The afternoon sparring class.
The students were worried sick as they each took out a kunai and practiced with it.
According to past practice, they should still have been taking the first-semester kunai-throwing class, but with the situation so urgent, kunai throwing had become self-study.
Kunai were allowed in sparring class. The teacher had said that even if one or two people died, it would be fine.
For the first match, Uchiha Ling would fight Might Guy.
"Where's your kunai?"
Uchiha Ling held his kunai in reverse grip and stood in the Training Ground, sizing up Might Guy.
After not seeing each other for a holiday, even Might Guy's eyes had changed.
Might Guy said, "I didn't expect things to change so quickly. From now on, even sparring will require ninja tools.
"For this match, I'll still use the method I'm familiar with. I'll defeat you with my Taijutsu—defeat you completely!"
The corner of Uchiha Ling's mouth twitched mockingly.
"Might Guy, I thought you'd crammed Ninjutsu all holiday and would show me that you'd made up for your weakness.
"I didn't expect you to still be struggling with Taijutsu. It's not that Taijutsu-type ninja are weak—it's that you're weak.
"Might Guy, go write a withdrawal application after class. You still have time. Once you graduate early and go to the front lines, you'll die.
"Not only will you die, you'll drag your teammates down with you.
"Just like your father, that ten-thousand-year Genin. With him around, he's the weak link in the team, and no mission can ever be completed."
Might Guy lowered his head slightly, breathing heavily. "Uchiha Ling! Don't look down on people! I'm not the weak link!
"I'll use my Taijutsu strength to become the team's strong link!
"And another thing! Don't insult my father!"
"Wake up. It's not me insulting your father. It's your father who insulted the identity of a ninja..."
"Ah! Ah! Ah! Eight Gates Technique! First Gate! Gate of Opening! Open!"
The Gate of Opening was a chakra acupoint located at a key node in the chakra meridians of the head. It restricted Chakra to prevent it from damaging the body.
Once the Gate of Opening opened, a massive amount of Chakra was extracted.
The students rubbed their eyes. Unsure whether they were seeing things, they felt that Might Guy was enveloped in a thin layer of green light.
Perhaps it was just the unusual reflection from his green jumpsuit.
Teacher Yamano stood to the side, looking at Might Guy in surprise.
Might Guy was a student whose strengths and weaknesses were both obvious, yet he had actually mastered some kind of explosive Secret Technique. Yamano could sense that Might Guy's Chakra Amount had increased considerably.
It seemed that Might Guy's graduation evaluation would have to be raised. This Secret Technique looked pretty good.
Uchiha Ling watched Might Guy with interest. He hadn't expected Might Guy to quietly open the first Gate of the Eight Gates Technique.
Might Guy's Chakra Amount had increased tremendously—so much that his body could no longer control it. It overflowed and steamed his sweat into green vapor.
But no matter how much Chakra you have, could it possibly be more than my 1.8 Kā of Chakra Amount?
Uchiha Ling shook his arm and stuck his kunai into the ground. He had become interested and wanted to test the strength of the Eight Gates Technique.
Might Guy pushed off with his feet and charged rapidly toward Uchiha Ling.
"Leaf Hurricane!"
He put his whole body into a spinning kick, driving his hard heel toward Uchiha Ling's head.
His body itself was a ninja tool!
Bang!
Uchiha Ling quickly raised his elbow, smashing it against Might Guy's heel.
Throughout the holiday, he had been consolidating his bone density and muscle strength.
As though two stones had collided, Might Guy was knocked into a reverse spin, exposing his back to Uchiha Ling.
This is bad!
The teacher had said that a ninja could die, but he absolutely couldn't die from taking a kunai in the back.
Uchiha Ling brought both hands together and raised his index and middle fingers.
Teacher Yamano's eyebrow twitched. Kunai could be used in sparring this semester, and the students had no sense of restraint. He had prepared to stop the match at any moment.
Was Uchiha Ling using too much force?
That Hand Seal... Was Uchiha Ling about to use some powerful Ninjutsu?
