"No problem, Little Xinxin!"
"Now, let's start our first exercise: twenty laps around Konoha, running toward the morning sun!"
"No breakfast until you finish! Let your youth burn!"
Might Guy gave Uchiha Xin no chance to argue. He turned around and charged off in long strides.
Uchiha Xin gritted his teeth and could only steel himself and follow.
Pedestrians gradually appeared on Konoha's streets in the early morning.
The early-rising villagers stopped in their tracks, staring dumbfounded at the two figures, one big and one small, on the street.
"One, two, one! One, two, one! Youth never fades!"
Might Guy roared wildly as he ran, his voice shaking leaves loose from the roadside trees.
Uchiha Xin followed behind him, his legs as heavy as lead and his lungs burning with pain.
"Heavens, isn't that Guy? Is that a child following him?"
The woman running a breakfast stall cried out in surprise, dropping the steamed buns in her hands onto the counter.
"That kid looks barely six, doesn't he? He can actually keep up with Guy? He's another monster!"
Several ninja who had just finished their night shifts exchanged looks, their eyes filled with shock.
Uchiha Xin had no attention to spare for the stares around him. He did not even have the strength to complain anymore.
He could only move his legs mechanically, desperately squeezing every last bit of stamina from his body.
The day passed in this hellish torment.
By evening.
Uchiha Xin lay sprawled on the floor of his courtyard. Every muscle in his body was twitching, and even moving a finger had become an impossible wish.
With difficulty, he summoned the system panel in his mind.
[Enhanced Eight Gates Released Formation (Level 0): Proficiency 7/10]
Seeing that his proficiency had shot up by six points, Uchiha Xin broke into a silent grin.
At this rate, he would reach ten proficiency points tomorrow and officially open the first gate!
The next morning, the Ninja Academy officially began its summer break.
With plenty of time on his hands, Uchiha Xin arrived at the woods early and began another round of insane torment with Might Guy.
At noon, the blazing sun hung overhead.
Uchiha Xin was doing his five-hundredth one-handed push-up. Sweat dripped from his chin onto the dirt, striking tiny pits into it.
Might Guy stood nearby, frowning.
He could tell that the boy had reached his limit. The muscles in his arm were spasming irregularly.
"Little Xinxin, let's stop here for today. Excessive training will ruin your foundation."
Uchiha Xin said nothing. He merely gritted his teeth and forced himself through the last few movements.
The instant he completed his five-hundredth push-up, a crisp mechanical voice rang out in his mind.
[Ding! Enhanced Eight Gates Released Formation proficiency is full (10/10)!] [Enhanced Eight Gates Released Formation has successfully advanced to Level 1! First gate permanently opened: Gate of Opening!]
Boom!
Uchiha Xin felt a tremendous boom deep within his mind. Immediately afterward, the restrictions on the chakra pathways in the left hemisphere of his brain were broken through.
A violent power poured down from his brain, sweeping through his entire body along his chakra pathways.
His chakra, depleted by excessive exhaustion, erupted like a volcano at that moment!
Onefold! Twofold! Threefold!
In the blink of an eye, the amount of chakra in his body increased to a full three times its previous level, breaking straight through the beginner Genin bottleneck and settling firmly at the very top of the Genin level!
Not only that, but his agonizingly sore muscles instantly filled with explosive strength, and all his exhaustion vanished.
Uchiha Xin abruptly stood up and clenched his fists. A visible current of chakra surged from the surface of his body, sending the fallen leaves on the ground flying in every direction.
Might Guy abruptly took half a step back, his eyes widening.
He stared fixedly at Uchiha Xin, his scalp tingling as he sensed the powerful aura that had suddenly erupted.
"What... what's going on?"
"How did his chakra suddenly surge so much? And this aura... it actually shows faint signs of breaking through the human body's limits!"
Shock surged through Might Guy's heart. Having practiced the Eight Gates Released Formation for years, he could not have been more familiar with this aura.
Uchiha Xin hurriedly reined in his aura and turned to look at Might Guy.
"Uncle Guy, I feel like I broke through my limits! So much power welled up inside me!"
Might Guy took a deep breath, steadying the shock within him.
"A genius... a true Taijutsu genius! Little Xinxin, your youth is burning brightly!"
Over the following month and more.
Uchiha Xin became a complete training fanatic.
Later, Might Guy often had to leave the village because of his heavy load of Jonin missions.
Uchiha Xin then trained alone in the woods, pushing himself through even more extreme exercises.
Every day, he constantly challenged his body's limits, madly grinding proficiency for the Eight Gates Released Formation.
At dusk, a month later.
Uchiha Xin stood bare-chested beneath a waterfall, letting the immense flow of water batter his body.
He opened the system panel.
[Enhanced Eight Gates Released Formation (Level 2): Proficiency 820/1000] [Current status: Second gate permanently open (Gate of Healing)]
Just a few days earlier, his Eight Gates Released Formation had successfully advanced to Level 2, breaking through the restrictions in the right hemisphere of his brain.
Opening the Gate of Healing had given him a terrifying boost of ten times his current chakra limit!
His total chakra now far exceeded that of an ordinary Genin and had reached the peak Chunin level.
In terms of chakra quantity alone, he now had even more than some veteran Chunin.
Uchiha Xin lowered his gaze to another part of the panel.
[Limit Sharingan (Level 2): Proficiency 965/1000] [Current status: Two-Tomoe Sharingan] [Skill slots: 2/2] [Equipped skills: Enhanced Eight Gates Released Formation, Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique] [System evaluation: Congratulations on shedding the title of weakling, host. You barely qualify as a little kitten baring its fangs and claws now.]
Uchiha Xin completely ignored the system's obnoxious evaluation.
Feeling the powerful ocular power within his eyes, he considered his next steps.
The Limit Sharingan is only thirty-five proficiency points short.
With my current peak Chunin chakra reserves, I can easily keep the Sharingan active for long periods.
In two or three days at most, I'll be able to max out its proficiency and advance to Level 3.
Uchiha Xin stepped out of the waterfall and picked up the towel on the bank to dry himself.
Tomorrow was the first day back at the Ninja Academy. The summer break, which had lasted over a month, was finally over.
The returns from physical training are starting to drop. Raising the Eight Gates Released Formation to Level 3 requires a thousand proficiency points. That isn't something I can finish in a short time.
Uchiha Xin dressed and strapped the weights to his legs.
Next, I have to stop Taijutsu training and focus all my energy on raising the Sharingan's level.
In the morning, the Ninja Academy's bell rang right on time.
Uchiha Xin walked into the classroom with his schoolbag on his back and heavy lead weights strapped to his legs, each step landing on the floor with a dull thud.