Uya was rather helpless in the face of Kushina's reaction, knowing she meant well.
He spent ages explaining, but Kushina would not listen to any of it.
In the end, seeing that Uya refused to heed her advice and insisted on going his own way, Kushina finally snapped, "I'm not bothering with you anymore!" Then she ran out.
"..."
With a wry chuckle, Uya watched Kushina storm off and could only shake his head helplessly.
He took a moment to settle his thoughts.
After getting up and washing, Uya dressed and came to the door.
It suddenly occurred to him that there no longer seemed to be any need to attend the Ninja Academy.
In three months, he would face Uchiha Kan in a duel to the death. He needed all three months for training; attending classes at the Ninja Academy would be a complete waste of time.
After considering it briefly, Uya decided to apply for an extended leave.
But his Chunin teacher disliked him more than anyone did, so getting that leave approved would probably not be easy.
Uya frowned slightly at the thought, but whether his leave was approved did not matter. He would simply treat it as notifying the Ninja Academy that he would no longer be attending classes.
When he arrived at the academy, the students' attitude toward Uya was fine, with nothing particularly unusual about it.
They were only children, after all, and could not think that far ahead. They merely discussed the news that Uya actually dared to challenge a Chunin with utter astonishment.
He arrived at his Chunin teacher's office.
Without pausing, Uya walked straight in.
As luck would have it, he came face-to-face with his Chunin teacher, Kato Ya.
"Uya?"
Kato Ya saw Uya, but his expression was entirely different from before.
The contempt and disgust were gone, replaced by a hint of something complicated.
Uya found Kato Ya's attitude a little strange. This man should have been severely punished over Uya's earlier grievous injury of Uchiha Izumiya, so why did he show no resentment or anything of the sort upon seeing him now?
Strange as it was, Uya did not dwell on it. He simply stated calmly that he wanted three months' leave.
Having said his piece, Uya was ready to turn around and leave. Whether Kato Ya agreed or not, he would not be coming back anyway.
But to Uya's surprise, Kato Ya patted his shoulder with a somewhat sentimental air and simply nodded.
He actually agreed, just like that?!
A trace of astonishment immediately appeared on Uya's face.
Then he heard Kato Ya speak, partly venting and partly talking to himself.
"My comrades died at the hands of ninja from another village, so I've always been hostile toward you. But you're actually a very hardworking child. If you'd been born in Konoha..."
Kato Ya's voice broke off abruptly there. He sighed again, patted Uya's shoulder once more, and walked past him.
"Enough of that. Go enjoy yourself for three months without any worries."
Uya stared blankly as Kato Ya left the office.
Why did that sound so familiar?!
Then it suddenly struck him. Weren't those the exact words that Anbu Ninja had used earlier?!
Pfft!
Uya nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Do you all really think I'm doomed to die?!
He left the office looking thoroughly exasperated.
Walking slowly out of the academy, Uya shook off his jumbled thoughts.
Then he lowered his head and began to ponder.
He looked utterly despondent, as though he were about to die, even drawing another wave of pitying glances.
In truth, however, Uya was thinking about the last few questions left over from the previous night.
He would not waste a single moment.
As long as he could resolve these questions one by one, he would have an eighty percent chance of successfully developing that technique!
Those odds were already absurdly high.
And once he developed that technique, Uya believed that defeating Uchiha Kan in three months would be no difficulty at all!
After thinking for a long while, he resolved one question, but several others remained unanswered.
Uya decided to seek out Might Duy again.
Might Duy was still training in that grove. The entire village knew about Uya's challenge to Uchiha Kan, yet he knew nothing about it and greeted Uya with a smile when he saw him.
He really did not fit in with anyone in the village.
Uya even wondered who Might Guy's mother was, but he still wasted no time and directly raised his questions.
These questions sent Might Duy deep into thought as well.
Only after a while did he answer some of them, though he seemed a little uncertain about the last one.
Uya and Might Duy discussed the final question several times before finally arriving at an answer.
At this point, the picture in Uya's mind finally began to take shape, gradually developing into a complete and clearly defined training method.
It was the very technique Uya had been trying to develop.
Training the Eight Gates Released Formation in reverse!
The idea would undoubtedly shock countless people, but Uya's thinking was just that unconstrained, and he dared to experiment!
The heart was where power surged forth.
Opening it as the final gate naturally meant unleashing all of one's life force, guaranteeing death afterward.
But if he began strengthening himself from the heart, using it to drive the entire body and breaking through the gates one at a time, perhaps he could achieve an Eight Gates Released Formation without side effects-or even a permanent one!
After organizing the entire training method, Uya held nothing back and explained it all to Might Duy, laying out his idea.
"Training the Eight Gates Released Formation in reverse?!"
The instant Might Duy heard it, his mind roared, and he was too shocked to speak for a long while.
He could not help wanting to refute it, only to discover... Uya had considered practically every point.
It seemed... it really could work!
In the end, Might Duy decided to support Uya's idea.
Because, in his view, youth was meant for striving...
Might Duy pointed out several flaws and helped Uya correct them.
At this point, the method for training the Eight Gates Released Formation in reverse was fully formed!
And Uya did not hesitate. He immediately began to try it!
Might Duy, of course, stood beside Uya without hesitation to keep watch over him.
Might Duy's character was absolutely trustworthy. With him nearby, Uya could put his mind completely at ease.
First, Uya loosened up all the blood vessels and meridians throughout his body, then sat down cross-legged.
Clearing every thought from his mind, Uya entered a state of single-minded concentration.
"Start from the heart..."
Murmuring those words, Uya extended his thumb and gently pressed it against the area over his heart.
But it did not work.
Opening the heart as the first gate was entirely different from opening it as the Eighth Gate.
Uya frowned slightly.
"This approach won't work, but there are other methods..."
Next, Uya chose to force his way through with chakra.
The Eight Gates Released Formation removed every limit on the human body, which in reality meant freeing chakra from its restraints.
However, this chakra would not flow outside the body. Instead, it would form a surging river within, all of it strengthening the body.
But chakra was what Uya was least adept at.
Only after a great deal of effort did Uya manage to mobilize a small amount of chakra and launch it against the gate at his heart.
Yet it was like a mayfly trying to shake a tree. He could not budge it at all.
Uya even felt that opening the heart as the first gate would be impossible with Jonin-level or even Kage Level chakra!
No wonder there had been a forward Eight Gates Released Formation for over a thousand years, yet never a Reverse Eight Gates Released Formation.
The training was so unimaginably difficult that no one could succeed.
As Uya thought this, however, a trace of resolve appeared in his eyes.
Just because others couldn't succeed... didn't mean he couldn't!
Because he still had the power of the Quake Release Kekkei Genkai!
Uya's real confidence lay in his Quake Release Kekkei Genkai.
"Power of Tremors... rise! Shatter these shackles for me!!"