#serious topic

On the one hand, I feel like there was a time that WAS correct. After his father's death, there is a time Gai seems reckless. Where he's both trying to prove himself and live up to his father's sacrifice. During this time, I think Gai was dealing with grief.

But that was curved by Kakashi's involvement. A reminder that he doesn't have to give up his life for it to be meaningful. And to respect his father's sacrifice. That his life has meaning, and so does his youth. It takes some time and another demonstration of Kakashi risking it all to save him, but eventually Gai's will to live is revitalized and he and Kakashi move forward together.

The next time we see clues of Gai being suicidal, is after he hears about Lee's legs diagnosis. After this, he is there for each of Lee's healing steps. Helping him to find ways to train, heal and keep his hopes up.

When Tsunade comes to town, Lee becomes the third person she sees, and Gai is so excited for her to tell him there's a way...only for both Lee and Gai to get the most devastating news. That Lee's life of a ninja is over. The only surgery she could do, has a 50% mortality rate, and that it might not work even after. This is Lee's darkest moment, and he's scared to face it alone... and so, Gai decides to do the one of tge most controversial things he could have...

He says he'll die if with Lee if the surgery fails.

On the one hand, this showcases how much he believes in Lee and Tsunade. That he will put his life on the line to push Lee to get him to do the one thing that will help him fullfill his dreams. Without it, Lee could live a civilian life without being a ninja...but he would be miserable until the end of time, and Gai knows this.

But more importantly to Gai's character, this does show that if anything more happened to Lee, Gai would not see this world worth living in.

To Gai, Lee is everything he has put his faith and future into. Lee represents many things to him. A connection with his father, the future of Taijutsu, the son he never had, the entire philosophy of "The Springtime of Youth," and if Lee gives up or dies, Gai's whole purpose is over. His techniques can not pass on without Lee.

And more than that... he loves Lee more than anyone. And being one of if not the most emotional character in Naruto, Gai feels far deeply then he thinks. And if he feels that he can not live without Lee, especially since it was his fault that Lee got into that situation in the first place... then he would be suicidal at this time.

Finally the last topic, when Gai finally opens the eight gates.

This is three years later after his and Lee's talks, and Gai is in a completely different place. Throughout all of Naruto Shippuden, we get to see Gai use the gates more frequently, but every gate Gai opened, was calculated. Never once pushing himself past a gate he thought he needed, even though he started to use them back to back. In the war Neji is killed, and even then Gai keeps his head and stays focused in battle.

However there comes a point where there is no other option. Naruto and Sasuke are down and as is a vast amount of the army. Their opponent is immune to ninjutsu and genjutsu, their team work has failed and most of the revived Hokages are now broken and almost obsolete.

And here... under these conditions, Gai suggests the last thing they have... him, and the eight gates

At this point, Gai has tried everything else. Up to the 7th gate just moments earlier. There is no other option and if he does not do this... then everyone else he knows and loves, will die. All the things and people and villages, will be destroyed. And in its place a mad god and a tree will be all that remains.

In this moment... Gai is not suicidal. He did exhausted all other options. One could even argue that had he not waited and done this earlier, they would not be in such dire straights, and he could have killed Madara earlier when he was less powerful.

But Gai did wait. He fought, and he collaborated with everyone in order to see tomorrow. He wanted to live and stay beside Kakashi to help him after seeing Obito. He wanted to be there for Lee and Tenten to celebrate the victory and mourn with them when they buried Neji. He wanted to see the world grow and bloom into another springtime...

But sometimes things are out of our control...and threats are too strong to hold back... and in order to defeat a self proclaimed god, you must face them down with the power of a man.

This moment here, was not suicide. It was a sacrifice. Gai had stopped looking for death and wanted to live out his youth, his life with passion. But he chose to end it all, in order for the world to live on.

I think Gai learned in time to have a healthier view on his life. From viewing the gates as an honorable death and romanticizing his end, to understanding it as a true sacrifice, and waiting until every possible outcome was used first. To respect his own youth and life, and to keep this as a last result.

Gai wanted to keep living...and I am forever glad, that he got his wish.