Might Guy

is a jōnin-level shinobi of Konohagakure. He is also the leader of Team Guy which consists of Rock Lee, Neji Hyūga, and Tenten.

Background
Guy considers his very close friend Kakashi Hatake his eternal rival. They competed regularly, even in the moments preceding the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha. During this attack he and other young shinobi were barred from participating in the defence of the village by Kurenai's father and other older shinobi. In later years, before Guy became a jōnin-sensei, he heard rumours of an Academy student that was determined to become a ninja despite every indication that he couldn't. When this student, Rock Lee, eventually became his own student, Guy became determined to help Lee become a taijutsu master, as Lee did not have the skill to use ninjutsu or genjutsu.

Personality
Known for his thick eyebrows, green jumpsuit, and shiny bowl haircut, Guy often refers to himself as. He has many mannerisms unique to him in the series that are meant to be seen as corny and old-fashioned, a reference to common clichés of in the anime. Guy is also known for going on about the "Power of Youth".

Guy has problems remembering the faces of persons he does not interact with frequently, best seen with his frequent fights with Kisame Hoshigaki, and also his fight with the Three Ryūdōin Brothers. Tobi has even mentioned this trait in Guy.

He is best known for his "nice guy pose", which consists of giving a thumbs up, winking, and smiling with teeth so white they give the proverbial "ping". This action is often used by both Guy and Lee to indicate commitment to a statement they had just made, their highest form of a promise. Despite these odd mannerisms, Guy has shown to be capable of being as serious, ruthless and decisive as a mission's success demands if needed, as seen during the Invasion of Konoha and his battles with Kisame Hoshigaki. He is noted to be quite scary if switching to "serious", but very reliable.

Guy is on good terms with all of his students, but takes particular interest in Rock Lee, who reminds Guy of himself when he was younger; in that they were both considered to be losers and have had to earn everything through hard work. As such, Guy puts much more interest in Lee's training than Neji 's or Tenten 's, continuing to train Lee long after the others have given up for the day. Because of this, and due to Lee's unyielding desire to master the art of taijutsu, the two have developed a father-son relation that has pushed Guy to teach Lee a number of dangerous and forbidden techniques, giving the stipulation that Lee can only use them under specific circumstances. Although Guy knows of the dangers that teaching the techniques to Lee entails, Guy wishes for Lee to be able to prove himself to be a splendid ninja, and, as such, turns a blind eye to the repercussions. However, overall, Guy is a very attentive and dedicated instructor, who does everything in his power to make sure that all three of his prized students receive proper instruction in their own particular fields.

Guy, and, by extension Lee, lives his life by his own "My Rules" philosophy, which involves setting tougher goals for failure so something good comes of it. For example, he vowed to walk 500 laps around Konoha on his hands if he lost a simple game of rock, paper, scissors with Kakashi, and proceeded to do so upon losing, even though people stopped paying attention eventually. Lee's willingness to train in the same manner as Guy seems to have caused him to surpass his master's stamina, as by the end of Part I, Guy has difficulty keeping up with Lee, lamenting that he is not as youthful as he once was.

Guy's teacher-student relationship with Lee also carries distinct attributes, such as when Guy will punch Lee for a slight infraction of a rule. After Guy assigns Lee an arduous training task as punishment, meant to recapture Lee's focus and discipline, the two may then burst into tears and affectionately embrace, in brief regret for the strong blow Lee was given. Guy often attempts to act in a similar way towards his other two students, although Tenten is usually resigned and more willing to take part in his antics than the more stoic Neji.

Guy is the self-proclaimed rival of Kakashi Hatake, even before the start of the series. Kakashi, however, is indifferent to their rivalry, which annoys Guy to no end. Guy randomly challenges Kakashi to contests of skill, and has acquired a record of 50 wins and 49 losses in doing so (50 wins and 51 losses in the anime). Given that the contests that make up this figure are so varied (ranging from Rock, Paper, Scissors to running races), this is not much of an achievement on Guy's part nor an accurate comparison of respective combat power. Nevertheless, Guy is proud of his record. Their competitions seem to, in part, be founded on the fact that the two are polar opposites. Guy has shown to be more easily excited compared to the more laid back Kakashi. He also relies mainly on taijutsu, in contrast to Kakashi's ninjutsu specialities, and had to work tremendously hard to reach his level of prowess, whereas Kakashi's natural talent and Sharingan made it easier for him to improve. Nevertheless, both men are great friends and also have the utmost faith in each other seen during the Fourth Shinobi World War when they entrusted the protection of their blind spots to each other. This was also expanded on in the anime, where Kakashi told Tsunade that he would need a second-in-command during the war and wanted Guy to serve that purpose. Guy's and Kakashi's level of friendship was such that when faced with five fully transformed tailed beasts preparing to fire their Tailed Beast Ball in close proximity, he was more than willing to activate the last of the Eight Gates to protect Kakashi, despite the fatal repercussions.

