The massive, crimson-scaled Garaga clung to the walls of the gorge as it moved forward without slowing down.
Uchiha Yu listened intently as Hashirama explained the principles behind monstrous strength—Chakra Enhanced Strength—and the key points one must pay attention to during the early stages of training.
So-called monstrous strength wasn't some kind of innate superhuman power, but rather a technique where the ninja exercised extremely strict, precise chakra control, coordinating the body's full strength, bursting it out in rapid succession, and sustaining it continuously.
If one had to classify it strictly, it belonged under the category of ninja body arts.
Compared to Genjutsu: Darkness Illusion Technique, monstrous strength had a definite learning threshold.
The Sharingan obviously couldn't increase an Uchiha's natural chakra precision.
But what it could do was continuously monitor the exact flow of chakra, helping correct any mistakes in the circulation when mobilizing chakra throughout the body.
This round of training took quite a while.
Fortunately, Uchiha Yu finally grasped the method of training monstrous strength. Like standard taijutsu, it required the body to maintain a specific state under the influence of chakra.
For example, the Lightning Release Chakra Mode required coordinating the body with lightning-nature chakra to achieve perfect synergy, allowing the user to reach extreme speeds.
The Eight Gates Released Formation was the pinnacle of taijutsu—a culmination of pure physical skill and ninja body arts.
It was simple and brutal: once a ninja had trained their body enough to withstand the opening of the gates, they would release the eight chakra limiters throughout the body—like opening floodgates—burning their life force to squeeze out all their physical power.
Monstrous strength, on the other hand, exploded chakra through all the meridians and pressure points simultaneously, granting the user strength that was precise, balanced, and reinforced throughout the entire body.
The stronger one's chakra reserves, mental energy, and physical baseline were, the higher the upper limit of monstrous strength became. Compared to the Eight Gates, it was more conservative, but completely harmless to the user.
Having consumed the green potion for more than half a month, Uchiha Yu's physical condition had already far surpassed that of ordinary people.
It was foreseeable: as long as his physical strength and mental energy continued to grow…
Under the enhancement of monstrous strength, when he unleashed his full body power, the resulting boost would be terrifying.
Until the green potion finished reconstructing his body enough to withstand the Death Gate of the Eight Gates—
Monstrous strength would serve as an excellent enhancement-type body-art state.
Uchiha Yu suddenly felt curious—could he combine multiple body-art systems together?
But with only one chakra pathway network in the human body, merging multiple body-art states seemed… difficult.
"Wanting to master monstrous strength requires daily, diligent training. Back then, it took me a full year to completely grasp it," Hashirama said as he formed a hand seal.
POOF—
A puff of smoke erupted in front of him, and a large white scroll appeared upright on the ground.
"Good. Even in this state, I can still perform ninjutsu." Hashirama let out a breath of relief as he looked at the scroll.
If he couldn't use ninjutsu, he wouldn't be able to pass the Five-Fold Rashōmon contract on to Uchiha Yu.
Uchiha Yu wasn't surprised that Hashirama, even as a "spirit form," was capable of using ninjutsu.
The ninja world had many stories involving spirits.
In the Star Ninja Village arc, after Natsuhi was killed by Akahoshi and her son faced him…
Natsuhi's spirit also appeared behind her son, helping him exact revenge.
Spirits like Hashirama's could likely convert pure spiritual energy into chakra, allowing them to perform various techniques.
Hashirama unrolled the large scroll and said to Uchiha Yu:
"Come write your name. The Five-Fold Rashōmon is a summoning technique, so it requires a blood contract. Just like any summoning technique, the more chakra you pour into it, the stronger the summoned gates will be."
Uchiha Yu stepped forward, crouched down, examined the scroll to confirm everything was correct, then bit his finger and wrote his name on it.
From now on, as long as he followed the proper steps, he could summon the Rashōmon gates to block attacks aimed at him.
POOF—
Hashirama rolled up the contract again.
"It's said that the Rashōmon gates lead to the boundary between life and death. Once opened, they connect to the demons' homeland. They stand at the very edge of hell itself. Their durability will definitely satisfy you!"
"Hopefully." Uchiha Yu nodded, signaling that he understood.
