathies from Tsunade. He was now a traitor, and Tsunade, the Hokage, would treat him like one.

And so closes the history of the Uchiha clan, I will transfer all their old fortune to the village budget since the two members left are traitors, their knowledge and scrolls will go to the public eye, and the village will dissolve the clan, while following the laws…

What would grandfather think of the Uchiha clan now?

Tsunade asked herself, somber. A sobering thought for the last Senju—she knew that their two clans had such a deep history, and now it was ending. Her grandfather was the first Hokage, Senju Hashirama himself. She was young, but the memories of her grandfather remained strong. Unlike Tobirama, Hashirama was kind to the Uchiha clan, despite both sides losing lives to each other during the clan warring period.

"Naruto, I'm sorry you'll need to wait for a while. Next time I'm coming with you." Sakura didn't want to face Sasuke again in her lifetime, but for the sake of her friend Naruto, she would endure the pain.

X—X

After they left, Naruto once again pulled himself out of bed. Now, he trained again without the gauzes, putting himself over the most extreme exercises he could think of in this tight space.

It was by dusk that perverted sage arrived by his window. They had an intense discussion over Sasuke and his fate. Naruto was unwilling to give up. He had to confront Sasuke again to confirm his feelings for his friend. Fortunately, by the hand of fate, both Akatsuki and Orochimaru had to wait at least three years to act on their objectives. After this grace period, the Akatsuki would hunt him and other humans with sealed beasts inside them, and Orochimaru would use his immortality technique on the last Uchiha.

Three years to train, three years to become great. Those were the information given by Jiraiya, his new master, and teacher. Naruto and Jiraiya talked about things, with Jiraiya going on a tangent about the desirable women he met and their curvy bodies and the size, shape, and color of their nipples. Something Naruto had no interest in knowing. His master would probably go to jail someday or castrated—or both. Naruto had no choice but to listen to him describing the pubic region of the female ninja of Konoha and face-palming at the information. Jiraiya had no filter to his words and speech, honestly.

The toad behind him croaked and made Jiraiya stop his tangent. Jiraiya looked serious. He explained his training for the Chūnin exam training was rudimentary and to see where Naruto was as a ninja. Naruto was strong, stronger than most Chūnin forces, and yet it was his attitude left wanting for the position. Tsunade had not given him the title yet, purely because of his lack of risk assessment. As of now, Naruto was probably stronger than the whole Chūnin squadrons. This was the honest evaluation of Jiraiya. Just the shadow cloning technique he used could be a plague in a warring or guerrilla situation—in ambushes, both Tsunade and Jiraiya said Naruto could probably even take a Jōnin in a fight if the problem was dire. Obviously, Sasuke was in a similar position, if not a little above. For better or worse, Naruto and Sasuke were exceptional children. Many more matched them in the past but never reached their rate of learning and growth. Jiraiya and Tsunade wanted to take full advantage of that. They put their hopes on him to become an exceptional trump card for Konoha in the future, a warrior who could face everything and everyone. Their trust in his potential intimidated Naruto—however, the fates written it in the stars, with his lineage and the fox inside of him, there was no choice for him to make.

Naruto decided it was finally time to focus on himself for once and grow strong and unimpeded. It would be harsh, but he had to. He had no choice, either become strong or die at the hands of the Akatsuki.

The people with seals were fated to become their country's top cards on the deck. Yet, that organization had no fear of hunting them down.

"… When you're discharged from the hospital, be ready. The next three years will be unlike anything you ever imagine." Jiraiya said this as he jumped to the toad's head outside of the window, then the toad readied his solid legs and jumped out.

X—X

Tsunade crossed her legs as she read the past documents. The Zodiacs outside of the village were still on their extended mission in the wider world. There were many squadrons for her to keep track, and many areas a dictator like her had to mind. She had control of the village, and the lives within it, something her teacher's contemporaries always wanted to have. But Danzo would never do something good in power. He'd probably focus everything on military power and face-plant halfway through idiotic wars of his own making. The actual battle lay not on old military production but on making money and disinformation. Prosperity and profit trumped coal foundries mass-producing kunai for no need. Why should they invade other countries by force when loans, logistics, and real estate were even more of a hold over their lands than a stationed ninja?

Still, Tsunade didn't shy away from death, coercion, and other methods. As benevolent as her teacher was, he was still an authoritarian in the end. The Hokage position is one of tyrants, and Naruto needed to learn that soon enough to inherit this position in the future. A war on money was all Tsunade required to take control of the continent. At best, she was an unlucky gambler, but now she had the luckiest gambler by her side this time. Naruto would be on the road from now on, with Jiraiya accompanying him. It was time to use Naruto on the road and make a difference where it really counts. Hashirama would probably praise that she was focusing not on war and conflict but on prosperity. Tobirama would praise her for undermining the government of other countries by seizing real estate and logistics by loans and buyouts. Sarutobi would probably scold her for poking the snake nest after three great wars. As for Namikaze—well, she wasn't much familiar with the Fourth Hokage. Naruto's father, was it?

