Recruitment × Eight Inner Gates

"Phew."

The figure took a deep drag on his pipe. Through the hazy smoke, his face looked as if it had matured too quickly.

Anyone with a keen eye would have noticed that his features and smoking habit bore a faint resemblance to the Third Hokage.

"Sigh."

The figure let out a deep sigh. Heartbreak was painful, but what hurt even more was that he didn't even have the courage to go out and confront his rival.

He had naturally considered catering to her tastes. Kurenai Yuhi had said she liked mature, dependable men, so he'd tried to follow the old man's example: growing a beard and smoking a pipe.

But he should have known better. In the ninja world, "mature and dependable" was just another way of saying "strong."

He was the same age as Nara Dan, and they'd graduated in the same class. Naturally, he knew just how absurdly talented Nara Dan was at Taijutsu.

None of their classmates had lasted more than three moves against Nara Dan.

Of course, that included him.

He was confident in his own abilities, but compared with those top-tier monsters—and with his father—he knew his place.

That was how cruel this world was. You could start at about the same point, or even a little ahead, but once the race began, you wouldn't even catch a whiff of the other guy's dust.

"Maybe...I really should consider the old man's suggestion."

The figure disappeared into the darkness, leaving only a faint murmur in the breeze and the scent of tobacco drifting through the air.

Meanwhile, Nara Dan had no idea that he'd unknowingly scared off a romantic rival.

The very man Kurenai Yuhi supposedly considered her "destined partner," if the story's original plot was anything to go by.

But even if Nara Dan had known, he wouldn't have cared. The so-called plot had already gone completely off the rails the moment he arrived in this world.

One thing worth mentioning:

After his date, Nara Dan ran into someone he hadn't expected.

A breeze stirred the leaves on the ground. The quiet road gradually led into an uninhabited stretch, where mottled marks on the concrete intertwined with the shadows of trees.

Nara Dan walked along at an unhurried pace, then stopped.

His white kimono and black hair stirred in the wind. A beastlike aura, as tangible as a solid mass, radiated from him, freezing the fluttering leaves in midair for an instant.

"Does everyone in Root of Konoha skulk around like this?"

His steady voice echoed along the quiet road. No one seemed to answer.

Slowly, the leaves swirling in the wind began to dance through the air, gathering together and gradually forming a human shape.

An old man appeared among them, leaning on a cane, his eyes wrapped in bandages and a dark kimono draped over him.

"Your strength has improved again, Dan."

Danzo's voice rasped like gravel scraping beneath the earth, with a hint of praise in it.

As Konoha's acting deputy Hokage, he naturally knew the details of Nara Dan's record, including the glowing praise he'd received from the Sannin and even the White Fang.

He had a perfect mission completion rate, and had never been injured in the course of a mission.

That wasn't all. Even his loose kimono couldn't conceal his terrifying presence as he faced Konoha's Demon.

To be honest, the moment Nara Dan locked onto him, Danzo had felt the air grow still, as if death were closing in.

"Too kind, Lord Danzo."

Danzo saw that Nara Dan was watching him without expression and wasn't going to respond, but he didn't feel awkward. He simply continued speaking as if to himself.

"First, congratulations on your promotion to Special Jonin."

"But rather than waste away under Sarutobi, you should come work for me."

"You're a Jonin now, but given your age, Sarutobi definitely won't promote you again anytime soon."

"And considering how wary Sarutobi is of you, it wouldn't be impossible for him to hide you away like he did the White Fang."

"You and the White Fang knew each other, so you should know how he ended up."

Danzo didn't care in the slightest how outrageous his words were.

He went straight to the point and tried to recruit Nara Dan.

But given his close relationship with the Third Hokage, even if this really reached the Third's ears, nothing would come of it.

"Maybe. But the White Fang chose his own fate."

Nara Dan raised an eyebrow, unconcerned, and made no comment on Danzo's words.

In other words, I'm not as stupid as the White Fang.

It was true that Nara Dan seemed to be in the spotlight now, and the Nara Clan was firmly in the Third Hokage's camp.

But the White Fang had been in that position too. In fact, he'd been even more influential and powerful than Nara Dan was now. Yet when they decided to take him down, they hadn't hesitated.

Besides, the closer someone was to you, the more you had to guard against them. Those in power lived by one principle: if I didn't give it to you, you had no right to take it.

And if Nara Dan advanced any further, he might break through the Nara Clan's long-standing role as "Hokage advisors."

Then the balance of power could be reversed, and that might lead to another political disaster like the one that had befallen the White Fang.

"But what Sarutobi can't give you, I can."

"What Sarutobi doesn't dare give you, I can give you too!"

Danzo knew Nara Dan's temperament. He wasn't some heir to the Will of Fire. Only benefits could truly sway him.

With that political pitch, he'd dangled rewards, appealed to emotion, and wielded both the hard and soft approaches.

If Nara Dan had really been a seventeen-year-old boy,

or a political fool like Uchiha Itachi, the old man might actually have talked him into it.

Unfortunately, Nara Dan was neither, and he knew exactly how dark and twisted Danzo was, thanks to his familiarity with the story.

But it seemed Danzo hadn't finished speaking yet.

What was it that Sarutobi didn't dare give him?

Nara Dan looked at Danzo, and seemed to already know the answer.

Danzo didn't disappoint him. Slowly, he uttered the four words:

"Eight Inner Gates!"

Danzo stared intently at Nara Dan, hoping to see the reaction he wanted.

But Danzo was soon disappointed. Nara Dan's expression had indeed shifted slightly, but he still looked calm and unconcerned.

Even the aura of an ancient beast showed no sign of weakening. Instead, it was as deep as the sea, waves continuously crashing against him.

"Sigh."

But this, too, had been within Danzo's expectations. Unlike a civilian ninja, Nara Dan had both the Nara Clan's strategic acumen and powerful strength to protect himself.

The Nara Clan naturally sheltered him and lent him political influence. Persuading him wouldn't be easy.

Though dejected, Danzo, as the head of Root of Konoha, wasn't about to give up so easily. Anyone with eyes could see that war was coming.

And unlike the Sannin, who bore the unmistakable political imprint of the Third, Nara Dan had no clear political affiliation. He might still be willing to place his bets on an old man like him.

"You know, Dan, the resources Konoha has for Taijutsu aren't enough to help you cross that threshold. The Eight Inner Gates can—and they're the only thing that can."

Nara Dan, of course, knew about the Eight Inner Gates. It was the famous comeback Forbidden Technique of the Naruto world.

It was a technique that removed the body's restrictions on Chakra, releasing its excess energy.

In the body's Chakra circulatory system, there were eight points that suppressed and controlled the Chakra within: the Gate of Opening, Gate of Healing, Gate of Life, Gate of Pain, Gate of Limit, Gate of View, Gate of Wonder, and Gate of Death.

These eight gates restricted the amount of Chakra within the body.

But this technique could force Chakra beyond those limits, drawing out power dozens of times greater than one's normal strength.

The state achieved by opening all eight gates was called the Formation of the Eight Inner Gates. It could instantly grant one ten times the power of the Five Kage.

But the user would die as their life force burned away.

The splendor of Night Guy was something every Naruto fan remembered.

Nara Dan was no exception. He, too, coveted this powerful Forbidden Technique, before the man who would deliver the strongest kick ever came along.

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