Fire Fist and Moon Flash

Boom!!

With a single punch, the wooden post in front of him exploded.

"Firelight from friction..."

The effect of that punch stirred Feng Ye's spirits.

Before the Eight Inner Gates reached the Sixth Gate, it had no long-range attack capabilities. But once it reached the Sixth Gate, the fist could create flames through friction with the air, allowing one to strike out compressed air bullets mixed with flames and unleash the long-range taijutsu—Morning Peacock!

"Hah!"

After letting out a low shout, Feng Ye's fists suddenly erupted, rapidly swinging forward.

Flame-like light appeared beneath his fists, yet he was always just short of the mark. He could create flames, but he could not strike the flame bullets outward.

After throwing several dozen consecutive punches, Feng Ye stopped.

"Just a little short..."

Feng Ye exited the Eight Inner Gates state and controlled the Chakra within his body until it calmed. He took a breath, but there was no frustration in his eyes. Instead, a trace of excitement surfaced.

The boost brought by the Third Gate of the Eight Inner Gates was greater than he had expected!

Triple Speed Time Acceleration, combined with the Gate of Life, had already brought his speed close to the level of the Sixth Gate. He could achieve half the effect of Morning Peacock!

"Since I can't make it a long-range attack, it's still far inferior to the real Morning Peacock. But if my fists can create flames through friction, it should still have about one-third of its power."

Feng Ye took a deep breath.

A fist rubbing against the air and producing flames looked like a flaming fist. It could count as a taijutsu technique, but naming it seemed rather difficult.

An incomplete Morning Peacock...

Morning what?

There did not seem to be a suitable animal name to put there. Since it was a half-finished Morning Peacock, he might as well call it Fire Fist.

"Come to think of it, after Cell Activation, the body's recovery ability and vitality really are powerful... The side effects of the Third Gate have been offset to the point where I can only feel a slight weakness in my limbs."

After stretching his body, Feng Ye could feel that his painless limbs were rapidly recovering. Before long, the weakness and fatigue faded away.

This was his first time opening the Gate of Life!

Once he continued training and his body adapted to the Gate of Life, the side effects would be further reduced. Perhaps they would be completely offset by the recovery power of Cell Activation!

"Orochimaru truly is a genius to have developed a technique like this."

Feng Ye could not help sighing.

Beyond Cell Activation, there were also Soft Body Modification, the Body Shedding Technique, and so on. But he had little interest in those. Turning his body into something like a snake did not suit him. The only thing suitable for him was this most basic Cell Activation Technique.

"Right."

At that moment, a thought suddenly flashed through Feng Ye's mind.

He took out the ninja blade White Fang and formed hand seals with one hand. In an instant, he infused it with Chakra. Amid crackling sounds, flickering arcs of lightning appeared along White Fang's edge.

"Lightning Release... Lightning Slash!"

After unleashing Lightning Slash, Feng Ye took a breath and suddenly broke through the Third Gate again.

The Third Gate of the Eight Inner Gates, the Gate of Life, was opened once more. The Chakra within his body began to surge wildly again, and the lightning arcs maintained along White Fang's blade immediately fluctuated unstably. Yet they did not collapse at once.

"So I really can release Lightning Slash first, then enter the Third Gate state!"

Feng Ye's spirits lifted.

Without the slightest hesitation, he opened the Gate of Life, entered Triple Speed, gripped the ninja blade White Fang, and fiercely slashed forward.

With the combined boost of the Gate of Life's speed, Time Acceleration, and Lightning Release: Lightning Slash, the instant the blade descended, a crescent-shaped arc of light shot through the air.

Whoosh!!!

The crescent-shaped arc was roughly three feet long. It slashed straight ahead, carving a trench through the ground before Feng Ye. It extended all the way to five meters away before dimming and vanishing!

"It worked."

Seeing this, Feng Ye could not help smiling.

This was an effect only achievable in the second stage of Hatake Swordsmanship!

With Lightning Slash, the Third Gate's Gate of Life state, and Triple Speed Time Acceleration, he had relied on sheer speed and power to forcefully break into the realm of the second stage of Hatake Swordsmanship!

"In terms of power, it has fully reached the standard of the second stage of Hatake Swordsmanship. If this attack erupts in an instant, even a Jonin would find it difficult to block or evade. There's a chance I could kill one in a single strike!"

Feng Ye made a judgment about the power of this attack.

It was difficult to say against Elite Jonin who had seen countless battles and whose speed, ninjutsu, and other abilities were close to the Kage level. But if an ordinary Jonin encountered this move, there was a high chance he would be instantly killed.

"At last, I have a barely presentable signature secret technique."

"...I'll call this move Moon Flash."

Feng Ye exhaled and closed the Gate of Life.

Opening the Gate of Life twice in a row in such a short time naturally came with severe side effects. Even with every cell in his body activated, he could not fully withstand them. This time, Feng Ye clearly felt soreness in the muscles of his limbs and waist.

However, the pain was not too intense and remained bearable. After lasting for around ten minutes, it gradually began to ease and recover.

"Come to think of it, my current level of strength is a little unclear."

An ordinary Special Jonin probably would not last more than a few exchanges against him now. If he used Moon Flash, he could most likely kill them in a single strike.

Against an ordinary Jonin, he was likewise confident he could gain the upper hand, even defeat and kill them in a very short time. But against an Elite Jonin, it was hard to say.

If he could not resolve the fight quickly, he might be defeated. But as long as they did not have some strange Forbidden Jutsu, it would be difficult for ordinary people to catch him if he wanted to flee.

Somewhere between a Jonin and an Elite Jonin?

That was roughly the judgment he came to.

So what could he do now that he possessed strength beyond that of a Jonin? The answer was simple—continue training!

The Shinobi World was too dangerous. Jonin-level strength was not enough to go roaming around.

"Next is the Fourth Gate... If I can use Morning Peacock after opening the Fourth Gate, my strength should be comparable to the Kage level."

There was an enormous gap between Elite Jonin and Kage-level fighters. A village had many Elite Jonin, but only a handful of Kage-level figures.

In Feng Ye's view, after reaching the peak of Jonin in every aspect and mastering some signature secret techniques, one could be considered Kage-level or close to Kage-level. This vague position could barely be defined as quasi-Kage, between Elite Jonin and Kage level, like some of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist Village.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen varied in strength. Some were originally at the Elite Jonin level, but after obtaining a ninja sword, they could possess quasi-Kage-level strength, such as Mangetsu Hozuki, who wielded Samehada.

Beyond that...

There were also differences in strength among Kage-level fighters. If one insisted on distinguishing them, they could probably be divided into weaker Kage, somewhat stronger Kage, and those standing at the peak of the Kage level.

Someone like Gaara's father, the Fourth Kazekage, belonged among the weaker Kage. Orochimaru, when he defected from Konoha, possessed the strength of a powerful Kage. Hiruzen Sarutobi at his peak stood at the pinnacle of the Kage level and still had the ability to kill Orochimaru at that time.

To possess some degree of self-preservation during the Third Great Ninja War, one had to at least reach the Kage level. It would be relatively safe only after reaching the level of a powerful Kage—but merely relatively safe. After all, even a monster like the Third Raikage had been worn to death by Ōnoki and over ten thousand Iwagakure ninja.

In the world of ninja, there was no absolute safety unless one reached a level surpassing Kaguya Otsutsuki.

"There's still a long road ahead..."

Feng Ye exhaled.