บท 48: CHAPTER 48 GATES
There were eight gates in the body. These eight gates limited the amount of chakra and power your body used. A subconscious process that kept people from hurting themselves. Guy explained it to me over and over. Basically let's say that you could only lift 100 pounds 1 time. But the human body was weird. You could lift 80 pounds 10 times, but 100 pounds 1 time. Math doesn't add up there.
It's only 20 pounds difference but you made up for it by how often you could lift the weight. You could lift 800 pounds with the 10 reps, but only 100 pounds of your max weight. So with that math, 800 pounds should really be your max weight. Opening the gates allowed you to lift the 800 pounds.
There was the Gate of Opening. Located in the brain's left hemisphere it removed the brain's mental inhibitions. No longer was your max lifting capability 100 pounds. The second was the Gate of Healing, located in the right hemisphere of the brain. While increasing the person's physical strength it also rapidly healed you from exhaustion.
The other gates were life, pain, limit, view, wonder, and death. Guy was taught the technique by his own father. Guy could open all 8. Rock could open up to the 5th gate, so Limit. Rock was considered a genius because of it, and I had to agree.
It took me 3 weeks to learn how to open the 1st gate. The Gate of Opening was very hard to isolate. I pictured a real gate, which was my own fault of course. It was simply a state of mind. It took intense meditation to break it open. Intense meditation and training.
I was given Rock Lee worthy wrist and ankle weights. The ones he removed from his feet and hands during his fight with Gaara. Not as heavy of course, but still damn heavy. I could only handle about 200 pounds a limb. Rock was doing about 1,000 before his injury.
The first day of my training I was tasked with walking on my hands around the village. I struggled, but I did it. I was then instructed to do it backwards. Guy had gotten busy after the drama with Itachi. Naruto left, so Rock was my instructor. He promised me this was how he learned, so I stuck with it.
The next day I had to walk on all 4s around the village. After I did a lap I had to do it backwards. Then I had to do it as quickly as possible. I was exhausted day in and day out. Passing out mid-workout Reina and Hina had been worried about me until they decided to join me in the training. Not to train, but to torment me with Rock. Taunting me as I became exhausted beyond belief.
I almost gave up the first week, but defeating that sea beast in One Piece was at the forefront of my mind. The only way I knew it could happen was if I could open the gates. Able to give intense bursts of strength there were risks of course, but only during extended fights. There was very little damage done to the body if you had the gates open a short time.
After the 2nd week Guy was able to watch my training. Along with the physical exhaustion he added mental exhaustion to the mix. Forcing me to do math and word problems as they made me only go around the village jumping on one leg. And if I used the other leg I would have to start over.
I was up to 250 pound weights on my feet when I felt the itch. Just a scratch in my brain that I let grow. Allowed it to slowly open as I was pushed beyond my limits. Then on the 20th day it broke open. I was in the middle of carrying a log on my back while I ran backwards around the village. I had to run through the thickest part of the forest, trying not to catch the tree on my shoulders on the brush around me. Then I felt the power course through me.
Energy filling me I yelled loudly as I threw the 400 pound log like it weighed nothing. Crashing through the trees it made the animals around me scatter. But I couldn't handle all the energy. I began to punch a tree next to me. Knocking it down in 2 punches Guy and Rock were on me instantly.
Guy forced my eyes shut while Rock held my arms to my body. Guy said calming words as I fought against Rock. Then as if a shadow was cast over me the Gate of Opening closed. I let out a breath and felt the exhaustion. I had to rest for an hour but then they had me back at it. This time they wanted me to force it open.
Making me jump as high as possible I finally brought it open again. Letting that itch become scratched, it became easier every time I did it. Until eventually I was able to do it with only a little focus. After that I received a new quest.
Naruto Quest 6
Open the Gate of Healing
Rewards:
Arm and Leg Weights
Of course I was ready to do it. I wanted the weights for the other worlds. Since the gates were focused on chakra and physical power I knew I could open them in other worlds so I didn't need a quest to reward them to me.
The next day I was back at it. The Gate of Healing was the easiest of all of them. I simply had to get beat up. Guy took over this process. The new Hokage was in town and Rock's surgery was the next day when we started so he was forced to rest. Guy was merciless in pummeling me. I tried my best to defend my body, but it wasn't very successful.
