disclaimer: Look, the East is burning red!
Naruto: Moeagare Toushi
Chapter 10: Wind of Change
Uzumaki Naruto, journeyman practicioner of the School of the Undefeated of the East and genin - no, make that CHUNIN - of Konohagakure, was currently circulating chakra within a water balloon as he walked with the famous Toad Sage Jiraiya.
They had just gone through one of their most harrowing experiences ever, and decided to just gloss over it by simply having the older man teach him a so-far-unnamed ninjutsu.
Escaping by the skin of your teeth from two of the infamous Akatsuki tends to do that.
"You are Uzumaki Naruto, correct?"
Anyone living in this day and age would think of such a question as a bad thing... so by the time the blond turned around, the Konoha forehead protector had been swapped out for the Uzugakure one.
"You got the first part right, as my last name is Uzumaki... but Naruto? The ramen topping?" he asked incredulously.
Two unknown persons with black cloaks and straw hats stood in front of him, expressionless. This wasn't good.
"The name's Nagato, not Naruto," the boy continued, lying through his teeth in front of these unknown assailants - seriously, their choice of wardrobe was all that needed to be said, you do not travel with something that conspicuous unless you can take all comers and win - all the while wondering where the hell that old Sage went. "Seriously, what kind of nimrod would name their kid Naruto?"
"I should just break his legs instead," the bigger one of the two cloaked men said, "he won't need them anyway."
"Not at the moment," the smaller one replied. "We still have questions that need-"
"ITACHI!" a yell from nowhere came, as Naruto's fellow genin Uchiha Sasuke went charging in, Sharingan eyes blazing and Chidori crackling in his hand.
Naruto sighed, as if things wouldn't get any worse. First Jiraiya-sama has to go off to the red-lantern district at half-past one in the afternoon to probably relieve a little frustration, these suspicious types show up and now this. Today is starting to end up as one of my worst days ever.
In a move that surprised everyone, he went in the Uchiha's path and in one smooth movement took up a stance and spin-kicked him into the wall, knocking him out.
By the time the cloaked men figured out what was going on, the black-wearing genin had already slumped to the floor and the Uzumaki had spun to face them, rolling to an unorthodox fighting stance.
"Sorry about that," Naruto said. "I might have been a bad influence on him. Lack of subtlety, charging in, being loud, total un-ninja stuff like that."
"Indeed," Itachi concurred, "so, shall you follow us quietly? Or do I have to resort to similar measures?"
"Forget it," Naruto replied, tightening his fighting stance and keeping his eyes on his would-be foe's foot. "Fancy a little scrim, then... Itachi-san? You and me, mano-a-mano. If you win, I'll bring myself in. If I win, you guys just leave. Fair enough?"
"A decent suggestion," the missing-nin answered. "What makes you think-"
A quick jab that connected with his face stopped him short, propelling him backwards a short distance.
"Interesting... and right in the middle of my monologuing, too. Kisame, stay out of this. This boy is mine," Itachi began, his black eyes blazing to red as he palmed a kunai.
"All right," the larger man answered, finding a stool nearby and taking a seat to watch the proceedings. "But if you get in trouble, we follow MY plan - break the boy's legs and haul him with us."
By the time the two missing-nin had made their escape, Uchiha Sasuke was beside himself with shock, surprise, and disbelief.
I picked a fight with Naruto.
I picked a fight with Naruto, who managed to keep up with that man.
I picked a fight with Naruto, who managed to keep up with that man and get a few good hits in.
I picked a fight with Naruto, who managed to keep up with that man, get a few good hits in, and I haven't been splattered across a training ground yet.
What the hell kind of skills does this... ham have anyway?
He had returned to consciousness painfully, and when he sat up, his eyes turned on by instinct, catching the blurs of movement as Naruto and... that man... were fighting each other.
"Finally, kid. That boy has a mean kick to knock you out for that long," a voice said - when Sasuke turned, he saw the other missing-nin seated and calmly observing the fight.
