Chapter 170: Dark Rasengan! The Concept of an Artificial Jinchūriki Form!
Whoosh!
A raging blue sphere rapidly expanded before his eyes, spinning wildly counterclockwise.
Tsukasa felt a chill run down his spine, instinctively leaping back and drawing his Kusanagi blade to cleave it in two.
But the next moment, he abruptly stopped his strike.
"Minato!"
Minato was still holding the Rasengan—this strike might kill the future Fourth Hokage!
Minato also realized that if the Rasengan exploded, it would be disastrous. He hurriedly tried to pull back his chakra, but the massive amount already compressed in the sphere was spinning wildly under centrifugal force and couldn't be retrieved.
Seeing the Rasengan growing larger and more unstable, he immediately reached for his kunai pouch, leaving a marked kunai behind before instantly vanishing.
In a flash of yellow light, he traveled an incredible distance.
BOOM!
After the explosion, a disheveled Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to the haystacks at the abandoned village.
He scratched his slightly frizzed blond hair, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Tsukasa, um..."
Minato was about to apologize when Tsukasa suddenly frowned, staring thoughtfully at the ground where the explosion had occurred.
At that moment, the still-prototype Rasengan had exploded, creating a massive spiral-shaped crater in the earth.
The power, and this unstable, uncontrollable form, instantly reminded him of the Zero-Tails' Dark Chakra—
Equally violent, equally uncontrollable, and unusable as a standard jutsu.
He'd mostly used this immense chakra for dramatic effect, like creating powerful gusts of wind when activating his enhanced state, while otherwise channeling it into his forbidden technique—Corpse Modification.
But with the Cursed Seal enhancing his body and the ability to use multiple levels of Orochimaru-Style: Replacement Technique, Tsukasa had more tactical options. He no longer needed to tank all the damage like he had in the past.
Furthermore, the Orochimaru-Style: Replacement Technique's regeneration efficiency was higher than the forbidden technique's. This suddenly left Corpse Modification in a rather awkward yet indispensable position in his entire combat system.
It was certainly useful—after all, it was a prerequisite for other abilities—but its usage in actual combat would predictably decrease significantly.
Therefore, the Zero-Tails' dark chakra remained unused.
This was undoubtedly wasteful.
Tsukasa had never found a good way to control this power, but now, after seeing the prototype of Minato's Rasengan, a flash of inspiration struck him.
The technique involved rapid rotation, creating centrifugal force that caused the chakra to spin uncontrollably and become violent.
What if he reversed this approach and started with violent chakra from the beginning?
For example, dark chakra.
At this moment, Minato noticed Tsukasa's dazed expression and assumed he was stunned by the dangerous mishap. After all, he was only twelve years old. Seeing this, Minato felt extremely apologetic.
"Um... Tsukasa, I'm sorry, I—"
"Don't say anything!"
Tsukasa immediately turned and fixed Minato with an intense stare.
"How did you do that just now?"
After asking the question, Tsukasa realized it was somewhat redundant. Minato was undoubtedly creating a Rasengan, and was currently stuck at the final stage of chakra control.
After witnessing the extreme compression that humans couldn't achieve—the Tailed Beast Ball created by the 8:2 ratio of Yang and Yin chakra, which produced power comparable to a nuclear explosion—
Minato had been inspired and thought of using rotation to replace the 'compression' process.
This was different from the three stages of Rasengan training that Jiraiya would eventually teach Naruto:
The first stage was to rotate the chakra.
The second stage was to give the rotating chakra immense power.
The third stage was to maximize both rotation and power while maintaining stability.
From the very beginning, Minato had started from the third stage, aiming to create a 'Tailed Beast Ball' that ordinary human shinobi could use.
Tsukasa frowned deeply, lost in thought.
Based on what he knew from Naruto's future demonstrations, the Rasengan possessed considerable potential for development—truly, any chakra nature could be added to it.
After all, Naruto had created thirty-seven different variations of the Rasengan.
If Tsukasa could master the Rasengan and integrate the Zero-Tails' dark chakra into it, he could develop a Dark Rasengan that suited his fighting style and allowed him to utilize that volatile chakra!
This was entirely feasible!
However, a single Dark Rasengan wasn't sufficient for Tsukasa's current level.
Those he faced were mostly Kage-level opponents—adding one more Rasengan wouldn't change much.
This was why he hadn't considered it before.
But now—
After seeing the prototype Rasengan used by Minato—
After witnessing this method of controlling berserk power through 'rotation' in its final stage—
A rebellious, even bolder idea suddenly formed in Tsukasa's mind!
His physical condition far surpassed that of a normal shinobi like Minato.
First, he was practically a pseudo-jinchūriki, possessing regenerative abilities even more terrifying than actual Tailed Beast hosts.
Second, his Fire Release: Chakra Mode's transformation and control over flames during activation was comparable to a Tailed Beast Cloak.
Finally, the speed and physical attributes granted by the Cursed Seal of Heaven were comparable to a jinchūriki's Half-Tailed Beast Transformation.
The Fire Release: Chakra Mode's offensive power wasn't as overwhelming as one might imagine—many powerful opponents who'd fought Tsukasa had found ways to resist it. However, if he changed his approach—not using Fire Release: Chakra Mode for concentrated attack power, but instead as a permanent transformation state in conjunction with the Cursed Seal of Heaven—
Tsukasa would essentially become a functional 'artificial Tailed Beast,' except for the inability to fire Tailed Beast Balls.
Furthermore, this cloak was similar to the Four-Tails jinchūriki Rōshi's Lava Release: Chakra Mode, possessing the characteristic of high-temperature burning!
Looking at it this way, if he could master the Dark Rasengan and solve the problem of launching prepared Rasengans at range, Tsukasa could completely impersonate a Tailed Beast.
Minato needed to control the Rasengan's form to prevent it from exploding, to avoid harming himself and maintain stability in battle.
But Tsukasa didn't need that!
He needed greater firepower, a more powerful explosion, and wider area coverage!
Making the Rasengan into a true Tailed Beast Ball was more suitable for him!
And now, Minato's current method of using the Rasengan—not the perfected form but a rudimentary one—using rapid rotation to create centrifugal force, causing the chakra to spin uncontrollably and violently, thus amplifying its destructive power—
Actually gave Tsukasa incredible inspiration!
He felt he'd found the correct way to use the Rasengan for his purposes—
Sage Art: Super Giant Ball: Dark Tailed Beast Ball Rasengan! (Unstable Version)
An artificial Tailed Beast Ball!
This technique would connect everything he'd learned so far, forming an ultimate combat form that completely unleashed Tsukasa's full fighting potential—
A truly artificial Tailed Beast Mode!
BOOM!
Instantly, it was as if Tsukasa had been struck by enlightenment, becoming extremely excited.
He abruptly raised his head, looking at Namikaze Minato, who stood there with an awkward expression, unsure whether to speak. A mischievous grin spread across Tsukasa's face.
"Minato, can you demonstrate that again? Like the one just now..."
Minato's eyes widened in astonishment as he looked at Tsukasa, trying to explain:
"Tsukasa, that technique isn't perfected yet. It has many flaws. If you want to learn it, you should wait for me to—"
Tsukasa immediately shook his head vigorously.
Rasengan? Who wanted to learn that?
"No, no, no—I want to see the one you just used!"
Tsukasa's eyes shone as he stared at Minato, giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up.
"That was absolutely incredible!"
End of Chapter 170