Now that Obito had chosen his path, Minato started teaching him step by step.
Huo (also known as Yan), after Chakra Nature Transformation, gained powerful characteristics like explosion and burning.
It was powerful, but also incredibly hard to control—the toughest type of chakra nature transformation. Compared to Wind, Earth, or Water natures, which were relatively gentler after transformation, Huo and Lightning were violent and formidable.
Time passed quickly. The bright moon now hung directly above their heads.
Under Minato's guidance, Obito had begun preliminary attempts at applying Huo-nature chakra to the Rasengan.
At this early stage, with Minato observing closely by his side, there was no need to worry about accidents. Encouraged by his sensei, Obito took bold steps in his practice.
He immediately started gathering and rotating Huo-nature chakra directly in his palm.
As a Jonin, Obito already mastered part of the Chakra Nature Transformation techniques, naturally including his innate affinity—Huo.
But the kind of transformation required for Rasengan slightly deviated from what he usually used in regular ninjutsu.
Still, thanks to his foundation, he caught on fast.
While watching Obito train with focused determination, Minato didn't remain idle either, keeping a sharp eye on his student's hands in case of any unexpected incident.
"Boom!"
A fiery red Black Flame exploded violently from Obito's palm, instantly spreading outward.
Obito hadn't anticipated such a sudden change. Shock and surprise flashed across his face, showing absolutely no preparation for an emergency response.
Minato frowned, his figure disappearing instantly and reappearing beside Obito, placing his right hand on the boy's shoulder. In another flash of yellow light, they both vanished from that spot.
"Crackle! Hiss!"
The flames raged where they once stood, seemingly igniting with the air itself, producing strange crackling sounds.
"Are you alright?"
Minato glanced at the flame, then looked back at Obito.
"I'm fine, sensei!"
Obito replied with lingering fear, opening his right hand. Some parts were already charred black.
He could also feel burning pain coming from the skin on his palm—an apparent result of the chakra backlash caused by the failed Chakra Nature Transformation attempt.
"Don't rush during practice. I was here this time—next time, you might not be so lucky."
Minato shifted his gaze back to where the fire had extinguished, leaving behind a crater about one meter in radius.
The area around the crater was smooth, pitch-black, and still releasing thin wisps of white smoke—proof of how close they'd come to disaster.
"I understand, sensei!"
Nodding solemnly, Obito slowly clenched his right fist again, his expression growing more serious.
Just now, he indeed acted too aggressively, rushing to master the technique quickly. He hadn't expected the sudden loss of control—nearly costing himself his life.
Watching Obito intently, Minato smiled gently and said, "Can you continue? If so, start again slowly—don't hurry. With your foundation, as long as you proceed step by step, you'll surely grasp it in a short amount of time!"
Gently patting Obito's shoulder, Minato offered encouragement.
"I understand!"
Obito nodded, then took a few steps sideways, preparing to resume his training.
"Alright, take it step by step. If you have anything you don't understand, come find me! I'm heading back for today!"
Minato stood silently, observing that Obito had indeed learned from his previous failure and no longer acted recklessly. He gave a slight nod before speaking.
Obito didn't respond, only offering a quiet nod in return.
Minato didn't mind. He turned around sharply, and with a "whoosh," his figure instantly vanished from the spot.
Although he had left, he wouldn't just leave Obito all by himself. At his signal, an Anbu ninja remained at the training ground, keeping watch over Obito's condition to prevent any accidents.
...
"Whoosh!" Minato reappeared in front of his own door.
"Slap!"
Suddenly realizing something, Minato smacked his forehead, his face twisting in frustration and disbelief.
While teaching Obito earlier, he'd overlooked a crucial point.
The Rasengan infused with elemental nature transformation hadn't reached maximum completion, so it couldn't travel far from the body. Otherwise, it would lose control and activate the jutsu immediately.
This meant even the Spiral Shuriken couldn't achieve long-range attacks.
He himself could manage it because he'd mastered Sage Art. That allowed him to channel some Sage Chakra into the Spiral Shuriken, stabilizing its shape and delaying the explosion.
So what he told Obito about directly using the Spiral Shuriken for long-distance attacks was completely wrong.
When he said that, he hadn't realized he was projecting his own skills onto Obito. He assumed everyone had access to Sage Art and could manipulate Sage Chakra like he did — which was a huge mistake.
"What an idiot I was!"
Minato stood at his doorstep, shaking his head in disappointment — at himself.
