Choosing... the Eight Gates!

"You... just got back?"

After returning home, Uchiha Shunichi happened to run into Uchiha Sasuke, who was about to head out.

"Yeah, I had a mission last night." Uchiha Shunichi answered casually before returning to his room.

Uchiha Sasuke watched Uchiha Shunichi's retreating back, wanting to say something, but in the end, he remained silent.

Today was the orientation for the graduates, mainly for team assignments and officially becoming real shinobi.

Sasuke had originally been in a fairly good mood. After all, he had finally become a shinobi. But compared to Uchiha Shunichi, who was the same age as him, Uchiha Sasuke suddenly felt a sense of defeat.

Over the past few years, Uchiha Sasuke had trained more than three times as much as Uchiha Shunichi, yet his strength had always fallen short of Uchiha Shunichi's.

Those eyes, identical to that person's, placed enormous pressure on Sasuke, nearly leaving him unable to breathe.

As for the opponent Uchiha Shunichi had mentioned, Uchiha Sasuke did not take him seriously at all. Even though the two sparred regularly, Uchiha Sasuke still won decisively.

With complicated feelings in his heart, Uchiha Sasuke headed toward the academy.

After returning to his room, Uchiha Shunichi took off his outerwear, removed the jacket covered in Explosive Tags, carefully checked the condition of the tags, and then placed it in a nearby cabinet.

For the time being, Uchiha Shunichi did not need to defect.

Since that was the case, he should consider how to take advantage of the chaos during the Chūnin Exams to find a way to... kill Danzo!

Having allowed that disgusting bastard to live for so long, Uchiha Shunichi felt that he had already been exceptionally kind. If it had not been for his body back then...

A flash of hatred passed through Uchiha Shunichi's eyes.

When he had been dissected, he had felt no pain, but the terror of knowing something was missing from inside his body remained fresh in his memory.

At the time, he had truly believed he was going to die.

Rubbing his face harshly, Uchiha Shunichi temporarily cast the hatred out of his mind. He lay down on the bed and began calculating various experimental data in his head.

Originally, Uchiha Shunichi had wanted to transplant Naruto Uzumaki's flesh and blood. That guy's Uzumaki constitution was actually quite special.

However, the issue of merging the Uzumaki bloodline with the Sharingan had continued to trouble Uchiha Shunichi. Moreover, transferring bloodlines in the Shinobi World was far from as simple as Uchiha Shunichi had imagined.

As he pondered... Uchiha Shunichi slowly drifted off to sleep.

He slept until dusk, when an unfamiliar presence startled him awake.

"Uchiha Shunichi, Lord Hokage wishes to see you!" A masked Anbu shinobi arrived outside Uchiha Shunichi's room, knocked on the window first, and only then spoke.

"I understand!" Uchiha Shunichi said after calming himself from the sudden awakening.

Living in such an environment, Uchiha Shunichi could not even sleep peacefully. Although he seemed to have earned the trust of Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others, an alarm bell always hung over his heart.

As long as Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō remained alive, Uchiha Shunichi could not rest easy. This had only become more severe after he officially became a shinobi.

Fortunately, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not have much longer to live.

After getting up and washing up briefly, Uchiha Shunichi looked at the Explosive Tag jacket in his bedside cabinet. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose not to wear it.

Even though shinobi had high offense and low defense, using Explosive Tags to blow oneself up would have little effect unless it caught the enemy by surprise.

After all, shinobi possessed strong agility, perception, and battlefield judgment. Otherwise, Jonin on the battlefield would have long been taken down in one-for-one trades.

Basking in the glow of the setting sun, Uchiha Shunichi headed toward the Hokage Building. The peaceful streets along the way gave him the feeling that a lifetime had passed.

Only Sarutobi Hiruzen was in the Hokage's Office. When Uchiha Shunichi entered, Hiruzen was flipping through a file.

"Shunichi, you're here! The nutrient solution you handed over to the village has been tested, and its effects have been confirmed. It truly is powerful. To have researched something like this all by yourself, that really is..." Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately praised him upon seeing Uchiha Shunichi enter.

"I had no choice. My body was too weak at the time, so I could only think of a way myself," Uchiha Shunichi replied calmly.

"Now that its effectiveness has been proven, I can give you the reward you deserve. You should have seen this before. Choose one Ninjutsu from it to practice."

"However, you should note that these are all forbidden techniques. If you fail to master them properly, you may die."

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke to Uchiha Shunichi in a grave tone.

"Yeah, I understand." Uchiha Shunichi nodded and accepted the scroll from Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The moment he opened the scroll, Uchiha Shunichi finally understood why Sarutobi Hiruzen had been so unconcerned about letting Naruto take the forbidden technique scroll away.

It turned out that the actual cultivation methods had long been sealed away, leaving only the names of the Ninjutsu and some brief descriptions.

How could someone possibly master those forbidden techniques just by stealing the forbidden technique scroll?

After quickly scanning the scroll, Uchiha Shunichi said to Sarutobi Hiruzen, "I've made my choice. I'll take the Eight Gates! This forbidden technique seems like it can strengthen my body."

In truth, what Uchiha Shunichi wanted most was the Flying Thunder God. But after thinking it over for a moment, he still gave up on that Ninjutsu.

First, he did not have much time to learn it. Second, Uchiha Shunichi remained doubtful about whether he could even master the Flying Thunder God.

"This..." Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned slightly at Uchiha Shunichi's choice. It was not that he was unwilling to give it to him; he simply found it a pity.

"Shunichi, this technique causes tremendous damage to the body, and it is purely Taijutsu. It will not integrate well with your Sharingan."

Sarutobi Hiruzen assumed Uchiha Shunichi did not understand, so he explained it to him. After all, even he could not imagine that Uchiha Shunichi actually knew many things.

"I do not need Ninjutsu right now. I only need to strengthen my body. Only with a strong body can I use these eyes of mine." Uchiha Shunichi had long prepared this excuse.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Uchiha Shunichi's eyes and ultimately did not continue trying to persuade him. Eyes like Uchiha Itachi's... Hopefully, they could become a strength for the village.

"Since you insist on this decision, I'll arrange for someone to teach you. For the time being, you will only go on missions at night. Rest during the day."