Mutsuki quietly made his way deep into the forest, keeping his Byakugan activated all the way, confirming that there were no other ninjas around him.
First, Mutsuki tested using Armament Haki without activating the Eight Inner Gates, concentrating Chakra in his hands, then swiftly performing Nature Transformation.
With the use of Chakra, a layer of black substance quickly covered Mutsuki's right palm, resembling a black glove.
Mutsuki took out a Kunai with his left hand and forcefully stabbed towards his right hand.
Clang!
When the Kunai hit the hand covered by the Color of Arms, it shook violently as if it had struck an incredibly hard object, unable to penetrate even a fraction.
Mutsuki activated Lightning Release in his left hand, greatly enhancing the power of the Kunai.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!!
Shimmering blue lightning enveloped Mutsuki's palm, continuously striking his hand covered by the Color of Arms.
However, despite the layer of pitch-black substance being as thin as paper, it possessed an incredibly strong defensive power, enduring several minutes of continuous Lightning Release without any effect.
"The defense of Color of Arms Hardening is quite impressive," Mutsuki nodded, acknowledging the defensive power of this Armament Haki localized for the ninja world.
In fact, Mutsuki also mastered a Ninjutsu somewhat similar to Color of Arms Hardening, called Earth Release: Earth Spear Ninjutsu.
This Ninjutsu enhances both defense and attack by hardening the body.
Mutsuki compared the strength of Earth Spear to Color of Arms and found that Earth Spear's upper limit was far lower than Armament Haki, whether in attack, defense, or versatility.
Earth Spear only had abilities similar to Hardening, couldn't be applied to weapons, and couldn't exceed attacks like Haki.
The only advantage of Earth Spear is that it can be used together with Color of Arms without conflict.
However, Mutsuki felt it wasn't necessary. Color of Arms alone was already tough enough; using Earth Spear would overflow in defense, wasting too much Chakra.
After testing the defensive power with Lightning Release Kunai, Mutsuki then split out a Shadow Clone to use False Darkness against him. Mutsuki protected his arms with Color of Arms, directly resisting the full force of False Darkness with his hardened palm.
The output power of False Darkness was unquestionable, representing that he could basically ignore most Ninjutsu.
Of course, Mutsuki couldn't just rely on directly withstanding all Ninjutsu in future battles thinking Color of Arms didn't require Chakra.
Mutsuki attempted to push Color of Arms to its limits, but found that even using ten thousand points of Chakra to wrap his fists with Armament Haki Hardening was still far from reaching the maximum.
After some consideration, Mutsuki ultimately decided not to throw a punch with ten thousand points of Chakra, canceling the action.
It's better to keep a low profile within Konoha. Stirring up too much trouble might attract the ANBU, which wouldn't be good.
Next, Mutsuki tested the effect of Color of Arms enhancing weapons. He chose a standard-issue Shuriken.
Mutsuki coated it with the pitch-black Armament Haki and hurled the Shuriken towards a large boulder about half a person's height.
The Color of Arms Shuriken easily pierced through the stone, even penetrating the tree behind it, demonstrating impressive piercing power.
However, the Chakra consumption of Haki made Mutsuki feel like he needed to use this Ninjutsu sparingly, or else it would take a significant amount of Chakra just to throw a bunch of Shuriken enhanced with Armament Haki like that.
Since he had previously tested that Earth Spear could be used together with Armament Haki, Mutsuki then attempted to use Armament Haki to enhance Ninjutsu.
First, Mutsuki tested Lightning Release. While using Chidori, he also performed Yin Release Nature Transformation to apply Armament Haki, allowing the Armament Haki to wrap around the Chidori.
The Chidori enhanced with Color of Arms was no longer pure blue lightning but instead turned into blackish-blue lightning, looking somewhat eerie.
With the power boost from Color of Arms, the destructive force of Chidori greatly increased, becoming incredibly terrifying, destroying everything touched by the black lightning.
However, not all Ninjutsu can be enhanced by Color of Arms. After Mutsuki's tests, he found that only a few Ninjutsu could be enhanced, while most were not suitable, especially those of fire, wind, and water.
Ninjutsu suitable for Color of Arms enhancement are either those held in hand or techniques with substance like earth release.
