The next morning arrived quietly. Sunlight filtered through the trees outside the house and I could hear the distant sounds of Konoha waking up.
I sat beneath a tree in the yard, legs crossed as I slowly started putting my recovered chakra into the seal. The diamond-shaped seal on my forehead felt warm beneath my skin. Not painful. Just... present. Like I'd installed a very expensive second chakra reserve and now had to spend the next few months filling it.
Exciting. I'll have so much fun.
A familiar voice broke through the morning calm. "Still alive?"
I looked up.
Minato stood there with his hands in his pockets.
Sunlight caught his blond hair.
Show off.
"... I feel like I've said this before, but it's debatable."
Minato nodded. "Good."
I blinked. "...Good?"
"If you're complaining, you're probably fine."
Fair.
Unfortunately.
Minato sat down beside me.
For a while neither of us said anything.
We didn't really need to. After everything that happened recently, silence wasn't uncomfortable.
Eventually his eyes drifted toward my forehead. "Oh."
"What?"
"You actually started it. Lady Tsunade's special fuinjutsu."
I tapped the seal. "Yeah, yesterday."
His eyebrows rose. "So, how's it going?"
"I'm abusing vacation to dump all my chakra in it while I can."
"...You would."
"I absolutely would."
Minato nodded. "I respect the commitment."
"Thank you."
"I don't respect the sanity."
"That's fair."
The comfortable silence settled again. Then a grin slowly spread across my face. Minato noticed immediately.
His eyes narrowed. "...Why are you smiling like that?"
I pointed at him. "I beat you."
Minato blinked. "...At what?"
My grin widened, then I raised my hand, and the chakra gathered. Rotated. Compressed. A perfect sphere of blue chakra formed above my palm.
Stable.
Balanced.
Complete.
The Rasengan.
Minato froze, like actually froze in place. His eyes widened and the smile disappeared from his face. Not because he was impressed or anything. Because he understood what it was. The exact concept he'd been trying to create ever since we fought the Iwa Jinchūriki a while ago.
"...No way."
"Yes way."
Minato leaned closer.
Then closer.
Then even closer.
Like he was trying to personally inspect every molecule.
"...You finished it."
The disbelief in his voice made me feel ridiculously smug. "I did indeed finish it."
"...How?"
"Through the power of suffering."
"...That's not an answer."
"It is technically accurate."
Minato rubbed his forehead.
I laughed, then my gaze drifted toward the spinning sphere and the smile faded slightly. Back then... After the Jinchūriki, Minato had talked about the concept, he'd had the idea of copying the Biju-dama they threw at us. A technique based purely on shape transformation. No hand signs. No elemental nature, just pure chakra.
Back then I'd known enough to help him learn it quick. Enough to point him in the right direction for sure. I mean, I knew the damn training method.
And I hadn't given it, because I wanted it for myself.
Just one thing.
One thing I could beat Minato at.
One thing that could be mine.
At the time, it felt justified.
Reasonable.
Now?
After Hanzo.
After Shinichi.
After Yukino.
It felt stupid.
The battlefield didn't care who learned a technique first. The dead certainly didn't.
I exhaled slowly. "...I should've told you."
Minato blinked. "About what?"
I gestured toward the Rasengan. "When you first talked about this."
His expression turned confused.
"I had already figured out some things."
Silence.
More silence.
"But I didn't tell you."
Minato stared. "...Why not?"
I laughed once.
Humorless.
Because the answer sounded incredibly dumb now. "...Because I wanted to beat you. And wow, look at me? Guess I did."
The words hung in the air. Dry as a desert. "Perhaps if I'd given you the method, you'd have learned it sooner and been able to do so much more during the war. My stupid pride stopped me."
For a moment Minato simply looked at me. Then he shrugged. "...Yeah."
I blinked. "...Yeah? What do you mean, yeah?"
"Like, yeah, I would've done the same, honestly," he grinned at me.
"Would you now?"
"I mean, we're rivals."
Simple.
Matter-of-fact.
Like it was obvious.
Like there was never another answer.
