Kakashi quickly inspects Gai's body and notices several torn muscles and ligaments. Most of Gai's body is swollen from overexerting himself.

"Gai, are you alright?!"

Huff… Huff…

"I-I am fine! Only my right arm and a few ribs are hurting. The rest is just some muscle sprain" Gai pants.

Kakashi opens his mouth but no words come out. Gai's condition is more severe than he describes.

"Kakashi, you have to run as far as possible. Madara is after your eye. We can't allow him to steal your eye." Gai places his hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

"But Gai… you!"

"It's alright, Kakashi! Our youth hasn't faded yet. So, we can't let the next generation bear all the burden for us. Naruto and the rest have already done their best. So, it's about time I give it my all."

"G-Gai… don't tell me… you- you're going to…!"

"Kakashi, my best friend and rival… It's true that everything we wish for will not come to be… but something must be done to secure a better future."

Gai turns to Kakashi with a smile on his face.

"Because that's what a Ninja strives for!"

HAAH…

Gai crosses his arms in front of his chest.

"Eight Inner Gates: Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder: Open,"

Shoom…

Blue sweat evaporates from Gai's body.

"I am sorry Kakashi!" Gai grabs Kakashi and throws him forward in the air with full strength.

"GAIII… YOUUU!!"

"Also, I am very grateful to you for being the only person to acknowledge my strength and treat me as a true rival!"

Kakashi reads Gai's lips while flying in the air.

"GAI!"

A teardrop leaks from Kakashi's eye.

"Gai, you will always be my one and only rival!" Kakashi wipes his tears and smiles at his friend's resolve.

Gai turns around with a smile on his face.

"The end has come for the Leaf's blue beast… It's time for the red beast to emerge!"

Whoosh…

Suddenly, a black orb flies out of nowhere, striking Gai's location.

Whoosh…

A shadow escapes from the location before the impact.

Boom…

A massive cloud of dust and debris rises at the site of the explosion.

"Hmm… you are still as stubborn as ever!"

Madara floats in the air, glancing at Gai.

"Madara, behold! I will show you the resolve of a shinobi."

Swoosh…

Gai charges towards Madara. A green aura emerges from his body and mixes with the blue sweat. Gai pokes his heart Tenketsu points with his thumb, releasing the limiter on his body.

'Hmm… his chakra is spreading towards the heart's Death Gate Tenketsu point.'

A blood-red aura slowly seeps out of Gai's body.

"The Eight Gate: Gate of Death: OPEEENNN!!!"

Boom…

A massive beam of red light rises from Gai's body. The red light forms a pillar of light that pierces through the sky.

Rumble… Rumble…

The surrounding land crumbles under the sheer pressure from the releases of such a massive amount of chakra.

Boom… boom… boom…

Numerous cracks spanning a radius of a kilometer spread across the ground.

RUMBLE… RUMBLE…

Blood-red chakra flames erupt from these cracks.

BANG…

Suddenly, Madara feels an immensely powerful force act on his body.

BOOM…

He is sent flying away several kilometers away while coughing out a mouthful of blood.

'My ribs are broken!'

Madara wipes the blood from his mouth while glancing at the huge cavity in his chest.

'My eyes couldn't even follow his movements. I didn't even see how he attacked me.'

A crazy expression appears on Madara's face.

"Interesting! This is going to be very interesting!"

Madara's injuries heal rapidly.

"Finally, there is someone with enough strength to contest against my current power."

Shoom…

Madara stabilizes himself and flies towards the red pillar of light.

The commotion created by Gai's opening of the Eight Gate attracts the attention of the shinobis.

"What's that red pillar of light?" Several shinobis questions.

"Is it Madara?" someone asks.

"No, it's not him!" A sensor shinobi shakes his head.

"I clearly felt Madara's sinister chakra before. This chakra and pressure is on par with him, but it's not Madara." The sensor shinobi shakes his head.

"Is it a tailed beast?" Another shinobi remark.

"They also have a similar red chakra!"

"I don't know!" The sensor shinobis shakes his head.

"Anyway, let's get as far away as possible from this place. This battle isn't something that we are even qualified to witness. We will only get ourselves in trouble if we are too curious."

