Chapter 531: Rinnegan vs. the Eight Gates
When the time reached 3:30, the referee promptly shouted, "Number One, Nagato, versus Number Eleven, Might Guy!"
Nagato and Guy rose almost at the same time and walked toward the arena.
The moment they stepped onto the field, the venue erupted in discussion.
"Might Guy shouldn't be Nagato's opponent," Baki said with certainty.
After all, even a puppeteer capable of Ten Puppet Manipulation had lost. How could Guy possibly defeat Nagato?
The Sand ninja around Baki all nodded in agreement.
"If Guy can counter that strange ability of Nagato's, then he still has a chance. Otherwise, it'll be difficult," Kitsuchi analyzed.
From his perspective, Guy was undeniably strong. He was not without hope. But Nagato's ability was simply too bizarre, and even Kitsuchi could not fully understand it.
Others let their thoughts drift in a different direction.
"No wonder Sōsuke was willing to put his signature Ninjutsu up as the first prize. So the Shinobi Sect had a super genius like this all along. In the end, the Ninjutsu would still stay in the Shinobi Sect's hands," one ninja complained.
Nagato's string of crushing victories had made him feel that the Shinobi Sect had never truly intended to let Fire Dragon Dance fall into anyone else's hands.
"The Shinobi Sect never said they wouldn't participate," a nearby ninja immediately shot back. "It still comes down to strength. Are they supposed to hand it over to you for free?"
"At least they had the courage to put it on the line. You don't see other ninja forces offering their top tier Ninjutsu as tournament prizes."
The complainer instantly fell silent.
None of the noise from the crowd affected the two standing in the arena.
After confirming that both fighters were ready, the referee shouted, "Begin!"
"Eight Gates: Gate of Limit, open!"
The instant the battle began, Guy opened the first five gates in one breath. His chakra surged wildly, and his aura rose without pause.
At the same time, he pushed his breathing to the extreme and entered Rock Breathing Chakra Mode, causing his presence to surge once more.
To Nagato's perception, Guy now resembled a humanoid beast. Just getting close to him felt dangerous.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Nagato chose to form hand signs first and created two shadow clones before immediately continuing into his next technique.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
He calmly spat out a spear of lightning at the charging Guy.
Guy was strong, but Nagato had complete confidence in himself.
Whoosh!
Guy's chakra burst from his body, and he flashed aside like a streak of green light, slipping past the lightning spear with ease.
He had gone all out from the very start because he did not want to fall into Nagato's rhythm. With the Fifth Gate stacked on top of Rock Breathing Chakra Mode, Guy's speed had reached a level where even False Darkness could not brush his clothes.
"Fire Release: Head Hardship!"
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
Nagato's two shadow clones completed their hand seals. One spat out a compressed fireball, while the other exhaled a violent wind sphere.
The flames slammed into the ground in Guy's path, instantly forming a spreading sea of fire. A heartbeat later, the wind sphere became a fierce storm that amplified the inferno and sent it surging forward even faster.
Faced with the boundless flames racing toward him, Guy showed no fear at all. His face was lit with excitement as he began throwing punches at high speed.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The winds from his fists suppressed the flames directly in front of him, but only in that narrow path. The fire on both sides kept spreading, swallowing him whole.
At that moment, Guy looked like a lone boat trapped beneath monstrous waves, as though he would be consumed by the blaze at any second.
"Daytime Tiger!"
When the air pressure had been compressed far enough, Guy roared, changed his fists into palms, and slammed them together.
Roar!
The air, compressed to its limit, erupted like a volcano. A violent shock wave burst outward, condensing into the shape of a savage tiger.
The moment it appeared, the situation reversed.
Under its terrifying force, the flames around Guy were blasted back as if mice had encountered a predator. The sea of fire was ripped apart, scattering in all directions, while the fierce tiger itself charged straight at Nagato.
"Let's see whether Guy's taijutsu can break through Nagato's repulsion," Kakashi said, staring fixedly at the arena.
Nagato had only used Shinra Tensei once in the entire tournament, and the information Kakashi had been able to analyze was still too limited. At present, all he could do was make a preliminary judgment that it was some kind of repulsive force.
Even though this was only the first semifinal, Kakashi regarded it as the true final.
It was not that he looked down on Shisui or Obito. It was simply that, in terms of raw strength, both of them were still clearly below Guy.
If even Guy could not defeat Nagato, then the others would stand even less of a chance.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Facing the charging air tiger, Nagato merely extended his right hand, his face calm as he activated the power of the Rinnegan.
An immense repulsive force erupted from him in every direction. The tiger that had just ripped through a sea of fire came to an abrupt halt, unable to advance even a single step further.
Boom!
A tremendous roar exploded through the arena as the force of Daytime Tiger collided head on with Nagato's repulsion. The tiger shattered instantly and vanished without a trace, while Nagato himself slid back several steps.