All that daily paperwork must've numbed his brain — how else could he have missed something this big?
Without Sage Chakra to control the jutsu, even if Obito used the Spiral Shuriken, he could only attack from dangerously close range — no more than about a meter away.
But for a technique of that level, how could its effective blast radius really be so small?
Minato spun around without hesitation — he had to find Obito right away.
This was his failure as a teacher — he needed to go back and explain further. Otherwise, he would be endangering Obito.
Using the nature-transformed Rasengan up close without Sage Chakra to control it was nothing but a foolish move — one that would destroy the enemy while bringing massive self-damage!
His eyes drifted to a room upstairs where light was still on behind the window. Smiling bitterly, Minato decided against going in to greet anyone. His figure vanished in a flash, gone before the door could creak open.
...
Obito was still practicing. Unexpectedly receiving Minato's guidance and acquiring a powerful new jutsu excited him greatly, so he had no intention of going home early.
After Minato left, he kept trying Fire Nature Transformation, hoping to find the precise chakra state needed for the Rasengan.
Previously, the fire nature and shape transformation he mastered merely enhanced flame temperature and concentration, thus doubling the damage output when performing Fire Release techniques.
However, the Rasengan required burning and explosive properties — a type of Chakra Nature Transformation that was extremely difficult to master.
Luckily, Obito had some foundational knowledge and a natural talent for fire-based techniques. Although it remained challenging, through repeated practice sessions, he was gradually grasping the skill.
He believed that if he kept training, within half a month he'd finally reach that threshold — and get a glimpse of the incredible power beyond!
Dispersing the chakra in his hands once more, revealing slightly scorched skin on the surface, Obito exhaled deeply.
This technique truly lived up to what Minato-sensei had described — it was highly dangerous.
After practicing for such a short time, he could already feel the burning pain in his palms, and the chakra consumption was quite intense as well!
"I guess I really need to hire a medical ninja to accompany me during the next session."
A faint smile tugged at Obito's lips as his mind wandered for a moment, then he steeled himself and prepared to continue practicing.
The sooner he mastered it, the stronger he would become. The current situation was growing increasingly unstable, and even someone as easygoing as Obito sensed something unusual — giving him a sense of urgency.
He felt that his next encounter with Saitama Uchiha wouldn't be far off.
Before that, he had to acquire the ability to defeat him, and this jutsu was exactly what Obito hoped for.
"Shwaa!"
While still lost in thought, a flash of yellow light passed before Obito's eyes — it was his teacher Minato, who had just left not long ago.
A flicker of confusion crossed his face as he turned and asked,
"Sensei Minato, what..."
"Haha, I suddenly remembered something important, so I came back quickly."
Minato's expression briefly showed embarrassment, his right hand scratching the back of his golden head.
"What happened, teacher?"
Obito paused his practice and asked.
"It's about ninjutsu..."
Knowing he shouldn't hold anything back, Minato told Obito everything he had previously forgotten to mention.
As Minato explained, Obito's face gradually turned pale, looking visibly unwell.
"If that's what you're saying, Minato-sensei, does it mean I currently cannot master the Rasengan with Nature Transformation?"
He swallowed hard — the earlier joy of possibly mastering a new jutsu now faded, leaving only disappointment behind.
"Well...I wouldn't say it's absolutely impossible. It's still doable, but you must first learn [Sage Art]!"
Minato said earnestly.
"[Sage Art], huh..."
Though Obito had never heard of [Sage Art] before, he learned of the term after completing their last mission.
Saitama Uchiha had mastered a form of [Sage Art] — according to Kakashi, it was the [Snake Sage Art] from [Ryuchi Cave].
After all these years, this was the first time he had actually seen [Sage Art], clearly showing just how hard it was to master. How many shinobi in the entire [Shinobi World] had truly achieved it?
Without any connections, where was he supposed to go to learn this [Sage Art]?
Troubled, Obito's eyes clouded over.
What Minato-sensei said made sense — without Sage Chakra, he couldn't prevent the Rasengan from damaging himself after Nature Transformation.
Even if he didn't care about the physical damage using this ninjutsu might cause, such a powerful technique would still leave him unable to escape its blast radius fast enough.
This was just like using a jutsu to take down an enemy at the expense of his own life!
Thinking this, a sudden realization flashed through Obito's mind, and a silly grin spread across his face.
He had forgotten the most important thing!
If Sensei could use it, didn't that mean he had mastered Sage Art too?
