Might Guy held the notebook in both hands, reading with utmost seriousness.
A few minutes passed.
Then he scratched his head.
During this period, he had studied at the hospital, the research division, and the Ninja Academy. He had even gone to consult the Third Hokage personally.
But learning had never been his strong suit.
Staring at dense written material like this made him drowsy almost instantly.
After forcing himself to stay alert for a while longer, Guy finally began to piece things together.
The concept of chakra armor originated from metal—using the interaction between muscles and chakra to reinforce the physical body's defensive strength.
Guy's chakra control wasn't particularly refined.
However, once he entered the Eight Gates, his body existed in a constant state of chakra overflow.
Because of that—
This version of chakra armor didn't require delicate chakra shaping. As long as muscle control was correct and chakra output was sufficient, the defensive effect could be achieved.
Above the Sixth Gate, the results would be especially pronounced.
Meanwhile, far away—
Samui narrowed her eyes.
She realized this trip was never going to be easy.
At the very least, she could use this diplomatic mission to probe Konoha's current situation.
Because up until now, the key difference was that her "prison" had changed—from Orochimaru's base to the Sound Village.
Ghost-like memories surfaced.
Suigetsu Hōzuki…
Samui took a slow breath and said coldly,
"Atsui, if you want to be a ninja, you must learn to think calmly. Otherwise, you'll never become a competent jōnin."
Using the principles of a tornado to form a wind-style defensive barrier around the body sounded ideal—but realistically, almost no one could master it. And those who could wouldn't need such a technique in the first place.
If Jiraiya hadn't been lying, then there was no doubt—
The two ninjas who appeared at the Land of Lightning's border that day were not a coincidence.
Somewhere in one of Orochimaru's former bases, there was once an extremely interesting prisoner.
"Stop."
Guy raised a hand halfway through the explanation. "That's enough."
"Curse marks?" he repeated.
There was no evidence.
Guy patted his chest, showing complete trust in Yagyū Souma.
Strong. Really strong.
This matter couldn't simply be ignored.
But—
Yagyū Souma was clearly optimizing his techniques for above the Sixth Gate.
If that flaw couldn't be overcome…
A thin sheen of sweat appeared on Atsui's forehead.
Defeating a fully transformed Eight-Tails jinchūriki and then demanding an explanation afterward was fundamentally a losing proposition. Samui suspected the Raikage's words back then were spoken in anger rather than strategy.
Her real goal was to gather intelligence on Akatsuki, yet Jiraiya remained evasive, giving her very little concrete information.
Her teammate—her brother—was completely useless this time.
Still…
"Anko-senpai has a curse mark too, right?" Atsui suddenly said.
"And Kimimaro had one. Orochimaru even gave Sasuke a vial of curse mark power before."
If Chōza had learned the Second Activation rather than the Eight Gates, it would have been impossible for him to use both Partial Expansion and the Eight Gates simultaneously.
Samui hesitated, then her expression grew serious.
"I didn't expect there to be an organization like this lurking in the shadows. That's terrifying. Um, Jiraiya-sama, could you first—"
It felt less like a planned ambush and more like someone striking first—
That someone was likely Yagyū Souma, and then the two sides collided during pursuit.
Guy's line of thinking was very clear.
But—
In taijutsu, Guy was undoubtedly an authority.
Samui hadn't recognized it at first.
The Second Activation… Yagyū Souma already had ideas about that.
Can't mess with him. Absolutely can't.
Samui froze for a moment. "May I ask what exactly happened?"
"Yes, but its advantage is that it integrates easily with ninjutsu."
Samui sighed inwardly, knowing her brother hadn't listened at all.
Yagyū Souma shook his head.
"No. That one is Kakashi-sensei's technique. What I'm researching now is different—it's a curse mark I redesigned based on Orochimaru's, but fundamentally altered."
Whether Sage Mode would enhance Might Guy was still unknown, but Guy had helped Yagyū Souma enormously from the very beginning.
A voice suddenly sounded from above.
Samui's heart jumped. In an instant, her hair stood on end. She drew her blade and shouted,
"Who's there?!"