"Mist?" he asked, seeing the scratched-through forehead protector and the blue skin.
"Yeah. Anyway, I've never seen Itachi enjoy himself so much. It's a shame we have to string the boy up when this is over."
"...Naruto?" Sasuke asked.
"You have all the subtlety of a flying brick, you know!" Naruto's voice yelled back at him as he feinted with a few jabs and spun around to try and disorient his foe. "I'll beat some sense of subtlety into you next time if we survive this, Sasuke!"
Meanwhile, Itachi used too much momentum in trying to keep up with his opponent, as a sudden change of direction had Naruto in front of him, crouched for a rising thrust kick, which connected with an audible snap to the missing-nin's chin...
...only for his opponent to dissolve into a flock of ravens and a cracked log after crashing through the ceiling.
A kunai slash would have cut his spine, but Naruto had swapped as well, dashing towards his target even before the puff of smoke revealed the chair he used for the kawarimi.
Itachi predicted another incoming kick, and calculated the perfect counterattack - his kunai flashed as the extended leg came towards him, ripping the gray bodysuit... only to bounce off chakra-enhanced bandages around the boy's legs.
This time, the moment of surprise at that revelation was what gave Naruto the chance to move in close and land a double palm thrust to send Itachi skidding back.
They both rolled into more comfortable fighting stances, smiling at the technique each showed the other.
"Not bad," the rogue nin said. "Not too bad at all."
"You're not too bad yourself," Naruto replied, "they didn't give you that S-rank bingo book rating for nothing."
Itachi was about to launch himself towards the boy once more when everything around them turned an odd shade of pink.
"About damn time you got here, Toad Sage," Naruto muttered while keeping his fighting stance up.
"Kisame, pack up, we're leaving," Itachi said before burning a hole in said wall of pink flesh - the Toad Sage went over to analyze the strange black fire used for it while Naruto went to Sasuke.
"Yo, you okay?" Naruto asked the Uchiha he took out of the contest with a kick.
"That was... impossible. No one should be that skilled."
Naruto laughed. "I am, actually. And if you're here, then that means..."
"DYNAMIC..."
He sighed. "...guess he's not gonna be too far behind."
The flying kick that was meant for the Toad Sage was parried as Naruto diverted it with a flying kick of his own. As Naruto's suspicions were confirmed that it was indeed Might Guy who came to the rescue, Sasuke was in awe.
These kicks... I think I've seen them before somewhere, he thought.
"Naruto?" the eccentric jonin asked as they landed. "Where did the most unyouthful perpetrators go?"
"They left," the three other ninja replied in unison.
"Wait, what happened, and why the heck are you two here anyway?" Naruto asked.
"He got Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke replied. "That... man got him pretty bad."
"...and you saw red and went after him just like that?" Jiraiya replied. "For someone with a reputation as a once-in-a-generation genius, you sure do a lot of dumb things."
"Unyouthful is more like it," Guy added. "It's best to not let your fire burn out of control."
Naruto scoffed. "That's neither 'dumb', nor 'unyouthful', that's just 'impulsive'. Goodness knows, shishou beat that crap out of me back then. Anyway, you guys best be heading back. And Sasuke - get better. You still owe me a spar."
Sasuke swallowed a lump in his throat, nodded, and followed Guy in returning to Konoha as quickly as possible, and he'd take the chance to get as much training in as possible, because if this was the kind of fighter Naruto was, he wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance despite the advanced training Kakashi-sensei put him through.
Come to think of it, he'd have a better chance against Gaara of the Sand after what he saw.
"What was I thinking?" Naruto continued as he walked onward with the Toad Sage in search of the next Hokage. "Seriously, what the HELL was I thinking?"
"Picking a fight with Uchiha Itachi?" Jiraiya asked. "THE Uchiha Itachi? S-Rank Bingo Book ranking, the infamous clan-slayer? Yeah, that wasn't one of your most prudent life decisions."
