"Whoosh"
The signal flare still burned brightly overhead, dyeing half the night sky red.
Might Guy had already rushed forward over twenty meters in an instant. The forest on both sides blurred rapidly past him while dry branches continuously snapped beneath his feet with sharp cracking sounds. Behind him, Shiranui Genma and Ebisu were desperately trying to keep up, yet the distance between them and Guy continued widening more and more.
"Guy! Wait!"
Ebisu's voice was instantly swallowed apart by the roaring wind.
Guy did not stop.
Only one thought remained inside his mind.
Team Seven.
The furthest position.
The outermost edge.
The most dangerous location.
"Faster!"
"Faster!!"
He roared inwardly.
The Muscle-Tendon Change Classic circulated frantically throughout his body as streams of warm energy surged through every muscle and tendon. His speed instantly increased another twenty percent beyond his normal limit.
Sounds of battle finally echoed from ahead.
The clash of metal.
Heavy impacts.
Painful groans.
And suddenly
"YĆ«gao! Watch out!!"
GekkĆ Hayate's voice rang out hoarsely through the forest. It sounded strained, desperate, and filled with obvious exhaustion.
Guy instantly burst out from the woods.
Before him lay a small clearing.
Within that clearing, three figures were locked in battle.
Two small.
One large.
GekkĆ Hayate tightly gripped a Kunai while staggering backward. His body was covered in cuts and bloodstains, yet he still forced himself to charge forward again.
Behind him stood YĆ«gao Uzuki.
Her short sword was already chipped with numerous notches along the blade edge, while her purple hair had become completely disheveled. Blood streaked across one side of her face, yet she still maintained her stance stubbornly.
Standing opposite them was a terrifying middle-aged man.
The man appeared around forty years old with a face full of coarse flesh and rough scars. The most horrifying scar stretched diagonally from his eyebrow all the way to his chin, making his appearance look vicious beneath the flickering firelight.
In his hand was a massive machete longer than an adult's arm.
Most importantly
His right hand glowed with dense earthy-yellow Chakra light.
Guy's pupils instantly contracted.
Earth Release.
This was not an ordinary bandit.
This was a real Ninja.
The scarred man suddenly swung his machete downward violently.
GekkĆ Hayate attempted to dodge, but his exhausted body could not react in time. He could only raise his Kunai desperately to block.
Clang!!!
The Kunai was knocked flying instantly.
Hayate himself was blasted backward before crashing heavily onto the ground and rolling twice across the dirt.
"Hayate!!"
YĆ«gao immediately rushed forward while thrusting her short sword toward the man's back.
However, the scarred man did not even bother turning around.
He casually swung his left hand backward.
Bang!!!
YĆ«gao was sent flying directly into a nearby tree trunk before collapsing downward while clutching her chest painfully.
"Cough... cough cough..."
Meanwhile, GekkĆ Hayate forced himself upright again while coughing violently. His breathing sounded terrifyingly weak in the quiet night.
Yet his legs were shaking badly.
His Chakra was nearly exhausted.
Guy's gaze rapidly swept across the battlefield.
Then he suddenly saw another figure lying motionless on the ground nearby.
It was the third member of Team Seven.
The quiet child whose name Guy still could not remember.
The boy lay face down inside a spreading pool of blood without moving at all. A horrifying slash wound stretched completely across his back, exposing flesh beneath torn clothing.
He was breathing.
Barely.
More air entered than left.
Fresh blood still continued flowing outward slowly.
Guy's pupils shrank violently.
He knew this child.
The boy usually sat quietly in the classroom corner without speaking.
What was his name?
What was his name?!
Guy couldn't remember.
But that was still his classmate.
A child who attended lessons together with him every single day.
A companion.
The scarred man slowly rested the machete over his shoulder while grinning cruelly toward Hayate and YĆ«gao.
"You little brats are pretty persistent."
He slowly stepped forward.
"Unfortunately... persistence is useless."
Blood continuously dripped from the blade edge.
"I'm a rogue Chunin from Iwagakure. I've hidden in this garbage place for three years waiting for the heat to die down before returning."
