Eight Gates

After eliminating a few Kirigakure soldiers, Shuichi quickly returned to the location where Ishikawa Tatsuki and the others were. He remembered that Signal flare had been fired not far away, and it would be best to go and provide support as soon as possible.

"Hmm?" The shadow Shadow Clone, who had been on guard, sensed the main body approaching and immediately spoke, "Jonin Fugaku, I've already dealt with the enemy on my side. Shall we go and support the other side?"

"So fast?"

From the moment Shuichi began his pursuit, only a few minutes had passed, yet he had already killed and returned after facing multiple elite Kirigakure Village. His strength is terrifying!

"BOOM!"

After Shuichi arrived, he explained to Uchiha Fugaku, "I severely injured Raiga Kurosuki and he jumped into the sea. The bodies of the other Mist Anbu aren't far from here. Let's go check the other side first, and then we'll come back and sort things out."

With Ishikawa Tatsuki and the others recovered, the Konoha team, consisting of two top- Jonin, headed towards another Signal flare location. As soon as they arrived, they saw signs of a battle nearby.

"This was... caused by an attack?"

Fugaku was secretly alarmed. Several large trees in front of him had broken in a straight line. Judging from the breaks, it didn't look like a cutting attack, but rather like they had been violently smashed open.

As they continued forward, it was clear that multiple streams of chakra were gathering together.

"Swish, swish..."

Several Konoha Ninja turned around upon hearing the voice, "Jonin Takeda, Fugaku Jonin, come and see, it's Kirigakure Ninja Blade..."

"Yes, I already know," Shuichi replied. "I severely injured the one with the Thunder Swords, and I also killed several of the Anbu who were there to meet him. What's the situation here?"

"As expected of a genius in the village!" a ninja exclaimed. "The corresponding Ninja Blade were found next to these four corpses, so it seems they belonged to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist of the Mist."

"It came from their wounds; they were all killed instantly by a single blow of immense force. Those brats said it was Might Duy who did it, but a mere Genin..."

"You have no right to insult my father!" Might Guy shouted, tears welling in his eyes, as he stood beside a charred corpse. "He risked his life to save us; this is a pain that ordinary people could not bear."

"Hey, I'm just not sure right now, that's all..."

Upon Shuichi walked over and looked at Might Duy's corpse. This was the only one without blood, because the blood had been burned away after the Gate of Death was opened.

"Don't worry, Might Guy!" He patted Might Guy on the shoulder. "Your dad is a respectable hero. I'll personally report today's events to the Lord Hokage, and the village will definitely give him fair treatment."

"That's how it is. We've retrieved the enemy's body and the knife." In the Hokage's Office, Shuichi Jonin leading the border defense mission, was reporting to the Third Hokage.

"I never expected Dai could open up to the Eighth Gate!" Sarutobi Hiruzen exclaimed. "I know the whole story now. Might Guy is his only child. The village won't mistreat the son of a hero. Since you two know each other, you can go and inform him."

"No problem," Shuichi replied, then asked curiously, "The Eight Gates is quite powerful, and it should have existed Warring States Period, so why aren't many people in the Shinobi World practicing it?"

"Because the Eight Gates is a pure Taijutsu style, it conflicts with Ninjutsu; the two cannot coexist," the Third Hokage explained. "Warring States Period, many people trained in it because, under the non-ninja village system, Ninjutsu resources were not readily available, which is why some chose the path of arduous physical training..."

The Eight Gates of the human body are actually eight semi-closed acupoints. This is a natural self-protection mechanism of humans to avoid the danger of excessive chakra production.

The Eight Gates is considered a Taijutsu rather than a form of cultivation. It involves unlocking various restrictions to continuously increase the amount of chakra generated in a short period of time; the stronger the body, the more gates can be opened.

The process is simple: gather all your chakra and open these acupoints. Each time you open one, you break a restriction. The more acupoints you open, the faster you can generate chakra.

