Chapter 193: Dragon Returns to Sea

"Kai, how did you suddenly get stronger?" Before the fight, Obito humbly asked Might Gai for advice on getting stronger.

"It's not really a sudden boost. I've just started being able to use a body technique I've been learning." Might Gai scratched his head and said.

The Eight Gates had a total of eight gates; he could only open the first gate now, so it counted as just preliminary use.

"Don't worry, Obito. My youth won't let you down. I'll definitely show the same fighting spirit I had against Kakashi to satisfy you." Might Gai gave a thumbs up.

Obito: …

He had actually just been thinking that he hoped Might Gai's youth wouldn't burn too brightly, so he could win and show off in front of Kakashi and Rin Nohara.

Of course, Obito only had that kind of thought when he was daydreaming; if Might Gai really let him win, Obito wouldn't be happy about it.

"Be sure to watch out for my Fire Release," Obito warned seriously.

Feeling Kakashi and Rin Nohara's eyes on him, Obito decided he would use every last bit of chakra in this fight to grasp even the slightest chance of victory.

He had already made up his mind: he would fight this battle in his own style. He couldn't mimic Kakashi or Shisui's techniques, and even Kakashi himself hadn't beaten Might Gai.

"Begin!" Muyue shouted.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Obito backflipped, quickly formed hand signs, and spat out a massive fireball.

Blazing flames continuously spewed from Obito's mouth, eventually forming a three-meter-tall fireball that rapidly hurtled toward Might Gai.

Might Gai, who had originally been charging at Obito, immediately veered to the side to dodge the Great Fireball.

Swish! Swish!

After releasing his jutsu, Obito instantly flung a large number of shuriken toward the evading Might Gai.

Clang! Clang!

Might Gai swung his kunai to block the incoming shuriken, but caught off guard, several still slashed his bodysuit, leaving blood trails.

"Flame Breathing: Total Concentration Breathing!"

Obito changed his breathing rhythm, absorbing oxygen in large amounts to enhance his physical abilities and accelerate the nature transformation of his Fire Release chakra.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!" Then Obito quickly unleashed another Fire Release at Might Gai.

"Rock Breathing: Total Concentration Breathing. Eight Gates: First Gate, Open!"

Seeing Obito seemed intent on defeating him with a fast-paced offense, Might Gai no longer held back. He instantly unleashed all his techniques; with the boost from both Breathing Method and Eight Gates, his physical ability skyrocketed, and both his speed and strength were massively enhanced.

The fire dragon flew faster than the Great Fireball and quickly reached Might Gai.

Knowing the Great Dragon Fire was more flexible and could be steered to some extent, Might Gai used Shave to retreat backward, hiding behind a nearby tree.

Boom!

The high-speed fire dragon burned through the tree, which snapped and fell with a crash, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Damn, too fast." Seeing his rapid assault had no effect, Obito knew victory was slipping further away.

He hadn't used much chakra on the Great Fireball; he'd employed the flashy trick Muyue taught him to make it look fierce but weak. The Great Dragon Fire, though, had cost him a real chunk of chakra.

Rock Breathing's Total Concentration Breathing already offered a strong physical enhancement, and with the Eight Gates' explosive boost, Obito had almost no ability to engage Might Gai in close combat.

Obito tried trading taijutsu blows with Might Gai once, and immediately got beaten so badly he lost his bearings. Only by pouring everything into his flames did he barely avoid being eliminated by Might Gai.

"I can't even see him." Obito pondered strategies in his mind.

If there weren't obstacles it'd be a little better, but here the place was full of trees tens of meters tall, which greatly affected Obito's jutsu accuracy.

The battle grew more intense, leaving patches of ground scorched by Obito's Fire Release and trees kicked down by Might Gai.

Obito's chakra was dwindling, and his body was growing more tired. He felt like he was about to lose.

Even though he always talked down Kakashi in casual conversation, Obito acknowledged Kakashi's strength—he was the genius ninja Hatake Kakashi.

Back in the Academy, they had already been frequent friends. Kakashi was the perennial top genius, while he was the one everyone called the Uchiha loser.

Obito's overall grades were actually better than Might Gai's, but his surname was Uchiha. In the public's perception, ninjas from Konoha's top clan, the Uchiha, were all outstanding.

