I'm sure everyone can agree that Naruto has been Konoha's strongest ninja for quite a while, at the very least since he mastered Sage Mode. However, what has been argued about is who is Konoha's 2nd strongest? Well, surely it's between Tsunade and Kakashi, right?
Tsunade's mastery in medical jutsu, her hype as one of the legendary sannin and her incredible strength.
Kakashi's mastery in ninjutsu, known all over the naruto-world and has even had Akatsuki members comment on how they fear him/are excited about the challenge he presents.
But I'm going to go outside the box here. I'm not gonna stick to just that, I'm going to argue for someone else, who I believe possibly surpasses Tsunade and Kakashi as Konoha's 2nd best. You should have a good idea of who I'm talking about, but if not...
It's the one and only...
Might Gai
Would you want to fight someone with a smile as white as his? Hair as immaculate as his? Clothing style as stunning as his? And don't even get me started about those marvelous eyebrows.. You know you'd shit yourself just thinking about it.
...All joking aside here, I feel Might Gai is often underappreciated and has just as good of a case as Kakashi and Tsunade to be Konoha's 2nd strongest. Let's go stage by stage, here -
Hype -
His hype started early in the series, as Sasuke commented on him being even better than Kakashi after his fight with Lee.
Receiving Itachi's respect as he arrived to save Asuma, Kurenai and Kakashi from getting killed.
Receiving respect/hype from Zetsu and Itachi once again as they were on the way to the hideout.
Receiving respect from Kisame, something that is very rare to come by.
Part 2 of the debate for Gai
Intelligence -
Everyone likes to think that Gai is a dumbass, for one reason or another, when it's very far from the case. His intelligence feats include
Coming up with a method to fight sharingan users -
This method was praised by both Kurenai and Asuma, as shown above, and even Kakashi, arguably Konoha's smartest ninja even found the technique to be a very smart method to use, as shown here:
Showing better battle intelligence than a proclaimed genius in Neji -
Gai managed to actually take his weapon away along with not getting caught in such a technique. While taking his weapon away ultimately meant nothing, it showed his combat intelligence is among the best in Konoha.
2 intelligence feats vs Kisame(round 2)
He used his turtle in order to catch up to Kisame quicker, showing he can think calmly in pressure situations
Using a jutsu that led Kisame to believe it was chakra based, but wasn't.
Part 3 Of The Debate For Gai
Combat Ability
Something I'm sure no one will argue about, but I feel why not add it anyway -
Showing up without being sensed/noticed by either Itachi or Kisame, and knocking Kisame away -
Multiple combat feats vs Kisame(early shippuden)
- Taking away Kisame's samehada
- Moving so fast you can't even see him
- A kick so fast that Kisame can't even finish a 2 word sentence
- Morning Peacock which completely destroys Kisame's 30% clone[/img]
Still having the stamina, even after using the 6th gate, to fight a clone of himself, and win -
And also having the stamina to carry Kakashi back to the village...comic relief or not, still awesome
Combat feats vs Kisame(round 2) -
- Knocking the hell out of Kisame
- Fighting off one of Kisame's sharks
-Using Asa Kujaku to try and fend off the mass amount of Sharks
- His chakra repelling water
- Kicking it up a notch to the 7th Gate
- Defeating Kisame's ultimate technique, and this not even as strong as he can become(remember, still has 1 gate left to open)
- Even after using such a draining technique, still manages to use second to none reflexes to give Kisame one hell of a punch
- Still having the will and stamina to fight even after all of that above
War-Arc Feats -
- Teaming up with Kakashi to stop Tobi from warping away Naruto
- Destroys the coral on Naruto
- Fighting the tailed beasts
- Using morning peacock to fight the tailed beasts
- Stating he can use the 8th gate to get rid of the tailed beasts/tailed beast bombs
All of this shows that Might Gai has as good of a case as both Tsunade and Kakashi as being Konoha's 2nd strongest ninja, and should receive much more respect than what he gets.