Guy can't handle sea rides and easily gets seasick when he has to travel by boat or ship. After getting over this and attempting the challenge at the Falls of Truth, Guy's "inner self" rebuked him for being too old yet still maintaining a hyper-active demeanour, adding that it is not healthy for old men like him to push themselves so hard.

Appearance
Guy is a tall and well-built man with high cheek-bones, thick eyebrows and black hair cut in a bowl style. Guy also wears a green jumpsuit, orange striped leg warmers and the standard Konoha flak jacket, though it's normally unzipped and has only been seen zipped up during the Fourth Shinobi World War. His forehead protector, is on a red cloth and is worn around his waist, like a belt. When he was younger, he wore no flak jacket, but had bandages wrapped around his hands in a similar manner to Rock Lee in Part I.

His protégé Rock Lee has modelled himself after Guy and as such both men bear a striking resemblance: both naturally having thick eyebrows and the same hair cut.

Abilities
Guy is one of Konoha's most powerful ninja, and a taijutsu specialist. Despite considering himself a loser as a child, Guy is a very talented ninja, graduating from the Academy at age 7 and becoming a chūnin at age 11. Itachi Uchiha has, on numerous occasions, warned others against underestimating Guy. Given that Itachi and his accomplices are extremely dangerous ninja, such a warning is an indicator that Guy is an excellent combatant. A testament to his skill as a ninja was him single-handedly defeating the extremely dangerous Akatsuki member, Kisame Hoshigaki. This is later reaffirmed when Kakashi Hatake trusts him to take on the Six-Tails alone during their battle with the reincarnated jinchūriki.

Taijutsu
Might Guy is an extremely accomplished taijutsu master, with advanced knowledge if not, skill in various styles and taijutsu techniques. With his skill, he is able to fight off countless high-level ninja unarmed as demonstrated during Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha. Through his "My Rule" philosophy, Guy has gained a strong and enduring body with very high chakra reserves and immense stamina by constantly pushing his own limits, allowing him to recover from extreme exhaustion in an alarmingly short period of time and utilise the style known as "Strong Fist" to its full potential. In addition, his intense training has given him such tremendous speed that his movements can seem like he's disappearing to unfocused eyes, and strength capable of easily ploughing a full-grown man through a solid, stone wall with a single hand: both of which without the aid of chakra-enhancement.

Eight Gates
Like Lee, Guy is able to utilise and open the Eight Gates, a feat that is difficult for even some of the most talented ninja, and has shown the ability to open at least seven of the eight gates and has been stated to be able to open the eighth as well. His mastery is enough that he is capable of utilising several forbidden techniques after opening the gates, making him truly a formidable force on the battlefield.

During his second fight with Kisame, he opened the sixth gate and utilised the Morning Peacock, a technique so fast that his hands were set ablaze by sheer speed and friction. In his third and final battle against Kisame Hoshigaki, Guy unlocked the seventh gate to utilise a one-hit kill technique called Daytime Tiger. Because of the potential severe bodily damage opening the gates can cause, Guy has, like he has told Lee, decided that he will only open the gates if it is a life-or-death situation, or he is protecting someone dear to him. However Guy's extremely intense training routines has allowed him to handle opening the gates for longer periods of time, able to endure the sixth gate with only noticeable exhaustion, as well as resist the damaging after-effects of the seventh gate long enough to continue fighting for a short period of time.

Other Abilities
Unlike Lee, who specialises in taijutsu because he cannot use ninjutsu and genjutsu, Guy is fully capable of using the other two forms of ninja abilities, as he is proficient enough to dispel a high-level genjutsu. He makes a conscious effort to rely almost exclusively on taijutsu; going so far as to use regular disguises instead of the Transformation Technique. In the few instances that he has used ninjutsu, it has usually been off-screen, such as when he summoned Ningame prior to his first appearance. The first on-screen use of ninjutsu that he has used was summoning Ningame in mid-air as he chased after Kisame Hoshigaki.

