Gate of Opening, Open!

Uchiha Mai fought intelligently—or rather, his battle sense was simply too strong.

Boxing champion Mayweather's usual tactic was defensive counterattacking: ensuring he took no damage and gave up no points, while waiting to catch his opponent's weakness before striking with a heavy punch.

This fighting mindset was steady and mature. When Uchiha Mai created his own taijutsu style, he had also been deeply influenced by that philosophy.

But what about Guy?

Guy certainly had a decent level of taijutsu at this point, but he lacked combat experience. He only knew how to charge ahead recklessly, again and again—either you died or I did.

That mindset had its advantages too. Without that kind of resolve, Guy could never have perfected the Eight Inner Gates or developed a move like Night Guy.

The problem was that Guy's raw strength had not yet surpassed Uchiha Mai's, whether in speed or power.

When your raw strength was about the same, while the other side fought more cleverly, you deserved to lose.

"The winner has..." Might Duy had just been about to declare the victor when he saw Guy, sprawled on the ground, struggling to slowly rise.

"I... haven't lost yet..." Blood streamed from the back of Guy's head as he shook his head and stubbornly gritted out the words.

"Your head is bleeding..." Mai pointed at Guy, speechless. He could still endure this?

The force behind that iron weight strike had been even greater than the punch that had given Asuma a concussion a few days ago, and this time it had landed directly on his head.

Wasn't this guy a little too hard to kill?

"I haven't lost yet..."

Guy repeated himself, then murmured, "I waited for several days just to have a decisive battle with you. After waiting all that time, how could I willingly admit defeat just because I took one hit?

I haven't shown you more of my taijutsu moves yet, and you must have other moves you haven't used either. I want to see them all.

Dad, please allow me to use that move."

That move?

Might Duy's expression grew more serious as he asked, "You only just learned that move. You aren't in good condition right now, and using it rashly could put your life in danger.

Are you sure you want to use it?"

Guy nodded firmly, his gaze resolute. "Dad, you once said that youth and passion have no limits. With nothing but burning blood, even trash can surpass geniuses.

As long as the passion in one's heart has not died, even when life reaches its end, the flames of youth will continue to burn.

Isn't now exactly the time to ignite those flames? I want to win. I want to defeat Mai!"

"As expected of my son!

Guy, use that move! Let Mai witness the flames of our youth!" Might Duy burst into tears again and permitted Guy to use that move.

Uchiha Mai's expression grew more solemn. The move Guy was staking everything on could only be the Eight Inner Gates.

The Eight Inner Gates could unlock the channels within the human body that restrained chakra, temporarily granting immense power. It was a secret technique that practically every Naruto transmigrator had to learn.

If you did not open the Eight Gates without injury, permanently open the Eight Gates, or reverse-train the Eight Inner Gates, you would be too embarrassed to call yourself the protagonist of a Naruto story.

During the Chunin Ninja Exams in Shippuden, Rock Lee, at around thirteen years old, could open five gates and fiercely battle Gaara, the One-Tail Jinchuriki. He was incredibly strong and imposing.

Guy was only around eight years old now, so at most he could open the second gate. Even so, just the second gate was enough to worry Uchiha Mai.

Mai was worried that Guy might not be able to withstand it and die.

The first of the Eight Gates unlocked the brain's limiters, allowing the body to exert one hundred percent of its strength while overloading it to increase attack power and speed.

The human body contained limitless hidden potential, but under normal circumstances, only a tiny fraction of that strength could be used.

There had always been all kinds of news stories in Mai's previous life—mothers flipping over cars to save their children, for example. That was strength beyond the limits of the human body erupting forth.

This state placed an enormous burden on the body and brain, and Guy had just been struck into a mild concussion by that iron weight attack...

Using the Eight Inner Gates now was practically gambling with his life. A sparring match was not worth it.

But that was the characteristic of Guy's style—gambling with his life. Did Guy not gamble with his life during his usual training too?

If ordinary people trained that way, they would die without even knowing how.

Only by repeatedly hovering along the forbidden line between life and death could one repeatedly shatter the body's limits, gaining power beyond geniuses and bloodline ninja despite being a commoner.

He had stopped caring about something like his life long ago!

"Mai, the me who comes next might be a little strong.

Eight Inner Gates Technique, first gate—Gate of Opening, open!"

Guy let out a fierce shout, mobilizing all the chakra in his body and breaking through the first barrier restricting the human body—the Gate of Opening.

In an instant, it was as though Son Goku had activated the Kaio-ken or transformed into a Super Saiyan. His aura surged grandly, and he became a completely different person.

"Haah!!!"

Guy howled and shot forward, his fists pounding toward Uchiha Mai like machine-gun fire, his punches swift and fierce.

Having opened the body's limiters and gained greater power, Guy had not forgotten the lesson from being knocked out in one blow earlier because he had been too reckless.

Fists were weaker than legs, but they were also less likely to expose an opening.

Uchiha Mai gritted his teeth and threw a punch, colliding with Guy's fist. In that instant, he felt as though he had struck iron, and four of his finger bones flared with intense pain.

One look was enough to tell him: this was not someone he could confront head-on.

After just one punch, Mai confirmed his strategy. He would definitely lose in a direct clash with Guy. The Eight Inner Gates' boost to strength and speed was simply too great, even with only one gate open.

In Shippuden, Rock Lee had opened five gates and still failed to defeat Gaara, not because the Eight Inner Gates were weak, but because Gaara was too strong.

At that time, Gaara was written as a Genin but was effectively a Jonin. Soon afterward, during the pursuit of Uchiha Sasuke, he had even clashed head-on with Kaguya Kimimaro at the peak of his Shikotsumyaku.

At that point in time, even Kakashi might not have been able to defeat Gaara.

The fact that a Genin like Rock Lee could open five gates and fight Gaara to that extent was enough to show how absurdly powerful the Eight Inner Gates were.

The same was true now. Uchiha Mai's raw strength was equal to Guy's, and only his combat sense had allowed him to knock Guy out with one move.

But after Guy opened the Gate of Opening, his increased speed and power had erased the gap in combat sense.

A young man's fists feared no master; wild punches could kill an old expert. That was the principle.

Uchiha Mai could only continue using a defensive counterattacking strategy against Guy.

Guy's stamina consumption would multiply severalfold after opening the Gate of Opening, so he clearly could not keep this up for long. After suppressing Uchiha Mai for quite some time, his moves grew increasingly unrestrained, and he began using kicking techniques repeatedly.

He exposed more and more openings, but because he was fast enough and strong enough, he suppressed Mai so thoroughly that Mai could not find any chance to counterattack.

To withstand Guy's relentless assault, Uchiha Mai could only use every trick at his disposal, pushing his self-created Mai Style Ancient Martial Arts to its absolute limit.

Third Form, Fourth Form, Ninth Form, Inner Ninth Form, Thirteenth Form, Inner Fifteenth Form, Sixteenth Form, Twenty-Second Form...

The more Uchiha Mai revealed, the more astonished the watching Might Guy became. Mai's boxing techniques were unlike anything he had ever seen or heard of. They were clearly taijutsu that Mai had created himself.

Relying on this set of taijutsu, Mai could actually fight Guy evenly even after Guy opened the Gate of Opening and gained noticeably superior raw strength.

This taijutsu style really had something to it.