Chapter 42: Might Guy vs. Kakuzu
On the other side of the battlefield, the fight between Might Guy and Kakuzu had already reached its peak.
"The Sixth Gate! Gate of Joy! OPEN!"
Might Guy's voice roared across the battlefield. Immediately, green vapor erupted from his pores, instantly enveloping the area.
The vapor, carrying an intense chakra, blasted away all the surrounding fog and leaves. The grass was pressed flat against the ground by the sheer force of the airflow.
His hair stood on end, his eyes burned with a blistering fighting spirit, and his chakra levels had multiplied. The very air around him seemed to vibrate.
Kakuzu's pupils contracted. His four masked monsters immediately tightened their defensive formation.
He had lived for over ninety years and had never seen such pure, explosive taijutsu.
The Eight Inner Gates... I never thought this ninja could unleash this level of power.
Guy's silhouette suddenly blurred.
No—his speed was just too fast for the naked eye to track! Before Kakuzu could even perform a defensive jutsu, Guy's fist was already flying.
"Morning Peacock!"
His high-speed punches created friction with the air, igniting into hundreds of fireballs that filled the sky like a peacock's fanned tail.
Kakuzu's lightning monster was instantly obliterated, collapsing into a pile of threads and mud.
"Cough!" Kakuzu spat out a mouthful of blood. "Combination Jutsu: Blazing Wind Rampage!"
Fire and wind combined, and a firestorm swept a hundred-meter area.
But Guy, moving even faster, leaped high into the air, his legs pressed together like a battle-axe. "Konoha Great Whirlwind!"
The wind from his downward kick split the firestorm in two, the aftershock plowing a ten-meter trench in the ground.
Kakuzu's water mask immediately spewed a curtain of water to block, but it was still knocked back by the concussive force.
"Not yet!" The moment he landed, Guy exploded forward again. This time, he didn't leap; he shot forward, skimming the ground.
His body was like an arrow. The water on the ground was thrown up into two high wakes as he passed.
Kakuzu was finally panicking. He tried to get his remaining masks to counterattack, but before he could even think, Guy's fist was in his face.
He didn't even see the movement. He just felt an agonizing pain in his chest, and his entire body was sent flying.
Pfft—! Kakuzu slammed into a massive tree, snapping the trunk, and fell to the ground like a broken doll, black blood pouring from his mouth.
"Monster..." Kakuzu's forehead was slick with cold sweat. This pure physical power was beyond his calculations. He had to change his strategy.
His three remaining masks suddenly split up, each taking a corner of the battlefield.
The fire mask attacked first. "Fire Style: Searing Migraine!"
A superheated fireball sealed off Guy's left. At the same time, the wind mask unleashed dozens of vacuum blades. "Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"
Fire on the left, wind on the right. The only escape route was forward, toward the water mask.
This was Kakuzu's trap. He was certain Guy would try to break through the seemingly weakest link. The water mask would then block him with a Water Formation Wall, and the three masks would attack in unison.
Guy weaved between the attacks. His gaze seemed locked on the water mask, and he moved in that direction, as if he were falling for the trap.
A smirk was just beginning to form on Kakuzu's lips. It seems his muscles have rotted his brain.
But in the next instant, Guy did the unthinkable.
As he neared the water mask, he suddenly slid to the side, dodging the forming water wall, and shot straight for Kakuzu himself—the unprotected main body in the center of the formation!
"What?!" Kakuzu was in a full-blown panic. He never imagined Guy would see through his tactic, let alone dare to charge the main body while surrounded by three jutsu.
He tried to recall his masks, but the fire and wind jutsu were already in motion, impossible to retract. The water mask's wall was only half-formed as Guy's silhouette flashed past it.
"Youth is about charging straight ahead!"
"One last hit!"
His fist slammed into Kakuzu's chest with absolute certainty, the power behind it even greater than before.
Kakuzu didn't even have time to scream. His body was sent flying again, crashing into another tree and completely shattering it.
A deep, caved-in fist print was left in his chest. His sutures were all torn, and his earth-element heart was completely shattered by the blow.
"That's another one!" Guy panted. He knew this still wasn't enough to kill the old monster.
Sure enough, Kakuzu slowly rose from the crater, black tendrils already stitching his wounds.
"Combination Jutsu: Strange Face-Exploding Flame!"
The fire, enhanced by the wind, exploded in size and destructive power, forming a single, devastating attack meant to incinerate the entire battlefield.
Might Guy's pupils reflected the oncoming flood of jutsu. "Now that's more like it! As expected of a shinobi who fought the First Hokage! You're finally putting up a real fight!"
He crossed his arms, his chakra erupting like a volcano. "The Seventh Gate! Gate of Shock! OPEN!"
The green vapor was instantly replaced by a thick, searing blue steam!
The blue vapor rose, forming a blinding aura around him, warping the very air. As the chakra flooded his system, Guy's skin turned a deep, pained red from the overload.
The shockwave from Guy's transformation was felt across the other battlefields. Everyone stopped to look.
"The Seventh Gate... of Shock?" In the distance, Kakashi couldn't believe it. To beat Kakuzu, Guy was willing to open the Seventh Gate? The power was immense, but the cost to his body was destructive.
Kakuzu looked at the blue aura, a trace of fear in his eyes, but he still sneered. "So what if you opened the Seventh Gate? My combination jutsu will burn everything! If you charge in, you'll just be turned to ash!"
In the next second, his jaw dropped.
Might Guy didn't retreat. He charged directly into the center of the jutsu.
"Daytime Tiger!"
A deafening roar came from within the inferno. The tiger-shaped fist of pure, compressed air tore the fire and wind apart. The flames were snuffed out by the pressure, and the gale died.
"How... How is that... that strong?" Kakuzu was terrified. He watched the blue shockwave approach, his body trembling uncontrollably.
He tried to get his masks to attack again. It was too late.
The shockwave instantly passed through Kakuzu's body. There was no blood, just an energy that annihilated everything.
Kakuzu didn't even have time to scream. His body was consumed by the energy, and along with his final masked monsters, he was turned to dust, scattered in the wind.
When the shockwave dissipated, the jutsu was gone. The battlefield was just a scorched, ruined wasteland.
Might Guy landed softly in the center of it, the blue steam slowly fading, his skin still bright red.
"It's over... Kakuzu."