"After all this time, huh? Oh, your outfit's gotten cooler at least."
Compliments aside, trash talk was still necessary.
'He's taller too.' Logan thought silently.
The difference in height was most noticeable in close combat just now. Naruto is no longer as weak as he'd been during the bell test.
The clear blue sky stretched above, white birds circling in the distance.
A few explosions echoed faintly, as Deidara and Kakashi were locked in battle, one in the air, the other on the ground.
Normally, that would be an unfair fight, but with Kamui from the Mangekyo Sharingan, the tables had turned.
Logan wasn't too concerned about how Deidara would fare. His gaze shifted back to Naruto. Kakashi had sent Naruto to fight him from the start, while that's not the best choice, realistically, the two of them hadn't had many options.
Sakura and Team Guy were still out there, and Logan hadn't forgotten that. So he knew that Kakashi and Naruto were definitely stalling for time.
'The others are manageable, but if Guy gets involved… that's trouble. What if he just kicks me to death?' Logan circulated his Chakra as he exchanged blows with Naruto. They hadn't really talked properly, but he'd been enjoying the fight so far. Still, he felt it was time to wrap things up.
The calm air suddenly rippled. Pure Chakra energy pulsed, and before long, visible whirlwinds formed in the clearing.
A leaf brushed past Logan's nose, and a faint smirk appeared on his face.
"Hattori-sensei, you are still as arrogant as ever… seriously asking for a beating. Then, let me show you the results of my training..."
Naruto stared intently at Logan. It didn't matter that there was still a gap between them… he could feel it shrinking.
Movements he couldn't make out before were now visible, and things he couldn't understand before could now be predicted with some chance of success.
'If I kept pushing forward, kept working harder… one day...'
Naruto extended his right hand, and the shadow clone he'd summoned did the same. In their palms, Chakra began to gather and spin… the whirling wind, the whirling leaf, and in the next moment, power came roaring in from all directions with unstoppable force!
Gradually, a glowing blue-white sphere formed, bright but not blinding. Seeing that Rasengan, Logan smiled in nostalgia.
He extended his right hand as well.
"This is the result of your intense training, huh?"
Air currents swirled around, Chakra spun effortlessly, and a similar vortex accompanied by wind sounds emerged in the same patch of forest.
Naruto couldn't help but freeze.
Two nearly identical blue-white spheres.
Naruto stared at the Rasengan in Logan's hand and said in surprise: "Huh?! Why are you..."
"What, are you curious?" Logan said casually.
Naruto went silent for a moment. He had started forming it first, but Logan had managed to complete his with one hand even faster. That strange synchronization in rhythm was incredibly frustrating.
Then, seeing the faint, teasing smile on the other party's face, Naruto, who is never the one to admit defeat, felt a surge of anger. "Don't get cocky just yet!"
Whoosh!
Footprints were stamped deep into the soft grass as Naruto's figure shot forward like a speeding shadow, Rasengan in hand, mingling with the howling wind, charging with what seemed like the weight of a thousand pounds!
'A blatant attack, a glaringly obvious path… Tch.' Logan didn't know whether to laugh or shake his head in disbelief.
'He's still too easily swayed by emotion, yelling and getting worked up. Even though his training had improved him in many ways, that one aspect hadn't changed at all.'
Logan curled his lip, 'But a head-on clash? Who's afraid of who?'
Without hesitation, he shot forward like a straight, piercing sword.
'Might as well settle this quickly.'
The dozen or so meters between them vanished in an instant. In their lines of sight, they could clearly see each other's faces, the approaching Rasengans, and even the reflection in each other's pupils...
'Wait.'
The blue Rasengan whirled and howled, but Logan suddenly sensed something was off.
Behind Naruto's Rasengan… a figure suddenly emerged!
It was the shadow clone that had been overlooked earlier.
"I'm not done yet!"
The anger in Naruto's eyes vanished in a flash, replaced by a calm sharpness. The Chakra whipped up an even stronger wind, forcing Logan to squint.
The Rasengan abruptly expanded.
His technique was indeed not over yet. Chakra poured out in torrents, the air currents intensified, and with both Naruto and his clone injecting massive amounts of chakra, the Rasengan's terrifying power surged as it grew.
The radiant Rasengan overwhelmed everything.
Logan was genuinely surprised, 'Impressive… so the earlier recklessness had been a deliberate act to make me drop my guard.'
He immediately recognized it as the Big Ball Rasengan.
"You're more complicated than I thought, Naruto."
Feeling the wind pressure rush at him, Logan murmured the words.
There was no time to react. At this point, Naruto's plan had succeeded. Logan's body flashed with lightning as he pressed forward with his Rasengan, unwavering.
The clash was imminent.
The Rasengan in Naruto's hand had grown to the size of a basketball, radiating overwhelming power that he could barely contain.
Holding his breath, Naruto, together with his clone, pressed it forward inch by inch… then struck with full force!
"This is the result of my training, take this!" Compressed to the extreme, Naruto's eyes burned with resolute determination.
The Big Ball Rasengan seemed to press down on the very ground, crushing all the grass, leaves, and flowers along its path into dust.
Dirt flew, but Logan remained calm as he watched. The pressure bore down on him, but it brought only clarity.
Logan couldn't use the Big Ball Rasengan, as it wasn't just a matter of how much Chakra he could output. Arbitrarily altering the Ninjutsu's form had serious consequences.
Couldn't produce one of equal strength? So what? In the moment of collision, he cleared his thoughts.
His smaller Rasengan looked pitifully tiny in comparison as it met Naruto's huge Rasengaen.
Boom!
Lightning danced wildly. The hastily poured Lightning Attribute Chakra didn't provide much support, as there just hadn't been enough time.
Logan held his ground with sheer superior physical prowess, refusing to retreat.
But his Rasengan quickly crumbled under the power of the Big Ball Rasengan.
'I underestimated you, Naruto.'
Logan praised him sincerely. The other party's impressive performance made him even less inclined to rely on cheap tricksy. The moment the power of his Rasengan was exhausted…
Chirp, chirp, chirp!
Lightning exploded, and the glow of Chidori burst brilliantly from Logan's hand, with a seamless continuation as he drove it into the Big Ball Rasengan.
It was like the grinding shriek of opposing forces clashing.
Truth be told, Logan had never been particularly good at the Rasengan. But Lightning Release Ninjutsu was a different story.
The feeling was completely different now. Naruto was shocked as he sensed the unending power of the lightning, layer upon layer, seemingly without end.
Naruto let out a roar. He was reminded of a certain night, seared into memory… his comrade sprinting ahead, tainted by a jet-black cursed mark, the same crackling lightning shrieking around him.
That contemptuous back seared into his memory, he pushed harder.
With the Big Ball Rasengan, he stepped forward, deeply stamping into the earth. Then, with another step, the light burst forth, and in the reflected shades of blue, he surged forward!
The ground cracked beneath him. Logan skidded backward, leaving gouges in the earth.
He felt the chaotic, tearing air between them, the savage, primordial aura spilling from Naruto… it was a power that didn't belong.
'Is it the Kyubi...'
Logan didn't try to dodge or break away. If he let Naruto fully unleash this state, he might trigger full Biju Transformation.
And the danger of that needed no explanation.
Ssszzzttt…
The faltering Chidori burst into blue-white light once more.
'If that was the case, then I'll simply overpower it directly.'