This breakfast is actually the result of Mokgetsu catering to Minato's taste. He himself doesn't like eating rice in the morning and prefers having porridge.
"It feels like your cooking skills have improved a bit, Mokgetsu. I feel so much better after eating." Minato commented earnestly after finishing his meal.
"It's probably because you haven't had my cooking for a long time. If you eat it a few more times, you'll see there's not much change from before," Mokgetsu replied with a smile.
After finishing their meal, the two of them chatted while tidying up the dishes on the table.
Since it was time for teaching, Mokgetsu split into several shadow clones, some went to the Southern Border Forest to instruct students and one went to the Ninja Academy.
After handling the household chores, Mokgetsu took the opportunity to talk about his experience learning the Flying Thunder God.
"It's really tough to realize how difficult the Flying Thunder God is without practicing it. I've never encountered such a situation with any other Ninjutsu, learning for so long without making any progress."
"Ah, the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, although I didn't encounter difficulties while learning this technique, according to Jiraiya-sensei, it's indeed a super high-level Ninjutsu and one of the hardest among all Ninjutsu in Konoha," Minato said after some thought.
When learning the Flying Thunder God, Minato didn't feel that it was significantly harder than other Ninjutsu, and he could only understand its difficulty from others' perspectives.
"If you don't mind, Mokgetsu, I could share my learning experiences with you," Minato continued.
He truly hoped Mokgetsu could master the Flying Thunder God because it was extremely powerful.
Just how powerful is it? Minato could wreak havoc on the battlefield using only the Flying Thunder God and a certain amount of kunai, without using any other Ninjutsu.
That's why Minato rarely used other Ninjutsu in battles, not because he couldn't, but because using them was pointless. You can't just teleport with the Flying Thunder God and perform a Wind or Fire Release, can you? That's too silly.
If Mokgetsu can master the Flying Thunder God, even if not as proficiently, his survival ability on the battlefield would greatly improve.
"Of course, I don't mind. In fact, I'm really looking forward to it," Mokgetsu replied cheerfully, waiting for Minato to say those exact words.
Hearing Mokgetsu's response, Minato wasted no time and immediately asked some questions to assess Mokgetsu's progress in learning the Flying Thunder God.
"I see, in that case, I'll start with the basics," Minato mentally rehearsed briefly before beginning his teaching.
"First of all, you need to know that the Flying Thunder God is a Space-Time Ninjutsu that transfers you from one point to another rather than a technique that boosts your speed to move rapidly.
Minato explained while demonstrating with a kunai in hand.
Placing a Flying Thunder God kunai in the kitchen, Minato teleported there with the Flying Thunder God technique, then returned to Mokgetsu's side using the Instant Body Jutsu.
Mokgetsu nodded to show he understood.
The advantage of the Flying Thunder God lies in this aspect. At close range, Mokgetsu's full-force Breath of Thunder speed is as fast as the Flying Thunder God, but over longer distances, it becomes different. The Flying Thunder God remains just as fast, while his Chakra consumption is high and he can't maintain the speed for long.
"Has Minato's teaching level improved recently? Or is it Kushina's difficulty in understanding," Mokgetsu recalled previous exchanges with Kushina, finding Minato's explanation quite average.
"Alright, then next is how the Flying Thunder God achieves spatial transfer," Minato continued his instruction, seeing Mokgetsu's comprehension.
"First, we need to sense the space, then mark the kunai or any object with the Flying Thunder God seal, and in a swish, use Chakra to move to the object marked with the Flying Thunder God seal."
Minato spoke with focused eyes, continually discussing the Flying Thunder God.
Mokgetsu could tell Minato was teaching earnestly, but he still couldn't help but have questions.
He hadn't missed anything or been distracted, yet suddenly he couldn't understand a thing.
If Mokgetsu had to describe Minato's teaching, it would be, "You've already learned one plus one equals two, now let's start learning calculus."
Mokgetsu decided to take back his earlier thoughts; Kushina was indeed right that Minato's explanation was essentially a swish and you're there.
"Did you gain any inspiration for learning the Flying Thunder God, Mokgetsu?" Minato looked at Mokgetsu with anticipation.
Looking at Minato's expectant face, Mokgetsu felt a mix of emotions, recognizing Minato's genuine effort in teaching even though the content was hard to follow.
However, another possibility was that it wasn't Minato's problem; it could be that the Flying Thunder God's complexity was inherently high.
"No, could you explain in more detail, Minato? There's a lot I don't understand, especially regarding spatial perception," Mokgetsu shook his head.
No matter where the problem lies, he hadn't learned anything and hadn't broken through the Flying Thunder God's proficiency from zero.
"Hmm, let me speak more slowly and in more detail." Minato considered his words and continued to teach Mokgetsu the Flying Thunder God Jutsu.
Three hours later, Mokgetsu was still completely confused.
He could sense Minato's efforts to explain in detail, yet the jumps were still too significant for Mokgetsu, akin to jumping from elementary mathematics to advanced calculus.
"I have some thoughts on the technique you imitated from the Tailed Beast Ball previously, Minato. Would you like to hear them?" Mokgetsu decided to reciprocate and discuss the Rasengan with Minato.
Even though he couldn't learn much from Minato's explanation, it wasn't Minato's fault but rather his own issue.
"That sounds great." Minato smiled happily and nodded.
Mokgetsu extended his hand and gathered Chakra, forming a non-elemental Chakra ball in his hand.
Minato looked at the Chakra ball in Mokgetsu's hand with surprise, feeling it perfectly matched his own concept.
Mokgetsu led Minato outside, then smashed a Rasengan onto a large tree by the roadside.
Bam!
The tree shook violently, forming a pit in its trunk but not entirely passing through.
"The power is small, but it's nearly perfected," Minato remarked after observing the damage.
Based on the Chakra Mokgetsu used, the damage couldn't be this little; the Ninjutsu wasn't fully developed yet.
"Indeed, it's missing a crucial step, but I have no further ideas," Mokgetsu said, brushing wood scraps off his body.
He had essentially re-developed the Rasengan following the original story, so he could easily use the unfinished version.
After demonstrating, Mokgetsu explained to Minato how he reached this stage.
While setting up the genius ninja persona, he certainly didn't intend to steal Minato's Rasengan rights.
"So that's what it needs here! Mokgetsu, you've really been a great help," Minato said, feeling enlightened after hearing Mokgetsu's explanation, solving many development challenges.
Reflecting on how Mokgetsu learned nothing from his Flying Thunder God explanation, Minato felt a bit guilty and resolved to organize his thoughts better and clarify the Flying Thunder God learning process.
"If this Ninjutsu is successfully developed, it should definitely be called—"Mokgetsu Tree Strike Inspiration Dual Co-creation Ball"!" Minato enthusiastically started naming the technique.
Hearing this peculiar and extravagant name, Mokgetsu's mouth twitched, quickly stopping Minato: "How about deciding the name once the Ninjutsu is fully developed."
If the Rasengan really ended up with that name, it'd be too ridiculous.
"You have a point, Mokgetsu," Minato murmured, noting down this name as a backup.
He thought this name wasn't bad, as it highlighted the Ninjutsu's co-development with Mokgetsu and captured the real scene during its creation.
At noon, Minato didn't dine with Mokgetsu; he hadn't had a chance to find Kushina since returning to Konoha and, after apologizing, took lunch to Kushina's place.
Before leaving, Minato mentioned he'd be relatively free in the coming days and suggested discussing Ninjutsu, Flying Thunder God, and other techniques in the evenings.