Battered and bruised daily I had to be carried home. Guy let out his frustration and worry about Rock on me. Because of that I learned the Gate of Healing faster than Rock had. Nearly my whole body was black and blue every night, and on the 7th day I learned the ability.
Another itch had started, and as it did I knew better how to scratch it. Then as Guy pummeled me I screamed out as steam left my body. My bruises turning into normal skin then red it was surreal to feel all the power of it. Guy calmed me down more easily.
I had to show I could open the Gate of Opening then Gate of Healing before he accepted I had learned it. Then I finished my quest and I was able to put the weights in my status screen. I went home that day and filled the night with as much sex as possible with Reina and Hina. They had been patient while I trained, but were quickly begging me to slow down. One nice thing about training so much was I was never stronger and my own Taijutsu was never better.
They were quickly exhausted as I pounded into them harder than ever. I was starting to agree that maybe we needed a 3rd to take some burden off them, but I was too focused on getting stronger to consider it.
A few days after Rock's surgery he was walking without a crutch. Tsunade could heal with her chakra so it wasn't a big surprise he wasn't laid up for weeks. I was there when he did and it wasn't long until he was running, jumping, and laughing. Then running and crying when Tsunade got ahold of him. Beating him up for pushing his body. It was a good experience.
The next day I was called to the Hokage's office. I was surprised to see Shikamaru there as well, waiting to enter her office. When I saw him I was confused, but as I realized what was going on a wide smile split my face as Kurenai and Asuma walked up.
"You may enter," Shizune said. She was Tsunade's best friend and assistant. With black hair and plain features she was usually in the background wherever the new Hokage was.
"Welcome," Tsunade said as we entered. She was a tall woman, maybe 5 foot 10 inches. With blonde hair down to her shoulders at the front and down her back at the rear, she had a pretty face, but her true assets were her curves. DD breasts well hidden in her green robe she also had an ample ass.
Shikamaru and I walked in side by side with our prospective teachers behind us. "I assume you know what this is about."
"No idea," Shikamaru said with his bored tone.
"Suicide mission?" I asked.
She hesitated from my response. "No. I did not see it but I was told that you both set yourselves apart from the other Chunin Exam participants." She had a proud demeanor as she stared at us from her seat. "Shikamaru people still talk about your analytical analysis of the fight with the sand ninja. Weston I was told you took on all three sand ninjas, one of them a Jinchuriki, and beat the prodigy Neji Hyuga easily. We would like to offer you both a promotion to Chunin."
"Great," Shikamaru grumbled with all the sarcasm he could muster. "More responsibility."
"Sounds fun. Do I get a gun?" I asked. I felt like I was getting a promotion to detective.
"A what?" She asked, confused.
"Nevermind. Why us though? Naruto fought against Gaara." I asked.
"There is still some hesitation on promoting Naruto," she said with a frown. I guessed it was some higher up hesitation to trust the Jinchuriki still. "Not much will change with you becoming Chunin. The difficulty of quests you can take on will increase. And now your Jounin instructors will not need to be with you for all of your missions. You can take charge of your 3-man teams."
I nodded. She said more congratulations. Shaking our hands we were soon leaving, at least I thought we were until Tsunade said, "Weston, would you stick back a moment?" I looked to Kurenai, she shrugged.
"Okay," I said. Waiting around it was soon me, Tsunade, and Shizune left in the room. Tsunade steepled her fingers in front of her face, Shizune held her pet pig, and I leaned back in the chair. "So what can I help you with Mistress Hokage?"
Naruto had retrieved her with the help of Jariaya and often called her an old hag. I figured sticking with the Hokage title would put me in a better light. Besides, she could easily kick my ass if she wanted.
"Two things," She said. "First, I was told you had a vision of the attack from the sand before it happened."
"Ah, yes, I did," I said. "My father expressed that to the Hokage, but Sarutobi wasn't interested."
"Yes, I heard about your criticism about the old man during your fight with the Hyuga," she appeared angry from the comment but let out a sigh. Leaning back in her chair she rubbed her temples. "I happen to agree with you though. Sarutobi did roll over forcing the Hyuga to give up a body. Sarutobi wasn't the same after the 4th Hokage died."
I frowned. "No, I guess that would affect anyone," I said. I felt a little bad talking bad about the guy. He had been retired, then forced out of it when the 4th Hokage died, he probably didn't want to be Hokage, but no one was up for taking up the mantle. "I'm sorry for talking ill about your old teacher."
