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The training for Rasengan wasn't as simple as Hayato had imagined. First off, Rasengan requires very precise chakra control. Even if you follow the training steps exactly, it still takes a ton of time to get it right—especially without a teacher guiding you.
On top of that, Rasengan demands a lot of chakra. Although Hayato's body got stronger and his chakra reserves started growing after awakening the Hulk bloodline, he was still just a Genin-level ninja. With Genin-level chakra, training Rasengan was obviously very tough.
So, from here on out, Hayato kicked off a much tougher training routine. Like I said before, he had no teacher to guide him, and the only training methods he knew were the simplest ones. Besides extracting chakra, most of his training focused on strengthening his body.
Almost all his effort went into building up his physical power.
Just a few months passed, but Hayato's appearance changed drastically. Before, he was barely over a meter tall, skinny enough that a gust of wind could knock him down.
After months of training, he grew noticeably taller—despite only being around 11 or 12 years old, he was already over 1.6 meters tall. What changed even more was his muscle: his arms, legs, and torso all bulged with defined muscle, stretching his clothes tight. (You could picture his build kind of like the characters from Dragon Ball.)
Standing by the lake outside his home, Hayato balanced on the water surface like it was solid ground—his body completely still. Clearly, his chakra control had reached the point where he could master the "walking on water" training exercise.
Standing there, completely still on the water, he raised his right hand. A small ball of chakra began forming, swirling into a round shape in his palm. But as soon as the sphere formed, it wobbled and then burst with a pop. His attempt at using Rasengan failed.
Hayato didn't mind. He had spent months mastering the first two steps of the Rasengan training. Now only the third and final step remained. The biggest obstacle was still his lack of chakra.
But that was understandable—he had only just unlocked the Hulk bloodline a few months ago, and since then, he had been able to gather chakra little by little.
Those few months of training had brought his chakra levels close to what was needed to train Rasengan. This showed how fast his talent had grown after awakening the Hulk bloodline.
"Keep going!" he muttered.
He kept releasing chakra, gathering it into his palm and shaping it into a rotating sphere again.
Pop!
Another failure.
Still, Hayato wasn't discouraged. Failure is the mother of success. Without failing, how can you succeed? He never thought he was some kind of genius who could learn anything instantly, so he pushed himself even harder.
He kept pouring chakra into his hand until the meridians in his palm were nearly damaged. His arms, palms, and fingers all sent sharp pains, but he ignored it. Without hard training, there's no success. You gotta put in the effort to get results.
Only when his hands were covered in cuts and bruises did Hayato finally stop and rest. But thanks to his incredible recovery ability, by the next day his hands were as good as new, ready to start training all over again.
"Made it! I really made it! Rasengan!" Hayato stared at the glowing orb spinning in his hand with a look of pure joy. After all this time and effort, without anyone to guide him, he had finally mastered the Rasengan jutsu.
He slammed the Rasengan into the lake beneath his feet. Boom! The water exploded like a bomb had gone off, sending a huge spray of water into the air. Hayato pushed off with his foot and quickly retreated to the shore. Only then did the ripples in the lake spread out.
Looking at the massive disturbance he'd caused in the lake, a bright smile spread across his face.
"....."