"You want to spar with me?"
Kiyohara looked at Might Guy.
His chakra reserves kept growing, and along with that, the strength of his body had risen too.
On top of that, he had the Yotsuki bloodline, plus the bloodlines of the white snake and the toads. When it came to physical attributes, Kiyohara had stacked a ridiculous number of buffs.
So for a long time now, he had never lost a spar with Might Guy.
Still, Kiyohara was curious how far Guy had progressed with the Eight Gates.
Guy was a genius too, just a genius in taijutsu.
Throughout the entire story, plenty of people could be seen training in the Eight Gates. Rock Lee could even open the Fifth Gate together with other taijutsu ninja and form the Crane Wing Formation to smash apart half of a falling meteor headed for Konoha.
But in all of it, only Might Guy and Might Duy ever reached the Eighth Gate.
And precisely because the final technique was suicidal, the Eight Gates had been classified as a forbidden art.
Of course, since almost nobody could actually train it that far—and because nobody originally realized how terrifying it could become—the entry barrier to learning it wasn't actually that high.
"Then let's do it, Guy."
Kiyohara said.
It was a good chance to sort out his own taijutsu too.
Sometimes, even Kiyohara found it hard to get a good sparring partner.
After all, Kakashi and the others were nowhere near Might Guy's level in taijutsu.
"So Kiyohara and Guy are sparring…"
Kakashi turned his attention toward them.
He was curious how many Gates Kiyohara had mastered by now.
Kakashi himself had actually been training in the Eight Gates whenever he could.
But at the moment, he could only open the Second Gate at most—and that was already thanks to the help of the White Snake power Kiyohara had given him.
To break through the limits of each Gate, you had to constantly push your body past its limits through harsh training and make it adapt to that burden.
"All right!"
Might Guy shouted, full of vigor.
"Let me see just how far our youth has burned!"
Watching the fired-up Guy, Kiyohara took off his green flak jacket, leaving only the black, tight metal-mesh underlayer beneath it.
The underlayer clung to his sturdy body, every sharp line of muscle clearly visible.
Rin Nohara sneaked a glance, then quickly looked away.
"I'll hold your flak jacket for you, Kiyohara-kun. The ground's dirty."
Rin said.
"Sure."
Kiyohara, who had originally been about to toss it onto the ground, changed his mind and handed it over.
Rin took it and carefully folded it, holding it against her chest.
Kiyohara turned back around.
Wearing only the black mesh armor, he said,
"Come on."
Might Guy took a deep breath.
He crouched low, one hand pressing into the ground, his spine arched like a bow drawn to its limit.
Blue-green steam burst from every pore of his body, more intense than when he had fought Kakashi just a little earlier.
Fifth Gate: Gate of Closing… open!
Facing Kiyohara, Might Guy didn't dare hold back in the slightest.
He opened with the Fifth Gate immediately, afraid Kiyohara might otherwise knock him out before he even got to use anything stronger.
"Kiyohara, here I come…!"
The ground exploded beneath Guy's feet.
As rocks and dirt flew up, Guy had already crossed fifty meters in an instant, his right leg sweeping out with overwhelming force.
"Violent Leaf Adamantine Whirlwind!"
This was the enhanced form of Leaf Strong Whirlwind, using shocking speed and power to unleash a spinning kick.
Kiyohara could see the chakra in Guy's leg condensing into visible blue flames. Everywhere it passed, the air exploded with sound.
Kiyohara raised his left arm.
His palm caught Guy's shin solidly.
A circular shockwave burst outward from the point of impact, splitting the ground and blasting up dust.
So Guy wasn't even kicking me full force earlier, Kakashi thought.
If it had been him, he would never have tried to block that directly. He would've dodged.
Because Kakashi had the feeling that if he tried to take that kick head-on, his arm might well have been blasted off.
How do these people even train?
For a ninjutsu genius like Kakashi, the gap in taijutsu left him feeling deeply powerless.
He was starting to understand how other people must have felt looking at his own self-created S-rank techniques.
Talent really did make all the difference.
Kakashi's taijutsu was pretty good—better than most ninja—but compared to Kiyohara and Might Guy, it was nowhere close.
