"Stand still."
Kakashi, with his usual laid-back demeanor, started poking and prodding at Naruto after making him stand straight. Naruto, feeling ticklish from all the pointing, began squirming uncontrollably, which almost made Kakashi lose his patience and want to knock some sense into him.
"Here... and here... roughly like this."
"If you circulate your chakra along this route, you'll be able to unlock the 'Gate of Opening.'"
"Of course, to use the Eight Gates, you need extensive training in taijutsu."
Naruto tried to follow the chakra route Kakashi had outlined several times, but no matter what, he just couldn't get it to flow properly. Let alone open the first gate.
Turns out Kakashi wasn't exaggerating...
While attempting to circulate his chakra, Naruto realized his own chakra pathways were somewhat blocked, causing the flow to stutter and get stuck.
He quickly understood the Eight Gates technique. The purpose of regular training was to widen the chakra pathways and increase the body's endurance, only then could someone utilize the Eight Gates.
Naruto had the physical capacity for it, but his "software"—the chakra pathways—was too underdeveloped. Running the Eight Gates on that was impossible.
But honestly...
He never really planned to learn the Eight Gates anyway.
"How long does it take to master this technique, Uncle?" Naruto asked, even though he already had his doubts.
In his previous life, when reading fanfiction, the protagonists in those stories would start training in the Eight Gates from a young age, making it look effortless. But Naruto realized that if it were so easy to master, the technique would've been widespread among Konoha's shinobi, not restricted as a forbidden technique.
"If you're fast, a year. If you're slower, two or three years," Kakashi said, his expression serious. "But I don't recommend you pursue this path."
Naruto blinked, taken aback by the intensity in Kakashi's eyes.
The Eight Gates technique was only suitable for those who specialized in taijutsu and couldn't use ninjutsu. Regular chakra was consumed just by opening the "gates" within the body. That's also why Kakashi had only mastered the first gate. His Sharingan, which he couldn't deactivate, constantly drained his chakra, leaving him just enough to open the first gate.
If he continued to train in the Eight Gates, Kakashi figured he'd collapse from chakra exhaustion the moment he activated it.
Naruto, on the other hand, had plenty of chakra. But even so, it didn't seem worth the time and effort.
After all, training in the Eight Gates required immense time and dedication. If Naruto spent his time training in taijutsu, Kakashi was certain the Third Hokage would personally strangle him.
"It takes that long, huh..." Naruto was a bit deflated by that. Spending several years just to open one gate seemed a bit impractical for someone like him.
"You haven't tested your chakra nature yet, right?"
Kakashi, hoping to steer Naruto toward a more suitable path, pulled out a chakra paper and handed it to him.
"Give it a try."
'Chakra paper, huh?'
Naruto took it, examining it from all angles, trying to figure out what made it special. After a moment of scrutiny, he still couldn't see anything unusual about it.
Watching Naruto almost fold the paper into an airplane, Kakashi sighed and covered his face with one hand, reminding him, "Channel your chakra into it!"
"Oh, right..."
Abandoning his previous idea, Naruto obediently followed Kakashi's instructions and channeled his chakra into the paper.
Not that it was much of a surprise to him—based on what he remembered from his previous life—his chakra nature was probably wind and earth.
Rip—
As soon as he channeled his chakra, the paper split in half, then crumbled into pieces.
"Wind and earth, huh..." Kakashi muttered, confirming Naruto's chakra nature.
Meanwhile, Naruto seemed to be lost in thought.
"Hey, Big Fox, doesn't lightning-style jutsu stimulate cells to temporarily enhance strength?"
"Yes, what's your point?"
Kurama, lounging lazily in the sealed space, was puzzled by Naruto's sudden inquiry.
Didn't that white-haired guy just explain that you have wind and earth chakra? Where's lightning coming from?
"Well, is it possible..."
"I could use wind-style to achieve the same effect?"
Naruto had a wild idea. Sure, wind-style couldn't stimulate cells the way lightning-style could, but maybe it could create a gust around him, increasing his speed?
After all, Naruto, having gone through nine years of compulsory education in his previous life, understood one fundamental principle: the faster the speed, the greater the force.
