As discussed with Guy, Kuroto came to the training field the next morning.
Whoosh… Whoosh…
Even before he walked out of the woods, he was able to hear the burst of winds, and the sound of battle.
As he walked for a while, Kuroto was soon able to see the figures of the two people who were engaged in a fierce battle.
“No surprise there I guess…” Kuroto chuckled and sat on a tree branch as he closely observed the battle.
The two people who were engaged in the battle were none other than Kakashi and Guy. Both of them probably arrived a while earlier than Kuroto and decided to carry out a friendly battle to study each other’s level.
Well, Kuroto didn’t have any problem with that, he leisurely sat on the tree branch as he observed their battle.
Both Kakashi and Guy have excellent combat skills, and since they were fighting seriously, it seemed to be a sight to behold. Ordinary shinobi won’t even be able to keep up with the speed of two, of course, Kuroto faced no such problem since he is on a level of his own.
Holding his chin, Kuroto muttered with a thoughtful expression, “Guy’s physical strength has increased significantly… and his moves are also getting more and more fierce.”
For a shinobi of steel fist style, improving the physical strength is not an easy task… And there is no easy way to do so. Only through sheer hard work and training can one improve their physical strength and speed.
Due to this reason, the growth of such shinobis is relatively slow compared to other shinobi who use other forms of combat too.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that the Steel Fist Style has no future, on the contrary, the upper limits for the shinobis who practice only Steel Fist Style are much higher compared to other Shinobi, of course, there are strict requirements, as long as a person is willing to endure rigorous training, years of hardship, and continuous struggle, then their growth is a sight to behold.
Might Guy is a very good example of this…
Back when he was in the academy, his strength wasn’t that good, however, as years passed, the scenario started to change, and now, except for a very few shinobi like Kakashi and Kuroto, the growth curve of almost everyone has hit the plateau.
However, Guy is different, not only he has not hit the plateau, but in fact, from the same generation, he has left almost everyone except Kakashi, Kuroto, and Obito behind him.
And Kuroto is very clear that within a few years, as he reaches the state of being able to open the last gate, there would only be a handful of shinobi in the shinobi world who will be able to stand up against him.
Thinking of his future achievements, Kuroto couldn’t help but sigh, “Might Guy… what a guy…”
After a while, he focused his attention on Kakashi, and muttered, “He seems to…” but Kuroto’s words came to stop as he couldn’t think of the accurate words to describe his state.
When Kuroto looked at Kakashi, he felt that Kakashi seems to have reached a critical point, as if he is in the midst of some kind of major transformation, but what exactly it was, Kuroto couldn’t exactly describe it in words.
He found this quite weird.
Before Kuroto could continue to ponder on this matter, Kakashi and Guy stopped their battle.
Seeing this, Kuroto put the thought to the back of his mind and jumped down the tree.
The three walked closer to each other and greeted each other, “Morning guys… you two seem to have come here quite early.”
Might Guy showed his unique toothy smile, and said with a thumbs up, “Early morning sweat keeps our youth aflame… right Kakashi?”
Now standing next to Kakashi, Kuroto felt it again…
Kakashi is no longer the same person who was lost on the path of life. At this time, standing next to him, Kuroto can feel a sense of sharpness being emitted from his body.
Normally this is a good thing, but Kuroto isn’t sure whether such a stark transformation in such a short time is a good thing or not.
Somewhat concerned, he asked Kakashi, “Kakashi… are you alright?”
Kakashi nodded lightly, “Yes.”
Kakashi actually knew what Kuroto was referring to… He realizes that he has gone through a lot of changes in terms of both character and temperament in his pursuit of strength. However, he has no regrets because this is the path he has chosen.
Kuroto smiled, “Well if you are alright then it’s fine… it’s just strange to see you so energetic… especially in the early morning. I am really not used to you being early.”
Guy nodded with Kuroto, “Yes yes… you used always make everyone wait, honestly, I was kinda freaked out when I saw you here… You came here earlier than even me!”
Kakashi remained silent… He didn’t seem to be in the mood to joke around. Seeing that all the three of them were here, he said to Guy, “Let’s start.”
Kakashi’s words brought the attention of all three to the matter at hand…
With that, the three of them came to the riverside, and Guy said with a serious expression, “To be honest, there isn’t much to explain about the Eight Inner Gates Formation, if the two of you need to know one thing, then it’s that The Eight Inner Gates Formation is not just a Forbidden Jutsu that can be learned with training for a few days… No, it’s a habit… a habit that you follow for years, and make your body get used to with time and training.”
Both Kuroto and Kakashi nodded.
Guy continued, “Both of you know the basics of our body… among all the chakra points in our body, there are 8 special chakra points, they are like centers.” And added while pointing at the specific centers, “And these eight chakra centers are the eight gates… Gate of Opening, Gate of Healing, Gate of Life, Gate of Pain, Gate of Limit, Gate of View, Gate of Wonder, and finally, Gate of Death.
These Eight Gates exist in order to limit the flow of Chakra, within our bodies. Ordinarily, we are only capable of using twenty percent of our body’s full potential, this is our brain’s way of protecting ourselves from harming our body through overexertion.
And the Eight Inner Gates Formation is a Forbidden Technique that helps us with bypassing these limiters.”
Kuroto asked, “It means that the people who practice Eight Inner Gates Formation train their brain to bypass those limiters, and also trains their body to be able to bear the overload of chakra when the limiters are bypassed, is that correct?”
Kakashi added, “And since there are eight gates, it means there are eight levels of limiters our brain places on our body… This also means that opening each gate would imply bypassing a limiter… Earlier you mentioned the eight gates by their order, the order is based on the difficulty of bypassing the limiter, is that right?”
Listening to Kuroto and Kakashi’s question, Guy came to a stop and looked at the two of them with a dumbfounded expression…
Seeing Guy’s expression, Kuroto asked, “What happened? Did we misunderstand something?”
“No… no…” Guy shook his head, and said, “The two of you understood it perfectly…”
For a moment, Guy had forgotten who the people he is teaching are… Both Kakashi and Kuroto are excellent and talented shinobi with good reasoning and contemplation skills. It’s no surprise that they were able to easily figure out the gist of the technique with just a little explanation. Especially when there is no such complex theory behind this technique.
“Ahem…” He coughed, then said, “Well, the two of you understand the theory behind it… This technique basically focuses on adapting our mind and body with training, so that we can break those limiters and bear that burden of breaking the limiters.” After a pause, he said in a serious tone, “But remember this, we can only adapt our body to a limit, and that is the seventh limiter, or the seventh gate, beyond that there is nothing we can do… There is no method to adapt to the Eighth Gate, so that limiter must never be touched easily.”
Kakashi asked, “What happens if the last limiter is broken?”
Guy answered with a solemn expression, “Once the last limiter is broken, it would mean certain death… Of course, the result is very tempting as the strength, speed, and chakra would increase exponentially, but the price is also not cheap… The price is one’s own life… Therefore, it should never be opened… unless…”
Hearing the details of the eighth gate, Kakashi fell into deep thought… He was seriously considering his chances.
At the same time, Kuroto was also busy thinking about something.