The Eight Gates.
A supreme taijutsu technique created by Might Duy and perfected by his son, Might Guy. Its principle is simple yet terrifying: by forcibly opening the body's Eight Inner Gates, a shinobi releases the natural limiters placed on chakra flow, temporarily obtaining power far beyond their normal limits at the cost of immense physical damage.
First Gate: Gate of Opening
Second Gate: Gate of Healing
Third Gate: Gate of Life
Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain
Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit
Sixth Gate: Gate of View
Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder
Eighth Gate: Gate of Death
Might Guy patiently explained the operation of every Gate to chinatsu.
Every movement, every breathing rhythm, every method of circulating chakra was taught in meticulous detail.
Whenever chinatsu made even the slightest mistake, Guy immediately corrected her.
His concentration and professionalism truly lived up to the reputation of the shinobi who had devoted his entire life to mastering the Eight Gates.
About an hour later…
As usual, Sakura Haruno left home for her morning training.
Ever since becoming one of Guy's students in taijutsu, morning runs had become part of her daily routine. She had long grown accustomed to them, to the point where skipping a single day made her feel uncomfortable.
Her hard work had paid off.
She could now steadily open the Fifth Gate, although maintaining it for long periods still placed a tremendous burden on her body.
As Sakura reached the outskirts of Konoha and began circling the village, she suddenly spotted chinatsu and Guy training together in the distance.
She was just about to wave and greet them.
At that moment…
Guy suddenly roared.
Green chakra erupted around him as he consecutively opened the First Gate through the Seventh Gate, his powerful aura exploding outward like a raging storm.
Seeing this, chinatsu immediately understood.
She copied Guy's posture without hesitation.
However…
Although Guy's movements looked serious and imposing…
chinatsu's looked strangely familiar.
Not only did she imitate the pose…
She even let out an exaggerated battle cry.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"
The atmosphere instantly became… somewhat unusual.
Sakura blinked.
"chinatsu-neechan…"
"…Why are you shouting like that?"
Without opening her eyes, chinatsu answered seriously,
"That's how Son Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan."
"He shouted for almost an entire episode."
Sakura stood there silently.
After several seconds…
She slowly lowered the hand she had raised to greet them.
"…I'd better not interrupt."
Quietly changing her running route, she continued her morning exercise as though she had seen absolutely nothing.
…
Among the current Konoha Twelve, Naruto and Sasuke naturally remained the strongest.
Thanks to her taijutsu training and the Eight Gates, Sakura's strength had also risen dramatically, allowing her to stand alongside Rock Lee and Neji Hyūga among the younger generation.
Of course…
There was still another exception.
Tenten.
Ever since receiving chinatsu's guidance, Tenten's combat style had undergone a complete transformation.
Although her basic abilities hadn't changed dramatically, her way of fighting had become far more terrifying.
Following several high-ranking missions, and with Hiruzen Sarutobi's approval, she had even obtained the forbidden technique Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, one of the Second Hokage's most dangerous creations.
Recently…
She had also begun spending quite a lot of time with Deidara.
Rumor had it the two were enthusiastically researching "the true art of explosions."
If all twelve members of Konoha's younger generation ever fought each other in a free-for-all…
Aside from Naruto and Sasuke…
Everyone else would probably be blown into the sky before they even understood what had happened.
Well…
Being stronger was never a bad thing.
…
Returning to chinatsu and Guy outside Konoha…
A violent wave of chakra suddenly burst from chinatsu's body.
Following Guy's instructions, she forcefully broke through the first limiter restricting her chakra flow.
Eight Gates…
First Gate… Gate of Opening…
Open!
Because chinatsu had already tempered her body through Lightning Release Body Stimulation and years of taijutsu training, learning the Eight Gates was far easier for her than it would have been for an ordinary shinobi.
She carefully felt the changes after opening the First Gate, then slowly opened and clenched her fist.
"So? How does opening the First Gate feel?" Guy asked expectantly.
"A little pressure… but I can clearly feel my body's limits loosening. My strength has increased… although the improvement is still fairly subtle."
