Chapter 518

Might Guy silently counted the time in his mind, sprinted forward, and curved in an arc toward Nagato.

"Morning Peacock!"

While running, Might Guy gathered power into his fists and rapidly swung his arms.

Due to the extreme speed of his punches, the friction with the air ignited flames, which surged toward Nagato along with the impact force of each punch.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

Nagato quickly formed hand seals and created a thick earthen wall in front of him.

Boom!

A massive barrage of flames struck the earthen wall, triggering an explosion. The wall was left battered and broken, yet it still stood firm in front of Nagato.

"Four, three." Might Guy silently counted in his mind, then suddenly leaped down from above the earthen wall to attack Nagato.

"Two, one."

When Might Guy's mental count reached one, he had just closed to within one meter of Nagato.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Nagato's Rinnegan pulsed violently, and a powerful repulsive force erupted with Nagato at its center.

Might Guy felt an overwhelming, intangible force that prevented him from advancing.

Thud!

Might Guy crashed through the Earth Flow Wall and was sent flying backward, slamming heavily onto the ground.

"It's definitely ten seconds." Through this probing, Might Guy completely confirmed that Nagato's Shinra Tensei had a ten-second cooldown.

"Ten, nine…"

Might Guy silently counted the time and charged out again, once more unleashing the Morning Peacock.

A barrage of fireballs and shockwaves from his rapid punches rushed toward Nagato, just as before.

Seeing Might Guy's actions, Nagato knew that Might Guy had taken the bait, misled by his false information.

Nagato didn't change his approach and, just like before, used hand seals to cast an Earth Release technique, creating a thick earthen wall.

This exchange of defensive ninjutsu and offensive taijutsu yielded no change in result—the earthen wall successfully blocked all of the Morning Peacock's attacks.

"What's going on with Guy? Why is he still wasting stamina on this move?" Asuma, in the spectator stands, was thoroughly confused.

Since the previous clash had already proven that Morning Peacock couldn't break through Nagato's defensive ninjutsu, why conserve stamina by using Morning Peacock instead of using the stronger Daytime Tiger or Golden Horizon?

The latter, though more draining, could at least breach the opponent's defensive ninjutsu, while the former, though less tiring, couldn't break through the defense, making it a wasted effort.

"Success or failure hinges on this one move." Kakashi watched Might Guy's charge with a solemn expression.

Kakashi, being observant, had also noticed that the intervals between each of Nagato's Shinra Tensei releases were identical.

Thus, he had a rough idea of Might Guy's plan.

"Noon Tiger!"

Might Guy concentrated all his strength into his legs, and the vast, surging chakra within his body exploded violently. Instead of climbing the earthen wall and jumping down like before, he ignored the wall and charged straight ahead.

Boom!

The earthen wall was smashed straight through, leaving a large hole, while Might Guy continued his sprint toward Nagato without losing any speed.

Might Guy's attack plan was simple: since normal offensive moves couldn't reach Nagato within ten seconds, he would use Noon Tiger once more to gain speed and exploit a timing gap.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Facing Might Guy breaking through the wall, Nagato remained completely calm and formed a single hand seal, creating a shadow clone.

"Four, three—success!"

With Nagato right in front of him, Might Guy believed he had already seized victory.

At this distance, even if Nagato used other attack ninjutsu, Might Guy could endure the technique and land a punch on Nagato.

Nagato's ninjutsu might injure him, but it wouldn't take him out of the fight, while Might Guy's punch would very likely knock Nagato down and keep him down.

"Shinra Tensei!"

The sudden powerful repulsive force stopped Might Guy's fist, which was aimed at Nagato, just five centimeters from Nagato's chest.

Might Guy stared at Nagato in shock; he had been silently counting, and according to his count, Nagato's Shinra Tensei should still have two seconds of cooldown left.

"I fell for it." Might Guy quickly realized the reason.

Shinra Tensei may have a cooldown, but it definitely wasn't ten seconds, and probably not even eight seconds.

Nagato's repeated use of Shinra Tensei every ten seconds earlier was to feed him false information.

Boom!!

Under the repulsive force, Might Guy flew backward just like the last time.

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"

To ensure a hit, the Shadow Clone Nagato used Pressure Damage with a sufficiently large range, spitting a high-pressure wind bullet in the direction of Might Guy's retreat as he flew backward.