The earthy-yellow light around his right hand intensified further.
"Looks like today is just your unlucky day."
YĆ«gao grit her teeth while forcing herself upright again.
However, her legs had already become weak from injuries.
GekkĆ Hayate staggered in front of her protectively, but even he could barely remain standing.
The scarred man looked at the two children as though looking at dying insects.
"Don't worry."
"I'll send both of you off together."
Then he slowly raised the massive machete.
At that exact moment
"STOP!!!"
A furious roar exploded from the edge of the forest.
Guy rushed into the clearing instantly.
The scarred man turned his head slightly before spotting the green-clothed child sprinting directly toward him.
He froze briefly.
Another brat?
Then he sneered disdainfully.
"Another one coming here to die."
He immediately swung his right hand outward.
The earthy-yellow Chakra burst forward rapidly.
"Earth Release: Earth Spikes!"
Three razor-sharp earth spikes instantly erupted outward and shot directly toward Guy.
Guy tilted sideways sharply.
The first spike missed.
He lowered his head immediately.
The second spike barely passed overhead.
The third spike scraped directly across his shoulder before tearing away part of his clothing.
Yet Guy never slowed down once.
He continued charging straight ahead.
The scarred man's expression shifted slightly.
This brat had skill.
However, he had no intention of wasting time fighting children.
His eyes instinctively glanced toward the forest behind him.
That was his prepared escape route.
As long as he could shake off these troublesome little brats, he could immediately disappear into the mountains.
Unfortunately, these two children had clung to him desperately from the start.
A vicious light flashed inside the scarred man's eyes.
Once more, earthy-yellow Chakra gathered rapidly inside his hand.
However
This time, he did not aim toward Guy.
Instead, he aimed toward the dying child lying on the ground.
That useless brat was already half dead anyway.
If he killed him now, the remaining two would definitely panic completely.
And once they panicked
He could escape easily.
The Chakra light within his palm rapidly intensified.
GekkĆ Hayate's eyes widened instantly.
"NO!!!"
YĆ«gao desperately pushed herself away from the tree while trying to rush over.
But she was too far away.
And her legs were too weak.
There wasn't enough time.
The scarred man grinned viciously.
"Earth Release: Earth Spik"
Guy's eyes widened sharply.
At that instant
Time itself almost seemed to slow down.
Guy saw the child lying helplessly in the pool of blood.
He saw the despair inside Hayate and YĆ«gao's eyes.
He saw the three earth spears rapidly forming midair while aiming directly toward the child's back.
Then he saw the child's finger twitch slightly.
Still alive.
He was still alive!!
Buzz
A deafening sound exploded inside Guy's mind.
At that moment, all thoughts disappeared completely.
The Muscle-Tendon Change Classic.
Training rhythm.
Steady improvement.
Everything vanished.
Only one thought remained.
That child absolutely could not die.
In that single instant
Guy did two things simultaneously.
First
The heaviness suppressing his body disappeared completely.
For months now, weighted restraints had continuously remained attached to him.
Three hundred jin on each side.
Six hundred jin total.
Yet now
The weight instantly dropped to zero.
Click.
A faint mechanical sound echoed softly.
At that moment, Guy felt his entire body become unimaginably light.
Too light.
It almost felt as though he might float upward.
Duy's words flashed through his mind rapidly.
"The Eight Gates are a forbidden technique."
"Gate of Opening."
"Gate of Healing."
"Gate of Life."
"Gate of Pain."
"Gate of Limit."
"Gate of View."
"Gate of Wonder."
"Gate of Death."
"Guy... unless it's an absolute last resort..."
Now
This was absolutely an absolute last resort.
Guy suddenly clenched his fist tightly.
"Eight Gates"
"Third Gate... Gate of Life... OPEN!!"
Boom!!!
A violent shockwave instantly exploded outward.
Guy's skin turned crimson red immediately while thick veins bulged visibly across his forehead and arms.
Duy once said that beyond the Third Gate lay the true dividing line.
The Fourth Gate.
The Gate of Pain.
A stage where the body truly began destroying itself.