Four portraits lined up, representing the Hokage, a burden only now Tsunade knew the total weight. They entrusted this noble tree to me. So then, no matter what crisis may fall in the village, all the responsibility for its well-being is placed on my shoulders.

"This Hokage business is tougher than it looks, to think that brat wants to take the hat this badly, well I don't envy him if he does," Tsunade said with a smile.

Then, I'll use everything. The leaf village will become an icon for the world. We shall lead by example and show the world what prosperity really looks like… Tsunade promised to not fail, not now or in the future. Naruto entrusted this position to her. She had to meet his expectations.

"It's been two weeks since that mission. I already put Sakura on my training. Time to visit the brat."

X—X

"Mr. Uzumaki, please drop the weights. You are still healing!" a medic said with sweat running down his face, yelling at someone on the roof. That's the scene when Tsunade entered the hospital room.

Naruto suspended himself on the beam by one foot while holding two massive weights on both arms, raising himself and meeting his hips as he raised his torso up and down. Tsunade could see his muscle mass had drastically changed from two weeks prior. He was sporting a toned body, but that's not possible. Even a ninja to build such a body would take at least two years of intense physical training and dieting.

"Naruto, how are you? Think you're ready to be discharged?" Tsunade asked.

"Lady Tsunade." the medic exclaimed, as he hadn't noticed her arrival.

"Yeah, I was ready to be discharged since two weeks ago!" Naruto flipped in the air, still holding the massive weights, and dropped with both naked feet. He carefully laid down the weights and went back to the bed to rest his stamina for a bit.

Tsunade crossed her arms in quick understanding. "I see. Then why aren't you discharged yet?"

"I don't know. Ask this guy. He's been the one keeping me here!" Naruto pointed to the medic.

Tsunade had a pointed look at the medic.

The medic was quick to come to an excuse. "Lady Tsunade… Mr. Uzumaki. Two A-rank assassination techniques have hit you in the torso! We need time to observe any changes to your body!"

Tsunade sighed and approached the boy on the bed and put her fingers on his chest as a green light lit up on her fingers. She noticed that the exercise tore most of his muscles apart, yet was healing so rapidly, so fast… in less than a minute later, the metabolism finished, his body recovered every fiber of muscle instantaneously. So that's how he got this much muscle definition in a short amount of time. His muscles did not need to rest at all. The only thing impeding him from strength training all day was stamina, and even then, he was wolfing down twelve meals per day by the reports, and those were not light meals. Tsunade stroked the side of Naruto's hair. "Jeez, you consume too much hospital budget, brat. Well, it's better this way than always eating ramen, carbohydrates, and salt won't make you grow any taller, brat."

"R—Really?" Naruto asked a bit nervously. A little-known fact is that the boy was self-conscious about his height when compared to his peers.

"Really! If you only eat ramen, then perhaps you will remain the size of a kid while the rest of your class grows taller and taller. But, if you don't want to remain 136 centimeters forever, I suggest you eat a lot and exercise a lot while you are away, just like you are doing here, brat, since Jiraiya is going with you abuse his wallet to your heart's content, you have the permission from the Hokage!" Tsunade exclaimed with a smirk.

Naruto gave that enormous grin, and both started laughing together and closely. Yes, their affection was like mother and son. Later that day, Tsunade discharged him. The healing from the fox more than took care of the boy's physical injuries. Naruto was happy to get out of the hospital. He never really liked the septic smell and gloomy atmosphere of a hospital. Thankfully, both Chōji and Neji were going strong and soon would be discharged from the hospital after a few sessions of physical therapy. Naruto had spoken to both over the week, and they were quite saddened to hear the mission ended in failure. Naruto felt worse in knowing they sacrificed too much, only for Naruto, in the end, did not bring home the victory. It motivated him further to improve himself. Neji and Chōji did not blame him. They blamed themselves for not being strong enough to kill their opponents without being critically injured. If they had finished their fights and went forward, then maybe things would have been different. Everyone on this mission blamed only themselves, Chōji, Kiba, Neji, Naruto, Shikamaru.

This group wanted to better themselves, no matter what.

X—X

Hot steam poured over Naruto's face as he dug in the newly made ramen from the Ichiraku shop. He was telling Iruka about how he was going on a long training trip outside the village. Iruka was a very important person to Naruto. He's been a great pillar of support ever since graduation. Naruto had no way of knowing what a proper family was like, but Iruka felt like a cool older brother to him. However, thinking about this made Naruto realize what Sasuke must have felt about Itachi. If Iruka ever betrayed him, then what would Naruto feel. Those thoughts brought anguish, but there was no need to fear things anymore. Naruto could empathize with others, but he couldn't lose to fear any longer. Those dark days full of hunger and loneliness were now behind him.