"No, I mean," Naruto answered, "he's more than skilled. He knows about the thing in my gut..."
...thing?
Don't want this guy to get suspicious.
As I suspected.
"...so I'm pretty sure that was why he didn't cast any genjutsu on me. Still, though, his sleight-of-hand is enough to foil even seasoned genjutsu practitioners, damn near took everything in my book to just keep him at bay. Shishou warned me to save the stronger stuff only for emergencies."
"You didn't think your life would be in enough danger to use them?"
"Jiraiya-sama, do you really want a missing-nin - worse, a Sharingan wielder - like Itachi to have my more esoteric taijutsu techniques... copied?"
A very uncomfortable silence passed by between both of them after the Toad Sage gave the boy a solemn nod.
"How about I teach you a ninjutsu?" Jiraiya asked awkwardly.
"Yes, sir," Naruto replied in a similar awkward fashion, "that sounds good."
"Heard Sensei gave you some work to do over the month in the Chunin Exams back then, so here," the Sage added, throwing the boy a water balloon. "First step - pop the balloon."
"Okay."
Three days later, Naruto had gotten the first step of the unnamed technique down, but he had a few theoretical topics to discuss with the Toad Sage.
"Jiraiya-sama, I heard you were good at analyzing techniques," Naruto said as they were on the road and searching for who he said was his old teammate.
"Depends on what kind of techniques you're talking about, kid."
"Well," Naruto began, "the Third Hokage gave me an array of scrolls to study over the month between the Chunin Exam prelims and finals. I've gotten most of the basics down pat, but I'm having trouble so far with something."
"Trouble? What kind?"
"The kind of trouble regarding Wind element chakra."
"Wind? You?" Jiraiya asked, and had to let out a laugh.
"Anything funny, sir?" Naruto asked while the water balloon he was holding popped a leak.
"Private joke, bit of irony, nothing more," the Toad Sage answered. "Anyway, what problem are you talking about?"
"Well, sir," Naruto explained, dipping into his stash and grabbing another water balloon to practice with, "I can only summon the Wind element for now. It's the 'compressing it for a cutting edge' part I'm currently having trouble with. Compressing it enough for blunt force is not a problem for me at the moment, though."
Jiraiya shrugged. "That kind of thing only comes with experience. For you to jump to the second step of elemental manipulation so soon is an achievement in and of itself already. You do know some non-cutting Wind jutsu, right?"
"Only Daitoppa and Reppushou so far," Naruto wryly replied, "and none of them are any useful so far as practicing hand seals are concerned."
"Well, keep at it until you can use both of them with two seals tops, kid. For now, focus on your... wait, do you know the Shunshin jutsu yet?"
Naruto grinned. "First thing I learned after mastering the water walking exercise."
"Then all you need to do is work on mastery for the moment."
"Okay... whoa! I broke the balloon!" an excited Naruto said as he used several strands of chakra to mold a sphere that structurally disrupted the water balloon itself via the water within.
"Not bad," the Toad Sage said, carefully hiding his shock and observing that the boy should have broken the balloon with both hands some time back, but only chose to show it now when Naruto could mimic what he saw. Why would he want to do that? "Here's the next step, do the same to this rubber ball."
Four days into his rubber ball training, Naruto was in a clearing, sparring with a Kage Bunshin.
He had just finished doing a lot of thinking about the recent sparring session, and how his shishou would call him a foolish student in that unbelievably loud and over-the-top way of his.
Damn yeah, he WAS foolish.
He had tried to Shunshin his way out of a Daitoppa thrown by his clone, and ended up way on the other end of the clearing, nearly double the distance he wanted to travel.
Wind jutsu?
Shunshin?
Increased movement?
A light bulb turned on in Naruto's head.
Oh yeah, I might have an idea there, he thought as he sat back down and meditated, retreating to the pseudospace of the seal...