She hadn't seen how the other party approached at all. The grip on her wrist was overwhelming—her bones felt like they were about to shatter.
"Our village's jinchūriki was attacked?" Jiraiya asked calmly.
He described the appearance of Itachi and Kisame.
He understood chakra and ninjutsu well. His talent simply wasn't exceptional, so he had chosen to specialize in taijutsu. Lee, on the other hand, had never been given a choice.
...
The Land of Lightning had no solid proof that Yagyū Souma was the culprit—
Except for one thing.
Eight-Tails chakra.
Atsui wanted to argue but didn't dare.
Defense?
Jiraiya chuckled.
"Young people shouldn't meet and immediately start fighting. That's bad."
Of course—
"For now, I can't be completely sure," Jiraiya continued, "so I'm also gathering information on them. What, have you encountered these people as well?"
"Alright. I'll be waiting at home."
As for Water Release—
Fire and Wind were more offense-oriented.
A water-based chakra armor would likely draw from principles similar to the Hydrification Technique. Yagyū Souma hadn't acquired it yet, but he mentioned it to Guy in passing.
"That forehead protector…" Samui said softly.
With the large 'oil' character engraved on it, she immediately bowed.
"I didn't expect to encounter one of the Legendary Sannin. Jiraiya-sama, please forgive our intrusion. We didn't enter the Land of Fire without reason."
Jiraiya patted Atsui on the shoulder, smiling.
Having confirmed they entered through official channels, he soon allowed them to leave.
After parting with Jiraiya, Samui's expression grew increasingly heavy.
As for the Second Activation—
Even if one barely managed to reach that level, advancing beyond it was already far outside human limits.
"Cloud Village has nothing to say," Yagyū Souma concluded.
"The real target is definitely the Raikage's armor. The focus should be on optimizing earth-style and water-style chakra."
"Sage chakra?" Guy repeated.
"Wind Release also has potential," Yagyū Souma added thoughtfully.
"There shouldn't be much else," he continued.
"As for taijutsu—your Breathing Activation Technique. I studied it. The First Activation is relatively safe, but the Second and Third are extremely dangerous."
Samui's pupils shrank.
"You mean… their target is jinchūriki?"
"This technique will be very difficult to develop further."
Guy pondered for a long time, then said,
"The version you optimized for the Third Gate should still have room for improvement, right? Tell me your other ideas—maybe I can offer suggestions."
Samui quickly reorganized her thoughts.
She had come to question Konoha, yet somehow felt she had gained more insight instead.
"Come on," Guy said enthusiastically. "How do you want me to cooperate?"
Because the chakra involved beyond that point was no longer something humans could control.
"If you don't understand the enemy, how can you negotiate?" Jiraiya said lightly.
Atsui was capable in many ways—except he hated thinking.
"Let's go."
Samui felt a chill run down her spine.
Even without seeing it firsthand, she could imagine that level of power rivaling Guy opening the Third Gate.
Atsui had only just become a chūnin this year. His impulsive fighting style made him completely unsuitable to lead a team.
"Your thinking is solid," Guy said to Yagyū Souma,
"but one thing—ordinary taijutsu users are different. You can't expect everyone to meet your or Lee's standards."
"I understand."
Based on her observations—
"Yes."
"Hahaha, no problem. Young people are passionate. I was just teasing."
That kind of openness was refreshing.
"Oh, right!"
There really was an organization dedicated to hunting jinchūriki.
They truly were after tailed beasts.
Samui forced herself to interrupt Yagyū Souma before he continued elaborating.
She shot a sideways glance at her brother.
That was a compiled intelligence dossier.
On Yagyū Souma.
Every piece of information the Cloud Village had gathered—written clearly inside.
Guy thought deeply, then said slowly,
"Yagyū Souma, this technique has enormous potential. If we understood the Raikage's armor better, we could definitely draw inspiration from it."
He paused, eyes unfocused, then added,
"That name… it sounds familiar. I feel like I've heard it somewhere."
Samui closed the dossier and quickened her pace.
At that moment—
Everything clicked together.
A perfectly linked chain.
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