In the days that followed, Kagami spent his days at the Ninja Academy training his taijutsu.
To push his body to its limits as quickly as possible and help it adapt to those limits, he maintained the Gate of Opening and the Gate of Healing almost continuously throughout his training.
If Guy had known about this training method, his jaw would undoubtedly have dropped.
After all, even though the Gate of Opening and the Gate of Healing were merely the first two gates of the Eight Gates, they still placed an enormous burden on the body.
Opening them for short periods was one thing, but maintaining them for extended periods was something entirely different. It wasn’t a question of how hardworking or determined someone was. An ordinary person’s body simply couldn’t withstand that kind of prolonged strain.
Of course, Kagami, who possessed the Tenseigan, was no ordinary person.
Thus, although his training method was downright insane, he could just barely endure it by gritting his teeth.
And the results of this almost inhuman training were remarkably evident.
On the afternoon of the fifth day of his grueling training, Kagami successfully opened the third gate of the Eight Gates, the Gate of Life, located in his throat.
He had achieved this a full day and a half ahead of schedule!
However, when Kagami went to find Guy and ask him about the techniques for opening the fourth gate, the Gate of Pain, Guy told him that Kakashi had already come to ask about it that very morning.
"He actually beat me by half a day!"
Upon learning that Kakashi had already been there, Kagami was genuinely astonished.
To master the Eight Gates as quickly as possible, his training over the past few days could only be described as madness.
Yet even after pushing himself that hard, he had still fallen half a day behind Kakashi. Just how desperately had that guy been training?!
Guy, meanwhile, sighed with emotion.
"It took me a full three years to open the Gate of Life, and you two bastards managed to master it in less than a week! Compared to you guys, I’m practically an idiot!"
Kagami shook his head. "You can’t look at it that way. Those three years of yours also included basic physical training. Weren’t Kakashi and I training during that time too? If you had your current physical foundation and were only just starting to learn the Eight Gates, I doubt you’d be much slower than us!"
Guy flashed a grin, revealing a row of gleaming white teeth. "You don’t have to comfort me! Challenging geniuses like you two is incredibly exciting. I’m enjoying every moment of it!"
Kagami knew that Guy was a man of unwavering determination, so he didn’t say anything more. After asking about the techniques and precautions for opening the fourth gate, the Gate of Pain, he bid Guy farewell.
That evening, after returning home, Kagami went into his bedroom and carefully shut the doors and windows. He then took a storage scroll from his ninja pouch and began removing its contents one by one.
Among them were diagrams of the human chakra pathway system, materials on sealing techniques, and numerous sheets of unfinished notes.
Kagami devoted his days to mastering the Eight Gates. At night, however, once he returned home, he turned his attention to improving the Yin Seal.
Finally, he retrieved his Fire Release clone from the storage scroll and placed it beside him. Comparing the diagrams of the human chakra pathway system with his Fire Release clone, he began studying them carefully, repeatedly revising his notes.
Whenever he encountered a difficult problem, he would use the Tenseigan’s Spirit Descent Technique to transfer his spirit body into the Fire Release clone.
By controlling the clone, he could personally experience the pathways through which chakra flowed when activating the Yin Seal. He would then compare those pathways against the male chakra pathway diagrams in front of him, identify the subtle differences, and mark them down one by one.
Improving an already highly refined secret technique like the Yin Seal was no easy task.
Fortunately, Kagami had a Fire Release clone that had successfully mastered the Yin Seal to use as a reference.
Moreover, his ambitions weren’t particularly lofty. He simply wanted to make it possible for men to cultivate the Yin Seal and obtain its extraordinary ability to accumulate chakra.
With such a clearly defined objective, his research wasn’t entirely without direction.
And after five or six days of painstaking contemplation, Kagami had already developed a preliminary plan.
By carefully comparing the chakra pathways used by his Fire Release clone when activating the Yin Seal with those depicted in the male chakra pathway diagrams, he had discovered more than a dozen subtle differences between the two.
It was precisely these dozen or so subtle differences that prevented male shinobi from successfully mastering the Yin Seal.
Under normal circumstances, improving the technique would require Kagami to conduct a comprehensive analysis of each of these differences and design a series of corresponding experiments to verify his findings.
However, the human chakra pathway system was extraordinarily complex. Even the slightest difference could warrant extensive research, and Kagami simply didn’t have the time or energy to analyze every single one of them.
Anyone else would have found themselves at a complete loss.
But Kagami was different.
He possessed some of the most advanced biological cloning technology in the entire shinobi world, which allowed him to devise a remarkably simple solution: trial and error!
Simply put, he would use a dozen or so clones to test each possibility individually. After all, he would only be controlling clones, so there was no need to worry about causing irreversible damage to his own chakra pathways if an experiment went wrong.
Using this method, he could quickly determine exactly which of those subtle differences, whether individually or in combination, were preventing male shinobi from mastering the Yin Seal.
Once he had accurately identified these obstacles, overcoming them one by one would merely be a matter of time, given his proficiency in sealing techniques.
While Kagami devoted himself to his grueling training and research day and night, the shinobi world was anything but peaceful.
Just as he had anticipated, news of the turmoil that had erupted in Kumogakure quickly spread throughout the shinobi world. In fact, it spread even faster than Kagami had expected.
And as word of the disturbance in Kumogakure circulated, all sorts of rumors began spreading alongside it, some true and others false.
One particular rumor caught Kagami’s attention.
According to this rumor, Danzo had encountered a serious problem during the ritual. Although he had successfully acquired multiple Kekkei Genkai, something had gone terribly wrong with the most crucial aspect of the process: his spirit body.
Numerous souls had appeared within his body, each capable of competing with Danzo’s own soul for control of his body.
At first, Kagami assumed that this information had been leaked by Kumogakure.
But upon closer consideration, he realized that Kumogakure would never casually leak such important intelligence.
After all, Kumogakure was still concealing the truth behind the turmoil in the village, as well as the fact that it had been in contact with Danzo, a rogue shinobi from Konoha.
Therefore, it was highly unlikely that this information had come from Kumogakure.
"Could it be Orochimaru?"
Apart from Kumogakure and Kagami himself, the only other person who knew about this was Orochimaru, who had also been present at the time.
If the information hadn’t come from Kumogakure, then there was a ninety percent chance that Orochimaru was responsible.
"But Orochimaru doesn’t have any reason to spread this information either! And if it wasn’t him, then who could it be?"
Suddenly, someone came to mind.
Someone else who also knew about this...