Contradiction

"Teacher Kai?" After casting aside the unrealistic thoughts in his mind, Zi Xu carefully examined the man named Kai once more.

The bodysuit beneath his teal vest outlined every muscle on his body with striking definition. Each muscle seemed to possess a will of its own. His strength was unlike Teacher Kaido's. If Teacher Kaido's imposing physique came from massive muscles brimming with explosive power, then Kai's physique felt like the shock of an ordinary person swallowing a Nuclear Bomb.

Yet Zi Xu sensed a hint of discord within that stinging feeling of danger. Just like the earlier comparison, although he possessed the power of a Nuclear Bomb, he lacked a body capable of perfectly bearing it. To put it inappropriately, it was like a child wielding a greatsword.

Combined with the rising aura from Rock Lee earlier and their extremely similar attire, he guessed that this might be a secret technique of Kai's clan, or the power of a Kekkei Genkai.

"Hey, what was that aura that just erupted from you?" Zi Xu relaxed his stance and asked bluntly.

Rock Lee did not suffer any backlash from being interrupted. His breathing merely became a little hurried. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, then revealed the same shining smile as Kai and gave a thumbs-up in front of his chest.

"This? It's the Eight Gates, taught to me by Teacher Kai! It is the inheritance of youth! Through relentless training day and night, it is a Taijutsu that can surpass genius!" At the mention of it, Rock Lee's eyes sparkled as he looked at Kai with undisguised admiration.

"Yo, young man, I heard about you from Tenzo. It seems he really wasn't bragging. Your Taijutsu is indeed quite impressive! Such blazing passion—this is youth!" Kai looked as though he might burst into flames, radiating a youthful fervor that did not belong to a man his age. Hatsumi and Chino, watching from the side, were left somewhat numb.

"Hey, is he really a teacher? Why does he seem more fired up than the students?"

"He... should be a teacher, right? Teachers do have different teaching styles..."

Chino and Hatsumi huddled together and whispered, staring at Kai with bewildered faces.

Zi Xu sensed far more than they did. It was a faint but ever-present aura—or rather, a sense of oppression. Zi Xu had only felt something similar from the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave. So this was what it meant for one's Haki to overflow. Perhaps because he had awakened Conqueror's Haki, he was especially sensitive to such intangible auras. Not even Zabuza or Tenzo had given him this kind of pressure. This seemingly simple-minded man before him was definitely no ordinary person.

"Teacher Kai, if the Eight Gates are Taijutsu, can I train in them?" Zi Xu lowered his posture slightly and humbly asked Kai for guidance. His earlier guess had been somewhat off, but if it was Taijutsu, then he still had a chance to learn it. He had clearly felt the energy rising within Rock Lee's body just now. It would be a lie to say he was not envious.

Kai still wore a confident, youthful smile. Hearing Zi Xu ask such a private question, he did not get angry. Instead, he excitedly threw an arm around Zi Xu's shoulders, pulling him close with a sigh of sentiment.

"Good! Full of spirit! This is how youth should be! Let your sweat flow! Few youngsters your age are interested in Taijutsu anymore. Remember: although Taijutsu may not look as dazzling or powerful as Ninjutsu, nor possess the effortless elegance of Genjutsu that kills without a trace, with diligent training, Taijutsu can absolutely unleash flames more brilliant than any technique!"

Zi Xu could barely hear what Kai was saying. Being held by Kai did not feel good. It caused him no physical harm, but the sensation was awful, like being held by a tiger in a zoo.

"But... having a strong body alone is not enough to train in the Eight Gates. There is something even more important than physical strength..." Kai suddenly changed direction, as though there were other requirements for learning the Eight Gates.

Here it comes, Zi Xu thought. Training in a Taijutsu that looked this powerful really could not be so simple. He focused, wanting to remember everything Kai said next. This was the important part—the sort of thing that would be on the test.

"Do you understand what youth is?" Kai decisively pointed an index finger at Zi Xu, his teeth gleaming white beneath the sunlight.

"Huh? Straight to people straight? If it's big, then open it?" Zi Xu started spouting nonsense, unable to understand what Kai meant. How had the conversation been perfectly normal until he suddenly asked, "Do you freaking understand what youth is?"