In his rivalry with Kakashi, Guy has developed an effective counter against Sharingan-users: by focusing on their feet, Guy can both predict the movements of the enemy and negate the Sharingan's necessity of having eye-contact for genjutsu techniques. Currently, Guy is the only ninja who can use this technique, though he has taught the basics of it to Asuma, Kurenai, and also Kakashi. In the anime, it is shown that Might Guy is knowledgeable in herbal remedies, regularly preparing them for Lee to help further his training.

Aside from his taijutsu repertoire, Guy is also highly skilled in a variety of weapons styles, having trained Tenten extensively in their respective usages. His personal weapon of choice is the nunchaku, but only resorts to using them when absolutely necessary, and from what has been shown he uses them with great ferocity and power, matching Kisame's unique swordplay. Aside from his regular set, Guy keeps a second, special pair of nunchaku with him, called the Sōshūga, which he used to skillfully battle Tobi. These were durable enough to trade blows with the masked-man's Gunbai.

Chūnin Exam Arc
Guy made his debut shortly before the start of the Chūnin Exams, stopping Lee from using the Front Lotus on Sasuke Uchiha. He punished Lee for attempting to use a forbidden technique before having an emotional embrace with him, much to Team 7's disgust. He appeared again during the preliminaries to watch his students' matches. He showed anger of Temari's treatment of Tenten after their match, and disappointment with Neji when he tried to kill Hinata Hyūga, having earlier instructed him to not make the match into a vendetta with the Hyūga clan.

Guy then took the role of Lee's coach prior to his match with Gaara, giving him general advice on what to do. During the actual fight, Lee continually found his fighting level to be inadequate in defeating Gaara, and each time Guy gave his consent for Lee to increase the strength of his attacks. When Lee began to run out of options, Guy allowed Lee to open the first five chakra gates in order to defeat Gaara. Although Lee did so, his efforts were unsuccessful, and he was left heavily injured. When Gaara was about to kill Lee, Guy stepped in to stop the match, not willing to allow anything to happen to Lee. As Lee was taken away to be healed, one of the medics informed Guy that the injuries to Lee's body were so severe that he would never be able to fight as a ninja again. Guy was crushed by this prospect, and regretted ever teaching Lee so many dangerous techniques.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
A month later, when Gaara tried to finish off a hospitalised Lee, Guy once again intervened to save his beloved student. When Lee recuperated to the point of being able to watch other matches, Guy accompanied him to the final round matches, only to be surprised that Neji was defeated by Naruto Uzumaki. He later marvelled at Sasuke's ability to have replicated Lee's speed from their sole encounter, but did not approve of it.

When the invasion of Konoha began, Guy wanted at first to aid the Third Hokage, but instead teamed up with Kakashi in repelling the invading forces and protecting the unconscious spectators. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Guy still made clear that he was considering this another challenge against Kakashi over who could take out the most enemy ninja. After Kakashi gives orders to Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara and Pakkun to go after Sasuke Uchiha, Guy intercepts an Oto-nin and uses him to create a hole in the wall of the arena, effectively giving the genin an exit. He later attended the Third's funeral.

Search for Tsunade Arc
When Kakashi was about to be defeated by Akatsuki members Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, Guy arrived in time to repel Kisame and save Kakashi. When Guy stated that he had called for back-up, the two left, unwilling to start a war. Guy got Kakashi medical attention, before following the two. When he finally caught up to them, he made an attempt at a sneak attack in order to avoid Itachi's Sharingan. In doing so, he accidentally attacked Jiraiya, Itachi and Kisame having already left. After apologising for his mistake, Guy learned that Jiraiya was looking for the talented medical ninja Tsunade, and asked that Jiraiya be sure to find her, in the hopes that she would be able to heal Lee. Before leaving for Konoha with an unconscious Sasuke Uchiha, he gave Naruto his spare green jumpsuit, as a reward for his determination. Jiraiya was, naturally, unsettled by this, but Naruto was ecstatic.

Once Tsunade was found, and returned to Konoha, she found that the operation that would heal Lee had a 50% chance of death. Although Lee was reluctant to risk his life, since that would mean he couldn't be a ninja, Guy convinced Lee to go through with the operation, saying that all the work Lee had done meant that he would definitely survive. In the event that Lee did die during the operation, Guy said that he would die too, as he had no point in living if he couldn't help Lee become a great ninja. Lee's operation was a success, and Guy visited him daily until he was ready to start training again.