So Obito, who was mediocre in practical combat and near the bottom in theory, became the "Uchiha loser" in everyone's mouth.

Obito was a very optimistic person, but even he couldn't ignore everyone's words. He envied—no, even longed to be like Kakashi—praised by the teacher and admired by classmates.

Even the Kakashi he admired had lost, so isn't it only natural that he would lose too?

"No way!" Obito's eyes suddenly hardened, denying the wavering voice inside his heart.

Admiration, nothing—he didn't want to become someone like Kakashi, who didn't even dare show his face all day. What he wanted was to surpass Kakashi!

Obito's breathing gradually became more focused, his eyes filled with a burning desire for victory.

"Extreme · Leaf Village's Strong Whirlwind!"

Might Guy concentrated all his strength, pouring the power of his entire body into his leg, kicking out a limit-breaking kick, launching his final attack.

The fierce wind stirred up by Might Guy's immense power blew some scattered gravel and debris toward Obito, but thanks to his goggles, Obito didn't need to squint.

Obito's eyes were more serious than ever; he drew in a massive amount of external energy and unleashed all the remaining chakra in his body.

"Flame Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing—this is my last bit of strength!"

Obito focused all his power into his fist, not pausing to consider whether he could control the flames and avoid hurting himself later; he just wanted to use this final strength to gamble on that faint, barely visible glimmer of victory.

Boom!!

Might Guy's limit-breaking kick collided with Obito's fist wrapped in a huge blaze. The air blast produced by the clash of immense forces kicked up dust all around.

Kakashi stared at Obito in disbelief—he had personally taken Might Guy's kick before and knew how powerful it was. Was Obito actually withstanding it?

Bang!

In the end, Might Guy had the upper hand, sending Obito flying backward with a kick, while Might Guy's leg was also injured, nearly causing him to fall, but he managed to stay standing through sheer willpower.

"Cough, cough… that hurts." Obito coughed, feeling the pain in his body, and couldn't help but inhale sharply through his teeth.

"So this is how much it hurt when Kakashi got kicked back then." While guessing about Kakashi's inner thoughts at the time, Obito also controlled his own expression—if Kakashi hadn't cried out in pain, then he certainly couldn't either.

Obito tried to push himself up with his hands, but found that the hand he had punched with—his right hand—had no strength left at all. He used his left hand to support himself, attempting to stand up, tried three times, and ultimately failed.

"I still lost." Obito gave up on getting up, turned over, and lay flat on the ground, staring at the sky.

He wasn't sure how to describe his current feelings.

He had done his best, brought out all his strength, but still lost.

As he thought, Obito suddenly laughed. He remembered the image of Kakashi being kicked flying by Might Guy—man, that was pathetic, getting sent flying with a look of utter disbelief.

He had lost more gracefully than Kakashi; Kakashi was sent flying in a single kick, while he at least held out against Gai for a while.

After laughing, he thought about his battle record.

So far, among Muyue's other four disciples, Obito hadn't fought Rin, he had never won a fight against Shisui or Kakashi, and overall he had more losses than wins against Might Guy.

Suddenly Obito remembered a saying from Muyue: failure always runs through the whole of life.

That was a very Muyue-like line. Obito felt there was a lot of truth in it, but he really wanted to win.

"What a youthfully refreshing and exhilarating battle!" Might Guy gave Obito a thumbs-up and said with a big laugh.

Obito's final counterattack had somewhat exceeded Might Guy's expectations; without the boost from the Eight Gates, Might Guy might have lost.

"You both performed well. Get treatment and rest up." Muyue quickly appeared on the field, took Might Guy and Obito to a shaded spot, and began treating them.

Seeing this, Rin also came forward to help.

"Rin, wasn't my final punch amazing? Kakashi got kicked flying in one hit, but I almost won." Feeling Rin's healing, Obito's eyes and brows were filled with smiles, and he couldn't help belittling one to boost the other.

Kakashi, who happened to walk over, immediately got a row of neat black lines on his forehead. He admitted that Obito's final explosive punch had made him see him in a new light, but claiming he had almost won was pure exaggeration.

"I feel like my breathing method has improved a bit again. Just you wait, Kakashi—once I get used to the improved breathing method, I'll beat you." Seeing Kakashi approach, Obito said confidently.

