Crimson steam wreathing him, Guy shouted, 'Evening Elephant—First Step!'
He punched, compressing the air into a colossal white pillar that slammed into Madara.
'!!!!!!!!'
Viewers gasped; one strike showed how completely Guy had transformed.
BOOM—!!!
Madara raised his staff to block, strain etched on his face.
"Go, Sensei! I'm already..." Rock Lee wept.
Answering him, Guy roared.
'OHHH—!!!'
Evening Elephant's first step shattered Madara's guard, driving him into the ground.
RUMBLE—!!!
The earth quaked; for once, Madara looked startled.
He vanished, leaving a titanic crater.
'Guy, this is your...' Even Minato was stunned.
Green steam swirling, Lee shielded himself from flying rubble. 'That's the Evening Elephant Sensei talked about!'
'Second Step!'
Before Guy could continue, a sharp crack rang out—his right leg snapped.
He faltered, drifting downward.
'He stopped?!' Lee knew: Evening Elephant should flow from first through fifth step without pause.
"Even four gates wreck the body; the pain of the death gate must be beyond imagining," Lee realized, tears falling.
Hovering, Guy steadied himself. "So this is the pain... I'm used to it. No breaks—let's keep going!"
Konoha Village
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared, sharing the same stunned look with Danzo.
That air cannon was terrifying; a direct hit would leave even them crippled if not dead.
Outrageous—but true.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura were already seasoned veterans; even in today's Ninja World, only a handful could stand against them.
Yet now, watching Might Guy's performance, the two felt that if they stepped forward to fight him head-on,
they'd probably be blown apart in an instant—assuming, of course, they met his attack face-to-face.
But both Hiruzen and Danzo were shrewd old foxes of the Ninja World; faced with such overwhelming force, they would never clash head-on unless the man was rampaging inside Konoha Village itself.
Besides, the Might Guy in the video was a Konoha Ninja—why on earth would he strike at them?
"Hiruzen, from today onward we drill every man in the Eight Gates Formation," Danzo said seriously.
A peculiar glint flashed in Danzo's eyes.
He had heard of the Eight Gates Formation: once the Gate of Death opened, the user would gain Hokage-level might for a heartbeat.
But when the death gate closed, the caster died on the spot, and training to open that gate usually took twenty years or more.
The time required was immense, the risk extreme; all for a fleeting burst of Kage-level power.
In the past, Danzo had assumed that so-called Kage strength meant someone as conventional as Hiruzen Sarutobi.
So he never ordered his subordinates to learn the forbidden art. Yet the Might Guy on the screen—was he merely Hiruzen's equal?
Clearly not! That was First Hokage-level!
The level of the God of Shinobi! Danzo's heart pounded; he was utterly tempted.
With that power in hand, he would possess a one-time trump card rivaling Uchiha Madara himself.
Whether he revealed it or not, it would deter every nation and win countless advantages.
For example: if the enemy agreed not to deploy Tailed Beasts, we would refrain from unleashing Might Guy.
Apart from Konoha, every other village had, at some point, used Tailed Beasts on the battlefield.
The worst offender was the Hidden Cloud Village, home to shinobi who had achieved perfect mastery over a Tailed Beast.
During the Third Shinobi World War, the Cloud's A–B combo had invaded Konoha; among them was 'Killer Bee'.
He was a Jinchuriki who wielded the full power of the Eight-Tails at will, able to summon the beast whenever he wished.
Were it not for Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God terrifying the brothers, Konoha might have been crippled even if it repelled them.
"We can consider it," Hiruzen replied, equally tempted; such power would stir any heart.
Iwagakure.
'So that guy's from Konoha?' Ōnoki watched Might Guy on the screen and sneered, 'How ironic. The founder of Konoha, Uchiha Madara, was "killed" by Lord Hashirama, and now he's being pummeled by some junior.'
'Madara, this is the price of your stubbornness! Had you been like Lord Hashirama back then, you wouldn't have ended up like this.'
Seeing Madara humiliated delighted Ōnoki; he could almost burst into song to vent his joy.
Though Ōnoki hated both Konoha and Uchiha Madara, he retained a sliver of respect for Senju Hashirama, whose character and strength deserved reverence.
Had Hashirama shared Madara's temperament, the Five Great Nations might never have come to exist.
Once the two had joined forces—or even if only one of them had desired war—
the other four villages would have had no power to resist, which was why the First Shinobi War erupted the moment news of Hashirama's "death" spread.
As long as either Hashirama or Madara lived, no one dared start a war,
for the pair truly possessed the might to sweep away everything.