Chapter 50: Chapter 50
"Is that so?"
Might Duy looked at Kiriya’s confident expression and did not press the matter any further.
Instead, he began explaining how to open the Eight Gates and what precautions had to be kept in mind.
Beside them, Genma Shiranui and Ebisu immediately pricked up their ears.
A taijutsu technique that could let an ordinary genin instantly gain enough power to overwhelm a jōnin—and even surpass the Kage when all eight gates were opened—who would not want something like that?
But they had not listened for long before their faces turned bitter.
Because the things Might Duy described were either "run five thousand laps," "do five thousand push-ups," or "walk five hundred laps around the village on your hands while wearing weights."
Was that really a training?
That was basically extreme self-torture!
And the most terrifying part was that all of it was only the foundation of the foundation.
It was only the warm-up.
What left them in even deeper despair was that Might Duy had kept up that hellish training for a full five years before he finally touched the threshold of the Gate of Opening.
After ten years, he finally gained full control over the power of the First through Seventh Gates.
"Is... is this really something a human can do?"
Cold sweat poured down Genma and Ebisu’s backs.
They might not even last one day with that kind of training, yet Might Duy had kept going for twenty years.
What kind of terrifying willpower was that?
What kind of unshakable determination?
They remembered seeing Might Duy in the village, pushing himself through those ridiculous, self-destructive training routines, and how they had often laughed at him in their hearts for being an idiot.
Now they realized the real idiots had been them.
Uncle Duy was practically superhuman!
’No, not just Uncle Duy. Guy too!’
Ebisu and Genma looked toward Guy, who was listening seriously and nodding from time to time, and an unexpected sense of pressure rose in their hearts.
’Can this bowl-cut guy really reach that level someday?’
Damn it!
They were all rookies, so why did he get to have such an insane future?
Thinking that, the two quietly made up their minds.
Once they got back, they were absolutely going to train twice as hard!
Maybe they would never catch up to Guy in taijutsu, but they still had ninjutsu and genjutsu.
At the very least, they could not let the gap in overall strength grow too wide.
On the other side, Kiriya was listening just as carefully.
This was a senpai in the world of training passing down all of his hard-earned experience without holding anything back.
Every sentence from him was precious.
Any single detail could affect whether Kiriya succeeded in opening the Eight Gates, and how effective the gates would be once opened.
After speaking for quite a while, Might Duy’s mouth had gone dry.
He gulped down a large mouthful of water before continuing.
"Next is how to sense the Eight Gates inside your body."
Kiriya’s attention sharpened.
Here came the important part.
"The Eight Gates are the eight points within the human body that limit the flow of chakra. They are the Gate of Opening, Gate of Healing, Gate of Life, Gate of Pain, Gate of Limit, Gate of View, Gate of Wonder, and Gate of Death."
As he spoke, Might Duy pointed to different spots on Kiriya’s body, showing him the locations of the eight gates.
"What you need to do is control your chakra and use it to strike these eight points, forcing the gates open. See? Simple, right?"
Might Duy raised his eyebrows and flashed his shining back teeth.
"Sure. And what’s the price?" Genma picked up the conversation.
"The price?" Might Duy said. "The price is that your body has to endure several times, even dozens of times, its normal load."
He thought for a moment, then explained, "Think of it like a bridge. Usually, cars cross one at a time, and the bridge can bear that easily. But what happens if, all of a sudden, the vehicles crossing the bridge become more than ten times heavier?"
"The bridge collapses," Ebisu said, swallowing instinctively.
"Exactly. You’re very smart."
Might Duy raised a thumb again.
"And all that harsh training from before is to keep reinforcing the bridge, so that when the incredibly heavy vehicle crosses, the bridge can remain intact."
Kiriya felt a little helpless.
Who said Might Duy was dumb?
When it came to this, the man was terrifyingly meticulous.
He kept warning Kiriya again and again to first strengthen his body and build a proper foundation.
Kiriya knew the man was saying it for his own good.
But his situation was different.
"Hearing is one thing. Seeing is another."
Kiriya stood up and walked toward an open space in the forest, then beckoned to Might Duy.
"Whether my body has reached the standard for opening the Eight Gates or not, you can test it yourself."
They were already inside the Land of Fire, not too far from the front-line command post.
The danger had lessened considerably, so a spar would not hurt.
"Oh?"
Might Duy froze for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed.
"Hahaha! Such confidence! As expected from you, this is youth!"
With that, he leapt forward and landed several meters in front of Kiriya, settling into a combat stance.
"Come!"
The instant his voice fell, Kiriya moved.
The boy’s legs erupted with power, and his whole body lunged at Might Duy like a tiger descending the mountain.
Duy clearly had not expected Kiriya to be so fast.
In that hurried moment, he only had time to raise his arms and block the straight punch.
Bang!
Might Duy was sent flying by the powerful blow, crashing through two large trees before finally stopping.
"Hoo..."
Might Duy’s arms trembled as he looked at Kiriya, and the look in his eyes had completely changed.
When he had seen Kiriya cleanly take down the Seven Ninja Swordsmen earlier, he had assumed the boy’s swordsmanship was simply extraordinary, perhaps aided by some ninjutsu that greatly increased his speed.
Only now, after exchanging blows, did he understand.
This was pure physical strength.
"Good!"
Might Duy was not angry at all. Instead, he was overjoyed.
As a taijutsu specialist, he had been lonely for far too long.
Everyone else in the village was busy training ninjutsu and genjutsu, and very few people could truly exchange taijutsu moves with him.
Now that he had actually encountered such an unusual talent, how could he not be excited?
"Eight Gates, First Gate: Gate of Opening—open!"
"Second Gate: Gate of Healing—open!"
"Third Gate: Gate of Life—open!"
"Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain—open!"
With each low roar, Might Duy’s skin began turning red, and fierce cyclones started forming around him.
By the end, the sheer force of his aura stirred up a roaring wind, blowing so hard that the spectators could barely keep their eyes open.
’So this is the Eight Gates?’
Kiriya felt the changes in Duy’s body, his expression turning serious even as anticipation rose in his chest.
Just how far could the strongest taijutsu in this world go?
He was extremely curious.
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