Boom!
Another explosion echoed from somewhere ahead inside the forest.
Guy's expression immediately tightened before his body burst forward even faster than before.
Explosive tags.
That sound definitely came from a person.
And if there were people fighting inside the Forest of Death right now, there was a very high chance it involved one of his classmates.
Guy did not even have time to think carefully about who it could be.
Obito?
Ebisu?
Or perhaps GekkΕ Hayate?
No matter who it was, he had to get there immediately.
Behind him, Anko seemed to shout something angrily, but the wind tore her words apart before he could hear them clearly.
Besides, Guy did not have time to pay attention anyway.
The trees on both sides blurred past rapidly while sharp branches scraped painfully against his face and arms, yet he could not afford to slow down or dodge.
Another muffled boom echoed ahead together with the furious howling of wolves.
The battle was still happening.
Guy immediately grit his teeth and accelerated once more.
Then, the instant he burst out from the forest, the entire scene before him became visible beneath the moonlight.
A clearing.
The ground at the center had been blasted into a scorched crater that still emitted smoke continuously.
Several wolf corpses already lay around the edge of the pit.
Meanwhile, not far away, over a dozen grey-black wolves frantically lunged toward a single figure while baring their fangs wildly.
The person leaned weakly against a tree while dense swarms of black insects continuously poured from his body in order to block the wolves' attacks desperately.
However, although the insects surged outward endlessly, they were constantly swatted away by claws and fangs.
There were simply too many wolves.
Wave after wave.
The figure already carried several bloody wounds across his body while his clothes had long since been torn apart in multiple places.
Guy's gaze swept across that face quickly.
It looked familiar.
Very familiar.
The kind of familiar where you clearly know you've seen someone before, yet no matter how hard you try, you still cannot remember exactly who they are.
Forget it.
As long as it was a classmate, that was enough.
"Move aside!"
The massive machete instantly left its sheath.
A brilliant arc of blade light flashed beneath the moonlight, and before the foremost wolf could even react properly, its head flew directly into the air.
Blood sprayed several feet upward instantly.
The remaining wolves immediately turned their heads in unison.
More than a dozen pairs of glowing green eyes stared directly toward this unexpected intruder who had suddenly entered the battlefield.
Guy grinned.
"Come on."
The nearest wolf lunged first.
A flash of blade light swept past.
Split in half.
Then a second wolf suddenly attacked from the side.
Guy sidestepped effortlessly before raising one leg instantly.
Bang!
The Great Vajra Leg exploded outward violently.
The wolf flew away like a kicked ball before crashing heavily against a nearby tree and sliding lifelessly downward.
Immediately afterward, the third and fourth wolves lunged simultaneously from different directions.
Guy's blade swept horizontally.
Then his leg followed immediately afterward.
Two wolf heads flew through the air while another wolf had its ribs completely shattered by the kick.
At that point, the remaining wolves finally became afraid.
They circled around cautiously while releasing low threatening growls, yet none of them dared to charge recklessly anymore.
Unfortunately for them, Guy had no intention of wasting additional time.
He directly rushed into the middle of the pack himself.
The slaughter instantly began.
It truly resembled chopping melons and vegetables apart effortlessly.
Everywhere the blade light flashed, wolf corpses flew outward.
Everywhere his legs struck, bones shattered loudly.
Less than twenty seconds later, more than a dozen wolves already lay scattered lifelessly across the clearing.
The final wolf attempted to escape in panic.
Guy immediately caught up before stepping down heavily onto its skull.
Crack.
The entire clearing instantly became quiet.
Guy calmly sheathed the machete before exhaling lightly.
Not bad.
At least that loosened up his muscles slightly.
Then he turned around and looked toward the figure leaning weakly against the tree.
At that exact moment, Anko finally rushed out from the forest while panting heavily and clutching her knees.
"You... you run way too fast... are you trying to kill people from exhaustion..."
However, before she could continue complaining, she suddenly noticed the dozens of wolf corpses littering the clearing.
Anko froze instantly.
"They're... all dead already?"
Guy nodded casually.
"Yeah."
Anko walked toward the nearest corpse before kicking it lightly.
The wolf's fur was glossy while its body carried a healthy mixture of fat and lean meat.
Immediately, Anko frowned regretfully.
"What a waste. Wolf meat doesn't taste good at all."
Guy looked at her speechlessly.
So the reason you look disappointed is because you're thinking about whether the meat tastes good?
Ignoring Anko completely, Guy walked directly toward the injured figure leaning against the tree.
The person still panted heavily while the countless black insects covering his body slowly crawled back underneath his torn clothes.
Soon, his face became visible clearly.
An extremely ordinary-looking face.
Although covered with dirt and blood, there did not seem to be any fatal injuries.
Guy reached out and helped him stand upright.
"Are you alright?"
The person slowly raised his head toward Guy.
His expression looked somewhat complicated.
Several seconds later, he finally spoke with a hoarse voice still carrying the relief of surviving disaster.
"Not dead."
Then after another pause:
"Thank you."
