Chapter 450: Want to be a dragon before killing a dragon

Might Guy and Hyuga Hiashi rapidly closed in, one throwing a punch and the other a palm. Might Guy’s direct punch was fierce and powerful, while Hyuga Hiashi skillfully utilized the Byakugan’s advantage to nullify and deflect it with subtle force.

Then, both simultaneously unleashed their Chakra, their movements so fast they left afterimages in the air, colliding dozens of times in an instant.

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

Finally, their fists and palms met, and both retreated a few steps.

“This strength, it’s as strong as expected,” Hyuga Hiashi thought to himself, feeling a slight pain in his palm.

“But he probably hasn’t used his full power yet.”

Although Hyuga Hiashi had already sensed Might Guy’s formidable body, which didn’t match his age, this level of strength was still insufficient to deal with four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

“Leaf Great Whirlwind!”

Might Guy, with an excited expression, charged out again, delivering a lightning-fast spinning kick.

Boom!

Hyuga Hiashi dodged by sidestepping just as Might Guy’s spinning kick was about to land, and a large tree beside him suddenly fell. Such straightforward attacks were difficult to hit him with, as his Byakugan, which could see through bodies, was not just for show.

Unless the speed was so fast that his body couldn’t react, such attacks would not affect him.

This was also why Hyuga Hiashi was confident in his ability to contend with multiple Ninja Swordsmen; the Byakugan, which could see through everything, combined with the absolute defense of Rotation, gave him extremely strong defensive capabilities.

Immediately after, Hyuga Hiashi seized the opportunity, gathering Chakra in his palm and launching a fierce strike at Might Guy’s Chakra points.

Although Might Guy’s last encounter with a Hyuga Clan Ninja was years ago, Might Guy had fought Kakashi many times and was somewhat wary of abilities similar to the Byakugan and Transparent World.

The moment Hyuga Hiashi swung his palm, Might Guy raised his arm in defense, preventing Hyuga Hiashi’s Gentle Fist from striking the correct Chakra points.

Thud!

Even so, Hyuga Hiashi’s powerful palm still sent Might Guy flying a certain distance.

“What a good opponent! I originally wanted to save this for Kakashi, but since Kakashi doesn’t want to fight me for now, I’ll try it on you first.” Might Guy laughed loudly.

Under normal circumstances, he would have used Leaf Dragon God again to test its effect and force out more information from Hyuga Hiashi.

But Might Guy hadn’t fought in over a month, and he really wanted to feel the power of Rock Breathing Chakra Mode again.

Having rarely encountered a taijutsu master like Hyuga Hiashi, Might Guy was already itching for a fight.

“Rock Breathing Chakra Mode, activate!”

Might Guy clenched his fists and glared, his body’s breathing concentrated to the extreme, entering a somewhat indescribable state. His body rapidly transformed with each breath.

Strong.

So strong.

This was Might Guy’s first sensation.

This was his second time entering Rock Breathing Chakra Mode. The first time was in a life-or-death battle, so Might Guy hadn’t felt it in detail. This time, Might Guy had the spare capacity to meticulously observe the changes occurring in his body.

The concentrated breathing of Rock Breathing is the most obvious way to enhance the body, and Rock Breathing Chakra Mode takes this to the extreme. Now, Might Guy feels he can smash a rock with one punch even without using Chakra.

“Indeed, he held back a lot just now.” Hyuga Hiashi’s expression became serious as he sensed the surge of power from Might Guy.

The current Might Guy felt like a human beast, completely different from the initial five-gate Might Guy.

“Leaf Whirlwind!”

Might Guy unleashed his Chakra, stomping forward and charging. His powerful leg strength created a crater in the ground.

Whoosh!

Hyuga Hiashi saw Might Guy approaching and kicking, but before he could complete his evasive maneuver, Might Guy had already reached him. Hyuga Hiashi had no choice but to gather Chakra and raise his arm to block directly.

Bang!

A dull thud echoed, and Hyuga Hiashi was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing through several large trees before finally stopping.

“Each one is more terrifying than the last,” Mimurabe Ketsu said, shaking his head.

When an examiner encounters a candidate like Might Guy, it’s truly a nightmare. His strength far exceeds that of a normal Chunin.

Forget Chunin, with Might Guy’s strength, there aren’t many in all of Konoha who could confidently say they could defeat him in a one-on-one fight, and those who could are all renowned powerhouses.

The Ninja World-shaking level, naturally, goes without saying; powerhouses like the Third Hokage and the Sannin could easily defeat Might Guy. Then there are powerhouses with actual combat achievements from the war, like Minato Namikaze and Hayate Mugetsu, who could also easily defeat Might Guy. And then there are Ninja of Teacher Chen’s caliber, who could also win, but the process wouldn’t be easy.

