"With the Eight Inner Gates, crossing that threshold would be easy for you."
Danzo's voice held a hint of bewitching charm as it drifted away on the breeze.
If Nara Dan had been a native of the Ninja World, he would undoubtedly have believed every word and been persuaded by him.
"It seems Lord Danzo thinks highly of me. That's unusual."
Nara Dan's expression didn't change in the slightest, even though Danzo had made his praise sound so convincing.
Did Nara Dan want to obtain the Eight Inner Gates? Without a doubt, he did.
But would he pay a steep price for the technique?
No. The source of Nara Dan's strength wasn't the Taijutsu talent he displayed on the surface, but the Cheat System he'd brought with him when he crossed over.
A technique like the Eight Inner Gates, which drained the user's life force, wasn't truly essential to him.
Seeing that Nara Dan had responded, Danzo relaxed a little. As the saying went, you weren't afraid of someone making demands; you were afraid they wouldn't even entertain the idea.
"It's not just me. I imagine the Sannin, the White Fang, and Sarutobi all think highly of you."
"Your talent may even surpass theirs."
Danzo spared no praise, and the truth was that he wasn't wrong.
Even renowned Kage Level fighters, at Nara Dan's age, had merely been making their way through the Jonin ranks.
Most didn't cross that threshold until after they turned twenty-five.
But after facing Nara Dan today, Danzo could tell, with his discerning eye, that the young man was probably no more than a thin pane of paper away from that threshold.
On top of that, Nara Dan's Taijutsu gave him a body that was hard to wound with blades, inexhaustible stamina, and astonishing explosive power.
On the battlefield, whether in direct combat or assassination behind enemy lines, his contribution would likely rival that of a true Kage Level fighter.
"Lord Danzo makes a good point."
Then don't make it again, Nara Dan thought to himself.
"But I am, after all, a member of the Nara Clan. For something this important..."
Nara Dan left himself plenty of room to maneuver.
On the one hand, he affirmed the Nara Clan's natural allegiance to the Hokage's faction; on the other, he didn't close the door entirely.
"I should go back to the clan and discuss it with the head and elders."
"I see."
How could Danzo, a seasoned political operator, fail to recognize a polite refusal?
But he couldn't press the matter further. Nara Dan had left him more than enough room to negotiate.
"Then I hope you'll give my words some serious thought, Dan."
"Don't let this opportunity slip away."
"Of course."
Nara Dan shrugged and turned to leave without hesitation. As he went, he gave the grove nearby a brief, deliberate glance.
An invisible pressure descended at once, leaving the shadow that had been watching him tense all over, its heart racing beyond its control.
"Heh."
But Nara Dan did no more than glance in that direction. He left without another move.
It was only long after Nara Dan had gone that the oppressive tension in the air began to ease.
A ninja wearing dark glasses appeared beside Danzo.
"Lord Danzo, he noticed me just now."
"Did he?"
Danzo nodded to show he understood.
"Ryoma, what do you think would happen if you fought him?"
Aburame Ryoma answered without hesitation.
"I'd die, and quickly."
Danzo frowned, clearly dissatisfied with the answer. Aburame Ryoma was one of the strongest men under his command, after all.
"Even if you used your Kikaichū?"
Aburame Ryoma explained,
"If his actual abilities match what's on paper, his thrusting speed is second only to the White Fang's. And he has a powerful body, with Cell Activation like the Third Raikage's. Ordinary ninjutsu would have a hard time hurting him."
"Even if I used my Kikaichū, dealing with them would only cost him a few extra steps. And even if they caught up to him, whether they could inflict any damage is another matter."
"After all, I'm not confident I could break the Third Raikage's absolute defense."
"What about surrounding him and killing him?"
Danzo asked lightly, but before Aburame Ryoma could answer, he shook his head, indicating that there was no need.
He already knew the answer. The cost of surrounding and killing a powerhouse with practically no weaknesses was more than he could afford.
Besides, Nara Dan wasn't some lone, helpless ninja. No one among the younger generation could match his standing in the Nara Clan.
"But that's exactly why I need to make that power serve me."
Danzo gazed toward Hokage Rock, his ambition surging.
"Still, there may be other ways to use him."
He recalled Nara Dan's schedule for the day, and another idea began to form.
Meanwhile, back at home, Nara Dan resumed reading the Taijutsu notes that had been interrupted earlier.
After a long while, when he had familiarized himself with most of the material, he went back to the beginning and reread one of the entries.
A Brief Discussion on the Eight Inner Gates—Tobirama Senju
"The Eight Gates... the Eight Inner Gates."
Danzo's attempt to recruit him today had reminded him of the highest Forbidden Technique in Taijutsu.
Nara Dan looked at his Talent Entry—Taijutsu Mastery—which shimmered with shifting purple light.
His intuition told him that to take this final step, he'd need the highest Taijutsu Secret Technique in the Ninja World—the Eight Inner Gates.
Without a doubt, the techniques that had made people famous for their Taijutsu in this world, whether Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred or the Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode,
were merely forms of Nintaijutsu. Their formidable close-combat power relied on the nature or form transformations of Chakra.
But when it came to drawing out the body's pure physical potential, only the Eight Inner Gates could do that. Even if the technique forced growth at the cost of long-term harm,
it could still offer Nara Dan considerable insight at this stage.
Tobirama Senju had naturally studied this unusual Forbidden Technique, too.
But he was a ninjutsu specialist as well. His unparalleled talent for techniques, combined with the Senju's Sage Body, meant he had no need to study such an extreme Forbidden Technique.
"So that's why it's called a 'Brief Discussion'..."
Nara Dan looked over Tobirama Senju's notes. They only discussed the principles and functions of the first seven gates.
As for the final gate, Tobirama Senju had barely mentioned it.
Clearly, the rational and level-headed Second Hokage wasn't fond of Forbidden Techniques that took both the user and their enemy down together.
If you had time to study this, wouldn't summoning two corpses be more useful?
But Nara Dan was different. The Cheat System had given him a body far stronger than ordinary people's, enough to bear the strain of the Eight Inner Gates for a long time, perhaps even without injury.
"Should I defect?!"
The idea crossed Nara Dan's mind, but he immediately shook his head. It wasn't realistic.
It wasn't that he felt much loyalty to Konoha. In fact, he was pretty annoyed that Danzo and the Third were using this Forbidden Technique to keep him in line.
But defecting was far too poor a deal for someone as pragmatic as him.
It wouldn't be difficult for him to raid the Hokage Office and steal the Scroll of Seals, then escape Konoha.
If Orochimaru could do it, so could he. But the consequences would be too severe.
Once he became a rogue ninja, he'd have to keep moving from place to place. He'd also lose all the benefits of his current life in the Nara Clan and Konoha, including the resources that supported his training and daily needs.
His Cheat System consumed a great deal. His monthly expenses alone ran to hundreds of thousands of ryo.
And he still wanted to find rarer, more unusual "ingredients" to digest and help him improve.
Besides, it would undoubtedly put the Nara Clan in an extremely awkward position.
It was like eating a bowl of noodles and taking the bowl's bottom as well.
"I'm not that shameless."
Nara Dan smiled and pushed those thoughts aside. The Eight Inner Gates weren't essential, after all. There was no harm in waiting a while.
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