Chapter 139 — Improving the Eight Gates (Part 3)
Meanwhile, Orochimaru still couldn't help but wonder.
Kazane was already the strongest shinobi in the ninja world—so why had his thirst for strength only grown stronger?
But then again, it was just like Orochimaru's own obsession with immortality. He believed Kazane had his reasons. And as his teacher, Orochimaru's role was to quietly support him from behind.
"Come on, Kazane. Let me take you somewhere."
He patted Kazane on the shoulder, then walked ahead out of the office, gesturing toward a shadowed corner.
Just as they stepped out, Kakashi emerged silently from the shadows inside the room.
Scratching his head in mild exasperation, he vanished in a blur—off to find Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Back when Hiruzen had been Hokage, he had his most trusted ANBU—the Cat-masked agent—stationed in the office at all times.
Now that Orochimaru was Hokage, he too had appointed his most trusted ANBU to stay close.
And of course, the people Orochimaru trusted most… were the Hatake brothers.
Ever since Minato Namikaze was appointed Deputy Commander of the ANBU, his team had officially disbanded.
Rin Nohara had joined Tsunade's medical corps. Obito Uchiha had followed Gotan into the Interrogation Department. Kakashi and Minato had both been transferred into the ANBU under Kazane's command.
After Orochimaru came into power, Kakashi was officially stationed in the Hokage office, much like the former Cat-masked ANBU.
Soon, he would also be responsible for monitoring Hiruzen.
It wasn't long before Orochimaru led Kazane to a wall deep beneath the Hokage Building.
He formed a few hand signs, and the wall split open automatically to reveal a hidden passage.
"Kazane, you still have the Scroll of Seals with you, right?"
Stopping at the entrance, Orochimaru turned to look at him.
"Mm. Right here."
Kazane retrieved the scroll from his waist beneath his robe and handed it over.
"This scroll only contains a directory of forbidden jutsu," Orochimaru explained, taking it. "The actual forbidden techniques are stored here, in this vault."
He stepped inside, Kazane following.
The sight that greeted them left Kazane slightly stunned.
The room was filled wall-to-wall with towering bookshelves—at least thirty rows in total—each shelf densely packed with scrolls.
As far as the eye could see, they were neatly organized by rank: from E-rank at the front, gradually ascending through F, D, C, B, A, and finally S-rank jutsu.
Each section was also categorized by elemental affinity.
On another side were two entire bookshelves labeled Sealing Techniques.
Behind those were additional shelves marked Medical Ninjutsu, Space-Time Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Sensory Techniques, Curse Seals, and Forbidden Techniques.
This was Konoha's true foundation—its hidden strength.
The sheer number and variety of techniques left Kazane genuinely impressed.
He walked to the E-rank section first, and the first thing he saw was the Clone Technique taught in the ninja academy.
He then followed the rows deeper and quickly reached the Sealing Techniques section—the part he was most interested in.
On the top shelf sat legendary techniques like Reaper Death Seal, Five Elements Seal, Four Symbols Seal, Reverse Four Symbols, and Four Red Yang Formation—each one an absolute bug-level technique.
To be honest, with Kazane's current strength, only one thing in this world could still threaten his life—these dangerous forbidden seals.
Shinobi who mastered these might not be able to match him in open combat, but they could always force a deadly trade under dire circumstances.
Just then, Orochimaru walked up beside him.
"Impressive, isn't it? A week ago, when Hiruzen-sensei brought me here for the first time, even I was stunned. This place is like a labyrinth of hell."
"There's so much here, I could spend a lifetime and still never finish learning it all."
Kazane snapped out of his thoughts, but he couldn't help rolling his eyes inwardly at Orochimaru's "humble brag."
You? Never finish? You're immortal! You've got countless lifetimes!
Kazane had a strong feeling—now that Orochimaru had handed off administrative duties to Hiruzen, it wouldn't be long before he surpassed even Tobirama Senju in mastery.
Orochimaru picked up a medical scroll from a nearby shelf and walked over.
Pointing at it, he said, "Actually, Kazane, I've already thought of the simplest way to mitigate the damage caused by opening the final gate."
"The simplest method—learn Creation Rebirth and Mitotic Regeneration: Activation."
