BOOM!
Indra rose from the depths of the abyss back to the sky, his wounds completely healed—except for the single broken horn on his head, which hadn't regenerated.
He looked down at the five below with mockery. "That last hit wasn't bad—made my whole body tingle. Can you keep it up?"
Hashirama was stunned. "This guy... he's truly no longer human!"
Zzzt!
Madara's eyes narrowed, and his Limbo shadows appeared again—but this time, only four!
Indra laughed. "Hahaha, looks like your destroyed shadows recover quite slowly. Even the first one that died for you hasn't come back yet~."
Actually, that wasn't quite right. Each time a Limbo shadow dies, it resets the recovery time for all previous shadows. In other words, if no more shadows are destroyed for a period, all dead shadows will recover simultaneously!
Hashirama couldn't stand seeing Madara mocked and immediately said, "Madara, send us into Limbo again! This time I want to give him a proper beating!"
Sensing something, Madara glanced behind him. "No, there's no need for that anymore!"
BOOM!
A beast wreathed in blood-red light descended before the five!
Hashirama gasped, "This... this is..."
Minato exclaimed, "Guy-sensei!"
Might Guy greeted them, "Honored Hokage and Lord Madara, I am Might Guy, a ninja of Konoha!"
Tobirama observed, "So you're the original behind that beast army. If the clones were that fierce, the real thing is truly extraordinary. Even in the Warring States era, there were a few who opened the final gate of the Eight Gates, but all were limited by their physical foundations and performed poorly. To achieve such intensity after opening all gates—you're the first!"
"You're too kind!"
Might Guy withdrew his gaze, his whitened eyes turning skyward.
Indra was also studying Guy. "So he's the leader of that identical army from before."
"Clearly an Edo Tensei body, yet blood flows within... Why is that... Hmm?"
Indra noticed the mysterious scroll embedded in Guy's chest.
"I see. He retained his blood circulation organs, and that scroll contains a vast amount of stored blood. But the technique that enhanced his chakra to this degree... could it be..."
Indra's gaze wavered.
In his era of dominance, the secrets of the Eight Gates hadn't yet been discovered!
Indra was the ninja who first created "hand seals." With seals, chakra manipulation entered the proper path, giving birth to the systematic use of jutsu.
Undoubtedly, Indra was an irreplaceable pioneer.
Even in his later years, he devoted himself to inventing and improving ninjutsu.
He discovered that within the chakra pathways, there existed eight gates that limited chakra intensity to protect the human body!
At the time, he had a wild idea—if those eight gates could be opened... perhaps he could gain power beyond common sense!
But when he proposed this initial concept, before he could put it into practice, his time came and he passed away. It remained one of his life's greatest regrets!
Looking at Guy now, Indra's wavering gaze grew increasingly bright!
"So the technique to unlock the eight gates was developed by later generations, and you're the one who perfected it!"
Actually, earlier when Guy's clones all opened the Gate of Shock together, Indra had found it strange. But the Gate of Shock's power was too weak, so he hadn't thought much of it.
Only now, seeing the real Might Guy, did emotion surge in his heart. He laughed loudly, "Hahahaha, I am not alone in my path..."
Whoosh!
He slowly descended from midair, driving his Six Paths Yin-Yang Staff into the ground with a clang!
"Unfortunately, after becoming the Ten-Tails jinchūriki, my body became a uniform vessel of life force with no concept of organs or chakra pathways—so unlocking the eight gates is impossible. Otherwise, I'd love to try it myself."
"But no matter..."
Indra grinned wildly. "Let's fight—using only taijutsu!"
"What!?" Even Madara was shocked by such audacity!
Might Guy's gaze darkened. "Are you serious? Even with my naked eye, I can see that the Ten-Tails and God Tree's enhancements to their jinchūriki are specialized. Your jutsu are godlike, but your taijutsu is far from that level..."
Indra laughed proudly. "What I lack innately, I'll make up for through creation! I don't look down on the weak—I just can't stand those who are weak yet love to parrot others..."
He touched his broken horn. "Like just now, when this horn was broken, I conceived of creating a new technique. Now I can't wait to try it..."
He clenched his fist—BANG! The upper half of his Six Paths robe dissolved, revealing his refined physique!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The dozen or so Truth-Seeking Orbs floating behind him surged into his back one by one, their jet-black color spreading across his skin!
In the distance, Naruto watched this scene with undisguised shock. "Hey, what am I seeing? He's merging the Truth-Seeking Orbs with his body?!"
Crack! Crack!
When the last Truth-Seeking Orb penetrated his back, the blackness perfectly covered his final inch of skin!
Hissss... Indra opened his mouth, releasing scalding steam!
Crack! Crack!
Indra clenched his explosive fists, producing a unique crisp sound. He said casually, "So this is what combining Truth-Seeking Orbs with taijutsu is like..."
—Dōko Agaryū!
Might Guy said sincerely, "Compared to you, I truly am just following others' footsteps..."
Indra smiled. "There's nothing wrong with learning from predecessors. The key is whether you can elevate it to new heights..."
Might Guy asked, "May I make a presumptuous request?"
Indra replied, "Let's hear it."
Might Guy looked back at the background where ninja were continuously revived by Yomotsu Hirasaka, only to be repeatedly pierced to death by wooden spikes. He turned back. "Could you stop that wooden attack? It seems inhumane no matter how you look at it, and such repetition serves no purpose beyond adding death experiences, right?"
Indra said, "Ah, you mean the Earth-Piercing Stakes. How about this—if you can make me acknowledge your strength, I'll stop that technique..."
Might Guy said solemnly, "It's a deal!"
Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Namikaze Minato all stepped back in unison, leaving the stage to these two peerless warriors of past and present!
The wind howled. Indra called out, "Come!"
"AWOOOOOOO...!"
Might Guy roared and charged forward with terrifying killing intent!
—Evening Elephant: Consecutive Strikes!
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