While receiving treatment, Obito kept replaying his fight with Might Guy in his mind. He could feel that he had improved at the very end; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to injure Might Guy.

Kakashi knew Obito wasn't lying. After training in Thunder Breathing these past few days, he had also gained a preliminary understanding of the breathing method.

"You can try anytime." Kakashi replied calmly, as if he didn't take Obito's challenge seriously.

Although inwardly he was determined to train hard and learn the breathing method as soon as possible, Kakashi wasn't about to give Obito the satisfaction of gloating.

Seeing that Obito still had the energy to compete with Kakashi, Rin felt relieved—so there probably wasn't anything seriously wrong.

Muyue also nodded to himself inwardly. Having a fight now and then was indeed good for stimulating the disciples' growth in strength.

Obito truly had the fastest progress in entering the Flame Breathing technique; this time, he improved again during battle, increasing his proficiency significantly.

As for Might Guy, he was also doing decently, becoming more adept at using both the Breathing technique and the Eight Gates simultaneously.

Having failed twice in a row and witnessing Obito's breakthrough in battle, Kakashi would surely be more motivated in his training from now on.

Regarding Shisui, in this battle he was mainly responsible for applying pressure; among Muyue's current disciples, no one could put pressure on Shisui, not even Might Guy at this point.

Shisui's Sharingan could not only track Might Guy's movements but also had virtually no weaknesses; he excelled at ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu alike. Even with Might Guy simultaneously using Rock Breathing and the First Gate, he couldn't defeat Shisui.

However, Muyue believed this situation would soon be overturned.

The first three Gates of the Eight Gates Formation were the safe zone; once the First Gate was learned, opening the Third Gate would quickly follow.

Facing Might Guy wielding Rock Breathing plus the Third Gate of the Eight Gates, Shisui would have a tough time. Sometimes seeing an action doesn't mean you can react in time.

Muyue looked forward to Might Guy handing Shisui his first loss. Having a fixed ranking wouldn't help the disciples' growth; they needed to pressure each other.

Obito's injuries were more severe, so he didn't train. After receiving treatment, Might Guy started physical exercise, while Kakashi, after a friendly exchange with Obito, quickly began practicing Lightning Breathing.

When dismissal time came, Kakashi went straight home, quickly finished dinner, and continued training.

To avoid being defeated by Obito, he had to incorporate the Breathing technique into combat as soon as possible and strengthen his power.

…

After bidding farewell to his disciples, Muyue returned to his home in the main city district.

However, this evening, an unexpected guest arrived.

"Muyue, let me introduce you. This is my teacher, Jiraiya." Minato said with a smile, introducing the white-haired shinobi standing beside him.

"Is that Lord Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin?" Muyue's face showed some surprise, but he quickly put on a warm smile and greeted Jiraiya.

"Haha! I am indeed the legendary Sannin, the handsome man who can even shut crying babies up with his looks—Lord Jiraiya!" Jiraiya laughed proudly and reintroduced himself.

Then Jiraiya carefully looked over Muyue, glanced at Minato, and rubbed his chin before asking, "Are you two related?"

"Teacher Jiraiya, didn't I already introduce Muyue to you in the letter?" Minato scratched his head and said. Had he misremembered?

"Haha, just kidding. You two do look somewhat alike," Jiraiya replied with a laugh.

If he hadn't known anything, seeing them side by side might have made him really think so, but Minato had already introduced Muyue in the letter. He just wanted to tease his somewhat airheaded student.

"It's almost time to eat. Let's have dinner together. You two sit down and have some tea first. I'll prepare the meal," Muyue invited.

He was still in his growth period, so the more friends, the better.

"Teacher, you take a rest. I'll help Muyue," Minato said to Jiraiya, and after Jiraiya nodded, he walked into the kitchen with practiced ease.

"Indescribable, the world's greatest delicacy—food so delicious it's like being under a genjutsu. How ridiculous—eating a dish can make you hallucinate." Sitting alone in the living room, Jiraiya recalled Minato's description of Muyue's cooking.

He had just arrived in Konoha today and came straight to Minato's place mainly because Minato had written him multiple letters praising Muyue's cooking as unparalleled in the world.

But Jiraiya didn't have high expectations. He was someone who traveled the shinobi world all the time; he had eaten all kinds of delicious food. How good could cooking really be?