I Didn't Speak Last Chapter, So I'll Have to Say More This Chapter

Three days had passed since Tamaki met with the Third.

There wasn't much to say about what happened afterward, except that the Third had kept his right hand pressed to his chest, clutching at it every now and then.

Tamaki didn't know whether it really was angina. But if the Third kicked the bucket right now, things would get serious in the Shinobi World. It had been less than two years since the Second Shinobi World War ended, and if the Third really died, the other four great nations might seize the opportunity to stir up trouble.

Tamaki's thoughts wandered as he walked to the Ninja Academy.

Before long, the academy gates came into view.

A green figure was doing handstand push-ups at the entrance. Whether it was because he was an eyesore or because he was an eyesore, the students were all going out of their way to avoid him.

Tamaki sighed inwardly, unsure whether to praise Guy's mental fortitude or his thickheadedness.

When Guy saw Tamaki approaching, he pushed himself up with both hands, landed on his feet, and walked over to him.

"Yo, Tamaki, good morning."

"Good morning."

"Dad asked you to come over after school. He said he wanted to give you proper instruction in the Eight Gates Released Formation."

"Has Uncle Duy recovered from his injuries?"

"Not yet. He opened six gates on the day of the test. Even with Uncle Mu there, he still needs to rest for a while, but he can get out of bed now. Also, Dad's an elite Chunin now. Lord Hokage said he should do a few B-Rank Missions first and see how they go, then promote him to Jonin when the time is right."

"That's good news. What did Lord Hokage say about resources for the Eight Gates Released Formation?"

Guy scratched his head. "He didn't say anything about that, but he gave us some money and medicinal herbs yesterday. He said they were part of the reward for submitting the Ninjutsu."

Guy hadn't hidden any of the changes in his life from Tamaki. After everything that had happened, the two had grown much closer.

When they reached the classroom door, neither Tamaki nor Guy said anything more about the Eight Gates Released Formation. The technique was still being assessed, and very few people knew about it.

However, Asuma was not among those few.

The moment they sat down, Asuma rushed over and whispered to Guy:

"Guy, have you been training in a powerful Taijutsu technique this whole time? If I learned it, could I beat the Third?"

"Probably not." The thickheaded Guy wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead.

"Is that so?" Asuma looked disappointed.

"Asuma, a technique's power depends on the person using it, but I don't think it's possible with your talent."

Obito, who had miraculously arrived on time, came in through the back door, picking his nose as he taunted Asuma.

Well, it was super effective.

Faced with Obito's taunting, Asuma chose to get physical and used a skill—an arm triangle choke.

All right, he had just wrapped his arm around Obito's neck.

They hadn't been roughhousing long when their teacher, Shinichi Murata, walked in. After seeing Asuma holding Obito in a headlock, he gave Obito a stern scolding and began class.

"Today, you'll be tested on the Three Basic Techniques. Everyone, line up and go to the training ground. You'll demonstrate them one at a time."

"Huh? I can't use the Substitution Technique."

"Me neither."

"I can use the Substitution Technique, but I can't do the Clone Technique."

"I'm so jealous of you guys. I can't even use the Transformation Technique properly."

The classroom erupted in chattering.

"Oh my, so many people haven't even mastered the Three Basic Techniques. Obito, you must have mastered them, right?"

Asuma clearly knew that Obito rarely succeeded with the Clone Technique and was deliberately taunting him.

Obito didn't react. He kept his head down, perhaps considering whether to hit Asuma a few times with Uchiha Style Shuriken.

Seeing Obito's expression, Asuma was so pleased he almost started humming.

Watching Asuma, Tamaki wanted to get away from him. Taunting a boss like that—no wonder you don't live to see the finale!

Guy, meanwhile, said nothing at all. After all, his Clone Technique could only produce a pile of clothes, not a complete clone. He was worse than Naruto would be later on; at least Naruto had managed to produce two utterly botched clones.

