Ebisu stood roughly ten meters away while still maintaining the hand seals from his Ninjutsu.
He stared blankly at the burning Chunin whose throat had been split open before collapsing heavily onto the muddy ground.
He froze for one second.
Then suddenly
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Ebisu burst into loud laughter.
"Did you see that?! Did you see that?! I was the one who hit him!"
"I defeated an Iwagakure Chunin!"
"Elite Ninja! I am definitely an elite Ninja!"
Genma stood nearby with a toothpick hanging from his mouth while glancing sideways toward him.
He said nothing.
Yet the corners of his mouth slowly lifted upward slightly.
Guy first grinned toward Ebisu before slowly turning his body toward the true battlefield nearby while green steam continued rising around him.
That place...
...was where the real battle was happening.
In the distance, Choza and Iwami Jūzō had already separated from one another.
The two stood facing each other across roughly ten meters of muddy battlefield while neither side moved for the moment.
Because both of them had witnessed everything.
They saw Guy cut down the first Chunin with one blade strike.
They saw Ebisu's Great Fireball slam directly into the second Chunin's body.
They also saw Guy's blade flash through the rain before tearing open the man's throat.
Iwami Jūzō stood motionless beneath the pouring rain while water streamed continuously down his face.
His gaze slowly swept across the battlefield littered with corpses.
Three Chunin.
Nine Genin.
A total of twelve Iwagakure Ninja.
All dead.
And the one responsible...
...was merely a single brat.
Iwami Jūzō slowly raised his head afterward.
The expression on his face gradually changed.
It was no longer anger.
Instead, it became an icy coldness that seeped deep into one's bones.
He stared directly at Guy.
At that blood soaked child standing beneath the rainstorm while green steam continuously rose from his body.
The corners of Iwami Jūzō's mouth slowly twisted upward into a hideous grin.
"Good."
"Very good."
"Akimichi brat... your little soldiers are surprisingly capable."
The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly slammed his palms together.
A thick earthy yellow Chakra glow rapidly gathered between his hands.
It was denser than at any previous moment during this battle.
"But anyone who kills my men..."
"...must pay with their own life."
Iwami Jūzō's voice sounded terrifyingly grim.
Choza's pupils contracted instantly.
"A forbidden technique?!"
Without even the slightest hesitation, Choza immediately reached into his robes, grabbed another pill from the Three Colored Pills box, and threw it into his mouth.
Crunch.
He bit down hard before swallowing it immediately.
"Guhhh!!"
Choza released a muffled groan as his body suddenly expanded explosively once more.
Five meters.
Six meters.
Seven meters!
His muscles swelled violently while veins bulged everywhere across his body.
Chakra erupted outward around him like blazing flames.
"Earth Release: Great Mountain Collapse Technique!"
Iwami Jūzō suddenly spread both arms outward before slamming his palms violently against the ground.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!!!
The earth itself roared violently.
With Iwami Jūzō as the center point, the ground within a radius of over fifty meters began churning like a raging ocean.
Mud.
Rocks.
Broken earth.
Everything was swept upward by that terrifying Chakra before collapsing toward Choza from every direction.
This was no ordinary Ninjutsu anymore.
It resembled a natural disaster itself.
The entire battlefield was collapsing and sinking as though the earth intended to devour everything alive.
At the same moment, the Curry Pill Choza consumed had fully taken effect.
His gigantic body expanded to seven meters tall.
He slammed both hands downward against the collapsing earth.
Those enormous palms dug deeply into the ground while he attempted to stabilize himself.
"STOP FOR ME!!!"
Choza roared furiously toward the sky.
The muscles in his arms swelled enormously while veins bulged outward like giant tree roots.
For one brief moment, the collapsing earth before him actually stopped.
But only for one brief moment.
Immediately afterward, a second wave of impact erupted forward.
Even stronger.
Even more violent.
Crack!
The earth beneath Choza's feet shattered completely while his massive body began sinking rapidly into the mudslide.
Soon, the torrent of collapsing earth had already swallowed him past his knees.
"Captain!!"
Ebisu's face immediately turned pale while he instinctively attempted to rush forward.
But Genma grabbed him instantly.
"What good would you do by going over there?!"
Genma gritted his teeth tightly while even his voice trembled slightly.
Guy stood silently beneath the rain while the green steam around his body gradually weakened further.
The time limit of the Third Gate was nearly over.
One minute remained.
He stared toward Choza's sinking body while watching that gigantic seven meter figure disappear deeper and deeper into the mudslide.
His heartbeat suddenly accelerated violently.
Not from fear.
But from absolute calmness.
Extreme calmness.
Because he already knew exactly what he needed to do.
Suddenly, Guy charged directly into the battlefield between the two Jonin.
"Captain!!"
His voice pierced through the rainstorm and rumbling earth before reaching Choza clearly.
Choza abruptly turned his head.
"GET BACK!!"
Guy ignored the warning completely before leaping directly onto Choza's shoulder while maintaining an extremely serious expression.
"Captain!"
"Help me hold him down for one second!"
Choza nearly cursed immediately.
