Seeing the faint current of air beginning to swirl around Might Dai, Yako shook his head.
Just opening one gate?
That was honestly a little insulting.
Yako calmly began forming hand seals, patiently going through all forty-four seals for Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet.
By the time he reached the twenty-first seal, a massive spring burst up behind him.
He paused slightly and poured in just a little more chakra.
Some people said it wasn't Wood Release that was truly terrifying—
It was Hashirama Senju.
With Hashirama's chakra reserves and chakra potency, any elemental technique he used would have become divine.
At a distance, White Ram and the Antelope squad all stared blankly.
This was a bit too much, wasn't it?
Lord Fox seemed to be creating a Water Dragon Bullet on a truly absurd scale.
This was supposed to be a test.
Just a probe against one of their own.
And that Might Dai guy too—
Why the hell was he hiding his strength?
Could he be a rogue shinobi?
A thick, roaring spring erupted out of the ocean.
The merchant ship beneath Might Dai was only around thirty meters long—
But the diameter of the water pillar had already exceeded fifty meters.
Forget the Water Dragon Bullet.
If that pillar of water alone crashed down right now, the ship would be smashed into splinters.
A violent sea wind blasted the spray forward, slapping wet against Might Dai's face.
Looking up at the towering spring, dozens of meters high, Might Dai crossed his arms in front of himself.
"Second Gate... Gate of Healing... OPEN!"
"Third Gate... Gate of Life... OPEN!"
"Fourth Gate... Gate of Pain... OPEN!"
The blood vessels across Might Dai's skin bulged violently.
Green steam erupted from his body.
In the next instant, he vanished from the bow of the ship and reappeared directly in front of the Mist shinobi.
The speed of his pure taijutsu Body Flicker was so fast that the others couldn't even track him.
"If I interrupt your jutsu, you won't be able to destroy the ship!"
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
His leg lashed out viciously toward the Mist shinobi's hands, trying to break the hand seals and stop the ninjutsu.
But—
The Mist shinobi was even faster.
A single kick.
That was all it took.
Might Dai was blasted backward.
He skipped across the ocean surface several times like a stone before crashing through the side of the ship.
A massive hole opened in the hull, and seawater began flooding in.
Might Dai shoved aside a barrel and painfully dragged himself to his feet.
So strong...
Why was this Mist shinobi's taijutsu so terrifying?
That had only been a basic kick, yet it had sent him flying.
Then Might Dai suddenly spotted a figure.
Captain Kyōgo had crashed into a support beam.
His waist was bent backward at an unnatural angle.
His spine had clearly snapped.
"Captain! Captain, what happened to you?!"
Might Dai scrambled over to him in panic.
Blood frothed at the corners of Kyōgo's mouth.
His eyes shifted weakly and focused on Dai.
Might Dai hurriedly asked,
"Captain, what do I do now?!"
He had never been a squad leader.
Never had to make command decisions.
Never handled a crisis like this.
The ship they were supposed to protect had already taken two huge holes.
Hachimaru had had his neck snapped.
And now the captain was on the verge of death.
Kyōgo's lips trembled weakly.
"Go... go find Hachimaru..."
"Tell him to use Fire Release... against the Mist shinobi..."
"Captain..." Might Dai said in a broken voice, "Hachimaru's neck was snapped by the Mist ninja..."
"He... he's dead."
The light in Kyōgo's eyes instantly dimmed.
It was over.
Everything was over.
Kyōgo looked at Might Dai with deep guilt and whispered,
"I'm sorry..."
"I never should've brought a genin like you out of the village..."
"I dragged you into this..."
"I got you killed..."
A wave of pain tore through Might Dai's heart.
Once again, he was the burden.
Once again, he was the dead weight.
He lowered his head.
The last time he had left the village for a mission was back during the most desperate phase of the Second Shinobi World War—
When the village had been forced to send even children and genin to the battlefield.
"I'm sorry, Guy..."
"I won't get to see you grow up."
Then Might Dai raised his head.
His eyes were full of resolve.
"I'm thirty-two years old."
"It seems... my youth ends here!"
"Seventh Gate..."
"Gate of Shock..."
"OPEN!!"
