My Techniques are a bit off

Two Days Later – Training Ground Seven

"You've gotten stronger, Sasuke."

Link let go, exhaled heavily, and spoke from the heart.

This kid had been improving at an insane rate lately.

His taijutsu and physical abilities had skyrocketed, as if he had no upper limit.

It was almost scary how fast he was growing.

He could now spar evenly with Link, something that seemed unthinkable just a few months ago.

His Fire Release and Genjutsu were basically straight out of Fugaku's textbook.

His Sharingan mastery was reaching a frightening level.

And his overall combat ability was pushing past Chunin level, now brushing against Jonin-tier strength.

In just a few months.

Sasuke smirked, deactivating his Sharingan.

"It's thanks to your jutsu."

He intentionally left out the fact that Kakashi had been training him in Lightning Release chakra control.

Then, his gaze flickered toward Gaara, who was sitting on a rock, watching their training.

"What's up with him?"

"Even his chakra feels… different."

Link rolled his shoulders, loosening up his sore muscles from their sparring match.

"Probably because he resolved something inside himself."

Then, he smiled knowingly.

"Maybe kind of like you."

Sasuke froze for a moment, then quickly changed the subject.

"You said you ran into Naruto in the Land of Rivers…?"

Link chuckled at how Sasuke wasn't as awkward anymore when mentioning his teammate.

"You waited until training was over to ask?"

He shrugged, then casually said, "Don't worry. He's doing fine. In fact, he learned a really powerful jutsu."

Rasengan.

The pinnacle of shape transformation in chakra control.

That night, after eating ramen together, Naruto had eagerly shown it off, excitedly demonstrating his new ultimate technique.

He hadn't even considered keeping it a secret.

Link had already experimented with training Rasengan before.

He even attempted to learn it himself—

But he got stuck at the third phase:

Sustaining high-density chakra in his palm long enough to break a balloon.

There were two reasons why he couldn't complete it.

1. It was insanely difficult.

The official lore made it very clear that Rasengan was extremely hard to master.

Naruto learned it quickly, but that was not normal.

2. His chakra reserves were too low back then.

Rasengan mimics a Tailed Beast Bomb—it's a jutsu designed for Jinchuriki.

It requires a huge amount of chakra, making it impractical for most non-Jinchuriki to use regularly.

Even though Link's chakra had improved over time,

He eventually dropped Rasengan because…

The name sounded too plain.

[Rasengan? Just means "Spiraling Sphere." That's so boring.]

But there was one more hidden requirement that most people overlooked:

You need a strong enough body.

High-density chakra has weight.

When fully materialized, it becomes insanely heavy.

Remember when Four-Tails Naruto tried using a Tailed Beast Bomb against Orochimaru?

The moment he formed the sphere,

He immediately collapsed into a rolling ball,

Because it was too heavy to carry.

Rasengan is a weaker version of that.

Which is why nobody throws it—

It's simply too damn heavy to be practical as a projectile.

That's why its most effective use is:

Close-range combat.

Fast execution.

Slamming it into the target instantly.

But… Naruto's way of running at people with it?

Link had no words for that.

"A really strong jutsu?"

Sasuke's expression shifted slightly, his eyes wavering for a moment.

Then, after a brief hesitation, he said:

"I also learned something strong… but it's a Lightning Release jutsu."

"No need to tell me what it is."

Link cut him off with a knowing smile.

He already knew what it was.

Chidori.

Unlike Rasengan, this was a jutsu that couldn't be stolen so easily.

Even if Link watched Sasuke train,

If he copied it, it would definitely ruin his relationship with Kakashi.

That wasn't worth it.

Besides, Lightning Release wasn't his priority right now.

Just like Uchiha naturally focused on Fire Release,

Link had chosen to focus on Wind Release first.

Fire and Lightning could come later.

For now, he needed to perfect his Wind nature chakra control.

Sasuke nodded, not pressing the subject.

"I'll be in the village for the next month."

"Kakashi said we should focus on personal training for now."

Link nodded.

"Got it. Then we'll resume our usual training schedule."

Then, he casually added:

"Oh, and come over for dinner tonight."

He disappeared in a flash.

As a Jonin on standby,

He was supposed to report to the Jonin waiting room after his daily training.

He wasn't part of the Medical Corps anymore, so he had no excuse to skip it.

Skipping occasionally was fine, but doing it too often would cause problems.

Being a Special Jonin wasn't as "free" as he thought.

…

Meanwhile – Land of Rivers, Deep Forest

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Four figures darted through the dense trees at high speed.

Arriving at a rock cave entrance, they halted.

Perched on a nearby tree branch, a snake flicked its tongue, its slitted pupils scanning the group.

Then, it focused on the giant wooden barrel strapped to the fat man's back.

Before long, footsteps echoed from within the cave.

A pale, sinister face emerged from the shadows.

"Long time no see, Sasori."

Orochimaru's smile was eerie.

The Akatsuki member before him was not in his original body.

He wore a red cloud cloak over a backup puppet body—

Only his cold, indifferent eyes were visible beneath the hooded mask.

"So… it was you who captured Kabuto?"

Orochimaru chuckled softly, his golden eyes glinting.

Sasori's voice was calm, emotionless:

"You took my subordinate without permission…"

"You're bold, Orochimaru."

Behind him, Kabuto adjusted his glasses, smiling politely.

"My apologies, Orochimaru-sama."

"I accidentally caught Link's attention… and that led to the base being destroyed."

"I tried to convince Sasori-sama to cooperate with you…"

"But unfortunately, he wasn't interested."

Orochimaru absorbed the information quickly, his smirk widening.

"I see."

"So… you're here to return Kabuto to me?"

Sasori's voice remained calm:

"Hand over the Akatsuki ring."

Orochimaru's gaze flickered toward the clay bird hovering above them.

"So that's your new partner?"

"Doesn't seem very reliable… just a brat, really."

"Shhh—BOOM!"

A kunai exploded, triggering the start of battle.

The moment the explosion rang out—

Both men launched their attacks simultaneously.

"CLANG! CRACK!"

Orochimaru, using Earth Release, appeared beside Sasori—

And sliced through ten wooden puppet arms with a single sword swing.

"Your puppets seem a lot weaker than before, Sasori."

He smirked, casually lifting his sword.

"Did Link-kun cause you that much trouble?"

~~~

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