Pre-Shippūden Filler Arcs
In the anime, Guy was the only jōnin to receive a considerable amount of screen time.

When Lee's dōjō went unchallenged in one arc, Guy challenged Lee himself disguised as a stranger. Although the disguise was very bad, Lee never caught on that it was actually Guy.

In the Third Great Beast Arc, Guy began training a visiting ninja named Yagura. Yagura trapped Guy and Lee in a castle together, and forced them to fight each other through artificial, mute proxies - they figured this out by communicating through Morse code, then broke out by opening the first five gates, the stress of their high-speed attacks causing the constructions to break apart.

Later, in the Trap Master Arc, Guy led Konoha's available jōnin to stop a suspected invasion by Takigakure, though in reality the Takigakure forces were just having a training exercise.

Kazekage Rescue Arc
Team Guy was assigned by Tsunade as back-up to assist Team 7 in rescuing Gaara. On their way to meet Team 7, Guy again encountered Kisame Hoshigaki, who wanted to take revenge on Guy for hitting him during their last encounter. Guy, however, didn't seem to remember Kisame, which greatly agitated the Akatsuki member. Kisame was strong enough to overcome the entire Team Guy, but when he succeeded in imprisoning Guy's students in respective water prisons and nearly drowned Tenten, Guy opened the sixth chakra gate and used his Morning Peacock to defeat Kisame. As the group examined Kisame's corpse, they found that it was not Kisame, but merely a body double; namely a former Sunagakure ninja called Mukade.

Upon reuniting with Team 7 and reaching the Akatsuki hideout, Team Guy was assigned to disable a barrier surrounding the hideout's entrance. Although they completed the task, they were forced to fight clones of themselves, though each member eventually succeeded in defeating their lookalikes. After Gaara was rescued, Guy carried Kakashi back to Konoha via a piggyback because the latter was too exhausted to walk there under his own power, due to his overuse of Mangekyō Sharingan. Their students were deeply irritated by the disturbing sight, although Guy didn't seem to notice, and instead had a race with Lee to see who could reach Konoha first.

Hidan and Kakuzu Arc
In the anime, he was seen standing beside Kakashi, mourning Asuma Sarutobi's death.

Invasion of Pain Arc
When Pain's invasion of Konoha began, Team Guy was away on a mission. During a pit-stop on their return home, they noticed a number of birds apparently escaping from the village. They rushed to the village, and found it to be in ruins. They found Hinata Hyūga badly injured, and got her medical attention. After the team finds Hinata, Katsuyu later informs them that Naruto was fighting with the last Pain and Guy insists that he and his team should provide back-up, but Katsuyu mentions that Naruto does not want anyone else to get involved, which angers Guy. They were then later present with the other villagers celebrating Naruto's defeat of Pain.

Confining the Jinchūriki Arc
The group eventually made it to their destination in the Land of Lightning. Once Guy recovered from his seasickness, he asked Motoi to help them locate Naruto. Motoi took him and Aoba to the Falls of Truth, explaining that Naruto began his training to conquer the Nine-Tails by sparring with his inner-self. Interested in going through the same training, Guy approached the falls. As his "true-self" began to manifest it mocked his ideology of youthfulness, saying that "Old men shouldn't push themselves so hard". What finally emerges was apparently a blowfish, but in reality Kisame Hoshigaki. Guy immediately attacked him, knocking him into the falls.

Guy once again could not remember meeting Kisame before. He nevertheless recognised that Kisame was a threat and pursued him as he tried to escape the island. He first had Killer B fling him across the island, and then summoned Ningame mid-flight to provide him a stepping stone. He found Kisame trying to send intel he had gathered to Akatsuki by way of shark. To mask the shark's movement, Kisame created a thousand more, which Guy attempted to stop with the Morning Peacock. When he was unable to stop all of the sharks, Guy was forced to open the Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder in order to match Kisame's Water Release: Great Shark Bullet Technique with his Daytime Tiger. When the two massive techniques clash, Guy's Daytime Tiger went right through the Great Shark Missile and hit Kisame dead on, erupting into a massive shock wave large and powerful enough to have its after effects be felt some distance away.

The Konoha ninja restrained Kisame and tried to gather intel about Akatsuki from him, but he broke free of his bindings and committed suicide to prevent them from interrogating him. Seeing how far Kisame was willing to go for his comrades, Guy gained new respect for his adversary and vowed to always remember him. Hoping that the intel Kisame had would reveal something they examined it, only to be caught in water prisons with sharks. Guy, finally experiencing the side-effects from the seventh gate, was unable to defend himself, but was saved by the others.