...right in front of a young woman pouting at him.
"...I didn't like what you said about me."
"I offer my apologies, my lady, as it was the only way to avoid suspicion."
"...oh well, what's done is done. So I hear you have this great new idea."
He nodded.
"Do tell."
"Okay, I'll use this seal sequence to enchant my Shunshin jutsu with wind chakra," Naruto said, forming his hands in the required seals, "then I try to do this."
He first appeared behind the human guise of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and then to her left.
"You made a clone?" the fox asked.
"No, but could it be a side effect?"
"Possibly," the fox replied. "I saw two of you for a split second, you changed direction during the technique, didn't you?"
"That's right."
"Well then, that IS new. Why not keep practicing here until it's second nature to you?"
"That's the plan. Point out and see if I made any mistakes, will you?"
"Sure thing. Beats watching you beat the crap out of yourself any day," the fox shot back.
"Oh, you," Naruto replied with a grin as his hands went through the seals and he zipped through the training hall.
"When you're done, do spar for awhile with me. Watching your misadventures can get boring."
"All right."
Outside the pseudospace, Jiraiya saw his would-be apprentice with concern, as the chakra he was generating while meditating had wisps of red in it - he had a paper seal to nullify that effect out and ready for use, but as he approached the boy, the red wisps had died away, leaving behind the telltale green-white wisps that was wind chakra between Naruto's usual light-blue chakra flow.
What's he doing? the Toad Sage asked himself, and saw a bunch of rubber balls with holes in them arrayed near the meditating boy. Ah, he's trying to gather himself to figure out how to do that step; the red chakra must have come out in his frustration.
You're almost there, kid, Jiraiya added. Just a bit more inspiration and you'll get it.
"You serious, Jiriaya-sama?" Naruto asked. "This is who they selected to be the next Hokage?"
"Yes."
"If it was that bad, why didn't you take the job?"
"I refused."
"Well... I kind of see why you did," Naruto mused, "look at her! Drinking her woes away like she'd been dragged all over the Elemental Countries on a kasha... twice!"
"Hey, don't speak that badly about my former teammate. There's a reason she was selected by the Hokage's old advisers, you know."
"Yeah," Naruto muttered, "she probably won the drinking contest."
"Try 'founder of modern medical ninjutsu'," the Toad Sage shot back. "And mind your manners. We're about to go and say hi."
"Okay," Naruto said, shrugging, "lead the way then, Jiraiya-sama."
"Hey, what's your beef with the old Hokage anyway?"
"Why are you so confrontational? Do you even know who you're talking to?"
"All I see is a down-on-her-luck old-timer who can't even face the past, let alone the present. Even takes all of it out on an old man who put himself right in the line of fire for his village, too."
"Well..." the obviously drunk (at one in the afternoon? Naruto asked himself) woman replied, "you saw him as that, but you didn't see him put many others... many... *hic* others... right in the middle of the fight, just... because... of that dumb Will of Fire he believed in..."
"My history isn't so great, but weren't your ancestors the ones who started this whole 'Will of Fire' thing?"
"Yeah, and it... it should just burn away. To nothing."
Jiraiya saw that the boy was this close to snapping, but after a few moments, his calm returned.
"Well, all things come to an end, I'll give you that," he said, thinking aloud, "but letting it end is just as bad as killing it. If you asked me, I'd rather go out in a blaze of glory rather than fade away... but even worse, when you have a chance to make a difference... you run away from your duty."
"Listen, kid... you haven't been through the wars the same way I did and you don't know what sensei had done in the name of what you call duty... so just learn to listen to your elders and shut up."
"Unfortunately, circumstances make it so that I can't," Naruto replied. "And since you just insulted the man I'm working for, honor requires that I exact an apology from you."
"You won't get one from me."
Naruto let out a pursing breath. This was expected. "How about I beat one out of you, then?"
