"Kid, believe in yourself! Even if you can't use ninjutsu, you can still become an incredible shinobi!"
"Come on, let's keep pushing your limits. If you can't finish this set… how about fifty laps in a handstand?"
"…"
Yagyu Souma glanced weakly at Might Guy, who was practically vibrating with enthusiasm.
He knew Guy meant well.
But—
As a transmigrator, he understood one truth better than anyone: taijutsu alone has a ceiling.
Strong, yes. But only to a point.
Eight Gates? That's the pinnacle, right?
But even that is just a momentary brilliance — a firework bursting across the sky, doomed to fade in an instant. Souma did not want to become a firework.
And since he was the same age as Rock Lee, no matter how hard he trained, pure taijutsu would only ever get him to Lee's level.
And Lee's level…?
During the final war, even after opening the Sixth Gate, all he could do was hype the battlefield a little — cheer, assist, and watch helplessly as his sensei threw himself into life-or-death combat while he stood powerless on the sidelines.
Souma believed Lee must have been crushed at that moment.
He didn't want to live that kind of life.
So he knew: taijutsu alone had no future.
But he also had no choice.
Two years ago, he transmigrated into the Naruto world and discovered a glowing orb of light within his consciousness.
And with it, he discovered something else—
He lacked the innate ability for nature transformation, genjutsu, and even the simplest Academy techniques. He couldn't learn the basic Clone, Transformation, or Substitution Techniques at all.
However—
After some experimentation, Souma realized the glowing orb had its advantages:
First, his chakra control was exceptionally strong.
Second, his talent in taijutsu was unusually high.
He also possessed extraordinary control over his muscles and physical movement.
According to his instructors — and Guy — even many jōnin might not match him in these areas.
As for the third advantage…
He learned things fast. Almost unnaturally fast.
He suspected all of this was connected to that mysterious orb. And after two years of training and research, he noticed the orb seemed to grow stronger the more he learned.
Which meant he had to come up with another path.
Sorry, Guy-sensei…
"Souma, your ninjutsu and genjutsu talent is poor, but are you giving up on taijutsu too?"
Guy looked at him with visible disappointment.
He had taken Souma and Lee under his wing because both boys were hardworking, determined, and unbothered by ridicule.
But after two years of persistence, to give up now…?
That resolve felt far too fragile.
"I'm not giving up, Guy-sensei. I'm just exploring another route. Lee and I simply can't perform nature transformations, but we still have chakra — and my control is strong. There's no reason we can't develop jutsu that doesn't rely on elemental nature at all."
Souma pushed himself back into a run, panting as he spoke.
"If they don't require hand signs or natural transformation, then condensed chakra should still be capable of destructive power."
"But…"
"Like this."
He raised his right hand.
A sphere of highly compressed chakra formed in his palm.
It wasn't a Rasengan — not yet — but the chakra was dense enough to cause damage.
Guy glanced at it… then his eyes widened in shock.
This… was that…
Rasengan?
No. Not quite.
It was only a pure mass of compressed chakra.
"We run past the river every day. These last few days I've been thinking… If, on top of compressing the chakra, I can make it rotate like a whirlpool, the destructive power should increase dramatically."
Souma explained.
Yes—
Ever since he arrived two years ago, he had been quietly trying to recreate the Rasengan from the manga.
To make it reasonable in this world, he didn't use "balloon training" like Naruto did. Instead, he applied the same principles and spent two years practicing in secret until he grasped the technique.
After speaking, he began channeling rotation into the chakra sphere.
The swirling chakra twisted within like a tiny tornado, while the sphere's outer form remained perfectly intact.
Guy watched silently for several seconds before speaking:
"You never tried adding more rotational vectors?"
"…Huh? You're right! Why didn't I think of that!?"
Souma's eyes lit up, and he attempted it immediately —
only for the chakra sphere to collapse the next second.
He didn't seem discouraged and prepared to try again.
But Guy spoke heavily:
"Child… this jutsu already exists. It's an A-rank technique known as the Rasengan."
"What? Does it already exist?"
Souma widened his eyes in "astonishment."
"Yes. What you've created is essentially the same as Fourth Hokage-sama's Rasengan."
Guy nodded.
Rock Lee said nothing, but from his expression, he understood just enough to be utterly shocked.
"This is…"
"Don't worry. Sometimes shinobi reach the same idea by coincidence. If your talent for nature transformation or genjutsu were even slightly better, you might've become a remarkable shinobi."
Guy sighed.
This child, who couldn't use ninjutsu, still tried to develop non-elemental jutsu with pure chakra.
Such creativity, such intelligence…
It was truly a shame.
"It's fine, Guy-sensei. If the Sage of Six Paths closed one door for me, he also opened another. I should be grateful. And I believe — even without natural transformation — I can still become strong!"
Souma spoke with firm conviction.
Lee finally found his voice, eyes shining with admiration:
"Even if Souma-kun can't use ninjutsu, being able to create something like that is amazing!"
"We'll train taijutsu, and we'll train non-elemental jutsu. Then we'll combine the two."
Souma added.
"That combination is called taijutsu-based ninjutsu," Guy corrected gently.
He paused, then smiled.
"Come. No matter the path, taijutsu is the foundation. Let's continue training!"
"Yes!"
The three resumed their grueling routine — but each carried different thoughts.
So although the training continued with the same intensity, the atmosphere grew strangely quiet.
By dusk, they finally parted ways.
Souma returned to his assigned housing, replaying the events of the day.
His true ambition wasn't merely combining taijutsu and ninjutsu.
But as a civilian, there was a limit to the knowledge he could access.
If he started talking about monstrous strength, natural energy, or Sage Arts, he wouldn't just attract attention from above — he'd get the attention of ROOT and Danzō, and he might not return alive.
"Sorry, Guy-sensei… but I really have no other path left."
He was twelve this year, only months away from graduation.
In a few years, the Fourth Great Ninja War would begin.
There wasn't much time left.
Of course—
He wasn't neglecting ninjutsu training either.
Back home, Souma began condensing chakra, shaping it outside his body, refining its density.
He could already create chakra threads and use them to manipulate kunai or shuriken — but that wasn't the effect he wanted.
When his chakra ran low, he picked up his notebook.
"Still not strong enough. It can't pierce solid objects. Need a method to refine and compress further."
"For now, the Rasengan is still the strongest thing I can make."
"I can't incorporate nature transformation into it, but there's still room to push it further."
He drew two lines branching off from "Rasengan."
One labeled: Speed of Release
The other: Compression & Output
Next, he began brainstorming ways to integrate the jutsu into his personal combat style.
He couldn't be like early-series Naruto — holding a Rasengan and charging straight at enemies like an idiot.
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