"What's going on?"
When no sound came from Yu Ye's direction, Might Dai's heart suddenly sank.
Could it really be like this shinobi said…?
He didn't dare continue that thought.
Hōzuki Mugetsu, after a brief pause, instead revealed a ferocious grin.
"No movement anymore? Looks like that little brat is dead!"
"He even managed to kill a few of my men—dying like that counts as getting what he deserved!"
"Yu Ye…"
Might Dai still refused to believe Mugetsu's words, yet the battlefield shrouded in mist truly had fallen silent.
His worry only deepened.
But in the very next moment—
That worry vanished completely.
Because from within the white fog, a figure walked out.
It was Yu Ye.
There wasn't a single drop of blood on him—let alone any injuries.
He looked exactly the same as when the battle began, as if he had just taken a stroll rather than fought for his life.
At this point, all nine elite chūnin had been killed by Yu Ye.
Hōzuki Mugetsu also saw him.
Shock flashed across his face, quickly followed by utter disbelief.
Yu Ye had emerged from the Hidden Mist Technique—
completely unscathed?!
Mugetsu had already anticipated the worst-case scenario: Yu Ye wiping out his squad inside the mist.
But to do so without taking even the slightest injury—
That was nearly inconceivable.
Nine elite chūnin, all veterans baptized in blood and battle, had been utterly crushed.
They hadn't even managed to scratch Yu Ye.
Even if Mugetsu himself fought his nine subordinates alone, he couldn't have done it this effortlessly.
It was absurd.
And as the shock faded, fear surfaced in his eyes.
Yes, he was special—
A member of the Hōzuki Clan, possessor of the Hydrification Technique.
But Yu Ye and Might Dai—
These two were nothing short of monsters.
And Mugetsu had no intention of gambling his life against monsters.
He decided to retreat.
But how could Might Dai possibly allow that?
"So Yu Ye's already finished his fight, huh?" Dai laughed loudly.
"Then I'd better hurry up too!"
"My youth has to burn even brighter than Yu Ye's!"
With a booming laugh, a terrifying aura surged from Might Dai's body.
He drew upon all the strength he had left.
"Take this! You water-made bastard!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
His fists swung wildly.
The terrifying speed and power of the Sixth Gate caused his blows to rub violently against the air itself—
Igniting it.
Flames erupted everywhere, pouring down like a fiery storm, shaking the heavens.
"That's… Morning Peacock," Yu Ye said with admiration.
"So Dai can use it too."
Only by witnessing it in person could one truly understand how dazzling—and terrifying—this technique was.
Countless flames cascaded downward, painting the sky into the image of a magnificent peacock spreading its tail.
A beautiful sight—
Yet filled with overwhelming killing intent.
Unstoppable.
"Flames?!"
Hōzuki Mugetsu froze, terror filling his eyes.
He hadn't sensed Dai using any ninjutsu at all.
Then where did these flames come from?!
"This is… fire created by high-speed punches igniting the air?!"
"Damn it!!"
Panic finally set in.
Water countered fire—but fire could also evaporate water.
Compared to ordinary physical attacks, this move was far more lethal to him.
And worse—
He had no chance to dodge.
Might Dai was simply too fast.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
In desperation, Mugetsu erected a defensive Water Release jutsu.
But before Morning Peacock, it shattered like rotten wood.
The flames engulfed him completely.
Even a clone of Kisame Hoshigaki possessing thirty percent of his chakra had been instantly killed by Might Guy's Morning Peacock.
Mugetsu was only a jōnin—
How could he possibly endure it?
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
The earth trembled violently.
When Might Dai finally withdrew his fists and everything fell silent—
Hōzuki Mugetsu was already dead.
Thus—
Kirigakure jōnin Hōzuki Mugetsu was annihilated by Sixth Gate Might Dai.
"Haah…"
Landing on the ground, Dai's aura rapidly weakened. Unable to hold on any longer, he dropped to one knee.
Yu Ye immediately walked over.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine… just need to rest for a while," Dai said with a wry smile.
"The side effects of the Eight Gates really are brutal. I'm kind of jealous of the power you cultivate. By the way—you're at the Second Gate now, right?"
"Mm." Yu Ye nodded lightly, helping Dai sit down.
Dai chuckled. "No wonder your strength shot up so much. That's youth!"
"..."
Yu Ye's forehead twitched.
Without another word, he turned around. "I'll go check the bodies."
"Alright."
Walking over to the corpses of the Mist shinobi, Yu Ye began searching them.
Unfortunately, as expected, their weapons were nothing more than ordinary steel blades.
No ninja swords.
As for the captain—
There wasn't anything of value on him at all.
Somewhat speechless, Yu Ye shook his head and took out a scroll.
This was a sealing scroll for items.
Killing one jōnin and nine chūnin wasn't something that could be proven with words alone. Their heads had to be taken, sealed, and brought back as proof.
Yu Ye himself didn't need any merit.
But Might Dai did.
To this day, Dai was still just a genin, living a rather difficult life.
With these battle achievements, Dai would definitely attract the attention of Konoha's higher-ups—
A direct promotion to jōnin was even possible.
Someone like Hiruzen Sarutobi valued talent above all else. There was no way he would ignore Might Dai.
Previously, it was only because Dai had never truly revealed his strength.
Stuck taking D-rank missions and non-combat C-rank missions, how could his power ever be noticed?
If not for this opportunity—
It would've taken until Might Dai later unleashed the Eight Gates, single-handedly killing four members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, shocking the entire shinobi world—
Only then would his name become known.
Each of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist was at least jōnin-level, most being elite jōnin.
And wielding their special ninja swords boosted their combat strength by an entire tier.
Jōnin → Elite jōnin
Elite jōnin → Quasi-Kage
Quasi-Kage → Comparable to Kage-level
They represented Kirigakure's pinnacle of power.
Killing four of them alone—
How earth-shattering was that?
In the original timeline, Might Guy and Might Dai were nearly identical.
Yet Guy rose to become an elite jōnin.
Why?
Because after Dai, the power of the Eight Gates finally became known.
However, the sheer brutality of training in the Eight Gates—
Also caused countless shinobi to shrink back in fear.
PS: I've been releasing chapters daily . Honestly, it hurts seeing almost no support on Patreon after all that work.
complete fic (all chapters ) are already up on P@treon → patreon.com/FinalArcHero789
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