"Jōnin Kyoichi, this time, I won’t hold back."

  "Please, go all out."

  The moment Kyoichi finished speaking, a dark blur shot toward him.

  So fast!

  He instantly opehe First Gate.

  The sed…

  Boom!

  With a single kick, was sent flying.

  However…

  Kyoichi khat his oppo had skillfully dispersed the force by retreating, so the kick didn’t cause any real damage.

  "So this is the First Gate…"

  "The boost is incredible!"

  was thrilled.

  As a martial arts expert, he instantly uood the ges in Kyoichi’s body—

  Increased strength, speed, and physical performance.

  Enhanced trol.

  The bination of these two faeant…

  Whoosh!

  Kyoichi was already in front of him.

  Bang!

  This time, it was who had no ce to ter.

  Too fast—even blinki dangerous.

  A single blink, and he could be hit.

  What’s more…

  During the exge, Kyoichi executed multiple teiques that normally wouldn’t be possible.

  So this is the First Gate?

  All the jōnin watg were stunned.

  The effect was far too powerful!

  However…

  They also noticed something. When Kyoichi activated the First Gate, his chakra fluctuated for an instant.

  That meant bining it with ninjutsu might not be ideal.

  The jōnin took note of this.

  "This is the First Gate bined with the Body Flicker Teique."

  Kyoided and pulled back.

  That flurry of attacks had drained him siderably.

  But what shocked him the most—

  had blocked them all.

  Though he struggled, he had only taken three hits—and none were serious.

  "My turn!"

  took a deep breath, then—

  Whoosh!

  His figure vanished on the spot.

  Afterimages!

  Breathing Activation Teique.

  And—

  The wind rises!

  A whirlwind appeared beside Kyoichi, sweeping in all dires.

  However...

  Kyoichi remained incredibly fast, evading and repositioning in an instant. His hands formed seals at an astonishing speed, pleting the sequen the blink of an eye.

  Earth Release: S of the Underworld!

  A massive mire surged forth, swallowing the whirlwind.

  But in the moment, the tornado transformed into a "dragon" and burst out.

  Earth-Style Wall! Water Formation Wall!

  One defeeique after another formed rapidly—only to be shredded by the storm.

  However, by this point, ’s attack had lost its momentum.

  The two separated, choosing not to tinue.

  From the sidelihe Third Hokage and Tsunade exged knowing smiles.

  Many of the jōni weren’t familiar with Kyoichi.

  But...

  These two knew very well that Kyoichi’s true strength—even if he relied only on taijutsu—was far beyond what he had just shown.

  Shisui’s ability to hold bad put on a show?

  He lear from his teacher!

  "I just used the Breathing Activation Teique along with my taijutsu—Konoha Dragon God."

  closed his eyes for a moment before tinuing, "This teique enhances cellur activity rather than pushing the body beyond its limits, so it doesn't cause the same fatigue as the Eight Gates."

  "As expected of a master."

  Might Duy was deeply impressed.

  The First Gate of the Eight Gates exhausts the body heavily, which is why unlog the Sed Gate—Rest Gate is necessary to recover quickly.

  Yet had spent years developing a powerful taijutsu teique that didn’t rely on the Eight Gates.

  Might Duy greatly respected such dedication!

  "I used the Rest Gate to recover my stamina, then activated the Breathing Activation Teique again. As you all saw, the First Gate improves bodily trol, making it ideal for taijutsu, whereas the Breathing Activation Teique enhances overall physical performance!"

  "The Breathing Activation Teique is more versatile. For those of us skilled in ninjutsu, it’s the better choice."

  Nara Shikaku chimed in.

  Most shinobi didn’t rely solely on taijutsu.

  Sihe majority bined ninjutsu with physical bat, the Breathing Activation Teique was far more practical for widespread use—while the Eight Gates were more suited for taijutsu specialists.

  "That’s right. For taijutsu users, learning both is ideal. For everyone else, mastering the Breathing Activation Teique is suffit."

  Kyoichi’s summary left the jōnin with a clear dire.

  Their choices were obvious now.

  At this moment, gave the Third Hokage a pleading look.

  At his age, this expression was impossible to ignore.

  The Third sighed, resigned. "You may exge taijutsu teiques with Duy for the Eight Gates. The specific terms are up to you."

  "Thank you, Lord Hokage!"

  immediately pulled Might Duy aside for discussion.

