Back to Natsuki's side.
Guy and Kakashi had already rushed forward.
"Hachimon Tonkō (Eight Gates Released Formation)! Kyōmon (Seventh Gate of Wonder), open!"
Facing such a powerful enemy, Guy did not hesitate for even a moment before opening the Seventh Gate.
He kept remembering what Tenten had said on the first day Team Guy was formed, when they had talked with Natsuki about who was Konoha's number one. Tenten had answered without the slightest doubt that it was Might Guy. As long as he opened the Sixth Gate, he could fight at Kage level. Open the Seventh Gate, and he could fight at super-Kage level. Open the Gate of Death, and he might even be able to kick the Rikudō Sennin (Sage of Six Paths) half-dead.
Back then it had sounded absurd, but now it felt a little less absurd.
Madara was undoubtedly a powerhouse far above ordinary Kage level. Since that was the case, Might Guy was going to open the Seventh Gate today and see for himself whether he could fight at super-Kage level.
"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!"
Blue steam exploded from Guy's entire body. In the next instant he tore the earth beneath his feet as he flashed forward.
Boom! With a single kick he blew apart a small Susanoo along with the Wood Style clone inside it. The speed and power were so overwhelming that everyone was stunned; even Madara could not help but look sideways at him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One kick per small Susanoo. In less than two seconds, four small Susanoo bodies and the Wood Style clone were all taken care of.
"Th-that's insane!" A was utterly shocked.
He had always been extremely confident in his own taijutsu. Combined with his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he had considered himself overwhelmingly strong, convinced that he was the strongest among the Five Kage and that even Ōnoki's Dust Release was nothing to fear.
Yet for the first time today, he witnessed taijutsu that completely surpassed his own.
Hachimon Tonkō (Eight Gates Released Formation) was this terrifying.
Tsunade's eyes were also wide open. "So Guy was actually this strong?"
Ōnoki could not believe it either. "Are the young people nowadays all this scary? That bald kappa is actually this powerful?"
However, Guy could no longer hear any of them. He was already charging straight ahead, rushing right at Madara, his straight punch compressing the air as it drove toward Madara's heart with terrifying force.
Madara immediately activated Susanoo in its giant form. Although it still was not the final form, its defensive power was extraordinary.
Guy's straight punch, however, had already arrived. With a thunderous boom, Susanoo exploded. The terrifying shockwave of the punch lifted Madara off his feet, even tearing cracks all across his body.
It was easy to imagine that if Susanoo had not gone full defense just now, that punch would definitely have blown him to pieces.
But instead Madara burst out into wild Uchiha laughter. "Hahahaha! Might Guy, was it? I, Madara, acknowledge you! Come! Let me see the might of the Seventh Gate of Hachimon Tonkō!"
Guy did not disappoint Madara. He brought both hands together and began compressing the air. In the next second he had compressed it into a tiger-shaped air cannon.
"Hirudora (Daytime Tiger)!"
Roar! The tiger-shaped air cannon seemed to unleash a tiger's roar. The terrifying shockwave exploded, filling heaven and earth, engulfing Madara in an instant.
Madara's Rinnegan had already opened, condensing a layer of repulsive force into a barrier around his body. A moment later the shockwave slammed into the barrier. At first it only shuddered slightly, which made him reveal a faint smile.
Yet his smile had not lasted a full second when he heard a series of sharp cracks. Fissures spread in dense lines across the barrier of repulsive force.
A bad premonition rose in his heart.
After obtaining the Rinnegan, his power at super-Kage level had gone even further, not far from the Rikudō Sennin (Sage of Six Paths). It was no exaggeration to say he was invincible in the entire ninja world. Guy's Seventh Gate, however, had unleashed power on the same super-Kage level. So even though his Rinnegan's repulsive force was supposed to push away everything, under such an overloaded impact it could not hold.
He might not care about precise "realm divisions," but he understood perfectly well how frightening this move of Guy's was.
So he decisively raised Susanoo again for protection. In the next instant the barrier of repulsive force shattered outright, his Susanoo followed suit and broke apart, and he himself was hurled hundreds of meters away by the shockwave.
Fortunately, he had defended in time and did not suffer any real injury.
Even so, his heart was deeply shaken, because Guy's punch had truly surpassed his expectations.
Guy was panting heavily. Opening the Seventh Gate clearly made his entire body ache unbearably, but he had long since learned endurance. He would be fine for a short while yet.
And he had confirmed his own strength. He really had stepped into the realm of super-Kage.
He had not only shattered the Rinnegan's protective barrier, but also broken Madara's two-layer Susanoo defense along with it.
Although he still had not managed to hurt Madara, there was no question that opening the Seventh Gate allowed him to possess the power to defeat even overwhelmingly strong enemies. That alone was enough.
It was only pain. As long as he did not open the Gate of Death, he had nothing to fear.
Behind him, Kakashi had already caught up. Using Kamui (Divine Authority), he helped the three Kage finish off the remaining two small Susanoo.
But at this moment the three Kage were all staring blankly at Guy's back. That strange tight green outfit of his might once have looked comical, but now it was a warrior's armor, proof of the strongest.
Tsunade could not help murmuring, "The Seventh Gate of Hachimon Tonkō must hurt a lot, right?"
Kakashi spoke up. "It does hurt a lot. I heard that when Natsuki was learning Hachimon Tonkō, he tried to open the Seventh Gate once and literally passed out from the pain. Guy, though, has trained in Hachimon Tonkō for many years. His willpower is beyond anything normal people can compare to, and his strength has long since surpassed everyone. Natsuki once said that Guy is Konoha's number one. With the Sixth Gate he can fight a Hokage, with the Seventh Gate he can fight at super-Kage level, and if he opens the Gate of Death he might even be able to kick the Rikudō Sennin (Sage of Six Paths) half-dead. I used to think he was joking, but now I feel he might not have been talking nonsense at all."
The three Kage said nothing, but their hearts were greatly shaken.
If things really were as Natsuki had said, then calling Might Guy the number one in the ninja world right now would not be an exaggeration.
After all, in the ninja world, who could possibly surpass the Rikudō Sennin (Sage of Six Paths)?
"...Huh? Wait a second!"
A suddenly came back to himself. "Did you just say that brat Natsuki also learned Hachimon Tonkō?"
Kakashi looked completely matter-of-fact. "Yeah. Hachimon Tonkō was what Natsuki first learned. He already used it when he fought Orochimaru. Back then, just opening the Sixth Gate was enough for him to almost beat Orochimaru to death. It's just that once he later learned Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God), he started using Hachimon Tonkō much less."
A and Ōnoki exchanged a look. "We suddenly have a very good feeling about this."
The corners of Tsunade's mouth could not help but lift into a smile.
She had a very good feeling too, because she had just remembered everything about Natsuki.
Indeed, what Natsuki had first learned was Guy's Hachimon Tonkō. Though he had not trained it for very long and had barely used it later, who could say that Natsuki's taijutsu was weaker than Guy's?
Perhaps Natsuki was still hiding a surprise for everyone.
Up ahead, the battle was far from over.
Guy only took a brief breath, then launched another straight-on assault.
This time Madara no longer chose to simply defend. He decided to meet Guy head-on.
He condensed repulsive force from the Rinnegan across his entire body and charged in, smashing his straight punch into Guy's. With a single roar of impact, the earth itself exploded, the sound even more terrifying than thunder.
The two of them could not decide a winner in that clash and continued a superhuman hand-to-hand battle.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As they collided again and again, the monstrous shockwaves rippled outward, constantly shattering and sweeping away the surrounding rocks. The terrain was not only leveled, but gouged into deep craters.
(End of Chapter)
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