Shinobi World War Arc
When the Fourth Shinobi World War begins, Guy is placed in the Third Division under Kakashi's command. Still ill because of the effects of using the Seventh Gate, Sakura heals him as a concerned Lee looks on. He has recovered by the time the Third Division comes to the aid of the Surprise Attack Division, restraining Gari when they first arrive.

When fighting breaks out with Akatsuki's reincarnated ninja, Guy teams up with Lee to defend members of the division from Haku. Prior to returning to the fight, Guy reminds the troops not to lose their resolve when friends die. In the anime, after the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were summoned, Guy tells Lee to chase after Pakura, while he went after Gari. Guy later regroups with the rest of his division to recuperate in a forest, as night fell.

As the battle resumes the next day, Guy informs Kakashi after Fuguki Suikazan is sealed that there were only three reincarnated shinobi left on the battlefield. Upon seeing the new wave of White Zetsu Army forces approaching them, Guy tells Kakashi that they should defeat them in one fell swoop. At the same time, Naruto's shadow clone appears on the battlefield to aid them.

After sealing the final Swordsman, Guy and Kakashi arrive at Naruto and B's battlefield in time to stop Tobi from warping Naruto away. Guy uses his Violent — Leaf Adamantine-Strength Whirlwind technique to force Tobi to become intangible while Kakashi retrieves Naruto. After being talked down to, Guy tells him not to underestimate him as he was Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey. He tells Naruto to calm down as his explanation of the situation was jumbled, before destroying the coral covering Naruto's body. As the beasts attack again, Guy telling Kakashi that he wasn't good with faces and they all looked the same to him, he opens the Gate of View, he and Kakashi begin their counter-attack. As Kakashi wonders why they weren't using the regular abilities of the Six Paths of Pain, Guy states that Tobi would know that they had come up with counter measures against these abilities so he wouldn't waste his time and chakra having them use it.

As their battle with the tailed beasts continued, Guy notices Naruto in the clutches of Son Gokū's mouth. Alerting Kakashi and telling him that they had to go save him, he is unable to with the Six-Tails' corrosive gas bearing down on them at one end, and the tailed beast trapping them at the other. Turning back to back as Kakashi creates a shadow clone in the Manji Formation, the men entrust their backs to each other as they face the enemy in front of them. As Guy rushes towards the gas he uses the Morning Peacock technique to burn off the gaseous attack and prepares for the next wave of attacks. As Naruto succeeds in releasing Son from Tobi's control, both Kakashi and Guy look on, shocked as the now fully-transformed jinchūriki bear down on them.

As the situation becomes dire, Guy states that there was no option but for him to use the eighth gate after telling Kakashi that there was no way he would have enough strength to warp away the five Tailed Beast Balls that were aimed at them, but Kakashi also declines Guy's suggestion stating he would die after opening that gate. Both men are rescued however by Naruto, who deflects the attacks. Absorbed into the Nine-Tails' chakra as Naruto transforms, both men watch on at the battle between the beasts ensue. Guy later notes that it looked like a scene from the Destroy All Monsters film.

After Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode is cancelled, and the men stand alongside Naruto, facing the opposition, Guy states that seeing Naruto come so far made him feel old. Somewhat shocked, Kakashi is the one to tell him that their youth wasn't over yet. Guy then stops Kakashi mid-sentence, saying that he was making him feel even older. He is later seen mobilised beside Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki and Killer B in his full Eight-Tails form preparing to assault Tobi and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Launching his assault after Kakashi and his shadow clone attacks the statue once again, Guy uses his Little Toe Absolute Attack to crush the statue's foot sending it toppling over and straight into Naruto and B's uppercut attack all the while cheering Naruto on as he mocked Tobi against Kakashi's advisement. Guy later noted that the statue had been acting weird ever since it swallowed the two objects in its mouth. After Naruto and Kurama switched in order for the beast to explain what was happening, Guy listened on before asking what the Treasured Tools of the Sage of the Six Paths and the Gold and Silver Brothers had to do with the current situation. After he heard Tobi chide Kakashi, telling him that he spoke too easily which was why he lived a life full of so much regret, Guy asked him who exactly he was but Tobi only responded stating that it wouldn't make any difference because Guy didn't remember faces. When Naruto retorted that dreams were essential, Guy added that even if you never want your youth to end, people had to stop dreaming some time or the other.