"Kiyohara-kun…"
Rin clenched Kiyohara's flak jacket tightly.
The next moment, as the dust cleared—
the muscles along Kiyohara's forearm stood out beneath the black underlayer in smooth, distinct lines, but he hadn't moved back even half a step.
Only the ground under his feet had cracked and sunk dozens of centimeters.
"…Not bad."
Kiyohara said.
Seeing that, Guy quickly pulled his leg back, spun, and brought his right leg down even faster toward the side of Kiyohara's neck.
Kiyohara tilted his head.
The wind from the kick brushed past his ear, slicing a few strands of his long hair.
At that same instant, Kiyohara's right leg swept up from below.
Leaf Whirlwind!
It was the most basic beginner taijutsu.
Guy drew his leg back and blocked.
Shin crashed against shin with a dull heavy impact.
A dense force shot through the point of contact, and Guy was driven back three steps.
Each footfall left deep prints in the ground.
"The Fifth Gate's power…"
Guy steadied himself, and the shock in his eyes became obvious.
"For you, was that just a warm-up?"
"No. I used some force too."
Kiyohara shook his head.
"Then…"
Guy bit down, but the smile on his face only grew more radiant.
"Warm-up's over!"
He bent low.
Every muscle in his body tightened at once.
The flow of chakra inside him suddenly changed direction.
The blue-green steam darkened and intensified, the glow now seeming to shine from beneath his skin.
Sixth Gate: Gate of View… open!
"Asakujaku!"
The moment he opened the Sixth Gate, Guy immediately used a technique only possible at that level—Morning Peacock.
The instant his fist shot out, the air exploded.
Flame-like pressure burst from his punches like a peacock spreading its tail, hundreds upon hundreds of blazing red trails weaving together into a net of fire rushing straight at Kiyohara.
This strike was even stronger than when he'd used it against Kakashi before.
Kiyohara looked up, the three tomoe in his Sharingan slowly turning.
But his gaze wasn't the focused stare of someone studying an opponent.
"The Sixth Gate, huh."
Kiyohara murmured.
"I can use it too."
The next instant—
blue-green steam erupted from his entire body.
The ground beneath his feet exploded.
Centered on the point where his toes landed, the earth in a three-meter radius sank all at once, broken stones lifted by the steam hanging suspended for a brief instant.
Then Kiyohara vanished.
By the time Guy could finally see him again, Kiyohara's right fist had already appeared at the center of the Morning Peacock flame net.
Morning Peacock!
Fist met fist.
Flame swallowed flame.
The peacock-tail storm of countless blows was torn open by Kiyohara with brute force.
His fist broke straight through the net of flames.
His forearm was still wrapped in undispersed blue-green steam.
The same technique.
But Kiyohara had denser chakra, faster punching frequency, and more concentrated impact points.
Guy's eyes widened.
He saw Kiyohara's fist rapidly filling his vision.
It stopped three inches from his forehead.
The pressure from the blow sliced open a small cut across his brow.
Then Kiyohara pulled his punch back.
The blue steam around him slowly dissipated.
He stood there in place, the ground beneath him completely destroyed, the edges of the crater radiating outward in cracked lines.
"…The Sixth Gate."
Kiyohara looked at his own fist.
"You opened the Sixth Gate earlier than I did, and your accumulation is deeper. But my total chakra reserves are greater, and the upper limit of what my body can endure under the Eight Gates is higher."
Kiyohara shook his head.
Compared to a spar, it felt more like he was teaching Guy.
He had already mastered the Seventh Gate too.
Only the final gate, the Gate of Death, was something Kiyohara hadn't really touched.
If he opened it and then found out he couldn't close it again, that would be a disaster.
His current plan was to keep researching it together with Guy and try to improve it.
Kiyohara wanted to see whether Tsunade's system and the Eight Gates could be combined somehow.
If he could change the final outcome of opening the Gate of Death from certain death into something survivable—if the Eighth Gate could become usable the way the Seventh or Sixth Gate was—its value would be immeasurable.
"So with the same Gate open, I can pour more chakra into each punch, move faster, and hit harder."
Guy lowered his eyes to his own hands.
The skin around his palms had split, his knuckles were bleeding, and the muscles in his forearms trembled under the overload.
