"Stubborn? That just shows the limits of your vision, Guy-sensei." Lee erupted with even greater power and speed, landing a vicious kick to Guy's chin that sent him flying into the air. He wrapped his former master in bandages and slammed him back down into the ground.
"When you stand at a different height, you see a different world. Those who can't keep up with the times are destined to be left behind."
Lee landed softly, his expression unreadable.
"Lee!" Guy staggered out of the crater, his body covered in fresh wounds.
He couldn't believe it. Even with the Fifth Gate open, he couldn't gain an advantage over Lee.
A bitter feeling welled up inside him, but it was mixed with a strange sense of pride.
At least Lee hadn't neglected his taijutsu training.
Even if he were to fall here, Lee would carry on his legacy and let his taijutsu flourish.
"Use your full power, Guy-sensei," Lee said, his gaze fixed on Guy.
"Or am I not even worthy of that in your eyes?"
"The Sixth Gate, the Gate of Joy, open!" Guy's expression turned grim as he took a step forward.
A vibrant green aura enveloped his body as his chakra surged.
"As expected of Guy-sensei." Lee watched him quietly, a look of awe and sorrow on his face.
In the next moment, their bodies were a blur of motion.
Every one of Guy's punches now carried a sonic boom, the force of the wind it generated stinging Lee's face before the blow even landed.
The advantage Lee had held was instantly gone.
"What's wrong, Lee? Is this all you have? And you want to follow Naruto with this level of strength?" Guy roared, throwing a punch that sent an invisible shockwave blasting forward.
CRACK. Unable to dodge in time, Lee took the full force of the blow. He was sent flying like a cannonball, the Reiatsu around his body thrown into disarray.
"Don't underestimate me, Guy-sensei." In the next instant, the same green energy erupted from Lee's body. He, too, had opened the Sixth Gate.
Their figures flickered across the battlefield, each clash kicking up massive clouds of sand and shockwaves that expanded outwards. The soft ground beneath their feet buckled and collapsed under the force of their blows, leaving no stable place to stand.
The sheer power of their battle drew the attention of the others fighting nearby.
"Morning Peacock!" Seeing that he couldn't finish the fight, Guy unleashed the taijutsu technique only usable after opening the Sixth Gate.
He closed the distance in an instant, his fists moving faster than the speed of sound, igniting the very air around them and forming a sharp shockwave of fire.
His form, wreathed in sparks, created the illusion of a peacock displaying its magnificent tail.
"Morning Peacock!" Not to be outdone, Lee used the exact same move.
The two peacocks collided in mid-air, creating an even more violent explosion of sparks and fire.
The sand beneath them danced and jumped, as if unable to bear the scorching heat of the blast.
Both of them were thrown backward.
"Excellent, Lee! To think you've already mastered the Sixth Gate!" Guy laughed, feeling an exhilarating rush.
"Can you still go on?" Guy asked excitedly.
Clearly, the Sixth Gate was not his limit.
But it was Lee's.
Lee took several steps back, looking at Might Guy with a wistful expression. "Guy-sensei, you always told me that with enough hard work, I could surpass a genius. That training could make up for any lack of natural talent. But no matter how hard I train, I can't open the final two gates. Maybe in five years, or ten, I could master all Eight Gates, but that would only be if I maintained this grueling training every single day."
"And what about the geniuses? They can catch up to my years of effort with just a few months of training. I work hard, but what if the geniuses work hard too? The gap between us will only grow wider. Talent isn't the only thing that matters, but without it, you can never reach the very top." Lee's expression turned bitter.
"It's the same even for taijutsu. The Eight Gates is a technique that requires an immense talent for taijutsu. And Naruto's talent is so breathtakingly brilliant… in just five years, he's reached a level that others might never achieve in their entire lives. How can someone like me stand by his side? How can I become his right-hand man?"
"I admire your eternal optimism, Guy-sensei, but you're too naive."
"Naive?" Hearing the heartfelt confession of his once-beloved student, the corner of Guy's mouth twitched, his eyelids drooping.
"So, you've just given up?" When he looked up again, his eyes were incredibly sharp.
"No. I've simply found a way to surpass human limits."
As he spoke, a sword suddenly appeared in Lee's hand and silently merged into his body. He floated into the air, defying gravity.
