Might Duy had never thought Uya could succeed. After all, over such a long history, who knew how many people had practiced the Eight Gates Released Formation and tried to modify it?
There must have been some astonishingly gifted geniuses among them.
But not one had succeeded.
Yet... Uya had actually done it!
A useless failure who could not practice ninjutsu? In Might Duy's eyes, Uya was a monster whom even the word genius could no longer describe!
He had created a new forbidden technique!
How astounding was that!
Looking at Might Duy's stunned expression, which had yet to settle even after so long, Uya instead felt somewhat ashamed. "I'm sorry... although I succeeded in practicing it, I'm afraid I can't teach it to you."
Only someone with the Quake Release Kekkei Genkai could successfully practice this Reverse Eight Gates Released Formation.
Besides, Might Duy had already opened the first seven gates. Opening the Eighth Gate next would simply mean opening the Gate of Death in the normal order.
Uya explained this to Might Duy apologetically.
After all, he had learned the Eight Gates Released Formation from him, yet could not share the new Eight Gates Released Formation he had developed.
Gradually recovering from his shock, Might Duy took it in stride instead, waving his hands repeatedly and laughing heartily. "It's fine, it's fine! I'm already happy enough to see such an outstanding young man as you!"
"Sure enough, youth is still burning, and it's being passed on!"
Uya: "..."
Though inwardly speechless, Uya still silently gave Might Duy a thumbs-up for his honesty and sincerity. He seemed able to accept Might Duy's goofy personality a little more, too.
He really was pretty amusing.
After returning home, Uya began to rest.
The restriction in his heart had only just been broken. Although the heart itself would gradually strengthen with the flow of blood and each beat, this required a process.
In about three days, that process was complete.
At this point, the first gate of the True Eight Gates Released Formation was fully perfected!
True Eight Gates Released Formation was the new name Uya had given this reverse version of the Eight Gates Released Formation.
The two versions of the Eight Gates Released Formation each had their advantages and disadvantages.
The greatest advantage of the True Eight Gates Released Formation Uya had created was that it had no side effects!
It was a gradual, step-by-step form of training, like opening meridians to practice martial arts, rather than breaking through one's limits in an instant and overdrawing one's life force.
Thus, its advantage was also its disadvantage.
Precisely because it had no side effects, its power was considerably weaker than that of the normal Eight Gates Released Formation.
Neither its strength nor its speed was as absurd as that of the normal Eight Gates Released Formation.
Following that disadvantage, however, came another advantage: endurance.
The normal Eight Gates Released Formation could be said to have almost no endurance. It was a brief burst, a fleeting moment of brilliance!
Uya's True Eight Gates Released Formation, on the other hand, was permanent!
The True Eight Gates Released Formation did not close its gates or weaken. It provided a permanent, constant enhancement!
Once Uya opened the True Eight Gates Released Formation, the power he gained would remain forever, whether it was strength, speed, or that chakra!
"A genin's amount of chakra."
Clenching his fists, Uya smiled. Previously, he had always struggled to extract chakra, yet now he had obtained it through the True Eight Gates Released Formation.
Now that he had chakra, Uya could not help wanting to try practicing ninjutsu again.
Although his current taijutsu combined with his Quake Release Kekkei Genkai was already powerful, almost enough to handle all kinds of situations, ninjutsu was something that inevitably stirred his curiosity.
"Clone Technique!"
"Substitution Technique!"
"Transformation Technique!"
With a genin's amount of chakra stored constantly in the first gate at his heart, Uya succeeded in practicing the Three Basic Techniques with almost no difficulty.
Sure enough, Uya's talent for ninjutsu was not poor. The problem had actually been his chakra. Now that his chakra was normal, his ninjutsu talent proved astonishing instead, and he learned the Three Basic Techniques almost instantly.
"But... extracting chakra is still very difficult. In other words, if I want to increase my chakra reserves in the future, my only path is to keep opening the True Eight Gates Released Formation."
Uya realized this when he tried extracting chakra again and found it was still quite difficult.
The True Eight Gates Released Formation was his core!
With each gate he opened, his power would increase layer by layer, including his chakra, physical strength, and even his Power of Tremors!
Now, with the first gate open, Uya's Power of Tremors was already enough to easily shatter C-rank ninjutsu completely.
Its attack range was no longer one meter, either. It had expanded two- or threefold, reaching nearly three meters.
He was still some distance from being able to withstand B-rank ninjutsu, but not too far.
Uya's strength could be said to stand at the very top among genin, even barely matching chunin level.
Looking at it this way, never mind three months...
Perhaps in just one month, he, someone who had not even graduated from the Ninja Academy, would possess chunin-level strength!
In this world, status occasionally did not match strength.
Might Duy, for instance, was only a genin, but once he unleashed his power and opened the Seventh Gate, even elite jonin would be beaten to a pulp by him!
But such cases were a minority, after all.
Status generally corresponded to strength.
Genin, chunin, elite chunin, special jōnin, jonin, elite jonin, Kage!
These were the existing divisions of status in the Naruto world.
In Uya's view, strength could be divided the same way without any difference, though a Quasi-Kage tier could be added between elite jonin and Kage.
Some elite jonin were very powerful, possessing secret techniques or forbidden techniques that could even threaten Kage Level opponents. Such people could be called Quasi-Kage Level.
As for Kage Level... there was actually no clearly defined Kage rank in the Naruto world.
The highest positions in the Naruto world were the Five Kage of Wind, Lightning, Water, Fire, and Earth from the Five Great Shinobi Villages!
Their strength, however, was somewhat uneven.
Above Kage Level, of course, there were even stronger Super Kage and even Six Paths Level beings. But those were far too distant for Uya, so he was in no hurry to classify them.
Putting these thoughts aside, Uya prepared to continue training.
By now, Uya had more or less found a completely clear path for his training.
He did not need to spend his efforts practicing ninjutsu such as Fire Style and Earth Release. Ninjutsu that generally required hand seals did not suit him very well.
A ninjutsu without hand seals like the Rasengan might be combined with the Power of Tremors to develop some moves, but there was no need to rush that yet.
What Uya needed to do now was the simplest thing: first become fully proficient with the Power of Tremors, and flexibly master the few most practical basic ninjutsu, such as the Transformation Technique and Substitution Technique.
When he opened the second gate, he would enter his second period of explosive growth in strength!