He had once asked his great-uncle Tobirama why he didn't learn it.
His great-uncle had told him that the Eight Gates Formation was missing all sorts of pieces. It was an incomplete text that needed someone to properly fill in the gaps. Forcing his way through the training could get him killed.
And that wasn't all. Taken to its limit, with all Eight Gates open, the technique did grant absurd power, but afterward, the user was practically finished-the body simply couldn't withstand that kind of explosive output.
So his great-uncle Tobirama had put it straight into the Forbidden Technique Directory and strictly forbidden Hibari from touching it.
The thought flashed through Hibari's mind, but he hadn't stopped moving. He kicked off an unfortunate tree beside him. With a sharp crack, its trunk snapped clean in half, while the savage force sent him hurtling like a cannonball toward Kagami Uchiha, who had only just regained his footing!
This time, Kagami Uchiha couldn't dodge. Hibari hadn't intended to kill him, though. At the last instant, he forcibly adjusted his strength, turning the kick into a push and planting his foot squarely on Kagami's shoulder.
But the moment his toes touched Kagami Uchiha's clothes, the sensation was clearly wrong... far too light.
"A Shadow Clone!" Hibari spat.
As a student personally trained by his great-uncle Tobirama, Kagami Uchiha had long since mastered that trick. Paired with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he could always unleash it at the most critical moment. Who knew how many times he'd used it to catch opponents off guard and turn the tables?
The instant Hibari's foot touched the ground, two hands shot out of the dirt and clamped tightly around his ankles.
"The Headhunter Technique?" Hibari raised an eyebrow.
Sure enough, a tremendous force dragged him underground the next