As Guy watched in confusion, Lee extended his right hand and gently clenched his fist.
The next moment, the entire area was engulfed in flames, and countless fireballs instantly swallowed Guy.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! With a series of thunderous explosions, innumerable ice needles shot toward Guy.
Then, massive rocks gathered in the sky and rained down on him in the sea of fire.
Amidst the violent roar, Lee's indifferent voice rang out: "Guy-sensei… your youth is the most useless thing of all."
"Lee! The Seventh Gate, the Gate of Shock, open!" An immense surge of chakra erupted from the inferno, shattering the earth and the falling rocks, revealing an utterly enraged Guy.
"The Seventh Gate?" Lee stared, momentarily stunned, at Guy, who was now bathed in an unparalleled blue chakra.
"This chakra, this power… Guy-sensei, you never realized it, did you? Your own talent for taijutsu is among the greatest in this world."
Lee took a deep breath, his body trembling involuntarily. He was afraid.
"Lee!" Guy roared, charging towards him. His speed and power had reached their absolute peak. His skin turned red, and his hair stood on end.
He looked like a blood-soaked beast. "This speed, this power… my Shikai can't possibly block this." A look of horror crossed Lee's face. He immediately created five clones, all of them launching a volley of sharp projectiles in a desperate attempt to stop Guy's assault.
But in the face of absolute power and speed, it was all futile. With a simple wave of his arm, Guy annihilated everything that came at him, whether it was a projectile or a burst of flame.
"Watch closely, Lee! This is my youth!"
"Daytime Tiger!" Guy compressed the air into the shape of a ferocious white tiger and launched it forward. It shot toward Lee with the force of an avalanche.
"Bring it on, Guy-sensei! Bring it on!" Lee had gone mad, laughing wildly at the sky.
Faced with a taijutsu technique powerful enough to kill a Kage-level shinobi, he had no way to resist.
To die for the Seireitei.
To die fighting until the very end.
Perhaps this was the best possible ending.
BOOM! The white tiger slammed into the area where Lee was, sending up a massive cloud of dust and smoke. The ensuing flash of light completely engulfed Lee and his clones.
A terrifying shockwave spread out in an instant, the aftershock obliterating nearby chunin who were caught in the blast.
When the dust settled, Lee lay on the ground, his body nearly broken, barely clinging to life.
Under the morning sun, he looked up at Guy and smiled with admiration. "You win, Guy-sensei. Well done. I saw your youth."
"Lee." Guy released the Eight Gates, his own body battered and unable to fight any longer.
He looked at Lee's fading life force, his eyes filled with sorrow.
"Don't feel guilty, Guy-sensei. This is a war. I may have lost, but the Seireitei will win. The shinobi world will finally know a precious peace. I believe in it all… I believe in Naruto. He can do it… So now, kill me. Claim your victory in this battle. Prove the unyielding will of the Allied Shinobi Forces with your actions." Lee's voice grew faint, blood pouring from his mouth.
The first half of his life had been one of ridicule, but in the end, he would die fighting for honor.
Tears streamed down Guy's face. He collapsed to his knees in the sand, his lips trembling.
"Why? Why do we have to fight? Why is there war?"
Guy looked up. In the distance, the allied army was still locked in a brutal struggle.
The sand was soaked in blood, which then evaporated under the intense heat.
Every face was twisted with a crazed frenzy. Everyone hated war, yet they were forced to fight.
He looked at Lee, his hand trembling, unable to deliver the final blow.
"What are you doing, Guy-sensei? Are you showing pity to the enemy?" Lee demanded, his face cold.
"I…" Guy's lips trembled. He shakily raised a kunai, but he couldn't bring himself to strike.
"I can't do it," he finally choked out.
On missions, Guy's logic always prevailed. He was ruthless, his taijutsu breaking bones and ending lives without hesitation.
But faced with Lee, who he saw as a son, his emotions completely overwhelmed his reason.
Perhaps he was not a qualified ninja.
Schlick. With a soft sound, Might Guy looked down in disbelief. Lee's right hand had pierced through his chest.
Lee's face was a mask of cold mockery.
"Guy-sensei… your youth is the most useless thing of all."
Guy, no longer able to fight, collapsed to the ground.
