Hopefully this will end up being the last argument post I have to make for this. I was going to write an extended wall of text response to each part of Samelx's post, but I don't think it'll work out for the best so I will just summarize my interpretation of the Eight Gates based on the evidence, then write a brief response to the major points, explaining why I don't agree based on my analysis:
Let's summarize, so we're all on the same page:
Within a shinobi's chakra network there are eight specific points, known as the
Eight Gates, where the chakra nodes converge. These nodes each limit the amount of chakra that flows through the shinobi's body. (
Chapter 85) These are:
1) The Gate of Opening
2) The Gate of Healing
3) The Gate of Life
4) The Gate of Pain
5) The Gate of Limit
6) The Gate of View
7) The Gate of Wonder
8) The Gate of Death
So these are eight limiters. Not seven limiters and one additional power booster.
A Shinobi using the "Lotus" can forcibly open these Gates with chakra. (
Chapter 85)
Another translation of this statement from Kakashi would be:
At no point here does it put a limit on the amount of Gates that is opened with the "Lotus".
We are told by Guy that the Reverse Lotus
begins at the opening of the 3rd Gate, the Gate of Life, but that is just the starting point. We can see for ourself that
Rock Lee opens the Fourth Gate, the Gate of Pain, before he begins initiating the Reverse Lotus, and in the middle of combat he goes further and
activates the Fifth Gate before he fully unleashes the Reverse Lotus.
There is a misunderstanding of the text here that goes like this:
Reverse Lotus = 3rd Gate ---> Lotus removes limits on chakra and multiple strengths dozens of times ---> 3rd Gate = dozens of times multiplier.
All that is being said is that if you remove the restrictions that are in place on your chakra (those restrictions being the Eight Gates), that you draw out dozens of times your natural strength. This is further exemplified by that fact that in the same panel up where we get the statement from Kakashi,
we see all of the gates in the panel being active and flowing with chakra, not just three of them. And in
the anime version of the scene, in episode 49, which is tertiary canon and can help resolve this ambiguity, the example shinobi in the diagram is shown opening all Eight Gates using the "Lotus". Now, Rock Lee was obviously not using all Eight Gates, but this shows that it can be done and that the Lotus granting the user dozens of times their own natural strength is not attributed to just opening a certain number of Gates, for further detail:
This section of the databook page on the Reverse Lotus says this:
The release of all Eight Gates is described the same way, the user forcibly opens all Eight Gates with chakra, releasing their limiters and allowing their chakra to flow freely. That is all. The Eight Gates Release Formation is described as
drawing out the body's utmost physical abilities. This line up with the statement from Kakashi in the manga after Guy uses the Eight Gates Release Formation, where he says "
A move that allows one to draw out one's maximum power by releasing the limiters placed on it."
So when you say this:
The way this most consistently makes sense with all of the above is not that the user's suppressed strength is what is being multiplied, but that the user's dormant power (i.e. what is being suppressed by their chakra being suppressed by all eight inner gates) is forcibly drawn out, granting them physical abilities that are dozens of times their natural physical abilities. That's why this translation of the databook passage here makes the most sense:
I think you're misunderstanding the databook entry on the Reverse Lotus slightly. That bolded header on the Reverse Lotus that says "
The Second Lotus that suprasses the body's limits", I believe that ties back to the explanation we got for the First Lotus where
Might Guy explains that unlocking the First Gate grants access to 100% of the body's strength in their muscles compared to the 20% that a shinobi normally uses.
But this isn't the full limits of shinobi's power as the other Gates acts as limiters on their chakra still. So the first Lotus takes them to their "limit" in pushing their body to the limits of safety, and the second Lotus "surpasses the body's limits", going beyond that with each successive Gate being opened, unlocking more and more suppressed strength. Not muscular strength, but still strength.
I think the panel from Kakashi in the manga, plus the earlier databook entry on the Reverse Lotus show that this isn't the case. The user is not described as exceeding their natural limits in this way; they are getting access to their completely unrestricted chakra flow and are able to draw out their maximum power.
It's not "Remove the first 7 limiters for maximum power, then multiply that power with the 8th Gate."
It's "Remove all 8 limiters for maximum power."
Thanks for the clarification on this point; but I think the statements up above support that the opening the Eight Gates is what allows the user to draw upon dozens of times their own natural strength. Not that they draw out all of their strength with the first Seven Gates, then multiply it even further.
That interpretation is a direct contradiction of what the manga tells us. And the manga at the end of the day is a higher priority than the databook.
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