"Not good!"
Sensing the killing intent rising from Senya, Fuguki forgot everything else and fled with Water Style.
He had no courage to fight. At least until Biwa Jūzō died, that youth should not chase him.
Jūzō was badly wounded, but surely he could stall for a few seconds. That should be enough, right?
Kurosuki Raiga chose a different direction.
Jūzō's eyes went bloodshot as his weapon was destroyed. He had been so used to the Executioner's Blade.
Fury burned in him, yet he knew charging in now would only feed himself to the slaughter.
Their foe was clearly much stronger.
After flinging a few pointless kunai, Jūzō also ran, veering a third way.
In an instant the three had scattered as if by prior agreement.
"Let's start with you."
As Fuguki guessed, Senya chose Jūzō first.
Lightning chakra gathered in his hand.
With the Sage Body's boon, his Chidori had reached a terrifying level.
Teleportation flickered.
The next heartbeat, lightning punched cleanly through Jūzō's chest.
Before he could react, Jūzō toppled, eyes fixed wide in disbelief.
He could not fathom how Senya had appeared behind him in a blink.
Though there was no trace of blood, Senya still shook his clean right hand in distaste.
He had to repeat that motion twice more.
"Oh? You didn't run. You hid in place."
Senya smirked at a perfectly ordinary clump of shrubs.
That old trick of the safest place being the most dangerous meant nothing before his monstrous sensing.
Raiga, buried in the brush, jolted.
How could anyone be this strong...
He tried to shift positions.
A lance of force tore through his chest.
"One left."
With a casual wave and a sweep of his senses, Senya's figure vanished again.
By then, Fuguki had buried himself on a riverbed.
He watched carefully for several seconds.
Hearing no signs of pursuit did not ease him.
Senya's strength made his skin crawl.
Samehada stayed mute in his hands.
As he prepared to send a water clone up to scout, a bolt of light flashed.
The world blurred.
When he understood, lightning had already pierced his heart. Blood fountained, staining the river red.
"Boring. I'll head back early."
Senya let the lightning fade and turned for home.
...
When he returned to Might Duy's side, the man had only a single breath left.
The chakra flame in his heart was about to snuff out.
Seeing Senya come back, Duy knew the other three were dead.
"Never thought... I'd meet a master like you before I died. Khack..."
"Youth never ends. But my youth ends here."
With his last strength, Duy gave Senya a trembling thumbs-up.
Then his life went out.
"A shinobi with unshakable faith."
Senya sighed.
Silently, he spoke within.
"System, start today's sign-in."
[Ding! Sign-in complete. Reward acquired: Eight Gates.]
As the voice fell, a green sphere of light bloomed in Senya's mind.
"Oh? The Eight Gates."
He glanced at Duy, peaceful in death, and felt a tug in his chest.
Coincidence?
[Eight Gates: by unbinding the body's chakra pathways, one temporarily gains immense power. Opening all eight is called the Eight Gates Formation, granting instant strength dozens of times above the Five Kage. Opening the eighth - the Gate of Death - burns out one's life and leads to death.]
"Might Duy's Eight Gates Formation was still on the weak side."
Senya analyzed calmly.
Clearly, the Gates' power depended on the user. Different people would draw out different might.
And Duy had not developed a finishing art like Night Guy.
Kai truly surpassed his teacher.
"He was almost the man who ended the war with one kick."
Sensing a ninja approaching, Senya flickered away in a summoning flash.
...
Three days later.
Deep within the Uchiha training grounds.
After obtaining the Eight Gates, Senya did not keep wandering. He returned to the village to train this new art.
The Third Great Ninja War had fully ended.
Obito's squad would soon be back.
Before long, all field shinobi would return in triumph to cheering crowds.
With a thought, the light sphere burst.
The routes and methods of the Eight Gates imprinted perfectly in Senya's mind.
"My body is a perfected Sage Body. I wonder if training the Gates will push me higher."
"And how many can I open right now?"
He felt a spark of anticipation.
After tuning his state to its peak, Senya let his chakra surge.
"Eight Gates, First Gate - Gate of Opening, open!"
Green chakra coiled around him.
"Feels like... nothing much."
Aside from a slightly faster flow, he sensed little change.
"And there's no fatigue either."
He released the state without moving to the Second Gate.
The after-tiredness never came.
"Could it be that my body's strength and development already cancel the side effects?"
"If there's no downside, I can keep them open as a baseline."
He reasoned it out.
"In that case..."
"Eight Gates, Second Gate - Gate of Rest, open!"
"Gate of Life, open!"
"Gate of Pain, open!"