Naruto: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 246: Now Is Not the Time to Witness the Full Power of the Eight Gates

Not far away, Kakashi, with his left eye socket bleeding and empty, struggled to get up.

Hagoromo Gengetsu was contemplating the location of Mount Myōboku when he heard the commotion and turned to look.

"Konoha Dynamic Entry!!"

Suddenly, a fierce wind swept in, and a powerful spinning kick aimed at his head. Hagoromo Gengetsu raised an eyebrow, calmly blocking it with his hand.

*Slap!*

Hagoromo Gengetsu remained unmoved.

He caught the attacking leg, and as he turned his head, he saw Might Guy, emitting blue steam all over his body, already having opened the Seventh Gate. Guy quickly twisted his body, aiming a more powerful kick at Gengetsu.

Not interested in engaging, Hagoromo Gengetsu threw Guy's leg with a powerful flick of his wrist.

*Whoosh!*

Guy flew like a cannonball through the air.

In an instant, he managed to halt his mid-air momentum and landed quickly, positioning himself beside Kakashi.

"What strength!" Guy remarked solemnly, still feeling pain in his calf where he had been grabbed.

'Even opening just the Seventh Gate is far from enough,' Guy thought, touching his chest, already resolved.

He glanced at Kakashi, seeing his friend in such a dire state for the first time.

Guy wanted to cry, but the tears evaporated due to the high temperature of his body. He could only ask with concern, "Kakashi, can you still hold on?"

"You've arrived, Guy," Kakashi said, standing up and regaining his usual calm demeanor. "I can manage, but from here on, I'll try not to be a burden."

"No worries! Leave the enemy to me from now on!" Guy replied with a bright smile, his white teeth flashing, exuding an unprecedented determination and passion.

"Guy, you..." Kakashi began, realizing what Guy intended to do, his expression changing.

"Retreating is not an option in youth. Kakashi, for me, unleashing my full potential is my youth! Besides, this is our home!" Guy said, without hesitation, pressing his hand to his right chest, preparing to activate the Eighth Gate.

Opposite them, Hagoromo Gengetsu's mouth twitched slightly. "Now is not the time to witness the full power of the Eight Gates."

He clapped his hands together, sending dozens of sharp wind blades swiftly towards Guy and Kakashi.

Guy was unconcerned for himself, but Kakashi, being heavily injured, could not withstand such attacks.

Forced to halt his activation of the Eighth Gate, Guy grabbed Kakashi, dodging the incoming wind blades.

Seeing this, Hagoromo Gengetsu wasted no time, his figure disappearing instantly.

In the current shinobi world, Guy opening the Eight Gates posed the greatest threat to him.

Especially the final kick, which, if landed, could send even a non-Six Paths being like him back to the netherworld.

With his plans not yet complete, Hagoromo Gengetsu had no intention of fighting Guy to the death here, potentially benefiting others.

Having gathered the needed information and knowing that his target was not in Konoha, he decided to leave.

After scattering the wind blades, Guy checked on Kakashi. Seeing that Kakashi was fine, he looked back at where Hagoromo Gengetsu had been, finding the place empty.

"Huh? Where did he go?" Guy scratched his head, looking around.

Hagoromo Gengetsu had already gone far.

As he prepared to create shadow clones to search in three directions, he noticed a purple-haired woman eating dumplings.

"Orochimaru," Hagoromo Gengetsu's eyes glinted. He appeared behind the purple-haired woman, knocking her out with a chop to the neck.

Lifting her collar, he saw the familiar Heaven Curse Mark on her fair neck.

Without external interference, even if Orochimaru's soul fragments were lurking in the Heaven Curse Mark, they could not emerge on their own.

This had been Hagoromo Gengetsu's reassurance after killing Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's loyal and capable core subordinates were all dead.

Those incapable of such loyalty likely didn't know the curse mark could revive Orochimaru.

In essence, Orochimaru was truly dead.

However, to be sure, and since he had encountered Anko Mitarashi here, Hagoromo Gengetsu decided to clean up any loose ends.

Just as he had dealt with Sasuke's Heaven Curse Mark, he removed the seal on Anko's neck, placed his right hand on the curse mark, and activated the Human Path's soul absorption technique.

Soon, with a pull of his right hand, he extracted a soul fragment of Orochimaru from the curse mark.

"It's you!" Orochimaru glared at Hagoromo Gengetsu with struggle and resentment.

Hagoromo Gengetsu had no interest in listening to a defeated enemy's complaints and crushed the soul fragment.

With that, he continued his search for Mount Myōboku.

Ten minutes later.

Anko awoke in pain, immediately looking at the squashed, dusty dumplings she had dropped, lamenting, "My dumplings!!"

Of course, Hagoromo Gengetsu had not kindly placed her somewhere comfortable, leaving the dumplings crushed on the ground.

Tears in her eyes, Anko had to abandon the uneaten dumplings and quickly pondered what had happened.

"Someone knocked me out!"

Her expression changed.

Though she was only a special jōnin, few could knock her out without her noticing.

What had the assailant wanted?

Anko quickly searched her body, finding nothing missing and no trace of any jutsu.

"No way!" She ran her hand over her neck, noticing something different.

Turning to look, she saw the Heaven Curse Mark left by Orochimaru was gone.

"How is this possible?!"

Even Konoha had been unable to remove the Heaven Curse Mark, only sealing it to prevent it from acting up.

But now, within a short time of her being unconscious, the troublesome curse mark had disappeared.

She felt a mix of relief, melancholy, and confusion.

"Who could remove the Heaven Curse Mark so quickly? Could it be Orochimaru?!"

Only the owner of the curse mark could easily remove it.

Anko couldn't understand why Orochimaru would remove her curse mark.

Realizing such a dangerous person might be in the village, her face paled, and she rushed to the Hokage's office to report this critical information.

Similarly, Kakashi, insisting on it, had Guy carry him to the Hokage's office.

Iruka, who had woken up with a dizzy head, hurried to report, sensing something amiss.

Except for Ichiraku, who was not a ninja.

Despite sensing something was wrong, he continued to study new ramen recipes.

For him, food was a constant joy.