However, this is not a good thing. A ninja's chakra reserves are linked to their physical strength. Opening the Eight Gates will cause them to rapidly deplete their chakra, significantly shortening their combat time and increasing the risk of dying from exhaustion of chakra.

At the same time, this is in serious conflict with the traditional Ninjutsu system, because the meridians are still the same meridians. Since the chakra increases wildly and uncontrollably, the meridians will be filled to the brim, and the chakra flow rate will increase dramatically.

Therefore, the more Eight Gates opens, the more severely one's chakra control decreases. Someone who could originally unleash B-rank Ninjutsu might not even be able to unleash C-rank Ninjutsu after opening four gates, let alone Nature Transformation.

Using the Eight Gates as one's main technique is a difficult test even for Taijutsu- style ninja.

First, practitioners dedicate all their chakra to physical training. Without Ninjutsu training, their chakra control will not improve. This involves three aspects:

First, refine the strength of the meridians to increase the ability to withstand chakra after the gate is opened.

Second, hone your physical strength and increase your physical energy (stamina) and punching and kicking power.

Third, since chakra consumption is much lower than Ninjutsu training, they take the opportunity to spend a lot of time honing their willpower, training their Mental Energy by enduring loneliness, boredom, and pain.

After long-term training, their chakra reserves are naturally much greater than those of ordinary ninjas; to put it bluntly, they have enough chakra to supply the pumps.

Their fighting style is completely opposite to that of Ninjutsu; no matter what kind of Ninjutsu an ordinary ninja uses, the chakra consumed will not exceed their own limit.

Once the Eight Gates are opened, one can instantly unleash energy exceeding the meridian limit, killing the enemy with a massive burst of energy in a short period of time; otherwise, one might perish.

Therefore, this is actually very suitable for people with excellent physical condition but poor chakra control. However, most people simply cannot endure this kind of training, and in the past, such ninjas have switched to swordsmanship.

This combat method involves treating one's own body like a cannon, honing the barrel to be thick and hard during training, and then unleashing one's chakra at the enemy while risking the barrel cracking during battle.

"Might Guy is considered a top-tier Taijutsu. At his peak, opening the Sixth Gate only caused fatigue, and opening the Seventh Gate would cause his body to crack." Shuichi thought of his battle against Kisame. At the Sixth Gate, Morning Peacock, and at the Seventh Gate, he used a Day Tiger. Despite his amazing stamina, he lost his fighting ability after just two moves.

"No wonder no one trains it. Ninjas aren't good at sustained combat to begin with. Using the Eight Gates is like training for 20 years and then fighting for 20 seconds. Who in their right mind could endure that?"

At this point, the Third Hokage added, "There are almost no ninjas who use the Eight Gates as their primary fighting method anymore, because the space for its application was limited in the era of ninja villages..."

Ninjutsu is all-encompassing with virtually no weaknesses. Even when power is needed, it can be used in multi-person or coordinated combat. Being a ninja is just a profession; why make yourself suffer so much for short-term power?

"But you can try it when you have time; it's a way to test your physical strength..."

After leaving the Hokage's Office, Shuichi planned to tell Might Guy about the village's decision.

In fact, Might Duy's fighting power was not weak even without opening the Eight Gates, a fact that the Third Hokage was well aware of.

But Chunin need captains who are decisive and wise. What if you are strong in combat but forget your employer's face while doing a mission?

In this respect, Might Guy is slightly better, but his brain is still at a semi-beast level, which theoretically does not meet the requirements for being a captain.

However, Might Duy was, after all, a hero of the village, and he even killed four Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist of the Mist, a feat that cannot be ignored.

So the Third Hokage's intention was to reserve a spot for Might Guy among Jonin, and to promote him once he reached a certain level of strength. He also wanted Guy to be assigned teammates who could complement him, and his father's name was engraved on the Memorial Stone.

"Indeed, there's nothing else to reward him with. Might Guy can't learn Ninjutsu!" Shuichi thought to himself. "The Eight Gates would be quite valuable if paired with Medical Ninja... Oh well, I'm not Hokage yet, why should I worry about these things?"