Kaito rolled his eyes. He knew that no matter what he said at this moment, Ino wouldn't believe it.

Suddenly, Kaito's expression shifted, and he grinned. "Hinata's mine now, how about you tonight?"

"T-That… That…!" Ino's face flushed deep red, her lips trembling as she struggled to form words.

Seeing Ino like that, Kaito was immensely pleased. Little troublemaker, you're no match for me!

Just as they finished eating, the door swung open, and Tsunade stepped inside.

"Tsunade-sensei!" Ino greeted quickly, standing respectfully.

Unlike Kaito's casual attitude, Ino treated Tsunade with genuine reverence.

"Wow, you're here bright and early," Tsunade teased, spotting the chicken soup simmering in the pot. She nodded in satisfaction. "Good, you know I used up a lot of chakra last night, so you made soup for me!"

Without waiting for a reply, Tsunade helped herself straight from the pot, drinking heartily.

Ino glanced at Kaito in confusion, blinking.

What did Tsunade-sensei mean by that? I thought it was just Hinata last night…

Considering what Kaito had said earlier, she started to worry. Did something serious happen during his training?

Her expression instantly changed as she hurried over and grabbed Kaito's arm. "Kaito, did something go wrong with your training? Are you alright?"

"Now you believe me?" Kaito asked with a look of exasperation.

"Yeah," Ino nodded quickly. "How's your body now?"

"I'm fine. Fully recovered," Kaito replied.

While the two were talking, Tsunade let out a satisfied burp.

"Your cooking's still top-notch. How are you feeling today?"

Kaito's expression grew serious. "I'm alright. I've mostly recovered. My physical strength took a hit last night though, so it'll take a little time to get back to normal."

Tsunade placed a hand over Kaito's chest and used medical ninjutsu to examine his heart. After a moment, she withdrew her hand and nodded. "As expected of someone with the bloodline of our Senju clan. Your heart's completely healed. Rest up for a couple more days. I'm heading back to the Hokage Building."

She sounded a little gloomy as she said the last part.

"Take care, Tsunade-sensei," Kaito and Ino said together as they saw her off.

Once she left, Kaito noticed Ino staring at him with curiosity. With a helpless sigh, he recounted what had happened the night before.

Of course, he left out the bloodier, more dangerous parts. That was something only Hinata needed to know. He didn't want to upset Ino.

Afterward, Kaito cooked up another pot of nourishing soup for Hinata since Tsunade had finished the one Ino brought earlier.

Ino stayed behind to help look after Hinata while Kaito worked on the soup, quietly feeling the changes in his body.

So far, his physical enhancement wasn't huge, and his chakra reserves were around Super Kage-level. With his current strength already at a Peak super Kage-tier, opening the first gate wasn't that useful. What he needed was the lasting power boost from the final gates.

Still, Kaito wasn't worried. He had already overcome the hardest part of mastering the Eight Gates. Once his body recovered over the next few days, he would continue pushing forward.

There was still a year before the Shippuden era began. With a god-level training space giving him a year's worth of progress for each month, Kaito was confident he could master the Reverse Eight Gates.

An hour later, the soup was ready, and Hinata slowly woke from her deep sleep.

After feeding her the soup, the three of them spent the rest of the day at home, chatting about everything that had happened over the past three years.

The conversation stretched late into the evening.

Kaito cooked plenty of dishes for Hinata and Ino, partly to spoil them but mostly because he wanted to eat. Only he knew the miserable meals he'd endured in the Forest these last three years.

After Ino left for the night, Kaito gently held Hinata — her face still a little pale — in his arms. Hyuga Hiashi had already been informed via a shadow clone.

Breathing in Hinata's soft, comforting fragrance, Kaito drifted off to sleep with her in his embrace.

---

One day, two days… a week passed. Hinata finally made a full recovery.

Kaito remained by her side the entire time, and Ino visited frequently as well.

When the Hyuga clan learned of Hinata's condition, they brought over a collection of rare medicinal herbs.

It made Kaito sigh inwardly. As expected of one of the great clans of the Leaf. Even these herbs can't be easily bought with money.

During that week, Kaito's injuries fully healed, and the night before, he successfully opened the seventh gate — the Gate of Wonder.

Since Kaito was practicing the Eight Gates in reverse order, the first gate he opened was the Death Gate, and the second was the seventh gate from the original Eight Gates.

It wasn't too difficult to break through the Wonder Gate. This time, Kaito concentrated his Lightning Release chakra into a fine, spinning drill and attacked the barrier.

Compared to the Death Gate, this one gave way much easier, breaking under the pressure in an instant.

As soon as it opened, Kaito's physical abilities improved noticeably. His taijutsu strength improved significantly , and his chakra reserves increased slightly.

Even so, Kaito was ecstatic. If just the second gate in his reverse practice brought him that much strength, what would happen with the remaining six?

Time flew by, and before he knew it, a month had passed.

In that time, Kaito continued practicing the Reverse Eight Gates while spending time with Hinata and Ino.

Tsunade even held a small formal ceremony, officially acknowledging Kaito as a member of the Senju clan.

For now, he remained Ayanami Kaito rather than taking the Senju name, but Tsunade didn't mind as long as he was part of the family registry.

After training in the time-accelerated space, a month outside was equivalent to a year of progress. Within that period, Kaito successfully opened five gates.

After opening the fifth gate, his body underwent a qualitative transformation. If super Kage-tier strength could be divided into three levels — upper, middle, and lower — Kaito had now stepped into the middle tier.

(Just think of it as him being stronger than Hashirama.)

However, after opening the fifth gate, his body began to ache. The side effects of the tremendous strain left deep-seated pain that would take time to subside.

That was why, even after two weeks, Kaito hadn't rushed to open the sixth gate.

Thankfully, the pain was diminishing day by day, and Kaito had a strong sense that soon his body would fully adapt to the power of the fifth gate.

---

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