HGBW: Ch. 129

The Gate of Healing has reached its limit. I can't continue any further. Otherwise, this ninja hound will be crippled immediately.

Tanaka withdrew his palm.

After opening the Gate of Healing, the ninja hound's body had reached its critical limit.

Although its muscles, chakra pathways, and bones were still intact for now, that was only because it had just opened the Eight Gates and had not yet entered intense combat, nor had it used the Eight Gates' taijutsu. As a result, its body was still in relatively good condition.

However, once the search operation began and the ninja hound started running around, its physical burden would rise rapidly, and injuries would soon follow.

Even though the damage from running wouldn't be as severe as using the Eight Gates' taijutsu in battle, the longer it maintained the opened Gates, the more its body would deteriorate, eventually leading to torn chakra pathways, making it impossible to sustain the Eight Gates any longer.

"Komaru, are you okay?"

A ninja named Retsu crouched in front of his ninja hound.

"Woof!"

The ninja hound bared its teeth and barked a few times.

"You're saying you feel terrifyingly strong right now?" Retsu immediately translated.

The ninja hound nodded in response. If there were any Suna genin around, it claimed it could take them down in one bite. Gaara was an exception.

Seeing this, Yuto and the other clan members finally relaxed a bit.

"The border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Rain isn't as vast as the Land of Rivers, but it's still quite a distance."

"If we want to locate the Suna forces before they reach the Land of Earth, relying on a single ninja hound—even one that has opened the second gate—is impossible."

Tanaka stood up and looked at Yuto.

During his journey to the frontlines, he had used shadow clones to speed up his learning. With Tsunade's personal guidance, he had quickly caught up on his knowledge of ninja warfare.

He wasn't confident in commanding a large-scale war involving thousands of ninjas, but at least he wasn't completely clueless anymore.

"I understand." Yuto nodded in acknowledgment.

"I have divided the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Rain into 25 regions. A single ninja hound that has opened the Gate of Healing can cover one region."

"The remaining ninja hounds will be kept as backup."

Tsunade handed a simple reconnaissance map to Yuto.

"Understood."

Yuto's face darkened.

Twenty-five regions meant sacrificing twenty-five ninja hounds. As a lover of hounds, the thought pained him deeply. However, considering that this was a great ninja war and that Tanaka could heal the ninja hounds crippled by opening the Eight Gates, he gritted his teeth and accepted the mission despite his sorrow.

"Take a sniff. Don't worry. Once you reach your limit, you will automatically exit the Eight Gates state, and I will heal you."

Tanaka placed a puppet limb in front of the ninja hound and reassured it.

He didn't understand the ninja hound's language, but he knew the hound could understand human speech.

Sure enough.

Upon hearing Tanaka's words, Komaru nodded, its every movement displaying human-like intelligence.

Lowering its head, it sniffed the puppet limb.

Whoosh!

Moments later, Komaru pushed off the ground with all four limbs, accelerating beyond the speed of a galloping horse, shooting forward like a gust of wind.

"Komaru, wait for me!"

A nearby Inuzuka ninja immediately flashed forward to follow, but he could barely keep up with Komaru's fading silhouette.

"A normal genin would likely be torn apart in an instant when facing a ninja hound that has opened the Gate of Healing."

Seeing the hound's speed, many Konoha ninjas had the same thought.

"If he can open the Eight Gates for a ninja hound, does that mean he can also do it for a ninja?"

Shikaku, who had been silently observing, was deep in thought, his mind filling with new ideas. Indeed, forcefully opening the Eight Gates came at a high cost.

A ninja hound would lose its ability to function as a ninja hound.

A ninja would lose their ability to function as a ninja.

However, in a large-scale ninja war, once things reached a boiling point, surviving as a crippled warrior was still better than dying as a ninja.

Tanaka didn't care what Shikaku was thinking. Right now, his focus was entirely on the ninja hound before him. He repeated the process, unlocking the Gate of Opening and the Gate of Healing for the second ninja hound.

Having already gained experience from forcefully opening the second gate for the first ninja hound, his movements became increasingly proficient, and his efficiency improved significantly.

To the onlookers, it seemed as though Tanaka merely widened his eyes, raised his hand, and tapped a few acupoints—just like that, a ninja hound would have both the first and second gates of the Eight Gates opened.

In just a few minutes, all 25 ninja hounds had their Eight Gates opened and, along with their Inuzuka handlers, set off to scout their assigned regions.

After completing this, Tanaka's forehead was covered in beads of sweat the size of soybeans. Opening the Eight Gates for himself and opening them for others were two entirely different things.

For himself, it was just a single thought—effortless. For others, it required the Byakugan's acupoint techniques and the powers of the Op-Op Fruit.

Even though Tanaka's physical abilities were far beyond what they were when he first consumed the Op-Op Fruit, using its power 25 times in a row was no small drain on his stamina.

Especially the "Eight Gates Surgery," which involved intricate work with chakra pathways and acupoints. It didn't just exhaust physical energy—it drained mental energy as well.

"Are you alright?"

Tsunade noticed his state and was about to step forward, only to find that someone had beaten her to it.

Mikoto walked up quickly, reaching out to gently wipe the sweat from Tanaka's forehead. Her movements were so careful, as if she were handling a priceless, fragile treasure.

"I'm fine."

Tanaka shook his head, took out a ration pill made from Sea Kings from his ninja pouch, placed it in his mouth, chewed lightly, and swallowed. For others, Sea King ration pills were incredibly rare.
But in his storage scroll, there were dozens of pounds of them.

However, this intimate moment between the two did not go unnoticed.

It caused quite a stir among the onlookers. Especially among the ninja clans.

"…"

Tsunade glanced at Tanaka and Mikoto with an ambiguous smile but said nothing.

Looks like he's not far from winning Mikoto over. Hizashi, seeing how Mikoto was caring for Tanaka like a devoted wife tending to her husband, had a faint smile in his eyes.

The other Uchihas were equally astonished. Only Fumihiko, the leader of the team, was secretly pleased. Obviously, he was aware of Tanaka and Mikoto's engagement.

The closer their relationship, the stronger the bond between the Hyūga and Uchiha clans.

At least, that's how he saw it.

Shikaku, Chōza, and other ninjas narrowed their eyes slightly as they observed. A single Uchiha was already troublesome for the Konoha Council. If they truly joined forces with the Hyūga, the council would be in deep trouble!

After this war, Konoha's power dynamics might change. Shikaku thought to himself but quickly pushed those thoughts aside.

That was for the council to worry about.

For him, the priority was defeating Suna.

As Tanaka and the Konoha ninjas rested, patiently waiting for news, it took less than three hours.

With 25 ninja hounds, all having opened the Gate of Healing, tracking across vast distances, a scout finally returned from the border, bringing critical information.