A vast sea of ghostly blue flames blanketed the sky, driving back anyone whose strength fell short of withstanding the battlefield of a Tailed Beast.
Yet this blistering inferno, which ought to have melted everything in its path, reduced all to ashes, and proved utterly inexorable, failed to impede the advance of a single young man.
He raced through the blaze, his keen blade singing as it cut the air, the golden flames trailing it searing painfully into onlookers' eyes.
With a single swing, he cleaved the sky-engulfing sea of fire asunder!
Incredibly sharp winds converged along the edge, and in one stroke, it bisected the blazing ocean unleashed by Matatabi, the Two-Tails!
The unseen gale acted like a barrier, instantly sweeping the flames aside in front of Kakashi as he charged straight toward Matatabi!
The Two-Tails Jinchuriki startled at the sight and immediately tried to dodge, but Kakashi was already upon him, riding the wind to appear right in his face!
Man and cat locked eyes!
In that instant, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki reacted, hoisting his enormous, mountain-crushing paw and slamming it down toward Kakashi!
But he was fast—and Kakashi was faster!
White Fang had already woven the seals for his next jutsu in a flash!
Fierce crimson flames had taken shape, and the lingering hurricane hadn't yet faded, only intensifying these rampant blazes further!
Asahi Tora: Fire: Ken'en! [Translator's Note: A fan-invented fire-wind blade technique.]
Compared to the strike he'd used against Darui, the flames of this Ken'en burned even hotter!
For a moment, wind stoked the fire, and fire empowered the wind!
The hurricane that should have died out was revived by the flame blade, growing even more ferocious!
White Fang, which should have been just one meter long, suddenly extended under the surge of chakra, morphing into a ten-meter-long colossal blade of fire that slashed straight at the Two-Tails!
At point-blank range!
The Two-Tails had no escape!
With that slash, snow and wind recoiled, the chill scattered, and in the same breath, temperatures skyrocketed as heat waves rolled out!
"Roar!"
A beastly bellow thundered from Matatabi's maw, and even through the obscuring flames, the bristling fur beneath was plainly visible!
The cat's paw, infused with savage chakra, clashed head-on with Kakashi's flame blade in that moment!
Every spectator on the Tailed Beast battlefield felt their hearts jump into their throats!
Konoha prayed Kakashi could hold against the blow, while Kumogakure wished for his immediate death.
A Kakashi this young—only a dead one was acceptable in their eyes!
[Jiraiya's emotions fluctuate...]
[Raikage...]
[Ao...]
[Uchiha Shisui...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
The notifications in his mind scrolled frantically across his vision!
With that slash, the clash between the cat's paw and White Fang resolved in an instant!
Amid the roar, the massive paw was severed clean with a single cut!
The snow blanketing the ground melted into sludge, and as that unstoppable Tailed Beast claw crashed down, it flung up massive splatters of mud!
"Meow!"
Wracked with agony, Matatabi howled without cease!
Kakashi gave Matatabi no quarter, flipping White Fang in his grip and pressing forward with the blade raised high!
Matatabi, now missing a claw, tried to flee, but a green blur had somehow vaulted overhead at some point!
It was... Might Guy!
His exposed skin flushed crimson, veins bulging across his forehead like a beast in human form!
"Konoha Gōriki Senpū!"
As his foot descended, violent flames exploded from his leg!
Those weren't chakra flames, but fire born from the extreme friction of his body against the air!
It spoke volumes about the sheer power behind that kick!
The strike landed flush on Matatabi's soft underbelly!
The dozens-of-meters-tall Matatabi was actually sent flying by Might Guy's single blow!
Everyone who saw it was stunned speechless!
Such monstrous strength had only been witnessed before in Princess Tsunade, one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin!
And as Tsunade had long since withdrawn from the front lines, the younger generation of shinobi had only heard legends of her overwhelming power.
Now, beholding it firsthand, they deemed Might Guy downright inhuman.
Paired with Kakashi, who'd lopped off Matatabi's claw in one strike, the two undisputed powerhouses of Konoha's new generation were cemented!
No... not just Konoha's new generation.
But the strongest of the entire ninja world's new generation!
Earlier, Kumogakure's prodigy Darui had been slashed by Kakashi's flame blade, his fate unknown.
By comparison, the gap in strength between the rising talents of both sides was crystal clear.
Disregarding the endless notifications flooding his mind, Kakashi and Might Guy shared a glance, their flawless synergy letting them read each other's intent without a word.
They charged in unison toward the thrashing Matatabi!
Ten minutes.
Might Guy had only ten minutes left in the Gate of Wonder.
Ten minutes to bring down the Two-Tails!
Through their growing camaraderie, Kakashi had long grasped a rough sense of the Eight Gates Released Formation's limits.
Might Guy, the same age as Kakashi, hadn't yet mastered the Gate of Death, and even the Gate of Wonder was only half-trained—but what he had now was more than enough for the fight at hand!
"Damn Konoha shinobi!"
The Two-Tails scrambled to its feet, its feline eyes fixed on the pair rushing in, as an enormous surge of chakra gathered in its mouth!
It was prepping a Tailed Beast Ball!
Kakashi's eyes narrowed at the sight, lightning crackling in his palm before he hurled it forward with a fierce swing!
Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear!
With Uchiha Sasuke's future variant as a perfect blueprint, Kakashi had no reservations about straight-up copying his eventual student.
He'd long since replicated all sorts of Lightning Release techniques from him.
Even without the Sharingan, Kakashi's natural genius allowed him to master these Raikiri-derived jutsu.
And thanks to his golden finger, Kakashi's current chakra reserves were beyond anything Uchiha Sasuke could imagine!
The Chidori Sharp Spear, which normally maxed out at fifty meters, extended wildly in Kakashi's hands!
Even as the Two-Tails backed away to buy time for its Tailed Beast Ball, Kakashi refused to grant it that luxury!
The white spear of lightning struck Matatabi in a flash, but as a feline Tailed Beast, its reflexes were simply too sharp.
With a mere twitch of its head, the Chidori Sharp Spear—meant to pierce the Tailed Beast Ball in its jaws—instead lanced through its shoulder.
"Might Guy!"
Kakashi swiftly formed seals and slammed his palm to the ground!
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!
A vividly carved wall bearing a dog's head erupted from the earth ahead!
"Hm!"
Might Guy's eyes ignited as he sprang upward, planting a foot on the Earth-Style Wall and diving straight down at the Two-Tails!
At the same time, Might Guy unleashed a devastating aerial kick toward the beast!
At that range, it should have been impossible to connect.
But... a dark shadow shot from the wraps on Might Guy's legs!
It was the weights he'd always borne!
And the mass of those burdens... one ton!
The instant Might Guy shed his weights and plummeted, Kakashi had already drawn his blade, another flame slash building!
At some point... the sky had grown heavily overcast...
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