"No, no, young man. Youth is about pouring out your sweat! Training in the Eight Gates is simple. Follow me in training for a few days, and we can probably determine just how pure your youth is." Kai waved at Chino and Hatsumi beside him.

"If you two want to, you can join us as well. Everyone can have youth!"

Seeing the hot-blooded fervor erupting from Kai, Chino and Hatsumi hurriedly shook their heads. They did so so quickly that they resembled helicopter blades swinging from side to side.

"No, no, we... we have things to do. I... I still have Bugs to feed. Yes, right! Don't you have something to do too, Chino?"

"Ah... right, right. I... my Panda is still waiting for me to feed it, so we won't disturb you. Good luck, Zi Xu." Chino made a cheering gesture at Zi Xu, and the two of them promptly slipped away like smoke.

Zi Xu watched Chino and Hatsumi flee. At a time like this, they sure ran with plenty of youth.

"Good! Let's begin today's training! First, handstand around the village one hundred times to warm up!" Kai said the cruelest words in the most casual tone.

"Alright! Teacher Kai! My blood is boiling!" Rock Lee was still overflowing with fervor. He ran to the side, picked up the weights he had tossed onto the ground, strapped them back onto his legs, and immediately went into a handstand.

Zi Xu looked at the hopeful gazes of the two of them and tried a handstand as well.

The two wore satisfied expressions. The large and small green oddities began moving one after the other, and Zi Xu followed in their footsteps. He could still handle this level of exercise.

Much of Konoha's outskirts had been reserved for civilians to farm. Of course, since this area was close to the village's outermost Barrier, squads regularly patrolled it. Some kindhearted Ninja would even use Ninjutsu to help civilians with their work, though more often than not, they simply ignored them.

"Mom, Mom, why can't I become a Ninja? Then I could help Dad and Uncle farm..." A boy of around seven or eight stopped swinging his pickaxe, wiped his dirty little face, and pouted at the middle-aged woman still working nearby.

"Silly child, didn't they already test you? You don't have the talent to become a Ninja, so you can't..." The woman sounded helpless, but the hoe in her hands did not stop moving. She continued planting the bitter seeds that belonged to civilians, stroke by stroke.

"Does that mean that if we don't become Ninja, we can only farm for the rest of our lives? It's so tiring! Things Ninja can do so easily take us so much effort." The little boy was deeply dissatisfied. He did not understand why he had to continue living like this. The child next door had the aptitude to train in Ninjutsu, so his whole family had moved farther inward and escaped the Fate of farming.

"Silly child, you don't understand. Ninja have more important things to do—protecting the village, patrolling, keeping watch. There are many things. Work honestly, or there won't be food for the next meal." The woman felt that the child's words seemed to be touching on something forbidden, so she patted his head.

"I don't understand. The Ninja only protect a village for Ninja; it has nothing to do with us. I only want to change our lives through my own effort, but I don't even have a goal to work toward..." The emotions the little boy had accumulated for years burst forth. The woman's expression became somewhat frightened. She raised her hand as if she wanted to strike him, but in the end, she slowly lowered it and could only sigh helplessly.

"Mom, Mom, look! There are Ninja running through the fields on their hands!" The boy's attention was easily drawn away by other things. The anger on his face vanished, replaced by curiosity as he pointed in a certain direction.

The woman shook her head. Ninja who came here were usually patrolling. How could they possibly be running on their hands? Did they have nothing better to do?

Zi Xu admitted that he had been careless. At first, he had thought Kai's "around the village one hundred times" meant circling the inner district around the center. But when he followed the two to the village outskirts, he realized something was wrong.

Zi Xu felt his arms going numb. It was not physical fatigue, but the irritation that came from repeating the same action too many times. Every part of him resisted continuing this.

But it did not affect Zi Xu much. His will was not so fragile. Once he hardened his heart, he endured it. He even had the leisure to inspect the surroundings—a typical stretch of farmland, with many civilians digging holes using pickaxes. A dirt-smudged little boy seemed to be gesturing at something to a middle-aged woman beside him.