The blonde lady stood shakily from the bar stool. "Now you're speaking my language."
"But mistress Tsunade..." her assistant said, but was cut short as she caught the dark-green coat her master tossed her way.
"Ladies first," Naruto said, opening the door for his opponent as she walked out of the door into the rapidly emptying street.
At the first crossing of attacks, Naruto immediately understood... or not.
Sasuke had his whole clan ripped from him, and he was still up and about in Konoha, trying to put his life back together to prepare for his inevitable confrontation with his brother. This lady loses just two people, and reacts in a worse manner... but that's apples and oranges in the long run, Naruto thought. But doesn't she get that when the protector's put on, your life is basically forfeit for the sake of what the village stands for?
Maybe the sadness must be blown away. I gotta try, at the very least...
...I smell the stench of Senju from that woman.
Hush, as she'll be my - and by extension, your - new boss.
I'll be put in thrall under another Senju?
Not exactly. You do know that Toad Sage is a writer, right?
Yeah, so?
Well, think of it this way. I'll be the writer, and you'll be the ghost editor who only shows up in the book in code. How about that?
Oh-ho-ho-ho. You may fight like a martial artist, but you can talk to a lady like a real ninja does. It's what I find so intriguing about you - despite all your openness to the world, you still have a subtlety all your own.
I live to please, my lady.
He dived under the punch that would be thrown at his face, reared up for a telegraphed uppercut, saw the finger flick coming, and moments before the attack came, he flared his wind-element chakra as he released the technique...
...and his opponent gasped as her finger hit nothing but the hazy afterimage of the boy.
In those moments when he was unnoticed, Naruto tallied what he knew about his opponent's fighting style.
She uses compressed chakra in pulses to augment her physical strength. Takes a damn lot of control to use, let alone use effectively... plus she's drunk as a skunk right about now, so that means either her control is a lot greater when she's both trained AND sober, or it doesn't matter whether she's drunk OR sober. Dammit.
There's your solution to your control problem, Naruto - all you need to do is convince her to return to Konoha and take up the Hokage's hat, and you're going to be one step closer to figuring out just exactly who you are...
He tightened his lips. Time to show this Senju Tsunade what the School was all about.
"Where are you?" she yelled in the middle of the dirt road, and with several bursts of wind chakra, Naruto flashed in front of his opponent.
"Right here," he said, rearing back his hand and encasing it in his own energies.
They threw their punches simultaneously, the pulse dispelling the shell he used to keep his technique stable... and a huge whoosh filled the empty streets as the chakra for Naruto's technique blasted outward.
"That works too," Naruto thought aloud.
"A shotgun-like attack. Interesting. I wonder how I'll further refine it-"
His musing was thoroughly interrupted by a punch that connected straight and true.
"Ugh... where am I?" Naruto asked as soon as his eyes opened. This was like one of those times he had to face off against his shishou to show what he had learned. Master Asia was the sort of fighter who let you show off your skills, only to counter them without skipping a beat.
"Great! You've awoken," Senju Tsunade's girl Friday said, beaming a smile at him.
"What time is it?"
"Just an hour or so past sunrise. You're pretty good," she continued, "nobody I've seen in recent time could take a punch from Shishou and emerge in one piece."
"Yeah, well, he can get to be a ham at times, but he's by far the best teacher I have," Naruto replied with a grin, his mind not completely there yet.
"I'm sure whoever taught you did. Come to think of it, does Might Guy still wear green?"
"Yep... wait a sec. You think Might Guy taught me?" Naruto asked, his mind quickly going back to action as the question shocked him awake. "He didn't, but my shishou is what you'd call a taijutsu master."
"With what I've seen? I'm sure. My name is Shizune."
"Uzumaki Naruto, chunin of Konoha. Where's Jiraiya-sama?"
"Downstairs, talking with mistress Tsunade."
He shook his head to clear the last cobwebs out. "How long was I out?"
