The Devil's Horn

Bang.

A dull thud rang out.

In an instant, Might Guy felt as though he had kicked an iron plate. His entire lower leg throbbed with pain.

"Ha!"

Unwilling to give up, he landed and gathered his strength again. His punch came like a breaking wave, tearing through the air with an explosive crack as he slammed it into Dan's back.

Even if Dan was made of steel and iron, Guy would still send him flying.

But the result was unexpected.

Clang~

Guy's punch landed on Dan's back, but Dan didn't move an inch. Instead, a resonant chime rang out from within his body.

His body seemed to have become a massive bell. No attack could shake him in the slightest; they only left behind a clear, beautiful chime that lingered in the air.

A long, unbroken resonance.

This was the Golden Bell Shield Body, proof that Dan had trained his physique to its absolute peak.

What was going on?!

Guy had thrown his punch, yet the impact sent him staggering backward. Half his body went numb for a moment, and he wobbled on his feet, nearly losing his balance.

Just then.

Dan spun around like a phantom, lowering his center of gravity. Taking advantage of the opening Guy had left, he tapped a palm against Guy's chest as lightly as a dragonfly touching water.

Guy's feet left the ground, and he flew backward.

Thud!

Guy collided with the wall. The expected scene of blood and flesh splattering never came. Instead, he slid slowly down the wall like a painting.

"Are you all right?"

Kakashi hurried over to help Guy up. He saw that the latter had only suffered a minor injury and was otherwise fine.

Clearly, Dan had held back, controlling his strength to just the right degree.

Ever since he had accidentally squeezed an Amegakure spy's head apart by using too much force, Dan had spent the past few days practicing how to control the strength of his punches. He had made some progress.

That brief exchange.

Was enough to show that Dan was far stronger than Guy.

"I lost."

Guy said those three words to Dan with a bitter smile and finally lowered his head.

Actually.

He still had one technique left: the forbidden Eight Inner Gates, which his father had passed down to him. He could currently open the sixth gate, the Gate of View, and gain several times his usual strength for a short time.

But as far as Guy knew.

Dan had also learned the Eight Inner Gates from his father, and his mastery of it was only greater than Guy's.

"Do you know why you lost?"

Dan suddenly asked, walking toward him one step at a time. His massive frame radiated an oppressive presence that made it hard to breathe.

As Dan approached.

Kakashi warily raised his left hand, ready to lift his Forehead Protector and reveal the Three-Tomoe Sharingan beneath it.

But Dan ignored Kakashi completely.

He looked down at Guy and said:

"Running hundreds of laps around Konoha every day, doing ten thousand push-ups, ten thousand sit-ups, ten thousand barbell squats... That kind of training might look passionate, but in reality, it's nothing but a waste of time.

It's inefficient and unscientific.

You can't build your body on enthusiasm alone. You have to keep learning, thinking, and improving. Only then can you reach the peak of physical conditioning.

Watch closely. This is what real muscle looks like."

As his words fell.

Dan raised both hands and pulled apart the black kimono covering his chest. The top slid off his shoulders and down to his waist.

His sculpted upper body was revealed.

Under the astonished gaze of Kakashi and Guy.

"Hiss."

Dan drew in a breath and emptied the air from his abdomen. His abdominal muscles contracted upward, making his stomach look hollow and his waist grow exceptionally slender.

A Vacuum Abdomen.

At the same time.

Dan turned slightly to the left, lifting his upper arms to shoulder height. He bent his elbows and drew his forearms inward from both sides, making his biceps bulge into towering peaks.

This pose was the Schwarzenegger-style front double biceps.

But he wasn't finished yet.

Building on the front double biceps pose, Dan raised both arms higher and curled his fingers inward, then turned his fists outward at the very top.

At that moment.

Whoosh.

The light in the Meditation Room seemed to gather around Dan, streaming down from above his head and casting the perfect shadows across the contours of his muscles.

Dan gazed upward with a reverent expression. His two massive, sinewy arms rose high above him, like—

A pair of Devil's Horns.

At the sight.

Thump, thump.

Kakashi and Guy's hearts pounded violently, and their pupils widened at the same time. An inexplicable, powerful shock rippled through them.

They weren't bodybuilding enthusiasts, and they had no interest in men's muscles. But at that moment, they felt something from the man before them, Uchiha Dan...

A power and beauty unlike anything they had ever seen.

For a while, the two stood frozen in place.

Only after Dan lowered his arms and turned to leave did they come back to their senses.

"See them out." Dan spoke two words, returned to his cushion, and sat cross-legged once more.

Creak.

The door swung open at the sound. Samui stood in the doorway and gestured again, saying coolly, "Please."

Kakashi gave Dan a long look.

Then he helped Guy, who looked utterly dejected, and slowly led him out of the Fitness Gym.

Samui watched the two retreat in defeat, then glanced back at Dan, who was sitting quietly in meditation. She couldn't help murmuring:

"The Gym Director seems to be getting more and more terrifying..."

After leaving the Physical Transformation Department.

Kakashi finally remembered that he had come to investigate the destruction of the surveillance cameras.

He had meant to find Uchiha Dan, but Might Guy had ended up taking a beating, while Kakashi hadn't said a word or lifted a finger the whole time.

He might as well have been invisible.

Thinking about it, Kakashi couldn't help feeling a little guilty. He patted Guy on the shoulder and comforted his friend:

"Don't lose heart. I'll treat you to ramen. You need a full stomach to have the energy to train, and then you can keep challenging Uchiha Dan. Right?"

"Kakashi!"

Guy burst into tears and threw his arms around Kakashi, sobbing like a child.

"That's enough. Let go already..."

Kakashi looked helpless. He was worried someone might pass by and see two men clinging to each other in an alley. It would be too embarrassing if people started talking.

Fortunately, it was a secluded spot.

It wasn't until dusk.

That Kakashi finally ambled back to the Surveillance Post.

"Where have you been, senpai? You disappeared for half the day."

Tenzo complained as he put in eye drops. He'd been staring at the screen and monitoring the Uchiha without looking away; by the end of the day, his eyes felt ready to give out.

"Tenzo, don't take work so seriously. Just do enough to get by."

Kakashi tapped Tenzo on the head and earnestly instructed his subordinate to learn how to slack off.

Itachi frowned slightly.

The surveillance camera outside the Fitness Gym still hadn't been fixed, and Kakashi had taken so long to return. Something must have happened.

Sure enough.

"Itachi, the Third Hokage wants to see you. He asked you to go to his office right away," Kakashi suddenly said.

"I understand." Itachi was taken aback, then nodded.

Half an hour later.

Itachi emerged from the Hokage Building with his head hanging, looking dazed.

Just now.

The Third Hokage had personally given him a mission: to monitor his uncle, Uchiha Dan.

"Captain Kakashi and Dan got into a conflict, so the Anbu raised Dan's threat level. Is that why the Hokage decided to assign me to monitor my uncle?"

Itachi wondered to himself.

He didn't like the mission, but he couldn't refuse the Hokage's orders.

What troubled Itachi was that he didn't know how to get close to his uncle. Dan didn't seem to like him much as a nephew.

" Sigh."

He sighed and walked alone toward the Clan Compound in the glow of the setting sun.