Konoha, too, was attacking the small villages around it, leading the Land of Fire in constant expansion and plundering resources.
Sunagakure of the Land of Wind and Iwagakure of the Land of Earth were expanding even more frantically, destroying countless small shinobi villages.
There were only so many small shinobi villages, and the resources of the small nations were limited as well.
The three great nations were bound to clash.
Although it seemed that things still needed some time to build up, anyone with clear eyes understood that this war was inevitable.
Compared to something like the Second Shinobi World War, the duel to the death between Uya and Uchiha Kan seemed rather insignificant.
"The Second Shinobi World War..."
With a soft sigh, Uya pushed those thoughts aside and began training once again.
A few days later, Uya finally felt that he was ready and decided to attempt opening the second gate of the True Eight Gates Released Formation-the Gate of Wonder!
The first gate of the True Eight Gates Released Formation was the Eighth Gate of the ordinary Eight Gates Released Formation: the Gate of Death at the heart.
Its second gate was the Seventh Gate of the ordinary Eight Gates Released Formation: the Gate of Wonder below the lower abdomen.
This gate was extremely important, almost as important as the first gate at the heart!
That was because it was the gate that connected what came before to what came after.
Above the Gate of Wonder, the path led all the way to the head, with five gates lying in a straight line along a completely unobstructed route.
By comparison, the path from the Gate of Death at the heart to the Gate of Wonder in the lower abdomen ran diagonally in reverse.
Connecting the heart and the body, the Gate of Wonder was the second core of the True Eight Gates Released Formation.
After thoroughly warming up his body and stretching his muscles and joints, Uya sat cross-legged and began his assault on the second gate.
The results of Uya's nearly two months of training could match half a year of someone else's training, or even more.
His body was many times stronger than it had been when he opened the first gate.
It was more than strong enough to open the second gate.
With all that accumulated strength, his attempt to open the second gate of the True Eight Gates Released Formation naturally succeeded on the very first try!
His chakra delivered the first impact, then the Power of Tremors spread over to deliver the second.
It shattered the restraints on the second gate outright!
As the second gate, the Gate of Wonder, opened, the invisible flame that seemed to burn at Uya's heart instantly spread along his chakra pathways and reached the Gate of Wonder.
Then a flame seemed to ignite at the Gate of Wonder as well!
Though described as flames, they were actually chakra!
At that moment, a complete connection formed between Uya's first gate at his heart and the second gate below his lower abdomen.
This was the natural connection of the Eight Gates Released Formation.
A second reserve of chakra appeared within the Gate of Wonder, its volume instantly exceeding the amount at his heart!
However, because it was connected to his heart, this chakra soon flowed through his chakra pathways and evened out.
In the end, the chakra at his heart and the chakra at the Gate of Wonder reached a simple balance.
With that, the chakra stored in these two cores instantly pushed Uya's chakra reserves past the Chunin threshold.
They were even nearly on par with those of some elite Chunin!
It was a tremendous leap forward.
Moreover, the chakra within the Gate of Death at his heart and the Gate of Wonder below his lower abdomen formed a cycle.
Originally, the chakra at his heart and the heart itself had only nourished one another. Now, the chakra in the two cores formed a dynamic connection, flowing between them.
During that transfer, some chakra inevitably dispersed into his flesh, blood, and bones, nourishing them.
A beneficial cycle brought improvements in every aspect!
My chakra reserves are almost on par with an elite Chunin's now? Then it looks like I can try developing some ninjutsu, too.
Sensing the chakra within his body, Uya smiled faintly.
Although he had expected it, feeling his chakra reserves increase so rapidly still left him unable to hide his delight.
Ordinary ninjutsu such as Fire Style and Water Release were not worth training in for Uya.
In fact, any ninjutsu that required hand seals held little value for someone like Uya, who possessed Quake Release along with a powerful body and great speed.
Thus, any ninjutsu Uya developed would be perfectly suited to his own use, or even capable of combining directly with Quake Release.
My body has already begun to transform.
Aside from his increased chakra, Uya could also feel his body rapidly transforming.
Because the True Eight Gates Released Formation permanently opened the eight gates within the body, its effects did not come in a sudden burst like those of the ordinary Eight Gates Released Formation.
Instead, they developed gradually.
But once a gate was opened, the process would not take very long.
After Uya opened the first gate at his heart, he had fully adapted within a few days. He believed the second gate below his lower abdomen, the Gate of Wonder, would not take too long either.
Sure enough, after only about three days, Uya's body completed this transformation.
After this transformation, Uya's speed was almost comparable to that of an ordinary Jonin. A Chunin would have to be particularly skilled in taijutsu to match him.
Aside from that, Uya's Power of Tremors underwent a transformation as well.
It was almost three times as powerful as before!
It had crossed the gulf between C-rank and B-rank ninjutsu outright.
Now, Uya could shatter even B-rank ninjutsu with a single punch!
Moreover, as the Power of Tremors broke through to this level, its range also increased dramatically.
Previously, Uya's attacks could reach no farther than two meters.
They were close-range attacks.
Now, with a full-force punch, Uya's Power of Tremors covered a range of five to ten meters!
Within five meters, its power did not weaken and could shatter B-rank ninjutsu. At a distance of five to ten meters, it could still shatter... His attack range had gone from close range to close-to-mid range, greatly improving his weakness in attack reach.
C-rank ninjutsu were commonly used by Chunin.
B-rank ninjutsu were commonly used by ordinary Jonin.
A-rank ninjutsu, however, belonged to the forbidden jutsu tier. Some Jonin had not even mastered any A-rank ninjutsu.
After all, once they mastered chakra nature transformation and combined it with B-rank ninjutsu, the resulting power was already considerable.
Most Jonin spent their time not on learning the more difficult A-rank ninjutsu, but on practicing chakra nature transformation to strengthen their B-rank ninjutsu.
In other words... Uya could now sweep through almost any Chunin he faced!
But there was still one issue, one Uya had deliberately ignored before and was only now considering again.
"Besides taijutsu and ninjutsu, this world also has genjutsu."
Calming his excitement, Uya lowered his head in thought.
"I deliberately ignored it before because ordinary Genin can, at most, dispel genjutsu. Casting it is rather difficult for them. But at the Chunin level, genjutsu is also a commonly used form of attack."