"You bastard…"
Kakashi clenched his fist. He wanted to stop it, but he couldn't even get close to the center of that destructive chakra storm.
Not far away, the Third Hokage—Hiruzen Sarutobi—staggered back half a step, his old face turning faintly pale.
He hadn't expected Guy to go this far.
For him. For the so-called "dignity of the Hokage."
To burn away his own life for it.
"So this is… what it looks like when youth burns to its absolute limit…"
No wonder Dai could kick four of the Seven Swordsmen to death with a single strike…
Hyūga Hiashi's Byakugan trembled violently. What he saw wasn't chakra pathways anymore—only shock.
This power was beyond common sense.
It made his very soul shudder.
He believed that even the Hyūga's treasured Rotation would be useless in front of that kick.
There was no comparison.
"This is bad… I don't even know if Susanoo can stop it…"
Behind Kai, Fugaku's brows twisted into a knot so tight it looked like a rope.
His heart was in his throat.
He trusted his second son—but Guy's aura was simply too terrifying.
This was a man truly burning everything he had.
Fugaku was already ready to summon Susanoo and plant himself in front of Kaiif necessary.
"Huff… huff… the… Eighth Gate…"
Guy's voice was rough, hoarse like sandpaper scraping stone.
Every syllable came with the pain of torn flesh.
But he still forced the words out.
"The Eighth Gate… of… Death…"
"Night—"
BANG!
CLATTER—!
Just as he was about to unleash that final, blinding brilliance—
a golden chain snapped into existence.
Like a living serpent, it stabbed straight into Guy's abdomen.
Clatter—clatter—!
A second chain. A third.
The golden chains didn't pause for even a breath. The moment they appeared, they plunged into Guy's abdomen and back, then coiled around him.
In the blink of an eye, he was bound like a tightly wrapped rice dumpling.
Hiss—! Hiss-hiss-hiss!
As the mysterious sealing patterns along the chains ignited, the blood-red chakra flaring off Guy's body went out like fire doused with water.
No resistance.
None at all.
"Ghk… ghk…"
Guy struggled desperately, trying to break free—
but the chains only tightened, as if they carried a will of their own.
"This is…!"
"This is—!!"
Hiruzen's pupils shrank.
A memory rose up in his mind like a knife.
He was old, but his memory wasn't dull.
Across his entire ninja life, he had seen only one technique like this.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains…? How does that child know an Uzumaki sealing art?!"
Fugaku's Mangekyō spun once—
then vanished, replaced by pure disbelief.
As Kai's father, he had never once seen Kaiuse something like this.
Uzumaki sealing arts?
When did Kailearn that?
He didn't understand. Not at all.
For a split second, something irrational even flashed through his mind—
Is he really my son?
That thought disappeared as quickly as it came, but the unease remained.
The one who recognized it too was Kakashi, who had just arrived.
As someone who had once been warmed by that "little sun" of a couple—
Kakashi knew exactly who had used chains like that.
Only his teacher's wife—
the beautiful woman with long orange-red hair.
"Sensei's… wife…"
Kakashi whispered. A tear slipped down from the corner of his eye without permission.
"No wonder… no wonder Kaialways looked out for Naruto…"
"No wonder he was angry at me…"
But then he wiped the tear away, his expression turning strangely conflicted.
A thought—wild, absurd, and yet impossible to stop—shot through him.
Could Kaibe her bloodline…?
Then what about Sensei…?
Thud.
At that moment, the rampant, blazing Guy finally lost what little strength he had left.
Bound tight, he dropped straight down into the crater.
Silence.
The dust slowly drifted away.
At the edge of the pit, Kai's small figure stood quietly.
Three chains stretched from his abdomen, holding Guy in absolute control.
His presence wasn't even violently surging.
It barely fluctuated—like he'd simply done something trivial.
Drip.
Drip.
As seconds passed, Kai's eyes grew brighter.
[Defeated Might Guy. Attempting to copy trait.]
This copy felt slower than usual.
But it could only be one thing—
the Eight Gates.
With Opening Gate already in hand, he could now unlock the brain's restrictions.
If he gained Rest Gate too—removing fatigue—
then opening two gates in sequence would be like turning himself into a perfectly controlled machine.
A machine that never stops.
Just imagining it was intoxicating.
Kaiexhaled slowly. The strange "666" pattern in his eyes spun more lazily now.
Then he looked down.
At the center of the crater, Guy—still wrapped tight—had lost all crimson steam.
Only a scorched human outline remained, curled up like a dying ember.
Might Guy had burned himself out completely.
Even though he never got to release the final kick, the instant he began opening the Gate of Death, his internal organs had already suffered catastrophic damage.
If not for the chains forcibly suppressing him, there might not have been anything left but ash.
"…I wonder if Three Meters can…"
Kaipaused for a beat, a spark of curiosity lighting his gaze.
Then he stepped forward.
"What are you doing?!"
Hiruzen's face darkened as he rushed toward Kai.
Guy's value in his heart had skyrocketed.
This was a fighter who could crush Kage-level opponents.
Letting him die here was too great a loss.
But the moment Hiruzen reached out—
an invisible force snapped him away.
Whoosh—!
BAM!
He tumbled dozens of meters before finally coming to a stop.
Nearby clan heads stared, stunned all over again.
Who could have imagined that the Third Hokage couldn't even withstand a single exchange now?
"Annoying."
Kaiflicked his hand like he was swatting away a fly.
He only stopped once he reached the edge of the Three-Meter boundary.
Then he activated Three Meters and Wood Release Cells together.
Humm… humm… humm…
Under his control, a pale, silvery radiance spread over Guy's body.
Sss… sss…
That "dying ember" began to change under the light.
Flesh buds formed.
New skin crawled across scorched tissue.
Kai's eyes sharpened with satisfaction.
"As I thought… Three Meters fused with Wood Release Cells gains healing properties too."
This meant that in the future, he could fill multiple roles by himself.
Self-sustain.
Maybe not "heal a whole village alone"—
but healing four or five people at once?
That sounded doable.
Kaireleased a slow breath, anticipation rising for what his "Three Meters" mini-world could become.
Defense. Offense. Healing.
The only question left was—
when would it let him fly?
Then he lifted his head, sweeping his gaze across the crowd—finally stopping on the Third Hokage's ashen face.
His eyes were calm.
Utterly calm.
"Third Hokage. The financial authority."
"Hand it over… or die."
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