Before long, everyone arrived at the training ground and began demonstrating the Three Basic Techniques.

"Next, Asuma Sarutobi."

"Here."

Asuma stepped forward and quickly formed Hand Seals. "Clone Technique."

He then performed the Transformation Technique and Substitution Technique in succession.

"Three Basic Techniques: excellent."

Teacher Shinichi nodded, thinking that the Third's son lived up to his name, and wrote Asuma's results in his record book.

Having successfully performed the Three Basic Techniques, Asuma walked back and smiled at Obito. He didn't say a word, but the taunt was unmistakable.

"Next, Rin Nohara."

"Here."

"Go, Rin!"

Hearing Rin's name called, Obito ignored Asuma's taunt and cheered her on, though Rin kept her head down and showed no intention of paying him any attention.

"Next, Kurenai Yuhi."

"Here."

This time, it was Asuma's turn to have hearts in his eyes, though he showed some restraint and didn't cheer Kurenai on in front of everyone.

"Next, Obito Uchiha."

"Here."

Obito stepped forward and began forming Hand Seals. "Clone Technique!"

With a puff, nothing happened.

"Clone Technique: zero points."

"Teacher, please give me another chance."

"Will you get a second chance on the battlefield, you idiot?"

Hearing Teacher Shinichi lose his temper, Obito shrank back. He failed to perform the Transformation Technique and Substitution Technique afterward as well, and as Teacher Shinichi pronounced him a failure, he walked back like one of the walking dead.

"Next, Iruka."

"Here."

"Next, Might Guy."

"Here."

Guy stepped forward and began forming Hand Seals. Then, as expected, something went wrong: he only produced a pile of clothes. As for the Transformation Technique and Substitution Technique, those were plagued with problems too.

Teacher Shinichi knew that Guy's talent lay in Taijutsu, however, so he didn't criticize him too harshly. After a few words of encouragement, he continued the test.

"Next, Kakashi Hatake."

"Here."

Kakashi stepped up, said little, and easily earned an excellent rating.

"Next, Nishu Tamagawa."

It was Tamaki's turn. Our protagonist successfully performed the Three Basic Techniques and also earned an excellent rating.

After the test, Teacher Shinichi began the day's lessons.

Before they knew it, the school day was over. Even by the time school let out, Obito still hadn't come back to his senses.

Seeing Obito like that, Tamaki suddenly pointed ahead. "Ah, it's Rin."

Obito raised his head and ran a hand through his hair. "Rin, would you like to go eat dango with me today?"

Then he looked left and right but couldn't find Rin anywhere. He turned and stared at Tamaki, saying in a low voice, "Tamaki, where's Rin?"

"Did I say Rin? Obito, did you hear me wrong?"

Obito said nothing, just stared at Tamaki.

Sure enough, Tamaki was the kind of guy who could hang out with Asuma and Obito. Even knowing this was a boss, he still dared to auto-attack and taunt him.

"Okay, I'm sorry," said Tamaki, unable to stand Obito's stare. "But the state you were in just now was really scary. It doesn't matter that you failed today's test. Just keep practicing and catch up."

"What do you know? I embarrassed myself in front of Rin! My life is over!" Obito's face was mournful.

"It's not that serious," said Asuma, picking his nose nearby, unafraid of breaking a capillary.

"Damn it, I'm going to make you embarrass yourself in front of Kurenai, you bastard!"

"I don't believe you." Asuma picked his nose even more brazenly.

I think you'd better believe him. You didn't embarrass yourself, and you looked pretty cool before you died, and pretty cool when you came back after dying, but you did lose your life.

While Tamaki was making silent comments, Guy walked over.

"Tamaki, are you done?"

"Nothing else to do. Let's go."

"It's rare to see you and Guy leaving together, Tamaki." Asuma was a little curious.

"Guy and I have something to take care of."

Hearing Tamaki's answer, Asuma didn't press further.

Before long, Tamaki followed Guy to his house.

