[The Seventh Gate, Daytime Tiger!]
This was Guy's signature technique, one that had achieved legendary feats in the manga.
Now, Duy could already access the seventh gate—though he'd never actually fought while it was open. The reason he invited Akaba was precisely because of his strength.
While Akaba wasn't skilled in taijutsu, he had many tricky techniques. With his Goro Goro no Mi elemental transformation ability, he could effectively avoid the damage from the seventh gate. More importantly, during life-or-death moments, he could roughly judge the power behind Duy's kick.
Unfortunately, aside from Akaba, no one else in all of Konoha was qualified to serve as a target for a seventh-gate Duy. The Third and Mito Uzumaki might be capable, but he certainly wouldn't dare summon those two greats.
It had to be Akaba.
Arriving at the training field, Akaba saw Duy, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. Standing in the center of the field, Duy was adjusting his breathing.
He looked totally different now.
It wasn't just physically—he had changed in spirit and aura too.
Back then, Might Duy was powerful, but he always acted clumsy and overly sincere, giving off that "harmless good guy" vibe no matter how strong he really was.
But now, everything was different.
Standing still at the center, his presence felt deep and steady, exuding an air of mastery.
Of course,
That was only when he remained motionless. As soon as he noticed Akaba arrive, he ran up excitedly and gave a salute, completely shattering that cool and composed image.
"Lord Akaba, I can now open the seventh gate under normal conditions."
"I've heard from Orochimaru. Come on, try opening the seventh gate."
Akaba nodded, stepping back once but not moving too far away. Unlike Orochimaru, Akaba knew Medical Ninjutsu and had extensive medical knowledge, allowing him to more accurately assess the physical damage the seventh gate inflicted upon Duy.
Duy gave a slight nod and closed his eyes.
It looked like he still needed some time to adjust his condition.
As Akaba assumed Duy would require a while to prepare, suddenly he sensed an incredibly powerful chakra surge erupting from Duy's body.
Yes—a chakra surge—
Because it was simply too intense!
[The Sixth Gate, the View Gate!]
Directly activating the View Gate showed just how highly Might Duy had mastered the Eight Gates technique.
Originally, in the manga, Might Duy had developed the [Eight Gates Formation!] entirely on his own. Now, with Orochimaru's systematic research guidance and precious "nutritional supplements,"
Yet across all of Konoha, he remained the only one who had advanced the Eight Gates to such heights.
The other three who trained with him were merely there for support; right now, they could barely open the third gate.
Even so, those three kids were already among the top taijutsu experts of their generation, revealing just how demanding the Eight Gates technique was toward its practitioners.
Whether it was Duy, Guy, or Lee, they were all individuals uniquely gifted in this art.
Akaba sensed the energy flow and nodded after a moment. "Continue."
"Yes, sir!"
Instantly, a surge of cyan-blue vapor burst forth.
This cyan-blue vapor wasn't chakra—it was sweat evaporating from his body after opening the seventh gate. Once released, it formed a unique aura around him.
"Try attacking."
"Alright."
Clearly, Duy couldn't properly control this power yet.
But he had another method.
[Finger Pistol!]
With one finger, Akaba's shoulder was instantly pierced, leaving a bleeding hole.
"Ugh!"
Akaba let out a pained cry. It was too fast—he couldn't even see it clearly. Perhaps he needed to activate his Sharingan to catch such an attack.
Observation Haki would work too, though he hadn't used it just now.
Still, the Finger Pistol's power was intense. A stream of scorching energy continuously damaged the surrounding tissue around his wound.
After using the Mystical Palm Technique to heal himself, Akaba quickly recovered.
"That's strong. Try punching me."
"Hmm..."
Duy hesitated. He had never unlocked the Seventh Gate before. This Finger Pistol strike was just a casual attempt, but he had gone all-out. What if Akaba couldn't block it?
This wasn't a joke!
Akaba smiled and said, "It's fine. I can dodge it, but you need to be careful with your control because you might end up kicking into empty air."
Observation Haki activated.
Skypiea's Observation Haki could predict an opponent's moves in advance, making it especially useful against attacks like Duy's.
Granted, with taijutsu alone, even knowing the attack was coming wouldn't help him dodge. But with the Goro Goro no Mi, it wasn't a problem.
"Then here I go."
Calling out first as a warning, Duy's figure vanished from sight in an instant.
The next second,
He was already in front of Akaba. His presence alone sent shockwaves through the air before his actual blow landed—this was the prototype of [Daytime Tiger].
Yet,
by that time, Akaba had already transformed into lightning itself. The rushing air pressure and physical strikes could not harm him. Still, the overwhelming momentum and speed of the attack gave Akaba a clear idea of the Seventh Gate's power.
Extremely strong.
But
as Duy passed through Akaba's thunderous form, Akaba could sense the tearing of muscle fibers on his body.
After one kick, Orochimaru immediately spoke up: "That's enough. Cancel it now."
"Yes."
Duy released the Seventh Gate state, clearly exhausted.
He really overdid it.
While Duy's regular body could withstand the side effects of the Seventh Gate, after using it, countless muscles throughout his body had torn. A medical ninja would definitely be needed for recovery.
