"Uh… fine then!"
Might Guy hesitated for a moment. Seeing the unquestionable look on Akihito's face, he ultimately nodded in agreement.
He knew very well that Uchiha Akihito's strength was no small matter.
Akihito's victory over Uchiha Fugaku had already spread throughout all of Konoha.
Originally, Guy had planned that if he lost this time, he would make an agreement to keep challenging Akihito again and again—but clearly, Akihito had no intention of giving him that opportunity.
Still uneasy, Akihito cleared his throat and added,
"Ahem. Konoha is about to go to war with Kumogakure. We'd better keep this as a friendly spar—stop at the point of contact."
If Guy got fired up and opened the Seventh Gate, Akihito couldn't guarantee he'd walk away unscathed.
"Don't worry, don't worry—I know. Taijutsu is basically ineffective against you, Akihito. I won't take things too far!"
Guy grinned sheepishly as he made his promise.
Akihito's Fire Release Chakra Mode allowed him to elementalize his body.
As someone who specialized purely in taijutsu, Guy had almost no chance of defeating him.
Of course, he also understood Akihito's concerns—Akihito was worried he might go overboard.
Might Dai, just a genin, had opened the Eight Gates and single-handedly turned the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist into a tragic trio. The power of the forbidden technique, the Eight Gates, spoke for itself.
Moreover, the Eight Gates came with severe side effects—something that wasn't a secret to Akihito.
At the peak of Konoha's mountain—
Uchiha Akihito and Might Guy stood facing each other.
With the destructive power of their techniques, even a spar held back to "point of contact" would easily demolish an ordinary training ground.
And heavy damage meant repair fees.
Financially speaking, neither of them was particularly well-off.
Konoha had already entered wartime preparation. Elite shinobi who had been out on missions were being recalled one after another.
By the time the two arrived at the summit, quite a few Konoha ninja had already gathered around.
There was no way their clash could escape the notice of so many shinobi.
Sarutobi Asuma, Yūhi Kurenai, Mitarashi Anko, and other elite ninja of Konoha came to observe the fight.
"Guy's as hot-blooded as ever."
"But challenging Uchiha Akihito this time? He's probably going to suffer for it."
Asuma shook his head with a sigh.
He knew Guy's strength well. Over the past two years, the name "Konoha's Proud Blue Beast" had gradually spread.
However—
Might Guy only knew taijutsu.
Everyone knew that Akihito's Fire Release Chakra Mode rendered him virtually immune to physical damage.
By that logic, Guy's chances of winning were slim to none.
Aoba Yamashiro, Hayate Gekkō, and Genma Shiranui silently nodded in agreement.
They, too, believed Guy was almost certain to lose.
Kurenai, Anko, and Yugao Uzuki, however, reacted completely differently from the men.
"Akihito-kun, you can do it!"
"Akihito-sama, show him what you've got!"
"Daring to challenge Akihito dressed in that disgusting green outfit—heh, serves him right!"
…
The shrill cheers of the kunoichi rose one after another, making Asuma and the others feel like they'd just swallowed lemons.
Back in the Academy days, the girls had surrounded Uchiha Akihito, swooning endlessly.
Time had passed—
Yet he was still just as popular.
So what if he was handsome?!
"Ahem, everyone stand back. You might get caught in the crossfire!"
Guy scanned the surroundings and called out loudly.
With his youthful passion blazing, the primal power within him was already becoming difficult to restrain.
Kakashi refused to be his sparring partner. Akihito was the same.
Aside from hot-blooded enthusiasm, Guy had another purpose in initiating this duel—he wanted to gain more experience fighting against ninjutsu and the Sharingan.
In some ways, Akihito and Kakashi were quite similar. Both excelled in ninjutsu and dōjutsu.
Of course, Akihito's taijutsu wasn't weak either. He was proficient in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu alike.
Compared to Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Akihito resembled a hexagonal warrior without weaknesses.
"Let's end this quickly."
Akihito made a gesture, signaling for Guy to make the first move.
Guy didn't hesitate and immediately assumed his fighting stance.
"Eight Gates—First Gate, Gate of Opening, open!"
"Eight Gates—Third Gate, Gate of Life, open!"
"Eight Gates—Fifth Gate, Gate of Limit, open!"
Guy showed Akihito full respect—he opened the Fifth Gate right from the start.
Akihito didn't hold back either. He immediately launched a fire technique without forming hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Flames surged skyward as the blazing sphere tore across the ground toward Guy.
However, with five gates opened, Guy's speed was astonishing. With a burst of taijutsu body flicker, he evaded the fireball effortlessly.
"Hidden Lotus!"
Guy retaliated instantly with his signature ultimate move.
Akihito remained calm and unhurried, elementalizing his body to avoid the damage with ease.
"To manipulate chakra to such a degree… in today's shinobi world, perhaps only Akihito and Kumogakure's Fourth Raikage can achieve this?"
A veteran Konoha jōnin sighed in admiration.
Akihito's Fire Release Chakra Mode and the Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode were both exemplary no-hand-seal techniques.
Back then, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had also created the no-hand-seal technique Rasengan based on the Tailed Beast Ball.
Unfortunately, Minato had died young.
"Try my swordsmanship."
Akihito drew the sword from his waist and gave it a light flourish.
His blade resembled the Kusanagi swords collected by Orochimaru. It had been forged at great expense over the past half year.
To complement his newly evolved sword style, he had spared no cost.
Three years' worth of mission earnings—gone in one stroke.
"Uchiha Style: Blazing Flame Slash!"
Akihito narrowed his eyes slightly, as if merging with nature itself.
With a single swing, a crescent-shaped arc of blazing fire roared outward.
The true threat was not the blade itself, but the flying slash formed by compressed chakra.
This newly awakened technique of Akihito's bore resemblance to the swordmaster abilities of the pirate world.
It possessed both the scorching heat of intense flames and tremendous cutting power.
The flying slash traveled at incredible speed—an ordinary ninja would find it nearly impossible to evade.
Over the past six months, Akihito's strength had risen yet again.
[Fire Release Chakra Mode (Proficiency 57.4%)]
[Mangekyō Sharingan (Proficiency 12.8%)]
[Konoha-Style Taijutsu (Proficiency 82.6%)]
[Swordmaster-Level Swordsmanship (Proficiency 7.4%)]
His Uchiha-style swordsmanship had reached full mastery and evolved into Swordmaster-level swordsmanship.
With Swordmaster-level technique combined with Fire Release Chakra Mode, Akihito could now rival Kage-level powerhouses even without relying on his Mangekyō Sharingan.
The speed of Akihito's slash was terrifying.
By the time Guy reacted—
The flaming sword energy was already right in front of him.
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