Konoha Village.
The following days were peaceful.
Aside from guiding Naruto in his training each day, Shinju spent the rest of his time honing his own ninjutsu and taijutsu.
In the past two days especially, after realizing his shortcomings in taijutsu, he had focused heavily on that area.
Finally—
Through relentless exploration of his own body, he discovered that within the chakra network flowing through his meridians, there were points that suppressed and controlled chakra flow.
Shinju called these points "Gates."
In a normal shinobi's body, there were a total of eight such Gates. They suppressed the body's chakra, maintaining a subtle balance within.
During his experiments, Shinju also discovered that by training the body through taijutsu, one could reach the conditions necessary to open these "Gates."
Once opened, a Gate would allow a shinobi to draw forth a massive surge of chakra in a short time, dramatically increasing their abilities.
The more Gates opened, the greater the boost in power!
However, opening them caused an abnormal amount of chakra to rush through the meridians, putting strain on the body.
The damage increased with the number of Gates opened!
And the most dangerous was the final, eighth Gate—opening it recklessly could lead to instant death!
After days of relentless training, Shinju had reached the point where he could open the first five Gates.
Today, he decided to head to the outskirts of Konoha for a proper practice session.
As usual, Shinju used the Body Flicker Technique, vanishing and reappearing in a clearing outside the village in the blink of an eye.
Then, he began his intensive training.
"First Gate—Open!"
With a loud shout, Shinju's aura surged!
Steam rose from the surface of his body.
"Second Gate—Open!"
"Third Gate—Open!"
With each shout, the chakra Gates within his body opened one after another until he reached the third.
The white steam began to take on a faint green hue.
"Fourth Gate—Open!"
Shinju shouted again. When he reached the fourth Gate, he could already feel the damage building in his body.
Every cell was working at high intensity, and a dull pain throbbed through his internal organs.
Maintaining the state of the Fourth Gate, he tried moving around.
Whoosh!
He leapt, soaring twenty to thirty meters into the air!
When he kicked, his speed was three or four times faster than before, and the power behind his strikes had increased dramatically!
As he got used to the pain while in the Fourth Gate state, Shinju steadied himself and shouted once more.
"Fifth Gate—Open!!"
The green steam around his body became even more pronounced, and the strain on his body grew heavier.
Just as he was about to move, Shinju noticed two figures approaching from not far away.
One tall, one short—they walked into the clearing where he was training.
As they got closer, Shinju realized their outfits were… strange.
Strange, yet oddly familiar.
Both wore green skintight jumpsuits… and both had bowl-cut hair!
It made sense for the boy, who looked around twelve or thirteen, to have such a hairstyle—but why in the world did the man in his thirties beside him have the exact same haircut?!
Then—
The younger bowl cut glanced at Shinju with a puzzled look.
"Guy-sensei, did you… teach the Eight Gates Technique to someone else?"
He tilted his head toward the older bowl cut behind him and asked.
"No," the older one replied, "the Eight Gates may release the body's limits on chakra, but the damage it causes is irreversible. So far, I've only ever taught it to you."
"Then why does that person over there look like he's using the Eight Gates?!"
The younger one pointed straight at Shinju.
Shinju: ∑(°Д°)
Hearing their conversation, Shinju instantly recognized them.
Guy and Lee!
Even though he didn't know every detail about the Naruto world, these two—legendary for their hot-blooded enthusiasm—were impossible not to have heard of.
...
Following Lee's finger, Might Guy turned to look at Shinju. When he saw the green steam rising from Shinju's body, his eyes lit up.
"It really does look like the Eight Gates Technique!"
"And he's already opened the Fifth Gate!" Guy said excitedly.
"The Fifth Gate?!"
Σ( ° △ °|||)!
Lee's voice rose in shock.
Because he couldn't use ninjutsu, Lee had trained exclusively in taijutsu under Guy-sensei.
After years of tireless training without a single day's rest, he had barely managed to open the Fifth Gate!
Yet here was some kid—someone Lee had never even seen before, and who looked younger than him—already opening the Fifth Gate… and apparently doing it far more effortlessly?!
How was that even possible?!
Soon, the green-jumpsuit duo stood beside Shinju.
Guy was the first to speak. "Hey, kid! Where'd you learn the Eight Gates Technique?"
"Me? I figured it out myself." Shinju replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Those Gates that suppressed and controlled chakra in the body weren't exactly hard to find.
Surely there were plenty of shinobi who had discovered ways to unlock their physical potential like this.
"Whoa! You actually figured out the Eight Gates on your own? Kid, you're pretty sharp!"
Guy grinned and gave him a big thumbs-up.
To him, the fact that someone else knew the Eight Gates wasn't shocking. He didn't even know who originally developed the technique himself.
"So, kid—you must have been training for a long time to be able to open the Fifth Gate without even flinching."
"Mm. I've been training for a little over a week now. I can barely manage to open the Fifth Gate," Shinju answered honestly.
Guy: ⊙▽⊙
Lee: ヾ(Ő∀Ő)ﾉ
A little over a week?
Barely the Fifth Gate?!
And from the look on the kid's face, he wasn't lying at all!
Lee: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
He had been training in the Eight Gates for five or six years… and all that effort had only gotten him to the Fifth Gate for a short time!
His entire goal was to prove that hard-working geniuses were still geniuses—
But today, he had met a real prodigy, and it crushed him completely.
Even Guy twitched at the corners of his mouth after hearing Shinju's answer.
It had taken him four or five years of training under his father just to reach the Fifth Gate!
What kind of terrifying talent was this?!
It was demoralizing!
At first, Might Guy had been planning to invite this kid to join him and Lee's training sessions.
But after hearing about his monstrous talent… Guy swallowed his words.
A student this freakishly gifted? He didn't dare take that on!
"Such terrifying physical talent… Young man, I have high hopes for you!"
Guy clapped Shinju hard on the shoulder, speaking with grave seriousness.
Then he bellowed, "Lee!! Looks like we'll have to train even harder from now on!!"
"Yes, Guy-sensei!!" Lee replied loudly.
Guy: "Let's burn bright—youth!!!"
With that, the hot-blooded duo bid Shinju farewell and went off to continue their own intense training, running off into the distance.
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