Watching Kushina leave, Yu Ye's gaze flickered thoughtfully.
The story was beginning to move.
Whether Kushina had already become the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki or not, the Second Great Ninja War was no longer far away.
And once war truly erupted, anyone caught in its vortex could only drift along with the tide.
Even figures like Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who would later be known as two of the Sannin, did not truly possess the ability to protect themselves at this stage.
If Hanzō of the Salamander had not been unwilling to offend a victorious Konoha—and had not spared them out of appreciation for talent—there would never have been a title like "the Three Legendary Sannin" in the shinobi world.
So Yu Ye's current strength was still far from enough.
He had to become stronger—much stronger—within this final window of time.
The Next Day
Yu Ye immediately threw himself into another round of grueling training.
Punch after punch.
At his current level, Yu Ye no longer needed wooden stakes or stone walls as targets.
Even the air itself was now enough.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
His entire body trembled violently.
This was intentional—Yu Ye was allowing part of the shock force to act upon his own body with every punch.
Sweat poured down like rain.
The ground beneath him was soon soaked, yet his expression never changed as he continued throwing punches with mechanical calm.
Before the Second Great Ninja War—before he was dragged onto the battlefield—he had to open the Third Gate of the True Eight Gates.
Not only to secure a greater chance of survival in the coming war…
But also to protect Kushina and change her fate.
And beyond that—
To truly become unafraid of the Uchiha clan.
Yu Ye had killed Uchiha Yue.
The Uchiha clan would never dare publicize it, nor openly confront Hiruzen Sarutobi over it.
But their killing intent toward Yu Ye would undoubtedly reach its peak because of this.
Killing Uchiha Han before had been one thing.
This time, the one he killed was Uchiha Yue—a high-ranking member of the clan and one of the squad leaders of the Konoha Military Police Force.
How could the Uchiha clan possibly let that go?
Even more so since Yu Ye was now openly wielding Uchiha Yue's sword.
Inside Konoha, the Uchiha clan absolutely would not dare touch him.
But once war broke out, once Yu Ye left the village for the battlefield—
That would no longer be guaranteed.
Yet Yu Ye no longer dwelled on these looming dangers.
There was only one thought in his mind now:
Open the Third Gate of the True Eight Gates.
It had already been several months since he opened the Second Gate.
Yu Ye's First Gate had opened instantly because his physical foundation already met the requirement.
Opening the Second Gate had taken more than two months of training.
From the Second Gate to the Third, however, progress was much slower.
Because every additional gate opened did not stand alone—it resonated with the previously opened gates, amplifying them together.
This process required time.
The more gates opened, the longer the amplification period became.
That amplification was, in essence, a process of continual bodily reinforcement.
In fact, even if Yu Ye did nothing at all, his body would slowly grow stronger on its own—just at a very slow pace.
Intensive taijutsu training accelerated this process from the outside in, drastically shortening the time needed.
By now, Yu Ye's control over shock force had reached an extremely refined level.
He no longer needed to throw punches to trigger it.
He could freely regulate the shock force, using it to stimulate his muscles, bones, and blood, causing his entire body to tremble and strengthen continuously.
The effects were astonishing—
But it couldn't be used nonstop, and it consumed an enormous amount of energy.
The bento Kushina made for him was no longer even close to enough.
Since all expenses were reimbursed by ANBU anyway, Yu Ye stopped worrying about money and began touring Konoha's streets, sampling all kinds of food.
Konoha was huge.
Ichiraku Ramen wasn't the only restaurant.
Every day, after burning massive amounts of energy through training, Yu Ye would find a restaurant and eat until he was full.
His appetite was nothing short of terrifying.
So much so that onlookers stared in disbelief.
How could a kid eat this much?
Was his stomach made from sealing scrolls?!
Gradually, Yu Ye earned himself another nickname in the village:
"The Big Eater."
Some even speculated that his genius might be related to how much he ate.
To this, the Akimichi clan strongly agreed—
Yu Ye's talent must be related to his appetite!
Unfortunately, that argument had no credibility at all.
Yu Ye wasn't fat in the slightest.
Then look at the Akimichi…
Yeah.
Total nonsense.
As the days passed, Yu Ye's body developed rapidly.
He wasn't even ten years old yet, but his appearance already resembled that of a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old.
During this time, several notable events occurred in Konoha.
First—
Might Dai, the "Eternal Genin," finally shed that title.
And not only that—he skipped the rank of chūnin entirely and was promoted straight to Tokubetsu Jōnin (Special Jōnin).
Naturally, some people objected.
They shut up very quickly after being beaten senseless by Might Dai using the Eight Gates.
This was, after all, a world where strength reigned supreme.
In truth, with Dai's abilities, even being an elite jōnin wouldn't have been excessive.
The only reason he was made a Special Jōnin was because he was utterly lacking in other areas and needed to be paired with other jōnin on missions.
Secondly—
The Uchiha clan publicly announced that one of the Military Police squad leaders, Uchiha Yue, had died in an "accident."
The truth was known only to a handful of people.
Even within the Uchiha clan itself, very few knew how Yue had actually died.
Yu Ye merely sneered inwardly and paid it no further mind.
The only thing that truly surprised him was the appearance of a character who seemingly did not exist in the original canon—
Uzumaki Meiling.
She was also from the Uzumaki clan, apparently Kushina's cousin, and Kushina took great care of her.
The sudden addition of this unfamiliar character pushed the timeline into uncharted territory.
Even Yu Ye himself was curious about how things would develop from here.
Still—
Compared to everything else, his own strength mattered most.
From opening the First Gate to opening the Second, Yu Ye had spent a little over two months.
To open the Third Gate, he spent nearly four full months.
When the Third Gate of the True Eight Gates finally opened, it once again resonated with the previous two gates—just as expected.
When Yu Ye had only the First Gate open, his chakra reserves were merely comparable to a genin.
After opening the Second Gate, his chakra leapt directly to the level of an elite chūnin.
This wasn't a simple matter of addition.
It wasn't that two genin-level chakra pools equaled an elite chūnin's.
Rather, once multiple gates were opened, they resonated and amplified one another, producing a qualitative leap.
Even if Yu Ye were to exclude the chakra of the Second Gate, the chakra generated by the First Gate alone was already greater than it had originally been.
Now, with the Third Gate opened, resonance occurred once again.
It took nearly a full week for the Third Gate to completely stabilize.
And at that moment—
Yu Ye's chakra reserves finally reached the level of a jōnin.
That said, chakra quantity was not his main concern.
The true focus was this—
With the opening and stabilization of the Third Gate, Yu Ye's shock force surged dramatically once more.
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