Standing at the front, he gestured to the left and right.

  “The Eight Gates and the Breathing Activation Teique each have their strengths and weaknesses. I'll keep it simple—The Eight Gates are more difficult to master. Even opening just the first two gates isn’t something everyone achieve. It requires you to stantly push your physical limits.”

  Kyoichi paused, giving everyone ample time to process his words.

  The Joni all turo look at Might Duy.

  Retly, Might Duy had been promoted to Special Jonin, and in the short time since, everyone had already withis new Jonin’s rather bizarre habits—

  Extreme physical training every day, bined with his loud, embarrassing motivational shouts. His behavior ractically a form of performa.

  So…

  When Kyoichi mentioned pushing one’s limits and they saw Might Duy’s name written uhe Eight Gates se, their minds immediately jured up his various etric trainihods. A collective shiver ran down their spines.

  Did they have to train like that to learn the Eight Gates?

  “Ahem! Everyone, don’t misuand! There are many ways to push your limits. My trainihods are just my personal preferences, not a requirement.”

  Might Duy was all too familiar with their expressions.

  He stepped forward to crify.

  “Duy-senpai, are there any other methods?” Jonin Tekuno asked immediately.

  “Well, I just kept increasing my training load little by little, and after a while, I naturally mao open the First Gate, so…”

  Might Duy looked slightly embarrassed.

  This was the truth.

  It was also how he had taught Might Guy.

  The Jonin fell into silence.

  So you just train and train… aually, the gate opens?

  Simple. Brutal.

  But…

  If they wao master it quickly, they clearly couldn’t rely on this slow and steady method. Their eyes shifted away from Duy and onto Kyoichi instead.

  Kyoichi’s reputation as a brilliant educator had already spread throughout Konoha.

  If nothing else, the various educational programs he had implemented retly had gained widespread reition. Any parent with children knew of his tributions and their significe.

  To Kyoichi, these Jonin were no different from the academy students he had taught before.

  “There are other ways,” Kyoichi aowledged. “But most of them are far from ventional. For example… rock climbing—using only one hand, without chakra.”

  The crowd stirred.

  Kakashi had trained like this.

  By sg a rock face with pure physical strength, without relying on chakra, he pushed his body to its limits and ultimately succeeded in unlog the First Gate.

  As for the Sed Gate, the Gate of Rest—

  Oneone had opehe First Gate, the Sed Gate became much easier to access.

  “…One-handed rock climbing?”

  Upon hearing the requirement, Tekuno could immediately imagine how difficult it would be.

  No wonder opening the First Gate was so rare.

  The room fell into silence again.

  And this was just the First Gate.

  The human body had eight gates—just how monstrous would someone be if they could open all of them?

  They had heard rumors…

  That Might Duy was capable of opening all Eight Gates.

  Their gazes shifted to Duy again, but this time, their eyes were filled with admiration and respect.

  There were plenty of strong people in the world.

  But…

  Very few had reached this level of strength purely through effort and perseverance. Across the entire shinobi world, warriors like Might Duy were a rarity. He deserved their respect.

  “So, shall we move on to the Breathing Activation Teique?”

  “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

  “Jonin Kyoichi, please go over the Breathing Activation Teique. I feel like this one might be easier to grasp, and it seems more patible with our ninjutsu training.”

  “Agreed…”

  The moment Kyoichi finished speaking, a wave of Jonin chimed in. Some of them even wondered…

  If the Eight Gates were that difficult, what about the Breathing Activation Teique?

  Would it be easier? Or…

  Even harder?

  They had heard before that Kanda Kyoichi had a bit of a mischievous streak when it came to eduaybe this was another one of those times.

  However…

  Their doubts didn’t st long.

  Because once Kyoichi began expining, they realized that while the Breathing Activation Teique was difficult, it was far easier to start learning pared to the Eight Gates.

  The real challenge y in bang the teique—ensuring that the increased cellur activity was evenly distributed across the body, rather than having some areas bee overly active while others showed no improvement.

  This required precise chakra trol, which was exactly the barrier Kyoichi had been trying to lower.

