"Phew..." Exhaling slowly, Diarmuid opened his eyes.
Before him lay the vista of Konoha, though he lacked the interest to admire it. Instead, he glanced down at his wrist. As expected, the Tomoe mark of the Cursed Seal had faded significantly.
Once the Cursed Seal vanished completely, the "key" Orochimaru had left on his wrist would be gone. When that time came, he would either have to find Orochimaru for another "bite" or rely on himself to "open the door."
Given the current circumstances, Diarmuid felt he could likely open the door on his own. Seeking out Orochimaru for another bite would be somewhat embarrassing; after all, a man like Diarmuid had his pride to consider.
As for his mastery over Senjutsu, or rather, the control of natural energy, Diarmuid had gained some insights by now.
According to his own estimation, there were two types of people for whom mastering Sage Mode was exceptionally difficult.
The first type consisted of normal, talented individuals, like Jiraiya. For them, learning Sage Mode was an uphill battle. It resulted in an imperfect mastery where physical "frog-like" traits appeared during use. To even gather the necessary natural energy and maintain the state for any duration, Jiraiya required the assistance of the Two Great Sage Toads, Fukasaku and Shima, to act as external "factories."
The second type included people like Naruto, Hashirama, and Diarmuid himself. Their constitutions were too powerful, their physical foundations too robust, and their vitality too overflowing. Consequently, the "total volume" of energy they had to harmonize with natural energy far exceeded that of an average person.
The difficulty for them wasn't in the steps, but in the sheer scale of the process. For instance, if Jiraiya had to harmonize a ratio of one, it might take him one unit of time. Compared to him, Diarmuid might have to harmonize a ratio of one hundred. Without a shortcut, it would naturally take him a hundred times longer to complete the process.
Shortcuts certainly existed, but such methods were likely guarded secrets within the Three Great Sage Regions. Toad Oil, for example, was undoubtedly a "shortcut" material. Diarmuid, however, had no such luck; he had to take the long road.
Diarmuid didn't know how long it had taken Hashirama to balance natural energy with his internal physical energy to achieve a perfect Sage Mode, but he suspected that without help from the Shikkotsu Forest, it would have been an incredibly long process as well.
In contrast, someone like Minato was an outlier. His talent was superior to Jiraiya's, but his raw physical "capacity" and vitality were lower than those of Naruto, Hashirama, or Diarmuid. He wasn't a "struggling student," nor was he a "monster." Therefore, he likely learned Sage Mode much faster than Jiraiya and significantly faster than Diarmuid's group, reaching a perfect state with ease. The only drawback was that his Sage Mode duration would naturally be much shorter than that of someone like Diarmuid.
Standing up from the head of the Third Hokage's monument, Diarmuid unhooked the pipe from his waist. He didn't even need a flame; with a casual puff, the tobacco ignited on its own, a clear demonstration of his masterful control over Fire Release chakra.
In the distance, his eyes caught a figure in a green spandex suit "running" around Konoha on his hands. At this stage in the village, only Might Guy would be engaged in such a display.
"The Eight Inner Gates... huh?" Diarmuid murmured softly.
Although Might Duy had used the Eight Inner Gates to reach the Seventh Gate and single-handedly crushed the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, supposedly the "greatest combat force" of Kirigakure, the technique was still not highly regarded in Konoha, at least on the surface. Or rather, it wasn't suitable for large-scale promotion.
The creator of the technique was unknown. Might Duy had spent twenty years mastering it before passing it on to his son, Might Guy. This was what Diarmuid currently knew.
What he didn't know was that the technique had actually been discovered by the Second Hokage, Tobirama, among the ancient scrolls passed down through the Senju clan. When he found it, the technique was incomplete, yet he estimated it to be incredibly powerful. However, since he wasn't a "specialist" in Taijutsu, he didn't learn it himself.
Out of respect for the technique and consideration for Konoha's future, Tobirama decided to find a Taijutsu expert to research and complete it. His choice had been Might Duy.
Duy was a commoner with seemingly little talent. He was a Taijutsu specialist not because of some initial passion, but because as a commoner, he had no other options but to grind Taijutsu. Later, his passion for the art became unrivaled, which was why Tobirama chose him.
For Duy, who had nothing to his name, receiving an incomplete scroll of the Eight Inner Gates from the legendary Hokage was the most precious thing he had ever touched. Since then, he had spent twenty years refining it, successfully completing it up to the Seventh Gate. As for the Eighth Gate, he only had theoretical designs; he hadn't fully mastered it. Had he done so, none of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen would have escaped.