"It's just the day after you fought mistress Tsunade, Naruto-kun."
"Well, that's just fine and dandy. Come on, I still have to convince your shishou to come back to the village."
"Um, that's going to be quite a tall order."
"Because she lost her brother... and her lover, your uncle Dan... I know the story. Jiraiya-sama told me on the way here."
"...well, if you knew, then why?"
"A fellow Konoha-nin of mine named Uchiha Sasuke lost nearly everything, and he's this close to up and leaving the village. The only thing that's keeping him in Konoha is the thought that he can gain power from some of us here - me included."
"Uchiha - wasn't that the clan..."
"...precisely. It doesn't look good that your shishou gets to do what she's been doing for just two people."
"You have a point."
"Thanks, Shizune-san... Jiraiya-sama! Good morning!"
"Mmmbrglh," groaned a head of gray hair slumped on a table in reply.
"Mphgrglb," moaned a head of blonde hair slumped on the same table close by.
"I forgot - these aren't morning people..." Naruto said. "You have my sympathies."
Shizune could only answer with a knowing nod.
"You're saying that brat studied under the Undefeated of the East?"
"It appears so, hime. What I saw when you two fought just confirmed my suspicions."
"But the Undefeated of the East is supposed to be just an urban legend!"
"Tsunade-san," Naruto announced upon seeing them at the cafe, "it's not a name, it's a title. Several others were successors to the name."
"And you're striving to take that name on for yourself?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto shook his head. "Shishou told me my heritage was important. Fact is, that's why he had me come back here after learning what I could from him. That, and I wasn't the only student Shishou trained during that time."
"Well, that explains my grandfather's stories about the Undefeated of the East," Tsunade answered. "But no, I'm still not taking the hat."
"Fine. How about we make this a bit more formal, then? A contest. If I win, you come back to Konoha and take the hat. If you win, you go and do whatever. How's that sound?"
"You're a cheeky little brat," Tsunade replied icily, "and I'm going to enjoy beating it right out of you. One week to prepare."
"More time than I'll need," Naruto replied with a grin, and walked towards the town's outskirts to continue training, oblivious to the Toad Sage freaking out.
"...so I heard you're still trying to get the last step of the Rasengan down," Jiraiya said.
"The what? Oh, you mean the jutsu that requires the water balloons and stuff. Yeah, I can do a working version of it," Naruto answered.
"So why aren't you challenging my old teammate yet?"
"I gave my word: a week is a week. Plus, I'm not adding this to the playbook until it's a perfect sphere. Besides..."
Naruto grinned. "...this isn't the only trump I have up my sleeve."
"Well, knowing what we do, you're going to need a lot of those."
"Shishou told me. Relax. I'm a lot tougher than you think."
"She's going to accept, right?" Naruto asked as day became night of the sixth day. "I mean, that bastard is the third wheel of your team, he's got some dirt on the both of you."
"Yes, he is our teammate, and you know how much Tsunade-hime loved Nawaki and Dan."
"I'm not too concerned about that. It's that boy Friday he has skulking around him. He feels a lot more dangerous than Orochimaru."
"Kabuto? He's a skilled medic-nin, but Shizune is, as well."
Naruto was in thought, going over and over the details of his encounter with Kabuto in the Forest of Death, and he shook his head as the actions didn't quite add up. "There's something there. Don't quite know what it is, only that it's gonna be trouble."
"Calm down, Naruto. You've gone even further than I thought. Last one to grasp as much in so little time was Minato, and he became Hokage soon after I taught him everything."
Yes, calm down.
Naruto nodded. "We'll see. By tomorrow, we'll see."
By the time they returned to Konohagakure, the Toad Sage, the new Hokage and her apprentice gave the blond chunin in their travel party a very wide berth.
"...you're going to have to give him special jonin after what he did, hime. Sheesh. Even I'm not so much of a fiendish genius as that kid."
