Chapter 47 - Are All Konoha Genin This Strong?

"Ha!"
Kyōen panted heavily.

Both the large Water Barrier Technique and the mighty strength of his enhanced physical power had consumed quite a bit of chakra. At the moment, he could only manage a similar attack once more.

Unfortunately, there was no one in their team skilled in Lightning or Earth Release.

He cursed inwardly. If only he had brought Kakashi along!

His eyes swept around the area.

Minato had already driven back most of the enemies, but...

"They're here!"

Kurenai's pupils contracted.

Suddenly—

Crack!
The ground split open, and three figures rushed toward the trio.

She immediately formed hand signs.

Hell Dividing Clone!

In an instant, illusions and clones surrounded them, making it difficult for the three to discern what was real.

Then, chakra detonated.

The clones exploded!

"Ha!"

Guy kicked one of the attackers away.

However—

Boom!
The enemy countered, firmly blocking Guy's kick.

Immediately, several more figures emerged from underground.

"Some of them are Earth Clones," Kurenai maintained her sensory focus, quickly relaying the information.

"Guy, Kurenai, they're targeting us!"

Kyōen's eyes sharpened as he flashed to Kurenai's side.

Just as he was contemplating...

Suddenly—

He sensed a strange sound from beneath the ground.

Bad!

Kyōen placed a hand on Kurenai's shoulder and immediately flashed backward, leaping into the trees.

Though Guy was a beat slower, his body reacted almost simultaneously with Kyōen, using Body Flicker to retreat and avoid the earth spikes, even kicking one of the Earth Clones into pieces.

However—

In that moment, three or four figures shot up from beneath Kyōen, rushing toward him and Kurenai with lightning speed.

Kyōen immediately understood—

They were targeting him!!

Jonin.

He couldn’t fight head-on!

As he was pondering, large rock pillars began rising beside him, accompanied by several strange sounds, hard to discern but clearly indicating—

The enemy intended to kill him!

He had to run fast!
"Let's go!"

He grabbed Kurenai.

In this moment, Kyōen couldn’t afford to hesitate.

Open the Gate, Open!

Then—

He used Body Flicker to flee!

With his master-level Body Flicker Technique and the enhanced control, power, and speed from opening the gate, Kyōen instantly pulled Kurenai forward, covering a large distance in no time.

Their direction? Minato’s position.

So fast!

The three Iwa nin were astonished, even more shocked.

A genin with this kind of speed?

No wonder!
Their intent to kill grew even more resolute.

"Kyōen, leave me behind, just run! They’re after you!"

Kurenai's heart burned with anxiety.

Against Iwa's Jonin, her genjutsu wouldn’t work at all—she was just a burden.

"Don’t panic,"

Kyōen whispered.

When the three Jonin were about to catch up to him...

Suddenly.

He released Kurenai from his grasp atop a tree.

Then, Body Flicker, draw the blade—

Whoosh!

Before they could focus, Kyōen was already several steps away.

One of the three, holding his neck, had a look of fear and pain on his face.

What a fast sword!

In that moment, he almost thought he saw the White Fang.

He had to kill him!
Otherwise, Konoha’s future...

Would be terrifying!

He couldn’t help but think that Kyōen might be like the White Fang, ruling an era once again, a sword hanging over everyone’s heads!

Hah—

Kyōen gasped for breath.

The surprise attack and assassination technique of the White Fang’s sword style was indeed extremely effective.

With perfect timing and speed, overcoming strength with weakness wasn’t a miracle.

Facing Jonin, he couldn’t afford to hold back. Even after the effects of Opening the Gate wore off, he could immediately switch to the Closing Gate for temporary recovery.

But...

If he could avoid it—

It was still better not to open it if he didn’t have to.

Guy, entangled by several Earth Clones, struggled to break free. But seeing Kyōen exhausted, his speed suddenly increased dramatically, breaking free and charging toward Kyōen.

In that instant.

"Minato-senpai, if you don’t come now, I’m really going to die."

"Sorry, it took a bit of time to deal with the enemies."

Minato, covered in blood, appeared beside them, kunai dripping with blood.

His eyes swept over the remaining two.

"Iwa ninjas want to fight Konoha?"

"...!"

The two tried to flee, but in the next moment, Minato appeared beside them, and the shadow clone guarding Kyōen was revealed.

A massive chakra sphere appeared in his hand.

Giant Rasengan!
Boom!
A loud explosion.

The two were forced to retreat.

Minato moved like lightning, a few Body Flickers later, and the two were left in shock, disbelief written across their faces.

So fast!

Why were Konoha’s ninjas all this strong?

Blood splattered.

The two slowly fell.

Even after the continuous battle, Minato was visibly fatigued, but he couldn’t forget what he had seen from Kyōen just now.

That speed...

It was too fast!
It almost surpassed the body’s limits.

Could it be a forbidden technique?
He was still lost in thought.

Kyōen wearily stood up.

He had recovered from the initial effects of Opening the Gate.

Guy beside him was also gasping for breath.

Though he hadn’t used the Gate in combat yet, his stamina and strength were still heavily depleted and needed a moment of rest.

Minato looked at the two.

"Did you two practice the same forbidden technique?"

"Forbidden technique?"

Kurenai blinked, looking between Kyōen and Guy.

Did they...

Use some kind of forbidden technique?

"To solve the problem of controlling speed, I’ve read many books. The Second Hokage’s writings mentioned the idea of unlocking brain domain limitations, which pointed to the Opening Gate in the Eight Gates."

Kyōen answered.

He was telling the truth.

In the research notes Tsunade had retrieved, the connection between the Eight Gates and the brain domain was indeed mentioned. The Second Hokage had speculated about it, but no deeper research had been done.

As for how Kyōen had learned it, that was part of the "unspeakable" category.

"Opening the Gate?"

Minato’s eyes narrowed. "To rashly study such a dangerous technique... you’ve really gone too far! Guy, what about you?"

"Uh, my father taught me. He’s been researching it for over a decade. Now, it seems he can open many gates, though I’m not exactly sure how."

"!!!"

Minato didn’t know what to say anymore.

Guy’s father—Might Guy, if he remembered correctly, had been a lower-level ninja who never managed to be promoted.

And then Kyōen... only eight years old, yet with the notes of the Second Hokage, had managed to master the Opening Gate method on his own.

Are all the genin in Konoha this strong?

But...

Minato still wouldn’t forget the necessary warning.

"This is a forbidden technique."

"My father said it should only be used when protection is needed."

Guy replied.

"I understand the flaws and won’t use it recklessly."

Kyōen changed the topic. "Senpai, could these people be from Iwa?"

"It’s hard to say."

Minato scanned the surroundings.

His shadow clones were using sealing scrolls to clean up the site, discovering many traces, but so far, he couldn’t conclusively say these people were from Iwa.

Earth Release techniques weren’t exclusive to Iwa.

What if it’s from another village trying to assassinate and incite conflict between Konoha and Iwa?

"Gather as much evidence as possible, clean up the battle traces, and let the Hokage judge later."

Minato stopped thinking about it further.

Kyōen nodded.

He helped collect the surrounding items and clear the traces, but in his heart, he was thinking—

These people attacked in the Land of Hot Water, yet their target was him. It wasn’t necessarily Iwa’s doing.

But...

With the Chūnin Exams coming up, and many villages from neutral countries like the Land of Waves gathering... one side might be setting up an ambush, assassinating a Konoha team...

Blaming Iwa for attempting to sabotage the alliance wouldn’t be an exaggeration—it could very well escalate into a serious diplomatic incident.