Konoha, too, was launching attacks against nearby small villages, leading the Land of Fire in a steady expansion—seizing territory and resources.
Meanwhile, Sunagakure(Hidden Sand Village) of the Wind Country and Iwagakure of the Earth Country were expanding even more aggressively. Countless minor ninja villages were wiped out in the process.
Small villages were finite.
The resources of small nations were finite as well.
Among the great powers, a collision was inevitable.
Though it still appeared to require some time to fully ferment, anyone with insight understood clearly—
This war could not be avoided.
Compared to something on the scale of the Second Shinobi World War, the life-and-death duel between Yuya and Uchiha Han seemed almost insignificant.
"The Second Shinobi World War…"
With a soft sigh, Yuya suppressed those thoughts and once again immersed himself in training.
A few days later, Yuya finally felt that the timing was right.
He decided to attempt opening the Second Gate of the True Eight Gates—
The Gate of Shock (Kyōmon)!
The First Gate of Yuya's True Eight Gates corresponded to the Eighth Gate of the standard Eight Gates—the Gate of Death, located at the heart.
The Second Gate, meanwhile, corresponded to the Seventh Gate of the standard system—
The Gate of Shock, located in the lower abdomen.
This gate was extremely important—its significance no less than that of the heart gate itself.
Because it served as a bridge.
Above the Gate of Shock lay a straight, unobstructed path reaching all the way to the head, with five gates aligned in a single vertical line.
By comparison, the path from the heart's Gate of Death to the lower abdomen's Gate of Shock was a slanted, reverse-flow route.
Connecting the heart and the body—
The Gate of Shock was the second core of the True Eight Gates.
After fully loosening his body and stretching his muscles and bones, Yuya sat down cross-legged and began to assault the Second Gate.
The results of nearly two months of training meant that Yuya's current state was comparable to half a year—or more—of ordinary cultivation.
His physical strength had increased by an enormous margin compared to when he first opened the First Gate.
Opening the Second Gate was more than feasible.
With power accumulated over time, bursting forth all at once—
The attempt succeeded immediately.
Chakra surged forward in the first impact.
Then, shock force spread through his body, forming a second wave of impact—
Smashing straight through the restraints of the Second Gate!
As the Gate of Shock opened, the invisible flame-like energy burning within Yuya's heart surged along his meridians and arrived at the lower abdomen.
Then—
The Gate of Shock itself seemed to ignite with flame.
This "flame" was nothing other than chakra.
At that instant, the First Gate at the heart and the Second Gate at the lower abdomen became fully connected.
This was the natural linkage of the Eight Gates.
Within the Gate of Shock, a second reservoir of chakra formed—
And its quantity instantly exceeded the chakra stored at the heart!
However, once the connection stabilized, the chakra began circulating through the meridians, balancing itself naturally.
In the end, the chakra in the heart and the chakra in the Gate of Shock formed a stable equilibrium.
With two cores storing chakra, Yuya's chakra reserves leapt past the threshold of a standard chūnin—
And even rivaled some elite chūnin!
A leap of astonishing magnitude.
Moreover, the chakra within the Gate of Death and the Gate of Shock formed a circulating loop.
Previously, chakra only nourished and fed back into the heart.
Now, chakra flowed dynamically between the two cores, transferring back and forth.
During this circulation, it inevitably seeped into Yuya's flesh and bones, nourishing them in return.
A virtuous cycle—
Bringing comprehensive enhancement to every aspect of his body.
"My chakra reserves are nearly on par with elite chūnin now…"
Yuya sensed the changes within his body, a smile forming on his face.
"In that case… I can probably start developing some techniques."
Even though he had anticipated this outcome, personally feeling such a dramatic increase in chakra was still exhilarating.
Ordinary Fire Release or Water Release techniques held no real value for Yuya.
In fact, any ninjutsu that required hand seals had limited meaning for someone like him—
A shinobi with Shock Release, overwhelming physical strength, and extreme speed.
The techniques Yuya intended to develop would all be custom-made for him—
And ideally, capable of being directly integrated with Shock Release.
"My body is already beginning to transform."
Aside from the chakra increase, Yuya could clearly feel his body undergoing rapid metamorphosis.
Because the True Eight Gates were permanently opened, their effect wasn't an explosive burst like the normal Eight Gates.
Instead, it was gradual and continuous.
But once opened, the transformation wouldn't take long.
When Yuya opened the First Gate at his heart, it took only a few days to fully adapt.
The Second Gate—the Gate of Shock—would be no different.
Sure enough, after only about three days, Yuya's body completely finished this round of transformation.
After this change—
Yuya's speed now rivaled that of an average jōnin.
Among chūnin, only those exceptionally skilled in taijutsu could match him.
Beyond that, Yuya's shock force underwent a qualitative evolution.
Its power increased by nearly threefold!
It directly crossed the massive gap between C-rank and B-rank ninjutsu.
Now, Yuya could shatter B-rank ninjutsu with a single punch!
And as shock force reached this new level, its range also expanded dramatically.
Previously, Yuya's effective range was at most two meters—
Purely close combat.
Now, with a full-powered punch, shock force covered five to ten meters!
Within five meters: no loss of power—capable of shattering B-rank ninjutsu
Between five and ten meters: still able to destroy C-rank ninjutsu
His attack range had evolved from close-range to close–mid range, significantly compensating for his previous weakness.
C-rank ninjutsu were standard techniques for chūnin.
B-rank ninjutsu were commonly used by jōnin.
As for A-rank ninjutsu, those bordered on forbidden techniques—some jōnin didn't even possess one.
After all, mastering chakra nature transformation and pairing it with B-rank ninjutsu already produced tremendous power.
Most jōnin spent their time refining nature transformation rather than struggling to master A-rank techniques.
In other words—
Yuya could now virtually sweep chūnin-level opponents.
However, there remained one issue.
A problem Yuya had deliberately ignored until now.
"Besides taijutsu and ninjutsu…"
"This world also has genjutsu."
Calming his excitement, Yuya lowered his head in thought.
"I ignored it before because genin rarely use genjutsu offensively. But at the chūnin level… genjutsu becomes a standard combat option."
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