5 Eight Gates!

"Ara, Ryu, you came! Come inside, play with Itachi as I cook something for you." a gentle of voice of a woman echoed in Ryu's ears. It was a voice that he felt to be soothing and very good. The lady was a fair-skinned woman with long, straight black hair with bangs hanging on either side of her face to roughly frame her cheeks and black eyes. She wore a simple dark purple blouse with a red-plum skirt and a light-yellow apron worn over it. Beside her was a cute little baby crawling on the floor.

"Thank you, aunt Mikoto." Ryu did not decline as he knew she will only insist more if he does decline. Her name is Uchiha Mikoto, she is the wife of Fugaku and he is considered by Ryu as his mother. But he kept it a secret, he just kept it in his heart. Mikoto went to the kitchen and did her thing.

"Itachi, come, come, big brother is here..." Ryu began to entice the cute little baby boy. He had an intelligent eyes and he giggled at Ryu before starting to crawl towards him, which made Ryu very ecstatic. This was his enjoyment.

The cute little baby boy was named Uchiha Itachi. He is currently 1 year old, has a smart looking eyes and adorable face. -- Uchiha Ryu

Ryu played with Itachi for sometime when Mikoto's voice echoed from inside. They had lunch and said goodbye after 2 hours in the residence. He wanted to stay longer, but he also needed to train.

But just as he left the house, he again felt the presence of the two individuals following him. That made his mood turn bad. Ryu really wanted to get rid of them, which he decided to. He made his way to the woods and lured them in. He did not look back, bu his eyes were crimson red as he started planning, until they finally reached the middle of the woods.

Wooosh! A kunai was instantly withdrawn and thrown from his Universe Ring, the target was his assumed Danzo spy.

Tink! The masked spy was barely able to react and block the kunai when a shuriken followed afterwards, which he blocked, but not the third attack. A solid punch made it's way to the spy's gut which sent him flying and hitting a tree as a result. But the attack did not stop as Ryu followed up with a powerful kick in the spy's chest that made even the tree crack a little from the impact. It probably broke the guys ribs and damaged his heart.

Ryu then slowly got another kunai from his weapon pack in his leg while also slowly talking.

"It would be better if you tell the Hokage-sama to stop what you are doing, or else..." Ryu did not bother finishing his words when his hand swiftly carrying a kunai swiftly slashed through the spy's throat, sending shivers to the other anbu sent by the Hokage. He quickly disappeared fro his hiding spot dashing towards the Hokage office with a body oozing with sweat.

What he saw- especially those eyes, he felt like he entered a cold pool filled with ice. It made his heart quiver just looking at them. And that strength, he did not even use a single jutsu, just some basic attacks killed a man that he could not even notice. 'Fugaku was not exaggerating at all. If that's the case...' he did not dare think of what will happen when that man, no- the boy grows further and stronger.

...

"Haahhh...' Ryu could only sigh when the anbu officer fled. He already knew that his secret was out and he needed more strength than this. Although he is powerful, his instinct told him that there are more powerful people out there than him. He was again reminded of the yellow haired young man, although he did not feel any strong remarkable chakra around the man, he felt a familiar oddity from the mans body. It was a similar feeling he got when Tian Lou passed him the bloodline.

Ryu returned to his residence, sat cross legged to his bed, and made sure that he did not sense anyone spying over him. Finally, a book made of exquisite materials unknown to Ryu appeared in his hands. "Body and Natural Energy Refinement Manual" -- it was the manual that Tian Lou said he should first cultivate. Tian Lou said that he could only start cultivating once he senses natural energy.

He opened the the book and started reading the foreign language. It was the Universal language, Tian Lou altered something in his tongue and brain in order for him to be able to read, understand and speak fluently.

The first stage in cultivation is the Body and Natural Energy Refinement, it is also the most important part in cultivation as a single mishap will lead you to death. You need to open all the gates in your body and take up enough natural energy in order to pass this stage.

From the book, it is said that absorbing natural energy is the very first stage in cultivation, it is also the first barrier. Natural energy is the most basic kind of energy in the whole 4 realms and the most common and infinite energy as you can sense it in any kind of living things, including humans. But if you don't know the right method in absorbing it, you will turn into stone.

It even added that there are many different ways in opening the gates, but this is the only flawless manual created to thousands of experiments and sacrifice.

The manual is divided into 8 levels from Level 1 to 8. The body has 8 gates and it will not change even when you reach the highest realm, namely:

The Gate of Opening, located in the brain, removes the restraints of the brain on the muscles granting the user the ability to exert 100% of his strength, whereas the normal is 20%. But it will also strain the muscles if used in an extended amount of time.

