The Show Begins!

Kakashi slowly withdrew his Chidori.

The blue lightning faded from his fingertips, plunging the room back into darkness.

He stood in the dark with his head bowed, his shoulders trembling slightly. Humiliation and anger surged up from the depths of his bones.

He clenched his teeth and forced every emotion back down his throat. In the end, all he said was a flat, toneless sentence.

"I understand. I'll cooperate with the investigation."

Sarutobi Shinnosuke nodded and waved a hand.

More ANBU Ninja emerged from the shadows and surrounded Kakashi. They showed restraint, neither laying hands on him nor binding him, but the circle itself sent a clear message.

You're a suspect. You're not one of us!

Kakashi watched them. His one visible eye curved as though he were smiling, but the smile never reached its depths.

Right now, all he wanted to know was which bastard had framed him!

Meanwhile, at the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Uchiha Yongye rested with his eyes closed, the faintest hint of a smile on his lips.

Tonight had been productive. He had killed Root members and Anbu Ninja, pinned the blame on someone else, and made sure the Anbu got a good look at Kakashi's masked face.

Stirring up this mess had left him feeling wonderful from head to toe. It had relieved more stress than a sauna.

A familiar system notification suddenly sounded in his mind, louder and sweeter than ever before.

[Ding—target Kakashi Hatake has been detected suffering a severe mental breakdown!]

[The host's act of framing him triggered a chain reaction, causing Kakashi severe psychological trauma. The heartbreak value has far exceeded the threshold!]

[Congratulations, host. You have received one Advanced Blind Box. Open it now?]

Yongye froze for half a second. He honestly hadn't expected that casually pinning the blame on Kakashi would hit him this hard.

And judging by that description—"severe psychological trauma"—this was far beyond a child like Sasuke throwing a tantrum.

"Open it," he said without hesitation.

[Ding—the Advanced Blind Box has been opened!]

[Congratulations, host. You have received: Eight Gates Release!]

Eight Gates Release!

Yongye's smile instantly widened. This was the ultimate Taijutsu technique Might Guy had nearly used to end everything with a single kick.

The next instant, countless profound principles of Taijutsu flooded into Yongye's mind like a tidal wave.

Within the human body lay eight gates that restricted the flow of Chakra: the Opening Gate, the Gate of Healing, the Gate of Life, the Gate of Pain, the Gate of Limit, the Gate of View, the Gate of Wonder, and the Gate of Death.

Like eight shackles, they kept a ninja's true strength safely locked away.

Opening the eight gates meant breaking those shackles.

Each gate brought a surge in power. Opening the eighth—the Gate of Death—granted ultimate power dozens of times greater than that of a Kage Level fighter. The price was burning away one's life. Death was certain.

As the system poured knowledge into him, the method for opening each gate, the degree of its power boost, and the limits of the strain it placed on the body were branded into Yongye's memory, as clear as knife scars carved into bone.

Yongye's muscles twitched involuntarily. His meridians expanded and contracted wildly. The power awakened by the Eight Gates Release battered its way through his body like a caged beast ready to break free.

After a long while, Yongye slowly opened his eyes.

With his doubled physical strength and the extraordinary defense of his Indestructible Golden Body, most of the Eight Gates Release's terrible strain on his body was negated.

He could use this Forbidden Jutsu as a routine burst of power—Opening gates from the first, the Opening Gate, all the way to the seventh, the Gate of Wonder, without injury. He would not have to risk his life and end up covered in blood like Might Guy.

The Gate of Death alone remained forbidden ground.

Uchiha Yongye stood and stretched.

His joints cracked and popped like firecrackers going off at New Year.

An unprecedented sense of power filled every part of him. It was not an increase in Chakra, but the raw strength of his body itself.

He could feel it: with Taijutsu alone, he could crush most so-called geniuses.

"Danzo, you old dog. As arrogant as ever!"

After testing the Eight Gates Release's power for himself, Yongye had gone back to resting with his eyes closed. Now his lips curled into a cold smile full of killing intent.

His Clear Sword Heart perception spread like a tide. In the darkness, a large cluster of cold blue Chakra was approaching fast.

There were at least thirty of them, advancing in tight formation and bristling with killing intent, like wolves that had caught the scent of blood. The Chakra at their head was especially cold and sinister, like a venomous snake hidden in the mud.

Yongye slowly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them. He did not get up. He remained sprawled against the headboard, waiting with gleeful anticipation for the show to begin.

A little while later, the commotion finally reached the depths of the compound.

"Root is here!"

"Danzo's leading them himself! They're blocking the compound entrance!"

"All combat personnel, assemble immediately!"

The quiet Uchiha Clan Compound erupted into chaos. Lights came on one after another, and footsteps converged from every direction. The men of the clan grabbed their weapons and hurried toward the compound's edge.

Their faces showed varying degrees of anger and unease. Root had blocked their entrance in the middle of the night before, but every time it meant trouble.

Only then did Yongye rise at an unhurried pace, put on his ninja vest, and slip lazily into the assembling crowd.

He kept his head down and suppressed his presence. Lost among the others, he looked like an ordinary clansman dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to make up the numbers.

Soon, Yongye followed the crowd to the edge of the compound.

Ahead, lights blazed.

Uchiha Fugaku stood at the front of his clansmen, arms folded across his chest, his expression dark as a storm.

Behind him stood dozens of Uchiha ninja, their Sharingan glowing crimson in the dark. Some had One-Tomoe, others Two-Tomoe, and a few had Three-Tomoe.

Facing them was Shimura Danzō.

Danzo leaned on his cane, half his head wrapped in bandages, leaving only one cold, vicious eye exposed. Behind him, Root ninja stood in neat ranks, all dressed in black with their faces covered and killing intent radiating from them.

Less than ten meters separated the two groups. The tension in the air was like a string pulled to its limit, ready to snap.

"Danzo!"

Uchiha Fugaku roared, unable to contain his anger. "You've gone too far! You bring your men to block the entrance to the Uchiha Clan Compound in the middle of the night. Do you think we'll just take it?"

Danzo's mouth twisted into a cold sneer. He stepped forward, leaning on his cane. Its tip struck the ground with a dull thud.

"You Uchiha are the ones who've gone too far!"

"You dared ambush and kill four of my Root members! Four! Today, you will hand over the killer and let us repay blood with blood!"

He paused. His lone eye swept slowly over every Uchiha opposite him before settling on Fugaku. His voice rose sharply, his killing intent undisguised.

"Otherwise—I'll make the Uchiha Clan Compound run red with blood!"