  Kyoichi wasn’t surprised.

  Very few shinobi could meet the requirements to unlock the Eight Gates.

  After all, the teique wasn’t meant for ordinary people. Only warriors like Might Duy and Might Guy could fully open them—even Kakashi, despite his exceptional taijutsu, could only reach the Sed Gate.

  Kyoichi himself was no exception.

  He had mao unlock the Third Gate, but progressing further had proveremely difficult.

  Despite his tinuous physical training, he had only barely glimpsed the path to the Fate.

  The Breathing Activation Teique, oher hand, was much easier.

  Most jōnin had solid knowledge foundations—after reading the scroll, they could figure it out themselves. , for instance, mastered it immediately after reviewing the material.

  Kyoichi barely had to teaything.

  Just a few key insights were enough.

  Because of this, he didn’t expect a high reward from the system.

  [Mission pleted: Forbidden Teique Training]

  [Evaluation: Good]

  [Reward: Chakra Absorption Teique]

  Kyoichi hadn’t expected this.

  This was the secret teique of Akadō Yoroi.

  However…

  While it could absorb physical and spiritual energy, it could only do sh direct hand tact.

  It couldn’t absorb chakra that had already been molded into ninjutsu.

  Not useless, exactly… just situational.

  Still, it was a rare secret teique, so he couldn’t call the reward disappointing.

  Kyoichi pos applications.

  If the absorption rate was high and he could modify it to work through his feet or other body parts, it could pair well with his slug teiques and prove valuable in battle.

  Something to experiment with ter.

  Kyoichi closed his system panel and refocused oy.

  Everyone ractig—

  Except for and Might Duy.

  The two of them were fully absorbed in a heated taijutsu debate, their iy pletely different from the others.

  "This Dragon God teique is fwless!"

  "Taijutsu is performed by humans. No matter how strong a tornado is, if I hit you directly and stop your movement, the teique falls apart. That’s the fw."

  "But I’m surrounded by wind—how would you even hit me?"

  was unvinced.

  Might Duy couldn't articute it clearly. He cked theoretical knowledge—he just felt there was a fw but couldn’t expin why.

  Kyoichi, amused, walked over to join them.

  "Your teique mimics a tornadht? But the eye of a tornado has no wind. That’s your weakness."

  Kyoichi expined.

  In the anime, Rock Lee had exploited this exact fw, using the Primary Lotus to break through the Dragon God teique.

  froze.

  He waue, but... he couldn’t find a terpoint.

  His mouth opehen closed.

  Finally, he looked stunned. "You saw that?"

  "At first, no. But after you broke through my two defesu, I noticed it."

  "...Ugh."

  fell silent.

  He uood.

  Kyoichi had figured it out and kly how to ter it.

  He had simply chosen not to expose it—to save ’s pride.

  "...Don’t overthink it. The teique is still powerful. A fw isn’t necessarily a weakness—if you uand it, you turn it into an advantage."

  Kyoichi reassured him.

  "What do you mean?"

  was deeply ied now.

  Might Duy scratched his head. "Isn’t it simple? If he tries to ehe eye of the storm... just hit him directly."

  "That’s ohod. Another is to adjust the wind’s dire."

  Many problems have simple, brute-force solutions.

  The Dragon God teique was one such example.

  In the end, it simply became a test of speed.

  Whoever was faster, won.

  If could master the Eight Gates, few could rival his speed.

  But unfortunately...

  He was already in his forties.

  At his age, his body was starting to dee. Maintaining his peak was already difficult.

  He had missed his best window.

  Even if he learhe Eight Gates, his body might not withstand the strain.

  Kyoichi thought for a moment and gave him a final piece of advice.

  "Master , even if you learn the Eight Gates, don’t open multiple gates at oart o a time to minimize the strain on your body."

  "...That’s a thing?"

  was startled.

  If Kyoichi hadn’t mentio, he would have rushed home to push himself straight into multiple gates.

  Then he realized—

  Wait. Who was he doubting?

  Kyoichi was a mediinjutsu master.

  He wasn’t just talking nonsense.

  "Apologies!"

  bowed deeply.

  Kyoichi waved it off. "No need. It’s just a precaution. If you don’t exceed the Third Gate, it won’t be an issue."

  His expnation reassured everyone.

  And as a final bonus—

  Kyoichi uedly picked up Konoha Whirlwind from .

  A pleasant surprise.

  Gcell