Chapter 12.
At the edge of Konoha, by a lake.
Young Might Guy was a bit confused; he seemed to understand, yet he also seemed not to.
But he knew that Suzuki before him was not lying; he was indeed praising his father.
A hint of joy appeared on Might Guy's small face, and he shyly lowered his head and responded softly, "Really? I understand, thank you~"
He didn't know whether he was grateful for Suzuki's encouragement and comfort or for the rare praise of his father, perhaps it was both.
Suzuki just smiled again, gazing deeply at the lake, his thoughts drifting far away...
Yes, all dreams are worthy of respect!
Suzuki respected everyone who had dreams, respected those who had the courage to pursue their dreams, respected those who persisted, worked hard, and did not give up on their dreams...
Whether it was the current Dai, future Gai, or even Hanako beside him...
Even Danzo, shrouded in darkness, who still harbored the dream of becoming Hokage at over seventy years old—wasn't that worthy of respect?
Of course, while Suzuki respected, there were still things that needed to be done.
Suzuki collected his thoughts, turned his head, and asked Might Guy very seriously, "Gai, what is your dream?"
Might Guy was a bit puzzled as to why Suzuki was asking a little child about his dreams, but he still answered readily, "My dream is to enroll in the Konoha Ninja Academy!"
At only two or three years old, Might Guy didn't have any grand dreams. Since he began to understand things, he had been training with his father, Might Dai.
However, his talent didn't seem very good. Those ninjas who had once mocked his father Dai sometimes also mocked him...
And every time this happened, his father would rarely get angry and retort a few words but wouldn't take any real action. Instead, he would say things to Might Guy that he couldn't understand at all.
Yes, so Gai had to train hard, successfully enroll in the Konoha Ninja Academy, become a ninja, and protect his father, Might Dai!
Suzuki was not surprised by Might Guy's answer. Although he wanted to hear some grand, lofty dreams, faced with Might Guy's determined gaze, he sincerely replied, "Gai, your dream will come true!"
"Hehe..." The two or three-year-old Might Guy scratched his head, grinning to reveal a mouthful of shiny white teeth, and foolishly smiled at Suzuki.
"By the way, Suzuki, you..."
"Snap~"
"Ah, that hurts!" Might Guy covered his head with his hand.
"Call me Brother Suzuki!" Little Might Guy, after being tapped on the head by Suzuki, quickly corrected himself, "Brother Suzuki!"
"Right, Brother Suzuki, are you here to train too?"
The two or three-year-old Might Guy tilted his cute little head, covering his head, looking at Suzuki with a gloomy expression.
Hearing Might Guy's correction, Suzuki replied with a hint of amusement in his eyes, "Yes. What about you, Gai? Why did you come to this remote place to train all by yourself?"
Suzuki was a bit puzzled; this place was almost deserted, and Dai usually didn't train here.
Might Dai typically trained on the village streets or at a self-built training stake site on the edge of the Forest of Death.
For Might Guy to come to such a remote place all alone at such a young age, didn't Might Dai care?
Might Guy fidgeted a bit, answering somewhat gloomily, "Father always ignores those people, but I don't like that feeling. So when my father goes out on missions, I sneak out of the house to train here."
As he spoke, Might Guy became a bit happier: "There are almost no people here, and aside from the trees being a little sparse and not very thick, everything else is fine! Look, I can wash up after training and sweating~"
Might Guy pointed at the lake as he spoke.
Ninja training requires wooden stakes. If there are no stakes, somewhat thicker trees will do, so ninjas usually go train in the Forest of Death.
The trees in the Forest of Death, grown from the ninjutsu of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, not only grow quickly but are also of particularly good quality.
Suzuki had already guessed Might Guy's answer, but he primarily asked for the following reason: "I see. Then, Gai, don't sneak out to train without telling your father Dai anymore, okay?"
Saying this, Suzuki smiled gently: "Tell Dai, and if it's not okay, I can go with you to talk to him. I should be coming here to train every day from now on; how about we train together in the future?"
Might Guy was a bit surprised: "Really, Brother Suzuki?"
Suzuki patted Might Guy's head, still smiling gently: "Of course, it's a promise~"
Two or three-year-old Might Guy revealed a bright, shiny smile, grinning foolishly at Suzuki:
"Hehehehe..."
Regarding Might Guy's innocent silly smile, Suzuki wore a gentle smile, but his eyes revealed a hint of inexplicable meaning...
"Since we happened to run into each other, it saves me from having to look for him later."
This was the first thought that arose in Suzuki's mind when he saw Might Guy.
He did not lie to Gai; he truly respected Dai, but that had nothing to do with his intention to use Gai.
The appearance of the clone gave Suzuki hope for rising, but he himself also had to put in effort, after all, the ability of this golden finger was not particularly strong.
Just like this time, Suzuki's goal was to establish a good relationship with Dai through Gai, and hopefully obtain the forbidden technique—Eight Gates—within a few years!
Then he would pass this forbidden technique to the clone for use!
The Eight Gates is a forbidden technique that Might Guy's father, Might Dai, a lower ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village, took twenty years to learn, and then passed it on to his son, Might Guy.
In the future, Might Guy would also pass the Eight Gates on to his disciple, Rock Lee, and during the Fourth Shinobi World War, he would open the Eighth Gate—Death Gate, nearly kicking the Six Paths level Uchiha Madara to death!
This forbidden technique is called a forbidden technique because it temporarily grants immense power by unlocking the pathways that bind chakra within the human body. When all eight gates are opened, it is referred to as the "Formation of the Eight Gates"!
The power of the Eight Gates depends on the user themselves, exponentially increasing with the user's strength, and the power after opening the Eight Gates varies for different individuals.
However, the Eight Gates is not only easy to learn but difficult to master, and its side effects are extremely severe; opening the Death Gate will lead to death due to the exhaustion of one's life force.
Suzuki's clone is very suitable for this forbidden technique!
The clone returns to the main body every three months with all attributes, and the refreshed version is the original Suzuki from the deserted island period, which can be seen as a newly created blank slate.
If the clone dies during this time, when the death standby time of the clone reaches three months, the original Suzuki could still refresh another clone.
A clone that can be refreshed continuously and the Eight Gates are the best combination!
After that, Suzuki stood up, dusted off his clothes, and said to Might Guy:
"Gai, I'm going to school now. Want to go back together? I'll come to your house in the evening."
Might Guy thought for a moment; his father had gone on a night watch mission last night and was about to return home, so he nodded and said to Suzuki:
"Okay, Brother Suzuki, remember to come tonight~"
Suzuki chuckled and nodded, and the two left the remote edge of the Leaf Village together.
Tl|N : If you see any mistake 😔, let me know in the comments so I can edit them..