Ten Days Later
"Yare yare!"
Link placed his left hand against his face, with his right arm resting on the crook of his left elbow. His expression was cold, his legs tilted forward while his upper body leaned back. The entire pose looked oddly contorted.
After a few seconds—"Thud!"—he collapsed to the ground. The Substitution Jutsu ended, wiping away the injuries and paralysis in his body. His scattered consciousness gradually returned, and he swallowed two soldier pills while lying there.
Perfect—success.
He could still feel the large amount of chakra that had just surged within him, and couldn't help but smile.
After much experimentation, Link had found the "shortcut" that best suited his style:
If the problem was pain, then just take a secret drug that induces numbness. If his whole body's numb, then there's no sense of pain, right? Who cares about the idea of "after opening the gates, you gain a powerful body and unstoppable speed"—he only wanted to unleash a massive amount of chakra by opening those physical "limiters."
Once he figured out his real goal, he no longer stayed stuck in that initial dead end. Who says the Eight Gates have to be purely taijutsu? Why insist on proving success by shattering a big rock?
Link picked the most devious method: using Shadow Clone (or Substitution) Jutsu first, then popping a powerful anesthetic.
He spent several days running tests to ensure that, after taking the drug, he could reach a state of "lucid anesthesia," remain standing, and still keep a cool expression—instead of looking like he had Down syndrome, flailing about. Even then, his stance remained awkward; staying upright at all was an achievement in that numbed condition. He'd refine that detail later.
Once he was alert enough, he'd open the Eight Gates. The pain would be masked by anesthesia, and any physical damage became irrelevant thanks to his Substitution. In that condition, trying to move around was out of the question, because in his "small workshop" approach, he always used an extreme dose. The anesthetic he'd developed could knock out a giant summoning beast.
After all, the first two gates are located in the head; as soon as they open, the sensation of pain starts in the brain. The anesthetic had to be potent enough to numb his entire nervous system thoroughly.
By his estimates, with the anesthetic in effect, he could theoretically handle up to the Third Gate (Gate of Life). But he didn't really need that—opening the Second Gate (Gate of Rest) to squeeze out a large burst of chakra in a short time was enough for now.
The key was that how long he could sustain the Eight Gates no longer depended on his pain tolerance but on the anesthetic's duration. If the anesthetic wore off early, and he failed to close the gates or cancel the Substitution in time, he'd instantly black out from the pain.
Hence, he had to manage timing and dosage perfectly—any slip-up would be fatal.
Others open the Eight Gates and sprint around at incredible speeds. Link opens the Eight Gates and stands frozen in place, using the special properties of Mystical Palm Jutsu so his hands and arms can still move enough to form seals. Essentially, he becomes a stationary turret.
Truth be told, in Eight Gates mode, his melee power wouldn't be weak. If he stacked "Super Link Mode" on top of it, his strength would multiply exponentially. Combined with Mystical Palm Jutsu, a single slap would be terrifying—similar to Tsunade's monstrous strength. But with his body numbed, he simply couldn't move.
"Maybe I can use it to set traps…" Link mused. A stationary turret delivering a single brutal slap that could pulverize an opponent was strangely appealing.
Also, his Eight Gates mode had one ultimate finisher: Delicate Illness Extraction. It wasn't just a healing technique; the extracted "damage" clung to his hands. If he channeled all that chakra gained from opening the gates into Fine Illness Extraction, then exited the Eight Gates while healing himself, he could theoretically knock someone out simply by touching them—transferring pain, injury, and numbness all at once. A normal person would collapse on the spot.
He was curious how that might affect Sasori.
Strictly speaking, though, could pain or paralysis be transferred to a human puppet? He'd already tested that dead objects, like rocks, were immune to the extracted illness. It only worked on living creatures—plants didn't react either, likely lacking the relevant organs.
Summarizing it all: the entire Eight Gates sequence for him looked like this—
1. Cast Substitution Jutsu to be ready to negate injuries at the end.
2. Take the anesthetic and open the Eight Gates.
3. Use Mystical Palm Jutsu to fire off ninjutsu.
"I've successfully developed it. Time to head out to the Land of Waves, then come back for the Three-Nation Summit in a few days…"
Under the effect of the soldier pills, Link emerged from his weakened state. Sitting up, he applied Delicate Illness Extraction on himself twice more—just in case the Substitution had missed any damage.
His "Eight Gates mode" was basically usable now. He'd still continue to train his body; if he wasn't physically strong enough, opening the gates was impossible. Although his body had already been boosted via Delicate Illness Extraction shortcuts, letting him open the Third Gate in theory, what he truly lacked was willpower, physical adaptation, and pain tolerance.
As it was, any slight mistake in his Eight Gates mode would cause him to faint from agony, leaving him defenseless. He had to train until he no longer risked passing out the moment he felt pain. And being stuck in place was another annoyance—if an opponent hurled some wide-range ninjutsu his way, he'd only have his shadows to move him to safety.
There was also the issue of drug tolerance: repeated use of anesthetics would gradually reduce their effectiveness. Even after just half a month, Link sensed the anesthetic wasn't working as well. He had no idea how to fix that yet.
Plus, once he activated Eight Gates, the shock to his system made him dazed for a while before his mind cleared. In real combat, that wouldn't be so practical. He'd need further practice to make it battle-ready.
And the Second Gate (Gate of Rest), which lifts the body's limits on fatigue, allowed him to extract extra chakra according to what his physique could handle. Theoretically, he could push himself to the brink of disintegration, like Might Guy did in the war's finale. He had to be careful with the dosage, or he'd just crumble to dust right there.
Who knew whether the Substitution Jutsu could resurrect him if his body literally turned to ash?
Naturally, the biggest issue was that the body could store only so much physical energy. Opening the Eight Gates or going "Super Link Mode" drew from existing reserves; it didn't conjure energy from nothing. Unless he emulated the Akimichi clan by packing on massive amounts of fat, there would always be a limit.
A lot of problems remained to be solved. There was a long way to go in developing this path.
That said, Link's approach also had some advantages. Others who open the gates leap around wildly, putting more strain on their bodies. He just stands still, conserving energy for refining chakra and avoiding extra damage from movement. Overall, for him, it was almost a perfect fit.
At present, Link had a sequence of "modes" for dealing with enemies:
1. The usual high-potency soldier pill to boost chakra output—Super Link Mode.
2. And ultimately, the Eight Gates for the most extreme bodily squeeze.
He'd start by gradually increasing his chakra flow, tapping his physical potential step by step. At least for mid-level or earlier enemies, he wouldn't have to worry about running out of chakra.
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