After that dinner at home, life suddenly returned to calm.
The freshly promoted Chūnin didn't rush into new missions. Most stayed home or occasionally gathered for light training sessions.
But Hoshiyomi wasn't among them. He spent his days at home immersed in sword training—or studying the Eight Gates technique.
There was, however, one big problem that had been bugging him ever since his chakra got sealed:
He couldn't use Shadow Clone Jutsu anymore. His beloved triple training efficiency—gone!
He'd imagined sending two clones off to practice swordsmanship while he focused on studying the Eight Inner Gates. But then it hit him—he couldn't use clones at all...
That day, Gekkō Hoshiyomi lost one of his simplest joys in life.
With the loss of his clone training hack, Hoshiyomi was forced to follow the Might Duy school of training: raw physical grind to match the extreme demands of the Eight Gates.
He did try training with Duy for a while. Getting him to agree was easy—just mention the word "youth," and the guy would enthusiastically invite you to go sprinting, leaping, or kicking logs in a burst of passion.
But the thing was... Duy was still too young. What was tough training for him was barely a warm-up for someone like Hoshiyomi, who already had Jōnin-level strength.
To get any meaningful results, Hoshiyomi would've had to multiply Duy's routine by several times—and he wasn't interested in putting on a public spectacle.
Come on, doing handstand sprints or frog jumps down the busy streets of Konoha like Guy in the original timeline? Hoshiyomi still had some self-respect.
So after picking up a few tips, he dropped the idea of training alongside Duy.
The Eight Gates, fundamentally, isn't a complicated technique. It relies on unlocking eight internal limiters that exist naturally within the human body.
Ordinary people can't sense these limiters. Only those who push their taijutsu to the very edge of human capacity can faintly perceive them.
Once you can sense them, the process is straightforward: train relentlessly, surpass your current physical limits, and keep building strength until your body can sustain the explosive output of the unlocked gates.
That's the essence of Eight Gates—a forbidden technique built entirely on surpassing one's limits through brute force.
During the early stages, the most effective method is weighted training—wearing weighted gear for extended periods until your body starts thinking the extra burden is "normal."
That way, when the weights come off, the resulting burst of speed and power helps the user handle the strain from unlocking the Gates. It minimizes the physical toll.
So, step one: buy some serious weight training gear.
After sorting through his personal savings, Hoshiyomi brought his coin pouch to Konoha's Full Mark Outfitters.
He dropped a hefty sum on a fully custom, high-grade weighted suit—essentially a set of tight-fitting elastic clothing embedded with specially crafted metal rods.
This tech counted as borderline ninja black magic. Each bar was only the size of a gold ingot, but weighed a full 10 kilograms (over 20 pounds).
The suit came with hundreds of these bars, and the user could adjust weight distribution as needed.
After proving to the shopkeeper that he could actually handle the load, Hoshiyomi walked out with his new gear and headed to the Forest of Death.
A perfect place—no one to bother him, and the ideal environment for intense solo training.
He got permission from the Third Hokage with minimal fuss and set up base there.
In the forest, he carefully inserted weighted bars into his outfit, making sure to distribute them evenly across his limbs and torso.
He wasn't looking to turn into some misshapen muscle freak with disproportionate gains.
Doing some rough math—20 pounds per bar, and he'd loaded about 500 pounds total across his body.
That was his current limit. At first, walking under that weight made him stumble. But after some time adjusting, he regained normal mobility.
Thus began Hoshiyomi's taijutsu training journey.
During the day, he ran laps and did frog jumps and calisthenics. At night, he'd train in swordsmanship while still carrying the full weight.
It was a novel experience. The extra load affected his swing speed and reaction time. In actual combat with the occasional wild creature, things got... dicey.
———
Two months passed.
By now, Hoshiyomi had fully adapted to life under heavy load. He moved naturally, his motions smooth and steady, and no one would guess he was carrying several hundred pounds.
But just as he prepared for another day of training, he received an unexpected summons—Team Torifu was gathering.
He thought maybe it was for a mission. But the meeting location wasn't the Sixth Training Ground.
It was Torifu's family-owned barbecue restaurant.
Confused, Hoshiyomi headed over—and found that everyone was already there: Torifu, Shinku, and Sakumo.
He sat down, took a sip of tea, and asked:
"Sensei, what's going on? Why the sudden gathering?"
Torifu glanced around, then let his eyes rest on the sizzling grill.
"This is... a farewell meal. Starting tomorrow, Team Torifu will officially disband."
The announcement stunned both Hoshiyomi and Shinku. Neither had seen this coming. Sakumo, on the other hand, remained quiet, lost in his thoughts.
Torifu went on:
"Don't look so grim—it's not like someone's dying. I've just been reassigned to take over as the Head of the Intelligence Division. That means I can't serve as your team's jōnin instructor anymore."
He gave them a playful smirk.
"Why the long faces? This is a promotion, you know! From now on, I'll be sipping tea in the Hokage's strategy meetings."
He mimed a dignified tea sip, and the mood lifted. Everyone smiled. Torifu wolfed down a huge bite of meat and continued:
"You've all been promoted to Chūnin. You can stand on your own now. Following standard protocol, you're free to make your own choices going forward—no need to stick to the old squad format.
Starting today, your individual shinobi careers officially begin.
Now tell me—what are your plans?"
He looked at each of them in turn.
After a moment, Sakumo spoke first.
"I want to join the ANBU and sharpen myself in real combat. I think I'll grow faster in that environment."
Next, Shinku said:
"I'll continue taking missions as usual. I want to experience more of life—build emotional depth. Only with that can I master true genjutsu."
Finally, everyone turned to Hoshiyomi.
He thought for a moment, then voiced something he'd been considering for a while but hadn't acted on yet:
"I plan to travel to the Land of Iron—to seek a higher level of swordsmanship."
Author's Note:
Starting next chapter, we'll move into the Land of Iron arc. Our protagonist will be spending quite a while there.