The Power of the Eight Gates and Root's Investigation

His brows furrowed slightly.

Mu took the pass and casually put it away.

"Got it."

"Go on, and stay safe." The Third Hokage waved a hand.

In the instant Mu turned around, he vanished from the office.

Watching Mu's disappearing figure, the Third Hokage let out a soft sigh and muttered to himself,

"Uchiha Mu, are you Konoha's hope, or another hidden danger?"

Though he trusted Mu, he was also wary of Mu's strength and scheming. This boy was only fifteen years old!

He hid far too many secrets, and the suppressed aura of power around him was enough to inspire fear.

After leaving the Hokage's office, Mu did not immediately go back to prepare. Instead, he headed toward Konoha's training grounds.

Before the genin exam began, he wanted to familiarize himself with the power of the Eight Gates and, while he was at it, test just how much stronger he had become after opening the Gate of Opening.

At Konoha's training grounds, quite a few ninja were training. There were no shortage of genin and chunin among them. When they saw Mu approaching, they all stopped what they were doing and studied him with curious eyes.

Ever since word spread that Mu had effortlessly defeated three ANBU jonin in the Hokage's office, his name had become widely known among Konoha's ninja.

Everyone knew that Konoha had produced a genius youth. Though only fifteen years old, his strength was mysterious, yet rumors claimed he was already a jonin.

He was also a survivor of the Uchiha Clan and an ANBU member codenamed "Shadow."

But as an ANBU member, so much information should never have been known to others.

It was easy to imagine that someone wanted to use the Uchiha genius to stir up public opinion.

There was no need to guess that person was Danzo.

How could he possibly tolerate the emergence of such a gifted Uchiha?

"So that's Uchiha Mu? He looks so young, yet he's actually that strong."

"Yeah, I heard he crushed three ANBU jonin in seconds. One of them was even a veteran ANBU captain. That's incredible!"

"As expected of someone from the Uchiha Clan. They really are all geniuses. What a shame the Uchiha Clan was wiped out by his own older brother..."

Discussion rose and fell around him. Mu knew perfectly well that someone wanted to expose him to the public.

He did not care.

He walked straight to the center of the training grounds and found an open area.

He slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, focused his mind, and drove the chakra within him toward the first of the Eight Gates—the Gate of Opening.

"Eight Gates: Gate of Opening, open!"

With a low shout, a powerful chakra aura instantly erupted from Mu's body.

A visible current of air swirled around him, and even the ground trembled faintly beneath that aura.

The ninja who had been gossiping were instantly intimidated by the powerful presence. They shut their mouths one after another and stared at Mu with fear in their eyes.

They could sense that Mu's aura was even stronger than before. He was already near the peak of elite jonin, only one step away from Kage level.

A few sharp-eyed experts recognized at once that it was the effect of opening one of the Eight Gates.

When the Third Hokage received the news, he was equally astonished.

Had he read the Scroll of Sealing that day as well?

"He truly is a genius. After seeing it only once, he learned a secret technique like the Eight Gates, one that requires time and refinement."

Mu slowly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them. He lightly raised his leg and kicked at a massive boulder ahead of him. His right foot left behind streaks of afterimages.

"Boom!"

With a deafening crash, the thousand-pound boulder was kicked into the air by Mu.

The enormous rock exploded in midair, tracing several arcs before crashing heavily to the ground and shattering into pieces.

The surrounding ninja were instantly dumbfounded, their faces filled with shock.

A thousand-pound boulder had been shattered with one kick? That power was terrifying!

Mu nodded in satisfaction.

After opening the Gate of Opening, both his physical strength and speed had increased tremendously. Though his body alone had not yet reached the middle stage of Kage level, dealing with a peak elite jonin would be effortless.

If I open the Third Gate, my physical strength should break through to the middle stage of Kage level. At the same time, the Eight Gates shared the same underlying principles as the martial arts masters of his previous life.

He should also be able to use the Eight Gates' methods of circulating energy to train the familiar martial techniques from his previous life.

That kick just now had also come from a sudden inspiration—he had incorporated hidden force into it.

Mu thought to himself.

He did not continue experimenting. Instead, he withdrew his chakra, and the aura around him instantly returned to calm, as if the expert who had shattered a thousand-pound boulder with one kick had never been him.

Just then, a familiar figure walked toward him. It was Naruto.

With an excited smile on his face, Naruto ran up to Mu and said worshipfully, "Big Brother Mu, you're amazing! That kick just now was so cool! Can you teach me?"

Mu looked at Naruto, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"Kid, why are you here? Shouldn't you be training for the genin exam?"

At the mention of the genin exam, Naruto's smile became even brighter.

"I came here to train! Big Brother Mu, that forbidden technique you taught me is amazing! I just tried it, and I can make so many clones! They're really powerful too!"

Hearing that, Mu's smile vanished. He immediately covered Naruto's mouth.

"Don't say things like that. I never taught you any forbidden technique. You're just talented enough to learn it at a glance."

"Is that so?"

Naruto scratched his head.

"Train properly. Don't embarrass yourself in the genin exam."

Mu spoke calmly, though there was a trace of expectation in his eyes.

Naruto nodded forcefully, his gaze resolute.

"Don't worry, Big Brother Mu! I'll definitely pass the genin exam and become Hokage! When that happens, I'll be as strong as you!"

"Oh, right, Big Brother Mu, are you taking the genin exam too?" Naruto asked curiously.

Mu shook his head. "I'm not taking the exam. I'm here to supervise it and protect all of you."

"Protect us?"

Naruto froze for a moment before realization dawned on him. "I get it! Big Brother Mu is with the ANBU, so you're protecting us while we take the exam, right?"

Mu did not deny it and nodded.

"That's right. But you can't rely on me too much. If you want to become Hokage, you can only depend on your own strength."

"I know!"

Naruto nodded firmly. "I'll train hard. I definitely won't hold you back!"

Seeing Naruto so full of motivation, Mu smiled and said nothing more.

He could sense that the Nine-Tails' chakra within Naruto was more active than before. Naruto had also already gained a preliminary grasp of the Shadow Clone Jutsu Mu had taught him. Mu believed that during this exam, Naruto would definitely give everyone a surprise.

"All right, keep training. I'm heading back first," Mu said.

"Okay! Goodbye, Big Brother Mu!"

Naruto waved, then turned and threw himself back into training.

Mu watched Naruto's training figure, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

As the child of destiny in this world, Naruto possessed limitless potential and would become one of the strongest figures in the ninja world in the future.

He was also the catalyst.

Only by staying near this guy would more interesting things happen.

That was also why Mu had not left Konoha to develop elsewhere.

Orochimaru, the Hidden Sand Village, the Hidden Sound Village,

and those forces lurking in the shadows.

The genin exam

was not merely a contest among young ninja.

It was also the stage where he, Uchiha Mu, would display his strength and intimidate every faction.

"Orochimaru, Hidden Sand Village, are you ready?" Mu muttered, a sharp smile curling across his lips.

The moment Mu vanished from the training grounds, several keen gazes withdrew at the same time.

That included members of Root.

Meanwhile, at a hidden stronghold outside Konoha, Orochimaru sat in a chair with a sinister smile on his face, looking at the Sound Ninja Five before him.