The Reanimation Jutsu was never a technique intended to be maintained indefinitely. In truth, it was a marvel that Tobirama Senju's reanimated form had lasted this long.
When he first developed the technique, he had never envisioned it as a means of truly restoring the dead to life.
The living belonged with the living, and the dead with the dead. In this regard, Tobirama shared the philosophy of his brother, Hashirama Senju. If the barrier between life and death were to be permanently dismantled, humanity would lose its reverence for mortality. It would lead to chaos—much like the internal strife the Uchiha Clan suffered years ago following the birth of Izanagi.
Izanagi allowed the user to turn reality into a dream, effectively erasing unfavorable events. It could even reverse death itself. The price for such power was the permanent loss of sight in one Sharingan. Even with such a heavy toll, the Uchiha Clan had still fallen into rebellion because of that technique's existence. This served as a stark reminder of what happens when the boundary of death is blurred.
Now, the time remaining for Tobirama's reanimated body was running out. He estimated that he wouldn't live to see the day Might Guy successfully manifested the Sage Seal. However, Tobirama had been proud his entire life; he wasn't about to bring this up of his own accord.
Instead...
The wind brushed through Tobirama's silver hair as he sat alone on the edge of the Hokage Rock. Gazing down at the village he loved so dearly, his eyes betrayed no emotion. Regardless of his personal feelings toward Kakashi Hatake as the Fifth Hokage, he could not deny the man's competence.
The current Hokage had unified the Land of Fire, and lately, Tobirama hadn't just been burying himself in research. He had kept an eye on Kakashi's recent movements. The birth of naval and aerial forces allowed Tobirama to keenly perceive the young Hokage's ambitions. One day, the vast skies and the bottomless depths of the ocean would also become the territory of Konohagakure.
Then there was the matter of the Stone of Gelel, which he had heard about from Jiraiya. Everything Kakashi did served to push the "windmill" of Konoha, which had begun to rust.
And now... the wind had arrived.
A flake of debris drifted away from Tobirama's cheek, crumbling into dust. Footsteps sounded behind him.
"What's this?" Tobirama asked with a low chuckle, not turning around. "Shouldn't you be spending time with your pregnant wife?"
"It looks like your time is up," Kakashi said, having appeared silently at the scene.
"Kakashi, I don't like you." Tobirama still didn't look back. Instead, he kept his gaze fixed on the village he had loved for a lifetime—the place he had died to protect. "But there is no denying that you are a qualified Hokage."
The Second Hokage's voice continued, tinged with a mix of melancholy, nostalgia, and eventually, a sense of relief. "I really would have liked to see the future of a peaceful Shinobi world..."
"You still have plenty of bones left," Kakashi replied nonchalantly. "It's not that much trouble to use Reanimation again."
"You naturally evil Hatake brat!"
With those final words, Tobirama was gone. He departed in a flurry of dust, cursing Kakashi until the very end.
Kakashi wasn't entirely sure if Tobirama actually wanted to be reanimated again. But he didn't dwell on it. He knew that if the village truly needed him, that selfless Hokage would set aside any personal grievances and help in a heartbeat.
With Tobirama gone, Kakashi needed to find Guy. He had full confidence that Guy could meet the prerequisites for the Sage Seal. With Guy's legendary willpower, he could master even the most difficult chakra control techniques through sheer, stubborn persistence.
In fact, the very idea for the Sage Seal had been conceived with Might Guy in mind. From the beginning, Kakashi had never forgotten the man to whom he could entrust everything—his life, his goals, and his world.
"Chakra control training?"
Kakashi found Might Guy in the middle of a workout. Guy was currently attempting to break his personal record for pushups: 35,000.
(Note: For context, the real-world record set by Paul Lynch in 1985 was 25,753.)
Dripping with sweat, Guy responded to Kakashi without breaking his rhythm.
"That's right," Kakashi said, sitting down beside him. "The Sage Seal requires extreme precision. If you can master your internal strength to that degree, the seal will make you exponentially more powerful."
"Uooooh! As expected of my eternal rival!" Guy cried out, tears and sweat mingling and dripping from his nose. He didn't stop his pushups for a second. "Don't worry, Kakashi! I will definitely complete it! I won't let you down!"
