With the assistance of his Flower-Flower Fruit abilities, Saiki was undeniably powerful. Without them, however, he was essentially just a high-level Chunin.
Facing a chakra monster like Kisame and a future Mizukage like Mei Terumi—especially with their combined large-scale Water Style—even a seasoned Jonin would find the situation nearly impossible to manage.
The standard tactical response to large-scale Water Style is either a counter-Water Style or an Earth Style defense. However, this entire lake had been manifested from Kisame's own chakra; standard defenses would be overwhelmed by the sheer volume.
Saiki could utilize all five elemental natures, but his current mastery was focused on Water, Wind, and Lightning. Earth and Fire were not his primary strengths.
While his Earth and Fire Style were still superior to someone like Obito Uchiha, he was currently facing the elite of the Hidden Mist.
Water dragons roared and sharks bared their teeth. In a single, frantic heartbeat, Saiki analyzed the elemental affinities and calculated the most effective counter-strategy.
Within the domain Kisame had created, running was not an option. He had to meet the attack head-on.
It took time to describe, but the moment Mei and Kisame completed their signs, Saiki had already finalized his plan.
"Water Style: Spiraling Water Vortex!"
He didn't need to weave a single sign. Chakra condensed in Saiki's palm, forming a blue-white Rasengan the size of a basketball.
Since Saiki had already mastered the shape and nature transformation of Water-style chakra, he injected it directly into the sphere. The blue-white orb instantly transformed into a deep, translucent sapphire blue. The surrounding moisture began to spin violently around the core, forming a miniature water tornado.
This technique was functionally similar to the combined jutsu Naruto and Yamato would use in the future, but while theirs was a fusion of two separate spells, Saiki's was a singular evolution. It combined the extreme shape transformation of the Rasengan with the nature transformation of Water. It was the exact Water-style equivalent of Naruto's Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.
Saiki had actually already developed the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, but like Naruto, his physical body wasn't yet durable enough to handle the recoil. Using it would cause irreparable cellular damage.
Even though Saiki's physique was significantly tougher than most ninja, the Rasenshuriken's damage occurred at a microscopic, cellular level. In the original story, Naruto could only bypass the side effects after mastering Sage Mode, which drastically boosted his physical resilience.
The Spiraling Water Vortex, however, was much more stable and gentle on the user's body. Most importantly, it could be thrown as a projectile.
As the water dragons and sharks lunged to tear him apart, Saiki hurled the sapphire vortex forward.
The moment it left his hand, the compressed Rasengan expanded violently. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a gargantuan, high-speed water tornado. It possessed immense shredding power and acted as a near-impenetrable defensive barrier.
BOOM!
The Water Dragon and Water Shark Missile—attacks that would have normally left Saiki critically wounded—slammed into the tornado. With a single thunderous roar, they were instantly shredded by the intense suction and absorbed into the vortex.
Furthermore, while it was difficult for Saiki to manipulate the lake water that was saturated with Kisame's chakra, the sheer physical rotational force of the Spiraling Water Vortex dragged the entire body of water into its rhythm. The lake was swallowed by the expanding storm.
Within seconds, the tornado stood over a hundred meters tall with a diameter of over twenty meters.
"Shit! Get back!"
The moment the tornado began devouring his lake, Kisame realized he had lost all control over his own chakra. Staring at the rapidly expanding catastrophe, he barked a warning at Mei Terumi. He abandoned his "home-field" advantage and turned to bolt in the opposite direction.
Mei didn't need to be told twice. Watching the tornado that seemed ready to swallow the entire world, she used a Body Flicker to clear the path of the storm's advance.
As the tornado tore through the forest, trees several stories high were uprooted like weeds. The very soil of the earth was peeled back in massive layers.
Nearly a kilometer away, Shizune and the others felt the shockwave. They scrambled up the tallest trees and watched in stunned silence as the apocalyptic vortex ravaged the landscape.
Obito and Maeda, who hadn't fled as far, had the clearest view. Obito, who had been grumbling about Saiki's arrogance a moment ago, nearly pissed his pants in terror.
He had actually wanted to go back and help? That wasn't a battle; it was a suicide mission.
Maeda's eyes were wide with shock, but he quickly went silent, cursing wildly in his head: "Fuck this! I'm done with the Chunin Exams. Is this really a battle between Genin? This is just a death sentence."
When the tornado finally dissipated, a massive scar had been carved into the earth—a trench several meters deep and dozens of meters wide, stretching for kilometers. In its wake, everything had been uprooted and pulverized, leaving only a chaotic mess behind.
Back at the Central Tower, staring at the projection in the crystal ball, the previously smug Fuguki Suikazan went completely stiff.
The chakra fluctuation had been so violent that the image in the ball had flickered and nearly died out.
Although Hiruzen Sarutobi still disliked Saiki's lack of "Will of Fire," he was currently vibrating with excitement.
With his expert insight, he recognized the jutsu immediately as a specialized evolution of the Rasengan he had just purchased. A technique that combined extreme shape and nature transformation was undeniably an S-rank jutsu—it was practically a Forbidden Jutsu.
The development potential of the Rasengan was even higher than Hiruzen had anticipated. More importantly, even if Saiki hadn't developed the base move alone, the fact that he could master such a high-level elemental infusion at his age made him a once-in-a-century genius. Hiruzen decided right then and there that he needed to give Saiki a more "important" role in the village; he couldn't let talent like this sit idle.
If Saiki had known Hiruzen's thoughts, he would have just laughed. Right now, he didn't feel like smiling. The Spiraling Water Vortex was more destructive than he had imagined; that single strike carried the weight of a Tailed Beast Bomb.
However, that one move had drained over half of his chakra. In the original story, even a Kakashi with a Sharingan could only manage one or two moves of that caliber before collapsing.
Saiki had previously only practiced "miniature" versions; he hadn't realized the full-power version was such a chakra sink. It made sense why the Rasenshuriken wasn't widely taught in the original series; most ninja simply didn't have the "gas" to cast it.
Only a chakra monster like Naruto, who could toss Rasengans like candy, could truly master it as a standard move.
Saiki expanded his perception. Kisame and Mei were nearby, but he turned and walked away. If Konoha ninja got killed, that was their problem; he wasn't going to risk his remaining reserves to finish off the Mist duo just for the sake of a mission.
"He's leaving."
Staring at the trench that had nearly reached the edge of the forest, Kisame spoke with lingering dread.
"Mm. He must have used up most of his chakra. He chose not to press his advantage," Mei added, equally shaken. The existence of such a genius in the Leaf was a heavy weight on her heart, as someone who truly cared for her own village.