Chapter 315: Gene Lock? No, These Are Acupoints
"That damned guy..." Shibi looked at the scene before him, and he instantly understood why he had felt that something was wrong with Kakashi earlier. Looking at it now, it was not just "something wrong." Someone had clearly been impersonating him.
Even so, Shibi still had his doubts, because the Heavenly Demon seemed to know Konoha's situation far too well. He even knew that Guy had mastered the Eight Inner Gates Formation. His objective had been extremely clear from the start.
He even knew details about Guy's personality, along with things like the fact that Guy and Kakashi were friends. For a ninja from outside Konoha, knowing that would be very difficult. Even inside Konoha, not many people knew those things.
After all, Kakashi was Konoha's genius ninja and also an Anbu member. Very few people knew much about him. As for Guy, there was even less to say. Aside from a few former classmates who recognized him, most people treated him like an idiot.
Even back at the Ninja Academy, many people had called Might Guy a lunatic. What was the point of training in taijutsu every single day? Could taijutsu withstand a ninjutsu on the level of Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet?
Yet the Heavenly Demon had approached Guy perfectly.
"So it is very likely that the Heavenly Demon knows Kakashi and Guy?" Shibi's thoughts raced, and he immediately arrived at that possibility.
Still, he was not that familiar with Kakashi and Guy's personal affairs, so for now he could only make a note of it. Once he returned to Konoha, he would report it to the Hokage and see who matched those conditions.
Perhaps then they could uncover the Heavenly Demon's true identity.
"...Where is Kakashi?!" an angry voice roared.
Shibi turned his head and saw a man beside him wrapped in a green aura.
Guy had actually opened the Gate of View?
At the same time, Kenichi, high in the air, also heard Guy's furious shout and felt the surging chakra behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the green aura rising from the hot air balloon.
"The Eight Inner Gates? Is that the Sixth Gate?" Kenichi raised an eyebrow. It seemed Guy was truly enraged, though that was only natural. Guy might be straightforward and direct by nature, but he was also a man with strong principles and his own very distinct brand of youthful logic.
It was understandable that he would be this furious when Kakashi's life and death were unknown. Even so, Kenichi still had a headache. To be honest, he really did not want to fight Guy.
One Guy was not a problem, unless Guy opened the Gate of Death right here and now. But Kenichi felt that Guy probably could not open the final gate yet.
Otherwise, if he had to witness Night Guy right now...
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Kenichi shivered.
It was far too terrifying.
"Reverse Lotus!" Guy threw a punch.
Kenichi frowned slightly. He was getting a headache. Only when facing Guy directly did one truly understand the pressure. With that furious punch, even the surrounding air seemed to compress and distort.
That made dodging far more difficult than it looked.
"Kakashi is still in the forest. If nobody goes, he'll die, you know," Kenichi said with a chuckle. He was not in a hurry. He used Wind Release to shift his position, then looked at Guy, whose hair had already begun to stand on end.
Sure enough, the moment Guy heard that, he froze for an instant. Then he glared furiously at Kenichi before shooting straight toward the forest where Kakashi had been hidden before.
Kenichi did not dare to waste any time. He immediately used Wind Release and fled at top speed. If he did not leave now, escaping later after Shibi caught up would be much more troublesome.
Shibi, however, had no intention of chasing him. He was well aware of the Heavenly Demon's strength. With their current lineup, keeping him here would be far too difficult, so he did not bother.
The priority now was finding Kakashi.
"I need to recover the metal on Kakashi too." Kenichi landed in another forest, clapped his hands, then used a Fire Release ninjutsu to remotely signal his Shadow Clone.
The metal binding Kakashi was one of Amado's research products. Kenichi had no intention of handing something like that over to Konoha, but it was not easy to restrain Kakashi with ordinary methods, so he had only used it temporarily.
Now that he had obtained the Eight Inner Gates, it was time to take it back.
