Chapter 135: Teaching the Eight Gates

Shisui had just returned home not long ago when an unexpected visitor arrived.

"Clan Leader." Shisui greeted Uchiha Fugaku.

"No need to be so formal; just call me Uncle. I once fought alongside your father." Uchiha Fugaku said with a smile.

"Alright, Uncle Fugaku." Shisui nodded in agreement.

"Is there something you came to see me about today?" Shisui asked.

He didn't think Uchiha Fugaku, the clan leader of the Uchiha, would come find him for no reason when he wasn't even his real uncle.

"Nothing much. It's time for the clan to give out rewards to outstanding Uchiha again. I happened to be free, so I brought yours over and also wanted to see our Uchiha genius." Uchiha Fugaku said cheerfully.

"Thank you for the trouble." Shisui expressed his gratitude.

He didn't really care about the so-called reward. Although Shisui had no parents or grandparents, he wasn't short of money.

His parents had left him a considerable inheritance, enough for him to live on even if he never became a ninja.

"Haha, no trouble at all. It's not that far." Uchiha Fugaku laughed.

"Shisui, do you have any plans for the near future?" Uchiha Fugaku suddenly asked.

Uchiha Fugaku put down the items he had brought to distribute and continued:

"I heard that you already have strength enough to defeat graduated genin. Have you considered graduating early? The academy courses won't help you much anymore."

"If you graduate early, I can make an exception and have you transferred directly to the Police Force. Then you can learn from the clan's jonin."

Normally, a newly graduated genin couldn't join a department like the Police Force directly; they would first need to be led by a jonin instructor for a while. But since Uchiha Fugaku was the department head, he thought applying to the Third Hokage wouldn't be a problem.

After hearing this, Shisui was already shaking his head internally. He had asked Muyue about graduating early long ago, and he felt Muyue's suggestion was very good. Besides, he didn't think any Uchiha jonin could surpass Muyue in strength or teaching ability.

However, since Uchiha Fugaku, the clan leader, had come to see him in person, Shisui didn't want to be too blunt. After waiting a moment, he declined politely:

"Uncle Fugaku, I feel I'm still a ways off from being a full-fledged ninja in all aspects. I don't have any plans to graduate early for now."

"Mm, that's fine too. I didn't expect you to be so steady at such a young age, Shisui. You'll definitely achieve great things in the future." Although his offer was refused, Uchiha Fugaku showed no displeasure; instead, he praised Shisui.

"Shisui, you're also on good terms with Uchiha Obito, right? I heard Obito has improved a lot recently and has also been recognized as an outstanding Uchiha." Uchiha Fugaku continued the conversation.

"Mm." Shisui nodded in confirmation. Muyue only told them not to reveal that he was their teacher; he didn't forbid them from acting like strangers in front of each other.

"What do you think of Uchiha Obito?" Uchiha Fugaku casually asked.

"He is an outstanding Uchiha and trains very hard." Shisui replied.

Uchiha Fugaku asked directly, so he answered directly.

"You outstanding Uchiha should communicate more. The future of the Uchiha clan will depend on you." Uchiha Fugaku nodded with a smile.

When Fugaku was about to leave, Shisui walked to the door to see him off.

"Konoha Military Police Force, huh..." Shisui shook his head.

What Uchiha Fugaku said held absolutely no appeal for him.

"Dad, I'm home." Might Guy's injuries weren't serious; after being treated with medical ninjutsu, he quickly returned home.

"Guy, how was the exam today? Did you unleash your youth with all your might!" Might Duy asked.

"I lost to Obito today. This time I only got second place in the grade." Might Guy replied.

"But Obito was really strong today. Even though I gave it my all, I still couldn't beat him."

*Slap! *

Might Duy placed both hands heavily on Might Guy's shoulders and said with tears streaming down his face:

"Guy, as long as you burn your youth to the fullest, there's no need to be discouraged even if you fail. Besides, being second is a good thing—it means you'll never lack rivals to fight in the future."

"I'm not discouraged. I lost that fight fair and square. And so far, in my battles with Obito, I've still won more!" Might Guy gave a thumbs-up.

Today's fight with Obito was purely a matter of strength being slightly inferior—Might Guy understood that clearly. But he believed he could catch up soon.

