Konoha's Tag-System Ninja

Chapter 203: The Power of the Eight Gates, A Secret Technique!

"Great Whirlwind!"

When Shūichi arrived, he saw Guy training beneath a waterfall he had created earlier, sweeping his leg to disrupt the torrent of water.

Shūichi silently watched Guy as he trained tirelessly under the pounding water, each shout filled with energy and seeming exhaustionless.

Without the Tag Tree, Shūichi knew he would struggle to reach this level of dedication.

The hardest battle is always against oneself.

Slacking, laziness, indulgence...

Watching Guy train, Shūichi reflected on himself.

After a while, Guy, thoroughly exhausted, lay collapsed in the pool, allowing the waterfall to crash down on him.

Shūichi stepped forward and lifted him from the water. "Guy, this is really hard on your body."

A weary Guy looked up with a smile. "Don't worry, I'm plenty strong."

"The hot-blooded flames of youth won't be extinguished by a little water!"

Shūichi chuckled, channeling chakra into Guy's body to reinvigorate him. He smiled and said, "Guy, I'm here to learn the Eight Gates technique from you."

Guy blinked in surprise. "Shūichi, are you planning to take the path of taijutsu?"

Shūichi shook his head. "Not exactly. I want to draw inspiration from the Eight Gates to develop a taijutsu technique tailored for medical ninjas."

"Ah, I see!"

Guy nodded in understanding, then smiled. "Of course, no problem at all."

"With your talent and physical strength, Shūichi, I'm sure it'll be a breeze."

"Then let's get started."

Guy's expression grew serious as he began explaining the key principles of the Eight Gates to Shūichi.

The core of the Eight Gates lies in the eight internal gates that regulate the body's limits.

Guy pressed his finger to Shūichi's body, pinpointing the location of each gate.

First is the Gate of Opening, then the Gate of Healing.

These two critical points are in the brain, forming the foundation of the technique.

The Gate of Opening removes the mental limiters, which is necessary to open any subsequent gates.

The second gate, the Gate of Healing, removes the body's fatigue limit.

Guy explained carefully and meticulously.

With his understanding, Shūichi quickly located the Gates of Opening and Healing.

With his forehead veins slightly bulging, Shūichi easily opened the first two gates.

Seeing Shūichi open the gates so effortlessly, Guy gave him a thumbs-up. "Knew you'd do it with ease!"

"Now, the third gate: the Gate of Life!"

"Once you reach this gate, chakra and physical power will surge dramatically, enhancing speed and strength."

Guy pointed to a spot at the center of Shūichi's arms, just below the throat. "This is the Gate of Life."

"The Gate of Life!"

Shūichi quickly locked onto it, and with his chakra, he opened it without difficulty.

Boom!

A powerful rush of energy erupted, engulfing Shūichi in a dense green aura of chakra.

"Incredible!"

Guy exclaimed, "Shūichi, you're stronger than both me and my dad!"

"That's Shūichi for you!"

"Looks like I've been slacking on my training lately!"

Guy, who never blames others, always sees room for his own improvement.

Shūichi laughed. "Then you'll have to push even harder, Guy!"

Guy grinned. "Only sweat won't betray you; you said that yourself, Shūichi."

"Exactly."

Shūichi nodded. "On the right path, we'll never be let down."

"Please continue!"

Guy nodded. "I've only reached the sixth gate myself, but I believe you'll surpass me, Shūichi."

He was genuinely excited.

Shūichi divided his attention, listening to Guy's instructions while observing the changes in his body.

The term "Gate of Life" was fitting, as this gate seemed to unleash raw life force.

This explained the green chakra glow, similar to the color used in medical jutsu.

Seeing this and knowing the ultimate outcome of fully opening the Eight Gates, it became clear that the essence of this technique was to burn one's own life force for extraordinary power.

Opening the Gate of Opening and Gate of Healing removes brain and body limits, preventing self-preservation from kicking in.

A moment later, Shūichi unlocked the fourth gate, the Gate of Pain.

Guy explained gravely, "Reaching this stage puts real strain on the body."

Shūichi nodded, feeling it out. "It's true, though not too much for me."

This state, he realized, was stronger than when he had fully activated his cells in the fight against Tsunade.

In other words, with the fourth gate opened, he was now strong enough to overwhelm even Tsunade in her fully-powered mode.

And it also meant he could crush a flesh-form Susanoo in this state.

Obviously, neither Might Duy nor Guy could reach this level.

This was the unique trait of the Eight Gates.

The stronger one's body, the more power they can harness from the technique, with different results for each user.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Shūichi moved, breaking the sound barrier as he cut through the air.

In this state, his speed easily surpassed the speed of sound.

During his battles with Kirigakure and Sunagakure, he had to go all out to achieve this.

Back in front of Guy, he heard Guy exclaim in admiration, "Shūichi, you're stronger at the fourth gate than my dad was at the seventh gate."

"Truly surpassing the teacher!"

Shūichi grinned. "Let's continue, Guy."

Guy nodded, resuming his instruction.

The fifth gate, the Gate of Limit, marked the point where each additional gate would bring a significant boost in power.

When Shūichi unlocked the Fifth Gate, his aura blazed even brighter, and the ground beneath him cracked, lifting stones into the air. Guy, eyes wide, could barely believe it; Shūichi's Fifth Gate power surpassed even his Sixth Gate, possibly his Seventh.

