Satoru arrived at Training Ground 3 expecting another brutal physical workout. His body was still recovering from yesterday's conditioning, his muscles sore, his pathways still warm from the repeated chakra exercises. He had slept poorly again, the lingering ache in his shoulder keeping him awake.
Instead of the usual collection of training posts and worn patches of earth, Guy had prepared something different. A small training area near the stream that ran through the training ground. Several flat stones had been arranged in a rough circle. Containers of water sat nearby. Scattered leaves lay on the grass, their surfaces still damp with morning dew.
Guy greeted him with his usual explosive enthusiasm.
"Excellent! You have returned! Your spirit blazes brightly even after yesterday's trials!"
Satoru internally sighed. I wasn't aware that surviving one day of training qualified as a spiritual achievement.
Guy gestured toward the arrangement. "Yesterday, we identified the limits of your current body! Today, we begin forging a vessel worthy of the flames of youth!"
Satoru looked at the stones, the water, the leaves. No weights. No weapons. No sparring equipment.
This looks suspiciously peaceful. Which means it is probably going to be horrible.
Satoru asked why they were starting with chakra control when he had specifically come to learn the Gates.
Guy's expression became serious, though the enthusiasm remained. "The Gates magnify what already exists! If your chakra pathways are inefficient, the Gates will magnify that inefficiency! If your body cannot distribute chakra smoothly, increased output only makes the problem worse!"
He paused, letting the words settle. "The flames of youth do not become brighter simply because you throw more fuel into them! First, you must build the furnace! Then you may unleash the flame!"
Satoru translated this into practical terms. Better circulation. Greater pathway tolerance. More precise chakra distribution. Less wasted chakra. Better recovery.
He realised Guy's training philosophy aligned surprisingly well with his own new principle. Every unit of chakra needed to be worth more.
Guy began with a familiar chakra-control exercise: water walking.
Satoru initially assumed this would be trivial. He had mastered ordinary tree walking and water walking during his Academy years.
Guy revealed the catch.
Instead of standing on calm water, Satoru had to walk across a shallow section where the current was constantly changing. Guy periodically disturbed the water with his feet or threw stones into the stream. The goal was to force Satoru to constantly adjust the chakra reaching his feet.
Satoru stepped onto the water.
The first few steps were stable. Then a current shifted. His chakra distribution became uneven.
Splash.
Satoru fell into the water.
He tried increasing chakra output. That made things worse. Too much chakra created excessive force against the water. Too little caused him to sink. He needed constant micro-adjustments.
His damaged pathways made those adjustments slower than they should have been.
This isn't testing how much chakra I can use. It's testing how precisely I can use it.
Guy enthusiastically praised the realisation. "Excellent! You understand! Now keep experimenting!"
Satoru repeatedly fell. Guy kept correcting small things. Breathing. Foot placement. Relaxing his shoulders. Avoiding unnecessary chakra. Keeping his attention on the soles of his feet.
Guy didn't rush him. This surprised Satoru because Guy had seemed almost relentlessly aggressive during physical conditioning. Here, Guy was extremely patient.
"Strength without control is simply wasted youth! Do not fight the water! Listen to it! Your chakra must move with you!"
Satoru eventually crossed several meters without falling. He didn't succeed perfectly, but his control was noticeably better.
He paused and examined his chakra pathways. The familiar resistance was present. But compared with yesterday, the discomfort was slightly less pronounced. He realised the pathways weren't reacting as violently to continuous low-level chakra manipulation.
They aren't healed. They're becoming accustomed to controlled circulation.
Training wasn't repairing the damage directly; it was increasing his body's tolerance to working around it.
Guy moved to the second exercise. He scattered several leaves in front of Satoru.
Standard leaf concentration required controlling chakra against a single leaf. Guy's version required Satoru to maintain multiple leaves simultaneously. Each leaf required a different amount of chakra. The objective was independent chakra regulation.
Satoru had to maintain all of them without allowing one to steal chakra from another.
At first, he tried to divide his chakra evenly.
Guy immediately told him that was wrong. "Every leaf has a different weight, position, and movement! Equal distribution isn't efficient distribution!"
Satoru adjusted. One leaf stayed suspended. Another dropped. A third shot upward. Another spun wildly.