She nodded. "It's fine. He probably would have agreed with you. Sarutobi was always his biggest critic. Hence his preferential treatment of Orochimaru." I knew that Tsunade once had a crush on Orochimaru, preferring him over Jiraiya. Much like the love triangle between Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.
"That all?" I asked.
"No, I want to know if you have any more of these visions," she said. "Unlike Sarutobi, I believe in luck and chance. And I prefer to use all the resources at my disposal."
"But you're a terrible gambler," I laughed. She gave me an angry glare, while Shizune's eyes bulged. "Sorry."
I studied her for a moment. In my eyes, Tsunade was the best Hokage. She believed in Naruto, though he was young. She believed in the next generation, was strong, and loved the village. I wanted to trust her. There were future instances that could be fixed now if I simply trusted her.
But I had been playing a very dangerous game in Naruto world. It was hard not to when I knew the outcome of everything. I didn't want to make it a habit in all of my worlds, but I was already this deep in the Naruto world. I might as well keep going with this while "visions from the future" thing. If it didn't work out, fine. If it did, I felt I could gain a lot. Either way I had to figure out how best to handle these worlds. Playing dumb wasn't always the best solution.
"Umm yeah I have had some more…visions," I said. That got her attention. "What do you want to know?"
"Anything on the sand?" She asked.
"Ah, working on peace with them still? Yeah nothing on them. I think they'll be great allies in the future."
"Fine, what about the future that you do know?" She asked.
"Know for sure? Nothing. But tidbits," I said. "How much you believe, and how much I think you can understand is up to question." I thought about it for a little while. I liked Tsunade. I could have sworn she died at the end of the manga. I distinctly remembered Kakashi becoming the Hokage. Was there a way to stop her death?
"I am leaning toward trusting you," I said. "But I don't think there is anything you can do to make me believe you won't tell someone my secrets." I chewed my lip, but changed my worried look to a wolfish grin. "Unless I got to know you better, of course."
"Since you are a Chunin you will be called upon more by me," she said.
"I meant got to know you in a more…familiar fashion," I said. I looked her up and down. A signal she understood. My father had the last Hokage's ear. I wondered how much of Tsunade's ear I could have. My family provided an indispensable spy network for the village. How far could I push my in with her?
She coughed looking to Shizune. The assistant was openly staring at me. "Which brings me to the 2nd reason I wanted to talk to you," she said, changing the subject. "I have been informed about the special skills your family provides the village."
"The bedroom ninja arts?" I asked with a smile. She nodded. "What about it?"
"I want to know if you are open to such missions," she said honestly. "Like your sisters are currently doing for the village."
"Seduce and bang older women in other villages?" I asked. "I'm a little young, don't you think?"
"You just said-"
"You're a special case," I cut in. "You're beautiful. Who knows what the uggos in other villages look like?" She let out a minor blush with that. I didn't expect to be able to get with her, but I was in it for the long haul. A simple blush was a far cry from dating, but it was a start. We were both quiet for a time. "2 to 3 years," I said. She gave me a confused look.
"The next great ninja war will break out within the next 3 years," I said.
"How can you know that?" Tsunade asked. Not dismissing, simply inquisitive.
"I know, because I'm supposed to know," I said. "I am leaning toward trusting you, Lady Hokage. Take everything I say as fact, but tell no one." She slowly nodded. "Good. 3 years from now the next great ninja war will happen. But instead of the clans fighting one another we will be fighting Akatsuki, the red cloud."
"The group Itachi Uchiha is in?" She asked, fear in her eyes. "But our intel says there are only ten of them."
"More like fourteen," I admitted. "But one in their number has an ability to make hundreds of thousands of people as strong as a Chunin. And another member you know. They can bring the dead back to life."
"Orochimaru?" She asked, legitimately scared. Orochimaru had offered to bring her lover and little brother back to life. Something she denied, not wanting to be in his debt.
"Orochimary or his protege," I said. "Imagine it, Hokage Tsunade. Someone that spent the time to steal the bodies of the strongest kages and ninjas in history. Then brings them back for this 1 war. How many thousands of ninjas could they kill easily? Your father included in the undead, fighting for the enemy?" I said.
She stood up. "How can you know this?!"
"I know because I know," I said again. "And you know now because I want you to. I want us to succeed in pushing them back."
"Wha-What is their goal?" She asked. I didn't look at her cleavage, but it was a struggle.
