Speaking of it, the forbidden technique known as the Eight Gates Formation had actually existed for a long time, but only in theory.
In the Shinobi World, the concept of the eight gates within the human body had always been widely circulated, but the method of cultivating the Eight Gates Formation seemed to have spread only within a small circle.
There were quite a few people who had taken ninjutsu cultivation to its pinnacle. Konoha alone had many of them.
The God of Shinobi, the First Hokage; the forbidden technique expert, the Second Hokage; the Professor of Ninjutsu, the Third Hokage; and so on.
But no one had yet managed to cultivate the Eight Gates Formation to the point of opening all eight gates.
Thus, not only in Konoha but throughout the entire Shinobi World, taijutsu was a mandatory subject, though not one that had to be mastered.
In the early days, when shinobi lacked Chakra and the techniques they wielded were not especially powerful, taijutsu could often be the key to victory.
But in later stages, in battles among high-level combatants, pure taijutsu played a very limited role. It was usually only effective after being enhanced by elemental techniques.
Very, very few shinobi chose to specialize solely in taijutsu, and among them, almost none achieved notable results.
As a mage who believed that knowledge was power, Satoru also possessed a rather profound understanding of taijutsu.
For no other reason than that Medivh, the author of The Book of Medivh, the former Tirisfal Guardian, and the strongest mage of his era, had been backstabbed by his disciple Khadgar and stabbed to death with a longsword.
The Echo of Medivh was clearly still bitter about the matter. Satoru's reprinted edition of The Book of Medivh recorded the former Guardian's resentment in great detail.
Medivh, who could pin a powerful assassin specializing in close-quarters combat to the ground with his bare hands, had ordinarily paid close attention to martial arts as well. But he had apparently assumed that other mages would not do the same.
"I thought you... didn't use swords..."
That was what Medivh had said to Khadgar before he died.
So Archmage Khadgar later became highly skilled with a staff—
Using the Atiesh he had swiped from Karazhan, the Archmage had knocked out countless powerful enemies.
So at the very least, the Guardian lineage had to be proficient in taijutsu.
"But the Eight Gates Formation... won't work."
Many days had passed since his conversation with his father, but Satoru had continued pondering the matter.
The Eight Gates Formation temporarily granted tremendous power by opening the channels within the human body that restrained Chakra.
But at the same time, the process caused the Chakra within the body to riot, making it impossible for the user to control effectively and therefore impossible to use ninjutsu.
The same applied to Satoru, who cast spells with Arcane Power.
What was a mage unable to cast spells supposed to do but wait for death?
The only theoretical solution was to obtain physical strength beyond the limits of the human body, enough to open all eight gates without injury.
If Might Guy possessed a body as strong as the Raikage's, then perhaps the Eight Gates Formation would not be a fatal suicide technique.
But if someone already had conditions like the Raikage's, who would bother cultivating the Eight Gates Formation?
"Unlike Guy, my circumstances are practically heaven-sent..."
The Book of Medivh shimmered with hazy Arcane light. This magical tome, invisible to others, contained countless incredible pieces of Arcane knowledge.
Among them was the Arcane Body Tempering Technique Medivh had specifically developed.
It was the unyielding resentment of a mage's remnant soul after being backstabbed by his disciple.
Lightning-nature Chakra could activate Lightning Release Chakra Mode, energizing the body and vastly increasing physical strength.
But if Arcane Power was used to temper the body, its effects would be far superior!
It was also far more dangerous—one careless mistake, and uncontrolled Arcane power would blast the body to pieces.
However, with The Book of Medivh, Satoru did not need to worry about that. This powerful artifact could harmonize Arcane Power, allowing him to continuously guide Arcane Power at the proper intensity and maintain the tempering process.
It was just that guiding Arcane Power consumed considerable mental effort. Satoru needed to work even harder to increase his Arcane affinity.
For a mage whose focus was spellcraft, that was enough.
"Once my physical strength is up, the next thing I need to train is fighting technique. I can learn some of that from Choza—the Akimichi clan's staff techniques are said to be second only to the Sarutobi clan's."
The ninja tools shinobi used most often were nothing more than kunai and shuriken, cheap and practical.
But swords, blades, and staffs were also ninja tools frequently used by many shinobi with special techniques. After all, every outstanding shinobi had his own unique fighting style.
But Satoru had chosen a long staff because he had seen one of the few ready-made spells recorded in The Book of Medivh.
The incantation to summon "Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian."
Although the contents of that incantation could only be seen after one possessed strength close to a Guardian's level...
Still, it was a small goal, at least!
There was no mage who would not covet the chicken-leg staff!
"So now I need to start laying the foundation—I'm destined to reach that realm!"
Satoru was brimming with confidence. He was now, more or less, an inheritor of the Guardian lineage. He had to possess at least that much confidence.
Thus, during the time before the Ninja Academy opened, Satoru unusually made time to practice staff techniques specifically with Akimichi Choza.
"Satoru, this technique of yours is really amazing. It creates food..."
During their break, Choza swallowed the magical sweet bread Satoru had created and nodded in satisfaction.
"Although it has no calories, it contains special Chakra... It's also very filling, and it tastes pretty good!"
"It's the perfect choice for dieting and slimming down!"
"..."
Satoru, lying on the ground and gasping for breath, struggled to sit up. Sparring with Choza made the immense gap between them in taijutsu painfully obvious.
"This is all I can manage for now... Well, it's a technique my old man taught me. I'm not capable of developing something like this!"
Satoru "corrected" him. After spending some time modifying several spells into ninjutsu versions, he had handed them all over to his father. Now he pushed all the credit onto him.
Then Satoru grew curious again.
"Doesn't your Akimichi clan's secret technique require you to store up calories? If you're dieting and slimming down... how will you cultivate the Clan Secret Technique?"
"I haven't started cultivating the Clan Secret Technique yet!"
Choza grabbed the magical soda water Satoru had made and drained it in one gulp, then burped contentedly.
"You're the only one who doesn't call me 'fatty.' Shikaku and Inoichi only stopped calling me that after I beat them up..."
The corner of Satoru's mouth twitched. Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka were both renowned "ordinary" shinobi who would shine brilliantly in the Fourth Shinobi World War.
The three clans of Ino-Shika-Cho had been connected since childhood. Although Choza clearly had a better relationship with Satoru now...
"School starts soon. My old man wants Shikaku, Inoichi, and me to go register together, saying it's some kind of clan tradition..."
Choza looked somewhat excited as he gave Satoru a thumbs-up.
"The Ninja Academy! There'll be lots of people I don't know. If I can slim down quickly, I'll definitely be popular, right?"
"So I'm counting on you, Satoru! From now on, I'll come to you for free meals!"
"Huh?"
Satoru stared at him in disbelief. This guy... had somehow made mooching meals sound so refined?
"You're showing off like this—does Uncle Torifu know?"
"If you can't cultivate the Clan Secret Technique, do you believe he'll beat you to death?"
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