He became increasingly frustrated.
Guy told him not to become angry. "Your chakra is not a hammer! It is a flame! You must give each spark exactly what it needs!"
Satoru recognised the underlying principle. Precision over volume.
He began mentally categorising chakra usage. A small amount for one leaf. Moderate amount for another. Constant correction for moving targets.
He realised this resembled combat resource management. A shinobi didn't need maximum output everywhere. They needed maximum efficiency where it mattered.
My damaged body may never tolerate wasteful chakra usage the way it once could. Precision becomes even more important.
Guy introduced the third exercise. Satoru sat cross-legged. He had to circulate chakra through his entire body. But instead of doing it normally, he had to deliberately slow the circulation. The objective was to maintain an uninterrupted cycle. No sudden bursts. No acceleration. No forcing through resistance.
The chakra had to travel smoothly through every pathway.
Satoru quickly discovered this was harder than expected. At normal speed, momentum helped chakra move through damaged areas. Slowing it down forced him to actually feel every irregularity. Scarred sections. Areas where circulation became sluggish. Places where he instinctively pushed harder.
Guy caught him compensating. "If you cannot walk slowly, young Satoru, how will you ever run with the flames of youth burning through you?"
Satoru realised the exercise wasn't about strengthening the pathways through force. It was teaching his body to tolerate steady, controlled pressure.
The exercise lasted for a long time. His body wasn't physically exhausted. Yet maintaining perfect circulation became mentally draining. He had to consciously monitor dozens of sensations.
Eventually, he began detecting subtle changes before they became painful.
That was the real breakthrough. Before, pain told him when he was pushing too far. Now he was beginning to recognise the warning signs before pain appeared.
Guy noticed the change and smiled.
Just as Satoru thought the chakra-control portion was finished, Guy announced the physical portion.
Satoru immediately regretted feeling relieved.
Guy launched into a brutal circuit. Running. Squats. Push-ups. Core exercises. Lunges. Balance work. Flexibility drills.
But unlike yesterday, Guy wasn't trying to exhaust him as quickly as possible. Every exercise was controlled. Guy repeatedly stopped Satoru whenever his form deteriorated.
Satoru noticed the difference. Guy wasn't asking how many he could do. He was asking whether he could perform every repetition correctly.
"A thousand careless repetitions cannot surpass one thousand perfect repetitions!"
Satoru internally noted that Guy was essentially teaching him physical chakra efficiency through movement. Every wasted movement meant wasted energy. Every poor posture created unnecessary strain.
Guy emphasised stretching and mobility. Satoru initially thought it was unrelated to the Gates. Guy explained that increased speed and force placed greater stress on joints, tendons, muscles, and connective tissue. A body had to be able to move through its full range of motion before it could safely handle extreme acceleration.
Satoru realised this was especially important because the Sharingan let him perceive movements his body sometimes couldn't execute. Flexibility and physical conditioning would narrow that gap.
During short recovery periods, Satoru noticed something unusual. His breathing settled faster than yesterday. His muscles stopped trembling sooner. The dull ache in his pathways faded more quickly.
He started timing his recovery mentally. Yesterday, exhaustion lingered. Today, it receded faster.
During a short rest, he realised something. His repeated First Gate activation may have already begun conditioning his body. The Gate wasn't only something he used during combat. Every controlled activation exposed his body to demands beyond its normal threshold. His pathways were adapting to those demands.
But Guy's training was doing something different. First Gate was controlled exposure to extreme output. Conditioning was increasing the body's ability to tolerate that output. Chakra control was making that output more efficient.
The pieces began fitting together.
The day's physical training finally ended. Satoru sat beneath a tree with water. Guy sat nearby. The mood became considerably quieter.
Guy asked why Satoru wanted the Eight Gates so badly. Not what happened. Why.
Satoru initially considered giving him a vague answer. Then decided Guy had earned honesty.
He explained that his interest in the Gates became serious after the Jashin mission. He described the kind of opponent they encountered without going into unnecessary detail. He told Guy about Isamu. How quickly a mission could turn into something completely outside a shinobi's expectations.
Guy listened silently.