Leaving aside Guy's training along the way and the strange looks they got from passersby, Tamaki had decided to come alone next time.

He took a careful look around.

Duy and Guy's home was at the edge of the foothills on Konoha's western side, an unremarkable old wooden house hidden among the trees. The wooden fence leaned crookedly, and the yard was full of wooden posts polished smooth by punches and kicks.

Inside, the furnishings were simple: a few wooden tables and chairs stood in a corner, showing signs of wear.

Some exercise equipment stood in the middle of the room, along with weighted wrist guards, leg weights, and other things scattered about. Amid the equipment, Might Duy was doing push-ups, his bare upper body wrapped in bandages.

"Dad, I brought Tamaki back with me."

"Oh, you're here. Wait a moment while I finish these push-ups." Duy sounded slightly out of breath.

"Uncle Duy, your body isn't ready for strenuous exercise yet. I think my eldest uncle must have told you that too."

Duy looked a little embarrassed at Tamaki's words, but he still did two more push-ups before getting to his feet.

"Have a seat. Guy, go pour some water."

"Okay."

With that, Guy turned and headed to the kitchen to prepare tea.

Without much small talk, Duy got straight to the point. "Tamaki, the Eight Gates Released Formation is a grueling technique. I hope you're prepared for that."

"I know, Uncle Duy."

"I won't say much about basic training. With Lord Yishou around, you can ask him to arrange it for you. What I want to tell you today is some of the details and key points of training."

Without pausing, Duy described his experience training in the technique in detail, and Tamaki listened closely.

The Eight Gates Released Formation could only be honed with time; there were no shortcuts. He was already lucky to receive instruction from a senior who would one day be able to open all eight gates.

Duy had spent nearly twenty years mastering the technique. His experience was a precious treasure.

Even so, the technique couldn't be turned into strength for Tamaki in the short term.

But spending time learning the Eight Gates Released Formation wasn't meaningless.

He had many ideas about the technique. For instance, since the Eight Gates Released Formation stimulated the body's "gates" to obtain Chakra, did the soul—or the mind—have similar "gates," and could there be a corresponding method?

After all, Chakra was a mixture of spiritual and physical energy.

That proved that the Eight Gates Released Formation, a Taijutsu technique that obtained Chakra after opening the gates, also involved the spiritual side, though it still relied mainly on stimulating the body to achieve its purpose.

That was the smart approach. The mind was too mysterious; a moment of carelessness could very well leave a person injured or crippled.

Starting with the body was safer instead.

Tamaki had realized this when he received the complete Eight Gates Released Formation.

It had also given him a bolder conjecture: was the reason people said opening all eight gates meant certain death that the mind couldn't bear the strain?

Unleashing powerful Chakra in a short burst would inevitably require an equal amount of spiritual energy. In the end, the mind would be overtaxed, leading to death.

As for Guy, perhaps his spiritual energy was strong enough that opening all eight gates had only crippled him instead of killing him.

If he could develop a technique to train spiritual energy and open the mind's "gates," then combine it with Life Return, could the Eight Gates Released Formation become a regular method?

Tamaki himself didn't have any good ideas, but he had himself. I choose you, Shinigami Wang Chuan.

Shinigami were spiritual beings made of Reishi, with no true physical bodies. They could be called spiritual or soul bodies themselves. He would use the physical version of the Eight Gates Released Formation to develop a spiritual version!

For now, though, it was only a preliminary idea, and there was still a great deal of work to do.

Tamaki's most important tasks at present were to familiarize himself with the Eight Gates Released Formation, then train in the Rasengan and refine Life Return.

The Rasengan would improve his combat strength, while Life Return could improve his standing.

Only with those could he survive better in this Shinobi World.

Only then could he obtain more Ninjutsu and try to develop a Kekkei Genkai.

All things were difficult at the beginning, but the Wang Chuans had finally taken their first step. It was cause for celebration.