He considered me his rival.
Yeah, I guess he always did.
That felt pretty good.
Minato looked back at the Rasengan.
"But not anymore."
The words landed quietly, yet somehow hit harder than I expected.
Not anymore.
The rivalry wasn't gone. But it wasn't worth more than people's lives.
Not anymore.
Minato pointed at the Rasengan. "So."
"So?"
"How do I do it?"
I grinned. "Balloons."
"...Balloons."
"Balloons."
"...You're serious."
"Unfortunately."
Minato stared. Then sighed. "...Explain."
And so I did.
The water balloon and its rotation exercise.
The rubber ball. How you needed to master compression and burst it with sheer chakra power.
Then the air balloon for containment and balance.
Every step.
Every failure.
Every breakthrough.
Minato listened carefully.
As always.
Absorbing information at a terrifying speed.
By the time I finished, he sat there thinking.
Hard.
Then finally he said. "...That sounds simple."
I immediately pointed. "There it is."
"What?"
"The trap."
Minato frowned. "The trap?"
"It sounds simple."
"It does."
"It absolutely isn't."
His eyebrow rose. "How long did it take you?"
I scratched my cheek. "...Ever since we fought that Jinchūriki."
Big lie, but I couldn't tell him I've been training to do it for 4 years before we even saw a Biju. Wouldn't make much sense.
Minato stared. "...Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"...That's still insane."
"I know."
The look on his face made me feel significantly better.
Suffer.
Join me.
Then Minato suddenly blinked. "So! What should we name this amazing technique?"
I mean it already has a name, but let's see where he goes with this...
"Hmm..." Minato mused. "Something cool... Something that sounds legendary!"
His eyes lit up.
Oh no.
I knew that look.
That was the look of somebody about to commit crimes against language itself.
I waited patiently for the nonsense he would conjure.
"What about... Heavenly Spiral Chakra orb of infinite destruction?
I immediately facepalmed. "That's way too long."
"How about Giga supreme chakra spin ball of doom!?"
"That's not a name, that's a threat!"
"Eternal whirling sphere of transcendent chakra?"
"Just try saying that three times."
"Ultimate spiral impact!"
"Sounds like a move from a novel."
Minato threw his arm out. "Dual-Layered Spiral Style Maximum Chakra compression technique!"
"There aren't even two layers..."
"Hyper rotating chakra orb of death!"
"A bit much..."
"Hmm," He mused again. "Galactic spiral chakra catastrophe?"
"You're not helping."
"Rasen... Rasen..." (A/N: Meaning spiral in this context)
"You're getting warm."
"Mmmm..." Minato kept thinking.
I sighed. "It already has a name. It's called... The Rasengan."
Silence.
"...Oh, Okay! That one is good too."
"I know."
"...Why didn't I think of that?"
"Because you were busy committing atrocities against naming conventions."
"Hey!" Minato looked deeply offended.
As if I'd insulted his entire bloodline.
Then he stood up, determination already radiating off him. I knew that look. Someone was about to willingly suffer.
"Well, I'm off to buy balloons."
I laughed out loud. "Of course you are."
"Lots of balloons."
"Obviously."
Minato pointed at me. "Don't get comfortable."
I pointed back. "Just don't brag too hard when you get it in a week."
He paused. "...A week?"
"...You're going to try."
"...I am gonna try."
"There it is."
The grin on his face widened. Then he turned and started walking toward the village. Already heading toward the nearest store. Probably about to single-handedly destroy Konoha's balloon economy.
Halfway down the road, he stopped. Without turning around, he spoke. "...Hey."
"Hm?"
"...Thanks."
I looked down at the Rasengan spinning above my palm.
Then toward my friend.
My rival.
And smiled. "...Don't mention it."
Minato waved once.
Then disappeared down the road.
I watched him go.
The Rasengan slowly dispersed in my hand.
Now then, Minato, perhaps you'll catch up quick and learn that Rasengan, right? Well, in that case, I'll just have to one up you once more by developing my own lightning variants faster!
I already have some ideas, hehehe...