A short while later, guided by an Anbu member's tip, Tsunade and Orochimaru found Kaito in the small forest.
He was lying on the ground, a look of exhaustion on his face. Beside him, Might Dai was also panting, just as tired.
"Well, fancy meeting you here, Tsunade, Orochimaru?"
"What's so fancy about it? We came looking for you specifically," Tsunade said with her arms crossed, clearly annoyed. "Why did you run all the way out here by yourself?"
Orochimaru glanced at Might Dai. "Come back with us. We have official business to discuss with you."
"Oh? You got it all sorted out that quickly?"
Kaito kipped up to his feet, stretched his back, and waved goodbye to Might Dai. "Dai, I'm heading out. We'll have to spar again next time."
"Oh, okay! Thanks for your suggestions! I'll work hard to try them out!" Might Dai winked, flashed a toothy grin, and gave a thumbs-up.
"Keep it up!" Kaito returned the pose.
As the group left the forest, Tsunade immediately asked, "Isn't that the same Might Dai we ran into last time? What is it about him that got you so interested you had to seek him out?"
"Eh, I just saw that his taijutsu was pretty good and wanted to spar, that's all," Kaito said with a shrug.
"Really?"
"Really."
Through his conversation and spar with Might Dai, Kaito had discerned that Dai hadn't yet fully created the Eight Inner Gates. So, Kaito had cast a stone to attract jade, baiting him into revealing everything he had figured out so far.
At this point, Kaito probably had a better grasp of the Eight Inner Gates than Might Dai himself.
Back at Tsunade's large estate, Orochimaru laid out the terms of the deal that had been decided upon in the meeting.
"This is our bottom line. Do you accept?"
"Sigh. To think you still don't trust me," Kaito said with a deliberate, heavy sigh. Then, feigning reluctance, he nodded. "Fine. What can I do? I'm just too nice of a guy. I agree."
Since that's how you want to play it, don't blame me for going after the Nine-Tails.
Kaito looked at Tsunade. "How is Nawaki's physical condition? When can we begin his training?"
"Hmm, Nawaki should be able to leave the hospital in three days," Tsunade replied. "Is there anything you need to prepare? You can tell me."
"Oh, there are definitely preparations to be made," Kaito said, raising an eyebrow with a mysterious smile.
That evening, Orochimaru delivered several transcribed scrolls to Kaito. They were said to contain one of the Second Hokage's most important research projects.
'It can't be the Reanimation Jutsu... could it be the Flying Thunder God Technique?'
After sending Orochimaru off, Kaito sat alone in the study. He eagerly unrolled a scroll, but after a single glance, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"I was really getting my hopes up. Those guys in Konoha aren't idiots; why would they ever give me the Flying Thunder God Technique? Still, I didn't expect this to be the first thing they'd give me."
The scroll contained Tobirama Senju's research on his clan's mortal enemies—the Uchiha.
Through tracking, investigation, and combat observation of several Uchiha clan members, he had come to the following conclusion: the Uchiha were all potential psychopaths who relied on drastic emotional swings—falls, rises, and more falls—to increase the power of their Sharingan. The more talented they were, the more unstable.
Tobirama used classic examples, an objective tone, rigorous logic, and concise language to present this viewpoint so thoroughly that it was difficult not to be convinced.
"Heh. Is this a warning not to get too close to the Uchiha clan? Too bad. I already knew all this, and in much greater detail than Tobirama."
He shook his head, put the scrolls away, and planned to give Clan Head Tajima a good critique of them when he had the time. In truth, Kaito hadn't made any specific agreement with Tajima last time. He had simply adopted the tone of a street-side fortune-teller, painting a picture of the tragedy that might unfold years later, just to plant a seed of doubt in his mind. Whether it would have any effect, Kaito didn't know. It was just a casual move; what if it paid off? Any trouble for Konoha was a win for him.
After stowing the scrolls, Kaito sat cross-legged on his bed, closed his eyes, and used his Aura to scan his body up and down. Over the past few days, he had read through the medical texts in Tsunade's study several times and had a general idea of the location of the various chakra points in the body. Now, it was time to find each of those points within himself.
"The Gate of Opening, the Gate of Healing, the Gate of Life, the Gate of Pain, the Gate of Limit, the Gate of View, the Gate of Wonder, the Gate of Death... Good, I've found them all."
These eight points, located along the chakra pathway system, were where the body's chakra was suppressed and controlled. They were known as the "Eight Gates." By opening these gates that limited chakra, the human body could break its restraints and unleash terrifying power several, or even hundreds of times, greater than normal.
This was the forbidden taijutsu technique—the Eight Inner Gates!
The reason it was classified as a forbidden technique was due to the severe strain it placed on the physical body. Without arduous training, an ordinary person's body would likely collapse just from opening the first gate. And after opening the eighth Gate of Death, one's life force would be completely burned away, resulting in certain death (unless you were a cheat who could cheat death). It was truly a "life-force-burning technique."
Kaito coveted the power of the Eight Inner Gates, so he couldn't resist trying it out.
'With my current physical condition, I should be able to open the first few gates.'
He took a deep breath, focusing his attention on the "Gate of Opening" in his brain. Using the golden energy within his body, he charged through the gate's entryway in one go.
Boom!
It felt as if a nuke had gone off in his mind, leaving behind a state of perfect clarity.
He gave it a simple test, throwing a punch. He discovered that his body's self-preservation mechanisms had indeed been released. He could now disregard physical damage and unleash one hundred percent of his strength.
"So this is the Eight Inner Gates? It feels pretty good. It's different from Swords Dance... seems like an all-around enhancement."
He clenched his fists, in high spirits. Next up was the second gate.
"Gate of Healing, open!"
This time, the limits on fatigue were released. While maintaining the Gate of Opening, he would no longer feel his body's exhaustion and could remain in a peak state.
Feeling he could still go on, Kaito proceeded to open the third Gate of Life and the fourth Gate of Pain.
A powerful force seemed to radiate from his body, affecting the outside world and making the windows rattle. However, all the chakra that was subsequently squeezed out was greedily absorbed by the chakra plate, leaving him with nothing but a body of bulging muscles.
"..."
Well, that was awkward. The output was far less than the input.
For now, Kaito stopped, deactivating the Eight Inner Gates.
"Hoo~" The moment he released it, Kaito felt his muscles ache. Many of his cells had ruptured, and small red dots of blood seeped through his skin.
After briefly healing himself, he shook his head with a smile. "As things stand now, I can probably only open the first two gates to assist me in daily activities."
Still, it wasn't a loss!
"In a couple of days, we'll see if I can achieve my other goal."
Kaito's smile faded. He submerged his consciousness into the seven-colored space and continued his training to comprehend more techniques.