"Tell me about it. He saw my phobia, put it in a sack of bricks, and hit me upside the head until I got rid of it. Even our old teammate had to back the heck off when he saw what happened."
"Shishou, just what did Naruto do when you ran into those criminals?"
"You know how I summon the Rasengan first and then use it?" Jiraiya asked. "The boy damn went outside the box and reversed the order. Damn it. I'm gonna have to be a vegetarian for some time after seeing that."
"He didn't even know about my hemophobia. Brat's gonna be a nightmare when he gets to full jonin. How soon do you think will it take before he gets a flee-on-sight order like his old man?" Tsunade asked.
"Undefeated of the East," Jiraiya muttered, "yeah, the name fits."
And they walked home to Konoha after that, with Tsunade taking the Hokage's hat after what she saw the boy do.
Without a doubt in her mind, she was sure that the score was now even when Naruto told her the story about how his arsenal crapped out against Orochimaru's array of ninjutsu.
And he did it by turning that glasses-wearing psycho into chunky salsa - wait, Jiraiya's Rasengan was supposed to be blue, so why did the boy use a white version...
That was all she needed to convince Jiraiya to put up a dog and pony show for them to return to Konoha - it wouldn't do for either of them to be completely disturbed by the power Naruto had now, and the power he'd have in the future.
Though by the time they were halfway back, her apprehension turned into cackling, evil laughter as she made a catalog of all Konoha's enemies.
They thought it was safe to come out and play since the Yondaime was already gone... they had no idea.
Chapter 10 - END
Author notes:
What's the relationship dynamic between Naruto and the fox these days anyhow?
They're classmates, colleagues, and rivals. As noted earlier, when Naruto explained about his studies under the School, he wasn't the only student the Undefeated of the East took on.
Omake:
"I will finally be the ultimate Hokage! The Undefeated of the East, West, South, North and Center - I will become SUPER HOKAGE and be champion of all, dattebayo! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"East?"
"West?"
"South?"
"North?"
"Center?"
"SUPER HOKAGE?"
Technique List:
Fuuton: Shunshin no Jutsu Kai - Zanzou (Wind Release: Modified Body Flicker Technique - Afterimage)
A C-rank Supplementary ninjutsu. Uzumaki Naruto using his current handicap with wind-element chakra in conjunction with the Shunshin no Jutsu. By combining the two techniques, the requirement of a clear path from point to point is removed, allowing the user to abruptly change directions even in mid-technique using timed bursts of wind-element chakra, leaving an afterimage in the wake of the burst.
Fuuton: Reppu Rengoku Shou (Wind Release: Fist of the Violent Gale)
A B-rank Offensive ninjutsu. While Uzumaki Naruto learned the Rasengan, he integrated the steps to acquiring the technique into his repertoire of Wind-element jutsu, and the Reppu Rengoku Shou is the result. Instead of projecting the winds created by the basic Reppushou jutsu, he instead keeps the wind-element chakra stable within a spherical matrix of chakra placed over his hands, much like a pair of boxing gloves. As a result, his punching power increases tremendously. This technique can also be categorized as a B-Rank Supplementary Nintaijutsu, as a taijutsu specialist (like Naruto) will see the most utility out of this technique.
Fuuton: Reppuhoudan (Wind Release: Gale Cannon Bullet)
A B-rank offensive ninjutsu. The chakra matrix for the previous technique can be dispelled to release a powerful force of wind in close quarters, much like a shotgun's blast.
Fuuton: Shura Senpuu Ken (Wind Release: War God's Whirlwind Fist)
A-Rank Offensive Ninjutsu. The upgraded version of the Reppu Rengoku Shou. A condensed tornado of swirling wind chakra encases the user's forearm, drastically improving both punching power and blowing anyone from the side away, allowing for a degree of protection for one side when executing a frontal assault, as the whirling wind chakra can be used both offensively and defensively. This can also be categorized as an A+-Rank Supplementary Nintaijutsu technique.