"So you're going with master Jiraiya. How long do you think this trip will go?"

"Hrm, it's going to be three years."

Naruto did not shout any longer. He kept his calm voice now. It was a weird thing if you knew who Naruto was. His calm voice was deeper than his age and appearance might suggest. Naruto, you calmed down in these past few days. What is going on inside that head of yours? Iruka thought as he looked at the boy finishing his seventh bowl. Still, the boy's appetite was as voracious as ever, or even more. Still a kid, still somewhat naïve to things. In the end, Naruto was growing and maturing. For a teacher, it was a strange sight.

The golden-haired boy wasn't wearing his jacket anymore, just the orange pants and a black shirt. "Hey Naruto, where is your orange jacket?"

"Well, it was straining pretty badly on my arms and chest last time I wore it. Even this shirt and pants are stretching against my body. It's very uncomfortable. I guess I need to buy new clothes." Naruto said as his entire wardrobe felt tight around his body and short on the legs and sleeves. His foot was also growing, making Naruto irritable that even his shoes were not fitting him anymore. Clothes that don't fit made Naruto extremely mad because he often had to buy shoes when he was a child. However, since vendors gouged him in prices, he often had to use tinier shoes than his foot, which hurt his toes so much after a while. This followed over a long period of his childhood. Only after he graduated from the academy, he could buy things without being gouged with high prices.

"Well, you are thirteen. Soon enough, you'll grow taller than me."

"You think so? I was the smallest in my class… Grandma Tsunade said that I need to eat less ramen and eat more whole foods during the day. So I started eating more veggies and eating a lot of meat, especially chicken."

"Hm, she might be right." Iruka supported his head with his hand as he watched Naruto finish…

"Hey! Even if she's Hokage, I won't forgive her for driving away from my favorite customer," old man Teuchi ranted from the back, making Naruto, Iruka, and Ayame laugh at his statement. Still, ramen wasn't cutting these past few days. Naruto now focused the entire budget on just getting enough food to eat after a day of deadly training. Almost as if he was making up for past laziness, he often trained until he dropped to the ground and slept. That was over fourteen hours a day of pure physical activity. Naruto ate one more bowl as Iruka complained his wallet would dry up by the need of the month. Naruto, Teuchi, and Ayame laughed at the destitute teacher. His whole savings went towards Naruto's stomach instead. Iruka smiled as his joke landed, and their discussion went to the afternoon.

Jiraiya entered the booth and said to the blonde boy. "Let's get going, Naruto." Jiraiya had a serious but kind look. It was time for a long journey. Naruto already gave his goodbyes to all the friends he made during these past few months. However, giving goodbye to Tsunade was unexpectedly the harshest one. Tsunade recently arrived on his life, and she made a mess out of things. He never felt closer to an older woman other than Tsunade. Tsunade was a special person to Naruto.

"Right, I'm off Iruka, old man Teuchi, Ayame-chan."

The father-daughter duo gave him a warm farewell, and Iruka just smiled at him. Naruto, I know you'll do your best… become strong, stronger than anyone. Iruka gave a parting wave to his long-time student. It would be three years without seeing that sunny blonde face. Konoha would be dull for these years without this ball of hyperactive sunshine not causing trouble.

X—X

As they arrived at the gate, Naruto turned to see his idol, the stone face of the Fourth Hokage. He reached out with his more muscular arm and tightened a fist towards the face carved in stone. "Watch me. I'll become the most powerful ninja in the world, stronger than you. In fact, I'll not give anyone the right to contest that title!"

Jiraiya looked at him with a complicated look. Jiraiya wanted to train Naruto to be superior to any other, a trump card of trump cards. Tsunade and Jiraiya had big plans for both Naruto and this village. They couldn't let Orochimaru or Akatsuki have a chance at harming Naruto. And for that, they needed him to be strong. Naruto, promising that he would become the strongest ninja in the world while staring at his father's face in the mountains, was sad and complicated. So many implications almost broke Jiraiya's poker face. "That's some ballsy words. I don't know if you'll be able to live to those words, but I promise you this, you'll not have time to be lazing around for the next three years. You'll either be eating, sleeping, training, learning, and always doing something."

"I wouldn't settle for less… Jiraiya-sensei."

"Finally learning some manners, brat? Here, let's go!"

X—X

They arrived in a festive town. Summer is the season for festivals around Fire country. This small town had casinos, a red-light district, and a couple of inns, almost as big as Otafuku Gai. It was on the brink of the morning, so Naruto saw many people opening shops. Jiraiya made a few rounds around the shops, inviting Naruto to listen to their conversations. Jiraiya told Naruto to learn from everything he saw Jiraiya do. For one hour, that's exactly what Naruto did, a far cry to the loudmouth. Naruto stayed cleverly hidden, so well, in fact, an ANBU might have trouble detecting him.

