Obito collapsed directly onto the ground the moment the gigantic shadow revealed itself completely.
"M-Mommy..."
His face had already gone pale white.
Nearby, Kurenai and Rin instinctively grabbed onto each other tightly, their bodies trembling uncontrollably as they stared at the monstrous creature standing before them.
Even Ebisu, who had been trying to maintain the composure of an "elite Ninja," was now shaking like a leaf in the wind. His sunglasses kept slipping down his nose because of how badly his face trembled.
Among the six children present, only Might Guy and Kakashi still remained standing firmly in place.
However, even their expressions had changed.
The pressure radiating from this giant bear was completely different from the smaller one before. If the previous bear had merely been dangerous, then this one felt like a true monster.
The gigantic bear slowly lowered its massive head and glanced at the smaller unconscious bear lying on the ground nearby.
Then it raised its blood-red eyes and stared directly at the group.
"ROOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!"
The deafening roar exploded outward like thunder.
Everyone's eardrums instantly ached from the sheer force of the sound wave alone.
Then the giant bear suddenly raised one enormous front paw and slammed it downward toward the children.
"Scatter!"
Guy and Kakashi moved simultaneously.
The two of them instantly burst outward in opposite directions, one darting left while the other rushed right.
Boom!!!
The gigantic paw smashed into the ground and instantly created a massive crater several meters wide.
The moment Kakashi landed, his hands immediately formed seals.
"Clone Technique!"
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Three Clones instantly charged toward the giant bear.
The giant bear casually swung one paw.
Two Clones exploded into smoke immediately.
The remaining Clone leapt toward its face and stabbed a Kunai toward its eye.
Clang.
The Kunai bent instantly.
The giant bear did not even blink.
Its other paw swept horizontally through the air.
Kakashi's real body hurriedly flipped backward as the claws narrowly brushed past his scalp. The violent wind generated by the swing alone made his face sting painfully.
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
A thick wall of earth instantly rose upward from the ground.
Bang!!!
The giant paw smashed directly into it.
The entire earth wall shattered apart instantly like fragile clay.
At the same moment, Guy seized the opportunity and charged forward.
He leapt high into the air.
"KONOHA SENPU!!!"
Boom!!!
The spinning kick slammed heavily into the giant bear's hind leg.
The enormous leg wobbled slightly.
But the giant bear did not fall.
Instead, it slowly turned its head and stared directly at Guy with those terrifying blood-red eyes.
Then another paw swept directly toward him.
Guy had no time to dodge.
He crossed both arms in front of himself and blocked head-on.
Bang!!!
The impact sent him flying backward like a cannonball.
His body smashed through one tree.
Then another.
Finally, he crashed heavily against the roots of a third tree before stopping.
"GUY!!!"
Kurenai screamed in terror.
Guy coughed violently before slowly forcing himself back onto his feet. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth while pain spread throughout his entire body.
At least two of his ribs had cracked from that single hit.
Yet even now, he still grinned.
"I'm fine... youth can still burn..."
The giant bear gave him absolutely no time to recover.
Dropping onto all fours, it charged directly toward him.
Every step made the ground tremble violently.
Kakashi gritted his teeth and threw several shuriken in succession.
Every single one was deflected harmlessly.
His Clones rushed forward again.
They were all smashed apart instantly.
His Chakra reserves were already nearly depleted.
"Obito!!! Take them and run!!!"
Obito was still sitting on the ground.
His legs were so weak he could not even stand properly.
The giant bear reached Guy in the next moment.
Its massive paw slowly rose upward.
Then it slammed downward.
Guy gritted his teeth and tried to move.
But for a brief moment, his legs simply refused to respond.
The fractures in his body made it impossible to exert strength properly.
The gigantic paw grew closer and closer.
Larger and larger.
Then suddenly—
A small figure rushed directly in front of him.
Kurenai.
Her black curly hair fluttered wildly beneath the moonlight as she spread both arms wide and tightly closed her eyes.
"I won't let you hurt him!!"
Guy's mind buzzed violently.
At that moment, time itself seemed to slow down.
He saw Kurenai's back.
Small.
Thin.
Fragile.
He saw the giant paw descending toward her.
He saw Obito finally scrambling to his feet, his face flushed red and his eyes wide like a frightened bull.
He saw Kakashi desperately rushing over while gritting his teeth, but he was still too far away.
He saw Rin covering her mouth while tears already streamed down her face.
Then—
He stopped seeing anything else.
Only heat remained.
A terrifying surge of heat suddenly exploded from his lower abdomen.
The Muscle-Tendon Change Classic circulated frantically within his body, operating faster than it ever had before.
The scorching heat surged wildly through every meridian before pouring directly into his legs.
The System's voice rang inside his ears.
[Opportunity for Epiphany detected]
[Would you like to...]
Guy ignored it completely.
He did not even hear the notification.
At this moment, there was only one thing in his mind.
Kurenai was standing in front of him.
That paw was about to fall.
He had to kick.
He slowly stood up.
The pain in his legs vanished.
The fractured bones forcefully reset themselves beneath the surging flow of power.
His blood burned like molten lava.
His thoughts became completely blank.
Only one thing remained.
Those ten thousand kicks.
One hundred thousand kicks.
Two hundred thousand kicks.
Every single movement.
Every single strike.
Every drop of sweat.
Every moment of pain.
All of it fused together at this exact instant.
Guy suddenly stepped forward.
His right arm wrapped around Kurenai's waist and pulled her behind him.
