Chapter 419: Flame Emperor

"The battle begins!"

With Muyue's command, Might Guy immediately opened the Fourth Gate of the Eight Gates and, focusing his breathing, burst forward.

Facing Might Guy, who was going all out, Shisui dared not be the least bit careless. He immediately activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and fully focused his Flame Breathing.

This was the first time Shisui used his Three-Tomoe Sharingan in an official battle.

During the Chunin Exams, no opponent had forced Shisui's Sharingan out, as he had used Fire Release and Taijutsu to defeat all his opponents.

Under Shisui's Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Might Guy's extremely fast speed slowed down, and his taijutsu movements became observable.

But Shisui still did not choose to engage Might Guy in taijutsu combat.

Although his dojutsu allowed him to see through Might Guy's movements, his body might not be able to keep up with Might Guy's rhythm.

Rock Breathing's enhancement to the body was already the best among breathing techniques, and with the first four Gates of the Eight Gates, even a random taijutsu move from Might Guy had considerable power—it couldn't be measured by normal taijutsu standards.

Unlike Obito, Shisui treated all the disciples except Nohara Rin as hypothetical enemies, and used that to analyze battle plans in detail.

Shisui believed that to defeat Might Guy, he had to stall—stall until Might Guy's peak period passed.

The Eight Gates plus Rock Breathing were certainly powerful, but they placed a huge strain on the body. The longer the stalling, the more advantageous it was for Shisui.

However, this plan was easier said than done.

Because Might Guy not only had immense strength and incredible speed, but also mastered the terrifyingly powerful Golden Horizon. One slight mistake by Shisui, and Might Guy would take him out directly.

In his previous battle with Might Guy, Shisui had experienced the Golden Horizon once, and even using Armament Haki, he couldn't block it.

In terms of pure power, the Golden Horizon was the strongest taijutsu Shisui had ever seen.

But Shisui also knew that Armament Haki was not inferior; it was just that his current training in it was not yet sufficient.

Relying on his highly proficient Body Flicker Technique and Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Shisui did not let Might Guy touch even a corner of his clothes.

But such dodging was not easy for Shisui either. Intense use of the Body Flicker Technique tired his legs, and the high concentration of mind consumed a lot of energy.

To make things easier for himself and to deplete Might Guy more, Shisui released various Fire Release techniques while dodging.

Although his body was tough, Might Guy would not recklessly tank ninjutsu if unnecessary, so he dodged while pursuing.

"This fight is way too boring. They haven't even touched each other once," Obito couldn't help complaining.

"In actual combat, any tactic that leads to victory is a good tactic," Kakashi said calmly.

If put in Shisui's position, Kakashi would also adopt this stalling tactic.

Because Shisui had decent speed, strong perception, and ample chakra, he was in a position to engage in attrition with Might Guy.

Kakashi himself could not use this tactic when fighting Might Guy, because he would exhaust himself first; he could not outlast Might Guy.

Lightning Breathing consumed a lot of chakra and stamina. Kakashi had more chakra than an average person, but he couldn't compare to an Uchiha like Shisui with a Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

In Kakashi's conception, he would have to burst to the maximum and unleash an attack stronger than Might Guy's to defeat Might Guy.

"I didn't say it's bad," Obito said, pouting.

He was just complaining verbally; in a real fight, he would definitely fight however he could win, if he could think of it.

Shisui fled, Might Guy chased. Their figures kept flickering in the forest, and one big tree after another fell in their chase.

"Golden Horizon!"

In the end, Might Guy claimed victory with a golden line, and Shisui was still caught up to.

"If I combine Obito and Shisui's advantages, it might be possible," Kakashi analyzed inwardly.

If Obito had Shisui's level of Body Flicker Technique and battle intelligence, or if Shisui had Obito's level of Flame Breathing, then either could have a good chance of defeating Might Guy.

"Guy wins," Muyue announced the end of the battle.

Shisui's loss was expected by Muyue, because Shisui was not only slightly inferior in overall strength to Might Guy, but was also naturally countered by him.

Genjutsu was Shisui's strength, but Might Guy was exactly the type of person least afraid of genjutsu. With these factors reversed, it was even harder for Shisui to beat Might Guy.

Muyue's mid-to-late training plan for Shisui would gradually reduce the proportion of genjutsu. On the surface, ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu were the three indispensable skills for a ninja, but Muyue, who was familiar with the plot, knew this was only true for ordinary ninja.

Even Mangekyo genjutsu struggled to play a significant role in the late stages of an all-out battle between gods, let alone ordinary genjutsu. The path of genjutsu didn't go far, at least for the native genjutsu system of Naruto.

"So my final opponent is you, Kakashi! Is this our bond?" Before the battle even started, Might Guy was already excited.

Kakashi looked at Might Guy with a face full of black lines. There were only four people in this battle; what bond was there to speak of?

After resting and recovering their strength, the two began to prepare for battle.

Kakashi's gaze sharpened. This time, he had a good chance of obtaining the title of Muyue's strongest disciple.

Compared to three months ago, he had completely mastered Armament Haki, while Might Guy hadn't made much progress in either the Eight Gates or the Rock Breathing.

"Advantage is mine." Kakashi's breathing gradually focused, and the moment Muyue shouted "Start," he instantly entered the state of Transparent World.