"S-rank Secret Technique! Thousand Years of Death!"
He stepped forward with his left leg bent, then thrust both arms forward with all his strength, striking the center of Might Guy's raised buttocks and unleashing Thousand Years of Death.
Might Guy! You trained bitterly to release the restriction on your Chakra, and endured injuries to master the first Gate of the Eight Gates Technique.
But early graduation is imminent. I'm sorry, but my domineering will is burning too!
I'll open another Gate for you!
I'll speed up your Eight Gates Technique!
I'm going to pressure you!
Might Guy!
In midair, Might Guy felt his sensitive, delicate hidden rear entrance struck with tremendous force. He panicked at first, then flushed bright red. His body bent backward, his muscles tensing as he flew diagonally upward.
Clutching his chrysanthemum in midair, he landed on his knees and took a solid face-first dive into the dirt.
Every student stared at the scene, dumbfounded.
Nara Saku swallowed with difficulty.
"Is that the Thousand Years of Death that White Fang of the Leaf supposedly developed when he was in school?
"That infamous move actually reappeared more than twenty years later?"
Nara Saku really was well-read. He even knew something like this.
Might Guy raised his face from the Earth Release, exposing his nose as he gasped for breath.
Damn it! Is my talent really that poor? I trained the Eight Gates Technique bitterly with my father, yet I still couldn't defeat Uchiha Ling?
His enormous expectations shattered, and Might Guy sank into despair.
He climbed to his feet and looked at Uchiha Ling. "Why can you still defeat me when I've become so much stronger?"
Uchiha Ling said, "Heh heh. Because I could already defeat the current you last semester. The gap between us is simply too great."
Might Guy's Chakra Amount had been 0.5 Kā last year. Even after opening the first Gate of the Eight Gates Technique, his Chakra Amount was still nowhere near Uchiha Ling's 1.8 Kā.
At the beginning of the village's founding, Madara Uchiha first obtained the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and then captured the Nine-Tails, yet he still lost to Hashirama Senju time and again.
The real reason was that Hashirama Senju was simply too strong—strong enough to defeat Madara Uchiha, who controlled the Nine-Tails, right from the start.
Madara Uchiha had been feeling smug about growing stronger one step at a time, but Hashirama Senju had merely indulged him out of their deep and unusual friendship.
Might Guy looked as though he had been struck by lightning, his eyelids drooping.
[There is a ninja nearby whose defenses have been broken. The Defense-Breaking System is activating...]
Uchiha Ling thought, To survive after graduation, I have to pressure everyone like crazy!
Might Guy, feel the pressure of the Hidden Leaf Village's number-one pressure bro!
[Might Guy has experienced a Defense Break. Extracting an ability related to Might Guy. The host may choose one of three options. Option One: Leaf Hurricane-style Taijutsu; Option Two: 0.6 Kā of Chakra Amount; Option Three: Eight Gates Technique · Gate of Opening.]
Option One was a Taijutsu move, so he eliminated it immediately.
Option Three was the Eight Gates Technique, but it only opened the first Gate—the Gate of Opening.
He didn't necessarily need the forbidden Eight Gates Technique. A noble transmigrator couldn't possibly trade one life for another.
Even if there were situations where he could only use powerful Taijutsu, the first Gate wasn't strong enough. He could wait until Might Guy opened more Gates before causing him to experience a Defense Break again.
As for Option Two, the Chakra Amount would immediately increase his combat power.
Might Guy's Chakra Amount had increased by 0.1 Kā over a single winter holiday. His talent was actually quite good. It was a shame that he still couldn't compare with Uchiha Ling's system.
After adding 0.6 Kā, Uchiha Ling's Chakra Amount reached 2.4 Kā.
According to the Eight Ninja Attributes, his Chakra Amount was approximately 8.
Yamano glanced at Might Guy on the ground, somewhat disappointed. The Secret Technique looked impressive, and Chakra even overflowed from the body, but its actual combat effect was average.
Uchiha Ling looked toward his adorable classmates.
Come on. Let me pressure all of you like crazy!
Before you continue