"Youth should be just like this. Guy, I'm proud of you." Seeing Might Guy's attitude, Might Duy felt very gratified and hugged him.

"After burning through your youth, you also need to fill your stomach in time. I've already made the meal, Guy, come eat quickly." Might Duy brought over the dishes he had prepared and handed them to Might Guy.

Just as Might Guy was about to eat, a knock came at their door.

"Someone knocking — that's rare. Could it be a client?" Might Duy walked over to open the door.

"No matter how I think about it, that's impossible." Might Guy retorted. Who would come to a genin's door looking for a mission?

"Haha, it's not impossible. I am the cat-finding expert acknowledged by the Hokage himself." Might Duy said with a loud laugh.

"Who are you?" When he opened the door, Might Duy saw two ninjas he didn't recognize.

"Who's here?" Might Guy curiously poked his head out to look, and his expression changed.

He didn't know the names of those two ninjas, but he hadn't forgotten their faces — they were the same two who had insulted his father not long ago, and whom he had chased down and beaten up.

"Are they here for revenge?" Might Guy forgot about eating, put down his chopsticks, and hurried to Might Duy's side.

"What are you planning to do?" Might Guy stared warily at the two and asked.

If the two of them made any move to attack, he would immediately enter the Rock Breathing state and act to protect his father.

"Guy, do you know them?" Might Duy asked in confusion.

The thin tall ninja and the slightly overweight ninja stood together and took a step forward in unison.

Seeing this, Might Guy quickly changed his breathing rhythm, searching left and right for a good angle of attack — he couldn't let their house get destroyed.

But then something Might Guy hadn't expected happened.

The two of them, in perfect synchrony, bowed deeply and said, "We're sorry!"

Might Guy silently withdrew the leg he had been about to kick out and returned to normal breathing.

"Guy, what's going on? Why did they suddenly apologize?" Might Duy still didn't understand why two unfamiliar ninjas had come out of nowhere to apologize.

"We shouldn't have mocked you for being a perpetual genin. As fellow Konoha ninjas, we should respect each other." The slightly overweight ninja apologized.

"And I also shouldn't have, as a ninja, attacked a student from the Ninja Academy." The thin tall ninja also apologized.

Not long after Might Guy left, they had woken up. At the time, still angry, they didn't think they had done anything wrong — in fact, they were still unconvinced.

But afterwards, they gradually calmed down.

Because the strength Might Guy had shown was really no small matter. Even though they hadn't used ninjutsu or brought out any tools for sinister taijutsu, the fact that Might Guy had knocked them out — chunin as they were — was just too outrageous.

Even if it was because they had underestimated Might Guy and hadn't used their full strength, they were still chunin, not some fresh graduate genin.

They went and inquired about Might Guy's latest news and only then learned that the "dead last" they had heard about was outdated information. Now Might Guy had already risen to become first in his year at the Ninja Academy.

The two discussed it for a while and finally decided to go to Might Guy's home to apologize.

If Might Guy already had such strength now, in a few years beating them would be a piece of cake. Although fellow villagers wouldn't kill each other, giving someone a beating in the dark was no big deal.

They felt it wasn't worth offending someone who might become a strong person in the future over trivial matters like trash talk.

"These are all our apologies — please accept them." The thin tall ninja handed over some nourishing supplements and a large bag of various vegetables.

"And this money should cover the medical expenses for going to the hospital." The slightly overweight ninja said, pulling out some banknotes.

Might Duy looked at Might Guy. He didn't know the whole story, so he let Might Guy decide.

"We'll accept the items. Take the money back yourselves. I wasn't injured and don't need to see a doctor." Might Guy accepted the supplements and the large bag of vegetables, but not the money.

Might Guy thought this way: he had already settled the account for them insulting his father — punch by punch. The supplements and vegetables could count as compensation for their rudeness, but he would definitely not take the money.

Even though he knew his family wasn't well-off, he also knew his father would never accept that kind of money.

"Just take it — it's not much, just twenty thousand ryo." The thin tall ninja urged.

"Realizing your mistakes and correcting them is also an expression of youth. But please, take the money back." Might Duy refused.

Since Might Guy had already decided, Might Duy was even less likely to accept.

In the end, the slightly overweight ninja and the thin tall ninja exchanged glances and had no choice but to take the money back.