Kakashi knew well that Might Guy was just one step away from the final gate of the Eight Gates, so he didn't want to give Might Guy any chance. He immediately went all out and launched an attack on Might Guy.

Lightning Breathing fully concentrated to amplify his body and lightning nature, lightning-nature chakra to enhance his power, then the perfect exertion of Transparent World, and finally Kakashi coated the blade of the White Fang Short Sword with Armament Haki, bringing his momentum to its peak.

Even though Might Guy was also using his full power, he still felt a huge crisis from Kakashi like this, and wounds quickly appeared on his body.

The burning, stinging slashes on his body did not make Might Guy retreat; instead, he laughed excitedly.

Kakashi was the rival that Might Guy had acknowledged. Might Guy always believed that Kakashi could catch up, just as he believed he could become the strongest in taijutsu.

Kakashi displaying such overwhelming suppression was undoubtedly a response to Might Guy's expectations. How could Might Guy not be excited?

"Eight Gates: Fifth Gate, Gate of Closing, open!"

Might Guy was not defeated. His tenacity allowed him to enter the Fifth Gate at his limit, greatly increasing his power.

Feeling the surge of massive chakra within Might Guy's body, Kakashi's expression instantly changed. The later gates of the Eight Gates provided greater amplification, and the boost was not insignificant.

The situation instantly reversed completely. Might Guy not only broke free from his disadvantage but also gained an even greater advantage than Kakashi had just had, forcing Kakashi, who had expended most of his chakra, into a desperate situation.

Kakashi had no other choice but to go all in, betting his remaining strength on a single slash.

The dazzling lightning slash collided with the golden thread, and the torn lightning silently announced the final result of the battle.

"Still a little short." With both chakra and physical strength completely exhausted, Kakashi slumped weakly to the ground.

Because he had just successfully trained it, his Armament Haki was only average and couldn't compare to the powerful chakra boost from Might Guy's Fifth Gate.

"So Kai won again? Amazing," Rin Nohara praised.

In her eyes, Kakashi and Obito were already incredibly strong, yet Might Guy had actually defeated them twice to claim ultimate victory. This made Rin Nohara deeply admire him.

Hearing Rin Nohara's praise and seeing the weak, powerless Kakashi on the ground, Obito felt extremely frustrated, and his desire to defeat Might Guy grew even stronger.

Shisui thought about how long he would need to train to reclaim the title of strongest disciple.

"Everyone's tired from the battle. For the rest of the time, no more training. We'll rest and have hotpot to finish things up," Muyue said with a smile as he took out various tools from a scroll.

Muyue's words dispelled any remaining tension in the field, leaving only joy. All the disciples looked delighted.

Not having to train next was not the main point; the main point was being able to eat hotpot together.

As Muyue handled the ingredients, he opened the panel.

[Disciple Might Guy has trained hard under your guidance and improved his overall strength to a certain extent. Reward for improvement: Dynamic Punch (Proficient Level).]

Muyue didn't immediately remember which world this skill came from; it sounded too ordinary.

When the training memories appeared in his mind, Muyue realized this was a Fighting-type move from Pokémon.

In Pokémon, this is a move with low accuracy but guarantees confusion upon hitting the opponent. After localization, the confusion effect became a temporary disruption of the opponent's chakra.

This wasn't too special of an effect; even the Rasengan could temporarily disrupt an opponent's chakra when it hit.

However, Muyue was still curious about the technique within Dynamic Punch, because the Rasengan was a ninjutsu that relied on extreme compression and rotation of chakra, while Dynamic Punch was a taijutsu.

After organizing the memories, Muyue discovered that the two were actually somewhat similar.

Pour all the body's power into the fist while gathering a large amount of chakra into the fist, compressing and circulating it, then releasing it all at once the moment the punch is thrown.

"Although it's a taijutsu, it's not very suitable for Kai," Muyue thought to himself.

After opening the Eight Gates, the chakra in Might Guy's body was too violent, making it impossible to perform such fine chakra manipulation.

Moreover, Dynamic Punch required some proficiency; if not used skillfully, it was easy to take time compressing chakra, preventing an instant release and making the enemy wary. Muyue thought this was probably the localized effect of the low accuracy.

"Go back and get a good rest. I'll teach you something new tomorrow," Muyue said, patting Kakashi's shoulder after the hotpot.

Kakashi's eyes immediately lit up; whatever Muyue specifically mentioned was usually not bad.

"Muyue-sensei, do I have one?" Obito asked expectantly.

Smack!

Muyue tapped Obito's head with a finger. "First, practice the Fire Release you're currently learning before talking about that."

Studying Fire Release and Taijutsu under Muyue was very fortunate, because Muyue had many high-proficiency skills in both aspects and had a deep understanding of them.

Perhaps spurred by Might Guy's consecutive two-time acquisition of the Strongest Disciple title, Obito and Shisui trained with exceptional motivation, and before long they also triggered breakthrough rewards.

[Disciple Uchiha Obito, under your guidance, has worked hard to train and his overall strength has improved. Obtained enhancement reward: Great Flame Ring - Flame Emperor (Mastery Level)]

[Disciple Uchiha Shisui, under your guidance, has worked hard to train and his overall strength has improved. Obtained enhancement reward: Water Shunshin Technique (Mastery Level)]