He observed Jiraiya with open eyes, not just looking, not just hearing, observing every movement, listening to every inflection, seeing every expression to the minute changes in their facial expressions. He observed and learned, searing in his brain how Jiraiya extracted and manipulated people for information.

After that hour, Naruto had a whole extra dimension of knowledge for himself and respect for Jiraiya. The toad summoner was an impressive ninja, in Naruto's opinion.

"You are impressive, Naruto—you could absorb all that. Unfortunately, I only reached your levels of observational skills by the time I was thirty. I don't know if I should call you crazy, but you are thirsty, thirsty for knowledge and to improve yourself, that is." Jiraiya petted his golden hair. Naruto was a dazzling kid when he focused on something he wanted to learn.

"When you said to watch, I didn't want any details of what you were doing to go to waste. I just…"

"You've matured so much in so little time—you are a remarkable child."

X—X

Leaving the town for a bit, they arrived at a clearing filled with trees all around them and a steep rocky hill on the side. Jiraiya explained what was going to happen with Naruto's training. He wanted to focus on both Naruto and the fox. Meanwhile, Naruto had an extreme distaste towards anything related to the fox and wanted to rely on his own power. Winning fights with the fox from now on would leave Naruto with a foul taste in his mouth. That sort of pride had been mounting up inside of Naruto ever since he saw how strong Sasuke was and how Naruto needed a hatred-filled fox to even try to compete.

"When I was thinking about how to train you, my first thought was to have you control the fox's chakra, but time and time again, you told me you don't want to rely on its powers. I agree with you on that point. However, the enemies we're talking about are all S-rank."

Naruto made a face. "But the fox—"

"Yes, I know, then let's make a compromise. If you cannot become an S-rank ninja by one year and six months, then we'll start learning the fox chakra. And if at any point you want to learn about it and understand the fox spirit inside you, we can when you want as well."

This one was a bit of a nasty promise since Jiraiya himself knew that one year and a half was not enough to achieve the legendary status of S-rank. Jiraiya trained the legendary fourth, and even the prodigy himself took some time to come into his own, but with a few tricks, it might just work. Naruto might just be the first to achieve it. "I see, okay then, I'll become stronger than any of those S-rank criminals, hell I'll become stronger than that guy Itachi!" Naruto believed other than Jiraiya or the old man Hokage, Itachi was the most powerful guy he ever came across. He was even more intimidating to him than Orochimaru ever could be.

"We'll see. Naruto, what do you know of your favorite technique, the Shadow clones?"

"Well, I use them to fight and overwhelm my opponents with them, they hit as hard as I do, and they can also use Rasengan. So it's easy to replace myself with them to confuse my opponent, and they are great to spring traps and other things."

"That's right, it's a very combat-convenient tool, but only for you. I have the greatest chakra reserves in the village now, and I can barely make 45 clones at once. How many you can make?" Jiraiya asked this of Naruto.

"I never tested the limits of them—but it's close to two thousand clones, I think."

Jiraiya couldn't believe it. First, that amount seemed exaggerated to a limit incomprehensible, but Naruto was not joking. Naruto really could summon two thousand clones, an army of himself that might even destroy an unprepared country if used smartly.

"That is monstrous, but most people who learn the shadow clones don't use in combat-oriented ways. There is another function of the shadow clones. They can store memory and transfer them once they dispel."

Jiraiya's speech confused Naruto, especially in part about the transferring of memories Jiraiya commented. Was there some secret that Naruto did not know of from one of his favorite techniques?

Jiraiya ordered Naruto to summon a shadow clone. An example would help the student understand the hidden part of the technique. Naruto obeyed his master and summoned a clone with the hand sign. Jiraiya did the same, and the clones left the area. A few minutes later, Naruto widened his eyes and blushed.

"Oi! I don't need to know Tsunade's boob size!" shouted the blond ninja. Jiraiya grinned and started his perverted spiel again, but then Naruto realized it wasn't him who got the information. It was his clone—he received his clone memories. So the two clones went away, and then the Jiraiya-clone talked about Tsunade's boob size to Naruto-clone, and that returned to the originals as memories of. It flashed fast on their minds and recorded like a video that wouldn't go away.

"You used them so quickly in a fight that you probably haven't paid attention, but they can be sources of information. You can send your shadow clone to gather information, and they are perfect spies for short infiltrations. Unfortunately, they can't do long ones since most of them can get easily dispelled by accident."

Jiraiya then explained that Naruto was in a unique situation, shadow clones were heavy on chakra usage, but it was no problem for Naruto, he could constantly put out more shadow clones, and since the shadow clones transmitted every single detail of its memory, they made perfect tools for learning and practicing. If Naruto could learn a thing in a year, then two Narutos could learn it in six months, three hundred and sixty-five Narutos could learn it in a day.

