The Level of Body Arts Has Changed Dramatically

"You naturally evil Uchiha brat, you cannot remain hidden or triumphant forever. You have been marked; you are now the target of a kill order from a certain faction."

Hearing Tobirama Senju spout such cynical remarks, Kawadera Uchiha thought to himself:

"Lord Second, what benefit is there for you if I die? If I die, you will vanish completely and never be able to contribute to Konoha again!"

"I will never be coerced. I believe in Konoha, and Konoha will continue to grow stronger."

Kawadera Uchiha was rendered speechless. He had intended to hold something over Tobirama Senju, never expecting that the man would be so indifferent to his own survival.

After fleeing for another few dozen meters, Kawadera Uchiha confirmed that Seigetsu Senju and the others could no longer see him, so he turned to face the three assassins.

The situation shifted instantly. The three men spread out with practiced coordination: one acted as bait, charging head-on; one circled to the left; and the final one ducked behind a tree trunk, vanishing from sight.

His finger joints cracked as he moved his hands. These three surely wanted to kill their poisoned captain to silence him, but they were arrogant enough to believe they could finish him off first before dealing with the captain.

Perhaps... Kawadera Uchiha speculated, perhaps his own priority was even higher than that of the captured captain.

You may look down on me, but how can you look down on the Eight Inner Gates...

This is the technique that could kick the series finale into existence back in the first episode of Naruto.

I only feel the burden is heavy, but I am capable of opening the Sixth Gate.

When Tobirama Senju bestowed the forbidden technique upon him, he had directly transferred his own memories and insights regarding the cultivation of the Eight Inner Gates to Kawadera Uchiha.

In other words, the moment he acquired the Eight Inner Gates, he was capable of opening it to the Sixth Gate just like Tobirama Senju. It was simply that the physical toll was immense, the duration short, and the consequences uncontrollable.

"Fourth Gate! Gate of Pain! Open!"

His skin flushed red, blue veins bulged, and the sweat evaporating from his entire body turned into green chakra steam!

Kawadera Uchiha's three physical stats—body, strength, and speed—all increased by 2.

This level of enhancement far exceeded the intelligence estimates these assassins had gathered.

For instance, how could these people have predicted that Kawadera Uchiha's [Speed] would jump from 6.1 to 8.1?

Boom!

The third assassin, who had been hiding behind a large tree and observing the battle to deliver a fatal blow at the critical moment, suddenly felt a heavy strike against his back.

Someone had kicked the tree in half, sending him flying from the impact.

The other two assassins finally realized their target had vanished from their sight and rushed to locate Kawadera Uchiha.

Amidst the swirling cloud of wood chips, Kawadera Uchiha's short blade slashed toward the assassin's lower back.

The assassin tried to dodge, but a piece of wood chip happened to block his vision.

He felt as though this piece of wood was flying so slowly, so very slowly.

Slow enough to feel like a scene in slow motion.

No!

This is a genjutsu!

By the time he tried to disrupt his own chakra, it was already too late.

Pfft!

The ninja blade pierced through his waist.

He tried to resist, but he found himself locked in a close-range stare with a pair of Sharingan.

The two tomoe in the Sharingan rotated slowly; his resistance was useless against the genjutsu.

Just then, another assassin caught up and rushed to Kawadera Uchiha's side.

His kunai slashed toward Kawadera Uchiha's throat.

Kawadera Uchiha turned his head, attempting to use genjutsu once more.

However, looking into the eye holes of the assassin's Black Dog Mask, he saw no eyes—only a pitch-black void, obscured by some unknown means.

Their intelligence gathering is quite good; this person actually knew how to avoid Sharingan genjutsu.

However, Kawadera Uchiha's taijutsu was like that of a different person entirely.

He lifted a leg and delivered a horizontal kick at blinding speed.

Before the ninja at his side could finish his swinging motion, he felt his ribs suffer a devastating blow, and his entire body was sent flying backward.

Crack, crack!

He seemed to hear the sound of his own ribs snapping.

Before he could even collide with a distant tree trunk, three kunai followed in quick succession, piercing into his side.

With no ribs to block them, the kunai sank deep, very deep.

Seeing this, the last man charged forward, fearless of death.

Kawadera Uchiha began to weave hand seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

The ninja was still bracing for the Great Fireball, when suddenly, his vision went black, plunging him into total darkness.

What kind of genjutsu is this?

The eye holes in his mask were fake; the Sharingan staring at his eye holes should have been useless.

In the darkness, a powerful hand clamped around his throat.

Snap!

His throat was crushed.

Before death took him, he was still thinking that the intelligence was completely wrong—the target was not a genjutsu-type ninja, nor was the target's taijutsu a weakness. The target was clearly a taijutsu specialist!

The genjutsu was merely the icing on the cake.

Having killed three men in mere seconds, Kawadera Uchiha tossed them into a pile and unleashed a Great Fireball.

Friends who kill often know that one must always destroy the evidence after a kill.

The scorching flames charred the three corpses.

The Great Fireball might not always be enough to kill, but it is excellent for cooking brains; their brain matter must have been boiling, just like a whistling tea kettle.

As the flames died out, the surroundings fell into sudden silence.

Kawadera Uchiha heard his body groaning; even with simple movements, his bones creaked.

The burden of the Eight Inner Gates was too great; his muscles were tearing, and his joints felt as though they were grinding away.

In the original story, Might Guy and Rock Lee were taijutsu geniuses. Even with the insights and experience of Tobirama Senju, Kawadera Uchiha could only use the Eight Inner Gates to compensate for his lack of taijutsu in the short term; he could not open the later gates with ease.

He returned to the side of the captured captain, and seeing the man still suffering from snake venom, he leaned against the roots of a tree to rest.

A minute later, Seigetsu Senju arrived at Kawadera Uchiha's side, panting heavily.

"Kawadera! Are you alright? I saw three very powerful ninjas rush toward you!"

She crouched down anxiously, terrified that Kawadera might have suffered some horrific wound.

At a glance, there were no major external injuries.

Kawadera Uchiha said, "I burned those three to death with a Great Fireball; their bodies are over there. What about you? How did your battle go?"

Seigetsu Senju said, "It took us some time. Ken Aburame's Kikaichū scored the first success, and once he was free, he helped us finish off our enemies one by one."

The Aburame Clan was as reliable as ever.

Kureya Inuzuka and Ken Aburame landed one after another and spotted Kawadera Uchiha.

Just standing up was an effort; his slightly hunched posture was a clear sign of overexertion and muscle tearing.

"Captain Seigetsu, it seems I'm the one dragging us down. If you don't heal my muscle tears, I won't be able to travel."

Kureya Inuzuka said, "How can you call that dragging us down?

Except for the captain you were guarding, all the other prisoners were silenced. They were extremely professional; they destroyed the brains when they silenced them."

Ken Aburame said, "They didn't just silence them; the assassin ninjas we defeated all chose self-destruction, leaving us not even a corpse to examine.

This style is a bit like the Anbu. I don't know if it's the Anbu of Iwagakure or Amegakure."

You are still too young, Kawadera Uchiha thought to himself. Why couldn't it be the Anbu of Konoha?

Seigetsu Senju said, "Let's change our hiding spot and set up traps. I will treat Kawadera's muscle tears as quickly as possible."

The Eight Inner Gates were fine for basic physical training and patching up weaknesses, but since he wasn't a taijutsu genius, using it for combat was still a bit of a stretch.