Chapter 68: The Path Forward
Chapter 68: The Path Forward
In Feng Ye's opinion, with his current strength, cultivating the Eight Inner Gates to the fifth gate should bring him to the peak of the Kage level.
If he could cultivate to the sixth gate and further enhance his time acceleration, he would surpass the Kage level!
Feng Ye had read some novels in the past that divided the levels above Kage into two tiers: Super Kage level and Rikudo level. This classification, in his opinion, was more or less accurate.
The power displayed by Pain in the Six Paths technique was evidently superior to the Kage level in terms of destructive capability and other aspects. Whether it was the Tsuchikage, Onoki, or the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, these peak Kage-level existence stood no chance against Pain.
The same was true for Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.
Even the combined might of the Five Kage would not be enough to defeat them.
Such strength clearly transcended the definition of the Kage level, and thus it was reasonable to classify it as Super Kage level.
Based on how the Eight Inner Gates had been enhancing his strength so far, Feng Ye believed that by cultivating to the sixth gate and combining it with time acceleration and time rewind, he should be able to possess the power to crush those at the Kage level.
Of course, there were varying degrees of strength within the Super Kage tier as well. Uchiha Madara, with his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and control over the strongest of the tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails, was still no match for Senju Hashirama.
Therefore, beyond the sixth gate, it became difficult to determine the exact level of strength. Feng Ye roughly estimated that solely relying on the Eight Inner Gates' sixth gate and time acceleration would still not be enough to defeat Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama. Achieving victory against them would require the additional boost of Sage Mode or a Sage Body.
Moving further up, it was hard to say what kind of power the seventh gate would bring, and he might not even be able to open it.
After all, cultivating the Eight Inner Gates also depended on one's talent and physique. Not everyone could open the eighth gate, otherwise, all other ninjutsu and taijutsu would become meaningless.
"Being able to open the sixth gate is already quite an achievement."
Feng Ye exhaled softly.
For a traverser like him, as long as he could attain the Super Kage level before the start of Naruto's storyline, it would mean 'game over' for the plot.
Uchiha Madara's plans would be easily thwarted, and there would be no need to worry about the buggy reincarnation jutsu, Edo Tensei. He could simply collect the tailed beasts and the Rinnegan himself and become the jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails.
With that in mind, the Eight Inner Gates remained the most important cultivation method.
"The upcoming fifth gate will be another challenging trial."
Feng Ye suddenly spread his hands helplessly. In truth, he had become a bit impatient with this type of training. Even though time acceleration could speed up his cultivation, the time he personally experienced was very real!
Moreover, his talent in the Eight Inner Gates was not particularly high. Rock Lee was able to open the fifth gate in less than a year, while it had taken Feng Ye an estimated year and a half to reach the fourth gate, and he expected it to take another year to open the fifth.
This was why he wanted to find a breakthrough in his chakra control.
After all, achieving the Sage Body, becoming the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, and activating the Tailed Beast Chakra Mode would result in a stronger boost than solely relying on the Eight Inner Gates' sixth or seventh gates.
Feng Ye decided to focus on cultivating the fifth gate of the Eight Inner Gates for the time being. As he turned his thoughts to the power of the Illusory Clock, he closed his eyes, and the image of the clock appeared before him once more.
He could see that the position of the third mark on the Illusory Clock was now shrouded in a thick gray mist.
...
Iwagakure
Tsuchikage's Office
Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, stood in front of his desk, his face grim as he glared at the ninja before him. "Failure? That plan actually failed? Are you telling me it was ruined by a young whippersnapper?!"
"Tsuchi... Tsuchikage-sama..."
The Iwa-nin kneeling before Onoki, his forehead dripping with cold sweat, stammered, "Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi never expected it, and neither did we. We never imagined there would be such an unusual existence among the Konoha-nin."
A spark of anger flashed in Onoki's eyes.
He had put a lot of thought into this scheme, intending to catch Konoha off guard at the beginning of the war and gain the upper hand. But now, they had been beaten black and blue, and the situation had turned against them.
However, there was no point in blaming the advance team now. Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi were both dead, and the others were all injured.
"Do we have any information on that young ninja?"
"Yes..."
The kneeling ninja took a breath and relayed what intelligence he had on Kakashi Hatake to Onoki.
After listening to the report, a peculiar look flashed in Onoki's eyes as he said, "Hatake Feng Ye... So he's the son of the White Fang of Konoha. Damn it!"
During the Second Shinobi World War, their Iwa-nin had suffered greatly at the hands of Kakashi Hatake. The outcome of the second war was even decisively influenced by him.
A few years ago, when he heard the news of Kakashi's death, he had been delighted for a long time because Konoha had lost a powerful ninja. But now, with the Third Shinobi World War erupting, the White Fang was gone, but his son had appeared!
Because of this Hatake Feng Ye, the advance team had suffered heavy losses!
"Am I fated to never get past the Hatake?" Onoki wondered.
A ninja sitting on a sofa beside him stood up and asked, "The advance team has suffered heavy casualties... Onoki, what do you plan to do next?"
He was Iwa's Tsuchikage assistant, Kitsuchi, the second-highest-ranking ninja in Iwa after Onoki, and the ambush had been planned by the two of them.
Onoki floated in the air, a thoughtful look on his face. After floating up and down a few times, he raised his head and said solemnly, "The advance team has suffered heavy casualties, and continuing to engage Konoha is unfavorable for us. Moreover, Kumogakure may take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack..."
Kitsuchi frowned and pondered, "But Sunagakure is already at war with Konoha because of the Kazekage. Now is still an opportunity to attack Konoha."
"There's no rush," Onoki said, a glint in his eye. "Even if we don't make a move, Konoha will be on guard against us and won't concentrate all their forces in the Land of Wind. So whether we act or not, we're actually putting pressure on Konoha."
Onoki continued, "If Sunagakure wins, we can attack together next. If they lose, there's no need for us to engage Konoha at a disadvantage."
(End of Chapter)
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