Carl smiled without saying a word. He grabbed Guy's fist, gave it a powerful swing, and flung him back, sending him crashing straight into the crowd.
From atop a tree, Lily spoke up,
"Looks like the people here really don't know haki. That bowl-cut from earlier should've been one of their taijutsu specialists, right?"
Carl looked up and replied,
"The physiques of humans differ between two worlds. You can't lump everything together. Don't people on our side also not have chakra?"
Lily nodded slightly.
"For now, aside from Kaguya, this world's overall combat power is definitely inferior to ours."
The two made no effort to hide their conversation. On the other side, the Third Hokage heard everything clearly, naturally catching the key phrase: two worlds!
What did that mean? Did they come from another dimension? Some kind of extra-dimensional ninjutsu?
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through the Third's mind. But before he could make sense of anything, Guy—who had been thrown away moments earlier—charged out again.
This time Guy no longer tried to engage Carl in close-quarters combat. He leapt high into the sky, his face turning crimson like a boiling kettle. Blue steam surged violently around him.
Then he roared and launched a full-power punch at Carl from afar—a massive tiger head formed from compressed air pressure descended from above.
"Daytime Tiger!!!"
Facing the descending Daytime Tiger, Carl's eyes flashed. One hand still gripped Danzo's throat, while a demonic sword formed in his other hand. He slashed upward, and in the next moment, a world-rending sword aura erupted, instantly cleaving the massive Daytime Tiger into scattered streams of air.
Guy's pupils shrank mid-air, a single thought flashing through his mind—I'm finished!
Not just him—every ninja below, including Danzo and the Third Hokage, thought the same.
Time seemed to freeze. Just when everyone believed Guy was about to be split clean in half by the still-raging sword aura, that very aura suddenly vanished the instant it touched the tip of his nose—as if it had never existed.
Silence fell over the area once more.
Beads of sweat rolled down the Third's deeply wrinkled face. His hands, hidden in his sleeves, trembled violently.
Too terrifying! That man called Carl… he's far too terrifying! His power isn't something Konoha…
No! Even if the entire ninja world joined forces, they couldn't defeat him!
An eerie ability that nullifies all ninjutsu… taijutsu strong enough to crush the Eight Gates… swordsmanship both indestructible and perfectly controlled. Any one of these could kill a Kage.
Not to mention… the Third clearly remembered that Carl could fly and even manipulate space…
Against such an existence, the Third felt that even if he risked his life and used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, the outcome would only be humiliation.
As for Danzo's Reverse Four Symbols Seal—judging from Danzo's ashen expression, he clearly had no countermeasure either.
At this moment, the two old fossils of Konoha both felt that even if Hashirama Senju—the "God of Shinobi"—were resurrected, he might still not be Carl's match.
Guy, still shaken, landed on the ground but staggered, almost collapsing. The blue steam around him dispersed—he could no longer maintain the Gate of Shock.
The sword aura earlier had given him the real feeling of death. Just a little more and he would've been saying goodbye to this world forever.
And the fact that the opponent could wield such power and still restrain it so freely… after what he had just experienced, Guy truly began to doubt whether even opening the Gate of Death could allow him to stand against Carl.
The demonic blade Muramasa in Carl's hand dissolved into black mist and silently merged into the back of his hand.
Seeing Guy kneeling on the ground, questioning his own existence, Carl casually twisted Danzo's neck. This time he didn't pull Danzo's resurrected body back toward him—he simply walked slowly toward Guy.
Hearing Carl's approaching footsteps, Guy snapped his head up, determination flashing through his eyes.
Carl paused, slightly stunned by Guy's expression. Before he could say anything, Guy shouted first,
"Konoha is protected by me! Now is the moment when the Red Beast of Konoha takes the stage!!"
Without hesitation, Guy stabbed his thumb into the center of his chest. In the next second, a blood-red aura erupted from him—the boiling blood inside his body.
"Open! The Eight Gates Formation—Gate of Death!!"
A wave of power dozens of times stronger than before burst from Guy's body. The sheer shockwave bent towering trees outward.
Everyone was seeing the Eight Gates Formation fully opened to the Gate of Death for the first time, including Danzo and the Third. They had only heard of Might Duy's legendary feats after opening it—they had never witnessed the terror of the Death Gate in person.
Carl, however—standing directly before Death-Gate Guy—felt his mouth twitch. Not because he was scared, but because he genuinely found this situation troublesome.
"I told you—there's no need to open the Gate of Death. Doing so will only waste your life."
Guy endured the unbearable pain ripping through his body and growled,
"How would I know if I don't try?!"
Carl pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Ah-ley-ah-ley… such an overly hot-blooded idiot. Actually, I'm not even really interested in destroying Konoha… forget it."
He had wanted to explain that he had no intention of destroying Konoha, but Guy had already put his life on the line. Saying so now would be disrespectful.
So Carl said nothing more. His expression turned solemn as he spoke slowly,
"Since that's how it is, I'll accept your challenge. Come—let me feel the power of the Gate of Death!"
As if for dramatic effect, Carl summoned six black Truth-Seeking Staffs. He didn't retreat or dodge—he simply opened his arms, as if inviting Guy to strike him head-on.
Watching from afar, Lily muttered,
"He's going to mess with him using Kamui again, isn't he? Such a sadistic man."
If Carl knew what she was thinking, he'd cry injustice. He had no intention of using Kamui to toy with Guy. Besides, in the original timeline, Madara clearly stated that Death-Gate Guy's power was enough to distort space.
Of course, this Kamui wasn't that Kamui. With Carl's current strength, his control over space far exceeded what Obito's Kamui could ever achieve.
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+140 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg