Eight Inner Gates Acquired

"Are you kidding? We brought this for Lord Shibi!"

"How can they do this? This is too much!"

Seeing Hyuga Satoru treat the food they had brought so carelessly, the caravan members clenched their teeth. Yamashita Taro, their leader, gave them a look and spoke quietly.

"Since they're Lord Shibi's students, it amounts to the same thing if they eat it. As long as we leave a good impression on Lord Shibi, that's enough. If he takes action during the rest of the journey, our safety will be guaranteed."

Hearing this, the caravan members nodded, smiles appearing on their faces.

No matter what, they had already achieved their goal. After sending so much delicious food and lavishing him with praise, Lord Shibi's favorability toward them had surely been maxed out, right?

If the caravan encountered danger later, Lord Shibi certainly would not stand by and do nothing.

Thinking this, they finally returned to their posts in satisfaction.

Nearby, the fist trembling beneath Aburame Shibi's wide sleeve finally relaxed, and he let out a long breath.

He had been just a little short of losing his temper. He had almost wanted to feed every last one of them to his bugs!

He truly could not understand it. He had already made it clear that he did not need anything, so why did these people keep pestering him? Dealing with people was such a hassle. Compared to that, killing was far simpler.

Aburame Shibi shook his head helplessly.

After calming himself down, he looked toward Hyuga Satoru. The latter was walking alongside Might Duy, happily stuffing himself with the food in his hands.

Curiosity flickered in his eyes. Wu must have had his own reasons for letting those two join the team. What could they be?

After finishing his watermelon, Hyuga Satoru tossed the rind behind them onto the road and wiped his mouth contentedly.

"Senior Duy, Guy, are you full?"

"Full, full."

The two rubbed their bellies comfortably.

Duy looked at Hyuga Satoru with an embarrassed expression.

"Wu, thank you so much this time. Not only did you let us join the team, you even gave us such delicious food. I don't even know how to repay you."

"You're being too polite, Senior Duy. Guy is my classmate. It's only natural for me to help you."

Hyuga Satoru gave a fairly sunny smile, then paused before adding, "But speaking of which, I really do have a training question I'd like to ask you."

"Training? I'm only a Genin. I'm afraid I won't be able to teach you anything." Might Duy hesitated.

"It's fine. As long as you're willing to guide me, Senior Duy."

"Sure! Ask whatever you want, as long as I can help." Duy laughed heartily.

The corners of Hyuga Satoru's mouth rose slightly. It really was as easy as he had imagined.

In everyone else's eyes, Might Duy was merely an ordinary Genin. But only he knew just how terrifying this perennial Genin truly was.

The strongest person in the caravan was not Aburame Shibi, but Might Duy after opening the Eight Inner Gates!

In the original story, he had kicked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist from a fruit basket into an auspicious trio with one kick. The three who had barely escaped with their lives were so frightened that they never dared set foot in the Land of Fire again for the rest of their lives.

One could imagine just how terrifying Might Duy was after opening the Eight Inner Gates!

Earlier, when Hyuga Satoru had seen Might Duy repeatedly bowing and apologizing to the ninja leading the team, he had sensed something strangely out of place. Through Electromagnetic Sense, the Biological Magnetic Field of the humbly apologizing Might Duy had been as terrifying as the sun itself!

He was absolutely the ninja with the most vigorous Biological Magnetic Field Hyuga Satoru had ever encountered! Not even the Hokage could compare.

Compared to him, that arrogant Jonin was nothing more than a firefly.

The vigor of one's Biological Magnetic Field was closely related to physical strength. One could only imagine how terrifying Might Duy's body had become after cultivating the Eight Inner Gates.

After pondering for a moment, Hyuga Satoru asked, "Senior Duy, I've been training in Taijutsu lately. Whenever my stamina is nearly depleted, I can vaguely sense certain limits, like..."

