First, the Eight Gates requires a body strong enough to withstand the burden of opening them.
Without a powerful physique, the user would be torn apart by the strain. Naruto had already taken this into account when he began developing the Unbreakable Golden Body.
Training methods in the ninja world were crude—ninja were generally built for offense, not defense. Only a handful possessed naturally resilient bodies.
That was why, when shaping the Unbreakable Golden Body, Naruto drew inspiration from body-forging techniques he remembered from novels in his previous life.
Of course, physiques capable of shattering worlds weren't practical in the shinobi world. Still, he gained something valuable from his research: a unique training system that stimulated both blood and chakra to strengthen the body.
Eventually, Naruto separated this path from Tekkai (Iron Body), deciding the name no longer fit. He renamed it after its pinnacle—the Unbreakable Golden Body.
Its essence lay in cellular reinforcement, a fundamental leap in physical evolution.
In Naruto's vision, true mastery of the Unbreakable Golden Body would require drawing Natural Energy into the body—just as Sage Mode did. Sage Mode enhanced chakra, strength, and ninjutsu; the Unbreakable Golden Body, however, was pure taijutsu.
Its purpose was simple: defense, strength, healing, and recovery—the foundation of a taijutsu master.
But since Naruto had yet to train extensively with Natural Energy, his development had stalled at the Golden Body stage.
Even so, if Rock Lee cultivated both the Unbreakable Golden Body and the Eight Gates, he might one day reach the initial Six Paths tier—without even needing to open the Eighth Gate of Death.
And if he did open all Eight Gates? He could very well overwhelm most ordinary Six Paths-level opponents.
The problem, of course, was the fatal backlash. Unless Naruto could find a way to remove the Eight Gates' lethal side effects, who would dare use it? He certainly wouldn't.
No matter how brilliant the bloom, it wasn't worth a life that ended in an instant.
Land of Wind.
A lone figure walked slowly through the endless desert.
It was Naruto—or rather, an enhanced Shadow Clone. Before leaving, he had borrowed a massive amount of chakra from Kurama specifically for this mission.
This wasn't the fragile clone technique everyone knew; it was closer in substance to a Wood Clone, sturdy and chakra-rich.
Naruto had come here for one purpose: Gaara.
The story was catching up to the timeline he remembered, and Naruto intended to meet Gaara earlier than expected.
Although this clone only carried about half the strength of his true body, after years of honing himself under the effect of Heaven Rewards Diligence, Naruto honestly wasn't sure how strong he had become.
One thing was certain—he was always growing stronger.
Sometimes, he even felt he could rival Hiruzen Sarutobi himself in knowledge. With the system's guidance, Naruto's theoretical mastery of ninjutsu was already astonishing.
Of course, he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could completely suppress the Third Hokage. Hiruzen had decades of experience and countless secret techniques.
But Naruto had something Hiruzen lacked: a near-endless sea of chakra. He could grind his opponent down through sheer reserves alone—so long as he didn't fall to a killing blow first.
Even then, Naruto admitted he wasn't yet on Hiruzen's level without Kurama's power. His taijutsu gave him the edge, but in ninjutsu, the Professor still reigned supreme. And if Hiruzen decided to gamble his life with techniques like the Reaper Death Seal, Naruto wouldn't stand a chance.
After all, even Danzo had the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique as a hidden card—though in the original timeline, it had been portrayed as little more than wasted potential.
"It's even more barren than I imagined…"
Naruto's clone floated above the endless dunes, yellow sand stretching as far as the eye could see.
The Land of Wind was harsher than he had expected.
No wonder Sunagakure had always struggled to survive, forced to rely on its Kazekage to scour wealth from the desert just to keep the village alive.
The Daimyo of the Land of Wind was notoriously stingy, and Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, lacked the forceful authority of someone like the Raikage of the Land of Lightning—where the Kage effectively ruled over the Daimyo.
The desert was barren and dry, but fortunately, Naruto had Water Release ninjutsu.
However, he quickly discovered a problem: in this environment, using Water Release demanded several times more chakra than usual. The power of the same technique here was drastically weakened—compared to the Land of Water, the difference could be nearly tenfold.
Glancing down at the map in his hand, Naruto noted Sunagakure's marked location, along with several oases. It was still a long way to the Hidden Sand Village, but there was an oasis nearby. Deciding not to push further under the relentless sun and sand, Naruto headed toward it.
The ever-present grit and dryness gnawed at him. Simply put, he wasn't acclimated to this climate.
To conserve chakra, he dispelled his flight and continued on foot.
Suddenly, the sand shifted. A massive black scorpion burst from beneath the surface, lunging straight at him.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"
Naruto had already sensed it coming. The first time he saw such an enormous scorpion, he was startled—it was larger than anything he had ever encountered. But after realizing its strength wasn't particularly impressive, he quickly adapted.
The desert was filled with dangerous creatures: giant scorpions, massive ants with lethal bites, even sandworms lurking beneath the dunes. Once, Naruto stumbled across a colony of ants swarming like the desert army ants he'd once seen in movies from his past life. Though he could've destroyed them, he chose to fly away instead.
(He would never admit it was because he had trypophobia.)
Aside from the wildlife, the desert was plagued by violent sandstorms. Naruto also crossed paths with a few traveling merchants from the Land of Wind. They kept their distance, eyeing him warily. It wasn't hard for them to tell he was an outsider.
Still, Naruto pressed on. Before long, a patch of green shimmered in the distance.
An oasis.
Relief flickered across his face—but then his instincts flared. Something was wrong.
A colossal sand tornado twisted violently across the horizon, barreling toward the oasis.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. There was a caravan in its path. Though clearly panicked, the travelers moved with surprising order. Someone experienced must have been leading them.
But their pace was far too slow. At this rate, they'd be swallowed by the storm long before reaching safety.
Naruto clenched his fists. The oasis itself would remain intact, but the people wouldn't survive. If he stepped in, he could save them—but it would cost him chakra.
On the caravan's side, a weathered middle-aged man shouted hoarsely, his voice rising above the roar of the storm.
"Quickly! Move! Once we reach the oasis, we'll be safe!"
A trembling younger voice called back, "Elder El! It's too late! The sandstorm is faster than us!"
"Damn it!" Elder El's face twisted, but he didn't hesitate. "Gather the goods! Everyone hold hands—form a circle! Put the camels on the outside and stake them down!"
He knew it was a desperate gamble. At best, it would save only some of them. The thought of abandoning their camels—their lifeline in the desert—made his heart bleed, but survival came first.
Under his command, the caravan locked hands, anchoring themselves together to increase their weight.
But the sandstorm was already upon them. Goods were snatched into the sky, people lifted off the ground, their screams lost to the howling wind. Others clung desperately, dragging them back down.
Then—
"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Continuous Waves!"
With a thunderous rumble, an earthen wall curved upward, encircling the caravan in a protective ring. The people who had been swept into the air crashed safely back to the ground.
Outside, the sandstorm shuddered. Its core was suddenly split apart by slicing winds. The furious cyclone faltered, then unraveled into scattered gusts.
The desert quieted.
Naruto lowered his hand, sighing. After a moment's hesitation, he had chosen to save them.
...
TN:
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