Glancing at the brilliant sunset on the horizon, Guy grinned.
"Ah, what a fulfilling day! Kagami, Kakashi, how’s it going? Have you figured out the trick to opening the Gate of Life yet?"
The two, who were still completely absorbed in figuring out how to open the Gate of Life, paid him no attention.
Evidently, upon reaching the third gate of the Eight Gates, the Gate of Life, neither talent nor experience was proving particularly useful. Despite spending an entire day experimenting, Kagami and Kakashi were still unable to open it.
Seeing the two frowning in concentration, Guy declared smugly, "Some treasures can only be obtained through the nourishment of youth and sweat! I told you two from the very beginning that if you want to master the Eight Gates, you have to be prepared to endure hardship! Well? The Eight Gates isn’t the kind of technique you can casually master through talent alone, is it?!"
What made Guy so pleased wasn’t that the two had encountered a setback, but rather that all the effort and hard work he had invested over the years had proven worthwhile.
Kagami said, "Opening the Gate of Life in the throat is indeed more difficult than I imagined. The sun’s about to set, so why don’t we call it a day?"
Kakashi glanced at the setting sun, then turned to Guy.
"Guy, thanks for all your help today. I’ve already memorized the techniques for opening the Gate of Life. I’ll practice on my own when I get back."
Guy hurriedly warned them, "Hey! You two had better not do anything reckless when you get back! Strengthening your bodies and gradually allowing them to grow accustomed to and adapt to the strain is the very foundation of training in the Eight Gates!"
Kagami chuckled. "Don’t worry."
Kakashi replied, "I’ll be careful."
Seeing that neither of them seemed to be taking his warning particularly seriously, Guy couldn’t help but sigh.
"Actually, the speed at which you two have opened the gates is already astonishing. You truly deserve to be called geniuses! But there’s really no need to obsess over opening more gates as quickly as possible. The Eight Gates is different from other techniques. The more impatient and reckless you are during training, the more likely you are to injure yourselves. Only by concentrating on building a solid foundation can you go further and progress more steadily!"
Kagami patted Guy on the shoulder and said with a smile, "I was just joking with you earlier. I know perfectly well what kind of technique the Eight Gates is. I won’t do anything reckless."
Guy nodded at Kagami. He wasn’t particularly worried about him.
Then, turning his attention to Kakashi, Guy asked, "Kakashi, the state you’re in right now really worries me. Just what kind of burden are you carrying?"
Guy was actually a very perceptive person. He simply disliked devoting too much attention to matters unrelated to taijutsu, which occasionally made him seem rather oblivious.
He had noticed that something was wrong with Kakashi quite some time ago, but he had never found an opportunity to ask about it. Now, seeing how desperately Kakashi wanted to improve his strength, he finally couldn’t hold back any longer.
Faced with Guy’s concerned questioning, Kakashi lowered his head and remained silent.
In his eyes, there were certain matters that only he could resolve himself, and certain bonds that only he could sever with his own hands!
Looking at Kakashi, Kagami couldn’t help but feel somewhat emotional.
In the past, Kakashi had always worn a sleepy expression, his eyelids drooping lazily. No matter what he did, he always seemed completely unmotivated.
However, ever since Obito had reclaimed the Mangekyo Sharingan in his left eye, Kakashi seemed to have realized something. His entire demeanor had changed, gradually becoming colder, sharper, and more formidable!
In truth, this change wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for Kakashi.
The fighting style best suited to Kakashi was that of his sensei, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato: a swift and decisive shinobi who combined ninjutsu and taijutsu, rather than an Uchiha-style shinobi who relied on dojutsu.
Kakashi himself was undoubtedly aware of this.
However, after the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, the transplantation of Obito’s Sharingan had caused his fighting style to change. Over time, he had gradually become the renowned ’Copy Ninja,’ whose name was known throughout the shinobi world.
Now that he had lost the Sharingan, Kakashi had returned to his original fighting style.
However, compared to the Fourth Hokage, there was indeed something wrong with Kakashi’s current state. Or rather, there was something wrong with his state of mind.
Back when the Fourth Hokage was selecting disciples at the Ninja Academy, Kagami had the opportunity to interact with him at close range.
Back then, the Fourth Hokage had given Kagami the impression of a gentle spring breeze, warm and pleasant, without the slightest hint of sharpness. He was completely different from the Kakashi of today.
It was clear that even someone whose fighting style was as swift and deadly as the Fourth Hokage’s could still be as gentle as a spring breeze and as refined as polished jade in everyday life.
Seeing that Kakashi was unwilling to talk, Guy could only sigh softly.
"All right. I just want you to know that we’re friends. If you ever need help, please don’t hesitate to tell me."
Kakashi nodded slightly. Then, with a flicker of his figure, he disappeared without another word.
After Kakashi left, Kagami casually remarked, "Kakashi has gotten a lot stronger lately."
Guy’s expression turned serious. "Yeah. I could already tell during our sparring session this morning. If I don’t open the Eight Gates, I’m almost having trouble keeping up with his speed!"
Kagami reassured him, "Stop worrying so much. He’s not a child anymore. He knows how to make his own decisions. Besides, having a goal is better than the dejected state he was in before."
Guy nodded. "I certainly hope so!"
That evening, after returning home, Kagami carefully reviewed everything he had learned from his Eight Gates training that day.
The eight vital points of the human body involved in the Eight Gates were interconnected in a progressive sequence. Each successive gate was more difficult to open than the last, but the effects of opening each gate also became increasingly significant.
The first gate, the Gate of Opening, and the second gate, the Gate of Healing, belonged to the introductory stage.
With Kagami’s current strength, he could just barely manage to open both gates within a single day. However, upon reaching the third gate, the Gate of Life, the situation became entirely different.
This was not only because the Gate of Life was located in the extremely vulnerable throat region, but also because, to open it, Kagami had to simultaneously maintain the Gate of Opening and the Gate of Healing.
His body could barely withstand the strain of opening two gates. Therefore, even though he had already grasped the essential techniques for opening the third gate, the Gate of Life, actually opening it successfully remained extremely difficult.
"Guy was right. Opening the gates isn’t something I can rush."
Kagami sighed thoughtfully.
He knew perfectly well that what was preventing him from opening the Gate of Life was nothing other than his own body. Once his body had fully adapted to the strain of opening the first two gates, the Gate of Opening and the Gate of Healing, opening the Gate of Life would naturally follow!
"My body has been continuously strengthened by the Tenseigan, and my physical constitution already far surpasses that of an ordinary person. I should be able to adapt much faster than most people..."
Narrowing his eyes, Kagami silently began estimating how much time he would need to completely master the Eight Gates.
According to his calculations, opening the third gate, the Gate of Life, would take approximately one week. Opening the fourth gate, the Gate of Pain, would require around three weeks, while opening the fifth gate, the Gate of Limit, might take two to three months.
He estimated that he could open the sixth gate, the Gate of View, in roughly half a year, but opening the seventh gate, the Gate of Wonder, would probably take one to two years.
As for the eighth gate, the Gate of Death, Kagami’s current understanding of the Eight Gates was still too limited for him to make any estimates...