Morning Peacock had been crushed head-on.
The same technique. The same Gate.
The technique he had taken pride in for years, taught to him by his father Might Duy and honed through relentless training, had been overwhelmed by Kiyohara.
This was the gap in talent.
"But it's not over yet."
Guy raised his head.
There was no frustration in his eyes.
Only a nearly feverish brightness.
"Kiyohara."
He pushed himself upright, his whole body taut with excitement, blood from the small cut on his forehead sliding over his brow and down the corner of his eye. He didn't notice it at all.
"I still have the Seventh Gate!"
He bent down once more.
Both hands pressed into the ground.
This time, the chakra in his body was no longer compressing inward—
it was erupting outward.
"Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder… open!"
Boom!
Blue steam exploded from his body in a violent burst!
The pillar of vapor shot upward.
His skin began turning red.
That was the sign of his capillaries rupturing under the overwhelming chakra load.
Veins rose along his forehead, neck, and arms like vines coiling around him.
"Daytime Tiger!"
His hands formed a strange seal.
The surrounding air rushed inward, and then Guy drove out a single punch.
The air compressed into a visible white tiger shape, and the tiger let out a roar.
That white tiger-shaped blast opened its jaws and charged at Kiyohara with the force to crush everything in its path.
Kiyohara stood where he was.
He watched the roaring white tiger rush toward him.
Then blue steam exploded from his own body.
Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder… open!
But instead of Daytime Tiger, he still used Morning Peacock.
That was because Kiyohara was afraid that if he used Daytime Tiger, he might not be able to control the force and accidentally kill Might Guy.
Hundreds upon hundreds of flaming punches burst from his fists, every one hotter, faster, and denser than before.
Boom!
The two attacks collided.
Morning Peacock's storm of punches poured into Daytime Tiger's gaping jaws like a flock of birds returning to their forest, detonating from within its compressed body.
The white tiger shape broke apart in midair.
The shockwave swept outward from the point of collision.
Rin clutched Kiyohara's jacket to her chest and was shoved back several steps by the blast.
Kakashi threw an arm up in front of his face, his mask pressed tightly against his mouth and nose by the wind.
When they lowered their hands, the dust had already settled.
Might Guy was kneeling on the ground.
Both hands braced against the earth, he was gasping heavily.
Sweat and blood seeped from every inch of his skin, soaking the ground beneath him dark.
His arms were shaking.
His knees were shaking.
Every muscle in his body trembled from the brutal overload.
But he still raised his head.
He stared at the figure twenty meters away.
Kiyohara was breathing hard too, but compared to Guy's state, he looked far better.
And after only a few more breaths, Kiyohara's condition improved faster and faster.
The blue steam around him faded away.
"So strong, Kiyohara."
Guy said with open admiration.
He bared his teeth in a grin.
Blood seeped between them, staining his bright smile red.
Yet he still smiled with dazzling sincerity.
If he trained in taijutsu alone, loneliness would always follow him.
But having an opponent this powerful made Guy feel even more energized.
At least now he had something to chase.
And he could learn from Kiyohara too.
"I knew it—your youth had already burned this far!"
He pushed against the ground, trying to stand.
His knees gave out, and he dropped back down.
So he gave up standing and simply remained kneeling there, looking up at Kiyohara, his eyes blazing.
"The Seventh Gate… you'd already completely mastered the Seventh Gate, hadn't you?"
Kiyohara didn't deny it.
"…Yeah."
"And just now."
Guy breathed hard, his words coming faster with excitement.
"You held back, didn't you? You were afraid of really injuring me."
Kiyohara nodded.
"You really are a taijutsu specialist."
Kiyohara said.
"My body understands force, chakra flow, and muscle contraction better than my mind does."
Guy lowered his head.
He looked at his own bloodied, trembling hands.
"I used to think… if I just worked hard enough, one day I could catch up to geniuses."
He spoke softly.
"When I was young, I chased after Kakashi. Later, I chased after you."
"When I was chasing Kakashi, I thought the gap was talent."
"When I was chasing you, I thought it was accumulation."
"Now I understand."
He looked up again.
His smile was as clean and open as it had been the year he first entered the Academy.