"If you activate the regeneration jutsu before opening the Death Gate, you can concentrate a set amount of chakra at your heart."
"When the Death Gate inflicts trauma, the jutsu will immediately activate, rapidly healing your heart and canceling out the worst of the damage."
"As long as you shut down the Death Gate before the chakra runs out, the only consequence would be some blood loss."
"With your body's natural regeneration, you'd just need to rest in bed for a few days."
Orochimaru paused, returning the scroll to the shelf. Then, seeing Kazane's hopeful expression, he continued:
"Of course… that's assuming you could actually learn Mitotic Regeneration—which you can't. Your chakra control's nowhere near good enough."
Kazane had been getting excited. But when he heard that, he knew Orochimaru had been messing with him the whole time.
Still, knowing his teacher, he figured there was a real solution hidden behind the joke.
He said nothing—just kept silently staring, full of expectation.
Orochimaru, who had been hoping for some dramatic outburst—anger, disappointment, something—could only shake his head in defeat.
This kid… not even a little reaction. So boring.
Resigned, he went on:
"The other method is using Creation Rebirth."
"In all of Konoha, only Tsunade and Shizune can use it."
"The technique regenerates tissue by changing the body's cell ratio, using a part of the body as a medium."
"But it requires the patient to lie inside a massive healing seal and takes a long time to complete."
"Still, this method is best for you. I'll construct a special testing field for you in the forest behind the village. All you have to do is activate the Death Gate while hooked up to my monitoring devices."
"As soon as your body begins breaking down, shut the gate down immediately."
"Tsunade will then use Creation Rebirth to heal you."
"With your physical constitution, as long as you're not missing any limbs, you'll recover fully in under a week. With me and Tsunade working together—once we gather enough data—we'll absolutely find a way to optimize the Eight Gates technique."
Orochimaru's proposed research method was undeniably brutal.
It meant Kazane would have to endure the sensation of his heart being shredded over and over again.
And after closing the Death Gate, he'd have to suffer through the agonizing tearing of his cells as Tsunade harvested tissue to rebuild his heart—and the unbearable itch of heart cells regenerating.
But Orochimaru knew—Kazane would agree.
This was the same kid who, straight out of the academy, dared to experiment with the risky Lightning Chakra Mode—despite having zero confidence it would work.
He'd been electrocuted nearly to death countless times. But as soon as his wounds healed, he was right back at it.
Many now believed Kazane's power came from his extraordinary bloodline limit and genius-level talent.
But only Orochimaru—and a handful of others—knew the truth.
Even the worst students at the academy had more innate talent than Kazane did at the start.
His true strength came from effort.
Up at 4 a.m. every day, training from dawn to dusk—only stopping to eat. No breaks. No exceptions. Year after year.
You could argue that it wasn't Kazane's Haki-style bloodline limit that made him strong. It was his strength that revealed Haki to the world.
After all, Haki functioned like an invisible armor—strengthening his body and coating his weapons so they wouldn't break in battle.
But even without Haki—who could stand up to a single one of Kazane's strikes?
To Orochimaru, Kazane was the second person he'd ever seen who could fully control his body with sheer willpower.
The first? Orochimaru himself.
And just as he expected, Kazane didn't hesitate:
"Sensei, when do we start?"
"Tomorrow. But this first round of tests… you'll be going in alone. Might Duy can't participate. His body's already beyond its limits."
"If he were to open the Death Gate… he wouldn't last two seconds before his heart exploded."
Orochimaru warned him seriously.
He knew Kazane too well. If he didn't say this, the boy might drag Duy into testing right away. Years of high-intensity training had left Duy with numerous hidden injuries.
During the Third Great Ninja War, he had opened the Seventh Gate multiple times.
If Orochimaru hadn't been treating him regularly, Duy might have long since died from internal collapse.
---
One Year Later
Forest Behind the Village – Secret Testing Grounds
In a secluded grove, the experimental site stood silent.
Orochimaru and Tsunade stared intently at their monitoring devices.
Kazane stood in the center of the field, shirtless, wires connected to every part of his body.
They exchanged a glance—and gave the signal.
He took a deep breath, then...
"Eight Gates Formation: Death Gate—OPEN!!!"