As the team prepared to attack Tobi directly, Guy noted that the use of feints would be crucial in this battle because of Tobi's abilities. Deciding that it was better to not attack him directly, Guy reaches into his pouch and retrieved his Sōshūga. Providing Naruto with backup, Guy was able to intercept one of Tobi's attacks which forced him to become intangible. Deflecting all of Tobi's attacks Guy was ultimately able to knock the masked man off his feet and send him hurling towards Naruto's Super Mini-Tailed Beast Ball. Shocked when Tobi disappeared, Guy tried to reach Naruto when the masked man reappeared but noted that the rocks were becoming cumbersome. Later regrouping with his comrades, Guy asked them if they were okay before they wondered how they could defeat Tobi.

Naruto: Shippūden the Movie
He made a cameo with Kakashi when Konoha received an urgent message from the Land of Demons. Guy later joins Kakashi, Tenten, Iruka Umino, and Anko Mitarashi in launching a counterattack against Mōryō and his stone soldiers to buy time for Naruto, Neji, Sakura, and Lee, who were protecting Shion, to defeat Mōryō. He was later seen with Kakashi after the stone soldiers retreated.

Naruto Shippūden 4: The Lost Tower
A young Guy, along with Shizune, Asuma Sarutobi, and Kakashi Hatake, is seen waiting in a long line at the grand opening of the Ramen Ichiraku.

Trivia

 * Fansubs have often dubbed his name as Maito Gai, a direct and unaltered transliteration of the character's name, but the second Naruto data book states his name as Might Guy. The English version of the anime and manga both use Might Guy as well.
 * In the Shonen Jump magazine, Viz rendered Guy's name as "Mighty Guy" in some of the earlier chapters; this was changed back to "Maito Gai" in most of the graphic novel stories, and later changed to "Might Guy" when the guidebooks were released.
 * The name "Might Guy" is a joke aimed at the "hot-headed hero" archetype that appears in many movies and anime.
 * Guy's appearance and mannerisms seem to be based off those of Bruce Lee.
 * As of chapter 595, Guy has had all four of the compass point animals in Feng Shui associated with him: Morning Peacock being the Vermillion Bird, the Afternoon Tiger being the White Tiger, The Turtle as his summon and the Dragon being the basis of the design of his Nunchaku.
 * According to the Naruto Databook:
 * Guy's hobbies are repeated side-steps, and hitting focus mitts.
 * Guy wishes for a rematch with Kakashi.
 * Guy's favourite foods are super-spicy curry rice and curry udon, though he finds it impossible to dislike food.
 * Guy's favourite phrase is.
 * Guy has completed 788 official missions in total: 86 D-rank, 270 C-rank, 210 B-rank, 199 A-rank, 23 S-rank.

Quotes

 * (To Lee) "Yes!! This is what youth is all about!"
 * (To Lee) "It's true that you're different from Neji… You're not a genius in ninjutsu nor genjutsu, not even taijutsu… But you know what Lee? You are a genius that has the strength and potential within himself to surpass Neji… …Because you are… a genius of hard work."
 * (To Lee) "For those who don't believe in themselves… hard work is worthless!! …You are very much like me, Lee. I used to be a loser too. But these days I can even win against the elite genius Kakashi."I want to prove that even without ninjutsu and genjutsu I can become a great ninja" that's your nindo right? That's a great goal, it's worth working hard for!"
 * "No, now the tables will turn. The lotus of Konoha blooms twice!"
 * (To Kakashi Hatake) "What would you know about that boy? …That kid has a precious thing he would give up his life to prove. So I wanted to turn him into a man that could accomplish it… That is all…"
 * (To Gaara after saving Lee) "He is my beloved comrade."
 * (To Lee) "You worked hard Lee, there's no doubt in my mind the surgery will be a success. You have the power to shape your own destiny. And on the one-in-one thousand, no, one in a million chance something to happen to go wrong, I will die right along with you. Since the day I met you, my nindō has been to train you to become the most splendid ninja possible. That's a promise!"
 * (About Kisame Hoshigaki) "Water Release ninjutsu… and that huge sword! You must be… …Someone I've met before!"
 * (About Kisame) "He was a worthy opponent! A man who lived and died like a real shinobi! Kisame Hoshigaki! I'll remember that name for the rest of my life!"