"Teacher Kai, I think we could help them with their work. That would also count as training, wouldn't it?" Zi Xu suggested to Kai ahead of him, seemingly on a whim. He was not tired, but he would be more than happy to exercise in a different way.

"No problem. Helping civilians is also youth. Even if you hadn't said it, I was already thinking of doing so." Kai answered readily, as though he had long intended to do it. Rock Lee nodded as well, showing no surprise.

These two... are different from ordinary Ninja, Zi Xu assessed inwardly. Though they were Ninja, they did not have the arrogance ingrained in most Ninja. Their attitude toward civilians was unbelievably easygoing—not the pity of those above toward those below, but respect between equals.

The woman seemed to be scolding the boy about something. Zi Xu and the other two were drawn over, each approaching the mother and son while upside down.

"They really are Ninja. They aren't wearing the patrol squad's uniforms."

"Get back to work. Stop fantasizing about pointless things. If we don't farm, we won't have food. We're not like Ninja."

"This isn't fair! Why should we go through all this hardship to grow food, only to give it to those Ninja for free?"

Their voices grew somewhat louder, and they did not notice the three approaching them at all.

"Hello, is there anything we can help with?" Kai nimbly rose to his feet, blew the dust from his palms, and spoke to the mother and son.

The middle-aged woman shuddered all over when she heard someone speaking behind her. Then, stammering, she pulled the little boy behind her.

"Y-Yes... I'm sorry, Lord Ninja. The child doesn't know any better, he was just talking nonsense... I'll make sure to discipline him properly when we get home... Xiao Chong! Apologize to the Lord Ninjas right now!"

"I won't! I'm not wrong! If us commoners had any way to grow stronger, we wouldn't have to live so hard. Ninjas can't just eat and drink for free either!" The little boy was stubborn. Though sparkling tears filled his eyes, he refused to lower his head, glaring fiercely at Zi Xu and the other two.

The middle-aged woman's face turned from sallow yellow to deathly pale with fright. It was as though her mind had gone blank, as if she had already foreseen her miserable future.

Kai's tall figure stood before the little boy. Sunlight shone on his back, casting the boy into shadow.

Kai remained silent in the shade for a long while before finally breaking into his usual brilliant smile.

"You're right. Then today, we'll work to repay the debt we owe..." As he spoke, he moved to start working, but the woman stopped him. She had never encountered anything like this before, yet the deeply ingrained hierarchy in her heart still made her feel that this was inappropriate.

"Don't worry, this is also a form of training! Sweat it out in the fields! This is youth!" Kai said, once again slipping into a state of blazing passion. Without waiting for the woman to say more, he began working. Zi Xu and the other two refused to be outdone. The three Taijutsu experts swiftly finished all the farm work, leaving only the stunned woman behind.

"N-Not bad..." The little boy felt somewhat embarrassed. He had only spoken out of anger and never expected those lofty Ninjas to help him with the work. He had already prepared himself to go home and get a beating.

After Kai finished tidying everything around them, he rubbed the little boy's head, his tone carrying a hint of reminiscence.

"Young man, I can't answer your earlier question for now. But I can tell you this: as long as you keep working hard, anyone can grow stronger. It has nothing to do with whether you're a commoner or a Ninja, or even what species you are. Sometimes, even a stray dog possesses a noble soul. All I can tell you is to work hard..." Kai's gaze became resolute, and the little boy nodded as though he half understood.

"Zi Xu, perhaps you noticed it too. That's right, the Eight Gates aren't some secret art. They don't have any special requirements. You could even say that anyone can open the Eight Gates..." Kai led Zi Xu, the little boy, and the others beneath the shade of a tree and began explaining earnestly.

"But it requires tireless effort day and night, a steadfast heart, and the determination to persevere without fearing the mockery and ridicule of others. As long as you work hard..."

"Even geniuses can be surpassed!" Rock Lee picked up the next line, nodding fervently.

"Little guy, keep it up. Ninjas aren't invincible, and commoners may not lack a path to becoming stronger. We just need to find it together." Zi Xu found the little fellow before him rather interesting as well, smiling as he stretched lazily.

The little boy felt that these three people seemed somewhat different from the other Ninjas, but he couldn't say exactly how. So he could only keep listening.