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The New Year holidays had just ended, and the Konoha Ninja Academy was ushering in a new semester.
The academic year in this world was divided into three trimesters: April to July, September to December, and January to March. (Author's Note: Consistent with the real-world Japanese school system.)
Right now, it was the January enrollment season, transitioning from winter to spring.
At the opening ceremony, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was present as usual to deliver an important speech.
This elderly man, who had helmed Konoha for many years, always had something to share with the children at the start of every term.
He didn't just lecture on ideological concepts like the Will of Fire; he frequently shared amusing anecdotes and insights from his own training, and even offered accessible yet highly practical perspectives on Ninjutsu. Because of this, his speeches were never boring.
During his address, he would occasionally pick a few students at random to answer their questions. This year was no exception.
"...when training in Ninjutsu, we often become overly obsessed with the destructive power of a technique..."
Using plain, slightly humorous language, the Third Hokage explained fundamental yet profound principles.
After finishing a segment on Ninjutsu theory, he paused. His kind eyes slowly swept over the neatly lined-up students below the stage, preparing to call on a few raised hands, just as he always did.
At that moment, a student in the Class 3-2 ranks calmly raised his hand, instantly catching Hiruzen's eye.
Shinichi Higashino.
The Third Hokage's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly before his face broke into an even warmer, more affectionate smile. He gently raised his hand toward the boy, signaling him.
"The student from Class 3-2, please stand up. Do you have a question or a thought you'd like to share?"
Shinichi stood up. He first bowed respectfully toward the podium before allowing a perfectly calculated look of confusion and slight uncertainty to cross his face. "It's like this, Lord Third. For the past two years, I have been trying to develop a new Ninjutsu. In the end... well, I suppose you could say I succeeded, but you could also say I failed. Because I discovered that this jutsu seems to have a massive flaw that I cannot solve on my own."
"Oh? Developing a new Ninjutsu, are we?" The Third Hokage's smile widened, his tone encouraging. "It seems this student is quite the daring, exploratory genius."
He praised the boy kindly, though deep down, he didn't pay it much mind.
In his experience, this so-called "new jutsu" was likely just a rudimentary modification or combination of existing formulas. Reaching C-rank would be a rare accomplishment; touching the threshold of B-rank would be a one-in-a-million miracle.
"What is your name, young man?" Hiruzen asked warmly, acting as if he were hearing it for the first time.
"Shinichi Higashino."
"Well then, Shinichi," the Third Hokage nodded. "Why don't you elaborate? Or better yet, demonstrate your new jutsu directly? Let me see exactly where the problem lies. Perhaps I can offer some advice."
Hearing this, Shinichi hesitated. He glanced uncertainly at the crowded ranks of students around him, looking as though he wanted to speak but couldn't.
The Third Hokage immediately understood. He chuckled and said, "It seems the new jutsu Shinichi has developed packs quite a punch and might be a bit too disruptive to demonstrate down there. In that case, Shinichi, come up to the stage."
"Yes, sir!"
Shinichi complied, stepping out of his class line and making his way through the crowd toward the podium. Simultaneously, irrepressible whispers erupted among the students.
"Shinichi? He actually developed a new Ninjutsu himself?!"
"As expected of Shinichi... I always felt like he knew way more than the rest of us."
"Oh, it's him! The crazy guy! Every morning when I get to school, I see his Shadow Clones beating the absolute crap out of him!"
"Is he the Shinichi Higashino who beat Kakashi back then?"
"That was just a fluke. Kakashi promoted to Chunin ages ago. He's definitely way stronger than him now. They aren't even on the same level anymore!"
"What kind of Ninjutsu did he develop? Did you not tutor him on this?" Sensei Inoue from Class 1 asked curiously.
"I have no idea. The kid never mentioned a word of this to me," Sensei Matsumoto replied, shaking his head.
Fragments of conversation, laced with amazement, curiosity, and doubt, rippled through the ranks. Every single eye was glued to the back of the boy steadily walking toward the stage.
"Go ahead and cast your Ninjutsu, Shinichi. Don't worry, I am right here," the Third Hokage said with an encouraging smile and gentle eyes.
Beside him, the two advisors attending the ceremony, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, also turned their curious gazes toward the boy.
"Yes, sir!"
Shinichi took a deep breath, his expression turning intensely focused. He slowly raised his right hand, his five fingers spreading naturally.
At first, it was just an invisible current of air faintly gathering toward his palm, as if he were molding chakra.
"Hm?"
Seeing this, the Third Hokage merely let out a soft sound of curiosity. But a split second later, his habitual, kind smile vanished entirely.
It wasn't just him. Beside him, both Homura and Koharu's expressions drastically changed at almost the exact same moment.
Hovering right above Shinichi's palm, the invisible gathering of chakra rapidly materialized, becoming visible to the naked eye!
It transformed into rapid, highly compressed, azure currents of chakra that began to rotate at terrifying speeds!
VMM! VMM!
A low, vibrating hum—like the sound of air being simultaneously shredded and compressed—faintly echoed out.
In the blink of an eye, a fist-sized sphere of pale blue light, composed entirely of highly condensed, frantically spinning chakra, hovered steadily above his palm!
Inside the sphere, distinct lines of chakra screamed and flowed like a miniature hurricane, generating visible, chaotic gusts of wind that whipped at Shinichi's sleeves and the hair on his forehead.
The Rasengan!
The so-called "new jutsu" Shinichi claimed to have developed was precisely the high-tier, A-rank, seal-less Ninjutsu that would officially be created in the future by the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, inspired by the Tailed Beast Ball!
At this point in the timeline, Minato Namikaze might be currently conceptualizing it, or perhaps he had just begun experimenting, but the jutsu was absolutely not complete, nor had it been introduced to the world. (Author's Note)
In the original series, the theory and training process for the Rasengan were clearly demonstrated.
Phase One - Gathering: Concentrating chakra into the palm of the hand.
Phase Two - The Water Balloon: Releasing chakra to cause the water inside a balloon to move erratically until it bursts.
Phase Three - The Rubber Ball: Maintaining the released chakra and solidifying it until it can tear through a dense rubber ball.
The final phase combined everything: condensing high-density chakra into the hand, continuously releasing it, maintaining the form, and finally solidifying it into a high-density chakra sphere.
However, after Shinichi completed the third rubber ball phase, he failed to transition into the final stage. He reasoned that there must have been some hidden trick to the Rasengan that wasn't explicitly shown in the anime.
Consequently, he added a fourth phase of his own design: The Iron Ball. After successfully managing to crack a solid iron ball, he successfully manifested a stable Rasengan.
It was only because Shinichi possessed the terrifying, all-encompassing aptitude of an absolute genius—powered by the core [Genius] trait and a stack of supporting buffs—that he was able to achieve this. Otherwise, even with the correct theory and training methods, independently developing the Rasengan would have been nearly impossible.
And this was exactly what Shinichi was aiming for. By developing the A-rank Rasengan before Minato Namikaze could, and by unveiling it at the opening ceremony—a highly public event attended by every student, teacher, and the highest echelon of Konoha's leadership—he would trigger a monumental, explosive impact.
This would directly force the generation of a comprehensive, top-tier Ninjutsu talent trait!