"Kid, believe in yourself! Even without ninjutsu, you can become a remarkable ninja!"
"Come on, let's keep pushing our limits. How about fifty laps walking on our hands if we can't finish?"
"...." Garou Zenin, his eyes half-lidded, glanced at the exuberant Might Guy, a sigh hidden deep within his chest.
He understood Guy's good intentions.
However, as someone who had reincarnated into this world, he knew better than anyone the limit of pure taijutsu.
Strong? Sure, but there was always a ceiling.
Even the Eight Gates, a pinnacle of taijutsu, were brilliant only for an instant, like fireworks bursting across the dark canvas of the night, beautiful but short-lived.
In this brutal world of shinobi, such brilliance was a fleeting memory, easily forgotten by the endless wars. Garou had no intention of becoming a firework.
Besides, he was the same age as Rock Lee.
No matter how hard he trained, if he stuck to only taijutsu, he would at best reach Lee's level.
During the climactic battles, even after opening six gates, Lee's impact was more symbolic than practical. He could only stand helplessly as his sensei fought and bled. All he could do was watch, powerless.
Garou could vividly imagine the despair Lee must have felt in that moment.
He refused to experience that same helplessness.
He understood it clearly. Pure taijutsu alone had no future.
But he was stuck.
Two years ago, he had woke up in the world of Naruto.
The shock barely settled before he noticed something peculiar, a glowing orb deep within his consciousness.
And then came the bitter realization.
He was fundamentally lacking the talent for nature transformation and genjutsu. He couldn't even master the most basic techniques like the Clone Jutsu.
Still, there was a silver lining. After much trial and error, he found some advantages.
First, his chakra control was exceptionally refined, almost unnaturally so. Second, his control over his body, especially over muscles and movement, was top-tier. Even Guy himself, often commented that even seasoned jonin might not have such mastery over their bodies.
And third, his learning speed was freakishly fast.
He suspected it all tied back to that mysterious orb. And over two years, he noticed it growing stronger as he learned and pushed his limits.
He had no choice but to find another path.
'Forgive me, Guy-sensei'
"Garou," Guy's voice pulled him back. "Your ninjutsu and genjutsu talents are lacking... Are you giving up on taijutsu too?"
There was disappointment in his tone.
Guy had seen the boy's determination firsthand, had taken both Garou and Lee under his wing precisely because they never wavered in the face of adversity. Yet now, after two years of grueling training, Garou seemed to falter.
"Guy-sensei," Garou said, steadying his breath as he continued running, "I'm not giving up. I'm thinking of a different approach."
"Both Lee and I may be unable to perform nature transformations, but we still have chakra and I can control mine exceptionally well. I believe it's possible to develop techniques that don't rely on nature transformation."
Guy opened his mouth, but Garou pressed on, lifting his hand.
In his palm, a concentrated orb of chakra gathered, shimmering faintly under the afternoon sun.
It wasn't a Rasengan. Just a dense, compressed mass of pure chakra.
Guy's eyes widened slightly.
'This… this resembles…'
No, it wasn't quite Rasengan. It lacked the rotational force. It was simply dense chakra held together.
"I often run past the river nearby," Garou continued, "and it made me think… if I could not only condense chakra but make it rotate like a whirlpool, the destructive power would increase exponentially."
He said it casually, but the idea was anything but.
From the day he arrived in this world, he had secretly been training.
Instead of relying on balloon training like Naruto did in the manga, he adapted, piecing together the principles over two painstaking years, developing muscle memory and control.
Garou slowly began to rotate the chakra.
The orb twisted internally like a miniature hurricane, though its surface remained smooth and unbroken.
Guy watched in stunned silence for several seconds before speaking.
"Have you considered... adding rotation in multiple directions?"
Garou froze mid-step after hearing his words.
"What? Multiple directions?"
His mind raced.
'Of course! Why didn't I think of that?'
He immediately tried, but the chakra orb collapsed.
Still, Garou wasn't discouraged.
He simply re-centered his focus, preparing for another attempt.
Before he could, Guy said heavily, "The technique you're trying to create… already exists. It's an A-rank ninjutsu developed by the Fourth Hokage. It's called Rasengan."
"Your technique is fundamentally the same as the Rasengan."
Beside them, Rock Lee looked on, silent but clearly awed, even if he didn't fully understand what had just happened.
"This..." Garou muttered.
"Don't worry," Guy reassured. "It's not plagiarism or theft. Sometimes great minds just think alike. If your talent for ninjutsu and genjutsu were better, you'd undoubtedly have become a top-tier ninja."
There was genuine regret in Guy's voice.
The boy in front of him lacked the conventional talents but to compensate with pure chakra manipulation and creativity... it was nothing short of astounding.
'Such tenacity and ingenuity… a tragedy of talent.'
"It's okay, Sensei," Garou smiled. "When one door closes, another opens. I will forge my own path, and I will be grateful for it.
"I still believe, even without elemental transformations, I can become incredibly strong."
Lee, his eyes shining, finally spoke. "Garou-kun! It's amazing you could figure this out on your own!"
Garou grinned and added, "We shouldn't just train our bodies. We must blend our taijutsu with chakra techniques."
Guy nodded approvingly. "That's called Ninja Body Techniques," he said. "Or nintaijutsu."
"Right!" Garou pumped his fist.
No matter what, taijutsu would remain their foundation.
They resumed their relentless training under the setting sun, each boy lost in his own thoughts.
That evening, after parting ways, Garou returned to his modest village-assigned home.
As he slid the door shut behind him, the day's events replayed vividly in his mind.
He knew he was only scratching the surface.
There were secrets in this world far beyond his reach, like Sage Mode, natural energy, monstrous strength, but as a civilian-born orphan, he had to tread carefully.
If he casually mentioned such high-level concepts now, it wouldn't just attract attention from the Hokage. It might put him under surveillance by the anbu, or worse, land him in Danzo's clutches.
Garou shuddered at the thought of being invited for a party in Root's underground facilities.
"Forgive me again, Guy-sensei," he whispered, setting his mind. "But I have no other choice."
He was twelve years old this year. Graduation was only months away. And within a handful of years, the Fourth Great Ninja War would erupt across the world.
Time was running out. He sat cross-legged in his small room and resumed training, pulling every ounce of chakra from his reserves to practice shaping it externally.
Currently, he could form razor-thin chakra threads strong enough to manipulate kunai and shuriken mid-air but it wasn't enough. It needed to pierce, to destroy.
Exhausted, he grabbed his notebook and started jotting notes.
> [Current Issue: Chakra threads lack penetrating force.]
[Best Result So Far: Rasengan.]
[Next Step: Increase rotation speed or further compress chakra to boost destructive power.]
[Tactics: Incorporate rapid formation and immediate attack integration to avoid the telegraphed, foolish charge-in style Naruto had early on.]
At the bottom, he drew two lines stemming from the Rasengan.
> [Release speed]
> [Compression and mass increase]
Garou closed his notebook, took a deep breath, and steeled himself. He wasn't satisfied with merely recreating known jutsu.
He would refine them, weaponize them and build a fighting style all his own.
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