After reaching the agreed meeting point, Kenichi immediately began trying to practice the Eight Inner Gates, this unique taijutsu art, while waiting for the Shadow Clone to return with the chains.
"Releasing the body's internal restrictions and drawing out power beyond one's normal limits? A gene lock?" Kenichi stroked his chin. Understanding the Eight Inner Gates was not actually difficult. The true difficulty lay in training and in getting started.
Lee had suffered quite a bit while learning the Eight Inner Gates. The essence of this taijutsu was also tied to the user's physical strength. Simply put, the stronger your body, the more terrifying the power gained after opening the Eight Gates.
If some shut in who never exercised learned the Eight Inner Gates and opened the Gate of Death, he would probably just punch through a load bearing wall, then die on the spot.
Was it strong? Naturally.
But the cost was too great.
On the other hand, if someone with Guy's physical foundation opened the Eight Inner Gates, it would become something like Night Guy, a kick so absurd it nearly brought about an ending all by itself. The gap in power was enormous.
"But it is not exactly a gene lock. It's more like acupoints." Kenichi muttered to himself. It was not completely unrelated to genes, but it was not primarily about genes either.
After all, genes and bodily constitution did influence the existence of the Eight Gates. So that led to another question. What would happen if a person did not have the restrictions of the Eight Gates at all? There would be no limiter on chakra usage, but someone like that would probably not live very long.
In the history of human evolution, certain functions exist precisely to protect the human body, such as the sensation of pain.
Pain is unpleasant, yes, but it is also a means of self preservation. Feeling pain means something is harming the body, which makes people instinctively want to avoid it.
The existence of the Eight Gates was similar. Their role was to prevent ninja from using several powerful techniques recklessly and then killing themselves in the process.
"This really does touch on some old theories about acupoints." Kenichi grew even more curious. He wondered just how much power he could unleash if he mastered the Eight Inner Gates and then opened the Gate of Death, given that his current physique was already that of a Sage Body.
A Sage Body combined with the Eight Inner Gates... just imagining it was exhilarating.
[You have received a new side quest.]
A prompt suddenly appeared.
Kenichi was stunned.
Good heavens, had side quests only just unlocked now?
After finishing his previous research, there had been no new research options, but now they had finally appeared.
[1. Complete research on acupoints and gain sufficient understanding.]
[2. Perfect the research on the Gate of Death and master a method of opening the Gate of Death without dying.]
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
Clearly, both of these research paths were directly related to the Eight Inner Gates, which was probably why they had only appeared now.
But was this even serious?
The first one was still understandable. Research acupoints, understand their functions in the human body, and then deepen his knowledge from there.
If he had studied traditional medicine in his previous life, it might have been easier. But he had not, so he could only research it himself.
As for the second one, it was practically suicidal.
That was the Gate of Death in the Eight Inner Gates. Open it, and you die. Guy had nearly died from opening it, and although he had been saved by Yin Yang Release, his legs had still been crippled.
"Still, it isn't like there is no solution. If I can master Yin Yang Release, then this problem can be solved. In that case, opening the Gate of Death wouldn't mean death anymore, right?" Kenichi quickly thought of a solution.
The problem was that it was not remotely practical.
It was like a penniless man wondering how to find a girlfriend, only to realize that if he had a car and a house, he could find one.
The problem had technically been solved, but the real issue was that he still did not have the money.
Kenichi was the same. He had found a possible answer, but he had not mastered Yin Yang Release.
"Yin Yang Release..." Kenichi sighed. That was not something easy to master. It seemed he would need to find another way.
At that moment, his Shadow Clone returned and handed him the metal chains. After dismissing the clone, Kenichi also received the information about Kakashi's condition.
Kakashi was fine. Most of his chakra had just been drained away, leaving him weak. The Shadow Clone had also crossed paths with Guy while leaving, but Guy had been in too much of a hurry to find Kakashi to pay close attention.
