In the forests of Konoha.
Uchiha Gin leaned forward slightly, his arms naturally hanging down, ready to draw the weapons strapped to his thighs at any moment.
His gaze was calm and serious as he looked at Might Duy, who was scratching his head awkwardly.
Might Duy still hesitated; he really didn't want to fight a kid.
"We don't have to do this, you know."
Even though this kid was absolutely exhausting to deal with, it didn't feel right to actually fight him.
Especially because he was from the Uchiha clan—if he laid a hand on him, who knew how many Konoha Police Force officers would storm his house afterward?
But Gin had no interest in listening to this nonsense. His foot stomped down, and in an instant, his figure disappeared from sight.
Shave.
By pouring chakra into his feet and rapidly stepping dozens of times in a split second, he generated explosive reactive force for a burst of high-speed movement.
The next moment, Gin appeared behind Might Duy and launched a sharp kick.
Might Duy managed to raise his arms just in time to block.
Bang!
The clash between foot and arm rang out clearly. Might Duy's body was knocked sideways, but he quickly adjusted mid-air, landing with both feet and one hand on the ground, sliding backward some distance before regaining stability.
"He's strong," Might Duy thought, genuinely surprised by the force behind that kick.
"But it's not over yet."
The voice came from above. Duy looked up just in time to see Gin raising his foot high, then chopping it downward like an axe.
He rolled to the side just in time to dodge.
Boom.
Gin's foot smashed a small crater into the ground, kicking up dust and debris.
"That's Tsunade's Monster Strength Technique!!" Might Duy thought, recognizing the famous move immediately—he was, after all, from the same era as the future Legendary Sannin.
But Gin's assault didn't stop. Using his hands to brace himself on the ground, he spun his legs like a wheel, landing a solid kick right into Duy's partially crouched face.
With a powerful push, he sent Might Duy flying.
As Duy crashed back down to earth, Gin's silhouette slowly emerged from the dust cloud, frowning as he looked at the fallen Might Duy.
Even after just a simple exchange, Gin could tell Duy's taijutsu was about mid-Chunin level. If ninjutsu was factored in, he would be firmly a Genin.
But that wasn't enough to satisfy Gin.
What he wanted to see was the Eight Inner Gates. He thought about threatening Duy into opening them, but considering Duy's earlier seriousness…
He decided against it.
He didn't want to cause a trauma response.
"Uncle Duy, didn't you say your wife was pregnant? Don't you need money right now? I'll hire you for 50,000 ryo as a C-rank mission. Your task: defeat me with all you've got."
Gin pulled out his crow-shaped wallet, drew out a 50,000 ryo bill, and casually pinned it to a nearby tree with a flick.
Might Duy sat up, rubbing his face.
He looked at the bill on the tree. 50,000 ryo could solve his immediate financial troubles, but still...
"Didn't you say you were broke when you gave me those ninjutsu scrolls?"
His face was full of question marks.
"Haha…" Gin scratched his head with an embarrassed laugh.
Truth was, his parents had left him quite a bit of money, and the Uchiha clan—proud as they were—would never stoop to embezzling a child's inheritance. Konoha's other clans couldn't say the same.
Props to the Uchiha.
"None of that matters. The only thing you need to focus on is defeating me."
Gin didn't want to talk anymore. He wanted to test his limits.
This would be his first real fight against a ninja.
"Fight me as if you're trying to kill me, because I'll be doing the same."
Over these twelve years, he had only ever fought wild beasts. The students at the Ninja Academy posed no real threat.
With the war approaching, he needed to know exactly how strong he was.
Might Duy's expression grew serious.
"I understand, Gin. I can see your determination."
"Then I'll show you the strength of self-restraint!"
Might Duy crossed his arms in front of his chest. He could feel Gin's intense emotions, even if he didn't know why.
"Eight Inner Gates — First Gate: Gate of Opening, OPEN!"
A surge of green chakra burst from his body, the ground beneath him cracking.
In the next instant, he appeared in front of Gin, spinning midair and delivering a fierce kick.
"Now this is what I'm talking about!"
Gin twisted his body, dodging the flying kick by a hair's breadth.
Landing, Might Duy launched into a full-force flurry of punches and kicks.
But despite the rapid onslaught, Gin moved like paper in the wind, twisting and swaying, making it impossible for a single blow to land.
Paper Drawing Technique.
Using hypersensitive skin to feel the slightest shifts in air currents and moving chakra with the flow to dodge attacks as lightly as a fluttering piece of paper.
"Not enough!"
"I see, Gin! Second Gate: Gate of Rest — OPEN! Third Gate: Gate of Life — OPEN! Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain — OPEN!"
Might Duy's skin turned reddish. His speed shot up even higher, and the air between his punches now sliced with cutting winds.
A thin cut appeared on Gin's face—a grazing wound from the sheer force of the air.
Paper Drawing was no longer enough.