Tsunade's mastery in medical jutsu, her hype as one of the legendary sannin and her incredible strength.
Kakashi's mastery in ninjutsu, known all over the naruto-world and has even had Akatsuki members comment on how they fear him/are excited about the challenge he presents.
But I'm going to go outside the box here. I'm not gonna stick to just that, I'm going to argue for someone else, who I believe possibly surpasses Tsunade and Kakashi as Konoha's 2nd best. You should have a good idea of who I'm talking about, but if not...
It's the one and only...
Might Gai
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Would you want to fight someone with a smile as white as his? Hair as immaculate as his? Clothing style as stunning as his? And don't even get me started about those marvelous eyebrows.. You know you'd shit yourself just thinking about it.
...All joking aside here, I feel Might Gai is often underappreciated and has just as good of a case as Kakashi and Tsunade to be Konoha's 2nd strongest. Let's go stage by stage, here -
Hype -
His hype started early in the series, as Sasuke commented on him being even better than Kakashi after his fight with Lee.
You must be registered for see images
Receiving Itachi's respect as he arrived to save Asuma, Kurenai and Kakashi from getting killed.
You must be registered for see images
Receiving respect/hype from Zetsu and Itachi once again as they were on the way to the hideout.
You must be registered for see images
Receiving respect from Kisame, something that is very rare to come by.
You must be registered for see images
Part 2 of the debate for Gai
Intelligence -
Everyone likes to think that Gai is a dumbass, for one reason or another, when it's very far from the case. His intelligence feats include
Coming up with a method to fight sharingan users -
You must be registered for see images
This method was praised by both Kurenai and Asuma, as shown above, and even Kakashi, arguably Konoha's smartest ninja even found the technique to be a very smart method to use, as shown here:
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Showing better battle intelligence than a proclaimed genius in Neji -
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Gai managed to actually take his weapon away along with not getting caught in such a technique. While taking his weapon away ultimately meant nothing, it showed his combat intelligence is among the best in Konoha.
2 intelligence feats vs Kisame(round 2)
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He used his turtle in order to catch up to Kisame quicker, showing he can think calmly in pressure situations
You must be registered for see images
Using a jutsu that led Kisame to believe it was chakra based, but wasn't.
Part 3 Of The Debate For Gai
Combat Ability
Something I'm sure no one will argue about, but I feel why not add it anyway -
Showing up without being sensed/noticed by either Itachi or Kisame, and knocking Kisame away -
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Multiple combat feats vs Kisame(early shippuden)
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- Taking away Kisame's samehada
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- Moving so fast you can't even see him
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- A kick so fast that Kisame can't even finish a 2 word sentence
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- Morning Peacock which completely destroys Kisame's 30% clone[/img]
Still having the stamina, even after using the 6th gate, to fight a clone of himself, and win -
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You must be registered for see images
And also having the stamina to carry Kakashi back to the village...comic relief or not, still awesome
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Combat feats vs Kisame(round 2) -
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- Knocking the hell out of Kisame
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- Fighting off one of Kisame's sharks
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-Using Asa Kujaku to try and fend off the mass amount of Sharks
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- His chakra repelling water
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- Kicking it up a notch to the 7th Gate
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You must be registered for see images
- Defeating Kisame's ultimate technique, and this not even as strong as he can become(remember, still has 1 gate left to open)
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- Even after using such a draining technique, still manages to use second to none reflexes to give Kisame one hell of a punch
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- Still having the will and stamina to fight even after all of that above
War-Arc Feats -
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- Teaming up with Kakashi to stop Tobi from warping away Naruto
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- Destroys the coral on Naruto
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- Fighting the tailed beasts
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- Using morning peacock to fight the tailed beasts
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- Stating he can use the 8th gate to get rid of the tailed beasts/tailed beast bombs
All of this shows that Might Gai has as good of a case as both Tsunade and Kakashi as being Konoha's 2nd strongest ninja, and should receive much more respect than what he gets.