Once everything here was settled, Kenichi boarded his airship and left the Land of Water. He now needed to return to the Land of Snow as quickly as possible and begin his research on the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"You mean the Heavenly Demon knows Kakashi and Might Guy very well?" In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen sat in his chair, smoking his pipe as he read the mission report in his hand.
"Yes, Hiruzen sama. The Heavenly Demon clearly knows about the relationship between Kakashi and Might Guy, and he also knew that Guy had mastered the Eight Inner Gates," Shibi reported without the slightest hesitation.
Hiruzen frowned slightly.
This information was very important. He had been paying close attention to the Heavenly Demon's identity for some time now, yet had found nothing. So he had gradually begun turning his attention to the mysterious organization behind the Heavenly Demon instead.
They might be a group of mercenaries, but if they could produce a strong figure like the Heavenly Demon, then what about the strength of their other members? What was their real objective?
Those were all matters Hiruzen cared deeply about.
"The Heavenly Demon must be a ninja who left Konoha," Tsunade said directly from beside him.
She had also been in the office the entire time, listening to the whole discussion. At this moment, she was absolutely certain that the Heavenly Demon had to be someone from Konoha.
Otherwise, there was no reason he should know about the relationship between Kakashi and Might Guy. His objective was too precise, and his information was terrifyingly accurate.
"But among those who defected during this period..." Hiruzen lowered his eyes toward the documents in his hand. They contained the records of ninja who had defected and ninja who had gone missing.
All of them could potentially be the Heavenly Demon, but once the condition of knowing Kakashi and Might Guy was added, the list shrank dramatically.
And among them, one file stood out.
Amamiya Kenichi.
"If it is Amamiya Kenichi, then it wouldn't be strange for him to have the strength to deal with Kakashi and Might Guy, and even place Shibi at a disadvantage..." The more Hiruzen thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
After all, the only one who matched on every level was Amamiya Kenichi. His strength was formidable, he could exchange blows with Hiruzen without falling behind, and he had followed Orochimaru, so it would not be strange if he had researched all sorts of bizarre things.
On top of that, his age fit. Hiruzen had also heard that Kakashi knew Amamiya Kenichi, and that Amamiya Kenichi had a good relationship with Might Guy. So it would not be strange at all if he knew such details.
Thinking about it that way...
"Is it really that little bastard Amamiya Kenichi?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she spoke. Her body radiated fury, and her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles cracked.
Shibi remained silent and still, pretending he had heard nothing.
"...Most likely," Hiruzen sighed.
If it truly was Amamiya Kenichi, then that was indeed unsettling. After all, that child and his teacher had once been part of Konoha, yet now...
If Amamiya Kenichi and Orochimaru were still here, Konoha would not have to worry about so many problems, and it could even...
Bang!
The table Tsunade had been leaning against shattered into pieces.
It really was that bastard!
When she had fought the Heavenly Demon before, Tsunade had already felt that something was wrong. The ninjutsu he used to summon the dead felt too strange, and that Heavenly Demon also seemed to know her unusually well.
At the time, she had wondered whether the Heavenly Demon might know her personally.
She had never expected that he truly did, and not just casually either. That little bastard had once called her Big Sister.
So he called her Big Sister to her face, only to stab her in the back behind it?
"Amamiya Kenichi?" Shibi could only continue pretending he had heard nothing. Yet the Third Hokage showed no intention of dismissing him, making the atmosphere even more awkward.
Truly Orochimaru's disciple.
"Big Brother Amamiya!" Just after getting off the airship, Kenichi saw Hikari running toward him. Her cheeks were flushed red by the cold of the Land of Snow.
Kenichi almost laughed, but in the end he only chuckled and ruffled her head.
"Mm. That makes you even cuter." Kenichi nodded as he looked at Hikari. Shiori had also changed into a new outfit, and she looked very pretty as well.
"Lord Amamiya." Shiori also walked over, holding a document in her hand.
Kenichi raised an eyebrow, took it from her, and glanced through it.
The raw materials had nearly all been gathered.
That meant the experiment could finally begin.
.....
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