At Link's home, right before dinner—
"Space-time ninjutsu is really something," Uchiha Sasuke said seriously, seated on the sofa.
He had just listened to Link's account of his two encounters with Sasori of the Red Sand. Both times, despite clearly having the upper hand, the enemy—expert in space-time ninjutsu—escaped easily, leaving Link with no means of pursuit.
Meanwhile, the smell of food drifting in from the kitchen signaled that the shadows were busy cooking.
"Yeah," Link said with a frustrated sigh. "That's why I'm so eager to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique. I heard that the Fourth Hokage—"
He embellished the story of Namikaze Minato, heavily emphasizing the invincible power of the Flying Thunder God. He even crossed eras and dimensions with ideas like 'Minato comes home' and 'Toilet no Jutsu Sasori'—odd, humorous notions about how space-time ninjutsu could be exploited.
Uchiha Sasuke listened intently, nodding while trying to imagine how to handle such an opponent. After racking his brains, he still couldn't come up with a good solution. Theoretically, if his reaction speed were faster than the space-time user's, he might not need to fear a sneak attack—but no one can remain on guard forever.
Just picturing a cowardly move like using the Thousand Years of Death taijutsu while someone was in the bathroom or asleep made Sasuke's face twitch. "Is there really no jutsu that can limit space-time ninjutsu?" he asked.
So despicable.
At that moment, in Sasuke's young mind, Minato and Sasori were both labeled with rather unsavory stereotypes.
Link shook his head helplessly. "If there were such a method, I wouldn't be so bent on joining them."
He observed Sasuke's expression. A custom-made Sharingan, after all, ought to have some handy ability that suited him. Maybe a Mangekyō power that could restrict space-time ninjutsu. Kamui was used even against Kaguya, so at least Mangekyō abilities weren't automatically overshadowed by higher-level eyes.
A technique to limit space-time jutsu would also effectively contain both Obito and Kaguya—very significant indeed.
Sasuke went quiet, unsure if he wanted to join the "League of Devious Shinobi" or if he simply wanted to counter space-time techniques.
"Never mind," Link changed the subject, suddenly brightening. "I thought of an interesting story recently. Once upon a time, there was a boy who obtained a robot cat from the future that traveled back in a time machine…"
Sasuke listened quietly, his expression visibly relaxing; he seemed immersed in the tale.
[Looks like my storytelling skills have improved.]
Link thought to himself. He planned to share various time-travel stories and the like with Sasuke. After all, kids in the Naruto world had a rather limited mental world—killing, arson, continuous training—so they lacked imagination. If he exposed Sasuke to more fantastical abilities and stories, it might inspire a new Mangekyō technique. Who knew? Maybe Sasuke would awaken time-travel powers and become Link's personal "robotic cat" from the future.
He couldn't be sure if other people might awaken such an overpowered Mangekyō, but Sasuke was Indra's reincarnation, so anything was possible.
At the very least, Link hoped Sasuke wouldn't get stuck with something as humdrum as Amaterasu or Kagutsuchi. A space-time ninjutsu or a technique to seal them away—both would be perfect.
Gazing at Sasuke, who was engrossed in the story, Link silently thought:
"Strive to become my strongest tool, Sasuke."
He told two episodes of the "Dora-x-mon" story before the shadows announced that the food was ready. After dinner, Sasuke headed home while Link went to his training room for his nightly routine.
As usual, he began with a round of Stand Summoning training—the Substitution Jutsu he'd been repeatedly refining.
After about twenty attempts, Link saw purple brambles emerge on his hand and felt a surge of excitement.
"Yes! It's Hermit Purple!"
Wasting no time, he raised a knife-hand strike at the camera.
Crack! With his speed and strength, he instantly smashed the delicate mechanical device. Hermit Purple's ability activated: it would "read out" the culprit responsible for Orochimaru's breakthrough in natural energy research on Kimimaro.
"Gyaa—" The old-fashioned camera slowly spat out a photograph.
Link caught it. The picture was taken from a low-angle perspective, showing someone standing high above under a starry sky.
"That's…me?"
He was speechless. He had suspected for a while that he might have enabled Orochimaru's natural energy research. Yet seeing proof brought a wave of mixed feelings.
Calming himself, he focused on understanding:
"So this confirms the Five-Element Seal, natural energy, and Orochimaru's experiments are connected."
Link folded his arms, recalling past events involving Orochimaru, Sasori, and himself.
"That means the Five-Element Seal's 'disable opponent's jutsu' effect must be from natural energy…"
"…like I left a Five-Element Seal on Orochimaru, and it's been constantly gathering natural energy?"
"Sasori probably learned about all this from Kabuto's mind…"
Although he'd sorted out the logic, numerous unknowns remained. Still, he had the general idea, along with a potential solution.
"But actually, I don't really care if Orochimaru uses the Five-Element Seal for something. Even if Sasori eventually develops a natural-energy puppet, it doesn't matter."
Link found the crux of the matter. Like with Kimimaro, one slap from Mystical Palm Jutsu was enough to handle it.
"Maybe it's power that I can fully counter—and perhaps it can be popularized."
He immediately formulated a new plan in his head.
…
Next day, Training Ground Seven—
"—And that's the gist of it," said Might Guy, after explaining the training principles behind Eight Gates Release. He turned to Link and asked, "Are you ready?"
The theory behind this taijutsu skill wasn't complicated: unlocking the "Eight Gates," which regulate chakra flow inside the body, yields overcharged power—but also inflicts damage. The concept sounded simple but, fundamentally, pushing the body past its limits was dangerous.
No matter how hard you train, opening the Eight Gates damages the body. Long-term practitioners simply reduce the harm.
Besides that, opening the gates is extremely difficult, and the excruciating pain from overloading the body with chakra is daunting. Therefore, daily intense training is required—pushing through injuries, getting used to pain, and cultivating willpower. Only then can you function normally with the gates open.
Otherwise, you might open the gates only to pass out from pain, rendering the whole effort pointless.
Even a rare talent like Rock Lee experiences intense pain upon opening just the First Gate and using Front Lotus. That's why, in his match with Gaara, he stood still for a moment, letting Gaara slip away.
Link took a deep breath. So it all comes down to risking your life, huh?
"Let's do it."
~~~
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