Just then, the door to his room opened.
A white-haired old man walked into his room. "Ryōsuke, what are you doing? How did you make such a huge commotion?"
Walking into the room, he saw that everything had been blown into disarray, as if a fierce battle had just taken place. Meanwhile, his grandson was emitting an incredibly powerful aura that shocked even him.
He already knew Ryōsuke was training in the Eight Inner Gates at home, so he hadn't been too concerned. After all, he knew of the technique; it was exceedingly difficult to train, and some people practiced their whole lives without ever mastering it.
But the powerful aura now radiating from Ryōsuke made him think he must have reached the sixth gate or higher. How else could he have such an intense presence? He was also puzzled. 'Can the Eight Inner Gates really be mastered this quickly?'
Seeing his grandfather enter, Ryōsuke stopped kneading his chakra. The five gates instantly closed, and the aura around his body vanished.
"Grandpa, what are you doing here?"
"Of course I came because I sensed the commotion in your room," the Great Elder explained. "I didn't expect you to have become so formidable. Which gate of the Eight Inner Gates have you opened?"
Uchiha Ryōsuke saw no need to hide it from his grandfather and said casually, "I've opened the fifth gate."
The Great Elder's eyes widened. 'The fifth gate has this much power?' The aura had been so strong he'd thought it was the sixth gate. Although he hadn't seen many people train in this technique, normally, the fifth gate shouldn't be this powerful.
'Well, Ryōsuke wouldn't lie to me, so it must be the fifth gate. I never imagined the fifth gate could be this potent. Could it be that Ryōsuke has an extraordinary talent for taijutsu, the kind of taijutsu master you see once in a century, or even a millennium? For the fifth gate to have this much power, the only reason must be an incredibly strong body.'
He recalled how Ryōsuke had sent Uchiha Itachi flying with taijutsu alone during the clan meeting, proving his taijutsu was indeed exceptional. Despite Uchiha Itachi's young age, his taijutsu was already at a level where he wouldn't be at much of a disadvantage even against a Jōnin.
He sighed in his heart, amazed that the Uchiha clan had produced such a taijutsu prodigy. It was truly a blessing for the family.
He looked at Ryōsuke and said seriously, "Ryōsuke, you must not open the eighth gate."
His gaze was almost pleading. He knew what opening the eighth gate meant: death. He did not want to see his grandson die before him.
Ryōsuke sensed his grandfather's sincerity and quickly promised, "Okay, Grandpa. To be honest, I'm afraid of dying too. I won't open the eighth gate."
He truly cherished his own life and wouldn't seek death, unless his body became strong enough to withstand opening the eighth gate without harm. Opening the eighth gate allowed a mortal body to rival that of an immortal; to be honest, it was impossible for him not to have thoughts about it. By the time he was able to open the eighth gate, his physical strength might already be extremely high. It was even possible that when his body reached a terrifying level of durability, he might be able to open the eighth gate and not die.
After all, his future enemies could be from the Ōtsutsuki clan. Unless he was willing to be meekly devoured, which was of course impossible, he might still have to open the Eight Inner Gates Formation if he ever faced a life-or-death crisis. If his future physical stats were high enough, it was possible he could even kill a god with all eight gates open. The position of the eighth gate was at the heart. The heart was incredibly important, the very engine of a person's life. Opening the eighth gate would cause an instantaneous explosion of power, at least a hundred-fold increase. An ordinary person's body couldn't withstand it, let alone a part like the heart. But he was different.
As his stats increased, his heart was also strengthening. Others had no way to train their hearts. It was possible that Ryōsuke truly had a chance to open the eighth gate and survive.
Seeing his grandson agree, the Great Elder relaxed a little. "Good. Then you continue your training."
With that, he left. He had no objection to his grandson training in his room, as the Uchiha clan was already being monitored by Anbu around the clan's perimeter.
The next day, Uchiha Fugaku spread the true reason for the failure of the peace talks between the Cloud Village and the Leaf Village. Such news was highly attractive to the villagers' attention.
Soon, the entire village knew the full story. It was the Cloud Village envoy who had tried to abduct the Hyūga clan's eldest daughter, which was why he was killed by the Hyūga Head. The Cloud ninja even had the audacity to demand that the Hokage give them an explanation and hand over the "murderer." The Uchiha clan had forcefully rebuked the Cloud Village's unreasonable demands, while the Third Hokage had advocated for using a village ninja as a scapegoat to appease the Cloud Village's anger, attempting to maintain peace.
Hearing this news, the entire village erupted. The villagers knew the truth, and the ninja knew the truth.
One portion of the villagers, upon learning this, still felt it was the Uchiha's fault. It was because of their hardline stance that the peace talks had failed. They, of course, did not like war, as it would cost them money and their lives. Although it was the Cloud Village's fault, peace was the most important thing, and the Third Hokage's decision was not wrong. Sacrificing one person could maintain the peace of the entire village; the choice was obvious. Besides, the person who died was unrelated to them. Furthermore, wasn't a ninja's mission to protect the peace of the village? Wasn't this the time for them to make a sacrifice?
However, a much larger portion of the people were indignant. It was clearly the Cloud Village's scheme. They felt deeply ashamed for having wrongly accused the Uchiha clan. It turned out the Uchiha had been speaking out for justice, and they weren't even the ones who had killed the envoy. A great many people now understood why the Uchiha had acted as they did.
When they heard the news, they were furious. The Cloud envoy had tried to abduct the Hyūga heiress and was killed for it—he got what he deserved. The Hyūga clan was a major ninja family in the Leaf Village. The Cloud Village's motive was clearly to steal the Hyūga's bloodline. If they managed to obtain the Hyūga's Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan, wouldn't that greatly increase the Cloud Village's power? With their strength increased, those despicable people from the Cloud would be even more likely to attack the Leaf Village.
And then, to shamelessly demand the Third Hokage hand over the killer was even more outrageous. Shouldn't it be the Leaf Village demanding accountability? If they had really followed the Third Hokage's suggestion, they might have achieved peace, but the Leaf Village's honor would have been completely lost.
T/n:
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