Buzz——
Deep in the forest, two of Naruto's shadow clones were huddled together. One maintained the Rasengan, while the other infused it with wind-nature chakra.
Tiny wind blades resembling shuriken edges began to form on the surface of the Rasengan. The shrill buzzing filled the woods as wind tore through the air, sending leaves fluttering.
"I swear, I'm using my kidneys as chakra batteries at this point!"
Boom!
A deafening blast shook the earth, and a towering tree came crashing down.
The real Naruto stepped forward and studied the splintered trunk. He stared at it for a long while but couldn't make sense of anything.
Another week had gone by, and his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken still showed no signs of progress. It remained stuck in its half-baked form, fringed with four small wind blades and refusing to evolve further.
"Where the hell is the problem...?"
Naruto sighed heavily and collapsed onto the grass in defeat. He was on the verge of giving up.
He'd already mastered the leaf-cutting exercise, but since he couldn't find a waterfall or perform the two jutsu Yamato had used in the original story he could only substitute with a river.
Compared to a roaring waterfall, slicing through a river was clearly less challenging. Yet even so, Naruto still couldn't manage to split the flow properly.
Sharpness… Friction…
It sounded right.
Lying on his back, staring up at the sky, Naruto began to lose motivation.
He wasn't the hardworking type to begin with. The only reason he'd stuck with this training so long was to keep himself alive.
But now that his patience was wearing thin, death didn't seem all that terrifying anymore.
"Yo, kid. Looks like something's weighing on your mind..."
A familiar yet unfamiliar voice echoed from a tree nearby.
Naruto lifted his eyes and saw a tall man in a red cloak standing on the branch.
The man had long white hair, red markings under his eyes, a forehead protector with the kanji for "oil," and a massive scroll strapped to his back.
Naruto glanced at him, then slowly sat up. "Wind-nature chakra manipulation isn't working out. Can you fix that?"
"Haha! Then you're talking to the right guy!"
The man laughed heartily and leapt from the branch.
Midair, he formed hand seals, and with a puff of smoke, a giant toad the size of a calf appeared beneath him.
He landed on the toad's head, legs spread wide, arms extended, striking a flamboyant pose.
"The great and magnificent sage of Mount Myōboku, the toad hermit himself Jiraiya!"
Naruto barely twitched an eyebrow. "Get to the point."
"Haha… impatient, aren't you?"
Jiraiya chuckled awkwardly, scratching his head.
This kid looks exactly like Minato, like he was cut from the same mold but the personality? Total opposite…
"Well, I'm here to help you, after all. Let me at least introduce myself properly "
"Ichigo Kurosaki."
"...Ahaha, Ichigo, huh..."
This lying little brat!!
Jiraiya's smile grew increasingly strained.
"Still, for someone your age to already be training in chakra nature transformation... no doubt about it, you're a real genius."
Noticing Naruto's growing impatience, Jiraiya quickly shifted gears.
"But before that have you ever tested your chakra nature?"
A breeze rustled through the trees. Naruto's silence was deafening.
"I'll take that as a no..."
Jiraiya sighed. "People with multiple chakra natures often run into this exact problem when trying to manipulate one element, traces of another can unconsciously seep in."
"I suggest you find a chakra nature paper and test yourself."
"And then what? How do I keep the other natures from interfering?"
"Let's not rush that. First, tell me how you've been training your wind nature manipulation."
Naruto thought for a moment. "I cover my hand with chakra and imagine friction and sharpness."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Naruto nodded. Jiraiya was dumbfounded.
Wait, it's that vague?
"Sigh... Looks like you've only got a general sense of direction."
Jiraiya let out a long breath. And he still managed to get this far? Maybe it's true what they say like father, like son.
Then again, even Minato never succeeded in adding nature transformation to the Rasengan. But this kid this kid has done it, however rough the result.
And he hasn't even mastered nature transformation yet!
"That's insane…"
"Listen," Jiraiya said, picking up a leaf and holding it between his fingers. He channeled chakra into it. The leaf instantly split clean in half.
"No matter what metaphors you use friction, sharpness the core of wind-nature transformation is cutting. The best way to feel that is to split your chakra in two and imagine them grinding against each other until they form a thin, sharp edge."
Naruto's memory was sharp. He remembered a lot from the original story, especially the more dramatic parts. But word-for-word precision? Not so much.
Thinking it over... yeah, that did sound familiar.
He raised his hand and followed Jiraiya's advice.
Imagining two streams of chakra grinding together, Naruto formed his hand like a blade and swiped it across a nearby tree trunk.
Shkk
A clean gash opened along the bark. The top half of the trunk slowly slid off the base and crashed to the ground.
Jiraiya's eyes widened with admiration. "Not bad. Looks like you've been stuck at this stage for a while you just didn't grasp the right key."
Naruto looked back at him. "You still haven't told me how to deal with interference from other chakra natures."
"First is focus. Chakra nature transformation isn't like ordinary chakra molding or ninjutsu training it's conceptual. That's why so few people can master it."
Jiraiya continued, "Second, the more you channel your wind-nature chakra, the less space there is for other natures to sneak in."
"By the same logic, if you naturally lean more toward another element, or have already mastered one nature, it'll be harder to control a new one."
Naruto pondered. "So, is it possible to mix two chakra natures at once?"
"If you manage that, you get a new nature what's known as a Kekkei Genkai."
Jiraiya chuckled. "But that's nearly impossible. Combining two natures isn't just hard it's exponentially harder. Even most elite jonin spend their whole lives mastering just one or two."
Naruto's expression turned a bit odd. "So in other words, people with a Kekkei Genkai are born with two chakra natures already fused together?"
"More or less. But how well they can control them is another matter..."
As Jiraiya spoke, he noticed the look on Naruto's face and his smile faltered.
"...Wait. You have a Kekkei Genkai?"
Naruto smirked. "What, you don't?"
He stomped the ground.
Behind him, the severed tree stump suddenly surged upward, sprouting lush branches and green leaves in an instant.