Practical Training

Guy's figure became a blur as he darted around the dojo.

Ryosuke's Sharingan couldn't keep up with his speed at all.

This was partly because Ryosuke's Sharingan had only two tomoe, but Guy had only opened one gate, too.

That was enough to show how powerful the Eight Inner Gates were.

A minute later, Guy reappeared in front of Ryosuke.

"Well? Can your Sharingan keep up with my speed?"

Ryosuke put on a shocked expression and shook his head.

Guy smiled at the sight, then patted Ryosuke on the shoulder. "Don't be discouraged. Even Hatake Kakashi can't do this. Do you want to learn this move?"

It turned out that Guy thought Ryosuke couldn't do something even Kakashi, with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, couldn't manage. Guy had only been showing off.

Ryosuke really wanted to laugh, but he still nodded.

"This move requires the user to have an exceptionally strong body and a lot of willpower. Otherwise, you'll only hurt yourself. Do you understand... Hmm?"

Guy was about to emphasize the importance of high-intensity training to Ryosuke.

But the next moment, he saw a layer of blue light rise around Ryosuke.

"What's that?"

"Gate of Opening: Open!"

Ryosuke roared. He immediately felt as though his body had become light as a feather, and power surged out from every limb.

At the same time, however, his muscles were being pulled taut, and the pain was intense.

Just as Guy had said, using the Eight Inner Gates without an exceptionally strong body was basically self-torture.

Still, Ryosuke forced himself to run two laps around the dojo. His speed was actually no slower than when he used Lightning Release: Rampage.

But before long, his mouth felt parched, and he couldn't keep going.

Ryosuke collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath and drinking water. Sweat soaked his clothes.

Even so, Guy stared at him as if he were a monster, his mouth hanging open.

"R-Ryosuke, did you just use the Eight Inner Gates?" Guy asked, sounding very unsure.

Ryosuke nodded. "I suppose you could say that. You're a great teacher, Guy."

Guy's face began to twist.

He had to remember, he'd been taught this move by his father from childhood, and it had taken him eight years of training just to open the first gate.

But this Uchiha kid had learned it after watching him demonstrate it just once?

What the hell? Is this the difference between a genius and an ordinary person?

Guy had always looked down on the word "genius." He'd believed that effort could make anyone a genius.

That was why he'd kept challenging Kakashi: he wanted to prove his own worth.

But now, his belief was starting to waver.

"Guy?"

Ryosuke seemed to realize something was wrong, too.

"It's nothing, I'm fine. Using the Eight Inner Gates for the first time must put a heavy strain on your body, right?"

Guy patted his cheeks, forced a smile, and asked.

Ryosuke nodded. "Yeah. If I don't move, I can keep it open for about five minutes, but once I start moving intensely, I can only maintain it for about a minute."

Guy breathed a sigh of relief. Ryosuke's answer helped restore his peace of mind.

"That's the benefit of high-intensity training. The Eight Inner Gates put a huge strain on the user. You need to strengthen your body before this move can become your trump card. There's not much more I can teach you. Just keep training from now on."

After saying that, Guy walked toward the lounge, his figure looking dejected.

Ryosuke paused, then immediately called after him. "Guy, thanks. But I think you know plenty of other powerful Taijutsu moves besides the Eight Inner Gates."

Guy froze in place, then turned and looked at Ryosuke in surprise.

If it weren't for Ryosuke's Sharingan, Guy would have suspected he was a spy from another village.

"Fine, then. Since you're Shisui's student, I'll teach you a few more moves. I'll only demonstrate each of these once, so watch closely."

Guy flashed a confident smile, then began darting around the dojo.

Ryosuke activated his Sharingan and carefully tracked Guy's movements.

"Leaf Whirlwind."

"Leaf Great Whirlwind."

"Front Lotus."

Just as Ryosuke had expected, the system hadn't recorded any of these Taijutsu moves.

Fortunately, he had the Sharingan, and he memorized every one of them.

Half an hour later, Guy had finally finished demonstrating all the moves.

Ryosuke was tired, too, sweat running down his temples.

"How many did you memorize?"

Guy asked while drinking water.

Ryosuke didn't answer. Instead, he performed every move he'd seen.

"Not bad. Your form is perfect, but how much power you can put behind the moves depends on this."

Guy showed off his biceps.

Ryosuke nodded.

The power of Taijutsu really did depend on the user's physical strength.

It seemed he'd have to train harder from now on.

"Since you've learned them all, let's spar for the rest of our time. You can't use Ninjutsu or the Sharingan. Taijutsu only."

Guy said with a smile.

No Sharingan?

Ryosuke was still surprised when the world suddenly flipped upside down.

Guy had already grabbed him from behind and was about to slam him into the floor.

A loud bang rang out.

The entire dojo shook.

Guy flew out of the smoke.

When the smoke cleared, all that remained where Ryosuke had been was a log.

"Substitution Technique?"

Guy looked a little disappointed.

"Guy, this is training. You don't have to go all out, do you? You nearly killed me just now."

Ryosuke couldn't help complaining.

"Heh heh. If you treat training like a battlefield, you won't get killed on the battlefield. Take this!"

As he spoke, Guy charged at him again.

"Sonido!"

Ryosuke wasn't about to follow Guy's rule about not using Ninjutsu. He'd get beaten black and blue otherwise.

"Body Flicker Technique? Shisui even taught you that? He must really think highly of you. Interesting. It's been a long time since I fought someone with the Sharingan."

Guy immediately grew excited. He clenched his fists, and blue light flared around him.

"Gate of Opening: Open!"

"Gate of Healing: Open!"

"Gate of Life: Open!"

"Gate of Pain: Open!"

Guy actually opened four gates in succession with the Eight Inner Gates.

His powerful aura sent many objects in the dojo tumbling.

Ryosuke knew Guy was taking this seriously now.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Fire!"

Ryosuke didn't dare hesitate. He had to be the first to use a move that could control the battlefield.

But he was still too slow compared to Guy.

His Ninjutsu had only just begun when a heavy blow struck him from behind.

With a bang, Ryosuke turned into a cloud of smoke.

"Shadow Clone Technique? Ha ha, this is getting interesting."

Guy burst into laughter.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Countless kunai flew out of the sea of flames toward Guy.

But the air currents around him alone were enough to deflect the kunai.

"Lightning Release: Rampage! Neural Detection!"

Ryosuke didn't dare hold back at all. He immediately buffed himself and activated his detection technique at the same time.

Guy's figure finally came into focus, but he was still ridiculously fast.