At this point, they both felt a sense of admiration for Might Guy and Might Duy — even though they had to haggle over buying meat, they still wouldn't take money that wasn't theirs.

When eating, Might Guy knew he couldn't hide it any longer, so he told Might Duy the whole story.

"If someone talks behind your back, it only means you're living a far more interesting life than they are."

"Sarcasm is praise for you, gossip is applause for your brilliance—they're just singing your victory song. Because I don't live to please you." Might Duy said earnestly.

He had always maintained this mindset. No matter what others said, Might Duy didn't care; he only took it as their support, because those people were not the ones he cared about.

Might Guy didn't answer Might Duy's words. That was how it was said—he could endure being called a failure, but he could not accept his father being insulted and looked down upon by others.

"But to gain an advantage in a fight against a full-fledged shinobi—that shows your youth is singing forward with momentum!" Might Duy said, giving a thumbs up.

"Now that you've grown to this level, it seems it's time to formally pass that on to you." Might Duy said.

Although Might Duy himself was a lifelong genin, he believed Might Guy's future would not be the same. Guy was more outstanding, and he had always been preparing to teach the Eight Gates to Might Guy.

However, because the Eight Gates was too dangerous, Might Duy had planned to teach it only after Might Guy became a shinobi. Now he felt that Might Guy was ready to formally begin training in the Eight Gates.

"What 'that'?" Might Guy asked, a little confused.

"You'll know tonight." Might Duy replied.

That night, Might Duy took Might Guy to his training ground and said to Might Guy with a solemn expression:

"What I'm about to teach you is the Eight Gates—not ordinary taijutsu, but one of the forbidden techniques!"

"Forbidden technique!" Might Guy was somewhat astonished.

Mu Yue had once told them that their breathing technique could be considered either a secret technique or a forbidden technique.

Might Guy knew how powerful Rock Breathing was. Even though he hadn't mastered it yet, it could already boost his strength and enhance his training effect.

And the fact that his father might have mastered a taijutsu technique on the same level as Rock Breathing shocked Might Guy, because he knew his father was a shinobi who couldn't even advance to chunin.

"That's right. It took me a full twenty years to master the Eight Gates. This is the only taijutsu I can teach you." Might Duy continued.

"Gate of Opening, open! Gate of Life, open! … Gate of View, open!"

Opening six gates in a single breath, Might Duy erupted with an extremely powerful chakra. A dense green energy enveloped his entire body, and the sudden burst of aura stirred the air, flattening the wild grass around them and rustling the leaves loudly.

"So strong!" Might Guy sensed Might Duy's terrifying aura at that moment, his eyes wide with an expression of disbelief.

"This forbidden technique is very powerful, but also very dangerous—that's why I'm only teaching it to you now." Might Duy said seriously.

The Eight Gates was too dangerous; he had to make sure Might Guy understood that clearly.

That night, Might Guy had trouble sleeping.

Today, Might Duy had utterly shocked Might Guy.

Although he had always loved and respected his father, he had never considered his father to be particularly strong. When those two shinobi came to the door, Might Guy had deliberately stepped in front of Might Duy.

He never imagined that his genin father could unleash such terrifying power. Might Guy was truly excited and overjoyed.

But that didn't mean there were no worries. He had studied the Eight Gates all night and found that it truly lived up to its reputation as a forbidden technique that took his father twenty years to master—it was no less difficult than Rock Breathing.

Might Guy worried that training both the Eight Gates and Rock Breathing at the same time would slow his progress even more and disappoint Mu Yue.

Might Guy was a man of action. The next morning, he told Mu Yue about it.

"Mu Yue-sensei, I'm sorry, but my progress with the breathing technique might become even slower from now on." Might Guy said.

"Not necessarily. Maybe when two forbidden techniques come together, they'll have a positive reaction." Mu Yue said with a smile.

"The Eight Gates requires a strong body, and Rock Breathing is the best for training the body."

"By the way, I actually know a bit of the Eight Gates myself. If you have any trouble training here, don't hesitate to ask me."

"You know the Eight Gates too, sensei!" Might Guy was extremely shocked. He remembered that Mu Yue wasn't even twenty years old, yet she had mastered several forbidden techniques.