Hyuga Kagami planted one hand on his hip and imitated Orochimaru’s mannerisms, chuckling softly.
“Being praised by a weakling like you doesn’t bring me any joy at all.”
Hearing this, Guy, who was sprawled on the ground, immediately lowered his head.
Seeing him looking somewhat dejected, Hyuga Kagami thought to himself, “Uh…
did I overdo the act a little?”
Just as Hyuga Kagami was preparing to offer Guy a few roundabout words of encouragement, Guy suddenly swept away his dejected expression and shouted,
“I am Konoha’s Proud Blue Beast!
One day, I’ll definitely catch up to you!”
“Looks like I was worrying for nothing…”
After grumbling inwardly, Hyuga Kagami said, “Hey, that wasn’t everything you’ve got, was it?”
Guy immediately sprang to his feet.
“Of course not!
I still have my trump card!”
Hyuga Kagami quietly moved his faintly swollen and numb arms behind his back, hiding them from view, while saying disdainfully,
“A trump card, huh?
Then use it.
Let me see what you’ve got.”
After hesitating for a moment, Guy shook his head.
Hyuga Kagami’s entire purpose was to force Guy to use the Eight Gates, so he deliberately said, “Why?
Are you looking down on me?”
Guy hurriedly waved his hands and explained, “My father said this is a forbidden technique that must never be used against a comrade!”
“Although your father was a ninja worthy of respect, I don’t believe you have any forbidden technique capable of hurting me.” After a brief pause, Hyuga Kagami continued, “You don’t seem to understand the difference between us at all.
When fighting me, you don’t have the luxury of holding anything back.”
Guy was still hesitant.
“But…
but it really is an incredibly powerful forbidden technique!
I haven’t even fully mastered it yet!”
Hyuga Kagami stepped forward, his presence suddenly overwhelming.
“Is your talent greater than mine?
Or is your bloodline superior to mine?
If you don’t give it everything you have, what makes you think you can beat me?”
“I…
I…”
Staring at the stammering Guy, Hyuga Kagami continued pressing him.
“Or perhaps you never believed you could defeat me in the first place.
If that’s the case, you can leave.
I have no interest in sparring with someone who is weak at heart!”
Guy looked as though he had been struck by lightning.
Then, slowly, he clenched his fists.
Hmm…?
In an instant, Hyuga Kagami noticed that the aura around Guy had changed.
Guy looked straight at Hyuga Kagami and shouted, “Kagami, you’re right!
When sparring against a gifted genius from a prestigious clan like you, I should give it everything I have!
Hyuga Kagami was completely baffled.
“I guess I can barely count as being from a prestigious clan, but since when did the word “genius” have anything to do with me?
Was my act really that convincing?
Did I actually fool him into thinking I’m some kind of genius?”
While Hyuga Kagami was still wondering about this, Guy’s aura suddenly surged!
“First Gate, Gate of Opening—Open!”
A current of air erupted around Guy’s body.
“Second Gate, Gate of Healing—Open!”
The current gradually intensified into a powerful wave of air.
“Third Gate, Gate of Life—Open!”
Chakra so dense that it seemed almost tangible began pouring from Guy’s body.
Across from him, Hyuga Kagami’s expression remained as calm and impassive as ever, but inwardly, he was already panicking.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!
You’re actually going all out!?
That’s enough!
Stop opening them!
If you keep going, someone’s going to die!”
Naturally, Guy couldn’t hear Hyuga Kagami’s thoughts, so he showed absolutely no sign of stopping.
“Fourth Gate, Gate of Pain—Open!”
The chakra spilling from Guy’s body seemed to grow thicker and denser, surging upward in a heavy wave.
Like the chakra cloak of a Tailed Beast, it completely enveloped his body.
Perhaps the Fourth Gate was the most Guy could currently open, or perhaps he knew that this was only a spar between comrades.
Whatever the reason, after opening the Gate of Pain, he stopped there.
“Kagami, here I come!”
Without waiting for Hyuga Kagami to respond, Guy transformed into a streak of green lightning and began racing around him, seemingly searching for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Tracking Guy’s figure, Hyuga Kagami’s Tenseigan darted rapidly from side to side within their sockets.