Whoosh!!

The powerful storm engulfed the area where Might Guy had flown backward, and even the ground cracked under its fury.

"What a troublesome opponent." Nagato breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Fighting a ninja as tough and skilled as Might Guy was truly troublesome; even someone with Nagato's chakra reserves couldn't afford to waste it recklessly.

Every time he used the Shadow Clone Technique, he had to consider whether this clone would be effective; if not, he wouldn't use it, thereby conserving chakra.

After all, it was too easy for Might Guy to destroy shadow clones; rather than using them blindly, it was better to save chakra for Shinra Tensei, which was powerful but also very chakra-consuming.

"So it was misleading information, Ah Kai's loss isn't undeserved." Seeing Nagato release Shinra Tensei at eight seconds, Kakashi was also a bit surprised.

Just now, Might Guy thought he had seen through Nagato, but what he saw was Nagato's deliberate facade; without a doubt, in terms of combat awareness, Nagato had won.

The exchange just now revealed even more; if Nagato could release Shinra Tensei every eight seconds or even shorter intervals,

then Nagato had actually been hiding part of his strength during the fight. Given the powerful effect of Shinra Tensei, if Nagato could maintain a shorter interval, he would certainly gain a greater advantage.

"He's a steady, cautious type of ninja. It seems there's no doubt about first place this time." After some analysis, Kakashi found that Nagato was truly steady.

If Nagato had the personality of Obito in normal circumstances, then the finals might still be up for debate, but Nagato was both strong and steady, making it very difficult.

Putting himself in that position, Kakashi felt that he would most likely lose too, and since Shisui and Obito were currently not as strong as him, they naturally couldn't defeat Nagato.

Seeing that Might Guy had made a major mistake and lost the possibility of victory, Hanzo withdrew his gaze and glanced at Muyue out of the corner of his eye.

Muyue's expression showed no obvious change from before, as if everything was within his expectations.

Hanzo felt a twinge of frustration; he himself could control his expressions, but he felt that Souyusuke was not like that because of expression management, but because he truly had everything under control.

"That should be about enough." Nagato focused his eyes on Might Guy, who had been attacked by the storm.

At this moment, Might Guy looked very disheveled, his clothes severely torn, covered in dust and mud, and with numerous small wounds all over his body.

As if sensing Nagato's gaze, Might Guy grinned in Nagato's direction.

He hadn't felt this sensation in a long time; in one-on-one combat, the pressure Nagato gave him was currently unparalleled.

"If this continues, I'll lose." Feeling the pain coming from all parts of his body, Might Guy made a judgment.

He had used Afternoon Tiger twice within one minute, and his legs were now fatigued; not only would he be unable to use Afternoon Tiger next, but his top speed would also be slower than before.

Added to the effects of his injuries, even though he still had enough fighting spirit, he couldn't prevent the decline in his physical abilities.

"Obito really wanted that first-place prize." Maintaining highly focused breathing, Might Guy recalled their earlier discussion about the Youth Martial Arts Tournament.

Each disciple had different reasons for participating in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament. Might Guy wanted to fight more talented and strong opponents; as for the reward, he didn't really care.

Obito, on the other hand, was clearly different; after hearing about the first-place prize, Obito had shown strong interest.

Might Guy didn't mind giving his reward to a friend, because the rewards for any placement were useless to him.

But now, Might Guy truly had the desire but not the strength; in his current state, defeating Nagato was impossible.

Might Guy was confident but not arrogant.

"In that case, I'll just have to let the Green Beast appear!" Might Guy took a deep breath, preparing to forcibly open the sixth gate of the Eight Gates like in their previous encounter.

At this moment, his body was already much stronger than before, so even forcibly using the Sixth Gate while in Rock Breathing Chakra Mode wouldn't cause injuries as severe as last time.

"Gate of Healing, open!"

Might Guy glared, his body erupting with a terrifying aura, leaf-like energy enveloping his entire body.

Opening the Sixth Gate further amplified Might Guy's chakra, making it even more wild and frenzied.

"Hmm? What's going on?" Nagato's keen perception immediately sensed the change in Might Guy, and he looked surprised.

He had thought Might Guy would lose his combat ability in the crushing storm, but instead, Might Guy had grown even stronger, exuding an unprecedented, terrifying aura.

