And there he goes. Gai’s arguably past the point of no return now that he’s activated his Eighth Gate of Death, and in general it’s a pretty nice chapter—both because of the shift in focus and the perspective this week gives us on Gai. The fact that we get to see of Gai’s dad and how Gai grew up with the early realization he was unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu adds quite a personal touch to this chapter, and there arguably wasn’t a more fitting place to put this quick flashback.

Indeed, it’s always nice to get some extra background on a character—especially one as well loved as Gai has been—and we get this and an important life lesson while we’re at it: the concept that there will always be multiple views on the same thing. In Gai’s (and his father’s) case, the fact is either of them could’ve just decided that they were incapable of being proper Shinobi, and they could’ve just given up on the assumption there was no point putting in the effort into being one. Yet, they didn’t, and it all goes down to how our duo manages to flip what would be the typical conclusion on its back. Rather than lament their lack of ability, they took solace in the fact that there was one thing they could do and they could hone that, and it ultimately made all the difference in their development.

To say the least, there’s a lot of things one could take from something “as simple” as this—highlighting the notion that even the simplest things could bend up quite profound and hammering in just the kind of guy (no pun intended) Gai is. He’s not a guy who pours over tactics or thinks a lot during battle. He’s not someone who’s content just sitting around in the back. This is a guy who knows exactly the strengths, weaknesses, and beliefs he has. Basically, he’s as straight forward as they come. Sadly though, it always seems like these are the kind of characters that end up sacrificing themselves in situations like this, and it looks like we may be witnessing Gai’s final moments. Or are we? Guess we’ll find out.

47 Comments

      1. You could say the same thing about Kiba, his swords, but they made it into the manga anyways. It seems to me that Kishi did the same with Raiga, as that definitely looks more like Raiga to me, especially the way he dresses.

        Gekokujou
  1. Yes Kishi. Let Guy beat Madara. That will be greatest ending.

    If Guy dies without finishing Madara, then let it be game over for Naruto & co. Guy is the only hope remaining.

    EamonX
  2. I’m upset yet I could tell Gai would be the type to sacrifice himself in the right moment from the very beginning… it’s sad, but here’s hoping he kicks Madara’s butt (though my hopes aren’t high… )

    Skins Thunderbomb
    1. Sadly yes. In the world of shounen, a flashback for a character is as good as a death flag. The even sadder thing is that he will probably die without inflicting much harm to Madara. Its like they decided to make a character look heroic but redundant in the grand scheme of things….

      Which is quite a waste considering Gai was definitely one of the more interesting characters in the Naruto-verse

      Euzio
  3. One of the best flashbacks in awhile! However, if Gai cannot use ninjitsu how can he use kuchiyose? I guess they can argue it’s a contract summon etc. Here’s to hoping for a last minute save by medical ninja, otherwise the casualty list will just be him, neiji and a few thousand no names lol (so far).

    Nanashi
    1. I don’t think its Gai being unable to use ninjitsu. He’s just not good at it? Especially when compared to a ninjitsu specialist like Kakashi. Hence his single dedicated devotion to mastering taijitsu. The only shinobi so far that isn’t able to use ninjitsu or genjutsu is Rock Lee.

      Euzio
      1. I always thought the same, but there is a panel where Might Dai says that Gai cannot use genjutsu / ninjutsu. This could be a mis-translation. At any rate, I hope next week we get to see Might Dai vs Swordsmen of the mist!

        Nanashi
    1. Though summoning is considered a jutsu, if I remember correctly, it’s main concept is forging a contract with the summoned beings, and having enough chakra summon them. Therefore, Gai should be able to summon. Not 100% sure, though. Could be wrong.

      bakakubi
  4. While Gai is 100% guaranteed to die after releasing the 8th gate, I will be extremely disappointed if he does not do some kind of significant damage to Madara that helps Naruto+Sasuke win in the end.
    If that were to happen I probably wouldn’t finish reading the manga.

    Aeous
    1. Honestly, I really hope no one does, especially Naruto, who would only go on to completely steal the spotlight that should’ve otherwise gone to others at the time, like stealing the spotlight from Team 10 and such with Kakuzu just to show off the half-finished Rasenshuriken (even having him do it all alone) that only really succeeded due to Kakuzu’s “moment of stupidity”.

      The whole point of this is to let Gai get more background and show off his full power and what he may or may not be able to do against Madara all at the selfless cost of his own life either way (killed by Madara or by the effect of releasing all eight gates). If Naruto or anyone were to show up and magically save him, it would severely cheapen the build-up and impact for his actions and make it feel almost pointless.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
  5. Gai sits on Madara causing him to be unable to move.
    Sasuke gets the Rinnegan / Sharingan combo 🙁 due to Hashirama cells …
    Naruto is stuck with Tailed-Beast modes and Tailed-Beast Bomb and Senin jutsus.

    Im guessing Tenten comes to the rescue … instead of sealing Madara … seals Gai into the Pots. Madara looms large … Sasuke is revived and uses Rinne / Sharingan to get Naruto back … they fight Madara … the End ?

    I’m getting confused by these flashbacks … the plot is gone to pot.

    man_iii
    1. Editor fault…they want Kishi continue the manga more possible, so the author has finished ideas (Kishi stated that he don’t know how to beat Madara because of the continuous power ups).

      NaruSaku forever!!!!
      1. Perhaps it’s still to early to defeat or kill Madara Uchiha, I think MK(the author) needs to
        temporarily seal Madara Uchiha until Naruto or Sasuke are strong enough to kill Him just like Ichigo Kurosaki beat Sosuke Aizen even though He(Ichigo) wasn’t strong enough kill Aizen.

        K C M
  6. When there’s a flashback, usually the person will die. It happened with Danzo too and if i remember correctly even with Neji. The chapter it’s a bit boring…lot of flashback, so the usual cliffhanger with the best part (the fight) postponed to the next chapter.

    NaruSaku forever!!!!
  7. Sadly, I have a feeling we’ll get a few new big and flashy moves from Gai through the eight gates, but Madara, while he may be surprised a couple times, will ultimately take them in stride with Gai merely having bought time for the others by keeping Madara’s attention on him. It wouldn’t even really matter how powerful the description of the Eight Gates is, when they say “stronger than the five Kage”, whether it means stronger than any one of the individual Kage or stronger than all five together, given Madara, even with his “weaker” Edo Tensei body, was able to take on all five together in stride and how he’s far more powerful than even that with most of the Jubi in him, and even with just one (live) Rinnegan eye too.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
  8. Usually.. I wait until the weekend to read my Naruto chapters… however this week and likely the next Ill have to catch them early. Gai’s finale is something many of us have been wanting to see although not really wanting to happen.

    Yep, Gai leaving us is going to be sad.. However as soon as the 8 gates technique was introduced we all knew Gai was going to go out using the gates( to save his peeps of course) I just hope its a total waste…Madara needs a broke arm or something after this.

    Lithonite
    1. If the flashbacks were nothing but clip shows, like episodes of Gundam Wing or SEED/SEED Destiny did a couple times, then I’d agree, but a majority of these flashbacks, much like some of the earlier filler anime original episodes, actually serve a purpose in giving us readers more background information on a character(s) and make whatever they’re presently doing have more meaning.

      Would you rather have Gai do something meaningful like what he’s doing now, and possibly die as a result, yet have us know absolutely nothing about him aside from? Where he got much of his inspiration from? And so on?

      HalfDemonInuyasha

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