Chapter 293: Gai vs. Sakura (Part 2)
The battle between the two on the field had attracted the attention of everyone present.
Most of the observing ninja couldn't help but ask themselves in their hearts: This kind of offensive, how long could I last?
As the publicly acknowledged strongest taijutsu ninja in Konoha, Gai's combat power was unbelievably strong in close quarters. An ordinary Jonin might not even be able to withstand one or two of his moves before falling. Although the people present were the elite among Jonin, apart from a few who were also taijutsu-type ninja, no one had enough confidence to withstand Gai's full-force attack.
Therefore, their faces were grave.
Watching the battle between the two, no one said a word.
What happened to ninjutsu versus taijutsu! Why does a ninjutsu-type ninja have such strong taijutsu capabilities!
The two Hokages at the side of the field, however, had much more relaxed expressions.
"What do you think?" Tsunade asked, a faint smile on her face, with a hint of showing off her disciple to others.
"They're both holding back, still probing," the Third Hokage said with a smile, blowing out a thick cloud of smoke.
With their insight and experience, they could naturally see that the battle on the field, though intense, both sides still had a lot of room to spare.
Tsunade, who understood the Monstrous Strength Technique and her disciple the best, how could she not know the true power of Sakura's nin-taijutsu? What's more, she hadn't even used her ninjutsu.
The Sandaime, who had watched Gai grow up, how could he not know the soaring power of Gai after opening the Eight Gates?
On the field, the two were locked in a fierce battle, evenly matched.
Purely in terms of taijutsu...
Haruno Sakura's advantage was in her faster reactions and fiercer power.
Might Gai was stronger in his faster speed and more skillful techniques!
In terms of combat experience, Gai's taijutsu experience was richer. Decades of accumulation had made him thoroughly immersed in taijutsu, and he could control it as he pleased, circulating it freely.
However, Haruno Sakura was not bad either. She had also been trained by powerhouses like Kakashi and Tsunade, and she had fought to the death with the likes of Kakuzu, Hidan, Sasori of the Red Sand, and Deidara. The number of small fry she had taken out was not small either. Her feel for battle had long since been honed!
In addition, both of them were holding back, intentionally controlling the intensity of the battle.
Therefore, it was only natural that the two of them were fighting to a draw.
After this round of fighting...
With two puffs, Sakura sent Gai flying with a punch.
The two of them separated to either side, ending this wave of attacks.
"Gai-sensei, you're not using your full strength!" Haruno Sakura said with a pout.
She was panting slightly, and there were a few more fist marks, footprints, and bruises on her face and body. In this kind of close-quarters, flesh-on-flesh combat, no matter how fast her reactions were, if her body's movement speed couldn't keep up, there was nothing she could do. So Sakura, who was used to not being injured in battle, now had a few small wounds.
However, they were all dissipating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"What about the Eight Gates? You should use them too, Gai-sensei!" Sakura said.
She had seen the materials on the Eight Gates that Neji had brought. After the Eight Gates was opened to the fifth gate, it would be of great help in a battle against a Jonin or above. It would greatly increase one's chakra, strength, and speed. With Gai's physical fitness, when he opened the eighth gate, it would probably be a heaven-and-earth-destroying situation.
Oh right! Sakura suddenly remembered.
Last year, it had been agreed that Team 7 and Team Gai would have a spar. Then, after Neji and Sasuke had finished fighting, just as Lee and she were about to go up, a mission had suddenly come, and that spar had been postponed until now...
Sakura had always regretted not being able to witness the power of the Eight Gates!
And now, Lee had yet to spar with her, but on the contrary, Lee's teacher, Gai, was fighting her first.
This was also a very awkward coincidence.
Perhaps there is some will in the unseen world that wants her to fight a ninja who has opened the Eight Gates!
"The Eight Gates?" Gai's thick eyebrows furrowed.
It seemed that he could only use this move.
"Ordinary taijutsu is ineffective against you. There's no other way..."
Since we're going to have a good, hearty fight... then let's open them!
Gai clenched his fists, crossed them in front of his chest, and then let out an angry shout—
The Gate of Opening, the Gate of Healing, the Gate of Life, the Gate of Harm, the Gate of Limit...
"Eight Gates, the Sixth Gate of View... Open!"
In one breath, he had opened the Eight Gates up to the sixth gate!
The skyrocketing chakra stirred up a fierce whirlwind on the field, which swept up countless sand, stones, and leaves, pattering on the ground and the surrounding crowd!
The huge energy lit up as if it were a physical substance. Gai's body seemed to be burning with a layer of fire.
The two Hokages exchanged a look.
"Opening six gates at once..." the Third Hokage said, protecting his pipe with chakra, his eyes narrowed.
Is Gai overestimating Haruno Sakura, or is he underestimating her?
Even the Third Hokage was unsure of the answer at this moment.
The Fifth Hokage, however, was full of confidence in her disciple, without a trace of worry.
"Let's move back a bit," she said, her gaze turning to the ground under Gai's feet, which had been cracked by the impact of his chakra, her brow slightly furrowed.
Tsunade waved her hand, and the crowd followed her steps, retreating several dozen meters.
They gave up most of the training ground's space to the two on the field.
However, even so, this training ground of a few hundred meters in radius might not be enough for the two of them to unleash a single move!
"He's opened it directly to the sixth gate?" Standing on the field, Sakura muttered to herself.
