"What the heck is this?!"
Kakashi, who had just dramatically revealed his Sharingan, stared in utter bewilderment at the torrent of raw, green chakra erupting from Might Guy's body. The air itself began to hum with power, pressing down on the entire training ground.
"Such… such immense chakra!" Kakashi muttered, his visible eye wide with shock. This was a side of his rival he hadn't seen in their previous spars. Guy had always been strong, but this was on another level entirely.
Might Guy was still powering up, his face a mask of fierce concentration. "Hachimon Tonkō! Kyūmon… KAI!" (Eight Gates Release: Gate of View… OPEN!)
BOOM!
A violent shockwave of pure energy erupted from Guy, blasting away every speck of dust and loose pebble in a twenty-meter radius. The genin spectators were forced to shield their faces, the powerful air current making it impossible to keep their eyes open.
"So this is his true power…!" Sasuke managed to activate his own two-tomoe Sharingan, peering through his fingers to witness Guy's transformation. The man's muscles swelled, his veins bulged, and he was enveloped in a vibrant, emerald-green aura. If I could master a technique like this… that man wouldn't stand a chance!
Nearby, Neji's Byakugan was active, the veins around his eyes pulsing violently. He could see it clearly—the chakra within Guy's body was no longer flowing; it was raging like a wildfire, burning with ferocious intensity. "Incredible… he's forcibly overclocking his entire circulatory system!"
"Damn it, Guy! Are you trying to kill me?!" Cold sweat broke out on Kakashi's forehead beneath his headband. His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. A single, desperate thought crossed his mind. Is it too late to surrender now?
"Kakashi! Behold! This is the pinnacle of the Eight Gates that I can safely open!" Guy roared, his voice echoing with power. To demonstrate, he simply clenched his fist and threw a casual punch towards the adjacent forest. The air pressure from the blow alone sheared the tops off a line of trees, sending splinters and leaves flying into the sky.
The display made Kakashi's eye twitch uncontrollably. I really, really hope he doesn't get carried away…
His Sharingan could perfectly copy the chakra pathways and hand seals for the Eight Gates, but that was meaningless. His own physical constitution, while excellent, was nowhere near Guy's level of pure, unadulterated dedication to taijutsu. The Eight Gates multiplied the user's base physical abilities. It was simple math: a tenfold increase for an ant was still less than a half-fold increase for an elephant!
"Kakashi! Here I come!" Might Guy flashed his signature, sparkling smile, then stomped his foot. The ground cratered beneath him, and he vanished. A deafening WHOOSH of displaced air was the only warning before he materialized directly behind Kakashi.
"So fast!" Kakashi's pupils contracted to pinpricks. There was no time to think.
BOOM!
A devastating kick, moving faster than sound, landed right where Kakashi's kidney had been a millisecond earlier. The force of the blow created a small crater in the earth. With a poof of smoke, the Kakashi that was struck transformed into a substituted log.
"That was too close…" Kakashi gasped, hidden in a nearby thicket, his heart still racing. A direct hit from that would have put him in the hospital for a month, no question.
"Might Guy-sensei! Kakashi-sensei is hiding in the bushes to your left!" Neji's calm, analytical voice called out, his Byakugan making a mockery of any attempt at stealth.
"You little traitor!" Kakashi shot a glare in Neji's direction.
"See! I told you Uncle Guy was stronger!" Naruto cheered, pumping his fist in the air. Neji and Tenten from Team Guy watched with wide, awestruck eyes. Only Rock Lee, tears of pride and passion streaming down his face, understood the sheer depth of his sensei's power and the years of brutal training it represented.
"Kakashi! Will you do nothing but hide?" Might Guy bellowed, turning towards the bushes.
"Not hide? Only a baka wouldn't hide from a monster like that!" Kakashi grumbled under his breath. Who in their right mind would try to tank one of Guy's full-power attacks head-on? And this was only the Sixth Gate! The intelligence reports hinted at a technique beyond this, a forbidden move that could trade a user's life for ultimate power. There was no way he could survive that.
Seeing Guy prepare to charge again, Kakashi's hands flew into a rapid series of hand seals. "Damn it, hurry up!" he urged himself, the movements creating afterimages.
"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!)
A massive, roaring dragon of water surged from the nearby river and shot towards Might Guy. The result was as predictable as it was disheartening: Guy simply cocked back his fist and shattered the aquatic beast into a harmless shower with a single, concussive punch.
"Damn it! I'm never using this trash ninjutsu again!" Kakashi lamented. The technique he'd copied from Zabuza was completely impractical; it required far too many hand signs! What Kakashi didn't know was that during their battle on the bridge, Zabuza himself had forgotten the proper, streamlined seals for the jutsu and was just winging it. Kakashi, not knowing any better, had copied the inefficient version perfectly.