"Lot of conflicting information out there. They have more than 1 leader," I admitted. "But one of their biggest goals is combing the tailed beasts to make a monster called the 10 tail beast."
"That's impossible," she whispered.
"It's not," I said. "I don't know the whole backstory," because I couldn't remember. "But they could easily get the Jinchurikis. Look at Naruto and Gaara. Isolated and distrusted. They aren't the only Jinchuriki's to be treated that way. Akatsuki simply needs to grab them and take the beasts from them. And their members are strong. Extremely strong. Some of them are immortal."
"This is crazy," Tsunade said sitting in her chair. "You can't be serious."
"I am. And I'm sorry it will be on your plate, but if you want to survive it, we need to work hard now," I said.
"Three years?" She asked.
"The drama will start in about two," I admitted. "It won't happen overnight, and we will have warning. But I've seen Konoha leveled over completely. Everything. This building and our entire view as flat as a pancake." I pointed behind her out the window that looked out over the village.
"You are serious," she said. "How, how can we stop it?" She asked.
"We can't, but we can limit the damage," I said. "Why do you think I worked so hard to learn to open the gates? I've seen it. We need every second we can get to become stronger. We need more underground shelters for when this village is leveled over. Most of all we need to limit Danzo's power."
"Danzo?" She asked. "The leader of the ANBU?" I nodded. "Why?"
"Because he is scheming. Always scheming. He has wanted the Hokage position since Sarutobi. He has spies everywhere."
"We all have spies," she admitted. "I need something more concrete than that."
I chewed my lip. "Do you really want to know?" I asked. Tsunade nodded. "How do you think Orochimaru got such access to the village? No ANBU noticed thousands of people on our doorstep? ANBU killed and no one noticed? It was Danzo, he wanted the mantle, but they passed him over again for you." Her eyes widened.
"Do you have proof?" She asked.
"No…but I know of a worse crime that I can prove," I said. Leaning forward I asked, "How did he get so scarred that he needs the bandages?"
"I heard he was tortured and burned… at least that's the story," she said.
"Happened right around the time the Uchiha clan was destroyed," I noted. "The Uchiha clan was wiped out by one of the members of ANBU."
"Itachi?" She asked.
"Exactly. And what happened to their bodies, Hokage? What happened to their eyes? We know that their eyes can be transplanted. Like with Kakashi. Now answer me, imagine dozens of eyes. Could you install them in other places on the body? An arm? Your chest? Places that Danzo is currently bandaged."
"You're saying he facilitated their death, all for their eyes?" She asked, her face as pale as a ghost.
"Mostly. They were planning a coup, but I doubt they would have gone through with it. Danzo pushed for it. He wanted strength. And the only way he knew how was to steal their eyes."
We were quiet for a long time. "Fuck," she eventually said. "Why did I take this job?"
"No idea," I said. "So, it's your choice to believe me or not. But I would. Either way, all of these things will happen. It is a fact."
"How can you know all this?" She asked.
"I'm gifted," I said with a sly smile. "Below and above the belt. The only reason I tell you, is because I know you, Hokage Tsunade. I know you will do what's right. For now there is nothing you should do besides push for others to train. Let Naruto train as well."
"But the Jinchuriki-"
"2 years, I said we have 2 years. And you can't keep Naruto hidden. We will need the Jinchuriki's power," I said.
I stood up. "That is all I know for sure. I will not be talking about this in this room ever again. I doubt Danzo has anyone listening in for a simple Chunin promotion. But if you don't take care of him I won't feel safe discussing it. As far as your other question, I am…open to assisting the village in any ways it needs over the next 2 years. After that I will be helping to fight Akatsuki. I will be training as hard as possible in preparation for the day that the Jinchuriki begin to get kidnapped."
I turned around. "Thanks for the promotion. If you want more detailed information I wouldn't feel comfortable unless it was during some pillow talk," I said. I assumed she knew of the Makuramoto so that was code enough. "Remember, keep this secret, Hokage. No one will believe you anyway. Just like they didn't believe me the last time I tried to help. The last Hokage died because of it. But I'll help you as much as possible to make sure that doesn't happen to you."
Walking out she didn't stop me. No black bag was thrown over my head. No needles poked in my neck. And I didn't commit suicide in my bed that night. It took a few days but I eventually stopped worrying about any of those things happening.
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