Because his body was stronger now, even though it was still the same combination of the six gates and Rock Breathing Chakra Mode, Might Guy at this moment was stronger than when he fought the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

The terrifying, soaring aura was clearly felt even by the ninjas in the audience.

"So Guy still had a trick up his sleeve." Asuma gasped.

Asuma felt that the current Might Guy could punch him into a state beyond dead.

"So he wasn't going all out when he fought me." Hoshigaki Kisame was a bit upset.

After all his efforts, the opponent he once faced could now defeat him without even needing his full power.

"He's really reckless. Luckily, Teacher Muyue is also here." Kakashi, seeing the green energy around Might Guy's body, knew that Guy had forcefully opened a higher gate.

Kakashi had a deep impression of Might Guy in the Gate of Healing state, because if Guy hadn't activated the Gate of Healing and held off four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist alone back then, they absolutely wouldn't have been able to hold out unscathed until Muyue arrived.

Of course, the cost was also great. That time, Might Guy was the most severely injured. Even though Muyue treated him immediately, he still needed a long time to fully recover.

"Such a powerful aura." Huang Tu looked at Might Guy with a different expression.

This was no mere genius; this was a powerhouse, one of the strong ones in the ninja world.

Even if he were to replace Nagato in battle right now, Huang Tu wasn't sure he could defeat the current Might Guy.

"Still holding a trump card." Seeing Might Guy suddenly burst out, Hanzo's expression remained still, but inwardly he was pleased, and he observed Muyue.

Noticing that Muyue still wore that gentle, faint smile, Hanzo was very puzzled.

"Is he not worried about his ninjutsu being leaked? After all, that's a Konoha ninja." Hanzo was confused.

If the ninjutsu were obtained by Konoha, given Konoha's scale, it was very likely someone would learn it, and Konoha might even assign people to study and counter Flowing Dragon Dance.

Unable to fathom Muyue's thoughts, Hanzo could only continue watching the match.

Might Guy poured a large amount of chakra into his index and middle fingers, pressed them together, and pointed them behind him.

He had forcibly opened the Sixth Gate, which would cause considerable damage to his body. Added to the severe injuries he already had, the longer the battle dragged on, the worse it would be for Might Guy. He had to race against time.

Therefore, Might Guy planned to unleash all his power to end the fight as quickly as possible, instead of probing the true cooldown time of Shinra Tensei.

Might Guy didn't know much about repulsive forces, but he had personally seen Nagato retreat when he used Shinra Tensei to counter Daytime Tiger.

That meant Nagato's Shinra Tensei wasn't all-powerful. As long as he encountered a force greater than it, Shinra Tensei wouldn't necessarily be able to perfectly intercept it.

"Golden Horizon!"

Might Guy exploded with all his power and dashed toward Nagato.

At this moment, many ninja spectators could no longer clearly see Might Guy's figure; they only sensed a streak of green light moving at incredible speed.

Sensing the terror of the current Might Guy, Nagato put on a serious expression and mobilized all his chakra into his Rinnegan.

A Might Guy like this couldn't be handled by an ordinary Shinra Tensei; he needed a stronger Shinra Tensei.

To give his main body more time to prepare a technique, a shadow clone stood in front of Nagato and used ninjutsu to intercept Might Guy.

But at this moment, Might Guy was exceptionally powerful, and Nagato's shadow clone couldn't effectively stop him.

In the blink of an eye, Might Guy charged forward. He suddenly swung the fingers of his right hand as if wielding a sharp blade.

The moment Might Guy made the slashing motion, a powerful shockwave instantly shattered Nagato's shadow clone.

A dazzling golden flash passed, and Nagato's perception sent out an extremely dangerous signal.

Without time to think, Nagato instinctively released the massive amount of chakra he had gathered, pushing his Rinnegan ability to its limit, unleashing the strongest attack he had used since obtaining the Rinnegan.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Originally, the plan was to finish the Martial Arts Tournament and update the Naruto side story before the 10th. But I took a day off, and then for two days I was stuck on the writing, so my updates weren't that many, which made the progress slower than expected. As a result, the Naruto side story will be a bit later to come out.

After all, you can't just suddenly insert a side story while the main storyline is in the middle of a fight — the reading experience would be too jarring.

xhytd