"Hahaha!"
Guy laughed heartily.
"It's only the First Gate. You're already incredibly strong to begin with, so naturally the increase won't feel dramatic."
"As for the pressure, it'll disappear as you become more proficient. For me, opening anything below the Sixth Gate barely places any burden on my body."
chinatsu nodded.
"Then let's continue."
"Time waits for no one."
"Even if I can't completely master the Eight Gates today, I need to memorize the chakra pathways for opening every Gate as quickly as possible."
Guy grinned widely.
"That's the spirit of youth!"
Teacher and student continued training from sunrise until sunset.
Neither showed the slightest sign of exhaustion.
Their youthful flames seemed to burn brighter with every passing hour.
First Gate… Gate of Opening!
Second Gate… Gate of Healing!
Third Gate… Gate of Life!
…
While chinatsu was steadily increasing her strength…
The Ōtsutsuki duo were also "leveling up."
Only…
Instead of grinding experience points…
They were collecting Tailed Beast Chakra.
Land of Earth.
The Four-Tails, Son Gokū.
The Five-Tails, Kokuō.
Land of Water.
The Six-Tails, Saiken.
Near Takigakure…
The Seven-Tails, Chōmei.
And finally…
The Land of Lightning.
"Who the hell are these guys?!"
"Idiots! Bastards!"
Killer Bee shouted while retreating at full speed.
Inside him, Gyūki roared anxiously.
"How should I know?! Stop talking and run!"
Dozens of gigantic octopus tentacles shot toward the two Ōtsutsuki.
Momoshiki merely glanced at them indifferently without moving.
The one who acted was Kinshiki.
In an instant, Kinshiki appeared beside Momoshiki.
With a casual wave of his hand, countless crimson chakra weapons materialized around him.
The next moment…
Every weapon shot forward simultaneously.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Gyūki's tentacles were severed one after another.
This was Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki's ability.
Like Momoshiki, he could absorb chakra.
However, instead of amplifying and reflecting ninjutsu, Kinshiki condensed absorbed chakra into countless chakra weapons for direct combat.
Seeing his tentacles instantly cut apart, Gyūki immediately began charging a Tailed Beast Ball.
The result…
Was exactly as expected.
Momoshiki calmly raised the Rinnegan in his palm.
The Tailed Beast Ball disappeared into it without the slightest resistance.
Moments later…
He released it again.
Only now…
Its size and destructive power had multiplied several times over.
Gyūki's expression changed drastically.
He immediately abandoned the severed tentacles and fled with Killer Bee before the amplified Tailed Beast Ball exploded.
Although they escaped…
A considerable amount of the Eight-Tails' chakra had already been taken.
"The main body escaped…"
Momoshiki looked somewhat disappointed before casually waving his hand.
"Forget it."
"This amount of chakra is already sufficient."
"There is no need to capture every Tailed Beast completely."
"As long as enough chakra is gathered to nourish the Ten-Tails…"
"Our objective can still be achieved."
Kinshiki nodded silently.
"So now…"
"Only the One-Tail, Two-Tails, and Nine-Tails remain."
"And all three Jinchūriki are currently in Konoha."
"Konoha…"
Momoshiki smiled faintly.
"Perfect."
"Once we obtain the chakra of those three Tailed Beasts…"
"Our plan can begin immediately."
"Kaguya truly is fortunate."
"Despite being a criminal of the Ōtsutsuki Clan…"
"We're still making such an effort to free her from her seal."
Momoshiki sneered.
Beside him, Kinshiki calmly opened another space-time portal.
The two intended to inform Isshiki of their progress before launching their attack on Konoha.
Everything seemed to be proceeding exactly according to plan.
The decisive battle between chinatsu and the Ōtsutsuki was drawing ever closer.
But…
Would events really unfold as smoothly as either side expected?
Probably not.
Because both sides had overlooked one important variable.
A third force…
One that was still lurking in the shadows.
Obito: "…"
Madara: "…"
"Are we seriously being ignored now?"
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