However, if he activated his Bull Model Fruit, the side effects wouldn't be so severe.
Akaba stepped closer and healed his entire body using the Mystical Palm Technique, then observed the power of Duy's Seventh Gate strike while transformed via the Bull Model Fruit.
Even stronger than his normal state.
Whether it was speed, destructive power, stamina, or durability, they had all been elevated to a new level. If he kept training like this, Akaba began to suspect that Duy might even unlock the Eight Gates one day with relatively minimal damage.
Of course, that was merely speculation about the future.
At present, Duy was still nowhere near achieving that. In fact, he needed to enter Buffalo Form just to avoid too much bodily harm. In short, there was still room for improvement.
Akaba exchanged some general data with Orochimaru and offered a few suggestions on techniques.
Not that there were many groundbreaking suggestions—he mostly recommended refining techniques like [Daytime Tiger], [Finger Pistol], and [Storm Legs].
Duy didn't know Storm Legs yet, but once he learned them while in the Seventh Gate state, they'd surely become extremely powerful. If only Duy could master Iron Mole, Akaba would have advised him to improve in that area as well.
A taijutsu master who had already mastered Six Styles — and then went on to master Haki...
This boy is absolutely terrifying!
Thinking along these lines, Akaba felt more motivated than ever to draw manga—to finish faster and finally unlock Haki!
As for the King's Color,
whether such an ability exists in the Ninja World is uncertain. Even if it does, it's definitely unrelated to Duy, given his aura doesn't fit someone with King's Color.
Inside the office, the Third Hokage looked puzzled while peering through a telescope.
He had used this jutsu to check purely by accident.
Originally, he wanted to find out where Orochimaru was and see what his favorite student was up to, but unintentionally witnessed Akaba helping Duy undergo testing.
How strong Duy is remains aside; the Third remembered that Akaba was supposed to be the instructor of the Taijutsu Class, right?
At the time, they had agreed that Akaba would be the training instructor and Orochimaru the head of the research institute. But from the beginning of the class until now, everything had practically been handled solely by Orochimaru, most critically without him voicing even the slightest objection.
Being able to make others work for you willingly is an impressive skill indeed—this kid really has something going for him.
The more the Third watched, the more certain he became—none of his three apprentices had a shot at leading the next generation.
From Orochimaru to Tsunade, all had been completely managed and controlled. If they're already starting from behind, how can there even be a fair competition?
He didn't hold any resentment toward Akaba, but the thought of retiring someday and facing mockery from old man Danzo filled him with gloom.
Moreover,
originally, it was agreed that one year later Akaba would come under the Third's guidance while Orochimaru would follow Danzo. Yet after one year, Danzo refused to honor the deal. They were already Jonin; what more could there be to guide?
Looking at it from this angle, the Third had indeed been tricked by Danzo. Thinking of this, he sat down gloomily and smoked to ease his worries.
However, these things alone weren't truly sorrowful matters; at most, they were just annoying and frustrating. What genuinely troubled him was a newly submitted request on his desk.
This was a criminal release application for Homura Mitokado.
Request:
To participate in the battle in the Land of River as an ordinary Jonin.
Homura Mitokado wished to join the battlefield.
The Third had no doubt about his old friend's abilities, but regarding both mindset and current condition, Homura wouldn't have an advantage on the battlefield.
Going to the front lines likely meant facing great danger.
After pondering for a long time, he still signed his name on the document—it was the last favor he could do for his friend.
He hoped Homura could regain clarity amidst the battlefield.
In the Land of Wind,
right now, the army had departed.
Both senior advisors and many Jonin had left together. The remaining half of the forces stayed behind guarding Sunagakure Village together with the Kazekage, ready to provide reinforcement or engage elsewhere at any moment.
Ebizō knew very well that by dispatching them like this, "Sankai" would gain complete freedom to manipulate Sunagakure.
But he was powerless to stop it.
Up to this point, the situation had gone beyond being resolved by minor tricks.
They could only take things step by step. At least, should serious chaos erupt, the personnel at the frontline could surrender and defect, preserving a spark for Sunagakure.
Thus, he resolved to charge straight into the battlefield.
Madara and Black Zetsu didn't attempt to stop him.
Their reasons differed—Madara simply lacked interest in killing Ebizō, while Black Zetsu merely lacked the capability.
Unlike Shamon, who had been transformed, perfectly manipulating Ebizō remained slightly difficult for Black Zetsu at present.
Currently, Madara sat inside a cave while desert insects occasionally crawled out from beneath his feet.
They were all Madara's informants. Under the control of his Sharingan, these creatures spread throughout the entire area surrounding the cave for dozens of miles. As soon as they spotted Black Zetsu, they would immediately return and report the information about him.
Black Zetsu wouldn't reveal anything suspicious in front of Madara himself, but who would ever suspect some insects?
Of course not.
Even if Black Zetsu was alone, he wouldn't actually do anything, though there might be some minor things that could reveal partial information.
On the surface, Madara appeared to grow increasingly trusting of Black Zetsu.
In truth, however, he had already made his decision.
Once he obtained the Ten-Tails, he would immediately seal away Black Zetsu, giving him no chance whatsoever to cause trouble.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>