Uchiha Onibi

All he could say was that the name suited the Might family perfectly...

Lin Ze remembered the original story mentioning that the Eight Gates Released Formation required an exceptionally strong physique as its foundation, while breathing methods were the key to controlling chakra flow.

Then this "Youth Breathing Method" Might Duy spoke of was most likely the preliminary training for the Eight Gates Released Formation!

"Let's stop here for today." Might Duy glanced at the sky. The sun had completely set, and the village streetlights were already lit.

"Guy, it's time for our last lap!"

"Yes, Father!" Guy turned to Lin Ze and asked, "Are you coming again tomorrow?"

"Of course." Lin Ze nodded. "By the way, Guy, which of us do you think is stronger?"

Guy answered without hesitation, "You, of course! But I'll definitely catch up!"

Lin Ze's eyes shifted, and he said with a chuckle, "Not necessarily. I'm going to be the man known as the Blue Beast of the Hidden Leaf!"

"The Blue Beast of the Hidden Leaf?"

"It means... uh, the strongest taijutsu ninja," Lin Ze hurriedly explained.

Tears suddenly filled Might Duy's eyes, and he hugged Guy. "Well said! Guy, we have to work twice as hard too! We can't lose to the younger generation!"

"Yes, Father! This is youth!" Guy said, tears streaming down his face as well.

"..."

On the way back to the Orphanage, Lin Ze analyzed things as he walked:

Might Duy should have mastered the Eight Gates Released Formation by now. He can probably open up to the sixth gate.

But he definitely isn't at the point where he can freely teach this secret technique to others. After all, in the original story, this was the trump card he left to Guy.

But that's fine. As long as I keep training with them, I'll earn their approval sooner or later.

And...

Lin Ze clenched his fists, feeling the strength flowing through his body.

The recovery power granted by the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon might offset some of the Eight Gates Released Formation's side effects. If it really works, they'd be a perfect match!

Opening the Eight Gates Released Formation injured the body! A Zoan Devil Fruit rapidly healed the body!

As long as he didn't open the Gate of Death and kept up his nutrition, wouldn't this mean an injury-free Eight Gates Released Formation plus rapid Devil Fruit development? A genuine perpetual motion machine!

At that thought, Lin Ze's steps grew a little lighter despite himself.

It was already late at night when he returned to the Orphanage, and Lin Ze went to the kitchen to prepare his extra meal for the night.

"Hm? Sis, are you only having dinner now?"

Upon entering the kitchen, Lin Ze saw that Nonō was there too, though at this hour she would normally have finished looking after the other orphans and been in her room.

"Yes, something came up today, so I got back late. Ichirō even helped look after the other children~"

Ichirō's full name was Miyamoto Ichirō, and he was one of only three orphans at the Orphanage older than Lin Ze. Miyamoto Ichirō was two years older than Lin Ze and was currently a third-year student at the Ninja Academy. The other two older orphans were currently on missions outside the village.

"Something came up? Is there anything I can help with?" Lin Ze asked upon hearing her answer.

"Oh my~ It wasn't much trouble. I've already handled it," Nonō said with a smile.

"All right."

Nonō certainly lived up to her reputation as a professional spy in the ninja world. Lin Ze couldn't detect the slightest trace of anything else in her expression, but having transmigrated here, he could still sense that the trouble Nonō spoke of was no small matter.

Could it be Root?

Back in his room, Lin Ze recalled the original story. Although Nonō had left Root along the way, Danzo clearly wouldn't easily allow a capable subordinate to retire early, especially one who knew so many secrets!

In the original story, Nonō became the director of the Konoha Orphanage after leaving Root. Danzo used the Orphanage's funding to threaten her, forcing her to carry out missions again.

At the same time, Danzo switched out photographs so that Nonō wouldn't recognize Kabuto Yakushi after he grew up.

In the end, during a mission, Nonō mistook Kabuto, who was disguised as an Iwagakure ninja, for an enemy and attacked him, only to be killed by Kabuto's Chakra Scalpel! She died at thirty-one!

Thirty-one?

There should still be time. Looks like I need to get my hands on the Eight Gates Released Formation as soon as possible!

Although Lin Ze tried to reassure himself, he knew that with a transmigrator like him acting as a butterfly, even a casual flap of his wings could ultimately cause enormous changes!

The same applied to Nonō, so Lin Ze didn't dare assume that the Nonō of the present would live to thirty-one too.

Early that weekend morning, cries of "Hah! Hyah!" rose one after another by the river.

"Guy! Push harder! Youth allows no slacking!"

"Yes, Father!"

Guy was doing push-ups by the river, his head drenched in sweat, while Might Duy kept giving him thumbs-ups from the side, cheering him on furiously.

Lin Ze was training alongside them in a loose-fitting coat. Beneath it, his body was wrapped in layer upon layer of bandages. Apart from his head and height, he looked much like Mū, the Second Tsuchikage.

Lin Ze had specially ordered this fabric from a clothing shop. It was extremely stretchy and could even offer slight protection against some ninjutsu, so it wouldn't be scorched by a Great Fireball like last time.

But precisely because the fabric was so high-performance, and because Lin Ze was using it as bandages and had bought enough to make two full outfits, it had cost him a whole 200,000 ryō!

A B-rank mission, which could only be taken by chunin and special jōnin, paid only 80,000 to 200,000 ryō. In other words, the bandages wrapped around Lin Ze's body were worth nearly two B-rank missions!

Lin Ze was utterly broke. With no other choice, he had ended up borrowing 150,000 ryō from Nonō and 50,000 from Kurenai. Even now, he still remembered the teasing, amused smile on Kurenai's mother's face at the time.

To be burdened with so much pressure at such a young age~

But after two whole weeks, I've finally gotten the basics of this breathing method down.

Two weeks had now passed since he began training with Might Guy and his father, and Lin Ze inwardly marveled at how difficult this Youth Breathing Method was to learn.

Still, according to Might Duy, Guy had taken over two months to get the basics down, while Might Duy himself had taken over four months. Lin Ze could be called a once-in-a-century taijutsu prodigy!

Lin Ze attributed this to the physical enhancement granted by the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon.

Suddenly, an icy voice rang out. "You're Lin Ze?"

All three of them stopped training at once.

Lin Ze turned to look and saw an Uchiha boy of about twelve standing nearby.

A chunin?

In the Hokage World, genin had no uniform, though they generally wore forehead protectors. Chunin wore special uniforms with features such as high collars, while jōnin wore green vests.

Ninja a level above that mostly chose whatever clothes they liked, such as Konoha's Sannin!

They already stood above ordinary jōnin and were renowned powerhouses throughout the Shinobi World, with no need for clothing to identify their status.

The boy before him wore a black, short-sleeved, high-collared shirt and dark blue ninja trousers, with a Konoha forehead protector tied around his left arm—the standard Ninja Outfit of an Uchiha chunin.

But most striking of all was the single black tomoe slowly rotating in the boy's scarlet eyes.

"I am." Lin Ze stood up and brushed the dirt from his hands. "Need something?"

"Uchiha Onibi. Ryōta's older brother."

Uchiha Onibi folded his arms across his chest and said with a sharp gaze, "I heard you bullied my little brother during a practical combat assessment a while ago?"

"Uchiha Onibi?"