Chapter 17: Minato Namikaze
"Alright, you've convinced me, but since you were the ones who talked me into this, you'll have to speak with Minato-sensei and ask him to confirm that I wasn't avoiding the war and ensure I'm assigned to a good team and a normal mission," said Yasu.
"Yeah! Great, Yasu! Don't worry, I'll talk to Minato-sensei. I'm sure that once he knows you can beat me and use the Mystical Palm Technique, the village won't overlook your potential," said Obito enthusiastically.
Yasu trusted Obito and hoped everything would work out. He had always wanted to become a shinobi. Now, at least he could become a genin. As a genin with Minato's protection, Yasu could go to war and work in one of Konoha's battlefield hospitals to treat injured shinobi.
Even if he were sent into combat, he would be placed with other genin and face, at most, a team of chunin. Yasu was confident in his ability to escape from a group of high-level chunin from enemy villages.
Obito and Rin were excited and set off to find Minato in the village. Since Yasu wouldn't have medical ninjutsu training that day, he decided to begin a new training regimen—he couldn't rely solely on his taijutsu training.
Although important for increasing the purity of his Kekkei Genkai and awakening his Sharingan, it would still take him nearly a year to reach 30% purity. Even then, Yasu knew he wouldn't immediately awaken the Sharingan. He might even need to reach 50% purity before it activated.
Yasu already had some ideas about techniques he wanted and could learn, but he knew which one would be the quickest and most effective for him to start with. So, he went to the ninja tools shop, bought several balloons and rubber balls, and prepared to learn a new jutsu.
The jutsu Yasu decided to learn was the **Rasengan**. It was an extremely difficult jutsu to master, especially since Yasu couldn't use shadow clones as a shortcut like Naruto did. Still, Yasu believed it was worth learning. After all, this jutsu could serve him throughout his life as a shinobi, even at the super-kage level.
He returned to the Forest of Death, where he always trained, and went near the river to fill the balloons with water. Yasu filled a large bag with water balloons and sat near a tree to begin his training.
He correctly recalled all the steps Naruto followed in the anime and soon focused on a single point in his hand. Yasu had excellent chakra control and great concentration, so he quickly made progress.
Yasu picked up a water balloon in his hand and began to channel chakra, spinning it to the right. He noticed the motion was smooth, which meant his chakra naturally rotated to the right. When he tried to change the direction of the chakra sphere, it dissipated.
Yasu calculated and realized he needed to use a large amount of chakra to form the chakra sphere. However, if the chakra sphere dissipated, he could recover a significant portion of the chakra he had used.
Yasu kept trying for quite a while and soon saw significant progress in his training. The water balloon was already shaking a lot, but it hadn't burst yet. This was because Yasu wasn't using his other hand like Naruto had.
After several more attempts, Yasu began to use more chakra, and before long, he managed to burst the balloon for the first time. He accomplished this within a few hours, thanks to his knowledge, exceptional chakra control, and focus. However, by the end of it, he was nearly out of chakra.
Even though Yasu was learning faster than Naruto due to his superior chakra control, it could take him longer to master the Rasengan without the vast chakra reserves Naruto had to waste on errors.
Since he was out of chakra, Yasu shifted to taijutsu training. If Yasu didn't have so many other things to train now, his taijutsu training would have advanced significantly. He hardly tired, even with the increased weight of his training gear.
This meant that if Yasu focused entirely on his training, he could increase the purity of his Kekkei Genkai by 1% in less than two months. Of course, Yasu wouldn't do that because he could grow stronger more quickly with other training methods and even earn system rewards to further boost his bloodline purity.
While Yasu was resting after the intense training session, he sensed something with his sensory jutsu and looked in the direction of the Forest of Death. A few seconds later, Minato appeared in the direction Yasu was watching.
"It seems you realized I was coming, even though I tried to conceal my presence to observe you, Yasu. It looks like you have more talent than Obito and Rin told me about back in the village," Minato said.
"I sensed you approaching even earlier, Minato-sensei. It's something I learned on my own when I improved my chakra control. I can sense the chakra of shinobi even from hundreds of meters away," Yasu replied.
Minato was genuinely surprised to hear this, especially after noticing that Yasu had detected his approach. Sensor-type ninjas in Konoha weren't uncommon, but those who could detect him while he was hiding his presence were limited to the Hyuga, Aburame, and Inuzuka clans.
The Hyuga could sense him because of the Byakugan, a high-level dōjutsu. The Aburame used their tracking insects, and the Inuzuka relied on their canine partners.
Among these clans, the Hyuga could detect shinobi at greater distances, followed by the Aburame, and finally the Inuzuka. However, the Inuzuka excelled at tracking ninjas fleeing Konoha if they had an object with the target's scent for their dogs to follow.
Other sensor ninjas couldn't detect Minato's presence, and their sensing range was much shorter. This demonstrated the extent of Yasu's talent, especially since he had apparently learned this ability on his own.