Shūichi pushed on, opening the Sixth and then the Seventh Gates. With a thunderous blast, the aura around him turned blue, his body radiating a searing heat that even Guy had to retreat from, his skin nicked by the cutting winds.

At this level, Shūichi finally felt the toll, as his life force drained visibly with each second.

Floating above the ground, Shūichi noticed that the chakra here was explosive and uncontrollable, fusing with his body rather than flowing through his chakra pathways. Even with his advanced chakra control as a Medical Master, this raging chakra defied order.

Reflecting, Shūichi thought, "To create a Yin Release Taijutsu, I need to channel power in a controllable way, unlike the explosive force of the Eight Gates."

Right now, the strength of his Seventh Gate already matched or even surpassed the complete Nine-Tails. Testing his power, Shūichi clenched his fist, compressing the air around it until it shattered. Running at extreme speed, he reached supersonic levels that, before, required him to unleash his full strength.

Shūichi's heart raced with excitement. "The Seventh Gate's strength may not twist space like Might Guy, but under the Sage of Six Paths... no one would outrun me."

Mastering the Eight Gates was partly his countermeasure against the Rinnegan, which could absorb nearly all ninjutsu, even Sage Jutsu. This, however, required physical strikes, making the Eight Gates an ultimate trump card he could unleash if needed.

Satisfied, Shūichi closed the Seventh Gate, landing on solid ground, though fatigue and emptiness rushed over him.

However, his recovery was swift, aided by his remarkable physicality and the steady chakra from his tailed beast seal.

Nonetheless, the pain lingered, prompting him to initiate his Star Cursed Seal. Instantly, powerful Yang energy flowed through him, nourishing his cells and rapidly healing his wounds.

Shūichi mused, "If I'm forced to open all Eight Gates in a do-or-die situation, the Star Cursed Seal won't be much help. It relies on my own strength as a prerequisite."

Having his eighth gate location marked, Shūichi then consulted with Guy on devising techniques for use after fully unlocking the Eight Gates.

Great power requires skillful technique to fully unleash its potential, making refined moves essential.

Guy had already developed techniques for the earlier gates of the Eight Gates, so Shūichi was primarily there to help him polish and refine these techniques, like the Front Lotus and Reverse Lotus.

For Guy, these two moves could be effectively used up to the Fourth Gate. However, by the Fifth Gate, with the massive increase in power, these techniques started to fall short.

Shūichi himself found that even with the Third Gate open, the Front and Reverse Lotus didn't quite meet his needs.

After perfecting these moves, Shūichi remarked, "For close combat, standard taijutsu moves along with these techniques should be enough."

"But when we reach the Fifth Gate, we'll need something with even more power to take on stronger enemies."

Guy nodded, agreeing. "Especially when facing targets that are hard to get close to, or when dealing with large-scale opponents."

Scratching his head, Guy added, "Those are weak spots for us taijutsu users."

Shūichi nodded thoughtfully. "With the Eight Gates open, chakra becomes too wild. Ninjutsu is out of the question, and even channeling chakra onto weapons is challenging."

"So we need to explore how to harness power from our fists and kicks alone to extend our range and hit the enemy from a distance."

Then he asked, "Guy, the wounds on your skin just now—were those cuts caused by airflow?"

Guy nodded, then paused, suddenly excited. "Airflow? Shūichi, are you saying we could use airflow?"

Shūichi nodded, reminding him, "Remember the taijutsu master from before, the one with the dragon technique?"

Guy's eyes lit up. "I remember! You once analyzed that technique, suggesting that dragon was formed through air manipulation."

"So, we could also use airflow to attack enemies from afar."

Excited, Guy immediately activated the Eight Gates, opening them up to the Fifth Gate. His body radiated a green chakra aura as he began to throw punches and kicks, creating powerful gusts that sent debris flying around.

Watching closely, Shūichi guided, "Guy, speed up your punches and try to control the air itself with your strength."

Guy then stood in place, swinging his fists at high speed until the air seemed to explode.

Suddenly, bright flames sparked—created by the intense friction as his fists cut through the air at high speed.

Stopping, Guy looked at Shūichi, thrilled. "Shūichi, those flames just now!"

Shūichi nodded, calling out, "That was air friction igniting, but it's still not enough."

"You need to compress the air with each punch, so when it rubs against the surrounding air, it ignites. This compressed air could travel far from your body, and the flames generated by its friction would be hotter and deadlier."

Guy nodded eagerly and began to experiment.

But as Shūichi had anticipated, achieving this wasn't easy.

Watching Guy develop this technique, Shūichi also found himself contemplating.

The formation of Morning Peacock was a natural outcome of this method, but it wouldn't be enough for Shūichi. If he engaged in Eight Gates combat, it would likely be against someone with the Rinnegan, so Morning Peacock wouldn't cut it.

Observing Guy's technique, Shūichi was reminded of Rankyaku from One Piece—a similar air-slicing technique achieved through rapid, powerful kicks to create wind blades.

And there was also the air cannon concept.

Might Guy's ultimate move, Evening Elephant, could be considered an air cannon—a technique based on compressing air to create a high-velocity shockwave. Essentially, it was similar to Rankyaku, as both techniques used air for attacks, though executed in different styles.

"When it comes to long-range, powerful taijutsu attacks, air is the only, and best, medium."

Shūichi continued to ponder how to refine air manipulation to unleash even more fearsome attacks.

(End of Chapter)

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