Although he had never heard of or seen his teacher using it before, there was no doubt in his mind—his teacher definitely knew Sage Art!
With hope shining in his eyes, Obito slowly lifted his gaze toward Minato, who stood several meters away.
"So then, Sensei, this Sage Art..."
"Hmm. I can teach it to you. I've already mastered Frog Sage Art, which is how I'm able to use long-range Rasengan."
"But learning Sage Art is much harder than Chakra Nature Transformation for the Rasengan. It took me over half a year to learn!"
Minato smiled as he looked at Obito, speaking under the boy's hopeful gaze.
He had thought through so many things, but completely forgot about the prerequisites for learning Sage Art!
Still, it wasn't too late to make up for it. Obito should have the talent needed to learn it—it just wouldn't be something he could master quickly and turn into battlefield strength anytime soon.
"I see..."
Obito fell silent in thought. Sage Art sounded anything but simple. If he did manage to learn it, he would definitely become much stronger, like the Saitama he had encountered that day.
But Minato also mentioned it might take a lot of time and effort—something he wasn't eager to invest.
If it took Sensei half a year just to get started, how long would it take him?
Obito frowned, caught in hesitation.
He understood that any learning process was slow and boring, but spending half a year right now on mastering Sage Art clearly deviated from his original goal.
"Well then…"
Obito really wanted to refuse, but becoming stronger required going down this path.
If he hoped to retaliate strongly the next time he encountered someone who had crushed him with overwhelming power, learning this Sage Art seemed absolutely necessary!
"Actually, not learning Sage Art might still be acceptable!"
Minato noticed Obito's dilemma. He himself knew very well how difficult Sage Art was to master—not everyone could do it, and even fewer succeeded.
When he learned it, he had come across countless stone frog statues—each a failed attempt by frogs from Mount Myoboku, who are naturally suited to Sage Art.
Obito looked at his teacher, puzzled.
Earlier, it was his teacher who said one must master Sage Art to perform Chakra Nature Transformation on the Rasengan.
Now, it was the same teacher claiming there might be other ways to achieve it without Sage Art.
Rather than showing annoyance, Obito felt restless inside—like ants crawling under his skin, making him increasingly impatient.
"Whoosh!"
Meeting Obito's gaze head-on, Minato suddenly pulled out a kunai from behind his back.
Not an ordinary kunai, but Minato's custom-made tri-pronged one, etched with his own unique seals.
"This..." Obito felt puzzled. This seemed like one of Minato-sensei's techniques.
Thoughts raced through his head. Fixing his gaze on the kunai, flickers of light danced at the back of his pupils as if he had suddenly realized something.
Earlier, Minato-sensei had explained that the purpose of learning Sage Art was to stabilize the Rasengan's form so it wouldn't lose control once it left the body and would activate immediately.
And after mastering Sage Art, infusing Sage Art Chakra into the Rasengan after Chakra Nature Transformation enabled long-range attacks.
Looking at the kunai in Minato's hand, Obito understood what his teacher was implying.
Even without mastering Sage Art, using a nature-transformed Rasengan for close combat wasn't impossible either.
As long as you used the Flying Thunder God to escape the damage range instantly when launching the technique, you could still achieve the effect of a "long-range attack."
Realizing this, joy surged across Obito's face again.
"It seems like you've figured it out!"
Minato gave a flick of his wrist, and the kunai landed in Obito's palm.
[Flying Thunder God!] "It's my own space-time ninjutsu — one of the last few remaining in the entire Shinobi World."
"But learning the Flying Thunder God is difficult too. As far as I know, are you the only one in the entire village who has mastered this technique?"
Obito asked. After the initial excitement faded, he found himself focusing on the key issue once again.
"That's right!" Minato nodded, acknowledging the difficulty of the Flying Thunder God. "The choice is yours — whether to learn Sage Art or the Flying Thunder God. If you've got the talent, I believe the Flying Thunder God is actually easier to master than Sage Art."
"After all, I've developed the Flying Thunder God Technique to its current level. But with Sage Art, even after studying it for so long, I can barely use Sage Art Chakra for simple applications."
Minato looked at Obito, waiting for his response.
"In that case..."
Obito already knew what his decision should be.
He recalled his last encounter with Saitama Uchiha — the unmatched speed he had displayed — and his eyes gradually lit up. The answer was already on the tip of his tongue.
"Sensei, I want to try learning the Flying Thunder God!"
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