In the past year, it was either fighting or preparing for the next battle.
Under this high-intensity combat, Gin had already opened the second gate, Kyūmon (Rest Gate), of the Eight Gates.
Throughout the year, Cloud ninjas continuously tried to breach the Land of Fire.
But every time, they were intercepted by Sakumo and his team.
The cost of this was that Gin had hardly had a proper rest throughout the entire year.
His strength had grown, but slowly.
For Gin, increasing his taijutsu wouldn't enhance his overall power much.
His strength had improved from an elite Jonin at the beginner level to the peak of an elite Jonin.
Although, he seemed to be the only one in this world measuring strength in such a way.
Over the past year, Gin completed his training in Tsuki no Kokyū (Breath of the Moon), fully mastered Tenma no Kō (Heavenly Demon Art), and his Mokuton (Wood Release) became exceedingly proficient.
He also managed to temporarily free Rokku Senzoku (Six Library Immortal Thieves) from its elemental restrictions, restoring its original effects.
His Meikon Jutsu (Soul Manipulation Technique) reached a stage where he could manipulate souls even without using his Sharingan.
However, despite these accomplishments, his actual combat ability hadn't undergone a qualitative transformation.
He could dominate in the elite Jonin class, comparable to future Kakashi without the Mangekyō.
Reaching this level of strength at fifteen already placed him in the category of a true genius.
But ultimately, Gin's limitations had returned to the original issue:
Chakra quantity.
If Gin's chakra level were compared to the typical ninja ranking system, it would be at the level of a Chunin, while his ninjutsu was Kage-level, and his taijutsu was Jonin-level.
The overall evaluation still placed him as an elite Jonin.
Quite an unusual combination.
If he were to be given a tailed beast, he'd instantly be Kage-level.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi would have to take a detour when facing him.
Unfortunately...
"Chakra..."
Many other Jonin faced the same issue as Gin, with some even reaching Kage-level fame, yet only possessing Jonin-level chakra.
For example, a certain Minato, or perhaps his disciple.
Luckily, with his foundation in the Basic Inner Techniques, he could accumulate chakra. As long as he didn't deplete it all at once, he would eventually build up a vast amount of chakra.
But during wartime, achieving this wasn't easy.
For instance, the chakra Gin had spent years accumulating was almost completely exhausted at the beginning of the war.
That had been close to Jonin-level chakra.
After two years, he had managed to build it back up to Chunin-level, which was already impressive.
Especially over the last year, his chakra growth had accelerated thanks to the cells from Hashirama.
As time passed, this growth rate would only increase.
There was no fear of running out of chakra now; even after several large-scale battles, he still had some left.
If his inner techniques weren't focused on chakra accumulation rather than expanding his limit, he wouldn't need to go through all this trouble.
The human body, depending on its growth and bloodline, could only generate a limited amount of chakra per day. Gin also refused to push his body to the limit to forcefully extract more chakra.
If he had done that, he would have already reached the chakra capacity of a regular Jonin by now.
Gin's gaze shifted to the distance, where a battle was taking place.
"That seems to be Shibi."
Aburame Shibi stood on a treetop.
He tilted his head to dodge an incoming shuriken.
With a wave of his hand, countless insects flew out.
And then…
"Busoshoku: Kikaichū Cluster!"
The Kikaichū insects, shining black, quickly surrounded and attacked the enemy. Their speed rivaled that of shuriken, swiftly penetrating the bodies of the Cloud ninjas that had suddenly appeared.
The Cloud ninjas died without resistance.
"This jutsu from Gin is really strong," Shibi commented. The technique had been paid for by Lord Sakumo, and both he and Gin had bought it at a "friendship price."
What kind of deal had been made, Shibi didn't want to think about.
But the jutsu was indeed powerful.
Busoshoku Haki could be applied to the body or objects to increase their hardness and strength.
Applying it to ninjutsu, however, was far more difficult.
But according to Gin, it was possible to achieve this level with enough training.
Though Gin hadn't reached that point himself.
Five million ryo for one technique.
In addition to enhancing taijutsu or the power of his insects, there was another ability.
Underneath Shibi's sunglasses, a red gleam flickered in his eyes.
"There's more."
Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki).
With his Kikaichū enhanced by Observation Haki, his detection range had expanded.
It was almost impossible for Cloud ninjas to sneak past him.
He could even sense enemy ninjutsu.
Even though Shibi was just a Chunin, he was confident he could take on a Jonin.
Shibi quickly headed toward the distant battle.
They were using Observation Haki to track the Cloud ninjas, which explained why no matter how cautiously the Cloud ninjas approached, they were always found.
As long as they had enough chakra, the detection range could be expanded infinitely.
Five million for this technique was truly worth it.
Ahead, a Jonin was rapidly moving toward the Cloud ninjas, while another ninja in the bushes to the right was synchronizing his movements.
They advanced toward the enemy with speed.
Late at night.
Gin returned to the camp.
The camp had more people now.
After all, it had been a challenge for the remaining twenty or so to hold the line.
For some unknown reason, Hiruzen Sarutobi had begun sending reinforcements.
Though the numbers still hadn't reached one hundred, it was much better than the original count of fewer than fifty.
From what Gin understood, these reinforcements had been scraped together from various battlefronts. They might not be the strongest, but they had survived the battlefield.
That made them more likely to survive.
The camp had also been moved to a new location.
It was now deep within a mountainous forest.
"Good evening, Gin-dono."
"Gin-dono."
"Gin-dono."
The ninjas passing by all greeted Gin, and he nodded in response.
Gin might not be well-known in Konoha.
But on the Cloud Village front, he was quite famous.
Some people had even compared him to Might Duy from the Land of Rain, Namikaze Minato from the Iwa front, and Kato Dan from the Suna front.
Together, they were called the Four Prodigies of Konoha.
Of these four, Namikaze Minato was the most famous among Konoha ninjas, far more so than Gin.
Even though Gin's achievements were greater, Minato was the weakest of the four.
However, he was the youngest, and he wasn't an Uchiha.
Gin's accomplishments were strictly kept secret. Aside from the Cloud ninjas, no other battlefronts were aware of his feats.
Because, after all, he was an Uchiha.
Notice how there were five battlefronts, yet none involved Kirigakure.
The Uchiha clan didn't qualify for rankings.
As for who was behind that?
Gin wouldn't say.
But that didn't mean he didn't know.
In the distance, he saw Sakumo sitting cross-legged.
Sakumo opened his eyes as Gin approached.
"Want to spar?"
Gin rolled his eyes. This guy clearly just wanted to beat him up again.
They had sparred many times before, and Sakumo's mastery of Soru far surpassed Gin's. Even Gin's Shunpo couldn't keep up.
Not to mention Sakumo's proficiency in taijutsu.
When it came to taijutsu sparring, Gin was completely dominated.
He planned to walk past Sakumo.
Recently, the Cloud ninjas' assaults had lessened significantly, and there weren't many elite Jonin among them.
Sakumo had some free time on his hands.
"You can use ninjutsu this time."
"Are you sure?!"
Gin, who was about to refuse, stopped in his tracks.
"I'm sure."
"Don't blame me then."
A wicked grin spread across Gin's face.
(End of Chapter)