This was a joyous discovery, indicating that Mutsuki's strength had increased again, making his bursts even stronger.
Furthermore, Mutsuki also tested whether Armament Haki could be compatible with Breathing Technique's Mark, testing each one individually, and found no issues.
"At last, Open!" Finally, Mutsuki activated the Eight Inner Gates, attempting to use Haki while the gates were open.
Mutsuki once again condensed Chakra in his hands, and soon his palms were covered with Armament Haki.
Mutsuki wasn't too surprised; the more gates of the Eight Inner Gates were opened, the more berserk his Chakra became. In the state of the first gate, he could even use Ninjutsu.
"Gate of Rest, open! Gate of Life, open!" Mutsuki opened two gates in one breath, instantly feeling his Chakra becoming uncontrollable within his body.
In the state of the third gate, Mutsuki couldn't use Ninjutsu anymore because his Chakra was too difficult to control.
Prepared for this, Mutsuki didn't mind. Since he couldn't perform fine manipulations, he simply refrained from doing so.
Mutsuki erupted with his entire body's Chakra, using Armament Haki. The pitch-black Haki instantly covered Mutsuki's entire body, making him look like he was wearing an airtight black armor.
Mutsuki could feel his Chakra rapidly depleting.
The consumption of using Armament Haki on the entire body was much higher than just on the palms or a single arm's length. To maintain the strength of Color of Arms, the consumption was even greater.
For Mutsuki, using Color of Arms on the entire body wasn't worth it. When encountering most Ninjutsu, he could switch to Thunder Breathing and escape, consuming much less Chakra than resisting with Color of Arms throughout his entire body.
But Guy is different. The massive amount of Chakra provided by opening the Eight Inner Gates is simply inexhaustible for him, and his only means of attack is Taijutsu. Most of the time, he needs to engage in close combat, and having Color of Arms covering his entire body can effectively protect him.
After testing all aspects, Mutsuki concluded that Armament Haki can be used in the state of the Eight Inner Gates, but forget about enhancing strength in specific areas with Hardening; either you use it or you don't, and once used, it covers the entire body, making it impossible to control specific parts.
Moreover, it's also impossible to enhance weapons with Color of Arms, so you can only use Color of Arms Hardening to cover your own body.
Mutsuki can only say that combining the Eight Inner Gates with Armament Haki results in an extreme level of power, but there's no room for fine manipulation.
Mutsuki also attempted combining the Eight Inner Gates with Stone Breathing Mark and Armament Haki, but the rapid depletion of Chakra immediately forced him to withdraw within less than three seconds.
The Chakra consumption was just too exaggerated; his Three Gates of the Eight Inner Gates couldn't handle it at all.
Mutsuki would rather just use the Eight Inner Gates with Stone Breathing or simply the Eight Inner Gates with Armament Haki. Although it's slightly weaker in strength, it's more enduring.
"I wonder how long it will take Guy to learn. Before mastering Armament Haki, although he's the type with extreme power, mastering Yin Release is much more difficult than the five basic elemental natures." Mutsuki feels that teaching Guy Beginner Armament Haki might be several times harder than teaching him Stone Breathing.
While Stone Breathing is challenging, it aligns well with Guy's personality, and it's considered Taijutsu.
Armament Haki is different. It's a genuine Yin Release Secret Jutsu that requires mastering Yin Release Nature Transformation.
Although Guy isn't completely incapable of learning Ninjutsu like Lee, his talent in Ninjutsu is truly dismal.
Mutsuki found it quite frustrating to teach Guy Shadow Clone. Shisui mastered the Ninjutsu in one go, but even after a month, Guy couldn't raise the Shadow Clone's Proficiency level to over forty, despite being taught by someone skilled in teaching techniques.
Later on, Mutsuki simply told Guy not to bother learning it; after all, Shadow Clone wasn't very significant for him.
Facing someone like Guy, even though the teaching skills had been upgraded once and his own Yin Release Nature Transformation Proficiency level wasn't low, coupled with his Perfect-level Haki, Mutsuki felt that teaching Guy Armament Haki to the Beginner level would still be quite challenging. It might even take years to accomplish.
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