Can Rock Lee Open All Eight Gates in Boruto? (Explained)

Rock Lee is not one of the most prominent Naruto characters, but he is a truly great character whose appearances have always been a source of entertainment. Quirky and unique in a lot of ways, Rock Lee is also extremely powerful and is a formidable fighter, despite his humoristic subcontext. In this article, we are going to be dealing with Rock Lee and his powers by explaining to you whether Rock Lee can open all Eight Gates in the Boruto series.

Thanks to Guy’s teachings, Lee learned to open five of the Eight Gates at the age of 12, the sixth gate at the age of 17, and (in the anime only) the seventh gate some time after the Fourth Shinobi World War. By adulthood, Lee had mastered the final gate. The latter was finally confirmed in Episode 70 of the Boruto anime, titled “The Other Side of Anxiety”.

In the rest of this article, we are going to focus on Rock Lee and him being able to open all of the Eight Gates. We are going to find out when it happened, why, and how it happened, alongside additional details related to Rock Lee’s powers and abilities. This article is going to be focused exclusively on Rock Lee and his experiences with the Eight Gates, as you are going to find all the information you need in one place.

What are the Eight Gates in Naruto?

The Eight Gates are specific release points in the chakra circulatory system regulating a person’s chakra flow. Guy Maito, Dai Maito and Rock Lee are the three known users of the Eight Heavenly Gates Opening Technique. Kakashi Hatake can also open at least one of them, as he demonstrated while climbing a cliff with one hand.

The state in which the eight gates are open is called the Eight Gates Released Formation. Any ninja who enters this state temporarily gains a power greater than that of the five Kage, but condemns himself at the same time to death. Due to the immense amount of chakra flowing through their body, noticeable changes occur to the user as the gates open: the most common are darkening of skin tone, dilation of temple veins, and obliteration of the irises and pupils.

The luminous halo emanating from the user can easily be mistaken for chakra, as Kisame believed during his last fight against Guy. The latter corrected his mistake by specifying that the green aura surrounding him was sweat vapor because of the intense rise in temperature of his body.

The eight heavenly gates are:

1. The Gate of Opening (開門 Kaimon): First gate located in the brain. This gate removes the brain’s regulatory control over all the muscles of the body. Thus these can be used at 100% of their capacity, whereas in normal times, a person can only use 20% of his muscular potential due to cerebral regulation. Beyond that, the muscles could tear or even disintegrate. Once unlocked, this door allows the ninja to perform the Lotus Recto, but it leaves him exhausted and his body covered in bruises.
2. The Gate of Healing (休門 Kyūmon): Second gate located in the brain. Nullifies the effects of opening the initial gate and Recto Lotus, increases physical strength, and temporarily re-energizes the body.
3. The Gate of Life (生門 Seimon): Third gate located on the spinal cord. Initiates the mobilization of great physical energy and allows the user to perform the Hidden Face of the Lotus, or Lotus Verso. The increased blood flow causes the user’s skin to redden and their eyes to turn completely white (notably on Rock Lee and Guy).
4. The Gate of Pain (傷門 Shōmon): Fourth gate located on the spinal cord. Increases the user’s speed and offensive abilities. Lee opens this extra door to make his Lotus more efficient. Opening this door can lead to muscle tissue tears.
5. The Gate of Limit (杜門 Tomon): Fifth gate located in the abdomen. Increases the user’s physical energy but already rips their muscles. Lee opens this extra door to make his Lotus even deadlier.
6. The Gate of View (景門 Keimon): Sixth gate located in the abdomen. Increases the user’s physical energy and the speed of their blows. Guy is the only ninja known to unlock a technique when opening this door: Morning Peacock (Asa Kujaku). The user produces powerful currents of chakra that form a vortex around them. It is also the maximum level that Lee can reach in the second part of the manga.
7. The Gate of Wonder (驚門 Kyōmon): Seventh door located under the abdomen. Further increases the user’s physical energy. At this point, he has enough power to destroy a Susanō. Opening this door allows Guy to execute a long-range technique: the Tiger of the South (Hirudora). Upon opening the penultimate door, his entire body begins to glow with a green aura that is actually sweat vapor produced as a result of bodily energy. The price to pay to open the seventh gate is terrible: the user is completely drained of all physical energy, their muscle fibers are shredded and it is impossible to touch them without causing them horrible pain.
8. The Gate of Death (死門 Shimon): Eighth and last gate located at the level of the heart. To open it, the user dips their thumb into their chest to rev up their heart muscle and merge into one every eight gates. He can thus concentrate all of his bodily energy. However, opening this door can be perceived as a sacrificial act, since it is certain death for the user. Upon performing the Eight Gates Formation, the user releases a red aura materialized by the blood vapor emanating from their body. Only Gaï and his father Daï are able to open the eighth gate which gives access to two extremely powerful techniques: the Evening Elephant (Sekizô) and the Yagaï.

Can Rock Lee Open All Eight Gates in Boruto?

Through Guy’s teachings, Lee has learned to open the first six of the Eight Chakra Gates, a feat that is difficult for even the most talented ninja; even the first time Kakashi saw Lee open the doors, he claimed that he was a master for the simple fact that he could open them with simple effort. He was only 12 when he was able to do it.

Due to the danger the gates present to the body, Lee is only allowed to open them in certain circumstances (for example, life or death situations, protecting someone he cares about, or defending his path from the ninja). Most human beings can only access less than 20% of their muscular potential, but the Eight Chakra Gates are used to “force” muscles to work at much higher power than their own muscles do.

Muscles begin to wear out, break down, and eventually disintegrate. Lee can also use techniques like the Primary Lotus and the Reverse Lotus. Once the eighth gate has been opened, they are nearly unstoppable, but are killed in the process. Lee has also learned or developed a style of Taijutsu that takes advantage of the extreme power and speed gained from opening chakra gates.

In Part Two, he seems to be able to regain the use of the chakra gates quickly as he was not injured after using it, but is exhausted. He mastered the sixth gate at the age of 17 and the penultimate, seventh gate some time after the Fourth War. Finally, in Boruto, we see him open all of the Eight Gates.

Does Rock Lee use the Eight Gates technique in Naruto and Boruto?

Rock Lee has, indeed, used the Eight Gates technique in both Naruto and Boruto. We first saw him use it during his training with guy in the Third Great Beast Arc, when the two of them opened their chakra gates to destroy the dummies without harming the actual person, freeing themselves and destroying the castle. We also see him use it during the interlude, in the In Naruto’s Footsteps: The Friends’ Paths arc.

During the Power arc, he opened the Fifth Gate to defeat Naruto’s clone. Of course, we also saw him use it during the Fourth Shinobi World War, by which he had already mastered seven of the Eight Gates. We also saw him use the technique in the Birth of the Ten-Tails’ Jinchūriki arc, as well as in The Last: Naruto the Movie. Finally, in Boruto, during the Versus Momoshiki Arc, we see him train his son how to use the technique.