Compared to Tobirama, Hashirama was much more straightforward and generous. Uchiha Yu estimated that if he ever tried to "borrow" techniques from Tobirama in the future—even if Tobirama agreed to hand over a forbidden jutsu—he'd probably curse the whole time.
"Make sure you protect little Tsunade!"
"Yeah. I won't let anything happen to her."
"Bastard! Why are you calling her so affectionately?! What's that supposed to mean?!"
Uchiha Yu ignored Hashirama's grumbling and stored the First Hokage—who had just exploded into a shower of gold coins—back into the prison space.
He had now finished learning three jutsu.
It had taken quite a while.
"Turn left. One hundred meters ahead, the central area of the valley. Based on the information, the mountain peak in the very center should be the destination."
Tobirama's cold voice suddenly sounded.
All along the way, he acted like a precise and emotionless navigation device.
Uchiha Yu repeated Tobirama's instructions to Garaga beneath him, then released the genjutsu on Tsunade.
Clang—
A tremor rippled through Tsunade's mind as her senses returned one by one. She quickly looked down, checking her body—unable to see her own feet from this height.
Seeing that her clothes were intact and she was unharmed, untouched by Uchiha Yu, she finally relaxed.
Hoo—
The sharp wind rushing past her ears pulled her thoughts back to reality.
Everything was still pitch black, but Tsunade could easily tell this was just the natural night—not a genjutsu like a sealed-off chamber.
"What were you doing just now?"
Tsunade looked toward Uchiha Yu…
Only to see him taking out two torches, handing one to her.
She accepted it.
Holding the flame forward, she noticed that Garaga had already carried them to the front of a mountain peak.
The peak wasn't very high.
It stood alone in the center of the valley, surrounded by layers of complicated terrain.
"Master, is this the place?"
Garaga asked.
"Yeah. Drop us off here, then go bring over that unit of Edo Tensei Uchiha."
Uchiha Yu instructed.
"Yes—!"
Garaga lowered his head, approaching the mountain. Only after Uchiha Yu and Tsunade leaped onto the grassy cliff did he turn and crawl back the way he came.
The grass was extremely soft, swallowing the soles of their ninja sandals. As the night wind blew, the field rippled like waves, accompanied by a continuous rustling sound.
Far removed from the swamp region, this mountain peak carried none of its foul stench.
In contrast, the dense emerald grass and scattered wildflowers made the air incredibly fresh—carrying even faint hints of fragrance.
"This place and the swamp outside… it's like two completely different worlds." Tsunade said, lifting her torch and surveying the area.
Suddenly, the dark night was washed with a layer of silver light—a full moon slid out from behind the thick clouds.
The shadows of Uchiha Yu and Tsunade stretched across the grass. As the moonlight spread, they finally saw the full appearance of the peak.
They were standing on the mountaintop—only the size of two or three basketball courts.
To the west was a downward slope, and nearby were several peaks of similar height and size.
Under the moonlight, the entire mountaintop was blanketed in grass, and clusters of wildflowers glimmered faintly as they dotted the edges of the cliffs.
Like countless stars scattered across the night sky.
At the moment the full moon appeared, every plant on the mountain shimmered under the silver glow, swaying gently as if breathing.
"Are you sure that person is really sealed here?" Tsunade asked, her voice quiet as she stood immersed in the moonlit sea of flowers.
Uchiha Yu glanced toward the other peaks.
"This mountain's vegetation is clearly more lush and vigorous than the others. There's a type of energy underground that the plants can absorb—and that can only be chakra."
Tsunade walked forward a bit, then crouched down to examine the plants.
After a moment.
She actually found a few medicinal herbs naturally attuned to chakra. Plants and animals in the shinobi world often mutate slightly after being exposed to chakra.
Some herbs become deeply compatible with chakra, developing strange medicinal properties.
And throughout the shinobi world, there are places where bizarre chakra sources lie buried underground.
For example—the meteorite at Hoshigakure releases an unusual chakra.
If it had fallen in the wild, its radiation would definitely have caused the surrounding environment to mutate, producing all sorts of uncanny plants and animals.
"So you're saying the seal on that person is gradually weakening over time, and that's why chakra is leaking out?" Tsunade analyzed.
"Mm." Uchiha Yu headed toward the mountain wall. "Come. Before we dig him out, we need to make some preparations."
°°°
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