The ground trembled.
Rocks cracked beneath Might Guy's firm feet as he took a deep breath, arms at his sides, while smoke and dust danced around him. The sounds of war didn't faze him. His focus was absolute.
Before him stood two distinct figures: Kurotsuchi, with a sharp stance and cold eyes, and Akatsuchi, massive like a mountain, broad-shouldered, arms crossed, as if he were impossible to topple.
"So… you're the famous Guy of the Leaf," Kurotsuchi murmured, analyzing him from head to toe.
"Hmph. Looks more like an over-the-top sensei than a real opponent." Akatsuchi stepped forward, the ground sinking under his weight.
Guy cracked his neck. A bright smile spread across his face.
"You underestimate the spirit of youth. And that… can be fatal."
Without another word, Guy vanished. His speed was such that a green blur streaked across the field before the enemies even registered it. Akatsuchi barely had time to raise his arms when Guy's first flying kick struck his chest — an absurd force that sent him sliding meters backward, his feet tearing up the ground.
"He's too fast!" Kurotsuchi shouted, already forming hand signs.
She spat a stream of acid that corroded the ground in a straight line. But Guy spun in the air and landed on the flank, dodging gracefully.
"Gate of Opening: RELEASED!" he shouted. "Gate of Healing: RELEASED!"
Veins bulged in his face. His muscles expanded, and the air pressure around him seemed to shift. Akatsuchi raised a massive stone wall, but Guy tore through it like a human missile, shattering the barrier and colliding with the giant's chest.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!!!"
The impact launched Akatsuchi like a sack of sand. He crashed into a rock formation and collapsed.
"Akatsuchi!" Kurotsuchi yelled, now tense.
She formed quick seals. The ground beneath Guy turned to corrosive mud, but the jōnin simply drove his fingers into his own thighs, unlocking more gates.
"Gate of Life: RELEASED!
Gate of Pain: RELEASED!"
Guy's body now emitted steam, his aura flickering like green fire. He zigzagged erratically and fast, surrounding Kurotsuchi like a storm.
"HIRUDORA!!!"
A white chakra tiger emerged with an explosive roar. Kurotsuchi barely had time to raise a reinforced stone dome before the creature bit and detonated everything around.
The ground turned into a crater.
Still, the kunoichi emerged coughing, part of her armor burned.
"That bastard…!"
Guy was approaching again, muscles trembling beneath his skin, sweat evaporating like steam, each step causing small fissures in the ground. Kurotsuchi felt the heat, the pressure, the weight of his determination. It was as if the very battlefield held its breath.
She knew she couldn't beat him with brute force. Her chakra quickly draining, she stepped back a few meters, eyes sharp, fingers moving precisely.
"No more fighting him like he's just a brute…" she murmured, focusing. "Time to end this with my head."
She formed a single, ancient seal from the Stone Clan, activating a rare genjutsu transmitted through eye contact: silent, fast, deep. A subtle pattern shimmered in her eyes as she locked gaze with Guy.
In the next instant, the world around him shook.
The sound of his own footsteps stopped. The sky turned gray. The stone ground became training soil. Guy looked around, confused — he was in the Leaf Academy.
"What…?"
In front of him, he saw a dark-haired boy being scolded by instructors. It was him, younger. Weak. Slow. Watching others surpass him. That old feeling of failure resurfaced like poison in his veins.
"You'll never be like Kakashi," a voice echoed in his mind.
The scene shifted.
Now it was Kakashi, with his elegant coldness, performing jutsu with perfection. Beside him, Lee trained exhaustively. And he, Guy, couldn't keep up. It was like running against the wind — a cruel wind that mocked his efforts.
Guy's chest tightened. For a second, the past threatened to consume him. His steps faltered. His confidence wavered.
But then...
Lee's voice came.
"Guy-sensei! I'll never give up! Because you never gave up on me!"
And like a torch lit in the dark, the memory of Lee, covered in sweat, screaming from the depths of his soul during training, surged into his heart. Kakashi appeared too — not as a rival, but as someone who always respected his strength.
Guy clenched his fists. A tear slid down, but evaporated in the heat of his chakra.
"I'm no longer that lost boy…"
"The spirit of youth… FEARS NO ILLUSIONS!!!"
The scream tore through the genjutsu like a flaming blade. The illusory world cracked and shattered like glass. Guy's energy erupted in waves of heat and raw force.
Kurotsuchi staggered back, eyes wide.
"Impossible…" she whispered, her mouth dry, heart racing.
Guy's green aura burned intensely. He was back. And stronger.
His eyes, now vivid and filled with memories and purpose, locked onto hers with silent fury.
"Youth never surrenders… because it always believes the next step will be greater than the last."
"Impossible…" Kurotsuchi whispered.
She collapsed to her knees, exhausted.
Akatsuchi was returning, panting, a stone golem rising on his back. A walking mountain.
"Now you're finished, Guy!"
But Guy was already at his limit.
"Gate of Limit: RELEASED!"
"GUY, NO!" shouted a distant voice. It was Baki, entering the scene, running with wide eyes.
Guy's body glowed. Veins pulsed red. The ground beneath him exploded with every step.
"At the peak of youth… we surpass our own limits!!!"
He leapt, tearing through the air. Akatsuchi's golem was shattered into pieces by a series of spinning kicks. Akatsuchi fell with the debris.
Guy landed — on his knees, breathing heavily, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth.
Kurotsuchi tried to rise once more… but collapsed, unconscious.
Silence fell over that part of the battlefield.
Baki approached slowly. He saw the two defeated enemies and Guy, kneeling but still upright, eyes burning with conviction.
"You… really are a monster in human form."
Guy smiled, weakly.
"Just… a teacher… showing the power… of youth…"
And then, he fainted.
But not before raising a fist — toward the sky, as a promise that he wasn't done yet.