Had he not died protecting his son during this war, Duy might have finished the Eighth Gate before Guy grew up. Fortunately, Guy had already mastered the core principles of the first seven gates and eventually succeeded in developing the Eighth.
Currently, despite Duy's death, Konoha wasn't truly ignoring the technique. The Third Hokage had solemnly recorded the Eight Inner Gates into the Scroll of Seals... though he only included up to the Seventh Gate.
The reason the technique hadn't spread wasn't neglect, as Diarmuid suspected. Firstly, it required nearly twenty years of specialized training to even reach the state of opening the "Eight Gates," making it an "easy to learn, hard to master" skill. It also required a specific kind of talent. Duy, Guy, and later Rock Lee appeared untalented because they couldn't use Ninjutsu, but in reality, they had maxed out their Taijutsu potential.
Secondly, it required lifelong consistency; it was almost impossible to pick up halfway and reach the end.
Finally, and this was the real reason, the power of this technique was too difficult to control. The goal of promoting a technique is to give the village leadership a strategic new power, something like a Tailed Beast that can be deployed at critical moments. But Tailed Beasts must be forcibly controlled to be considered strategic weapons; otherwise, they are just disasters.
How could one control an Eight Gates user? Danzo's Root cursed seal, the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal? By the time a user opened the Sixth or Seventh Gate, any internal seal would likely be obliterated by the sheer pressure of their energy. The lack of a control mechanism made large-scale promotion dangerous. It would create a situation where a vast number of individuals held extreme power, which wasn't necessarily good for the village's stability.
With a weapon in hand, the intent to kill arises. A man with power and a man without are two entirely different beings. Furthermore, as it was classified as a Kinjutsu (Forbidden Jutsu), it could never be widely taught.
As Diarmuid watched the green figure run further into the distance, he felt a bit of hesitation. He was wondering how he might "finesse" Might Guy into an exchange of Taijutsu. For instance, his own Lightning Release Nintaijutsu.
Might Guy was different from his future student, Rock Lee. Lee truly had zero Ninjutsu capability. Guy, however, was a Taijutsu specialist who could use some basic Ninjutsu; he just didn't prioritize it. Theoretically, if he had a Lightning nature, he could master Lightning Release Nintaijutsu.
The Eight Inner Gates combined with Lightning Release Nintaijutsu... Good grief, the thought alone was terrifying.
But using such a method to trick Guy felt a bit like "swindling a child," and Diarmuid felt a twinge of guilt. He truly admired the man, which made him reluctant to be underhanded.
After weighing his options, Diarmuid smiled. With a light tap of his foot, a Body Flicker of lightning flashed, and he vanished from the Third Hokage's stone head.
The Lightning Body Flicker was currently Diarmuid's fastest movement technique. He had integrated some Soru mechanics into the standard version, making it even quicker. If he activated his weightless state, he might actually rival Gion's Rumble-Rumble Fruit speed.
However, since arriving in Konoha, he had witnessed Minato's elusiveness firsthand. He recognized that the Flying Raijin developed by Tobirama truly deserved its title as the "Fastest in the Shinobi World." Space-time Ninjutsu was simply on another level. And Minato had clearly taken it even further than Tobirama, proving just how much of a freak he was.
"Hey, kid," Diarmuid called out, leaning against a utility pole as he watched Might Guy approach on his hands.
"Oh! Oji-san!" Seeing Diarmuid, Guy pushed off with his hands, performed a mid-air flip, and landed cleanly on his feet in front of him.
Despite not being well-acquainted, Guy had an inexplicable fondness for Diarmuid. Perhaps it was because he could sense that Diarmuid sincerely respected his beliefs, his hard work, and his father, the "Eternal Genin." Even though Kakashi had warned him that this man was a world-class S-Rank criminal, the village didn't seem to be making a move to arrest him, so Guy didn't mind Diarmuid's status.
"Training?" Diarmuid asked with a smile.
"No, just warming up!" Guy gave a thumbs-up, flashing a brilliant white smile with a confident gleam in his teeth.
"Is that so?" Diarmuid nodded. "Your Taijutsu... it interests me. I'd like to learn it. So, I've come to ask: would you be willing to exchange techniques with me?"
Diarmuid had decided to be direct. He wouldn't lie; he would ask fair and square. If it worked, great. If not, he'd drop it. At least he wouldn't be a scoundrel. After all, he wasn't deceiving anyone.