After using the [Eight Gates], Might Guy collapsed onto the ground, completely drained of strength, his face pale as a sheet.
Luckily, his chest steadily rose and fell—proof he was still alive.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine! My youth will never retreat, so it shall never end!" Might Guy struggled to lift his clenched fist high, letting out a soul-stirring cry.
"..."
Satori Hyūga felt like he'd never master that unique mindset.
Perhaps his heart was simply weighed down by too many distractions.
"Might Guy, your [Eight Gates] are impressive, but your body isn't holding up too well. Have you been struggling to get enough food?"
Satori said this without any hidden meaning—he simply thought Might Guy looked malnourished despite his energetic demeanor.
Opening the [Eight Gates] burns through one's own cells and muscles.
From Satori's Byakugan perspective, the vitality of Might Guy's cells appeared unusually low.
One possibility was old injuries deep within his body.
The other was chronic undernourishment.
Judging from how energetic he seemed despite all that, it clearly leaned toward the latter.
"Waaah, Boss, my training volume is just too intense. I always burn through too much energy and never get enough to eat," Might Guy quickly explained.
"But don't worry—I won't eat too much. Just give me what a normal person would eat."
Satori blinked in confusion—what exactly was that supposed to mean?
But he figured it out soon enough.
Might Guy must've misunderstood him, thinking he feared being asked to cover too many meals.
"Eating well is a blessing. No need to starve yourself. Only when your stomach's full can you train better and grow stronger—to serve me even better."
"Come on, let's go grab something to eat."
Satori patted Guy's shoulder, offering him an encouraging pat.
Paying for meals? Sure, he could handle that.
Though, to be honest, he wouldn't truly afford that until after the Ultimate Massage Chair sold.
Right now, the tuition fees he'd earned from selling the New Gentle Fist were already nearly depleted.
Money really was something special.
Even in the ninja world, it remained indispensable.
"Boss, you're truly amazing!"
Tears of gratitude welled up in Might Guy's eyes. If loyalty could be measured on a scale, it surely soared past ninety at that moment.
As the two walked off, two Guard Ninja stealthily approached from behind.
Before them lay a crater over three feet deep.
It had formed when Might Guy opened the Fifth Gate, unintentionally leaking Chakra from his body, leaving the surrounding area transformed.
"What incredible power. The strength of this Taijutsu is not to be underestimated—it just demands too great a cost from the user." One Guard Ninja commented.
The other Guard Ninja nodded in agreement.
The Byakugan could see vast distances, and from their vantage point, everything was perfectly visible.
After opening the Fifth Gate, Might Guy alone had become powerful enough to threaten both of them—two Jonin.
How could they not remain cautious around such a force?
Yet the moment the technique ended, he instantly became completely vulnerable.
This stark contrast made them realize—the technique carried massive side effects.
Inside the laboratory.
Satori Hyūga flipped rapidly through stacks of books, desperately searching for a way to counter the side effects of the [Eight Gates].
Might Guy's Eight Gates technique was incredibly powerful, but the cost was just as great.
Satori Hyūga admired its power, but balked at the steep cost.
In that case, he needed to find another way.
The reason Might Guy and his eventual son, Might Kai, chose to train in the deadly Eight Gates instead of regular martial arts was partly because of their limited chakra capacity.
But Satori Hyūga was different.
Although rumors claimed his chakra capacity was low,
that was only because he had been practicing the Feeding-Back Jutsu, recycling refined chakra back into his body.
In reality, the amount of chakra he could produce wasn't lacking at all.
In terms of chakra, Satori had a major edge over Might Guy.
Plus, being a member of the Hyūga Clan with Orochimaru as his mentor gave him access to far more resources and knowledge than Might Guy ever had.
Finding ways to overcome the drawbacks of Eight Gates would definitely be much easier for him.
As for solutions, Satori believed that through hard work, he would surely discover one.
Creating something entirely new was difficult, but modifying an existing foundation made things considerably simpler.
The New Gentle Fist and the Ultimate Massage Chair were both products of Satori's extreme modifications.
This clearly showed Satori's gift for inventive adaptation.
In the ninja world, there were countless unique techniques and black tech methods—perhaps something out there could perfectly counterbalance the drawbacks of Eight Gates.
Eagerly, Satori started leafing through various scrolls and texts, searching for possible answers.
Broadly speaking, the ninja world was divided into three main schools: Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu.
Of course, there were also Sealing Techniques, Sage Mode, and others.
At present, what Satori could access mainly consisted of Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, along with some Sealing Techniques casually picked up from Kushina.
First, he eliminated Genjutsu since it was the area he understood least.
Second came Sage Mode.
He had no experience with either, so they offered him nothing useful.
As his research deepened, he eventually ruled out Ninjutsu too.
Ninjutsu was divided into seven attributes: Yin Release, Yang Release, Wind Release, Fire Release, Water Release, Earth Release, and Lightning Release.
[Yin and Yang Release]
Yang Release, which benefited physical cells, was exactly the nature he didn't possess.
In the ninja world, possessing all seven chakra natures was as rare as pandas.
Even the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, known as the Professor among ninjas, only possessed five chakra natures.
Fortunately, chakra natures weren't innate or unchangeable.
Through hard training or black tech, the body could develop other chakra natures.
Take the original protagonist group for example—they didn't initially have all of them but gradually completed them later.
However, Satori didn't have time to cultivate Yang Release chakra.
Soon, he ruled out Taijutsu as well.
Eight Gates itself was a form of Iron Fist Taijutsu, breaking his body's limits to unleash incredible strength against enemies.
Conventional Taijutsu offered no real benefit toward improving Eight Gates.
It even offered little in terms of practical application.
Satori turned his attention to Sealing Techniques.
Sealing Techniques formed a highly versatile and practical system.
They could manifest in fascinating ways—primarily by sealing different kinds of objects.
From sealing Military Rations Pills, Ninja Tools, and Explosive Tags inside scrolls,
To massive techniques like Planetary Devastation, or the Sage of Six Paths sealing his own mother—the goddess Kaguya Otsutsuki.
Fundamentally, Sealing Techniques involve placing something into a box-like space and sealing the lid shut to prevent escape.
It was meant to make up for the shortcomings of the Eight Gates, but honestly, it doesn't appear very effective.
Yet Satori Hyūga had another thought—perhaps it couldn't completely neutralize the Eight Gates, but it might at least impose some limitations.
The reason the Eight Gates is so powerful is that it pushes beyond the body's natural limits, causing devastating damage to the physical form.
Sealing Techniques are exactly the opposite.
They can seal chakra—which means they have the potential to bind the immense power of the Eight Gates.
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