A ninja must see underneath the underneath

Chapter 10 - Rasengan and ramen

Later that day, Kakashi made Naruto continue with his chakra control training. The younger shinobi was learning fast. Kakashi on the other hand had a hard time focusing as he kept thinking back to the events of last night... He lifted his headband so he could use his Sharingan to study Naruto's chakra flow.

"He's gotten a lot better at lowering his chakra..." Kakashi mused. "And it's a lot more stable as well. Seems like he got the hang of it fast...".

Naruto sensed he was being watched and turned around to look at his sensei's mismatched eyes. He had always found Kakashi's gaze appealing. His gray eye revealed laziness, kindness, and intelligence, while his Sharingan eye revealed a frightening level of skill, control, and even a hint of killer intent.

"I'm glad I'll never have to face him in a battle to the death..." Naruto thought to himself as he was staring mesmerized into Kakashi's eyes.

"You're doing great Naruto." Kakashi interrupted the genin's thoughts. "Keep it up, and we'll put your skills to the test in a couple of days."

"Alright Kakashi-sensei." Naruto replied with a hint of pride noticeable in his voice.

"For now, seeing how you're slightly injured..." Kakashi said uneasily while scratching the back of his head "...we'll focus on teaching you some of the things we spoke about yesterday." "Do you remember what I said we would be working on?" Kakashi questioned his student.

Naruto frowned as he tried to recall their talk from the day before. "You... you wanted me toooo..." Naruto frowned even more so. "...learn new ninjutsu techniques that I can use long-range...you want us to keep training taijutsu... and you wanted to see if I have a disposition for any other nature elements besides wind," Naruto explained slowly.

"Correct." Kakashi sighed relieved. "Alright, two of those things are related to each other. We will be infusing your chakra nature into the new ninjutsu techniques." "Or that would be the ideal plan." He added hesitantly.

"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as he sat down across the silver-haired shinobi.

"You see Naruto, currently you use ninjutsu techniques, but none of them have a chakra nature infused in them. In other words, they are basic techniques, not advanced ones. Your Rasengan for example is made out of raw chakra. You add shape manipulation to your raw chakra in order for it to become a swirling globe in your hand. Right?" Kakashi asked. Naruto nodded in agreement. "Advanced ninjutsu techniques require not only chakra shape manipulation, but also chakra nature manipulation at the same time. I'll demonstrate it for you to understand." Kakashi explained patiently.

He stood up and continued. "First, I will gather some chakra in the palm of my hand." He said while grabbing the wrist of his injured hand. A slightly purple light gathered itself in Kakashi's hand as Naruto watched his sensei with great interest. "Now I'll apply some chakra shape manipulation." Kakashi said while the light in his hand became a neat little swirling orb, much like Naturo's own Rasengan. "Next I'll infuse the chakra with some electric current from my lightning nature, causing an increase in destructive power."

"It's like a lightning Rasengan..." Naruto interrupted his sensei while looking at the swirling lightning orb with big eyes.

"Right." Kakashi said. "However Naruto, there is a third step. Now, we can change the shape of the power surge even further to make changes to power or range. For example, I can reform our little lightning Rasengan here to a Chidori attack, by changing the shape." Kakashi explained while demonstrating. The orb immediately changed shape and turned into a wild bundle of electric bolts running over Kakashi's hand and wrist, which he then released into the ground.