[To be honest, Guy really could make the entire team feel a terrifying and overwhelming sense of fiery passion.]
[No matter how serious the training was, his goofy yet intense energy always gave his students a unique kind of strength.]
[In truth, it wasn't just Lee. Whether it was Tenten or Neji, Guy had always been a qualified teacher who helped each of them find and walk their own path as a ninja.]
[But there's one problem—training under Guy was insanely dangerous.]
[Still, danger aside, Guy would never deliberately put his students in harm's way.]
[Before the Chunin Exams, he even intentionally delayed their participation. Maybe he just didn't want them to face failure in their careers before they were ready—it could break a young ninja's spirit.]
[That's also why Team 3 was a year older than Team 7.]
[I used to wonder—Eight Gates is so powerful, so why is it that only Guy and Lee mastered it? If Konoha really went all out to promote it, imagine all the Genin opening gates during battle. The other ninja villages wouldn't stand a chance.]
[Later, I figured it out. Konoha could promote it with enough effort, and it would produce results. But the cost-effectiveness just isn't there.]
[Ninjas have many different types of training, and those also require time and resources. Compared to the Eight Gates, investing that same time into learning ninjutsu or mastering theory could give them the same, or even greater, combat potential.]
[So what's the situation with Lee and Guy, then?]
[At least Guy learned the Summoning Technique and has that old turtle as his summon. But Lee—he really can't do anything besides taijutsu.]
[That's why, no matter how inefficient it is, no matter how hard it gets, Lee will never give up on the Eight Gates. Because he knows—if he wants to defy fate, the only path is to master them.]
"Actually, promoting the Eight Gates might not be a bad idea."
In the Second Hokage Timeline, Tobirama Senju saw this and suddenly thought—maybe promoting the Eight Gates isn't such a bad idea after all.
This sentence nearly made Danzo lose his composure.
What do you mean?
I suggested forming an Eight Gates unit, and you disagreed.
Now you're turning around and want to promote the Eight Gates technique?
Are you mocking me, Danzo?!
"Danzo, don't overthink it. I didn't mean to make fun of you."
Tobirama knew Danzo well.
He knew this guy would definitely overthink it, so he quickly added a reassuring line, which finally made Danzo's expression ease a little.
Beside them, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked the question that was on everyone's mind: "Sensei, you and the light screen both said that promoting the Eight Gates isn't very cost-effective.
So why promote it at all?"
"You all know this.
Every year, many genin graduate from Konoha's Ninja Academy.
Most of them will never rise beyond genin.
If we invest just a bit of resources into teaching these genin—whose future can already be seen at a glance—the Eight Gates technique, they don't need to master it.
Just opening the first three gates would make them a significant force.
At the very least, their chances of dying on the battlefield would decrease drastically."
Tobirama's intention was simple—make use of the useless.
Everyone knew that an average genin was cannon fodder on the battlefield.
They had little chakra, few jutsu, and even the ones they could use weren't powerful.
The moment they faced a chunin or higher-level ninja, they'd basically become lambs to the slaughter.
But if they could open up to the Third Gate of the Eight Gates technique, even without much else, their survival rate on the battlefield would increase significantly.
"I just don't know if Duy would be willing to hand over the Eight Gates Formation to the village."
"Sensei, isn't the Eight Gates technique a product of the village?"
Tobirama shook his head and replied, "The Eight Gates isn't a creation of the village.
I suspect it's a family heirloom from Duy's clan."
"It's true. If the Eight Gates technique had originated from the village, then with Duy's Eternal Genin aptitude, he wouldn't have had the access or means to learn it. But who says it couldn't have been invented by Duy himself?"
"Idiot."
Danzo glanced at Hiruzen with disdain, then continued, "If Duy had the talent to invent the Eight Gates, he wouldn't still be Eternal Genin."
What Danzo said wasn't entirely wrong—it had its logic.
If Duy truly had the ability to invent such a complex and dangerous taijutsu like the Eight Gates, then surely he could have come up with some simpler techniques to strengthen himself. In that case, he wouldn't have remained stuck as a genin all his life.
"Enough. This topic can wait until I find Duy and talk to him myself."
Coincidentally, as Tobirama Senju made the decision to promote the Eight Gates to give less gifted genin a new path forward, in the timelines of the Third and Fifth Hokage, Jiraiya and Tsunade made a similar choice.
They didn't expect the later gates to be mastered.
As long as those disposable genin could open even just three gates, that would be enough.
Who knows? Maybe among them, someone as hardworking and talented as Lee might emerge.
The situation was different in the Fourth Hokage's timeline.
Minato Namikaze had just taken office and lacked enough political power. Even if he wanted to promote the Eight Gates, the difficulty was immense.
And with Danzo sabotaging things from the shadows, pulling this off would be even harder.
"If only the Third Hokage would support me."
Thinking of how the Third constantly limited him—and the close friendship between Hiruzen and Danzo—Minato could only sigh and shake his head helplessly.
[If the early part of Naruto focused on the spiritual depth of Guy, then the later part was all about the Blue Beast of the Leaf overwhelming the battlefield with raw power.]
[Especially during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Guy—who often seemed unremarkable—played an irreplaceable role.]
[In key moments, if it hadn't been for him, the outcome of the war might have been completely different.]
[At the beginning of the war, Kakashi—serving as a squad leader—made one specific request: he needed Guy, someone who truly understood both himself and the enemy, as his right-hand man.]
[And it was precisely because of this reliable comrade that he was able to achieve repeated victories against the reanimated Seven Ninja Swordsmen.]
[One of the most iconic moments was the duo of friendship versus the duo of cold-blooded killers.]
[At that time, Kakashi used the Multi-Dog Wall to block an explosion, which temporarily injured his Sharingan—leaving his combat ability greatly weakened and putting him in dire straits.]
[But in these desperate moments, Guy would always recall his awkward memories with Kakashi—like that time when his own overconfidence caused them to recklessly charge into danger.]
[Back then, he, Kakashi, and Rin were surrounded by elite Iwa-nin. Guy had planned to sacrifice himself so his teammates could escape.]
[Unexpectedly, Kakashi forcibly came to his aid. They stood side by side and fought together against the enemy for three days and three nights—until their chakra was completely drained.]
[And just when the enemy was about to unleash an enormous Lightning Release technique, Kakashi—who had no chakra left—still managed to use Chidori, even slicing through the thunder itself.]
[Afterwards, Kakashi said this: "I had no power left, but the moment I thought about my comrades, the chakra just came pouring back."]
[In the same way, Guy was no different. If his legs couldn't move, he'd use his hands. As long as it was for his friends, he would fight to his last breath.]
[Thus, the two complemented each other perfectly. They predicted the enemy's moves through one another's actions, coordinated using years of battle-hardened muscle memory, and even without opening their eyes or gates, they still beat their enemies to a pulp.]
[As Guy said: "A ninja's true strength is shown not when fighting for themselves—but when fighting for their comrades. That's when you unleash power that even you didn't know you had."]
[That... is what we call a bond.]
****
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