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Chapter 55: Arrival at the Border
Chapter 55: Arrival at the Border
Fire Country.
Borderlands.
Orochimaru, along with nearly a hundred ninjas, including Fengye, arrived at a small town.
The entire town had been reduced to ruins, with some areas still burning, and bodies littered everywhere.
"Reporting to Orochimaru-sama, these are traces of a battle three days ago!"
A ninja quickly explored the ruined town and reported back to Orochimaru.
A dangerous glint flashed in Orochimaru's snake-like eyes as he swept his gaze across the town. His voice, rough and hoarse, said, "Traces from three days ago. The Iwagakure ninjas are definitely no longer here, but we have entered their area of operation. We will encounter them sooner or later."
"Let's set up camp here and rest!"
Orochimaru gave the order.
As they had reached the border of Fire Country and could encounter combat at any moment, the group had already been traveling for a full day. Although they remained ready for battle, continuing further and expending more energy would be risky if they encountered an ambush by the Iwagakure ninjas.
"Yes!"
The Jonin ninja responded.
The nearby ninjas exchanged glances and then dispersed into the town, cleaning up the bodies, extinguishing flames on burning buildings, and setting up a simple camp.
Once the camp was ready, in the central tent, Orochimaru stood before a stone table, gazing at a map spread out on it, deep in thought.
After a moment of contemplation, Orochimaru suddenly spoke, "Where do you think the Iwagakure ninjas are now?"
Only Orochimaru and his apprentice, Fengye, were in the tent. Fengye, who had been studying the map as well, replied thoughtfully, "Since the Iwagakure ninja's advance team was here for a harassing attack, they probably won't return to Grass Country so soon."
Orochimaru hummed in agreement, "Good thinking. I believe the same. Moreover, I don't think they dare to venture deeper into Fire Country. Their direction can only be one of these two."
As he spoke, Orochimaru placed two chess pieces on the map. After this action, he fell silent for a moment before continuing, "Go call the Third and Fourth Squads."
Fengye nodded and left the tent, soon returning with the two squads, totaling eight people.
The captains of the two squads were Jonin ninjas, one from the Hyuga clan and the other from the Uchiha clan. The elite Jonin in the squads were also proficient in sensing and scouting.
"Hyuga Setsuna, take your squad and investigate in this direction..."
"Uchiha Tsuki, you head in this direction..."
Orochimaru gave them their instructions and added in a low voice, "If you encounter any lone Iwagakure ninjas, try to gather information. Otherwise, do not act rashly."
"Yes."
The captains of the two squads acknowledged respectfully.
Even ninjas from the prestigious Hyuga and Uchiha clans held respect for Orochimaru, who had become famous during the Second Great Ninja War, establishing remarkable achievements.
After giving these instructions, Orochimaru watched the two squads leave. He turned his head slightly toward Fengye and smiled faintly, "Fengye, you may return and get some rest. Prepare yourself, as we may soon be facing combat."
Fengye acknowledged and left the tent.
Back at his small tent, Fengye did not rest immediately. Instead, after eating something, he began to train.
He had not stopped training since leaving Konoha. With his continuous efforts, he was now on the verge of unlocking the fourth gate of the Eight Inner Gates.
For Fengye, who had mastered the ability to turn back time, unlocking the fourth gate would mean being able to use its power almost indefinitely.
How fast would the fourth gate be at four times speed? Fengye couldn't predict, but he surmised that at that speed, he would definitely be able to release the Morning Peacock. In other words, in terms of sheer speed, even Kage-level opponents would struggle to keep up with him!
With such speed, coupled with his time-reversal ability, very few people would pose a threat to him on the battlefield of the Third Great Ninja War.
"Hu..."
After taking a deep breath, Fengye began doing the most basic of push-ups inside his tent.
For the Eight Inner Gates, a body alteration technique, the way to unlock the gates was through performing the simplest exercises like push-ups and squats. There were no shortcuts; it required countless repetitions to gradually toughen the body, making it more resilient and loosening the constraints of the eight gates within.
Fengye was wearing weighted clothing.
With his ability to turn back time, he didn't worry about suddenly encountering a battle while his body was too fatigued to fight. At most, he would use his time-reversal ability to restore his body to its pre-training state, only losing a small amount of training time.
So, he carried the heaviest weights possible and underwent arduous training during their rest stops. This was the fourth time he had done so.
Three hundred and thirty-one...
Three hundred and thirty-two...
Three hundred and thirty-three...
Fengye did his push-ups at a rapid pace. Only after reaching three hundred did his speed noticeably slow down, his movements becoming stiff and his arms beginning to tremble slightly.
Four hundred and eighty-six...
Four hundred and eighty-seven...
He kept counting silently, the soreness in his arms growing more intense. Yet, Fengye persevered, his strong will enduring the torment and refinement.
In fact, after unlocking the ability to turn back time, even if he stopped cultivating the Eight Inner Gates, his normal ninjutsu and taijutsu would still be enough to traverse the ninja world. However, after careful consideration, Fengye decided not to abandon his training in the Eight Inner Gates.
On the one hand, the Eight Inner Gates were still very suitable for him.
On the other hand, his willpower was not as strong as it seemed. The extremely arduous training of the Eight Inner Gates could temper his mind and spirit, allowing his mental fortitude to grow alongside his physical strength.
Additionally...
There was one more crucial factor—the Eight Inner Gates granted immunity to most genjutsu!
Genjutsu, at its core, disrupted the enemy's chakra, affecting their mental state and trapping them in an illusory world from which they couldn't escape.
But the Eight Inner Gates, starting from the first gate, caused chakra to erupt within the brain, and from the second gate onwards, the chakra went into a berserk state! It was almost impossible to cast genjutsu on a ninja using the Eight Inner Gates, as even the user themselves struggled to control their raging chakra, let alone anyone else.
And genjutsu just so happened to be one of Fengye's weaknesses.
Fengye's proficiency in genjutsu was only average. If a Kage-level powerhouse like Orochimaru were to use genjutsu on him, he would likely be unable to resist.
However, the Eight Inner Gates were different. The more one refined this technique, the more gates they opened, and the more berserk their chakra became while in an open-gate state, the more resistant they became to genjutsu!
Once one reached the fifth gate of the Eight Inner Gates, they became almost completely immune to most genjutsu.
As for the eighth gate...
Even Uchiha Madara, in his Six Paths mode, didn't attempt to use genjutsu on Might Guy when he had opened the eighth gate. With Madara's combat experience, the only reason he wouldn't use genjutsu was if it simply wouldn't work on Guy, who had unleashed the full power of the Eight Inner Gates.
Not even the Rinnegan, with its Six Paths power, could disturb the chakra of 'Dead Gate Guy,' which had reached its limit.
(End of Chapter)
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