Chapter 371: The War Intensifies
Might Guy clenched his fist, roared, and forced open the Fourth Gate of the Eight Gates.
If the Eight Gates were divided into early, middle, and late stages, then the First through Third Gates were the early stage, the Fourth through Sixth were the middle stage, and the Seventh and Eighth were the late stage.
The First through Third Gates could be considered the safe zone. They would not cause physical damage. But from the Fourth Gate onward, things changed. Once the Fourth Gate opened, it was the true Eight Gates state. Strength and speed surged, and the pressure on the body became real. Damage was inevitable.
The moment the Gate of Pain opened, Guy's chakra exploded outward. He felt his physical power climb rapidly, until even his own body started to protest under the pressure.
So he can open the Fourth Gate normally now.
Kakashi's expression turned solemn as he felt that sudden rise in aura.
Kakashi had never trained the Eight Gates, but he and Guy were both Mugetsu's disciples. They fought often, so Kakashi understood the basics. Each gate meant a different leap in speed and strength.
Kakashi had beaten Guy back in the Chunin Exams even when Guy opened the Fourth Gate. But he was not arrogant enough to believe today's Guy was the same as that Guy.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
Guy mobilized his power, laughed, and rushed in, launching the whirlwind kick he was most skilled at.
With the Fourth Gate boosting him, his speed and strength surged. Just running at full speed stirred up a fierce wind, strong enough to whip dust and grit into the air.
Fortunately, Kakashi had Transparent World active. He read Guy's attack before Guy even closed the distance, and dodged early.
Guy's expression did not change when his kick missed. He pressed in with an even fiercer assault.
He was used to the feeling of being seen through. Shisui and Obito both had the Sharingan, and that kind of insight could also read his attacks.
You can dodge one attack.
But what if I throw thirty in a row?
Guy's answer was simple. Attack faster, faster, and faster, until the opponent was dragged into his rhythm.
Under that storm of kicks, Kakashi quickly reached a point where dodging was no longer possible.
Guy sacrificed some power for speed, but he was still in the Fourth Gate state. With Rock Breathing enhancing him at a high level, even a slightly lighter kick carried terrifying weight.
Bang.
Kakashi took the hit head on and felt a brutal force slam into him. His body skidded back uncontrollably, boots scraping hard across the ground.
Such power.
Kakashi's expression shifted.
He had assumed that chasing speed would reduce attack strength. He did not expect Guy to keep that kind of power while moving that fast.
Kakashi was suddenly very glad he had not tried to trade blows earlier. When Guy first opened the Fourth Gate, Kakashi had briefly considered meeting him with taijutsu head on.
He thought he could stimulate his body with Lightning Release nature transformation, raise his strength, and avoid losing.
After taking one kick, he abandoned that idea completely.
He might burn through massive chakra boosting himself, and still not match the raw force behind Guy's simplest full power kick.
Rock Breathing gives the strongest physical reinforcement, and the Eight Gates squeeze out even more. Together, they amplify taijutsu too much.
Kakashi felt as if one plus one had become more than two.
If this were a life and death battlefield, Kakashi would stall. Maintaining Thunder Breathing and Transparent World drained stamina, but the Eight Gates put even heavier pressure on Guy. The longer it dragged out, the better it would be for Kakashi.
But this was not a battlefield.
This was a spar between friends. The process mattered more than the outcome.
So Kakashi chose to break the stalemate with everything he had.
He gathered chakra and converted it rapidly into Lightning Release chakra.
Sizzle.
Crackle.
Dazzling yellow lightning surged across Kakashi's body. It reinforced him and sharpened his aura.
He tightened his grip on the White Fang short blade. Lightning flowed from his arm through his palm and into the weapon. Yellow electric light wrapped the blade, then extended outward into a lightning edge.
Kakashi locked onto Guy.
At that moment, only Guy existed in his vision. The flowers and plants in the courtyard disappeared from his awareness. He pushed his power to the limit, and the brilliant yellow light around him intensified as Lightning Release chakra surged.
Kakashi's aura peaked, sharp and cutting like a drawn blade.
Guy saw it and laughed with excitement.
"This move was prepared specifically for you," Guy said, and quickly pulled out his nunchaku.
He gripped the body with his left hand and wrapped the chain around his right. His legs spread slightly, his torso turned to the right, and he poured all his strength and chakra into his middle and index fingers.
He was about to show Kakashi the result of a month of relentless training.
"Thunderclap Flash!"
Boom.
Kakashi swung and shot forward, his whole body like a streak of yellow lightning that struck straight at Guy.
As Kakashi closed in, the lightning blade fell, carving out an overwhelming lightning slash.
"Blade Interception Sword: Golden Skyline!"
The instant Kakashi moved, Guy moved too.
His green jumpsuit blurred into a streak of green light as he ran at full speed.