  Yet, after months of research—almost pleting the Fourth Activation Stage—he had been uo lower the entry barrier to his satisfa. In the end, he had to abandon that goal. The version the Jonin were seeing now was the finalized form.

  “Increasing cellur activity by boosting oxygen intake… is a lower entry barrier pared to the Eight Gates,” Tsunade remarked. “But at the same time, the cost is greater. The first two gates—Opening Gate a Gate—cause only mild damage to the body. The overall impact isn’t signifit. But the Breathing Activation Teique… shortens lifespan.”

  “Surviving is what matters most.”

  Someone spoke up. “If we just limit how often we use it, a little bit of lifespan is a small price to pay. Besides…”

  The man suddenly stepped forward and bowed deeply, his voice filled with siy.

  “Duy-san, I have a request. If my student has the potential to learn the Eight Gates, could you teach him the full teique?”

  At first, Kyoichi didn’t reize the man. His appearance was pletely different from the one in the anime—almost like airely different person. But the moment Duy addressed him by name, Kyoichi immediately remembered.

  “-san, please, there’s no need for that.” Duy quickly helped him up and expined, “I never inteo keep the Eight Gates a secret. It’s just… this teique inflicts severe damage on the user. And the entry barrier is so high that I’ve only released the first two gates publicly.”

  ?

  That Taijutsu master?

  Kyoichi’s mind instantly recalled the name.

  “My student only knows Taijutsu. He ’t use ninjutsu enjutsu—everyone said he’d never bee a shinobi. But he did.”

  “He made me believe that even a Taijutsu specialist bee a proper shinobi. I want to give him a wider path to walk.”

  spoke about his disciple.

  In terms of pure Taijutsu skill, was currently even strohan Might Duy ht Guy.

  But ohe Eight Gates were opehey were oirely different levels.

  In this reality…

  During the Third Shinobi War, Master ’s disciple had died in battle because he cked ninjutsu enjutsu. Devastated, lost his will to fight and staged his owh to retreat into seclusion.

  Kyoichi fell silent.

  was a warrior worthy of respect.

  He goward Duy and the Third Hokage but didn’t intervene.

  wasn’t requesting a forbidden teique for himself—he was asking on behalf of his disciple.

  That made all the difference.

  “I trade my own Taijutsu teiques in exge!”

  suddenly remembered what he had to offer.

  That was all he had to give.

  “Would you be willing to demonstrate?” Hiruzen asked.

  It wasn’t that he wao hoard Taijutsu teiques—rather, he couldn’t set a pret where forbidden teiques were given away freely. Otherwise, anyone could cim a special reason and demand access, rendering the cept of forbidden jutsu meaningless.

  “-san, allow me to be your oppo.” Kyoichi stepped forward.

  “While we’re at it, I’ll also demonstrate the practical application of the Breathing Activation Teique alongside the Opening a Gates.”

  In pure Taijutsu… Might Duy was undoubtedly strohan Kyoichi.

  But…

  When it came to highlighting an oppo’s skills and making them stand out, Duy couldn’t match Kyoichi’s showmanship.

  “Alright. I’ll hold back…”

  “No need, -san.” Tsuerrupted with a smirk. “Go all out—don’t worry about hurting him.”

  The others also chuckled knowingly.

  Indeed…

  Kyoichi himself was a medical expert. And with Tsuhe most renowned mediinja iire shinobi world—present, as long as he didn’t die, everything else was fixable.

  bowed deeply in gratitude before f the Seal of frontation.

  The moment…

  He unched his attack.

  “Normal state.”

  Kyoichi didn’t draw his sword. He engaged purely in Taijutsu.

  At the st possible moment before ’s strike nded, he barely dodged—but it was so close, he had no time to terattack.

  This wasn’t ag.

  He genuinely had no opening to retaliate—

  Because was too fast.

  “So fast…”

  One of the Jonin gasped.

  Even without using Body Flicker or Substitution Jutsu, they wouldn’t have been able to dodge ’s attack. Yet Kyoichi had relied purely on his natural speed and reflexes to evade.

  Just that alone…

  Made them pletely rethink their perception of Kanda Kyoichi.

  There wasn’t a single ounce of exaggeration in his Jonin rank.

  Gcell