Chapter 9: Eight Gates
The reason Might Duy was so powerful was that he cultivated the Eight Gates.
According to Might Duy himself, it took him a full twenty years to completely master it and reach the point where he could open all Eight Gates.
Then, a few years later during the Third Great Ninja War, he furiously opened the Eight Gates and beat the Hidden Mist Village's "Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist" into "Three Lucky Treasures."
Aomizu estimated that even if Might Duy couldn't open the seventh gate now, he could at least open the sixth.
On a side note, given Might Duy's strength, it was impossible for him to get injured while performing D-rank Missions.
And that was indeed the case.
Aomizu's examination revealed that his body had been overloaded due to long-term excessive training, and the sudden burst of activity was what forced him into the hospital.
A Genin's earning capacity was limited, and since Might Duy had essentially given all the good resources to his son, Might Guy, he couldn't afford to use secret medicines to maintain his body.
Fortunately, such an ailment was not a major problem in the Ninja World, and with Aomizu's medical skill, it could be easily treated.
[Completed the treatment of Might Duy, rewarded with a gold orb.]
[Congratulations on obtaining the Eight Gates.]
The system's reward was completely within Aomizu's expectations.
After all, the only skill Might Duy likely possessed was the Eight Gates.
"Thank you, Doctor, your medical skill is truly amazing. I can already feel the Springtime of Youth burning anew."
...
Hearing Might Duy's words, Aomizu's face was lined with black marks.
Now, he somewhat understood how Kakashi felt being constantly pestered by Might Guy.
Ordinary people truly couldn't handle that style of youth.
"Your body was overloaded due to long-term excessive training. You must pay attention to this in the future, and you cannot engage in any more excessive training in the near term."
Out of his duty as a doctor, Aomizu offered the reminder.
Might Duy gave Aomizu a thumbs-up, smiling to reveal his sparkling white teeth.
"Youth also requires timely rest."
Shaking his head, Aomizu quickly left the operating room. If he stayed any longer, he feared he might catch the "Youth Virus."
As a result, he ran right into Tsunade, who had just arrived at Konoha Hospital.
"Lady Tsunade, I have already learned the Chakra Scalpel. When will you teach me the Mystical Palm Technique?"
"What did you say?"
"I said I have already learned the Chakra Scalpel!"
Aomizu repeated himself, word for word.
"You're not trying to lie just because you don't want to lose to me, are you?"
Tsunade still couldn't quite believe it.
Without explaining, Aomizu simply led Tsunade to an operating table, retrieved a fish the hospital kept as a spare, and demonstrated the Chakra Scalpel for her right there.
When the facts were laid before her eyes, Tsunade had no choice but to believe.
Aomizu had genuinely mastered the A-rank difficulty Chakra Scalpel within three days.
One should know that many Chunin-level Medical Ninja still hadn't learned this move.
Only a small number of Medical Jonin could claim to have mastered this technique completely.
From this perspective, Aomizu's level of Medical Ninjutsu was already considered Jonin-level.
An eighteen-year-old Medical Jonin was nothing special.
The crucial point was that he had never been exposed to Medical Ninjutsu before the age of seventeen, taking him only one year to go from zero to his current level.
Just thinking about this, even Tsunade was shocked by Aomizu's talent.
This was a true genius.
"Alright, you win. Here is the Ninjutsu Scroll for the Mystical Palm Technique."
Tsunade was not a sore loser, and she readily gave the Mystical Palm Technique to Aomizu.
"The Mystical Palm Technique is also an A-rank Medical Ninjutsu. With your talent, you should be able to learn it in about three or four days."
After instructing Aomizu, Tsunade did not leave immediately. Instead, she sought out Fukada Minako, who was currently in charge of managing the entire Konoha Hospital.
"Minako, we need to focus on cultivating Aomizu from now on. His talent is absolutely no less than mine."
The "focused cultivation" Tsunade spoke of naturally didn't refer to training him in Medical Ninjutsu.
Rather, it referred to nurturing his future career development.
In her view, Aomizu possessed the ability to take over the position of Head of the Medical Department.
In fact, if Aomizu weren't so young and lacked seniority, she would have wanted to step down and let him take over immediately.
That way, she could go gambling every day without any worries.
Cough, cough, that's not the point.
The point is that as an elder, one must yield to the younger generation and allow them more room for advancement.
Yes, exactly.
"I understand, Lady Tsunade."
Fukada Minako naturally understood the meaning behind Tsunade's words.
It was precisely because she understood that she felt shocked.
She thought she had already rated Aomizu highly enough, but she hadn't expected to still underestimate him... Aomizu, having received the Mystical Palm Technique, returned to his office. However, he did not start learning the Mystical Palm Technique right away; instead, he first studied the Eight Gates rewarded by the system.
Everyone possesses "Eight Gates" within their body that restrict their Chakra, serving as a self-protective mechanism of the human body.
Once the Eight Gates are mastered, one can open the internal "Eight Gates" and gain greater power.
This is a Taijutsu that removes the body's limitations on Chakra.
The so-called "Eight Gates" are the Gate of Opening, the Gate of Healing, the Gate of Life, the Gate of Pain, the Gate of Limit, the Gate of View, the Gate of Wonder, and the Gate of Death.
Opening different gates grants different amplification effects.
For example, opening the first gate, the Gate of Opening, can remove the brain's restrictions, allowing the full hundred percent of physical ability to be utilized.
If one opens the final, fatal Eighth Gate, the Gate of Death, they can gain power dozens of times greater than the Five Kage.
Of course, the specific effects vary from person to person.
For instance, Might Duy opening the Eight Gates only managed to kill four members of the Hidden Mist Village's "Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
And Might Guy, who inherited this technique, was even more significant.
During a god-level battle like the Fourth Great Ninja War, he opened the Eight Gates and nearly kicked his way to the ending.
Even Uchiha Madara personally admitted that when it came to Taijutsu, Might Guy was the strongest.
Some even say that Might Guy isn't just someone who knows Taijutsu, but that he is the only one who truly knows Taijutsu.
"Although it was a system reward, given my current physical capabilities, I can actually only open the first gate, the Gate of Opening."
Unlike Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, the foundation of Taijutsu is the body, and the system cannot help him skip the physical training stage.
If his physical ability is insufficient, forcibly opening more gates would only harm himself.
If Aomizu hadn't consistently maintained his sword skill training, he might not even be able to open the first gate right now.
"It seems I need to incorporate physical training into my daily routine from now on."
Since he had obtained the Eight Gates, Aomizu naturally didn't want to give it up easily.
He didn't necessarily have to train to the level of Might Duy or Might Guy, but he should at least cultivate enough to open the sixth gate.
The sixth gate was where the qualitative change occurred.
Of course, this would require a long time.
Soon, another day of work ended. After clocking out, Aomizu immediately implemented his physical training plan.
After running two laps around Konoha, he went to his usual training spot to begin practicing the Mystical Palm Technique.
The reason for only two laps was that he was just starting, and it was inappropriate to immediately raise the intensity to a very high level.
Doing so would instead damage his body.
Just like Might Duy today.