"Even that taijutsu wasn't enough. If Might Guy has no stronger trump card, then he's going to lose," Hanzō thought, his face unchanged, though regret stirred in his heart.
If Guy had been a few years older, then the outcome really might have been hard to predict. But as things stood, Nagato was still stronger.
At the thought of having to watch Sōsuke's disciple claim first place tomorrow, Hanzō felt utterly irritated.
He had only bothered continuing to watch because he wanted to see the Shinobi Sect lose and force a rare expression of shock or regret from Sōsuke. Clearly, that was no longer happening. Everything remained under Sōsuke's control.
"No way, he's such a monster. He just waved his hand and blocked Daytime Tiger," Obito muttered in shock.
He had thought Guy would take first place, then hand the prize over in a trade since Guy had no use for Fire Release anyway.
But now, it seemed Nagato had the higher chance of winning.
Golden Skyline. As long as Guy uses Golden Skyline, it'll be fine.
In Obito's mind, Golden Skyline still inspired more confidence than Daytime Tiger.
After all, ever since Guy learned Golden Skyline, the only technique that had ever truly matched it was Kakashi's One Thought Strike.
And even then, after Kakashi used One Thought Cut, he would be half dead from chakra exhaustion without anyone needing to lay a finger on him, whereas Guy could still keep going after Golden Skyline.
The difference between them was obvious.
"As expected of the powerful enemy my best friend kept warning me about. To block Daytime Tiger so easily…" Guy sighed.
At present, the only taijutsu he possessed with even greater offensive power than Daytime Tiger was Golden Skyline.
That meant every taijutsu short of Golden Skyline was useless against Nagato.
And even Golden Skyline might not necessarily work.
"Still, that only makes youth burn even more fiercely!" Guy burst into loud laughter.
He had never feared challenges.
Nagato's strength did not frighten him in the slightest. It only made the fire in his chest burn hotter.
Since Shinra Tensei was on cooldown for the moment, Nagato retreated behind his two shadow clones.
Even though the cooldown was only five seconds, Guy's speed was tremendous. Nagato had no intention of being careless.
At the same time, Nagato remembered Mugetsu's warning. Unless absolutely necessary, never release Shinra Tensei the instant its cooldown ends. Disturb the timing and avoid letting the enemy grasp the true interval.
"Noon Leopard!"
Guy roared and poured all his strength into his legs. The chakra boosted by the Eight Gates erupted again as he drove his multi burst stepping technique to the absolute limit his body could handle.
The next instant, he shot forward like a hunting leopard springing on its prey.
Noon Leopard was a taijutsu Guy had developed by integrating everything he knew about physical combat. In its earlier form, it had still been immature and flawed in several places.
But recently, he had refined it further. The perfected Noon Leopard boasted extraordinary burst speed, and in terms of acceleration, it was now his fastest taijutsu.
Its flaw still remained, however. It placed immense strain on his legs, and within a five minute span, he could use it no more than twice.
For an ordinary ninja, Guy's movement would have been impossible to follow. But Nagato possessed not only sharp perception but the Rinnegan as well.
Guy was fast, but not fast enough that Nagato could not see him.
Nagato swiftly calculated the timing and found that Shinra Tensei would be ready in time, with roughly two seconds to spare.
His eyes flickered as he made a decision.
Whoosh!
Nagato's main body did not use Shinra Tensei right away. Instead, he used Body Flicker to widen the gap while the two shadow clones moved to intercept with Ninjutsu.
Even if Shinra Tensei would be ready in time, Nagato knew he would not be able to finish Guy in a single exchange.
After all, Guy had already proven he could withstand Iwagakure's Explosion Release. Knocking him out in one blow was not realistic.
So Nagato decided to feed him false information while wearing him down at the same time.
Bang! Bang!
Guy smashed through the shadow clones' Ninjutsu by force and destroyed both clones.
"Shinra Tensei!"
After silently counting to ten in his head, Nagato finally acted and released Shinra Tensei at Guy.
Boom!
Guy felt a powerful force slam into him, and in the next instant his body was flung backward uncontrollably, crashing into the outer wall of the arena.
Just as Nagato had expected, Guy got back to his feet almost immediately, as though nothing had happened, and launched himself forward again.
Nagato continued bombarding him with five element Ninjutsu for ten seconds, then released Shinra Tensei the moment that interval passed.
Does that repulsive force have a cooldown? Ten seconds?
After enduring four consecutive Shinra Tensei releases, Guy finally began to sense the pattern.
If an ability like that could be used freely without restriction, he would likely have already been heavily wounded by now.
But Nagato was not using it constantly.
That meant Shinra Tensei definitely had a limitation, and based on Nagato's current pattern, that limit appeared to be one use every ten seconds.
"If that's true, then it's finally time to counterattack!" A brilliant smile spread across Guy's face.
Ten seconds was more than enough time for a ninja with his speed to do a great many things.
.....
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