By now, every hidden village across the world understood what Might Guy was about to do.
The Eighth Gate.The final gate.The ultimate move in the Eight Gates Inner Limit technique.
Only one man had ever opened it before his father, Might Duy. And the memory of that day still haunted the survivors of the Seven Swordsmen. Those who lived through it remained silent. Not one dared recall the moment their pride was shattered beyond repair.
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Rock Lee trembled at Kakashi's words.
He knew.Better than anyone else.This technique did not just end a battle. It ended lives. And it was meant to end the user's.
"Guy… you can't do this!" the Fourth Raikage shouted. His voice echoed across the battlefield, but his desperation could not halt what was coming.
"No. This is my wish."Guy's voice was calm. He stood tall, unwavering, as though every step of his life had led to this moment.
Opening the Eighth Gate meant death. Who wouldn't fear that?
"Guy-sensei… at this point, is it truly time?" Lee asked, voice cracking.
Guy smiled gently.
"This time, just watch me... and smile."
Their eyes locked.Madara floated above, divine and aloof, a single glowing Rinnegan in place.And Guy moved.
The First Gate, the Second, and the Third opened in an instant.
His speed twisted the air around him. The wind screamed as his chakra surged.
Madara's godlike sight caught a flicker of motion, then Guy's thumb striking his chest.
The Gate of Death.
"Chakra is converging at the Death Gate," Madara murmured.
Red vapor exploded from Guy's body. Blood mingled with chakra. His green steam turned scarlet.
In that final breath, Guy remembered his father's proud thumbs-up.
"Now is... youth!"
"Open!""Eighth Gate Formation!"
From above, Madara sneered. He saw the blazing red aura surrounding Guy and scoffed.
"Blood steam... yet still just fading foliage."
But Guy's reply was clear and loud.
"You're right. I won't wither and fall. I will nourish the new leaves."
"And when spring comes, rebirth will break forth!"
Tears streamed down Lee's face.
Even Namikaze whispered from afar, "Youth reaches its peak when it burns most fiercely."
With one leap, Guy shot upward, eyes locked on Madara. The air around him bent. The sun above them looked dull by comparison.
Madara, surprised, braced just in time.
"Evening Elephant," he muttered as Guy raised his fist.
A massive air cannon formed. The first strike "One-Foot" compressed a shockwave that tore through the battlefield.
Madara staggered.
Rinnegan or not, he had barely seen it.
"Go, Sensei Guy!" Lee shouted from below.
Even from a distance, the strain from opening the Third Gate knocked Lee to his knees.
"That is Evening Elephant, as taught by Guy-sensei!"
Guy did not stop.
"Two-Foot!"
His humerus cracked.The pain shot through his arm.He clenched his jaw and shut his left eye, relying on his right to aim.
But the strike faltered.
"He stopped?" Lee asked, confused.
He remembered. Evening Elephant was five consecutive strikes, each faster and more powerful than the last.
Guy hovered midair, his face wincing.
"Very painful… but I'm used to it."
His stance shifted again. Blood mist curled around his body like crimson flame.
Even one gate beyond the Seventh inflicted terrible damage. The Death Gate's agony went beyond anything a human body could endure.
The red moon above cast a shadow on the earth.
Below, the battlefield had changed. One strike had gouged a massive crater. Madara now lay at the bottom, staring up.
"Taijutsu that slams air into shockwaves. An air cannon," Madara muttered.His horn was cracked.His pride even more so.
He rose slowly from the crater.
"If that hit me four or five more times..."
He spread his wings, preparing to evade.
Meanwhile, below, Kakashi and others watched in silent awe.
Suddenly, a voice echoed in the air.
"To fight the Eight Gates is rare indeed. I will serve as your final opponent."
Madara smiled.
Guy circled him at breakneck speed, stepping on wind currents like a storm incarnate.
So fast was his movement that even Madara closed his eyes for a second.
Then, in one heartbeat, Guy halted midair.
"One-Foot!"
End of Chapter 30