Chakra Flow

Although the Eight Inner Gates were easy to begin with and were a Taijutsu even Genin could develop, Feng Ye could not fully deduce them in such a short time.

He had found the eight corresponding locations of the Eight Inner Gates within his body, but how to train them until they loosened, and how to control their opening and closing freely, were the true keys to the Eight Inner Gates.

"Still needs practice and experimentation..."

Feng Ye pondered.

He considered whether to take a shortcut through Might Duy. To be safer, it would be best to ask Might Duy for guidance. No matter how simple and crude it seemed, it was still a Forbidden Jutsu, and there might be risks during its development.

The morning test was an integrated Taijutsu assessment, with various combined events such as tree climbing and weighted runs. However, none of it was difficult for Ninja Academy students. Even Obito passed the test with relative ease.

After the test, Feng Ye returned home.

After tidying up a little and eating, Feng Ye left home again and searched Konoha for Might Duy and Might Guy. Unfortunately, Might Duy seemed to have gone out on a mission, and only Might Guy was training in his usual spot.

Since he had not found Might Duy, he could not arrange a "chance encounter" to ask for guidance. Feng Ye was not in a hurry, though. He returned to his residence, picked up the Chakra Blade White Fang, and headed toward the mountain behind the village.

"This time should be about right..."

Arriving at his usual training ground, Feng Ye gripped the Chakra Blade White Fang. After letting out a light breath, he did not create a Shadow Clone and began training with his actual body instead.

After yesterday's battle with Kakashi, when he returned home and continued practicing Hatake Swordsmanship, he had felt that he could vaguely touch the threshold of Chakra Flow!

The Hatake Swordsmanship that had made Konoha's White Fang renowned throughout the Shinobi World had two stages in total.

The key core of the first stage was Chakra Flow.

Chakra Flow meant attaching the Chakra within one's body to a weapon in a flowing manner, enhancing the weapon's sharpness and attack power. Once this ability was mastered, the power of Hatake Swordsmanship would surge dramatically.

As for the core of the second stage, it was an advanced version of Chakra Flow: Chakra's shape transformation!

It allowed flowing Chakra to solidify and take on a sharp form of its own. When used with Hatake Swordsmanship, its power would increase even further!

No matter what level of strength a practitioner possessed, as long as they mastered the first stage, they would definitely have Chunin-level strength. Once they mastered the second stage, they would definitely have Jonin-level strength!

Beyond that depended on individual talent.

Just because one had to complete the entire training to be considered Jonin-level did not mean Hatake Swordsmanship was mediocre. In truth, nearly everything that surpassed Hatake Swordsmanship was at the level of Forbidden Jutsu or secret ultimate techniques. Things like the Flying Thunder God were simply not something ordinary people could master.

Feng Ye had never relaxed his training in Hatake Swordsmanship. That was because Hatake Swordsmanship's use of Chakra was itself an extremely powerful method of control, and it did not conflict with most Taijutsu. Even in the Eight Inner Gates state or Sage Mode, Hatake Swordsmanship could still be used normally.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Feng Ye continuously swung his blade, and a layer of white light could vaguely be seen flowing over White Fang. It trembled constantly as he swung, leaving trails in its wake.

This training session lasted several hours before Feng Ye stopped. After returning to the village for a meal, he came back here again and continued training.

Seven hours...

Eight hours...

Nine hours...

In the state of Triple Speed, Feng Ye continuously performed the most basic Hatake Swordsmanship training, incorporating the unfamiliar Chakra Flow into it.

As time passed, roughness gradually became smoothness, and unfamiliarity gradually became proficiency. Then, at a certain moment, Feng Ye suddenly swung his blade and felt that the Chakra flowing along its edge had almost perfectly aligned with the blade's cutting direction. Only then did he stop.

"That's it!"

A gleam flashed through Feng Ye's eyes. He carefully sensed the state from just now, then immediately swung another slash forward, once again achieving a perfect strike.

After trying several dozen more times in succession and confirming that his proficiency had finally reached the standard, Feng Ye let out a long breath and relaxed slightly.

The first stage of Hatake Swordsmanship training was complete!

"Let's see its power..."

After calming his emotions, Feng Ye walked up to a wooden post. His gaze flickered, and he stepped forward. The Chakra short blade in his hand suddenly swung, white light streaking through the air.

Swoosh!!

The wooden post, roughly as thick as an embrace, was sliced through by Feng Ye's blade as if it were tofu, meeting no resistance at all. Half of the wood silently slid down to the right.

"It really is powerful... Paired with White Fang, this Chakra Blade, against an opponent who hasn't mastered Chakra Flow, I should be able to forcibly cut through their kunai."

Looking at the power of his strike, Feng Ye muttered an assessment.

White Fang's description had been correct. With the first stage of Hatake Swordsmanship fully mastered, one could indeed possess Chunin-level strength, and might even hold an advantage against ordinary Chunin.

Feng Ye had long since reached Chunin level through Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. Now that he had mastered the first stage of Hatake Swordsmanship, even in his normal state, he could be considered an elite Chunin!

"Next is... the speed-up state."

After exhaling, a glint flashed in Feng Ye's eyes.

The strike that had just cut through the wooden post had been performed in his normal state. In a speed-up state, Hatake Swordsmanship would undoubtedly unleash even greater power!

Silently.

Feng Ye entered the Triple Speed state.

If someone had stood nearby, they would have seen Feng Ye seemingly enter a bizarre fast-forward state. Even his movements and breathing rhythm appeared abnormal.

In that state, Feng Ye gripped the Chakra Blade White Fang, activated Chakra Flow, and suddenly slashed at the wooden post in front of him.

Swoosh!!

In the Triple Speed state, this slash was so fast that it left an afterimage!

In almost an instant, within that afterimage, a white arc like Sword Light flashed past and directly pierced through the wooden post as thick as an embrace!

"This..."

A trace of shock flashed through Feng Ye's eyes.

In the Time Acceleration state, the range of his slash had actually extended beyond the blade itself, producing a strike nearly a foot long!

That was something only the second stage of Hatake Swordsmanship could achieve!

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Feng Ye walked around the stump to its back. He clearly saw a line splitting the post in two from its center, with a mark also left upon the ground.

"In terms of power, it should be inferior to true second-stage Hatake Swordsmanship. But in a time speed-up state, relying on Chakra Flow and Hatake Swordsmanship, I really can extend the range of my slashes!"

After taking a breath, Feng Ye gained a clearer understanding of his strength level.

Special Jonin!

A Special Jonin who specialized in speed!

It might be difficult to say how he would fare against Special Jonin skilled in Genjutsu or possessing Forbidden Jutsu, but against ordinary Chunin or even elite Chunin, his immense advantage in speed was enough to instantly kill them in an extremely short time!

Moreover, the strength of specializing in speed was that one was not particularly afraid of fighting many opponents alone.

An ordinary Special Jonin skilled in Genjutsu or who had mastered some Forbidden Jutsu might not necessarily be able to handle three or four elite Chunin working together. But if it were him, even if he could not quickly kill his opponents, his speed alone would allow him to charge in and out seven times over, advancing and retreating as he pleased.