Gin raised his arm to block, and BANG!—Might Duy's punch collided against him, echoing sharply.
The next instant, both vanished from sight.
In the dense forest, two dark blurs clashed and danced.
The air currents from their strikes swept through the trees, causing leaves and birds to scatter.
Boom!
A tree was punched clean through, leaving a hollow cavity in its trunk.
Might Duy and Gin's figures appeared and disappeared in flashes as their battle intensified.
As the clash reached its climax—
Gin's body was sent flying, slamming into a thick tree trunk with enough force to break it.
He landed heavily, gasping for breath.
"That's my limit."
The taijutsu test was complete. He had been completely overwhelmed in hand-to-hand combat.
It was time to switch to ninjutsu.
Might Duy's next attack was already incoming—a powerful roundhouse kick.
BANG!
Smoke billowed.
But what shattered was only a wooden log.
Gin hung upside down from a branch nearby, hands forming seals at high speed.
Serpent — Ram — Monkey — Boar — Horse — Tiger.
He inhaled deeply and blew toward Might Duy.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive fireball erupted from his mouth.
But Might Duy dodged at the last second, his figure already flickering in front of Gin, his fist plummeting down from above like a meteor.
BOOM! Gin's figure turned into smoke.
Substitution Jutsu.
Using Shave, Gin reappeared behind Duy and slammed his fists downward.
But—
The veins on Might Duy's forehead bulged, and his green chakra exploded outward.
"Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit — OPEN!"
Gin's attack hit nothing. Duy vanished before his eyes, and the world around Gin twisted and spun.
His body was hurled backward at incredible speed.
BAM!—he smashed into a tree. A wave of pain finally radiated through his torso.
Too fast. His senses couldn't even keep up.
"You've lost, Gin."
Might Duy appeared before him.
Gin wiped the blood from his mouth and collapsed onto the grass, laughing.
"Hahaha, yeah, I lost."
A clean defeat. He had found his current limit: somewhere around the fourth gate level—comparable to a Special Jonin.
Considering in the future, even Rock Lee couldn't defeat Gaara with just four gates—someone who could crush a Special Jonin-level Jinchuriki—it meant Gin, at twelve years old, had reached a very high level.
"Hahahahaha!" He laughed, genuinely happy.
He wasn't on the level of true monsters of the ninja world yet, but he was well on the path of a genius.
In the ninja world, shinobi were inherently high-attack, low-defense beings. With one extraordinary skill, even a Genin could kill a Jonin.
Just like future Kakashi's Chidori—if a Genin landed it, even a Jonin could die.
Unfortunately, Gin wasn't quite strong enough to match the Fifth Gate yet—matching a Jonin. Six Gates was Elite Jonin; Seven Gates (excluding Might Guy) was Kage-level; and Eight Gates was beyond Kage, even Six Paths level.
Might Duy carefully plucked the bill from the tree and tucked it into his clothing. It would cover his family's expenses for a while.
"Gin, how come you can already use ninjutsu?"
Might Duy, limping heavily, sat down beside Gin.
Five Gates was his limit; he couldn't avoid internal injuries even now.
"I advanced my basic internal training to Stage Two. Even with zero ninjutsu talent, you can still easily learn most basic techniques."
Sadly, he'd only had time to learn Shadow Clone and Fireball Jutsu overnight.
Gin, lying flat on the ground without the strength to move, still managed to pull out another 50,000 ryo bill and placed it beside Duy.
"This is for your medical expenses—and for your silence. Keep this secret, please."
He knew how hard it was for a low-ranked ninja like Might Duy to earn money.
Nowadays, in Konoha, ninjutsu and genjutsu aptitude were everything. Someone like Duy, with only taijutsu talent, would never be promoted easily.
Change would only come after his legendary feat of kicking down the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
"I can't accept it. These little injuries aren't worth worrying about," Might Duy said, refusing the money.
"Take it. Don't make me threaten you using the fact I used ninjutsu."
Might Duy's face collapsed in defeat.
Didn't he say earlier that winning or losing didn't matter?
Seeing Gin stay silent, Duy sighed and reluctantly pocketed the money—never had accepting cash felt so painful.
"Gin... why are you pushing yourself so hard?" Duy asked.
Gin gazed up at the white clouds floating across the clear blue sky, feeling a rare peace.
"I just want to live freely."
But sadly, in a war-torn world like this, even that was too much to ask.
"That's... a really beautiful dream," Might Duy murmured, lying down beside him. With 100,000 ryo, he wouldn't have to grind missions for a while.
"Too bad," Gin sighed.
War was coming. If people knew his strength, they'd push him onto the most dangerous frontlines.
If he had been from another clan—or even a civilian—there might be a chance to avoid it.
But he was an Uchiha.
For him, dangerous missions were inevitable.
Then, Might Duy suddenly spoke.
"Gin... want to learn my Eight Inner Gates?"
"Huh?!"