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"Again with this crude brute. He really is the perfect match for that useless kid."
The Hyūga clan members did their best to hide their disgust and disdain in their eyes. Though they looked down on Might Guy, they didn't dare stop him from entering the Hyūga compound.
Because doing so would be a breach of etiquette—something unacceptable for the proud Hyūga.
"Good morning!"
Meeting their cold stares, Guy grinned broadly, his white teeth gleaming under the sunlight in an almost blinding way.
Unfazed by the Hyūga's indifference, he dusted himself off and walked right in.
"Hoo! Unkawa, wake up, wake up!"
Arriving at Unkawa's residence with practiced ease, Guy called out energetically, "The horn of morning training has sounded! Youth does not wait for late sleepers!"
"Come in, Senior Guy."
Hearing the voice from inside the room, Guy grinned and said "Excuse me" before stepping in.
Without even glancing toward the bedroom, he made a beeline for another room.
"Unkawa, you're at it again..."
As he pushed open the door mid-sentence, his words suddenly halted.
It wasn't because of the various training equipment lining the walls—but because of the figure standing before a full-wall mirror.
His upper body was bare, hanging from a pull-up bar, legs wrapped in heavy iron weights.
Clack! Clack!
Each time he slowly extended his arms downward, the movement was precise—perfectly measured. The moment his toes barely touched the ground, he pulled himself back up.
Orange morning light filtered through the window, casting a soft glow across Unkawa's tall, well-defined frame, as if wrapping him in a faint golden halo.
Guy also noticed the pool of water forming beneath his feet—clearly accumulated sweat, showing how long he had been in this position.
"Unkawa… you…"
An experienced Guy stared wide-eyed at the rhythmic rise and fall of Unkawa's body, finally asking, "Have you been doing this all night?"
His upper body muscles were taut, veins slightly bulging. His arms resembled steel cables, twisted together under the strain of supporting his weight—each contraction almost groaning under the pressure.
Unkawa didn't respond. Guy didn't mind. Instead, he grew more excited.
From experience, Guy could tell that Unsen's body was nearing its physical limit—even having unlocked the First Gates: The Gate of Opening.
By removing neural restrictions, the technique allowed one to unleash 100% of their physical potential, drastically increasing strength and speed at the cost of extreme energy consumption.
Even so, every muscle group—arms, thighs, and other load-bearing areas—was already at their breaking point. Even his once-perfect form was beginning to falter.
And slowing down meant even greater physical expenditure. Each motion became a challenge against the limits of his body.
But this was youth!
How could youth ever stand still?!
Yet as time passed, Unkawa showed no sign of stopping. Guy's smile gradually faded, his brows knitting tighter.
"If he keeps going like this, he'll end up with internal injuries," he thought.
Even someone as reckless as himself—who trained daily to surpass his previous limits—needed medicinal baths to avoid long-term damage.
Continuing at this intensity would do more harm than good.
"Unka—"
As Guy opened his mouth to persuade him to stop, the situation suddenly changed.
Huuuh.
Unkawa exhaled sharply, releasing a thick wisp of vapor. Steam rose from his body as the sweat-soaked floor instantly evaporated under intense heat—an effect of accelerated metabolism raising his body temperature.
Second Gate: The Gate of Healing — open
This gate removed fatigue limitations, further draining the body's energy reserves to restore stamina and offset the exhaustion caused by opening the first gate.
In this state, every cell in Unakwa's body seemed to breathe. Power surged like magma through blood vessels and bones. His body temperature spiked to near-scalding levels.
The threshold of physical endurance shattered. The limit of bodily collapse skyrocketed.
Unkawa's form stabilized once more. His movements resumed with renewed vigor, each descent cutting through the air like crashing ocean waves!
BOOM!!
The weighted gear slammed onto the floor, snapping Guy out of his shock.
"Whew!" Guy inhaled sharply as he watched Unkawa wipe himself down with a towel, then quickly broke into an ecstatic grin.
"Unkawa! You've already mastered the Gate of Healing?!"
Unkawa glanced up slightly—but the look in his eyes made Guy instinctively took a step back.
Those eyes...
Before Guy could make sense of them, a sharp pain shot through his own eyes, forcing him to blink. When he looked again, whatever strange sensation had been there was gone.
"Senior Guy, are you okay?" Unkawa asked, still wearing that gentle, harmless smile.
"Eh? Ah... nothing, nothing at all." Guy scratched his head in confusion.
But soon after, tears began streaming down his face uncontrollably.
"Unkawa… your youth burns so brightly! It's just too moving… too moving! I must learn from you!"
"…Senior Guy," Unkawa sighed helplessly, offering a small smile. "Could you excuse me for a moment while I go take a shower?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
Still wiping tears from his eyes, Guy nodded enthusiastically as Unkawa grabbed some clothes and stepped into the bathroom.
Inside the shower room, he stripped off his clothes, stepping barefoot onto the smooth tiles, reaching for the faucet.
The showerhead hissed softly as icy water poured over his loose black hair, tracing along the shadowy lines of his shoulder blades like butterfly wings, washing over his sculpted muscles until his entire body glistened with droplets.
The water flowed like a stream over mountain rocks. The chill brought him no discomfort—not even lowering the lingering heat from his workout.
[Bloodline: Ōtsutsuki Clan (5.0% → 5.1%)]
Glancing at the interface, Unkawa lowered his head and slowly clenched both hands into fists. A crisp crack echoed from his knuckles, followed by a brief sonic pop in the air.
Ka-kak!
He exhaled deeply. His heartbeat and blood flow slowed. The overheated muscles cooled gradually back to normal.
"I didn't expect the Eight Gates technique to actually stimulate my bloodline potential and increase its purity," Unkawa mused, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
"It feels like the chains binding my body have been broken… This feeling is truly intoxicating."
His taijutsu training had never ceased, so although his frame remained lean, it lacked the frailness of weakness. His muscle definition had always been uneven—like someone who only trained the upper body, leaving the physique unbalanced.
But now, thanks to the Ōtsutsuki bloodline transformation, his musculature had become harmonized—optimized for power distribution rather than aesthetic symmetry.
If he was previously a furnace holding back flames yet still shining bright, he was now a seemingly dormant volcano, quietly churning molten lava within.
Unkawa could feel it—the Gate of Healing, which had stumped him for two years, was no longer his limit.
Now, he could unlock the next gate.
The Gate of Life.
A terrifying, silent force lurked within this new body.
This was the true power—fully awakened and wholly his own.
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