Even Teacher Chen, who is in the last tier of that group, is a formidable individual known as Konoha’s strongest taijutsu user, which goes to show just how terrifying Might Guy’s current strength has become.

Might Guy, not one to let up after gaining an advantage, increased his force and gathered more Chakra, using an even stronger spinning kick.

“Leaf Strong Whirlwind!”

The Strong Whirlwind is currently Might Guy’s most powerful spin-series technique. If hit by this kick, the cost would be far more than just breaking a few trees.

“Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation!”

Hyuga Hiashi directly abandoned evasion and unleashed their Hyuga Clan’s secret technique, known as absolute defense.

Rotation is not merely about defending against an incoming attack; it is essentially a high-speed rotating Chakra Ball, like a spinning top, so it can also reflect attacks, though only physical ones.

Bang!

Might Guy’s incredibly heavy spinning kick struck the Chakra Ball with a huge sound. The next instant, the immense force generated by the high-speed rotation of the Chakra Ball sent Might Guy flying, returning the power of Might Guy’s kick back to him.

Might Guy, sent flying, dug two eight-meter-long furrows in the ground with his feet before finally managing to stop.

“That’s an interesting taijutsu technique,” Might Guy said, stretching his unharmed body, his expression growing even more excited.

His defense in Rock Breathing Chakra Mode was very strong; such a counterattack was not enough to injure him.

Might Guy was a little curious if Hyuga Hiashi’s Chakra shield could block his Golden Skyline.

However, at this moment, Might Guy was only thinking about it. Even the Rock Breathing Chakra Mode activated in the five-gate state put a lot of pressure on him. Using ordinary taijutsu was fine, but using Golden Skyline would definitely injure his palm.

If Kakashi wanted to feel Might Guy’s strength, Might Guy would use it, but this was a Jonin examination, so it wasn’t worth it.

“Leaf Dragon God!”

A massive amount of Chakra erupted from Might Guy’s body, his body spun rapidly, then transformed into a giant azure dragon.

Using Leaf Dragon God also put a considerable strain, but using it once was not a big problem.

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

Terrifying gales suddenly arose, and air currents like wind blades destroyed everything around Might Guy, then sucked them into the Azure Dragon. The constantly expanding body of the Azure Dragon seemed to want to destroy everything.

“It’s Teacher Chen’s taijutsu,” Hyuga Hiashi muttered, frowning as he recognized Might Guy’s taijutsu.

Rotation isn’t omnipotent; it’s not very suitable for dealing with taijutsu like Leaf Dragon God.

“Eight Trigrams: Empty Palm Wall!”

Hyuga Hiashi didn’t hesitate at all. He immediately concentrated all his Chakra into both palms and used his most powerful taijutsu.

Boom! Boom!!

The palms, infused with a massive amount of Chakra, struck the air, unleashing a tremendous roar. All the trees in front of Hyuga Hiashi were shattered by this powerful force, and then it collided with the giant Azure Dragon.

Bang! Bang!

The aftershocks generated by the collision of the two powerful forces impacted the ground, causing it to explode. The Azure Dragon’s forward momentum paused, and it was even forced backward by the immense force.

But as Might Guy continued to exert force, the Azure Dragon stubbornly resisted the pressure, eventually breaking through Hyuga Hiashi’s force step by step.

Hyuga Hiashi’s hands fell, and sharp wind blades tore his clothes, leaving marks on his body.

“Examination over!” The referee, seeing this, immediately announced the early end of the examination and for both parties to stop.

Might Guy quickly redirected the Azure Dragon, then cut off the Chakra supply, exiting the Eight Gates and Rock Breathing Chakra Mode states.

“Phew.” Might Guy exhaled heavily, lightly touching his chest.

“I still need to train harder to make my body stronger!” Might Guy thought to himself.

He felt that his hardware couldn’t keep up with the software; the immense pressure of Rock Breathing Chakra Mode wasn’t a problem with the mode itself, but rather that his body wasn’t strong enough to withstand such immense power.

Might Guy walked out of the battle arena, deep in thought, while Hyuga Hiashi watched Might Guy’s receding figure with a complex expression.

Not long ago, he had lamented Mimurabe Ketsu’s defeat by a candidate, leading to the early end of the examination, and he hadn’t expected it to be his turn today.

“If the Hyuga Clan could produce a genius like that, then Konoha’s top noble clan might not be the Uchiha anymore,” Hyuga Hiashi thought with a hint of unwillingness.

Both are Eye Technique Bloodline Limits, and both are large Ninja clans with long histories, so people often unconsciously compare the Hyuga Clan to the Uchiha.