"Ten thousand hours. The masters say that it takes ten thousand hours to master a skill, that's fifty-nine weeks of you doing that specific something, it is a lot of time, but with your two-thousand shadow clones, you can master a skill in five hours."

"But, what about memory backlash? Won't my brain just fry with so much information?" The prospect excited Naruto but asked if the memory backlash or overload could kill him if he tried to train with over two thousand shadow clones at a time.

"No, memory backlash is not real. It doesn't exist. However, if a clone gets tired, the feeling of tiredness will return to you. You won't physically exhausted yourself, but your mind will think so, and that's dangerous."

Jiraiya denied the possibility, memory backlash was not real. A person cannot die of too many memories. However, clones transferring their memories of fatigue was real and could cause sped up or lowered heart rate, influence the mind in various ways, and other side-effects that weren't really thought of, so they need to be careful in that regard. The other weak point to this training was that strictly physical training was not possible with clones, so exercises to build strength, speed and endurance would have to be performed by the real Naruto.

X—X

With that in mind, Jiraiya started on the very basic, Knife and Shuriken throwing. Naruto summoned 1500 clones, each having replicas of his equipment, so no matter how many kunai or shuriken were tossed by the clones, it wouldn't matter since the originals were still in Naruto's bag, plus those clones of weapons were physical, therefore even if they were clones, they would still pierce and cut and kill someone if hit. This was another immense advantage of this versatile technique; he would never run out of tools as long as he replicated them through the shadow clone technique.

The 1500 clones started on throwing their weapons to the farthest tree. Then, each time one clone made a breakthrough, it would dispel and immediately be summoned again by the adjacent clone while transmitting that breakthrough throughout the other clones. It was madness, something that it surprised Jiraiya to see closely, even though he was the one who suggested this type of training.

The real Naruto and Jiraiya departed to another clearing.

This one was large, with a shallow river. The area was more or less clear of trees.

"Summon 500 clones here, I'll summon three of my own, and I'll instruct them how to use martial arts. By the end of two years, I want you to put both Lee and Gai to shame in this area," Jiraiya said.

Naruto nodded and summoned over 500 clones, and with the guidance of the three Jiraiya clones, they battled the toad sage's clones.

The last part for today was the original Jiraiya guiding the original Naruto through extremely intensive physical and speed training. The toad sage first opened a set with brushes and, with black ink, made a few symbols on Naruto's naked top.

The tattoo was a special resistance seal that would grow heavier exponentially at set intervals. Tsunade informed Jiraiya about Naruto's muscles healing freakishly fast from Tsunade if that were true, and Naruto's muscles didn't need resting. Then this was the perfect exercise tool for his physical brawn, speed, and endurance all put into one. It made resistance seals feel harder to move your body, like the sensation that you were walking underwater. It would break the muscles even faster than just adding weights since the force was so evenly distributed, no muscles would be left underdeveloped. Naruto, like Sasuke, was Genin, but in terms of physical prowess, both were far above Chūnin. In terms of chakra, Naruto rivaled and even surpassed the Kage. Now it was time to improve upon the natural advantages Naruto had been given.

X—X

As dusk arrived, Naruto was on his naked back, with sweat dripping from everywhere. He panted hard, his breathing loud, his bright blue eyes looked at the sky. He could hit every target without missing. He didn't believe it. He could accurately hit any target with his kunai or shuriken in less than ten hours, no matter the distance.

"Hey, Jiraiya-sensei, isn't this cheating? I mean, using shadow clones to improve myself so fast, isn't this supposed to be against the rules?"

"There are no rules to life, Naruto, cheating or not, being fair or not, those are just words, or do you think those born in clans are cheating those who weren't? Are you going to say the Sharingan that Kakashi and your friend uses is cheating as well? If I remember, they can reproduce all matters of Ninjutsu if they see it once. They have a terrific advantage in Taijutsu and Genjutsu, thanks to those eyes. So if shadow clones can be unfair, then where does that leave the Sharingan?"

"B—But…"

"Listen, Naruto, everyone has advantages and disadvantages in the world. However, I dislike people wasting their potential, and you have the potential to be greater than I've ever imagined. You shouldn't waste your potential because you consider this method of training a shortcut or a cheat. After all, it isn't. You are working extremely hard for your strength, and don't let anybody else say otherwise."

"Y—You're right."

"Now, to the final and most brutal part of your daily training regimen."

Naruto's chakra was back, but the previous training brutally exhausted him, with the seals weighing him down, yet he raised himself to meet the ultimate challenge of the day.

With Naruto's chakra pool, Jiraiya ordered him to summon the maximum number of clones that he could in a huge clearing, which was 3000.

"This part of the regiment is to give you experience in survival and experience in actual battles. If all goes right, this part of the training will skyrocket your power to the limit. This will make you strong so fast it won't be a joke. If you survive, that is."