His gaze became even more complicated afterward.
"You saved me again."
Guy froze.
"Again?"
He stared directly toward that face while desperately searching through his memories.
Completely blank.
Who exactly was this guy?
And when had he ever saved him before?
Seeing Guy's confused expression, the relief on the other person's face slowly stiffened.
Then he hesitated before speaking cautiously.
"You... didn't forget me, right?"
Guy blinked twice.
Then awkwardness slowly appeared across his face.
That expression alone already answered everything clearly.
The other person's shoulders visibly drooped.
There was grievance.
There was hurt.
And there was also a strange sense of resignation, as though he had already expected this outcome from the very beginning.
Anko finally could not continue watching silently anymore.
She walked over before waving toward him casually.
"Hello, Aburame-classmate."
The boy nodded slightly.
"Hello, Anko-classmate."
Then Anko turned toward Guy directly.
"Shikuro Aburame. The one from the bandit mission before. The classmate who almost died."
Guy instantly froze.
Then realization exploded inside his mind.
Right!
That guy!
The one lying inside the pool of blood half a year ago.
The one whose back got slashed open during the bandit mission and was rushed toward the hospital afterward by Umino Iruka.
Guy suddenly slapped his thigh loudly.
"I remember now! Right, it's you!"
Shikuro looked toward him with an unbelievably complicated expression.
"Yes."
"It's me."
Guy immediately scratched his head awkwardly before laughing sheepishly.
"Uh... sorry about that. My memory isn't exactly great..."
Shikuro remained silent for several seconds afterward.
Then he answered quietly:
"It's fine."
Honestly speaking, he was already used to it by now.
Completely used to it.
Guy coughed awkwardly twice before immediately changing the subject.
"Right, then what exactly caused that explosion earlier? Did you use explosive tags?"
Shikuro slowly shook his head.
"It wasn't an explosive tag."
Then he raised one hand slowly.
A tiny black insect crawled outward from inside his sleeve before stopping quietly in the center of his palm.
Guy leaned closer curiously.
The insect itself was incredibly small, barely larger than a grain of rice.
Its body was pitch-black while faint reddish light glowed weakly from its abdomen like burning embers.
"I raised these myself."
Shikuro explained quietly.
"They normally absorb my Chakra and store it continuously. During emergencies, I can force them to self-destruct."
Then he lowered his gaze slightly toward his own body.
The countless black insects still crawling around him had become noticeably sluggish now, while several of them no longer moved at all.
"There were too many wolves earlier."
"So I released all the explosive bugs I still had remaining."
The tiny bug in his palm slowly crawled back inside his sleeve afterward.
"My Chakra was already completely drained. If you two hadn't arrived in time..."
He did not finish the sentence afterward.
But the meaning was already obvious.
Guy nodded slowly.
So that was what happened.
Then his gaze shifted briefly toward the insects before returning toward Shikuro again.
This guy really almost died again.
Two missions.
Two near-death experiences.
His luck really was unbelievably terrible.
Guy reached out and patted his shoulder directly.
"Alright, then come with us for now."
Shikuro froze slightly.
"Together?"
"Yeah."
Guy pointed casually toward Anko nearby.
"The two of us are already traveling together anyway. If you continue wandering around alone, there might not be anyone nearby to save you next time."
Shikuro remained silent briefly afterward.
Then he slowly nodded.
"Okay."
He pushed himself upright fully before brushing dirt from his clothes while the insects slowly crawled back beneath the fabric together with his movements.
After watching him finish tidying himself up, Guy asked another question.
"Have you seen anyone else during these past few days?"
Shikuro shook his head immediately.
"No."
"I've been moving east the entire time since entering the forest, but somewhere along the way, I probably drifted off course. Today is the first time I've encountered anyone."
Guy nodded thoughtfully.
At least that meant his current direction should still be correct.
Since everyone needed to head toward the same destination eventually, they would naturally begin meeting more people sooner or later.
Guy immediately turned toward the forest afterward.
"Let's go."
Anko followed behind him naturally.
Shikuro also quietly followed.
However, after walking several steps, Shikuro suddenly spoke again.
"Um..."
Guy turned around.
"Hm?"
Shikuro looked directly toward him beneath the moonlight.
His ordinary face currently carried an unusually serious expression.
"Thank you."
Only two simple words.
Yet his tone sounded incomparably sincere.
Guy immediately grinned.
Then he raised a massive thumbs-up.
His teeth flashed brilliantly beneath the moonlight.
"Don't mention it. We're all classmates anyway."
Shikuro quietly stared toward that raised thumb.
Then he looked toward Guy's smiling face once more.
He froze silently for two seconds.
Then finally lowered his head slightly.
"Yeah."
Anko watched the entire scene from nearby before finally bursting into laughter.
"Alright, alright, let's hurry up already. If we keep wasting time here, the sun's going to rise soon."
Soon afterward, three figures disappeared rapidly into the darkness of the forest together.
The fourth day inside the Forest of Death had officially begun.
And now, their team had become three people instead.
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