Might Dai exploded out through the hole in the ship's hull, his entire body cloaked in blue steam.
In the distance, the Antelope squad and the others exchanged stunned looks.
That overwhelming presence...
Was that really Konoha's so-called eternal genin, Might Dai?
No wonder Lord Fox had gone out of his way to design a mission just for him.
No wonder Lord Fox had chosen to personally test him.
That pressure—
Even among jōnin, it would rank at the top.
Might Dai looked up.
A water dragon over fifty meters thick was diving downward, crashing toward the merchant ship.
If that Water Dragon Bullet hit cleanly, it would be the end.
Ship and crew alike would be obliterated.
"Daytime Tiger!!"
Might Dai threw out a desperate punch.
Compressed air erupted into an air cannon, roaring forth like a tiger and slamming straight into the Water Dragon Bullet.
The apocalyptic water dragon shattered instantly.
A torrential downpour exploded across the nearby sea.
Yako gave a slight nod.
That level of power was enough to rank among the best of the elite jōnin.
He wanted to pull the Eight Gates from Might Dai.
But if he only ended up drawing the Seventh Gate, that would be embarrassing.
What he wanted—
Was the complete Eight Gates.
Yako immediately formed hand seals again.
This time, not the standard forty-four.
This was his own improved version.
The torrential rain falling from the sky began to shift.
Water streams rapidly gathered together, transforming into over a hundred miniature Water Dragon Bullets that rained down in a dense barrage toward the ship.
Might Dai turned in horror.
Countless Water Dragon Bullets slammed into the merchant vessel.
Booming crashes echoed from inside the ship as it was riddled full of holes.
At the bow, the shipowner crawled out, both hands covered in blood—
Then fell into the sea.
Might Dai's eyes widened in terror.
The man only had half a body left.
His lower half had been obliterated by the Water Dragon Bullets, leaving behind a mangled, blood-drenched ruin.
In the distance, White Ram and the others felt something go cold in their chests.
Lord Fox had changed.
Why had he suddenly become so terrifying?
This was supposed to be a test.
Just a test of a genin hiding his strength.
There was no need to be this ruthless... was there?
The Mist shinobi sneered.
"So this is Konoha's strength?"
"Hollow on the inside, no matter how mighty it pretends to be."
"How can a village like that protect the Naka Shrine River and the open sea?"
"Starting today, the Hidden Mist will sound the horn of counterattack!"
"We'll wipe out every last trace of Konoha's maritime power and make sure Konoha never dares step onto the water again!"
Hearing those arrogant words, Might Dai lowered his head again.
And when he raised it once more—
He whispered,
"Eighth Gate..."
"Gate of Death..."
"OPEN."
Yako nodded repeatedly.
There it was.
Finally—
The red steam.
Still, the difference between Might Dai and Might Guy was heaven and earth.
When Guy opened the Eight Gates, even Six Paths Madara lost half his body to a kick.
When Dai opened the Eight Gates...
...three of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen still managed to escape.
Might Dai's taijutsu talent was nowhere near Guy's.
Might Dai crouched low over the water, both palms pressed against the sea, one leg forward and one back.
Then—
He exploded forward.
His body vanished in a flash as he launched a flying kick.
It was far inferior to Night Guy—
But the red steam compressed the air in an instant and brought overwhelming pressure crashing down on Yako.
Yako did not use Absolute Defense: Crystal Mist.
He did not use Absolute Defense: Bronze Light.
He simply let Might Dai's kick hit him head-on.
At that moment, White Ram and the others finally understood why Lord Fox had gone this far.
Hiding strength wasn't the issue.
What Konoha shinobi didn't have a hidden trump card or two?
But you—
A Kage-level monster—
Pretending to be a genin every single day?
Enduring the title of eternal genin?
They'd even heard rumors that in order to get assigned to a C-rank mission, he had once gotten on his knees and begged a squad leader.
That kind of restraint...
That kind of patience...
That kind of concealment...
The man was terrifying.
The more someone suppressed themselves, the more twisted they became.
And when they finally exploded—
They became monsters.
Then, in the next instant, White Ram and the others saw Lord Fox get kicked and—
...his upper body disappeared.
[Host death detected.
Arc of the Waning Moon system activating...]