Naruto learned early that Jiraiya wasn't soft in training. He knew how to push the blond child's body to the limits since Naruto had advantages for being an Uzumaki and a host to the fox spirit making normal training ineffective.

"This will be the hardest part of your training for the next three years, you against all your clones, in a fight to the death, every day after training and exhausting your body, that's your last training for the daily routine."

Naruto looked at all his clones as they slowly surrounded him, still hesitant to follow through with Jiraiya's command. It wasn't a battle royale, no. He was against a massive army of opponents of identical skill—he had to hit them once to dispel. However, each of them had identical power to him, identical tools and knowledge, and it would be easy for him to die by 3000 clones of him. He used them to overwhelm opponents far more powerful than him, but now they would overwhelm him, who had a similar level of power.

No matter what happens, this was going to end in his death, wasn't it?

Jiraiya was uncaring as the clones slowly surrounded Naruto, with the clones arranging their weapons, clones preparing traps, and other devious plans to have the original killed.

This was a fight to the death.

"Start," Jiraiya said and vanished from the clearing as roars from the clones as they charged Naruto, as they made multitudes of Rasengan with the help of other clones. The only mindset the original had as his doom approach was to survive, by all means necessary.

X—X

The moon signaled it was 10:00 PM.

Jiraiya approached a large stone hill, full of craters all around the ground, a flurry of kunai and other weapons piercing the ground. It was almost a war site, and in the middle was Naruto, the original, deathly still. His torso was full of blood. The boy had done it against an army of opponents with similar strength. Every time one poofed out of existence, the original and every clone learned from that clone's mistake. Every clone, and the original, becoming incrementally stronger and more experienced, as well as harder to kill.

So it would always end up with Naruto fighting against his equals, it would never become easier, he had to improve himself faster than his clones improved themselves to kill him, and once they dispelled, he learned of their improvements as well, becoming a frenzied cycle of self-improvements to survive and to kill.

A dance of pure madness, with the alternative being death.

Jiraiya showed his presence to Naruto, and the boy immediately attacked him. Since Naruto had been running by instinct all this time to survive, for the next ten minutes, the blood lusted Naruto overwhelmed Jiraiya. Naruto surprised Jiraiya by how far the boy has come from just this one session. The kid right now would give seasoned Jōnin hell to pay, and he was still a Genin. His newly gained experience drove Jiraiya into traps and had perfect moments to strike with Rasengan, and his weaponry usage was scary and accurate. In just a day, this boy became so strong, something Jiraiya thought he would take at least six months before his inspiration to incorporate Shadow clones.

This boy was remarkable indeed.

Jiraiya knocked him out quickly and slung the bloody boy's body over his shoulder. The boy had stopped over four times to eat just this afternoon. However, something told Jiraiya that the boy would be hungry for some more food.

X—X

By the time Naruto had woken up, Jiraiya was still carrying him towards the village. The sweat that clung to his body was cold now, and he was tired. The blood was dry against his body, and he was shivering. After a mighty dinner at a pub, Naruto recovered enough to walk. Then, after a soak in the bathhouse, both were walking on the streets together.

"Hey, Jiraiya-sensei, are we going to spend our night in the inn or camping outside?"

"Idiot! Now that Tsunade isn't here, and we aren't on a mission, why should we spend the night in a bland inn or camping outside?!"

"If not on an inn, or outside, then where? Do you have houses here?"

"It's a house in certain terms, but certainly not mine."

As they walked, Naruto saw more casinos and signs, the district became livelier, women were walking around with raunchy yukatas and many men entranced by them, and the women were young too. Of course, there were girls his age mingled in too.

"It's time for you to learn one of the three vices of a ninja, women, for the next three years you and I will spend our nights on whorehouses, brothels, of course in different rooms, I suspect you'll be well acquainted with the female body once this training trip finishes." Jiraiya laughed perversely as he guided the shy and concerned Naruto to the red-light district.

Naruto's sweatdropped, and he internally screamed in embarrassment.

"This training trip will be nothing like you have seen before!" Jiraiya belly-laughed.

X—X

"My name is Kiyomi. I will be in your care tonight, Naruto-sama." A black-haired beauty who was older than him announced as they sat on the bed, she had white yukata who was very loose, showing her big breasts until midway, a hint of pink revealed on her cleavage, she had a mature killer body with a wide ass that kept straining her yukata, and long legs were tantalizing.

"And I am Setsuna. I will also be in your care tonight! ~" An energetic girl of his age spoke. She had short brown hair, decent-sized breasts covered by her flame-like yukata, and a very peachy butt.

"My name is Luna, p—please take care of me!" a girl younger than him with straight blonde hair, flat chest but amazing thighs.

They approached him, and all he could do was an internal scream.

