Sasuke felt a twinge of disappointment upon hearing Ryōsuke's words. While it was true that his father was the head of the Uchiha clan and would normally be considered the strongest in the family, the current situation was an anomaly. His father was far from being the most powerful. Compared to the man standing before him, the gap in strength was likely immense.
Sasuke knew that Ryōsuke was someone who could pummel even a Tailed Beast. He firmly believed that if Ryōsuke had been strong enough during the Nine-Tails Rampage, he could have pinned down the Nine-Tails—the very beast that forced the Fourth Hokage and his wife to sacrifice themselves—and beaten it into submission. If that had happened, Naruto wouldn't have lost his parents.
Naturally, Sasuke wanted to learn from the very best. Since Ryōsuke wasn't willing to take him on as a formal disciple, Sasuke figured he could at least try to learn his signature moves.
"Brother Ryōsuke, can you teach me the Eight Inner Gates?"
To Sasuke, this technique seemed even more powerful than their clan's Sharingan or even the Mangekyō Sharingan. It was heralded as the ultimate form of taijutsu.
Ryōsuke felt a bit speechless. Yet another person wanted to learn the Eight Inner Gates. This technique was truly not something an average person could simply pick up. For a normal person, it required decades of grueling, year-round effort just to stand a slight chance of reaching a high level of mastery. Even with the attribute bonuses provided by his system, Ryōsuke had spent a significant amount of effort on it, which spoke volumes about the difficulty of the Eight Inner Gates.
Not having the heart to flatly refuse Sasuke, he replied, "I can teach you, but it will be incredibly painful. Are you still willing?"
He was open to teaching it, provided the boy could endure the agony. If Sasuke chose to give up later, that would be his own decision.
Sasuke's eyes lit up with excitement. Pain meant nothing to him. As a ninja, none of his daily training was easy. "Brother Ryōsuke, when can you start teaching me?"
"Don't be so impatient," Ryōsuke said calmly. "I can't teach you just yet. The Eight Inner Gates requires a powerful physique. We'll talk about it once you're a bit older."
Sasuke could only accept that answer for now. He knew a bit about the Eight Inner Gates already. The technique involved removing the body's internal limits on chakra, thereby drawing out power many times greater than one's original strength. However, those limits existed to protect the body, preventing it from collapsing under a burden it couldn't handle. To wield such immense energy, one needed an exceptionally strong body. At his current age, his physique was far too fragile. Trying to learn it now would likely result in permanent damage.
It seemed his only option was to build a solid foundation. He knew Ryōsuke trained almost every single day. Even though he had already reached a profound level in the Eight Inner Gates, Ryōsuke never missed a day of exercise. Sasuke resolved to follow that example to ensure he would be ready to master the technique in the future.
Naruto also chimed in excitedly, "Brother Ryōsuke, I want to learn it too!"
Ryōsuke shook his head helplessly. "Naruto, when you're older, Jiraiya will teach you senjutsu. Senjutsu is no weaker than the Eight Inner Gates. However, these two modes are incompatible. If you use the Eight Inner Gates, it becomes extremely difficult—practically impossible—to mold senjutsu chakra."
Senjutsu required the user to enter Sage Mode, which relied on a perfect balance between physical energy and nature energy. The Eight Inner Gates, however, caused the internal chakra to surge violently and uncontrollably to gain power. Naruto sighed and gave up on the idea.
"Okay then."
Seven months later, at the Konoha Hospital.
Ryōsuke stood quietly in the corridor alongside Kurenai's mother. Inside the delivery room, Kurenai was in labor. Ryōsuke wasn't particularly worried; he had hired the best doctors available.
Ten hours passed, stretching into the evening. Ryōsuke finally began to feel a hint of concern. 'Ten hours? I hope nothing goes wrong.'
A short while later, a nurse stepped out of the delivery room with a smile on her face. "Congratulations. Both mother and child are safe. It's a boy."
Ryōsuke let out a long breath and immediately entered the room to see Kurenai. She was lying on the bed, drenched in sweat and looking utterly exhausted. Knowing she needed rest, Ryōsuke offered gentle words of comfort.
"Kurenai, you did well. It's a boy. Get some rest now."
Kurenai nodded weakly and closed her eyes to sleep. Since the doctors still needed to perform various tests on the newborn, Ryōsuke quietly withdrew from the room.
As he did, the mechanical voice of the system echoed in his mind.
[CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HOST FOR OBTAINING A DESCENDANT. REWARD: ONE PRECIOUS CHEST.]
Ryōsuke's heart skipped a beat. A Precious Chest was a second-tier reward in the system's hierarchy. Since Kurenai was a Jōnin, obtaining such a reward for their child felt quite appropriate.
'System, open the chest.'
[DING! CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HOST FOR OBTAINING A SEALING TREASURE VASE. IT CAN BE USED TO SEAL BOTH LIVING AND NON-LIVING BEINGS. THE TARGET MUST BE INCAPACITATED BEFORE THE SEALING CAN BE PERFORMED; OTHERWISE, THE ACTION WILL FAIL.]
Ryōsuke examined the translucent, glowing blue glass bottle now sitting in his system inventory. He fell into thought. He hadn't expected the system to give him an item like this. It seemed to be just a container, and the usage requirement—the target being incapacitated—was somewhat strict.
However, this item would allow him to seal Tailed Beasts. Originally, the Tailed Beasts were the property of Konoha, having been distributed to the other villages by the First Hokage. It wasn't that the First Hokage was weakening himself; back then, handling even the strongest beast, the Nine-Tails, was like child's play to him. The beasts didn't truly count as significant combat power compared to Hashirama.
It was a tragedy that Hashirama died shortly after his battle with Madara, leaving no one in Konoha who could match his strength. Consequently, the Tailed Beasts became a massive threat to the village.
Furthermore, in a few years, Nagato and his Akatsuki would begin collecting the Tailed Beasts to achieve their version of peace. In reality, they were just reviving the Ten-Tails. Uchiha Obito wanted to use the Ten-Tails for the Infinite Tsukuyomi project to create a world where Rin was still alive. Meanwhile, Uchiha Madara wanted to use the same plan to create a peaceful world and end all conflict permanently.
Among these people, Obito's goal was undoubtedly just a selfish pipe dream. He wanted a dream where Rin existed, but why did he have to drag everyone else into it? Couldn't he have just dreamed on his own? If the man had simply died and gone to the Pure Land, he probably could have seen her there. If the opportunity arose, Ryōsuke decided he would personally send the man to the Pure Land.
As for Madara, he also wanted everyone to dream. In that dream, everyone's wishes would come true. It sounded beautiful, but it was still just a dream. Was he really chasing a fantasy just because reality fell short? It felt like a desperate escape from the real world.
@@@@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Discount-Discount-Discount!!!!!!!!!!@@@@
You want more chapters??? +50 chapters (or to the end of the raw) available on my patreon page:
patreon.com/Hard_Worker
If you like the novel so far, please leave me a 5-star review
I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a Review—Power Stones