But the words stopped at his lips before being swallowed back down.
He wanted to shout that the enemy was a Jonin.
He wanted to ask whether this brat had gone insane.
He wanted to ask what exactly someone could possibly accomplish in merely one second.
Yet after looking directly into Guy's eyes...
...he could not say any of those words.
Because within those eyes there was no recklessness.
No impulsiveness.
No blind hot blooded stupidity.
There was only seriousness.
"Just one second!!"
Choza gritted his teeth tightly before finally choosing to trust him.
Although they had only known each other for several months, Choza knew Guy was not someone who acted blindly.
And after witnessing Guy slaughter the Iwagakure Ninja moments ago...
...Choza believed there had to be a reason behind these words.
Suddenly, Choza released both hands from the ground completely.
The mudslide instantly swallowed his body up to the waist.
Yet he ignored it entirely.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
Choza roared furiously toward the sky.
His arms expanded even further.
His muscles swelled to an absurd degree while terrifying Chakra exploded upward around him.
"Multi Size Technique: Super Push Hands!!"
Two gigantic palms spread outward violently.
They resembled enormous city gates.
Then both palms slammed directly toward Iwami Jūzō.
Not to strike him.
But to trap him.
Iwami Jūzō immediately attempted to dodge.
But Choza's hands were simply too enormous, covering a radius of over ten meters.
There was nowhere left to retreat.
He could only defend.
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
A thick wall of earth erupted upward directly before him.
BOOM!!!
Choza's gigantic palms slammed violently against the earth wall.
Then both palms clamped together instantly, trapping both the wall and Iwami Jūzō between them.
"NOW!!"
Choza forced the word violently from his throat.
Blood flowed from the corners of his mouth.
Although his hands remained outside the collapsing battlefield, his body itself was still enduring the pressure from Iwami Jūzō's terrifying Ninjutsu.
His muscles tore continuously.
His bones groaned loudly.
Yet he refused to let go.
At that instant, a terrifying light erupted from Guy's eyes.
What could someone accomplish within one second?
Guy did not know the answer for others.
But for him...
...one second was enough to unleash a single kick.
Without even the slightest hesitation
"Eight Gates..."
"The Fourth Gate..."
"Gate of Pain..."
"OPEN!!!"
BOOOOOMMMM!!!!
A terrifying shockwave exploded violently from Guy's body.
The impact was over ten times stronger than before.
Raindrops blasted upward into the sky.
Loose rocks and broken earth shot outward like cannonballs.
Guy's skin instantly turned crimson red.
Not from exertion.
But from blood burning violently within his body.
Bulging veins spread from his forehead down across his neck, arms, and every inch of his body.
His eyes became bloodshot while blazing fury seemed to burn inside his pupils.
The green steam surrounding him darkened into a deep emerald color.
His hair stood upward violently.
At that moment, he resembled an Asura crawling upward from hell itself.
Then he exploded forward.
BOOM!!!
The ground where he previously stood shattered apart instantly into a crater.
One instant later, he was already ten meters away.
The next instant...
...twenty meters.
He moved so quickly that the falling raindrops themselves seemed frozen.
So quickly that the air screamed violently around him.
Iwami Jūzō remained trapped between Choza's palms and unable to move.
Yet he still saw it clearly.
That streak of green light.
That child.
Crimson skin.
Dark green steam.
Like a bolt of green lightning charging directly toward him.
At that exact moment, only one thought appeared inside Iwami Jūzō's mind.
"I cannot let him land this attack!"
It was not tactical judgment.
It was pure survival instinct.
He desperately circulated Chakra while forcibly forming hand seals within the cramped trapped space.
"Earth Release: Super Hardening!"
An earthy yellow glow instantly covered his body completely.
From head to toe, his body became wrapped in something resembling rock armor.
This was Iwagakure's strongest defensive Ninjutsu.
It could harden the human body to over ten times the strength of steel.
At the exact same moment, Guy had already leaped high into the air.
His right leg drew backward while terrifying power gathered there.
Golden light exploded from the sole of his foot more brilliantly than ever before.
Great Vajra Leg.
Pushed completely beyond its limits.
But even that...
...was still not enough.
"Men's Weight!"
"Right leg!"
"Ten thousand jin!"
"FULL POWER!!!"
That's right.
This was Guy's true intention.
The Men's Weight leg guards attached to both legs could each freely adjust their weight between zero and ten thousand jin.
Now, Guy had already become fully accustomed to carrying five hundred jin on each leg daily.
Meaning he constantly moved while carrying one thousand jin total during missions and training.
This was also why Choza always believed speed was Guy's greatest weakness.
Before the battle started, Guy had already removed all the weight completely.
But now the entire ten thousand jin limit on the right leg alone was activated instantly.
One leg.
Ten thousand jin.
"VAJRA..."
"TEN THOUSAND JIN KICK!!!"
Guy roared furiously.
Then his right leg, carrying the terrifying weight of ten thousand jin combined with the explosive force of the Fourth Gate and the terrifying power of Vajra...
...kicked down viciously toward Iwami Jūzō.