With the Tenseigan’s incredible perceptive ability, following Guy’s movements after he had opened four Gates was still more than manageable.
But being able to see Guy’s movements didn’t mean Hyuga Kagami’s body could actually keep up with them.
His heart sank.
“Damn it, he’s too fast!”
Hyuga Kagami’s practical experience in taijutsu combat was still only at the level of a chūnin.
Although he had been secretly training ever since awakening the Tenseigan, he still lacked actual combat experience beyond the chūnin level.
So when Guy opened the Gate of Pain and the level of the battle abruptly entered the realm of jōnin, Hyuga Kagami immediately noticed the problem.
His body was beginning to fall behind.
Watching Guy continue circling him at high speed, searching for an opening, Hyuga Kagami anxiously racked his brain for a countermeasure.
Admittedly, without using the Wheel of Will or the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, Hyuga Kagami’s combat strength had yet to truly reach the level of a jōnin.
But his chakra reserves had already surpassed those of an ordinary jōnin.
And that was his advantage!
Hyuga Kagami quickly made up his mind.
He wouldn’t compete in technique.
He wouldn’t compete in speed.
He would turn this into a battle of chakra consumption!
He absolutely had to win this match!
Even if he had to fake it till he made it, he was going to win!
Now that he possessed the Tenseigan, Hyuga Kagami couldn’t allow himself to have a single defeat within the village.
Suddenly, Guy made his move.
He kicked off the ground, sending dust billowing into the air.
Under the tremendous reaction force, his entire body shot toward Hyuga Kagami’s back like a cannonball!
BOOM—!
His speed was so great that it seemed to produce a sonic boom.
The entire grove trembled violently, almost as though the trees themselves were crying out!
Hyuga Kagami’s expression sharpened, and he reacted immediately.
In truth, even before Guy had launched his attack, Hyuga Kagami’s Tenseigan had already detected the abnormal flow of chakra within Guy’s body.
But that tiny amount of advance warning still wasn’t enough for him to counterattack with the Gentle Fist.
So without the slightest hesitation, he used the Revolving Heaven he had only barely mastered that very morning!
BOOM—!
Another head-on collision erupted.
Guy was violently blasted away by the Revolving Heaven, crashing through four or five large trees in succession.
The tremendous commotion carried far into the distance, alarming quite a few people within the village.
Hyuga Kagami wasn’t faring much better.
At that moment, he could feel his blood and chakra churning violently within his body, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.
Yet only a few breaths later, Guy flipped back onto his feet.
Once again, he transformed into a blur and shot upward, stepping through the air with a rapid series of—
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
—using nothing but the force of his kicks against the air to rapidly maneuver at low altitude.
“This…”
Watching Guy move through the air at high speed simply by kicking against it, Hyuga Kagami immediately abandoned any thought of taking the initiative.
Suppressing all his other thoughts, he focused entirely on defense.
It was fortunate that Hyuga Kagami possessed the Tenseigan.
If he still only had the Byakugan from before, he probably wouldn’t even have had enough time to activate the Revolving Heaven.
Amid the increasingly rapid sounds of footsteps pounding against the air, Guy attacked once again.
This time, he unleashed the Leaf Whirlwind from above!
Before Guy’s body had even reached him, the violent wind generated by his attack had already swept through the entire grove.
“Revolving Heaven!”
Under the Tenseigan’s gaze, no matter how Guy tried to conceal the trajectory of his attack, he couldn’t escape Hyuga Kagami’s perception.
So long as Hyuga Kagami completely abandoned the idea of counterattacking and focused solely on defense, he could just barely grasp the right moment to activate the Revolving Heaven.
BOOM—!
Just as expected, Guy’s Leaf Whirlwind was once again stopped by Hyuga Kagami’s Revolving Heaven.
Guy was blasted away like a cannonball, flying far beyond the grove before finally crashing down.
He even nearly landed on several villagers who happened to be passing by, causing quite a commotion.
Back inside the grove, Hyuga Kagami felt as though he couldn’t move another step.
“My bones aren’t broken, are they!?”
Feeling the aching pain radiating from all over his body, Hyuga Kagami was secretly alarmed.
Only then did he notice the ground beneath his feet.
With the spot where he stood as the center, spiderweb-like cracks spread outward in every direction, extending for a full seven or eight meters…