As he reached Kakashi, Guy used his left hand like drawing a sword, guiding his right hand into a forward slash, and traced a thin golden line through the air.
One swung a blade. One swung a finger.
Both unleashed their ultimate moves at the same time.
The golden line collided with the lightning slash.
Rumble.
The impact was monstrous. The ground erupted beneath them, smoke and dust rolling upward in thick waves, swallowing their figures.
The airflow bent the plants in Kakashi's courtyard as if a sudden storm wind had swept through.
Drip. Drop.
Red blood fell onto the ground, staining the earth.
Guy stared at his finger, blood still flowing, and praised calmly, "As expected of my best friend. This finger carried all my power. It can break steel easily."
Kakashi wiped the blood from his chest and replied, "I'll win it back soon."
He lost.
Golden Skyline broke through Thunderclap Flash. Guy's finger was torn up by the slash, and Kakashi was injured because Guy pulled back at the last moment.
"Haha. That's exactly what I'm looking forward to," Guy said, laughing as he wrapped his fingers in bandages.
He wanted Kakashi to get stronger and challenge him again.
Kakashi sighed to himself. Keeping the title of Mugetsu's strongest disciple was going to be a real struggle.
After that, the two cleaned up and headed to Konoha Hospital together.
…
"Your breathing must stay rhythmic. It cannot become chaotic," Mugetsu said on the training ground as he continued teaching the Darkness Breathing Technique. "No matter what happens, never let your breathing fall into disorder."
The Root and ANBU ninja below listened with complete focus. No one spoke. No one drifted.
Breathing Techniques did not require full mastery to show results. They were already past the halfway point in proficiency, and they had already felt the benefits. Every one of them wanted to master this miraculous taijutsu as quickly as possible.
"Jonin Mugetsu is truly too generous," Sarutobi Shinji said during a break, unable to hold it in. "This taijutsu would not feel out of place as a clan's inheritance."
Before learning it, Shinji only believed Darkness Breathing was a formidable A rank taijutsu.
After experiencing it himself, he felt it was worthy of being a true clan secret. It strengthened the body and accelerated recovery. It was a complete package.
If Shinji had developed something like this, he would never have taught it so freely. At most, he would pass it to his own disciples, treating it as the core of a legacy.
Because he could not do that, his admiration for Mugetsu only grew.
At that moment, an emergency signal for jonin assembly rang out.
Mugetsu paused, thinking for a moment, then said, "Dismiss for today. Something must have happened in the village."
Today was not the scheduled time for a jonin meeting. This was an emergency summon.
Several ANBU jonin followed Mugetsu toward the Hokage Building.
They were currently in a non mission period. In a non mission period, ANBU were effectively the same as ordinary Konoha ninja.
Could something have happened on the battlefield?
Mugetsu weighed the possibilities as he moved.
Konoha was still at war, and emergency jonin meetings were only called when something big occurred. His first thought was trouble at the front.
Neither the anime nor the manga showed much detail of the Third Shinobi World War, only key events. Mugetsu could not easily determine whether this was a ripple caused by him, or something that was always meant to happen.
It cannot be because Tsunade won one round, right?
The thought flashed through his mind, recalling last night's dice.
"Jonin Mugetsu."
After Mugetsu entered the meeting room, several jonin smiled and greeted him.
"Jonin Akimichi," Mugetsu replied politely, smiling as he returned each greeting.
He was no longer an unknown figure among the jonin. As his achievements grew and his strength became more visible, more and more people viewed him as a rising star, second only to Minato.
"Today, we should get a proper chicken and make beggar's chicken," Tsunade said the moment she saw Mugetsu. "It's been weeks since I last had it."
"Should we buy sake too?" Mugetsu asked.
Tsunade liked to drink while tearing into chicken legs.
"No need. You're not as good at picking it as I am. I already bought it," Tsunade said proudly.
Mugetsu's cooking was miraculous, but he rarely drank, and he was not familiar with sake.
Their exchange drew sidelong looks from the surrounding jonin. It genuinely sounded like a couple discussing dinner plans.
Dekai, who had been about to come chat with Mugetsu, quietly blended into the crowd.
The memory of Tsunade beating Jiraiya when he was young was carved into his mind. He was still a little afraid of her. After all, she was someone who dared to casually beat her own teammate into the dirt.
Minato, on the other hand, showed no discomfort at all. He walked over with a gentle smile and chatted with Mugetsu naturally.
Once most of the jonin had arrived, the meeting officially began.
Hiruzen and the other four high ranking officials sat above. The jonin stood below.
"Today, the Hidden Mist Village of the Land of Water has declared war on Konoha," Hiruzen announced solemnly, revealing the reason for the emergency summons.
When the news reached him, even Hiruzen had been surprised. It went beyond his expectations.
