"Wait—don't tell me someone actually thinks The Eight Inner Gates is
hard
?"
What kind of
joke
was that?! Tobirama's mind
roared
in frustration.
Of course, the The Eight Inner Gates was difficult!
Aside from Might Bai, he had
never
seen a second ninja suited for mastering the The Eight Inner Gates! Well... except for
Hashirama
, of course. Tobirama had
always believed
that his elder brother's body could withstand opening all the The Eight Inner Gates
effortlessly
. But let's be real—
Would Hashirama ever need the The Eight Inner Gates?
Against any enemy, he could simply summon a
Wood Golem and a Wood Dragon
. And if things got tricky, he could
generously
let his opponent have a head start, then activate
Sage Art: Wood Release—True Several Thousand Hands
. Even
Uchiha Madara's head
could be twisted off in an instant!
"Brat, do you really expect me to believe this nonsense?" Tobirama scrutinized Kazekaze's
innocent-looking
face.
There was
no way
he would believe that Kazekaze had mastered the
The Eight Inner Gates
just by
watching once
. He was convinced that Kazekaze had
already learned it
before even meeting Might Bai. In fact— Tobirama was starting to suspect that Kazekaze's
monstrous strength
wasn't something he had
discovered on his own
. It was
highly likely
that
someone had secretly trained him!
'Yesterday, when Kazekaze wanted to join the training exercise, Mokuken and Ayako were extremely worried. That means they had no clue about Kazekaze's actual strength!'
Tobirama
searched his memory
, piecing together clues to
confirm his theory
. With Mokuken and Ayako's
acting skills
, there was
no way
they could have deceived him—
the future Second Hokage
! Kazekaze had
mastered both monstrous strength and the The Eight Inner Gates
behind their backs! And the
one who secretly trained him
must have had
intimate knowledge of his body's capabilities
! They knew he had inherited
Senju chakra
, which was why they taught him
monstrous strength
! They knew he had Regeneration Ability, which was why they dared to teach him a technique
as reckless as the The Eight Inner Gates
!
Because they
understood
that with
his regeneration
,
the damage caused by the The Eight Inner Gates wasn't even a problem!
And in the
entire
Hidden Leaf Village, there were only
a few people
who truly
understood
the The Eight Inner Gates.
Aside from myself, there's only Might Bai, big brother... and... Uchiha Madara!
But Madara had been
slain by Hashirama
at the
Valley of the End
. As for Might Bai... The man had
nearly dislocated his jaw
when he saw Kazekaze use the The Eight Inner Gates earlier! Following
his thorough deduction and flawless analysis
, Tobirama reached a
definitive conclusion
. When all
impossible
options are eliminated, the only
remaining
answer—no matter how absurd—
must be the truth!
It was
big brother Hashirama!
It had to be him!
'No wonder...'
Tobirama's mind
snapped back
to a memory. When Kazekaze first
returned to the village
, Hashirama had proudly declared—
'As expected of my grandson, what incredible resolve! 'Tobirama, want to bet? My grandson will be an even greater Hokage than me one day!"
Hashirama might have been a compulsive gambler, but he had never beaten me once!
Tobirama still vividly remembered
one of their past bets
— Hashirama had claimed that Izuna Uchiha, Madara's younger brother and a rare prodigy of the Uchiha clan, was
unstoppable
. He had awakened the
Mangekyō Sharingan
at an incredibly young age.
'There's no way you can defeat him, Tobirama! If you ever meet him on the battlefield, just abandon the mission!'
And yet? Tobirama
killed Izuna
with
Flying Thunder God
.
'Now that I think about it... big brother has always had this weird obsession with overestimating the Uchiha.'
For example— At the
Valley of the End
, when Hashirama went to fight Madara, he had
already arranged his will
. If he didn't return, Tobirama would become the
Second Hokage
. He had even entrusted his wife,
Mito Uzumaki
, to Tobirama's care. Before leaving, Hashirama had dramatically hyped up Madara—
Madara has awakened the Eternal Mangekyō! His Perfect Susanoo can level entire mountains in a single strike! And this time, he's even managed to capture the Nine-Tailed Fox and is controlling it with his Sharingan! Right now, Uchiha Madara is the strongest man in the shinobi world!"
But what happened in the end? Hashirama
returned completely unharmed
, carrying
Madara's corpse
and a
sealed Nine-Tails
.
Big brother... did you really never realize that your own strength was greater than the entire Uchiha clan combined?
'I get it now... This was all a scheme just so he could finally win a bet against me!'
Tobirama took a
deep breath
and exhaled slowly. His analysis was
perfect
.
"Come clean, Kazekaze. I've already uncovered your secret!" Tobirama's eyes
widened
like a
bull's
, locking onto Kazekaze's
youthful face
as if he had
completely seen through him
.
There was no way
this brat had just
randomly acquired
these abilities! What was next? A
system menu
that let him instantly
unlock
monstrous strength and the The Eight Inner Gates
with a single confirmation button
?
Ridiculous!
Such a thing
couldn't possibly exist
in this world! It had to be
Hashirama!
It
had to be!
"You really want me to tell the truth?" Kazekaze tilted his head.
"What else?" Tobirama scoffed.
Everyone's eyes turned to Kazekaze, eagerly waiting for his
confession
.
"Alright then... I won't hide it anymore."
Kazekaze
nodded slightly
and said—
"This was my first time using the The Eight Inner Gates Released Formation!"
The moment the words left his mouth— Tobirama immediately
refuted
him.
"Impossible! If you had never practiced the The Eight Inner Gates before, how could you instantly open the Gate of Pain?! If you're going to lie, at least make it convincing! Kazekaze, the truth is... Hashirama secretly trained you in both monstrous strength and the The Eight Inner Gates, didn't he?!"
Tobirama delivered this
shocking revelation
with absolute confidence! Everyone
gasped
in disbelief, but at the same time—
It made perfect sense. There was no way
Kazekaze had mastered the
The Eight Inner Gates
without
any prior training
!
"Taijutsu is different from ninjutsu or genjutsu," Might Bai, Konoha's
taijutsu specialist
, began explaining.
"It requires relentless physical training over years—there are no shortcuts! Moreover... Kazekaze-sama just used high-speed movement to trick Danzo into attacking, forcing him into a defensive gap. This kind of strategic baiting is impossible for someone using the The Eight Inner Gates for the first time! Such combat experience would take at least three to five years to develop! Even among the greatest taijutsu prodigies in the entire ninja world, no one could reach your level in such a short time!"
"Might Bai is right." Tobirama nodded.
To Might Bai,
combat intuition
was a form of
muscle memory
—something that could only be
developed over years of training
.
"Based on my analysis... Kazekaze-sama, you must have been training in taijutsu for at least two years! Am I right?" Might Bai declared with
absolute certainty
.
"Of course, even if it took you two years, you are still the greatest taijutsu prodigy in the entire shinobi world!"
"Two years?!" Tobirama gasped, realizing that this perfectly matched
his own suspicions
.
Kazekaze had been
away from the village for exactly two years!
What did this mean? It meant
Hashirama had been secretly training him this entire time!
"You little brat... I almost fell for your lies!" Tobirama muttered.
Kazekaze:
"???"
Kazekaze stared at Tobirama and Might Bai,
completely baffled
.
"Please... I'm literally telling the truth! Stop making up wild theories!"