On his first night on the training, he lost his virginity to three ladies. As the morrow arrived, the three ladies were comatose by the pleasure given by the massive tool hidden in Naruto's pants. Never in their whole life had they been more satisfied by sex than fucking a member of the Uzumaki clan, famous for their virility and vitality.

X—X

"These past two weeks have been all about the basics of being a ninja. Now it's time to focus on your big-hitting techniques!"

"Cool, I can't wait to learn a bunch of new ninja techniques. With my shadow clones, I can put Kakashi's arsenal to shame!" Naruto exclaimed.

"It seems you have a lot of misconceptions about combat still. What does learning hundreds of techniques do to you?"

"Huh?"

"People think that having a giant arsenal of Jutsu is going to strengthen them, that's not a great mentality to have, even Kakashi, or Sarutobi-sensei, who both had thousands of Jutsu under their belt, don't use all of them. Even those two default their attacks on three or four Jutsu at a time. And if pushed they might use ten different Jutsu in a fight, and here is the catch, they use the same selection of Jutsu no matter what!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

Jiraiya continued with passion for the subject. "Kakashi, the copy ninja who mastered a thousand Jutsu, that was only in the name. When actual combat begins, people default to what they are comfortable with. Remember those Akatsuki who targeted you? Kisame is a master at Kenjutsu and a few big-hitting water techniques that take advantage of his enormous chakra. Itachi defaults to Shurikenjutsu, Genjutsu, and fire techniques which are low-cost but potent and deadly using the right situation. Orochimaru defaults to his snake summons, clones, and poisonous swords, even with his Jutsu obsession. You won't become stronger by learning a multitude of techniques." Jiraiya finished the lecture on the topic.

"Then what do I do? I only have what? The two techniques I learned from the academy. Transformation and substitution. Later I learned about the shadow clones and the Rasengan, and the summoning Jutsu. Can I become strong just from this?"

"Yes, you can, listen, people during battle use only what they are familiar with, be it their sword, be it their earth Jutsu, what you need is a small but incredibly powerful and versatile arsenal, and the Rasengan and the shadow clones, are more versatile and powerful than any old Jutsu produced by a long hand sign."

Naruto somewhat understood. Having his head filled with techniques and not knowing how and where to use them could lead to a lethal hesitation in battle, Naruto sighed. His dream of wielding ten-thousand Jutsu was thrown in the back-burner for now.

"I see. Then what are we going to do?"

"The Rasengan!" in an instant, Jiraiya formed a ball of chakra in his hand, and he smashed it on a tree, obliterating it. "The Rasengan is a self-sustaining, A-rank destructive Jutsu, a ball of chakra that grinds its targets. It is also the ultimate chakra manipulation and control training. Your Rasengan training is still incomplete, and there are plenty of faults with your Rasengan. For the next few months, I want you to master it, improve it, make it more versatile, make it more powerful. This additional task is your own. I will not help you. Think of it as your extra assignment on top of the usual regiment, though that will soon be changing."

Improve the Rasengan?

Was it still incomplete?

What was missing from his Rasengan?

X—X

Jiraiya left the area with 500 clones of Naruto to train in other areas of expertise. Naruto took a sitting position on the ground to think hard. He had to complete the Rasengan training, take out any mistakes, and improve it. What was he doing wrong was obvious?

He needed another shadow clone to make the Rasengan. That extra step was slow in combat situations, wasn't it?

With his mind made up, he summoned 4500 clones, and the small army started trying to make the Rasengan possible without relying on two Narutos.

The original Naruto started doing his physical training while watching the multitude of shadow clones.

By thirty minutes, he and his shadow clones could make the Rasengan by themselves, just that he still needed both hands, and Jiraiya could do it with only one. However, that was not enough. "I need to create the Rasengan with only one hand, the ultimate chakra control exercise, huh? My chakra control was so shoddy, but I've been lasting longer in fights since I learned this and water walking. I've been able to produce more clones every day. Now it's time to complete it." Naruto got up and ordered the clones to make it with only one hand. He pressed on the seal tattoo on his chest and manually increased the resistance seal by a large margin.

It was so brutal that it forced him on his knees. However, he would achieve nothing if he didn't push himself.

X—X

Three days passed. Jiraiya stood in the clearing after lunch in the afternoon. He glared at Naruto.

"Now, show me how your Rasengan is coming along, child." Jiraiya put himself in a fighting stance. Naruto took a step back. Jiraiya's fighting spirit affected him, and it made him fear his mentor. Jiraiya's harsh eyes made nothing better.

What brought this on? Why is he so aggressive?

A roll of sweat dropped from Naruto's face as Jiraiya charged and sucker-punched Naruto faster than anything he ever saw. It was just basic survival instincts that made Naruto avoid the attack by making a last-minute clone and substituting himself with it. The experience of those nightly death matches between his clones made him have the survival instinct of a seasoned Jōnin.