His eyes were filled with pain, but also a hint of relief.
"Come on, let's fight! Entertain me!" The battle between Kisame and Zabuza was brutally direct.
The two of them were simply hacking at each other with their massive swords.
Kisame would occasionally use a Water Style jutsu to interfere, but Zabuza's style was far more straightforward. He would take the hits, trading wound for wound.
No matter how Kisame's slashes or ninjutsu struck his body, Zabuza's expression only grew more frenzied, his attacks becoming faster and heavier with each blow.
After his Hollowfication, he had lost all his memories, and the madness and bloodlust within him had been completely unleashed.
This was the man who had killed every single one of his fellow students during his final exam with nothing but a kunai.
The instinct to kill was carved into his very bones.
Every time he fought, he was prepared to be cut down.
His opponent, Kisame, lacked that resolve. His body couldn't withstand trading blows like this.
What terrified him was that even after taking a near-fatal blow, the Shinigami before him would just get back up and continue his ferocious assault as if nothing had happened.
It was as if the word "pain" didn't exist in Zabuza's world.
But Kisame felt pain, and that pain caused him to make mistakes.
As the battle wore on, he was forced onto the back foot.
Onoki and the Raikage were having an incredibly difficult fight.
Shion, who they had dismissed as a weak woman, was now wreathed in an eerie aura after releasing her Shikai, and various demons materialized behind her.
"Is this the power of a Shinigami?" they exclaimed in shock.
Even with all the intelligence they had received from Konoha, nothing could compare to seeing it with their own eyes.
Their power was beyond human limits. They could even control demons.
A tide of demons swarmed towards the Raikage and Onoki.
Many of them even joined the main battle.
The allied army was already struggling against the Shinigami and Hollows. With the addition of the demons, the tide of battle turned completely.
Screams of terror filled the air.
"What are these things? They're not human either!"
"Demons! They're demons! We can't even hurt them!"
Shion's Zanpakuto was perfectly suited for war.
The Raikage and Onoki were bogged down by the endless horde of demons, unable to break free. They couldn't afford to be reckless, or they would be wounded.
Orochimaru looked at the familiar yet strange Uchiha Itachi, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.
In the past, his quest for immortality had led him to develop a forbidden jutsu that allowed him to switch bodies.
But the imperfect technique had weakened his soul and spirit, making him vulnerable to genjutsu.
As a result, Itachi, who had just awakened his Mangekyo, had defeated him with a single Tsukuyomi.
For a renowned Kage-level shinobi to be so easily beaten by a young ninja was a disgrace.
From that moment on, Orochimaru had developed an intense interest in and desire for the Sharingan.
He wanted a unique Uchiha body, and so he had set his sights on Uchiha Sasuke.
Well, he used to be called Uchiha Sasuke.
Now, he was just Sasuke.
It was amusing, really. He had coveted the Uchiha, while an Uchiha had forsaken his own clan.
Now, Orochimaru had found a different path to immortality.
And it was clear that Shinigamification had repaired his previous flaws.
However, due to the side effects of his old forbidden jutsu, Orochimaru's strength as a Shinigami was not particularly outstanding.
He might not even be able to defeat Haku.
But he was not discouraged. He continued to train and conduct his research, confident that he, a genius in his own right, would forge a different path.
Everyone was changing, moving forward.
Only Itachi remained, still clinging to his belief in the power of the Uchiha.
Orochimaru looked at Itachi coldly. The Uchiha's eyes were filled with disdain for him.
Clearly, in Itachi's mind, a past failure was not worth his attention.
Especially now that he possessed even more powerful eyes.
In a way, the two of them were enemies.
"It's been a long time, Uchiha Itachi," Orochimaru said, putting special emphasis on the word "Uchiha."
Itachi's face darkened. Orochimaru's tone reminded him of Sasuke, who had abandoned the Uchiha name.
"It has been a long time. You've changed a great deal."
The old Orochimaru had been cold and sinister, with a strange sense of fashion.
The current Orochimaru was always in a lab coat, his expression much calmer, and the cold aura around him had diminished.
He now exuded a greater sense of danger, like a venomous snake hiding in the shadows.
But to Itachi, he was still weak.
"You've chosen the wrong opponent, Orochimaru," Itachi said, his eyes filled with arrogance.