Life Gate Fully Opened, Shadow Clone Suicide Attack

The Eight Gates Released Formation was one of the easiest cheats to get your hands on in the world of Naruto, yet also one of the hardest to master.

It was easy to obtain because Might Guy and his father, Might Duy, had both come from commoner backgrounds and were straightforward by nature.

As long as you treated them sincerely and devoted yourself wholeheartedly to taijutsu, they would definitely teach you this forbidden technique.

But it was truly difficult to master. Without an absurdly strong foundation in taijutsu, you simply could not make it work.

Even someone like Neji, hailed as a Gentle Fist genius, had failed to master the Eight Gates Released Formation.

Even with his Sharingan, Kakashi had only barely managed to open the first gate during his training days.

That alone showed how difficult this thing was to cultivate.

After all, Kakashi was so desperately short on chakra that it ran in his bones.

If he could truly open three gates or more, chakra would not have been a problem at all.

Because only from the Third Gate onward did the Eight Gates Released Formation release the chakra suppressed within the body.

Since there was no danger of dying anyway, these three made perfect test subjects for gauging his strength in a normal state.

The Gate of Opening removed the brain's restrictions, allowing one hundred percent of the body's capabilities to be used, burning stamina beyond its limits in exchange for attack power and speed.

The Gate of Healing removed the body's fatigue limiter, then continued squeezing out bodily energy to replenish it, offsetting the exhaustion caused by the Gate of Opening.

The Gate of Life raised attack speed another level, causing the body to redden and flush with blood. It was the final safe zone of the Eight Gates Released Formation, and green energy began to seep from the surface of the body.

Naruto was currently stuck in the Gate of Life state.

His speed soared instantly. Even ordinary movement now approached the effect of Body Flicker.

While airborne, he reached into his ninja tool pouch, pulled out two nunchaku, spun them several times with sharp swishes, and slammed them toward the three Root operatives.

The leading brute's face turned green.

"Hold him down! Don't provoke him! Poison him if you have to!"

All three immediately drew their weapons and fought back.

"Kid, you've gone too far! If we weren't concerned about that thing in your stomach, you'd have died by our hands long ago!"

A long-haired female ninja curled her lip and spat the insult.

Another ninja wielding a hooked blade lowered his body and slashed repeatedly along the ground, every strike aimed at Naruto's lower body.

The leading brute held a ninja tool resembling the Kubikiribōchō.

With one savage swing, he sent the stream water and even the stones beneath it crashing up from the riverbed.

Naruto's left eye spun wildly, locking every movement of the three men into his vision frame by frame.

This was different from his previous battles against ANBU and Root.

This time, he was fighting them purely with his own abilities.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

With a bang, an identical Shadow Clone appeared in front of Naruto, blocking the attack.

The female ninja sneered.

"Didn't your teacher teach you? When you're at a disadvantage, never recklessly use Shadow Clones!"

As she spoke, the katana in her hand came slashing down from above, aimed straight at the Shadow Clone.

As long as she destroyed the clone, the instantaneous pain transmitted back would make the original body freeze up.

And Shadow Clones split chakra evenly. They might increase numbers, but each individual's strength would be cut in half.

That was why Shadow Clones were naturally meant for reconnaissance, not desperate combat.

Naruto's lips curled crookedly.

"That's how you poor bastards calculate it. I'm so poor I've got nothing left except chakra!"

Before his words had even finished falling, the Shadow Clone unleashed an outrageously extravagant burst of chakra right in her face. Chakra sprayed outward furiously as the nunchaku in his hand smashed hard against the female Root operative's katana.

"What?! It's so heavy!"

The female Root operative's expression changed.

A ninja's strength and speed depended entirely on the amount of chakra they possessed and their proficiency in using it.

Logically, Naruto's strength should have been halved after splitting his chakra in two.

How could she have imagined that even Naruto at half strength was still terrifyingly powerful?

On the other side, the original Naruto slung his nunchaku around his neck, eyed the two Root operatives charging toward him, and stepped forward.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

It was another C-rank ninjutsu.

Ninjutsu rankings had never been based on power. They were based on cultivation difficulty and chakra consumption.

It was simply that higher-ranked, more complex ninjutsu tended to be more powerful most of the time, leading many to believe that low-ranked techniques could not beat high-ranked ones.

But Madara Uchiha and Orochimaru had long since shattered that logic.

With enough chakra, even a C-rank technique could unleash the force of a B-rank or even S-rank one.

Naruto's chest visibly swelled, then he violently expelled Wind Release chakra as though blowing up a balloon.

With a boom, the faces of the two Root operatives twisted in terror.

Water from the stream and loose stones were swept up by a terrifying hurricane and smashed toward them head-on.

The violent wind pressure sent both men flying on the spot.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the female Root operative's distraction, the Shadow Clone sprawled limply into her arms.

"What are you doing?!"

The female ninja was dumbfounded. Was he really groping her in the middle of a fight?

But the next second, the Shadow Clone raised his face, grinned at her, and spat out one word.

"Explode!"

The female ninja's face went pale. It was already too late to break free.

Boom!

The Shadow Clone exploded on the spot.