Chapter 207: 206-Three Way Lotus
The sky above the training ground was tinged with the fading hues of dusk. Soft purples, deep blues, and a burnt orange glow painted the horizon as the last remnants of the day slipped into the night.
Renjiro stood in the middle of the training field, his stance relaxed but ready. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was slow and steady. Despite the stillness in the air, there was an undeniable tension around him—a sense of anticipation building like the calm before a storm.
He felt the shift before he heard it. The faint, almost imperceptible sound of something cutting through the air.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
Countless kunai flew toward him, their deadly sharpness aimed directly at his unmoving form.
Renjiro didn't flinch. His senses had become sharper since opening the first gate, the Gate of Opening, and he could feel the projectiles approaching with precision.
He waited, his body calm, even as the kunai closed in. His mind was clear and focused.
At the last possible moment, his body moved with blinding speed.
Renjiro twisted to the left, avoiding the first kunai by mere centimetres.
"Whoosh!"
He ducked under the next one, his movements smooth and fluid as if he were performing a well-practised dance.
His feet barely touched the ground as he leapt backwards, dodging three more kunai that sliced through the air where he had just been standing.
His eyes remained closed throughout the entire manoeuvre, yet not a single kunai grazed him.
Renjiro landed lightly on the balls of his feet, his breathing steady. He opened his eyes slowly, taking in the aftermath of the attack. The kunai were embedded in the ground around him, some still vibrating from the force of their impact.
"This is an overall enhancement," Renjiro muttered to himself.
The sensation of power coursing through him was still new, still exhilarating. He could feel it in every part of his body—his strength, his speed, even his chakra reserves had increased significantly since opening the first gate.
It had been a couple of days since that first breakthrough, and while the temptation to open the second gate had been strong, Renjiro had made the deliberate choice to slow down.
"I need to master the first gate before moving on," he had reminded himself.
The power was intoxicating, but he knew the dangers of rushing through the gates without fully understanding the toll they could take on his body.
Renjiro clenched his fists, feeling the raw strength in his muscles.
"Everything has improved," he said aloud, his voice filled with quiet awe.
"My chakra, my strength, my endurance... even my mind feels sharper. My chakra field has expanded too, allowing me to sense things more clearly than before."
He paused for a moment, reflecting on his progress. "I was confused at first when the scroll said the Gate of Opening clears the mind of inhibitions. I thought it was just a mental buff. But now I get it. With a sharp mind, you can achieve almost anything."
In truth, the gate of opening did free Renjiro of his inhibitions allowing him to access more of his chakra and strength. It was like a limiter his body got rid of, affording him more access to various bodily functions and control
Renjiro chuckled softly to himself. "If I had to quantify the enhancement... I'd say it's about a twenty per cent increase across the board. If this is just the first gate, it's no wonder Guy became a monster after mastering all the other seven."
"Good thing I can handle the backlash," Renjiro added, his tone more serious now.
The Eight Gates technique was notorious for the toll it took on the user's body, but Renjiro's unique healing abilities made the technique more manageable for him. The enhanced healing meant that his body could recover faster from the strain, making the Eight Gates almost a perfect fit for his fighting style.
Satisfied with his progress, Renjiro exhaled slowly, allowing his body to relax.
"That was easier," he remarked, his voice filled with confidence.
"Let's go again."
He closed his eyes once more, settling back into his stance as another barrage of projectiles came hurtling toward him.
This time, there was no hesitation. The kunai flew at him with even more speed and ferocity than before, but Renjiro was ready.
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
The sound of metal clashing echoed through the training ground as Renjiro manifested his adamantine chains with a flick of his wrist.
The chains snaked through the air, deflecting the kunai with ease. Renjiro didn't even need to move his body this time.
The chains did all the work, batting away the countless projectiles with precision and speed.
One of the many benefits of opening the first gate was the surplus of chakra it provided.
Renjiro could now use his adamantine chains without worrying about running out of chakra too quickly.
Before, he had been forced to rely on soldier pills to maintain the technique, but now he could summon the chains at will, using them with far more proficiency than ever before.
'I can't use the barrier,' Renjiro thought, focusing on the incoming attacks.
'I just need to deflect them with the chains.'
As he concentrated, he sensed something approaching. His instincts kicked in, and with a quick movement, he used his chains to propel himself backwards, just as one of his shadow clones burst from the ground, launching wind bullets toward him.
"Fwoosh!"
"Fwoosh!"
The wind bullets whizzed through the air, narrowly missing Renjiro as he twisted in mid-air to avoid them.
'Crafty bastard,' Renjiro thought, eyeing his clone with a hint of amusement.
'He knows the handicap I've been putting on myself whenever I use the chains.'
Renjiro dodged the next bullet with ease, his body moving fluidly through the air.
The clones had become more resilient since Renjiro had started fortifying them with the extra chakra provided by the first gate.
No longer mere distractions, they were now suitable sparring partners—stronger, faster, and far more durable than before.
He had scattered thirty of them throughout the training ground, each one poised and ready to attack.
As Renjiro was still airborne, another clone appeared behind him. It moved silently, grabbing hold of Renjiro with surprising strength. But Renjiro was quicker. Without hesitation, he summoned one of his chains and stabbed it through the clone's chest, causing it to burst into a cloud of smoke.
"Hmph," Renjiro grunted as he landed back on the ground.
'Yes, the clones are more durable now, but I can also channel more chakra into my chains, making them stronger. They might last longer, but they're still no match for this.'
Just as the first clone disappeared, three more appeared in its place, each one latching onto Renjiro with a firm grip.
"Really?" Renjiro muttered, his voice laced with irritation.
Without wasting time, he deactivated all but one of his chains, which he then used to wrap around the three clones. With a sudden burst of strength, Renjiro spun the chain, lifting all three clones into the air and sending them hurtling toward the ground.
"Boom!"
The impact was tremendous, causing cracks to spiderweb across the ground as the earth trembled beneath their weight.
Nearby shinobi in the adjacent training grounds paused mid-training, their eyes widening in shock at the tremor.
Renjiro stood over the massive crater that had formed where the clones had collided with the Earth. Dust and debris swirled around him as he surveyed the damage.
"It was good that I decided to come here after all," Renjiro muttered to himself, his voice filled with satisfaction.
The clones had been utterly destroyed by his three-way lotus technique, leaving nothing behind but the gaping hole in the ground.
Renjiro straightened up, flexing his arms as he assessed his condition.
"I also feel less pain than I expected," he said thoughtfully.
"Does the first gate negate pain too?" He pondered the possibility as he sidestepped another kunai, this one attached to an explosive tag that whizzed past him harmlessly.
The fight wasn't over yet. The remaining clones were still scattered throughout the training ground, waiting for their chance to strike. Renjiro's eyes narrowed as he sensed their chakra signatures moving in the shadows.
He grinned, feeling the familiar rush of excitement build within him.
"Alright," he muttered under his breath, his fists clenching with anticipation.
"Time to kick things up a notch."
Renjiro's body Moved faster as he abandoned the defensive stance for the offensive. He began tracking and destroying his shadow clones all over the training ground.
After all of them were destroyed, Renjiro looked at the destruction all around him. He was impressed with what he could do with just the gate of opening.
"It's time to begin working on the second gate," he said quietly, his voice filled with determination.
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