After pausing, Hyuga Satoru looked at Might Duy. "Some sort of shackles binding the body's strength."

"Shackles?" Guy, beside them, looked confused. "There's something like that? Why haven't I noticed it when I train?"

"That's because you still aren't working hard enough, Guy!" Might Duy rolled his eyes at him, then looked at Hyuga Satoru in surprise.

"Wu, I didn't expect you to be so talented in Taijutsu too. You've actually already touched upon the limits of the Eight Inner Gates."

"Eight Inner Gates?"

Hyuga Satoru looked at Might Duy with feigned confusion.

Might Duy was straightforward by nature and had no intention of concealing anything. He smiled and said, "Once the body has been trained to a certain extent, you can sense shackles within it. These shackles are called the Eight Inner Gates. Once you break them, you can unleash extraordinary power."

Hearing Might Duy's words, Guy also looked at him in surprise. He had never heard of such a thing before, and the ninja teachers at school had never taught it either.

"Dad, you can use this kind of Taijutsu too?"

"Of course."

Might Duy gave a thumbs-up and said, "This is the only ultimate technique I mastered through twenty years of hard training. I planned to teach it to you once you'd grown a little more."

A wave of ecstasy surged through Hyuga Satoru's heart, but none of it showed on his face. He looked at Might Duy with slight hesitation and asked, "Although I can sense the shackles, forcibly breaking them could cause some injuries, right?"

"Mm."

Might Duy nodded. Looking at Hyuga Satoru, his expression grew serious.

"To be honest, I wouldn't recommend trying to open the Eight Inner Gates at your age. But since you can sense their existence, that means you've reached the threshold for cultivating the Eight Inner Gates..."

Might Duy had not considered keeping it secret at all. In his eyes, the Eight Inner Gates were not some particularly precious forbidden technique either. Given his personality, Hyuga Satoru had helped him, so he owed him a debt. And a debt had to be repaid.

Now that Hyuga Satoru had asked him for guidance, Might Duy practically poured out every key point of cultivating the Eight Inner Gates in one breath, immediately enlightening Hyuga Satoru.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Duy."

Hyuga Satoru gave Might Duy a slight bow in gratitude.

"No, no, no! I'm only a Genin. I'm already very happy to be able to help you. Besides, you let us join the team, so I should be the one thanking you." Might Duy became flustered.

"Guy."

Hyuga Satoru then looked seriously at Might Guy. "I feel that the Eight Inner Gates Senior Duy taught me are not as simple as they seem. You must learn them properly from him."

"Really? But my dad is only a Genin!" Guy scratched his head hesitantly. At this point, he had not yet cultivated the Eight Inner Gates and still had some doubts about the technique.

Still, since Wu valued it so highly, he quietly took note of it.

Hyuga Satoru took a breath. After learning how to cultivate the Eight Inner Gates, he suddenly had a premonition that once he completed his training, his strength would undergo some earth-shaking change.

He did not know where that feeling came from. It was simply intuition.

It seemed that after this mission was complete, he would have to find an opportunity to cultivate the Eight Inner Gates, he thought to himself.

After obtaining the cultivation method for the Eight Inner Gates, Hyuga Satoru returned to the center of the group. Uchiha Rin curiously moved closer.

"Wu, were you asking Might Duy for advice just now? But he's only a Genin!"

Because she had been too far away, she had only seen Hyuga Satoru at the end of the caravan seemingly asking Might Duy something. She had not heard the details.

"Don't underestimate Konoha's Genin." Hyuga Satoru gave her a profound look.

Uchiha Rin: ???

What was so impressive about Konoha's Genin?

She looked puzzled and was about to ask something when Aburame Shibi suddenly stopped walking, frowning at a forest in the distance.

"Teacher, what is it?" Hyuga Satoru asked.

"The bugs found an ambush," Aburame Shibi said in a deep voice.

Hyuga Satoru frowned and activated his Byakugan.

The next second, his expression turned grave.