The Gate of Healing, located in the brain, increases the user's physical strength and re-energizes the body. This eliminates the side effect of the Gate of Opening.

The Gate of Life, located on the spinal cord. The increased blood flow helps in increasing the natural boy healing. But could also weaken the heart from pumping to it's limits due to its fragile nature.

The Gate of Pain, located on the spinal cord, increases speed and power. May cause muscle tissue to tear on use.

The Gate of Limit, located in the abdomen, mainly increases the stamina and further increase the user's, speed and power. It also eliminates the side effect from the gate of pain while strengthening the body naturally.

The Gate of View, located in the stomach, increases the user's stamina, speed and power. Opening of this gate releases such enormous amounts of energy that it can cause nearby water bodies to form a vortex around the user. Once opened, capable users can perform the Morning Peacock.

The Gate of Wonder, located below the stomach, further increases the user's stamina, speed and power.

The Gate of Death, located at the heart. Once opened, the user will enter what's known as the Eight Gates Released Formation. Opening this gate will increase the toughness of all the components of the heart while making the heart pump at maximum power eliminating the side effect of the Gate of life and strengthening all of the body's veins naturally while having more blood than normal.

Simultaneously filling all of the gates with natural energy will lead you to the next stage of cultivation.

Exceeding the power of every other gate, the user of the Gate of death can temporarily be granted approximately a hundred times their normal power. The time limit will depend on the toughness and quality of the body. This method was founded during the first war of humanity against the devils and was commonly used by the cannon fodders during the wars that terrorized all of the 4 realms. Hence, the name, Gate of Death.

...

Ryu could only marvel while reading the book. He had not imagined that there is such a power hidden in every persons body. And it said that this was just the beginning of cultivation, how powerful will someone be if the reach higher realms?!

He got up from his bed and exercised to reach his optimal strength before finally trying the method written on the book. He employed all of the instructions on the book and started crazily absorbing natural energy while employing it towards his head where the Gate of Opening is located. And this time, the weird transformation did not occur in his body.

Just to confirm, he even stopped cultivating from the manual and tried absorbing natural energy randomly when that weird transformation occurred again. Then he resumed cultivation. He was surprised when he tried cultivating with his sharingan activated as he sensed and absorbed natural energy two times faster.

After several minutes, his heart thumped furiously when he felt a strange wall block the natural energy in his head. It was the Gate of Opening, he finally accumulated enough natural energy that it reached the gate. He controlled the natural energy molding it onto a large sphere before furiously sending it to the invisible wall but was instantly bounced back sending shock waves in his head making him experience an excruciating pain he never experienced before. He could not think for several seconds, as if his brain stopped working.

He could only stop cultivating and laid on his bed, sweat oozing from his glands.

'It looks like it's not going to be that easy.' Ryu thought. After several thirty minutes of rest, he again sat crossed legged. All of his absorbed natural energy already leaked out from his body so he needed to start again.

Just like before, he again furiously started absorbing natural energy while hi sharingan is activated. After several minutes, Ryu felt the wall again, but this time, he did not rush. He slowed down his absorption until his head could not store it anymore. This time, he shaped the natural energy into a large fist then furiously sent it towards the invisible wall.

Bang! Crack! Crack!

'It worked!' Ryu was excited when he did not feel the pain anymore. As the invisible wall cracked, the natural energy started to seep in his head head as id it found its home. The pleasurable feeling took Ryu into a cloud nine. It only stopped after it could not absorb more and an invisible door seemed to close preventing the energy from leaking.

It could be said that his head has another reserve of energy like his chakra reserve but the natural energy in his head was 10 times more powerful and deadlier than his current chakra that was also more powerful than most of the other shinobi's.

Ryu knew that if he wanted to, he could open the door and tap into a different power. He felt that he was getting stronger, smarter and most importantly, he could tell that his control over his body increased. He punched out in the air bringing echoes in the room.

"Hahaha..." It was the first time Ryu laughed alone. It proved that he was really happy right now. He would only laugh genuinely while playing with Itachi and occasionally smile while talking to Mikoto and Fugaku.

He wanted more of that feeling, the feeling of power and pleasure that he could only feel. He excitedly sat cross legged and absorbed natural energy. But when he tried breaking the other invisible wall in his head, it instead bounced back heavily than the first which caused him another level of excruciating pain that made him faint.

...

When he finally woke up, his only thought was: 'Don't bite off more than you can chew!'

He learned that the gate would go to a strengthening stage after a opening them. It would take at least a month or more if he will not release it. And it would take 3 months or more to complete the strengthening depending on how long or how many times you will release the gate. So unless necessary, Ryu would not release the gate.