Might Dai had never once believed that Yuuya would succeed.
After all, throughout the long history of the ninja world, countless people had cultivated the Eight Gates Technique, and many had even attempted to modify it.
Among them, there were surely geniuses of astonishing talent.
Yet not a single one had succeeded.
And now…
Yuuya had actually done it.
In Might Dai's eyes, calling Yuuya a "good-for-nothing who couldn't use ninjutsu" was nothing short of a joke.
He was already a freak that could no longer be described with the word genius!
This was the creation of an entirely new forbidden technique!
How could that not be shocking?!
Seeing that Might Dai still hadn't fully recovered from his shock, Yuuya instead spoke with a hint of guilt.
"I'm sorry… Even though I succeeded, I'm afraid I won't be able to teach you."
This Reverse Eight Gates Technique could only be cultivated by someone who possessed the Vibration Release Kekkei Genkai.
Moreover, Might Dai had already opened the first seven gates. Opening the eighth would simply mean following the orthodox path—opening the Gate of Death in the normal sequence.
Yuuya explained this apologetically to Might Dai.
After all, he had learned the Eight Gates from him, yet couldn't share the newly developed version in return.
Gradually coming back to his senses, Might Dai instead waved his hands repeatedly and burst into laughter.
"It's fine, it's fine! Just being able to see such an outstanding young man already makes me very happy!"
"After all, youth continues to burn—and to be passed on!"
Yuuya: "..."
Although he felt somewhat speechless inside, Yuuya still silently gave a thumbs-up to Might Dai's frankness and sincerity. He even found himself becoming slightly more accepting of Dai's goofy personality.
Honestly… it was kind of entertaining.
After returning home, Yuuya began to rest.
The restriction at his heart had only just been broken. Although the heart would gradually strengthen with each beat and with the flow of blood, this process still required time.
About three days later, the process would be complete.
At that point, the first gate of the True Eight Gates Technique would be fully stabilized!
"True Eight Gates" was the name Yuuya had given to this reverse version of the Eight Gates.
Each version of the Eight Gates had its own strengths and weaknesses.
The greatest advantage of Yuuya's True Eight Gates was that it had no side effects.
It was a gradual, step-by-step cultivation method—like slowly opening meridians while training martial arts—rather than forcibly breaking limits and overdrawing one's life force in an instant.
Naturally, this advantage also came with a drawback.
Because it had no side effects, its explosive power was far weaker than that of the orthodox Eight Gates.
Whether in raw strength or speed, it couldn't compare to the terrifying boost of the normal Eight Gates.
However, following that weakness came another major advantage—
endurance.
The orthodox Eight Gates had almost no endurance at all. It was nothing more than a brief eruption, a fleeting blaze of glory.
Yuuya's True Eight Gates, on the other hand, was permanent.
Once opened, the gates would never close, never weaken.
It was a constant, always-active enhancement.
After opening the True Eight Gates, the power Yuuya gained—strength, speed, and even chakra—would remain with him forever.
"Genin-level chakra…"
Yuuya clenched his fist and smiled. What he had once been unable to refine no matter how hard he tried, he now possessed thanks to the True Eight Gates.
With chakra at last available, Yuuya couldn't help but feel the urge to try training ninjutsu again.
Although his taijutsu combined with Vibration Release was already extremely powerful—enough to handle most situations—ninjutsu was still something that naturally sparked curiosity.
"Clone Technique!"
"Substitution Technique!"
"Transformation Technique!"
With genin-level chakra, permanently stored within the first gate at his heart, mastering the Three Basic Techniques was effortless for Yuuya.
Sure enough, Yuuya's problem had never been a lack of talent in ninjutsu. The issue had always been his chakra.
Now that his chakra was normal, his ninjutsu talent instead proved to be astonishing—the Three Techniques were learned almost instantly.
"Still… refining chakra is difficult. That means if I want to increase my chakra reserves in the future, the only path left is to continue opening the True Eight Gates."
After attempting chakra refinement again and finding it just as difficult, Yuuya came to this realization.
The True Eight Gates were his core.
With every gate opened, all aspects of his power would increase—chakra, physical strength, and even vibration force itself.
At present, with only the first gate opened, Yuuya's vibration force was already strong enough to completely shatter C-rank ninjutsu with ease.
Its effective range had also expanded—from one meter to nearly three meters.
While there was still some distance to go before resisting B-rank ninjutsu, it was no longer far off.
Yuuya's overall strength had already reached the pinnacle among genin, and even barely stepped into chūnin-level territory.
At this rate, forget three months…
Perhaps in just one month, someone who hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy yet would possess chūnin-level strength!
In this world, status and strength were occasionally mismatched.
Take Might Dai for example—though only a genin by rank, once he opened the Seventh Gate, even elite jōnin would be crushed!
Still, such cases were rare.
Most of the time, rank and strength were equivalent.
Genin, chūnin, elite chūnin, special jōnin, jōnin, elite jōnin, Kage.
These were the established ranks in the ninja world.
In Yuuya's view, strength could be divided the same way, with little difference—except that between elite jōnin and Kage, one could add another tier: quasi-Kage.
Some elite jōnin were extraordinarily powerful. With secret techniques or forbidden jutsu, they could even threaten a Kage-level opponent. Such individuals could be considered quasi-Kage.
As for Kage-level itself…
Strictly speaking, there was no official "Kage level" in the ninja world.
In terms of status, the highest positions were the Five Kage of the Five Great Nations.
But their actual strength varied greatly.
Beyond Kage-level, there were naturally even stronger existences—super-Kage, and even Six Paths-level beings.
But those were far too distant for Yuuya at present, so he had no need to define them yet.
Pushing these thoughts aside, Yuuya prepared to continue training.
By now, he had almost completely found a clear and definite cultivation path.
He didn't need to waste effort learning Fire Release, Earth Release, or other elemental ninjutsu. Techniques that required hand seals in general weren't well-suited to him.
A seal-less technique like the Rasengan might be worth combining with vibration force to develop new moves—but there was no need to rush.
For now, Yuuya only needed to do the basics:
Fully master vibration force, and gain flexible, practical control over the most useful fundamental techniques, such as the Transformation and Substitution Techniques.
When he opened the second gate, he would usher in his second major surge in power.
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