"My own original ninjutsu is still the best!" With the Water Dragon buying him a precious two seconds, Kakashi reappeared in the open. His right hand was already crackling with concentrated lightning, the chirping of a thousand birds—the Chidori—echoing across the field.
"Taijutsu Ōgi: Raiton no Chidori Senkon!" (Taijutsu Ultimate Secret Technique: Lightning Blade Thousand Years of Death!)
He knew a direct Chidori might not pierce Guy's defenses in this state. But every man, no matter how hardened, has a weakness! Infusing his body with Lightning Release chakra to enhance his speed, Kakashi knew he needed a clever plan to land a hit.
As Guy lunged forward for another devastating kick, he aimed straight for the Lightning Blade, confident he could smash through it. But his foot passed straight through a shadow clone! In that moment of surprise, the ground beneath Guy's feet gave way. In the two seconds he was distracted by the Water Dragon, the real Kakashi had burrowed underground!
He erupted from the earth directly behind his off-balance rival.
"TAIJUTSU ŌGI! RAITON NO CHIDORI SENKON!"(Taijutsu Ultimate Secret Technique: Lightning Blade Thousand Years of Death!)
Kakashi thrust his crackling hand forward, a triumphant smirk on his face. This was it! Victory!
"DIE!"
The watching genin gasped. Sakura Haruno had already squeezed her eyes shut, not daring to watch the brutal, behind-the-scenes carnage about to unfold.
"Heh heh… You're naive, Kakashi!"
Might Guy turned his head just slightly, a supremely confident, almost sinister smile playing on his lips. Ever since he'd witnessed the horrifying power of Namikaze Raimon's 'Wind Thunder Spiral Ascension Electric Light Poison Dragon Drill of a Thousand Years,' he had incorporated a new, grueling regimen into his training: specialized gluteal conditioning. While it still couldn't hope to defend against Raimon's monstrosity, Kakashi's version, even with several more years of training, would never break through his ironclad defense!
Seeing Guy's expression, Kakashi's confidence shattered. Why is he smiling?! This move was inspired by Raimon's technique, combined with the unparalleled piercing power of the Chidori!
In the next instant, Kakashi's Lightning Blade made contact.
And in that single, horrifying moment, Kakashi understood everything.
It felt less like striking flesh and more like he had just thrust his hand against a slab of the finest, chakra-infused Konoha steel. His Chidori could pierce regular steel plates with ease, but Guy's backside was on an entirely different level of durability!
"Not good!"
"YOSHA!" (Gotcha!)
Might Guy flexed with all his might, his powerful gluteal muscles clamping down on Kakashi's wrist like a vice. With a grunt of effort, he twisted his entire body, using the leverage to fling Kakashi through the air like a ragdoll.
Kakashi landed in a clumsy roll, quickly hiding his now-throbbing and slightly reddened right hand behind his back.
"Stop, stop, stop! I yield! I surrender!" he yelled, waving his free hand. How was he supposed to fight this? His ultimate sneak attack had literally bounced off!
"You wish to surrender? Then take one last kick of friendship first!""A-TACK!"
A green blur shot forward. Kakashi, caught completely off-guard, took the kick square in the rear, sending him tumbling head over heels.
"Guy, you bastard! That's not playing fair!" he yelled back, his voice strained.
Of course, Guy had held back significantly, but it still stung like hell. Clutching his smarting backside, Kakashi limped away, his silhouette the very picture of defeat and forlorn misery.
"Don't forget… we have a mission tomorrow!" he called out over his shoulder to a shell-shocked Sasuke and Naruto, before vanishing into the trees.
As for more training? Ha! After a humiliation like that, the last thing he wanted was another 'friendly' spar with the Green Beast.
Just you wait, Guy, he vowed secretly, a new fire of determination igniting within him. I'll optimize my technique! I'll break that iron butt of yours!
Grumbling incessantly about unfair advantages and rock-hard posteriors, Kakashi trudged towards home. He was just passing by a quiet, civilian-sector house when his seasoned Jonin instincts screamed a warning.
He sensed two powerful, completely unfamiliar chakra signatures. What is the Konoha Military Police Force doing? How did they let someone slip through?
With a silent stomp, Kakashi's figure vanished. He reappeared moments later on a rooftop overlooking a serene riverbank. There, walking as casually as if they were on a afternoon stroll, were two figures cloaked in distinctive black robes adorned with red clouds.
"Ahead is Konoha…" one of them said, his voice calm and measured.