Satoru continued. He explained that the Akatsuki weren't theoretical threats anymore. He told Guy about Sasori. The poison. The overwhelming difference in experience and combat ability. The feeling of being trapped inside a fight where his normal advantages weren't enough. The losses suffered by the team. The consequences that remained afterwards.
Satoru explained that his body still carried the damage.
He admitted he wasn't simply afraid of dying. He was afraid of being unable to act when someone depended on him. His Sharingan had become more expensive to use. His chakra pathways were damaged. His previous assumptions about his combat ceiling had changed. He needed another path.
The Gates were the most promising path he had found. But he also knew they could destroy what remained of his body's stability if he approached them incorrectly.
Guy didn't immediately answer. He looked at Satoru seriously. Then gave him an unusually sincere response.
"You have walked through darkness, young Satoru! You have tasted loss, fear, and helplessness! But those things do not extinguish the flames of youth! They can become the fuel that makes them burn brighter!"
He explained that the Gates should never be pursued simply because they granted power. The person had to have something worth protecting. Someone worth standing for.
But Guy added an important warning. Having a strong reason didn't make recklessness acceptable. The will to protect someone included having the discipline to survive long enough to protect them.
Satoru realised Guy wasn't teaching him because he thought Satoru was naturally gifted. Guy was teaching him because he believed Satoru had the mentality necessary to eventually master the Gates. Determination mattered. But discipline was what turned determination into strength.
This was exactly what Satoru had been missing.
The sun was beginning to set. Guy told Satoru they would end the day with another controlled attempt.
Satoru was exhausted. His body felt heavy. His pathways were warm and mildly sore from the day's circulation work. But his mind was unusually clear.
Guy reminded him, "Do not chase the Gate! Let it come to you!"
Satoru settled into meditation. His breath slowed. He located the familiar internal restriction.
The mental posture was now almost instinctive. Permission.
First Gate opened.
The surge felt dramatically smoother than it had a week ago. Not necessarily stronger. Cleaner. Less turbulence through his pathways.
Satoru noticed this immediately.
He went deeper. The second restriction appeared. It was still massive compared with the First. But something had changed. It no longer felt impossibly distant. His improved chakra control let him approach it without immediately triggering pain.
He carefully reached toward it.
The moment he approached the threshold, his pathways began protesting. Not as violently as before. But enough.
Satoru stopped. He did not force it. He maintained the First Gate for a few seconds while studying the sensation. He identified exactly where the resistance began.
This was new. Previously, he could only feel pain. Now he could identify the specific threshold where his body said no.
He closed the First Gate. Fell forward onto his hands. Breathing heavily.
Guy immediately approached but did not panic.
Satoru explained that the second restriction felt closer. His pathways tolerated more pressure before protesting.
Guy smiled broadly. "That is the flame of youth! Not forcing the door open; becoming strong enough that one day the door cannot remain closed!"
Satoru lay back on the grass. His body was exhausted. But mentally, he was satisfied.
Last attempt: Second Gate remained closed.
Today's attempt: He reached it more cleanly. His pathways endured longer. His control was better. He identified the exact point of failure.
That was measurable progress.
He realised the training regimen was working.
Guy told Satoru that he needed roughly another week of conditioning before attempting the Second Gate seriously. Satoru asked what would change in one week.
Guy answered, "Stronger muscles. Better endurance. Greater flexibility. Better chakra control. Greater tolerance through the pathways. Most importantly, better understanding of your own body's limits."
Guy warned Satoru not to become complacent. Opening the Second Gate would not mean he was close to mastering the Eight Gates. The Third Gate was another enormous jump.
Then Guy's expression became noticeably more serious. He explained that each successive Gate demanded more from the body. The higher they went, the less forgiving mistakes became.
He paused before mentioning the Fourth.
"The Fourth Gate…"
He didn't immediately finish.
Satoru noticed the change. Guy finally said, "That is where many shinobi discover that the flames of youth can burn hotter than the body can withstand."
He refused to elaborate yet.
Satoru asked, "And after the Fourth?"
Guy smiled again, but there was seriousness beneath it. "First, you must earn the right to ask about the Fifth!"
Satoru internally sighed. Naturally, he wasn't going to give me a straight answer.
Guy told him to return tomorrow. Same time. Same place. No shortcuts.
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