Speed = Power.
"Idiot."
Kurama scoffed dismissively, 'This brat really thinks he's a genius, doesn't he?'
It didn't understand the intricacies of ninjutsu, but even it knew that wasn't how things worked.
Naruto paid no mind to Kurama's mockery. He figured the fox, being a product of this world, wouldn't have the same creative ideas he had, having lived through an era of information overload in his past life. After all, wind-based abilities were a staple in many of the games and stories he was familiar with.
Ignoring both Kurama and Kakashi, who was still muttering to himself, Naruto began focusing his chakra again. This time, he recalled the scroll the Third Hokage had given him, as well as the circulation pattern Kakashi had just shown him for opening the first gate.
Come to think of it, Kakashi hadn't specified what kind of chakra to use for opening the gates. What would happen if Naruto tried using wind chakra instead?
Feeling a sudden thrill of excitement, Naruto decided to give it a try. Wouldn't this count as inventing his own jutsu?
However, what Naruto didn't realize was that Kakashi had only given him a rough idea of how to open the first gate...
Kakashi, seeing Naruto seemingly zoning out, didn't think much of it. He leaned against a tree, pulled out his favorite book, Icha Icha Paradise, and began reading.
About five minutes later...
Kakashi suddenly felt the wind picking up around him. At first, he didn't pay it much mind, but after a few minutes, the wind became stronger and stronger. Turning his head, he saw that Naruto was at the center of a rapidly growing whirlwind.
"Naruto!!"
"Stop, right now!!"
Naruto had unconsciously gathered a vast amount of wind chakra, which was swirling around him. His clothes flapped violently in the wind, and the grass at his feet was being torn apart.
Kakashi's shout only seemed to make the wind chakra gather even faster.
Rip—
Naruto's clothes began tearing in several places, a faint mist of blood seeping from the cuts.
"U-Uncle, I think... I can't stop..."
Naruto himself wasn't sure how to describe what was happening. It turned out that using wind chakra to open the gates was actually working. With each pathway he broke through, he felt his strength surge.
The only odd thing was that his heart was pounding louder and faster than normal.
But he figured it wasn't a big deal.
The real problem was...
He didn't know how to stop!
Once the wind chakra started circulating through his pathways, it was like a flood he couldn't control.
Shhhh...
The wind chakra intensified, whipping up a massive gust around Naruto and kicking up a cloud of dust. The visibility quickly dropped as the windstorm gathered strength.
Kakashi, his hair blown in every direction, shielded his face and struggled to approach Naruto. At this point, Naruto's wind chakra was almost as strong as a Wind Release: Gale Palm.
Activating his Sharingan, Kakashi took a look at Naruto's internal chakra flow. What he saw nearly gave him a heart attack.
Naruto's chakra was completely out of control!
This was the kind of thing that only happened when someone botched a jutsu experiment—often leading to the user being torn apart by their own runaway chakra...
And... Kakashi could hear Naruto's heart pounding.
He estimated Naruto's heart rate to be over 500 beats per minute, a rate that should've caused a normal person to drop dead!
But Naruto, standing in the eye of the storm, was completely unaware of how serious the situation had become. In fact, he looked thrilled...
Because he had just successfully broken through several of the internal gates!
Excitedly, Naruto shouted to Kakashi, "Uncle! I think I opened the first gate!"
"What did you say!?"
Kakashi yelled back, completely flabbergasted.
'Wait... I didn't even give him the full instructions... How on earth did he manage that?'
But before Kakashi could fully process his shock, Naruto's wind chakra tore open more wounds on his body, spraying blood everywhere.
From an outsider's perspective, Naruto looked like a bloodied mess, covered in cuts from head to toe.
However, the pain didn't bother Naruto at all. He felt stronger than ever.
With a slight movement of his leg, he instantly shot forward 50 meters, leaving a trail of red behind him.
Kakashi's eyes widened in disbelief.
'What the hell? Did he really just...?'
Inside the sealed space, even Kurama had paused mid-bite, equally stunned.
'What is this kid even doing?'
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