The comparison undoubtedly shows the Uchiha Clan is stronger, much stronger than the Hyuga Clan; otherwise, how could the Uchiha be the top noble clan?

Although the Uchiha have a bad reputation in Konoha, everyone has eyes and knows who is stronger and who is weaker.

However, while the Uchiha are stronger, the Hyuga Clan Ninja are more popular.

On one hand, Uchiha Clan Ninja are generally arrogant; on the other hand, the Byakugan has an extraordinary strategic position.

The Uchiha Sharingan is strong, but it only makes the Uchiha who possesses the Sharingan strong.

The Hyuga Clan’s Byakugan, however, can give an entire squad an ultra-long-range field of vision, equivalent to having a full-map wallhack.

“I hope the next generation produces some excellent children,” Hyuga Hiashi thought, with a good sense of self-awareness.

Although he was not weak, he could not be compared to genius Ninja like Minato Namikaze and Hayate Mugetsu. He could only maintain the current status of the Hyuga Clan and could not lead the Hyuga Clan to further advancement.

If this generation couldn’t do it, then he could only pin his hopes on the next generation. Hyuga Hiashi decided that once he had descendants, he would strictly educate them to cultivate genius Ninja similar to Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy.

…

Might Guy had a blast during the practical examination, but when it came to the theoretical examination in the afternoon, Might Guy was stumped.

He couldn’t understand it at all, absolutely couldn’t understand it. He recognized all the characters on the paper, but when combined, they became completely unfamiliar to Might Guy.

Might Guy would rather fight four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist again than face those difficult questions.

That’s what he thought, but in order to get this proof of being an excellent Ninja more quickly, Might Guy still patiently filled out the test paper.

He couldn’t guarantee how many he got right, but at least he filled it up completely.

“As expected of my best friend, he even overcame such difficulties and became a Jonin,” Might Guy sighed, walking out of the examination room with a tired expression.

Tormented by the difficult questions, he finally understood why becoming a Jonin was proof of being an excellent Ninja. One would have to read so many books and memorize so much knowledge to even pass such a difficult test.

The Jonin examination results came back quickly.

“Your practical skills are excellent, almost perfect, but your theoretical knowledge is a bit lacking. Your overall examination score is insufficient for promotion to Jonin,” the informing Ninja said, trying to be as gentle as possible.

“Haha, it’s as bad as expected,” Might Guy scratched his head, not surprised at all.

He had never been good at theory.

“There’s still a chance for a make-up exam, so if you keep working hard, you can still be promoted to Jonin,” the informing Ninja comforted him as usual.

In truth, he felt that with Might Guy’s theoretical score, it would be very difficult to pass the Jonin examination and be promoted. However, saying so would be a bit hurtful.

Moreover, Might Guy didn’t really need to go through the Jonin examination route. With his achievements from the skirmishes, just a few more merits on the battlefield would be enough for him to be promoted to Jonin.

“Since I’ve already failed, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll try harder next time to pass,” Might Guy encouraged himself.

That day, both Kakashi and Obito came to find Might Guy.

“Guy, did you also not get promoted to Jonin?” Obito asked eagerly as soon as he entered.

It wasn’t that Obito was malicious and wished ill upon others, but if Might Guy passed the assessment, it would be very awkward for him.

Three people participated in the Jonin examination, and he was the only one who didn’t pass—that would be too embarrassing.

“Obito, you really know how to talk. Don’t say it next time,” Kakashi said, a bit speechless.

Might Guy didn’t mind much and nodded generously, “They said my theoretical score was too low, and they told me to study hard and take the make-up exam later.”

Obito put his arm around Might Guy’s shoulder, a smile he couldn’t control spreading across his face. Failing wasn’t scary; not having a brother to fail with was scary.

“This theoretical exam is too difficult and unreasonable! When we become high-ranking officials in the future, let’s jointly abolish the theoretical exam!” Obito said, acting like a good brother standing together through thick and thin.

“Once we become high-ranking officials, we won’t have to take the theoretical exam, right? Abolishing it or not seems to be the same,” Might Guy said honestly.

A word to the wise, Obito suddenly realized.

If he became a high-ranking official, who would still examine him? He should be the one examining others.

If he abolished the theory exam, wouldn’t it all benefit others, letting everyone else enjoy the advantages?

“Then let’s increase the difficulty of the exam, to make Konoha’s Ninja the elite of the elite,” Obito corrected himself.

Kakashi looked at Obito with disdain. “You’re really something else right now.”

“Let’s talk about the future later. Let’s discuss important matters first,” Kakashi interrupted.

He wasn’t here to watch Obito gradually turn into the person he disliked most; he was here to discuss returning to the battlefield.