"Let's go!" The shinobi group increases their pace.

Similar conversations happen across several shinobi teams.

On the previous battlefield,

Minato and Tsunade free everyone from the effect of the Black Receiver Rod.

Shoom…

Suddenly, they also feel the sudden intense chakra and the massive red pillar in the distance.

"That's… what's that?"

The Kages and commander ask with worry.

Only the expression of shinobis from Konoha turns ugly.

"That's a pillar of blood chakra!"

Shisui opens his mouth.

"Blood chakra?!" A and Onoki turn to him.

"Sensei!"

Suddenly, Lee falls to the ground with tears in his eyes.

"Sensei… sensei…"

He punches the ground with tears in his eyes.

"Sensei, if only I wasn't so weak. Then… then… I could have…"

"It's alright, Lee! This is Gai's choice. We have to respect it." Minato pats Lee's shoulder and sighs with remorse.

"Still, we can't let Gai's resolve go to waste. We have to aid him in his battle."

"I will go with you!" Lee wipes his tears and holds Minato's hands.

"Lee- you…"

Minato stares at Lee's resolute expression and sighs.

"Very well!"

"We will also go with you!" Tsunade, Mei, Itachi, Shisui, Tenten, Neji, and the rest insist.

"No!" Minato decisively shakes his head.

"You haven't even recovered enough chakra to move properly, much less fight. So, it will be futile! Also, I don't have enough chakra to carry you all." 

The group grits their teeth and withholds their sentiments.

"Only Lee, Kushina, and Itachi will go with me. The rest will stay here."

The three people stand beside Minato and place their hands on his shoulder.

Fwoosh…

The next second, the group disappears from the battlefield.

After Minato's departure, the rest of the shinobis turn to Shisui and other members of Konoha for an explanation. Even a few higher-ups of Konoha turn to Shisui, who seems to know the depth of the matter.

Sigh…

Shisui sighs and explains.

"It's Might Gai's Forbidden Jutsu!"

"Might Gai!"

The group glances at each other and recalls the unremarkable appearance of Gai. Other than his strength, which is only slightly lacking compared to a Kage, none of his other features are noteworthy. Well, maybe except for the fact that he is a Taijutsu expert and only uses Taijutsu in battle.

However, none of that is impressive since there were several shinobis in the past of such caliber.

"Wait, Might Gai…Might Dai!"

Suddenly, an elder of Kirigakure recalls some very old information.

"Back then, during the third shinobi war, there was a shinobi from Konoha, whose name was Might Dai. There are records of his battle against the Seven Mist Swordsman."

The elder continues.

"It is a piece of very confidential information, but it was written in the records that the shinobi 'Might Dai' single-handedly wiped out more than five members of the Seven Mist Swordsman in a battle. Only two people survived the battle, the first person died shortly before the medical help could arrive and the only living member succumbed to his injuries a few years later."

"W-what?!"

This time even shinobis from Konoha are surprised.

"I know Might Dai!" A veteran from Konoha nods.

"We were in the same batch in the academy. Other shinobis were quickly promoted in ranks, but as far as I remember, only Dai was struck at being a genin. It was due to his inability to clear the chunnin exam because of his lack of chakra." The veteran recalls.

"Later, he died during the Third Shinobi War. Since he was only a genin and several genins died during that battle, not many people paid any attention to it. However, I didn't expect him to be…"

The veteran stops, but his words and intentions clear.

"That's Gai's father." Shisui nods and continues his explanation.

"Might Dai created an extremely powerful technique that allowed the user to obtain a power comparable to the Sage of Six Paths for a brief moment. However, the cost of this technique is that, after the technique ends, the user will definitely die with zero chance of survival. No kind of medical herb or technique can save him."

Everyone turns their attention to Tsunade, who nods her head.

"When we went to recover Dai's body, not even a trace of it was found. The burden sustained by his body after removing his limiter was so great that his body turned to ashes after the end of the technique."

"Then does that mean…"

Everyone's expression turns solemn and the respect in their heart for Gai skyrockets.

"Now that's what a true shinobi is!" someone proclaims.

Everyone silently agrees with him while etching Gai's name forever in their memories.