Standing opposite Gai, she could finally feel the true power of the Eight Gates!
Sakura had seen Lee's Eight Gates. The first few gates were a considerable boost for Genin and Chunin, but for a Jonin, they were nothing. It was only when the Eight Gates reached the later gates that its power would truly be revealed.
She just hadn't expected that just by opening the fifth gate, Gai would become so strong... (TN: The text says fifth gate here, but sixth gate just before. Likely a typo, referring to the sixth gate.)
"In that case, I'll have to get serious too..."
She said, her gaze immediately becoming sharp!
Yin Seal, Open!
A huge amount of chakra gushed out from the seal, flowing into Haruno Sakura's body, filling every cell of her body!
She placed her hands in front of her chest and slowly formed hand seals.
Opposite her, Gai moved his body, adapting to the skyrocketing strength and speed. On Sakura's side, she had also completed the hand seals for her ninjutsu—
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
Chakra surged and swirled in her body, transforming into endless water waves in the air. Under Haruno Sakura's control, the shape transformation turned it into a giant dragon. Using a mythical legend as a prototype, Sakura had restored its every detail. Every scale, every claw, and every sharp tooth was lifelike!
The transparent body, formed from the water flow, quickly became solid and hard under Sakura's control. Its scales turned a shining golden-yellow. The giant dragon in mid-air twisted its several-dozen-meter-long body, its millstone-sized, orange-yellow vertical pupils staring intently at Gai.
ROAR—!
The giant dragon let out a heaven-and-earth-shaking roar, and then it shot out from Sakura's side, rushing at Gai with the force of swallowing mountains and rivers!
The Sandaime Hokage's eyes widened slightly, and he forgot to take a puff of his pipe for a moment. Has she applied such fine and pure Water Style nature and shape transformation to the Water Dragon Bullet? To be able to use a B-rank ninjutsu with the presence of a near S-rank, that's amazing!
Looking at Gai's stance, Tsunade's face changed slightly, and she hurriedly said, "Everyone, move back a little further!"
Her voice had just fallen when the water dragon had already met Gai's figure head-on.
And then—
It was a heaven-and-earth-shaking blow!
BOOM—!
Amidst the roaring sound, Gai's fist seemed to light up with a fiery glow. No, it was a fiery glow. It was a fireball formed by the friction of his super-high-speed punch with the air!
With this one punch, the fiery light was like a shining, burning phoenix, meeting the giant dragon!
The moment of impact, the phoenix's brilliance shone brightly, suddenly expanding, as if in nirvana. The fiery light exploded with a roar.
And in the next moment, the giant dragon let out a mournful cry!
Such a punch, hitting it on the head, with one blow, had fearlessly shattered Sakura's ninjutsu!
"Is that a one-punch version of the Morning Peacock, a 'Nirvana Strike'?" The Third Hokage's eyes suddenly shrank, having seen the name of this punch.
Gai, through a super-high-speed series of continuous punches, could throw out hundreds or thousands of flame punches. This was the so-called Morning Peacock, a move that could only be used after opening the sixth gate.
What if the power of this move was concentrated into a single punch?
This one move was called "Nirvana Strike."
And the water dragon, which had exploded with a roar and had scattered into an endless stream of water, was the answer!
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" "Rotation!"
The surging water rushed towards the crowd. Kakashi and Hyuga Hotaru leaped in front of the two Hokages, using an earth wall and the Gentle Fist to block the aftershock stirred up by this one clash.
And on the field, Gai, who had shattered a high-level ninjutsu with one punch, fiercely stomped on the ground. The entire solid and hard floor of the training ground trembled violently. The thick-eyebrowed ninja's pale green figure suddenly disappeared.
In the next moment, he had already appeared in front of Sakura at an unimaginably high speed.
He let out a loud shout.
And threw a punch.
Nirvana Strike!
A golden flame ignited on Gai's fist, emitting a blazing glow.
Then, the fiery light condensed, spread its wings, and extended its tail feathers, turning into a giant golden bird—
A phoenix!
And right opposite him, Sakura's fist was also already clenched.
The moment Gai had rushed over...
Haruno Sakura did not dodge. Her feet were planted one in front of the other. She quietly watched the opponent who was rushing at her, and silently threw her own punch.
Hah—
Nin-taijutsu: Star Cannon Hammer!
Fist against fist.
The screaming, golden, giant bird against the quiet, water-like blue light.
Might Gai's dazed and fierce gaze, after opening the sixth gate, against Haruno Sakura's sharp and icy gaze, after throwing her nin-taijutsu.
The Eight Gates against Nin-taijutsu!
And then, they collided with a roar!
In an instant, it was as if even sound had disappeared.
Then, the air, as if it had suddenly expanded.
The collision of endless power turned into a silent sound wave that suddenly expanded, forcefully pushing away the surging water that the giant dragon had turned into on the training ground, revealing the mud at the bottom.
The displaced water flow turned into an agitated wave, which crashed against the earth wall in front of Kakashi, fearlessly pushing it down.
The formless airwave caught up with the water flow and passed over Kakashi and the others. Kakashi and Hyuga Hotaru, who were standing in the front row, instantly felt as if their chests had been hit by an iron hammer, a dull ache. Even the Third Hokage frowned a little.
And on the field, the clash between the two had also been decided.
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