Vol.18 Chapter 155 – The Third Step

Jiraiya and Naruto go to meet Tsunade. Sannin is full of enthusiasm, but his apprentice does not share this sentiment. He’s unhappy that after completing two stages of training, he still hasn’t moved on to the third. Jiraiya tells him that he can train the third stage right on the fly and inflates a balloon. He holds the balloon in his hand, but no matter how closely the boy looks into it, he doesn’t notice anything special. Then Jiraiya shows in his other palm what’s going on inside the balloon – there’s a perfectly formed rasengan , which carries enormous power while not bursting the balloon around. Mentor tells me that in the third stage it is important to maintain the speed of rotation and to keep all the chakra within certain limits. To make Naruto understand the importance of this stage, the sannin hits the tree with an unformed jutsu, after which it leaves a spiral-shaped mark on it. But when he uses the rasengan correctly, it cuts through the tree.

Meanwhile, at the ruins of Tanzaku Castle, Orochimaru asks Tsunade to heal his hands. She says she can’t help him since she gave up her medical studies. However, Kabuto assures her that no one but her can help his master. Tsunade suggests that he suffered from some kind of unique jutsu. To which Orochimaru replies that he received this injury while killing the Third Hokage.