His left fist tightened beside his waist.
Then his right leg slowly rose upward.
Countless scenes flashed through his mind.
Duy demonstrating Konoha Senpu beside the waterfall while his white teeth gleamed brilliantly.
The giant tree in the back mountain being kicked apart into flying wood chips.
The training target shattered in two while the examiner stared in shock.
Kakashi saying, "You can't beat me."
And his own reply.
"But I haven't fallen yet."
White Fang standing at the Academy gate while tears streamed down his face.
And finally—
Duy's words.
"Protecting the people you want to protect is more important than becoming a Jonin."
That's right.
Protect the people I want to protect.
His right leg kicked outward.
The motion seemed incredibly slow.
So slow it almost looked motionless.
Yet at the same time—
It was unbelievably fast.
Fast enough to tear through the air itself.
At that moment, the entire world seemed to fall silent.
Only the sound of a heartbeat remained.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Then—
A golden light suddenly appeared around his leg.
The faint glow spread from the sole of his foot upward toward his ankle, then continued climbing toward his calf.
Like a diamond.
Like a flame.
Like an ancient power passed down through countless generations.
[Great Vajra Leg has reached the Perfection Realm]
The next instant, the image of a gigantic golden leg suddenly manifested in front of Guy.
The enormous phantom mirrored his exact kicking motion perfectly.
Golden light illuminated the entire forest.
The air exploded violently.
BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!
The sound no longer resembled a normal impact.
It sounded like the air itself was screaming apart.
The giant bear's massive paw still hung in midair.
The gigantic golden leg had already slammed directly into its chest.
BAAAAAANGGGGG!!!
The ten-meter-tall giant bear was blasted away as though struck head-on by a charging Tailed Beast.
Its massive body flew backward violently.
It crashed through the section of forest it had destroyed earlier.
It flew over the giant boulder nearby.
It continued flying dozens of meters away.
RUMBLE!!! RUMBLE!!! RUMBLE!!!
Finally, the giant creature smashed directly into the distant hillside.
A massive crater exploded outward.
Half the hillside collapsed instantly.
The giant bear lay motionless within the crater.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The gigantic golden phantom slowly dissipated into particles of light.
Guy remained frozen in his kicking posture.
His right leg trembled faintly.
Then he slowly exhaled and lowered it.
After standing upright again, he turned his head toward Kurenai.
Kurenai stared blankly up at him.
Moonlight illuminated her tear-filled eyes.
"A-Are you okay?"
Guy grinned instinctively.
The motion tugged painfully at the cut on his lips, causing him to wince slightly.
Even so, he still raised a thumbs-up.
His white teeth gleamed brightly.
The next second, Kurenai's tears finally overflowed.
Then she suddenly lunged forward and hugged him tightly.
"You idiot!! You idiot!! You scared me to death!!"
Guy froze completely as she buried herself against his chest.
For a moment, he did not even know where to put his hands.
"Uh... this..."
In the distance, Obito stared blankly at the collapsed hillside before slowly turning back toward Guy.
"Is... is this what youth is...?"
Nearby, Kakashi leaned silently against a tree.
First he looked at the green-clad figure currently being hugged by Kurenai.
Then he looked toward the giant bear lying dozens of meters away inside the crater.
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
"This monster..."
[Congratulations to the Host for comprehending the Low Grade Martial Skill: Great Vajra Leg to the Perfection Realm]
[Reward obtained: Random Martial Skill Gift Pack]
[Open now?]
At this moment, Guy had absolutely no time to pay attention to the System notifications.
However, his heart still trembled slightly.
So this...
Was the power of a perfected Martial Skill.
And this...
Was what it felt like to truly protect someone.
Guy slowly lowered his gaze toward Kurenai, whose head remained buried against his chest.
Her curly black hair looked messy now and trembled faintly.
Then he glanced toward the gigantic crater in the distant hillside.
Finally, he looked down at his own trembling right leg.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
Worth it.
This was completely worth it.
At that moment, Kakashi finally walked over.
"Guy."
Guy raised his head. "Hm?"
Kakashi stared at him silently for several seconds.
"That kick just now..."
He paused briefly.
"Was that the Akimichi Clan's Multi-Size Technique?"
Guy froze briefly before instantly grinning again.
He did not explain anything.
Instead, he simply raised another thumbs-up.
"That was the power of youth!!!"
At this point, Kurenai finally lifted her head from his chest.
Her face was completely red.
Even so, she still did not let go of him.
Meanwhile, Obito finally recovered from his shock and rushed over while yelling loudly.
"Monster!!! You're definitely a monster!!! That was a ten-meter-tall bear!!! You kicked it flying dozens of meters away in one hit!!! What exactly are you?!"
Rin nodded heavily beside him.
"Compared to that Ninja Bear... Guy feels more like a human-shaped beast."
"Konoha's human-shaped beast?"
Kakashi tilted his head thoughtfully while sizing Guy up.
"It fits... although it sounds a little strange."
"I think 'Konoha's Vajra Beast' sounds better."
Ebisu muttered softly from nearby.
The moment those words were spoken, everyone subconsciously felt that the title suited him perfectly.
Guy rolled his eyes helplessly.
Vajra Beast?
Honestly, it did not sound nearly as cool as the future nickname of "Konoha's Blue Beast."
Still, he did not mind very much.
Because one day, that title would belong to him again sooner or later.
Of this, Might Guy was absolutely certain.
Thinking about it, he grinned brightly once more.