That was exactly why he had rejected Danzo's earlier plan, the one that used the Chunin Exams incident to demand harsh compensation from the Hidden Mist. He feared provoking them, pushing the Land of Water, which rarely involved itself in mainland wars, into the conflict.
By his judgment, the Hidden Mist had always kept a low profile. They should not have chosen to provoke Konoha.
Konoha had no personal grudge with them, and Konoha was a hard target. So why bother?
But the declaration was already made.
No matter what the Hidden Mist wanted, Hiruzen had only one choice now.
Mobilize forces, and prevent the Hidden Mist from bringing fire into the Land of Fire.
"If the Hidden Mist has joined too, doesn't that mean we now face three major villages?" one ninja asked, brows furrowing.
It was undeniably bad news.
On the surface, Konoha looked glorious, winning repeatedly while fighting two enemies. But anyone who truly understood war would not feel optimistic.
Konoha had the advantage, yes, but it had not dealt heavy damage to Iwagakure or Kumogakure. Those victories were small wins.
If the war had a score, and reaching one hundred meant victory, then Konoha's progress against both villages was at most around ten.
Now the Hidden Mist was entering. Konoha would have to divide its forces again, and that could easily cost Konoha its advantage on the other fronts.
"Even the Hidden Mist is joining the fun," Tsunade muttered, her earlier restlessness gone.
She understood what it meant. Even if three major villages could not fully coordinate against Konoha, the pressure would still be crushing. And Konoha did not have a peerless monster like her grandfather anymore.
Mugetsu also showed a faint worry, as if he were deeply concerned for Konoha.
Has the Hidden Mist moved this quickly? Is it because of the Chunin Exams, or is Madara doing something in the shadows?
He kept analyzing.
Guy's original war experience did not have a fixed timeline the way Kakashi's did. Kakashi had the clear point that he became a jonin at twelve, but Guy's events were harder to pin down. Mugetsu could not tell whether the timing was normal or shifted by his presence.
He also could not predict how the Hidden Mist would wage war.
Normally, a declaration of war did not mean immediate all out slaughter. There would be probing, positioning, testing.
But Konoha was already entangled with Kumogakure and Iwagakure. The Hidden Mist might exploit that, deploying main forces and pushing deep into enemy territory.
Mugetsu hoped the Hidden Mist would move slowly.
Guy still needed time to grow.
If Guy's luck was as terrible as in the original timeline and he ran into the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist too early, it would be dangerous.
Mugetsu could not simply teleport from central Land of Fire to the east coast or south coast on a whim.
The eastern coastline of the Land of Fire was long, and the Land of Water lay to the east. The best invasion route for the Land of Water was to sail straight to the east coast.
The southern coast existed too, but it was far smaller and easier to defend, and reaching it required a long detour that would cost the Land of Water time.
As the meeting continued, the flow remained familiar.
The advisors denounced the Hidden Mist as shameless.
Hiruzen spoke of the Will of Fire to stir everyone's resolve.
Then they discussed countermeasures.
The Hidden Mist had not launched an official attack yet, and as an island nation, there was not much Konoha could do immediately besides increase vigilance along the southeastern coasts.
After the meeting ended, Danzo approached Hiruzen with an unhappy expression.
"Hiruzen, you should have followed my plan back then," Danzo said coldly. "At least we would have gained real benefits."
The Hidden Mist elders had been in Konoha during the Chunin Exams. Danzo did not believe the Hidden Mist would have dared refuse.
"You shouldn't be so dictatorial," Danzo continued, voice harsh. "You should listen to my opinions more."
Hiruzen exhaled smoke, looking at Danzo with faint exasperation.
He had not expected the Hidden Mist to declare war so quickly, true.
But if he had followed Danzo's plan, even if the Hidden Mist had avoided war, they would still have sought trouble with Konoha later.
And if Hiruzen were truly dictatorial, Root would have been disbanded long ago. ANBU answered directly to the Hokage. Root, on the other hand, was essentially a private ANBU, loyal only to Danzo.
"War has already been declared," Hiruzen said, removing his pipe. "Arguing about the past is meaningless. Get to the point."
Danzo would not come just to lecture him. He wanted something.
"At a time like this," Danzo said in a low voice, "Konoha needs Root. A stronger Root."
When Danzo heard the Hidden Mist had declared war, his first feeling was anger. The weakest, most low profile village among the Five Great Nations was also daring to pile onto Konoha.
Then came joy.
Because this was an opportunity.
A perfect chance to expand Root's power.
Facing such a crisis, it would be unreasonable for Hiruzen to keep restricting Root's development. After all, Danzo would claim he was doing it for Konoha.
Hiruzen fell silent, thinking.
Finally, he nodded.
In the current situation, every usable force had to be mobilized. Root, under Danzo, did have strengths in certain areas. In wartime, they could contribute.
And Hiruzen was still the Hokage.
After the war ended, he could always find reasons to weaken Danzo again.
Danzo had never lacked problems.
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