"It's neither."
"You have more talent than I do, more accumulation than I do, and you work harder than I do."
He grinned.
"That's basically cheating, Kiyohara."
Kiyohara looked at him.
In the fading light, Might Guy knelt in the middle of the wrecked training ground, covered in wounds, blood and sweat mingling.
But he was still smiling.
Smiling like a man who had finally found the thing he wanted to devote his life to.
"…It's not cheating."
Kiyohara said.
"We just walk different paths."
He paused.
"And your path is one nobody else can walk either."
Guy froze for a second.
Then he lowered his head again, and his shoulders began shaking once more.
This time not from tears.
From laughter.
"…Kiyohara."
He said hoarsely.
"Next time, I'll make you use your full strength."
Kiyohara smiled a little.
If he truly went all out, Guy would die.
His base stats were already far above Guy's.
And besides, he still had the Sharingan. He could track every one of Guy's movements.
Then Kiyohara walked over to Guy and began healing him.
Mystical Palm Technique glowed green, and Guy's injuries began recovering rapidly.
"I'll help too."
Rin volunteered.
"Mm… good timing. Let's try out Rin's Water Release medical ninjutsu."
Kiyohara handed his flak jacket back to Rin.
Then Rin used the Water Release healing technique she had learned on Guy.
A sphere of blue water appeared in her hands.
The injuries on Guy's arms began healing rapidly the moment they touched the water.
Deep inside the water floated tiny points of green light.
From a distance, it made the whole thing look like a green water sphere.
"That's fast."
Guy watched Kiyohara and Rin treat him, and before long most of his injuries had already recovered.
The rest would only need a few more days of rest.
Of course, Guy was already used to training while injured.
With the kind of training he did, getting hurt was inevitable.
"Kakashi, if you've got time, you should learn a little medical ninjutsu too."
Kiyohara said as he stood up.
"If I've got time, I'll learn some."
Kakashi nodded.
Though he honestly felt like he probably wouldn't have that much time for it.
"Kiyohara, have you learned the Eighth Gate yet?"
Kakashi asked curiously.
"Not yet."
Kiyohara shook his head.
Kakashi turned to ask Guy the same question.
Guy naturally shook his head too.
He was still too young. He lacked the years of tempering his future self would eventually have.
"But that final kick…"
Guy said.
"I'm saving that one for you."
Kiyohara: "…"
There was that ridiculous original-story line that Guy's final kick had been "saved for Kakashi."
Now, apparently, it had been reassigned to him instead.
"Is that last move really that strong?"
Rin didn't know much about the final gate of the Eight Gates.
"It's very strong. At the very least, it can kill the Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
Kakashi said.
Kiyohara smiled slightly at that.
Killing the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had only ended with four dead because they had been scattered and running.
It was like some people scoring 100 because 100 was the most they could get—
while others could've scored 150, but the test only went up to 100.
The Gate of Death was the same kind of thing.
Even without Night Guy, even just Daytime Tiger could unleash terrifying power.
"I see."
Rin stood up as well.
"All right. The hot-blooded flame of youth must keep burning."
Guy announced that he was going back to training.
Then he immediately dropped to the ground and started doing push-ups on the spot.
"I'm going back to train too."
Kakashi had rested enough by now and planned to work on swordsmanship for a while.
He wanted to try combining Purple Electricity with his blade techniques.
"Rin, are you still going to keep training?"
Kiyohara asked.
"I can stay and train with you for a little while."
"Then let's keep going for a bit."
Rin said.
Truthfully, she was already a little tired.
But since Kiyohara wanted to stay with her, she was happy to keep going a little longer.
It wasn't until evening that everyone finally dispersed and returned to camp.
…
A few more days passed.
Then came the day Kiyohara had agreed on with Orochimaru.
Kiyohara was still thinking about what excuse he could use to return to Konoha for a while—
when Orochimaru himself came to the camp.
"Kiyohara-kun, it's time for us to go."
Orochimaru said.
Anko Mitarashi was with him too, clearly brought along to see the world a bit.
"What sort of secret mission are you two going on?"
Kurenai asked curiously.
She had no idea where Kiyohara was about to go with Orochimaru.
~~~
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