Eight Gates Formation

Boom! A violent wind descended from the sky, sweeping across all of Mary Geoise. Cracks even appeared in many of the towering buildings.

The two figures collided in the sky and immediately sprang apart, revealing Yota and Imu. Yota coughed twice and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The Munch-Munch Fruit’s power activated automatically, repairing the injuries within his body.

Having already opened the Eight Gates to the Seventh Gate and entered the most intense stage of battle, even his Sage Body could no longer keep up with his healing speed.

As for Imu, although more than half of the armor covering her body had shattered, she bore no trace of injury.

Yet during their recent battle, Yota had severely injured Imu several times. He had even pierced through her body and torn off her arms. Yet in the blink of an eye, those severed limbs would regrow, and her pierced body would instantly recover.

"This is practically cheating… and it doesn’t seem like a Devil Fruit ability at all. The Dark-Dark Fruit has no effect on her."

"And this woman is practically like a machine. Even if I tear off her arms or punch through her body, she doesn’t react at all!"

Seeing the faintly fanatical yet somewhat stiff expression on Imu’s face, Yota took several deep breaths and frowned.

"She’s neither a Devil Fruit user, yet she has this kind of regenerative ability, and she feels no pain at all…"

Yota’s education in the Naruto World had made him extremely attentive to intelligence. By now, he could tell that Imu did not seem to be someone he could handle through ordinary means.

While he was still thinking, Imu swept toward him with a howling gust of wind. Yota had no choice but to continue fighting her.

Several more minutes passed. This time, Yota went all out. Enduring a blow from Imu that pierced half his lung, he condensed a blade from a Truth-Seeking Ball and Haki, then directly cleaved off half of Imu’s head.

Yet moments later, Imu had regrown to normal, while Yota used the Munch-Munch Fruit to heal his own injuries. It looked as though neither of them had been hurt at all.

However, after fighting for so long, Imu had not even shed a drop of sweat and still looked utterly composed. Yota, meanwhile, was already breathing heavily.

Although Yota’s physique now surpassed that of the Four Emperors, and under normal circumstances he could fight for ten days and ten nights without exhausting himself, after keeping all his abilities fully unleashed under the Seventh Gate of the Eight Gates for nearly half an hour, he could clearly feel his stamina declining.

In contrast, Imu’s attacks remained as precise and steady as they had been at the beginning. She was practically a robot.

"A robot… a puppet? A clone?" Yota thought. "The one before me is most likely not her real body!"

With such powerful regeneration and immunity to the Dark-Dark Fruit’s suppression, there was only one explanation: she was not a Devil Fruit user, but a creation of a Devil Fruit!

Just as the Dark-Dark Fruit could directly suppress Charlotte Linlin but could not suppress the Homies she created, Devil Fruit creations were the true ability users without any weaknesses. Seawater, Sea Stone, and even the Dark-Dark Fruit had no effect on them.

"But where is her real body? Or does she even have one?" Yota pondered. Yet that moment of distraction, combined with his declining stamina, showed in the battle as Imu completely suppressed him. She landed several heavy blows in succession, and one of them nearly cut him in two. If not for the Munch-Munch Fruit healing his injuries, Yota would have been finished long ago.

"I can’t keep this up. I should retreat first. But before that…" A cold glint flashed in Yota’s eyes. "I’ll teach her a lesson."

Having made up his mind, Yota raised a thumb and pressed it viciously against his heart.

"Eight Gates, Eighth Gate, open!"

Terrifying Chakra erupted from him. The pale blue scales covering Yota’s body faintly took on a blood-red hue.

The Eighth Gate of the Eight Gates was a forbidden move that completely burned one’s life force. It grew stronger against stronger opponents; it was not something one could ignore the side effects of simply by having a robust body. The stronger your life force, the more fiercely the power released by burning it would erupt.

In other words, this move burned a percentage of one’s health bar rather than a fixed amount. No matter how high your health bar was, under normal circumstances, using this move meant certain death.

Yota, whose life force was even greater, would be even harder to save after using the Eight Gates Formation. It was like the difference between giving a blood transfusion to a human and giving one to an elephant—the amount of blood required could not possibly be the same.

Even Uzumaki Naruto’s Yang Release would not be enough. Even if the Sage of Six Paths drained himself dry, he probably still could not save Yota’s life.

But likewise, if the health bar burned by percentage, then the increase in strength was also by percentage! After Might Guy opened the Eight Gates Formation, he possessed the strength of dozens of Kage-level fighters—his power had increased a hundredfold.

After Yota opened the Eight Gates Formation, his strength similarly increased a hundredfold, approaching the power of a thousand Four Emperors!

At this moment, even Imu, who had been so calm and composed, revealed a grave expression as she stared sternly at Yota.

"Heh, you can recover no matter what, right? Then I’ll beat you into pulp and see whether you can recover from that!"

With an angry roar, Yota, whose entire body was wracked with agony, had no desire to waste time. He shot toward Imu. His extreme speed tore apart the atmosphere with a terrifying sonic boom, while the air, ignited by the intense friction, formed two fiery tornadoes around him.

His movement alone created a terrifying natural disaster. Though he was passing through the sky, the winds he unleashed made Mary Geoise seem as if it had been struck by a typhoon. Many trees and smaller buildings were blown into the air.

Yet all of that was merely a prelude. As Yota clenched his fist, countless terrifying shockwaves surged forth beneath the force of his ultra-high-speed punches!

Unlike Might Guy, who had given his techniques many impressive-sounding names, Yota’s strongest move before opening the Eight Gates Formation had been a rapid barrage of supersonic punches, modified by imitating the peacock mantis shrimp. After opening the Eight Gates Formation, his technique was still the same rapid barrage of punches.

The only difference was that its power had increased by nearly a hundredfold, while its speed had risen dozens of times over!

"Hundred Times the Speed of Sound Fist!"

When speed reached its ultimate limit, it became power! At a hundred times the speed of sound, even the air was compressed into electrolyte. Liquid lightning like flowing water appeared directly in the void, while the explosive shockwaves formed pillars of light. Anything they touched was completely erased, and Imu was naturally no exception.