"What an uncultured brute... truly a perfect match for that useless branch member."
The Hyuga clansmen did their best to hide the contempt and disdain in their eyes. Though they looked down on Might Guy, they said nothing to bar him from entering the clan compound.
After all, to do so would be disgraceful for the Hyuga clan.
"Good morning!"
Under the scornful gazes, Might Guy simply beamed. His gleaming white teeth flashed blindingly under the morning sun.
He didn't mind the cold shoulders. Patting the dust off his body, he strode in cheerfully.
"Yo! Sho! Rise and shine!"
Marching confidently toward the courtyard where Hyuga Sho lived, Might Guy's voice rang out with uncontainable passion. "The trumpet of morning training has sounded! Youth waits for no one, especially not sleepyheads!"
"Come in, Guy-senpai."
Hearing the voice from inside, Guy grinned wide, offered a polite "Excuse me," and stepped in.
Without even glancing at the bedroom, he headed straight for another room.
"Sho, I bet you're already, "
Guy slid the door open mid-sentence, only to be abruptly struck speechless.
It wasn't the variety of exotic training equipment laid out across the room that stunned him, it was the boy standing before the full-body mirror that covered the wall.
Sho was shirtless, hanging from a horizontal bar with weighted iron blocks tied around both legs.
Clack! Clack!
Each time he extended his arms to lower himself, the motion was precise, flawless. Just as his toes grazed the floor, he'd lift himself again.
The morning light outside bathed him in a soft orange glow, outlining his lean, sculpted figure with a faint sheen of gold.
Guy also noticed the puddle forming beneath him, sweat, clearly accumulated over a long period of exertion.
"Sho, you…"
Guy, seasoned as he was, stared in shock as Sho moved up and down the bar. "Don't tell me… you didn't sleep all night?"
The muscles on Sho's upper body were taut, veins bulging slightly. The cords of muscle on his arms looked like steel cables, twisting under the strain, each fiber screaming from the prolonged load.
Sho didn't answer, but Guy didn't need him to.
He was already excited.
Because with just a glance, he could tell Sho's body was approaching its limit. And more importantly…
He had opened the first of the Eight Gates.
The Gate of Opening, unlocking the brain's limitations to allow 100% of physical capacity. The cost? Rapid energy burn in exchange for explosive strength and speed.
Sho's arms, thighs, and entire body had clearly hit the red zone. Even his previously perfect movements were starting to slow.
And slower meant harder. Every repetition now was a fight against collapse.
But this, this was youth.
Youth must never be stagnant!
However, as time dragged on, and Sho still refused to stop, Guy's grin gradually faded. His brow creased with worry.
"If he keeps going, he'll suffer internal injuries," Guy thought.
Even someone as obsessed with daily improvement as him still relied on medicinal soaks to avoid damage from training.
Sho's current intensity was impressive, but continuing would be overkill.
"Sho, "
Just as Guy opened his mouth to intervene, something changed.
"Haah…"
Sho exhaled slowly, and a puff of dense white vapor drifted from his mouth. Steam began rising from his body as the sweat that had drenched him instantly evaporated.
His body temperature had skyrocketed from hyper-metabolism.
Eight Gates Release: Gate of Rest.
The Gate of Rest, removing fatigue limits, allowing the body to recover physical energy rapidly, and countering the exhaustion caused by the Gate of Opening.
Now, every cell in Sho's body felt like it was breathing. Power surged like magma through his veins and bones, raising his body temperature to near boiling.
The cap on his physical potential shattered, the threshold of collapse pushed even further. His stance stabilized again, and the rushing air from his swings sounded like crashing waves.
Boom!
The weighted blocks finally slammed to the ground with a deafening crash, snapping Guy back to reality.
"Whew!" Guy stared, stunned, as Sho casually toweled the sweat from his body, then gasped and broke into a beaming grin.
"Sho! You've already unlocked the Gate of Rest?!"
Sho raised his head slightly, and as their eyes met, Guy instinctively took a step back.
Those eyes…
He hadn't even registered what he saw, only that they made his eyes sting. He blinked.
The feeling disappeared the next second.
"Guy-senpai, is something wrong?"
Sho stood there, the same soft, gentle smile on his face. Calm, innocent, harmless.
"Ah, n-no, nothing at all," Guy muttered, scratching his head.
But then tears welled up in his eyes. He sobbed openly:
"Sho… your youth burns so brightly! It's… it's just too moving! I must learn from you!"
"…Senpai." Sho could only offer a helpless smile. "Please excuse me, I'll go shower first."
"Mm! Mm-hmm!"
Still wiping his tears, Guy nodded furiously as Sho picked up his clothes and headed for the bathroom.
Inside, he stripped and stepped onto the slick tiles, then turned on the cold water.
The shower hissed to life. Chilled droplets streamed down his loosened black hair, traced over his back and the butterfly-shaped shadows of his shoulder blades, washing over his hardened muscles until his whole body was soaked.
The water flowed like a mountain stream over stone, but the cold did not bother him. It didn't even lower his body temperature.
[Bloodline: Ōtsutsuki Clan (5% → 5.5%)]
[Kekkei Genkai: Unknown – Phase One (10% → 12%)]
Sho glanced at the system panel, then lowered his head and slowly clenched both fists.
His bones cracked.
The air around him snapped with tension.
Ka-ka!
Then he exhaled. His racing heart and blood flow began to settle. The overheated muscles and tendons slowly eased, no longer burning from exertion.
"I didn't expect the Eight Gates to trigger bloodline growth… even refining the Ōtsutsuki purity," he whispered.
He could feel it, that surge of strength unlike anything before. His lips curled slightly.
"It's like unshackling a sealed body. This sensation… is addictive."
Sho had always trained his body. Though slender, he was never frail. But his muscle structure had once been unbalanced, developed through practice, not optimized for function.
Now, thanks to the influence of the Ōtsutsuki bloodline, his physique was becoming more refined. His muscles aligned with the most efficient patterns for generating force, no longer aesthetic fluff, but tightly woven power.
If his body before had been like a hearth, radiant and warm, then now it was a dormant volcano, calm on the outside, but surging with magma beneath.
He could feel it: unlocking the Gate of Rest, something that had stalled him for two years, was far from his new limit.
And more than that… his eyes were pulsing.
They were on the verge of awakening.
A terrifying and silent power slumbered behind those eyes.
That… would be his true power. Power fully under his control, his alone.
"With this strength in hand… I'll dare to lie my way through the Hyuga Clan itself."
The thought sent a thrill through Sho's chest.
It didn't even occur to him to use this power to train honestly or grow steadily.
His first instinct… was to tell a greater lie.
To fool even stronger people.
Only in deception did he feel the true joy of being alive.