After thinking for a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi said they could try and asked if anyone had food or a Soldier Pill. Choza Akimichi hesitated until Inoichi Yamanaka tugged his clothes, then he stepped forward with a Scroll. He explained that it was filled with food and released it with a Sealing Technique.
With a puff of white smoke, piles of snacks, roasted meat, Soldier Pills, and three secret pills from the Akimichi Clan appeared. Might Guy raised his hand toward the food as the mouth cried louder. He picked up a piece of meat, but the mouth suddenly roared with raw hunger and greed.
The red material on his glove swelled outward like a balloon. It formed a huge writhing mass with a massive mouth at the front, filled with spiraling fangs and endless darkness inside. Choza Akimichi shouted for it to stop, warning not to eat the three pills, but it was too late.
With a loud kacha, the giant mouth swallowed everything in one bite, including the scroll and the soil beneath it. It gulped once and swallowed it all whole. Choza Akimichi cried out in despair over his lost medicine.
The huge mouth let out a satisfied belch and quickly shrank back. In seconds, it returned to Might Guy's palm and closed into a quiet red line. The terrifying form was gone as if it had never existed.
Might Guy apologized awkwardly to Choza Akimichi and scratched his head. He moved his limbs and felt a warm, pure energy flow gently into his body. The deep sense of fullness and power made his expression turn serious.
He said he thought he understood the ability now. It was called co devour, carrying the meanings of coexistence and consumption at the same time.
Gluttony and co devour.
As the name of this ability suggests, it is about coexistence and devouring. For ordinary people, the efficiency of turning food into energy is extremely low, as most heat and nutrients from a piece of grilled meat are wasted. But Gluttony can devour any form of matter and energy, including food, water, and Chakra, and it does so with an almost unbelievable efficiency that is close to complete conversion.
Everything it consumes is converted with almost no loss into the energy and nutrients the host needs, feeding them back to the host. It repairs the host's body and carries out adaptive modifications to match new conditions. This process happens continuously as long as there is something to consume.
"That is really convenient."
After explaining the ability of Gluttony, Might Guy could not help but marvel. He said that after training in the future, he would not even need to eat or rest to recover his strength before continuing. His tone was light, as if he had not realized what this truly meant.
The entire square fell silent once again. This time it was not fear, but shock and disbelief. Everyone present understood far better than Might Guy what this ability represented.
It meant that Might Guy would gain an endless logistical supply for his body. As long as Gluttony had something to eat, he would receive a constant stream of energy. It also meant that even at the bottom of the sea, Gluttony could evolve a suitable form, devour seawater, separate oxygen, and keep him alive.
More importantly, it meant that no matter how extreme the environment, Might Guy could survive. This was a terrifying level of adaptability. In other words, if he maintained the open state of Eight Gates for a long time and kept his body under extreme load, Gluttony would allow him to gradually adapt to that state.
Once the adaptation was complete, even without using Eight Gates, his normal strength, speed, stamina, and recovery would reach the level he previously had only when opening the gates. Even Jiraiya and Kakashi Hatake began thinking of possible uses at the same time. Their thoughts moved in different directions, but both saw frightening potential.
Jiraiya imagined Might Guy entering Mount Myoboku and letting Fukasaku use Toad Oil to help him sense Natural Energy. The process could be interrupted before full toad transformation, then repeated again and again. After adapting, he wondered if Might Guy could even use Sage Mode.
The greatest difficulty of Sage Mode lay in first sensing Natural Energy and then perfectly blending it with spiritual and physical energy. Many practitioners failed at the very first step, and the stone statues on Mount Myoboku were proof of that. As long as one could sense and absorb Natural Energy, they already had the basic qualification.
Still, Jiraiya knew that Might Guy had weak talent in controlling and refining Chakra. Even if he learned Sage Mode, it might be hard to maintain it for long. By contrast, Kakashi Hatake was thinking about something else entirely.
He wondered if transplanting Sharingan to Might Guy would allow him to adapt to it. The idea was wild, but in front of such an ability, it no longer felt completely impossible. The thought alone made his breath slow.
"This…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath to calm himself and looked intently at Might Guy. He said in a low, firm voice that this power was practically made for him. His words carried certainty rather than exaggeration.
Eight Gates had become a Forbidden Technique precisely because it enhanced the user based on their normal physical state, making it useless for most Ninja. Only a madman like Might Guy, who trained his body through near self abuse, could draw out even part of its power. But even he was human, and humans had limits.
Overusing the body without rest caused harm rather than benefit. Yet now, with Gluttony, as long as Might Guy remained at his physical limit, Gluttony could let him gradually adapt through co devour. This changed the foundation of everything.
"Hunger…"
At that moment, the small mouth in Might Guy's palm opened again and made a dissatisfied sound. The voice was much weaker than before, but it still interrupted everyone's thoughts. The timing was almost comical.
"So soon?" Might Guy scratched his head and looked at it. He wondered aloud if its appetite was too big. His expression was puzzled rather than worried.
"Eat. Let it eat more," Hiruzen Sarutobi said without hesitation. He declared that as long as the village could afford it, it could eat as much as it wanted. From now on, Might Guy's food expenses would be covered directly by the village treasury.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was not worried at all about village funds being drained. If someone could eat through all of Konoha's wealth, he would be delighted. He could not even imagine what level Might Guy might push Eight Gates to under those conditions.
Perhaps his normal state could approach the level of the Death Gate. Unfortunately, judging from how Gluttony fed energy and nutrients back, this adaptation was gradual. It only provided what the host could currently endure, and the rest was either stored or consumed by itself.
It was impossible for Might Guy to open the Death Gate right now and remain perfectly fine. At least, that seemed to be the case for the moment. The limit still existed, even if it was being pushed farther away.
"Congratulations, Guy," Yunchuan Hyuga said with a smile as he looked at Might Guy. He said that Gluttony was clearly a perfect match for him. His tone was warm and sincere.
Hearing this, Might Guy grinned, showing his signature bright teeth. He said he would use this power to make the spring of youth burn even hotter, and warned not to be overtaken. His confidence was as straightforward as ever.
"By the way, Yunchuan, about that book you mentioned earlier…"