"If it's you, Guy, I doubt there's anything in this world that can stop you." Kakashi felt a surge of emotion. It wasn't hyperbole—he knew that if Guy set his mind to it, even the most grueling chakra exercises would eventually yield to him.
"Wait! I have one question!" Guy shouted.
"What is it?"
"To what extent do I need to control it for it to count as 'mastery'?"
Kakashi fell into thought. "Wait here for a moment."
He left quickly and returned just as fast. By then, Guy had finished his set and was lying on the grass, gasping for air.
"Kakashi..." Guy struggled to sit up. He looked at the items in Kakashi's hand with confusion: a needle, a piece of cloth, and a spool of thread.
"These are your training tools," Kakashi said, handing them over. "You must use your chakra to manipulate the needle and thread to embroider various patterns onto this cloth."
Guy blinked.
"Once you can do it in your normal state, you'll increase the difficulty. You'll need to do it while the Eight Inner Gates are open—starting from the first gate and moving up."
The Eight Inner Gates worked by forcing the body's limiters open to release a violent, explosive amount of chakra. If Guy could perfectly control that eruptive power with the delicacy required for embroidery, his strength would grow exponentially even without the Sage Seal.
"Of course, it will be incredibly difficult," Kakashi began, but he stopped mid-sentence.
The look in Guy's eyes told him everything he needed to know.
"Kakashi." Guy reached out and took the tiny embroidery needle. His rough, calloused palm looked completely out of place holding the slender, shimmering silver needle. "You believe in me, so I will not fail you. I will do it."
His voice was unusually calm. Since the battle with the Sky Ninja, Guy had felt a mounting sense of urgency. Unless he opened the Sixth Gate or higher, he couldn't stand as an equal member of the "Two-Man Team" Kakashi had spoken of. Even at the Sixth Gate, he was only just qualified to fight by his side. Only the Seventh Gate—the Gate of Wonder—held the power to truly face any enemy alongside Kakashi.
But the Seventh Gate only lasted ten minutes.
He didn't want to be a burden. He refused to be. Therefore, he would complete any training, no matter how absurd, if it brought him power. He wanted to fight beside Kakashi as a man to whom everything could be entrusted.
"Let's make a promise," Guy said, holding the needle in his fist and extending it toward Kakashi. "Three years. I'll master this training. It's a man's promise!"
[Might Guy's emotional fluctuations +1] [Chakra +1%...]
"Alright," Kakashi smiled, bumping his fist against Guy's. "I'll be waiting."
Witnessing the sheer determination in Guy's eyes, Kakashi's heart stirred. No one else was there to witness this vow, but it didn't matter. Guy was not a man who broke his word.
"You don't need to wait for me, Kakashi! If you stopped moving forward because of me, I could never face you!" Guy stood up with effort, clutching the needle as he looked toward the blue horizon. For a moment, he seemed to see the image of his father, the man who had shaped his life.
For his friends—for Kakashi—he could do anything.
As Kakashi walked away, his mind turned inward. Using chakra to embroider was something he could do, as could Tsunade or Jiraiya. The true challenge was doing it under the strain of the Eight Inner Gates. If Guy succeeded, he would truly be second to none.
Perhaps even Kakashi himself would be surpassed.
To ensure he wasn't left behind by his best friend, Kakashi decided he needed to find his own way to reach the next level. He had already merged Yin Release with his lightning to create Purple Electricity (Shiden). Theoretically, he could do the same with Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth.
Purple Electricity was no longer a standard ninjutsu; it was closer to a Kekkei Genkai, like the Ice Release of the Yuki Clan or the Lava Release of other nations.
If Yin plus Lightning made Purple Electricity, what would Yang plus Lightning create? Red Lightning? And what would happen if he fused the two?
He was walking a path no one had ever traveled before. He was an explorer in the dark. But as he looked back one last time toward Guy, Kakashi grinned. Just as he believed in Guy, he knew that if Guy knew the path Kakashi was taking, he would believe in him just as fiercely.
Kakashi turned back to the road ahead, his resolve absolute.
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