Yet now
Guy stared directly at the earth spears flying toward the wounded child.
He stared at Hayate and YĆ«gao's desperate expressions.
Then
Without hesitation
"Fourth Gate"
"Gate of Pain!! OPEN!!!"
BOOM!!!!!!!!!
A terrifying shockwave erupted outward violently.
The surrounding leaves were blasted away instantly while gravel exploded across the clearing like bullets.
Green Chakra steam erupted outward around Guy's body.
Though faint
It undeniably existed.
Then Hlhe vanished.
No.
Not vanished.
He had simply become too fast.
So fast that even afterimages failed to remain behind.
The scarred man only saw a green blur flash across his vision.
Bang!!!
The three earth spears exploded apart midair instantly.
Fragments scattered everywhere.
The scarred man froze completely.
He hadn't even seen what happened.
One second later
Guy was suddenly standing directly in front of the wounded child.
His body remained frozen in a kicking posture.
Golden light still glowed faintly around his raised leg.
Great Vajra Leg.
The golden radiance contrasted sharply against the green steam surrounding him.
The scarred man's pupils shrank violently.
What...
What kind of monster was this?!
A child?!
A little brat?!
He kicked apart Earth Release techniques with one leg?!!
Guy slowly lowered his leg.
Then he turned around.
And looked directly toward the scarred man.
Those eyes burned fiercely like blazing fire.
The scarred man subconsciously stepped backward.
However, the next moment, he snapped out of it violently.
What was he afraid of?!
No matter what, this was still just a brat!
That terrifying speed and strength must be some temporary forbidden technique!
There was no way a child could sustain it for long!
The scarred man roared furiously while gripping his machete tightly.
Earth Chakra condensed once more around his hand.
"Brat, you"
Before he could finish speaking
Guy had already appeared before him.
This time
Even faster.
The scarred man could not react at all.
The only thing he saw was the rapidly enlarging green figure directly before his eyes.
Then
A leg.
A leg wrapped in golden light.
A leg surrounded by green steam.
Then Guy roared violently
"GREAT VAJRA WHIRLWIND LEG!!!"
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!
A terrifying explosion shook the entire forest.
The scarred man was blasted away like a cannon shell.
No It was even worse than that.
His entire body flew backward violently while smashing straight through three giant trees in succession.
Crack!!!
The first tree snapped directly in half.
Crack!!!
The second tree exploded apart from the center.
BOOM!!!
The third tree was struck so hard that the scarred man's body embedded halfway into the trunk itself.
His giant machete spun wildly through the air before stabbing deeply into the ground over ten meters away.
Buzz...
Buzz...
The blade continuously trembled.
ThenâŠsilence.
Complete silence.
GekkĆ Hayate stared blankly with his mouth hanging open.
He had even forgotten to cough.
YĆ«gao Uzuki leaned weakly against the tree while staring motionlessly.
She had forgotten to breathe.
At the edge of the clearing, Genma and Ebisu had just arrived from the forest.
Both stood frozen in place with widened eyes.
Everyone stared silently toward that green figure standing within the clearing.
Guy slowly lowered his kicking leg.
The golden radiance gradually faded away.
Green steam still rose continuously from his body.
Then he slowly straightened upright before turning his head toward the scarred man embedded inside the tree trunk.
Motionless.
The man's eyes remained wide open.
Yet the light inside them had already vanished completely.
Dead.
One kick.
Killed instantly.
Guy slowly exhaled deeply.
The green steam around his body gradually dispersed.
His crimson skin slowly returned to normal.
The bulging veins gradually receded.
Then he took two steps forward.
Suddenly, both legs weakened violently.
His body nearly collapsed onto the ground.
However, Guy forcibly stabilized himself.
He stood upright again.
Then he turned around slowly toward GekkĆ Hayate and YĆ«gao Uzuki.
Finally he grinned.
The movement pulled painfully at the wound near the corner of his mouth, causing him to wince slightly.
Yet despite that
He still raised a thumbs-up.
His teeth flashed brightly beneath the moonlight.
"It's okay now."
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