"You're already as strong as a Jonin. However, the way you are now, you're still far away from being an A-rank Chenab, not to mention S-rank, child…" Jiraiya went behind him. Naruto activated his trap of shuriken, only for the sage to just avoid it all.

Naruto summoned three clones to meet Jiraiya's first blow for blow, but even with four powering through, Jiraiya's right still blew them apart, making the original take a hit, blowing Naruto several meters back, rolling on the grass painfully.

Jiraiya walked slowly towards Naruto as dozens of clones surrounded him, while Naruto charged his Rasengan on the one hand only, without help from another clone and without needing both arms.

Jiraiya scoffed, and in an instant, he defeated all clones as he closed the distance between him and the blond. Naruto widened his eyes in pure fear and thrust the Rasengan towards his teacher's face but was met with an equal and instant Rasengan from his teacher. Naruto widened his eyes further as he pumped more chakra into his Rasengan, but Jiraiya didn't even flinch as the clash resolved when Naruto's arm was pushed back and Jiraiya sent him rolling, gashing the grass until he hit the stone hill and was pushed back further into the rock as blood seeped from his arm and mouth.

Naruto looked at his teacher.

Jiraiya was still in the same position from the Rasengan clash, with the ball of chakra in his hands still flowing pristinely.

"Three days of clone usage, and that's what you got to show for it. Just add more chakra to the Rasengan? And you think that's improving it? Don't make me laugh. You still haven't even completed the simple Rasengan."

"B—But I did it. I can make a Rasengan in one hand now!"

"Do you think that's all it takes to be a master at it? You're not even halfway into it yet. Look at my Rasengan and look at what you can do. There isn't a difference in the chakra used, so why did my Rasengan win when you pumped more chakra into yours later in the struggle? There is a final fourth stage for completing the A-rank destructive technique that I haven't discussed yet. Not even Kakashi, who copies everything, could master the fourth step. His Rasengan is as pathetic as yours."

"T—Then what is it, the fourth step? The first was forming the vortex, the second was about power, the third was putting a film of chakra around it so it won't burst, then what's the fourth step?!"

"You discover that for yourself, it would be meaningless to tell you, you are the most unpredictable ninja of the leaf, are you not? Then live for your namesake and be innovative… It took the fourth Hokage 3 years to make the Rasengan, and the fourth step gave him the hardest time for a reason! Well, I can give you a hint, a small one."

Jiraiya pointed at the still pristine Rasengan in his hand. "The Rasengan is a self-sustaining Jutsu."

X—X

It took two weeks for Naruto and the other clones to make a breakthrough.

They recalled every moment that Jiraiya said anything about the Rasengan, and they have been training relentlessly on the technique.

The only glaring difference he could first notice was how Jiraiya instantaneously summoned his Rasengan mid-charge. The blond ninja couldn't do that. He needed a few moments to charge the technique, and he had to be stuck in place to do it. In mid-charge, Jiraiya filled his hand with the Rasengan immediately without delay, faster than Naruto could blink. No—he raised his hand to meet Naruto's Rasengan, an empty hand, and the Rasengan formed immediately to counter it. With that in mind, Naruto went to train his speed of casting. By the fourth day, he could summon his Rasengan with no delay, in any position, in any hand. He only had to have an outstretched palm to do it.

To prove that he could do it, he put a hand on the tree trunk, and the Rasengan formed inside of the tree, imploding the bark, making the upper part of the tree fall to the ground, and his Rasengan immediately vanished after that attack because of the resistance of the tree.

Something finally clicked. The fourth stage… a self-sustaining destructive ball that grinds anything and everything, even chakra.

"That reminds me, his Rasengan never vanished. It never vanished even when it hit my Rasengan, who had the same amount of chakra…"

This was the breakthrough. Somehow, Jiraiya's Rasengan stayed pristine, even when meeting an equal force, while Naruto's Rasengan just blew away after a few moments. Self-sustenance, if the third step was learning about control with the small amount of film enveloping it, what would happen once that small film met a target? It would dissolve, and the Rasengan would hit the target with explosive grinding power, but the film wouldn't return to the Rasengan, and it would be spent, with no control over the torrential grinding force of the Rasengan… it would just disappear after the first impact with something.

This was a major difference. Jiraiya's Rasengan wouldn't disappear no matter how many targets he hit, yet Naruto's would.

Then the fourth stage removed that film and controlling the torrential nature of the Jutsu all by his own will, stabilizing it and sustaining it without the small film of chakra around it. That's why it was the hardest part, almost impossible even for geniuses like the Fourth. That's why it took so long for the man to create the Jutsu.

A Rasengan who won't disappear even after meeting flesh, armor, walls, chakra. This was the next step to mastering the Rasengan. And even after mastering it, he had a time limit to finding new ways to improve it, but with shadow clones, he knew he could do it. He just had to believe in himself and never relent.

{—}
Author Notes
{—}

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