In the distance, Nawaki and Minato sensed the commotion and quickly ran over.
"Was that... the Water Wall jutsu?" Nawaki asked, his eyes wide with shock as he stared at Kyuushin. Minato watched him with equal curiosity.
"That's right," Kyuushin said, deactivating his Gene Lock and catching his breath. "I just made a little progress with Nature Transformation."
Nawaki was speechless. If using a B-Rank ninjutsu was just 'a little progress,' what would significant progress look like?
"Congratulations, Kyuushin," Minato said with a sincere smile.
Kyuushin waved his hand dismissively. "It really is just a little progress. It's still a ways off from being truly usable in actual combat."
He wasn't lying. Although he had just mastered two elemental Nature Transformations, he had first accomplished it while his Gene Lock was active. Even in that state, he still had to consciously divide his attention to control the ratio when condensing chakra, which was far from the instinctual speed of normal chakra molding. This rapid method had its drawbacks. If he had followed the traditional path, cultivating his nature transformation little by little, he would be able to use it in combat immediately upon mastery. That conventional method required long-term practice, gradually and unconsciously altering the chakra ratio within his body until it became second nature. His body would instinctively remember the process. But he couldn't do that now. Although his mind had memorized the ratio, his body still defaulted to the old way of condensing chakra. In short, he hadn't yet developed the muscle memory. It was like a struggling student versus a top student. The struggling student would arrive at the correct answer through repeated trial and error, etching the process into their mind. Kyuushin was like the top student who could see the answer at a glance but still needed to slowly learn the steps to properly solve the problem.
However, these were minor issues. Kyuushin possessed a unique advantage. Developing muscle memory, under the amplification of the Gene Lock, would be countless times faster than for an ordinary person. He believed it wouldn't be long before he completely mastered the process. Wind and Water Release were easy enough to handle, as they were his innate affinities. But as for how to obtain the remaining Fire, Lightning, and Earth natures, Kyuushin had no clear method. Separating those three attributes from the remaining chaotic chakra gave him a headache just thinking about it. Did he have to try each ratio one by one? The sheer workload seemed like a task of impossible calculation, something beyond even the most brilliant minds. He shook his head. He had just unlocked the second stage; thinking about a potential third stage was getting ahead of himself. It was better to take it one step at a time.
"Don't envy me too much," Kyuushin said, turning to his friends. "The Third Hokage gave me his old training notes on Nature Transformation. I probably won't use them, but they should be very helpful for you two. I'll give them to you later."
"That's great! This way, we won't fall too far behind you!" Nawaki said excitedly, but then his face fell. "Kyuushin, why is the third stage of the Rasengan so difficult? Every time I follow your method, the chakra just explodes. Is there some other trick to it?"
Kyuushin sighed, but a small smile played on his lips. "If it's not working, try using both hands. Using your other hand to stabilize its form should help a lot." He paused, then added a warning. "However, you have to remember that this is just a crutch. This technique is meant to be used without hand seals. Using two hands defeats the purpose. So, this can only assist you in learning. Afterward, you still have to cast it with one hand for it to count as a success, understand?"
The Rasengan was, at its core, a jutsu designed for assassination, meant to complement high-speed techniques like the Flying Thunder God by emphasizing rapid execution. Using it as a simple brute-force attack would deviate from its true purpose. Nawaki didn't have the same unique circumstances as others who might wield it, so Kyuushin's standards for him would be higher. He couldn't just consider it a success as long as it was cast. In fact, the Rasengan wasn't a perfect fit for Nawaki. He wasn't a speed-type ninja. With the amplification from his bloodline, his chakra reserves were vast, making him more suitable as a "human cannon" type of ninja, much like the infamous Kisame who terrorized the world relying on his Water Release. That path seemed like a more natural fit for Nawaki's strengths. Moreover, the Senju clan, before the time of Hashirama during the Warring States Period, had always been renowned for its mastery of Water Release, Earth Release, and taijutsu. Having fought the Uchiha for over a thousand years without a kekkei genkai, their foundation was incredibly deep. As long as Nawaki survived and grew, with the Senju's thousand-year legacy concentrated in him, achieving the Kage-level would be an easy feat. However, taking the next step to reach the legendary strength of Hashirama would be another matter entirely.
As for Minato, his path was clear. The Flying Thunder God Technique, a space-time ninjutsu, had potential that even its original user might not have fully explored. Minato's primary shortcoming was that his attack methods were too simplistic. The Rasengan was effective against weaker opponents, but at the Kage-level, the damage it could inflict was minimal. To improve his offensive capabilities, however, Minato's chakra reserves might not be enough. Although his reserves were large for an ordinary ninja, they were dwarfed by those with powerful bloodlines like Nawaki. Kyuushin suspected that developing an advanced version of the Rasengan, like the Rasenshuriken, wouldn't be a suitable path for Minato. In terms of pure power, the Rasenshuriken far surpassed the original, but practicing it to the point of instantaneous activation was extremely difficult. Minato's core was the Flying Thunder God. If an attack couldn't be activated instantly and combined with his signature speed, it was effectively meaningless to his fighting style. Therefore, if Minato wanted to continue growing, he would have to focus his efforts on the Flying Thunder God itself, perhaps even developing it into an offensive space-time ninjutsu. If he succeeded, he would have a potent offensive method effective even at the highest levels of combat.
However, it was still too early to talk about these things; the Flying Thunder God Technique wasn't even on the horizon yet. In the normal course of things, Minato would have to make significant contributions to the village for the Third Hokage to entrust such a powerful jutsu to him. But with Kyuushin's influence, that timeline could be greatly advanced. He had previously hinted to Mito, and her agreement to teach Minato sealing jutsu was, in essence, her tacit approval for Kyuushin to eventually pass on the technique, though Minato himself didn't know it yet. Having just successfully cultivated two nature transformations, Kyuushin couldn't help but let his thoughts wander. He reminded himself to be patient; they were still young and had plenty of time to grow. After chatting with Nawaki and Minato for a while longer, Kyuushin planned to go find Mito to continue learning medical ninjutsu. Besides cultivating his Nature Transformation these past few days, he hadn't neglected the medical training Mito had promised to teach him, though so far it had been mostly theoretical.