CHAPTER 37

Eight Gates of the Ninjutsu

"Well, it's not like we had clothes for you to wear at home, and Uncle Hizashi agreed. You can't blame me alone!"

Yuyan quickly backed away when Bai Ye realized she had dressed him in her own clothes. She dragged Hizashi into the circle of blame with her.

Bai Ye wanted to wring this troublemaker's neck. His image was ruined. If the villagers found out he had been parading around in women's clothes, his reputation would be finished.

"Bai Ye, don't be mad. She has a point, haha~" Obito chimed in with a laugh, still scheming to make Bai Ye wear those clothes again over the next few days.

"You wanna settle this with a one-on-one?"

Bai Ye spotted Obito smirking and provoking him openly. Clearly, he'd been too soft yesterday—time to add Obito to the revenge list.

The remaining three stood back, making no attempt to intervene. They simply watched as Bai Ye and Obito wrestled. In the end, Bai Ye came out on top.

"Alright, enough messing around. Bai Ye, tell us what happened last night."

Yue stepped in, breaking up the fight. She used last night's events as an excuse to divert everyone's attention.

By then, Obito had been beaten into a pulp, his face swelling like a pig's head—Bai Ye's punches had focused entirely on it. Yuyan, being a girl, had been spared most of the brutality, but she still walked away with a nice pair of panda eyes.

Thanks to his speed, Bai Ye's face remained untouched and presentable. As for how many bruises were hidden under his clothes, only he knew.

After Yue's prompting, the others finally backed off. They were all curious—none more so than Bai Ye, who still didn't know what had actually happened.

"No way. You don't even know what the intruder was trying to steal?" Kakashi asked, his tone laced with suspicion. "For someone to risk sneaking into your place like that, there must be something valuable."

"I really have no idea. That house is falling apart. If there was anything worth stealing, I'd have found it by now," Bai Ye replied, shrugging helplessly. "Whatever it was, I passed out before I could see anything. I was hoping you guys might know more."

"No more talk about last night. Focus on the next mission."

Hizashi and Minato had returned from meeting with the Third Hokage. Seeing their students lounging instead of training, Hizashi cut in with a sharp tone. It was clear the elders wanted to avoid further discussion of the break-in.

"Here—keep this safe. Return it to your father when the time comes."

Hizashi tossed a scroll to Bai Ye—the very one stolen the night before. The Hokage had handed it to him that morning. Clearly, there was something important about it.

Bai Ye unrolled it, curiosity burning in his chest. As soon as he saw its contents, the mystery behind last night's attack became clear.

Hizashi noticed Bai Ye reading but didn't stop him. He and the Third Hokage must have come to some understanding. They intended for Bai Ye to see what was inside—and to deliver it.

The scroll contained the training method for the Eight Gates, the forbidden taijutsu technique Duy had once mastered—the same one he intended to pass on to Guy and Bai Ye three years ago. But he'd never brought it up again since.

If this was truly the Eight Gates technique, it made perfect sense for enemy villages to send a jōnin-level assassin to retrieve it.

The training was extreme, dangerous, and painful—but the payoff was monstrous.

Bai Ye now understood why Hizashi had handed it to him: his body had finally reached the threshold needed to start training it.

Back then, his stunted chakra growth had made him rely entirely on his body. The Eight Gates had been his last resort. Now, things were different.

His Zanpakutō—a remnant of his past life—had awakened unexpected power. Its "super-speed regeneration" ability perfectly matched the Eight Gates, which pushed the body to its limit and beyond.

If he could maintain a balance between destruction and recovery, Bai Ye could remain in an open-gate state for extended periods without dying.

As for chakra backlash? His body had always been terrible at channeling ninjutsu anyway. With the unique nature of Kidō and Reiryoku, which operated differently from chakra, he could afford to burn it all.

Plus, "Super-Speed Regeneration" wasn't static—it leveled up, meaning that one day it might regenerate damage from even the Death Gate, the eighth and final gate.

If that happened, Bai Ye thought, he could surpass Naruto and Sasuke entirely. Let them play their ninja games—he would save the world.

While Bai Ye was lost in his wild daydreams, his friends had already gone back to training. His occasional evil laughter sent shivers down their spines.

"Wait… why has my Zanpakutō's experience gone up so much?"

As he sheathed the scroll and drew his blade, Bai Ye noticed something startling—the sword had restored itself completely, and its experience meter had jumped by nearly half.

He had pushed himself to near-death the night before, so the increase wasn't surprising—but this much? It was excessive.

Could it be… I have Saiyan blood hidden somewhere? he mused, remembering his classmates' crazy theories.

Like a cockroach that refused to die, he kept bouncing back stronger.

---

On the surface, Konoha had remained calm these past two days. But beneath that calm, the undercurrents were surging.

"Jiraiya and the others are still out of the village… could this be Danzo's doing?"

The Third Hokage narrowed his eyes, deep in thought as an ANBU disappeared from sight. The attack remained a mystery—no clues, no suspects.

If it had been a Konoha ninja, they'd have no reason to hide their power. But if it was a foreign infiltrator… the consequences could be dire.

Konoha was already fragile—White Fang's suicide had shaken the village, and the Legendary Sannin were scattered across the continent. One more blow might be fatal.

"Should I summon Jiraiya back? If only he were willing to inherit the Hokage title…"

Sarutobi rose and gazed out the window, sighing. His three students were all strong enough to succeed him—but for various reasons, none had stepped forward.

Now, more than ever, the village needed someone ready to carry the burden.