At that very instant, time itself seemed to freeze completely.
Inside Iwami Jūzō's pupils reflected that enormous golden leg descending toward him.
Only a single thought remained in his mind.
"No."
BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!
The giant golden leg slammed directly into Iwami Jūzō's body.
It struck the hardened layer of rock armor covering him.
Crack!
The armor instantly fractured.
Beginning from the center of his chest, countless cracks spread outward like a giant spiderweb before rapidly covering the entire surface of the armor.
BANG!!!
The rock armor shattered completely.
It exploded apart into dust and fragments.
The giant golden leg struck solidly against Iwami Jūzō's chest.
Click.
A crisp sound rang out clearly.
But it was not the sound of the armor breaking.
It was the sound of Guy's own leg shattering.
The terrifying recoil force created by ten thousand jin was far beyond what his current body could endure.
His entire lower leg instantly suffered a comminuted fracture.
The recoil spread violently upward from the lower leg into every part of his body.
At that moment, it felt as though his entire body was being ripped apart.
This was the strongest kick Guy could currently unleash.
And with his present body, he could only use such a kick once.
But Once was enough!
BOOM!!!
A thunderous explosion echoed through the battlefield.
Iwami Jūzō was blasted backward violently.
He resembled a cannonball fired directly into the distance.
His body flew straight out from between Choza's giant palms.
He smashed through the rock wall behind him.
Then shattered through one large tree.
Then a second.
Then a third.
Only after tumbling seven or eight times across the muddy ground did his body finally stop rolling.
Covered entirely in blood, he collapsed heavily into the mud.
The armor protecting him had completely shattered.
His clothes around the chest exploded apart as well.
Revealing a gigantic purplish black footprint deeply imprinted into his torso.
Almost every rib in his chest had been broken.
"PFFTTT!!"
Iwami Jūzō coughed out a large mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs.
That kick had nearly killed him outright.
Yet...
...he was still breathing.
"He's still alive?!"
Guy's pupils constricted violently.
His own body was already torn apart from the recoil while his right leg was completely ruined.
Even after all that...
...he still failed to kill the enemy?
Iwami Jūzō struggled painfully before finally forcing himself back onto his feet.
He stood there beneath the rain while blood continuously poured from his body.
His entire figure swayed unsteadily.
He knew very clearly that he could no longer continue fighting normally.
Although he managed to stand, his internal organs had already shattered.
He was half dead.
But before dying...
...there was still one thing he absolutely had to do.
A vicious madness appeared inside his eyes.
"I MUST KILL THIS BRAT!!!"
Iwami Jūzō roared furiously while forcing his hands into hand seals despite his condition.
Ram.
Horse.
Dragon.
Tiger.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!!"
Using the very last trace of Chakra remaining inside his body, Iwami Jūzō unleashed his final Ninjutsu.
Mud rapidly gathered before him before forming into the shape of an enormous earth dragon.
The dragon opened its giant maw before firing countless mud bullets directly toward Guy.
Dense.
Numerous.
Like countless cannonballs.
Even though Iwami Jūzō was already at death's door, a C Rank Ninjutsu unleashed by a Jonin was still vastly stronger than one released by an ordinary Chunin.
If those mud bullets landed...
...Guy would unquestionably die.
But Guy's body was already severely damaged and incapable of moving.
Choza remained trapped deep inside the collapsed earth pit and could not escape immediately.
Ebisu and Genma were still too far away to help.
The situation instantly became critical.
"DIE, BRAT!!!"
Iwami Jūzō's face twisted with complete insanity.
Rainwater mixed together with blood streamed across his face while revealing his final hysterical madness.
It was as though he had already seen Guy being pierced through by countless mud bullets.
Yet facing that deadly barrage capable of instantly killing him, Guy's expression remained unbelievably calm.
There was no fear.
No regret.
He merely drew the large saber from behind his back before holding it horizontally before himself.
At that moment, the forms of the Precept-Breaking Blade flowed continuously through his mind like revolving lanterns.
Severing Purity.
Falling into the Mortal World.
Slaying Karmic Fire.
Invoking Outer Demons.
Breaking Reincarnation.
Shattering Delusions.
Transcending Calamity.
Proving Uniqueness.
Staining Karma.
One form after another.
The complete Forty Nine Forms of the Precept-Breaking Blade.
He had practiced them thousands upon thousands of times.
Every practice session looked the same.
Yet every practice session was different.
Countless blade flashes appeared continuously inside his mind.
One slash.
Another slash.
Then another.
At this moment, every single slash merged together into one final strike.
Guy slowly moved his hand.
He raised the already chipped and blunted great saber inside his grasp.
Then casually swung it forward.
"Precept-Breaking Blade: Ultimate Slash."
"Precept-Breaking!"
The instant Guy's voice fell
...a gigantic golden saber suddenly materialized before him from the void itself.
It no longer resembled an ordinary weapon.
Instead, it looked like an ancient heavy saber glowing entirely with brilliant golden light.
Its appearance was so dazzling that everyone nearby instinctively narrowed their eyes.
Then the golden saber moved.
With unstoppable momentum and terrifying Aura, it slashed directly toward the incoming Earth Dragon Bullet.
The saber light flashed once.
There was no explosion.
No roaring impact.
Only a single golden arc.
Every mud bullet touching the golden saber instantly dissipated into nothingness.
The Earth Dragon itself disintegrated completely the moment the saber passed through it.
And the speed of the golden slash did not decrease even slightly.
It silently passed through Iwami Jūzō's body before disappearing deep into the distant forest.
Iwami Jūzō froze completely.
He slowly lowered his head and looked toward his chest.
A thin red line stretched diagonally from his shoulder all the way down to his waist.
His mouth slowly opened as though trying to speak.
"PFFTT—"
Blood suddenly erupted from his mouth.
Then...
...his upper body slowly slid apart from his lower body.
One slash.
Two halves.
Rain continued falling endlessly from the sky.
Blood mixed into the muddy water before slowly washing away.
Guy's body swayed violently before he instinctively plunged his large saber into the ground to support himself.
But the next instant
Clink.
The large saber shattered completely.
It simply could not withstand the Ultimate Slash of the perfected Precept-Breaking Blade.
The blade exploded apart into dozens of shattered iron fragments which scattered across the muddy battlefield.
Guy supported himself on one leg while staring silently at the shattered remains.
That had been his very first blade.
The weapon taken from the bandit leader.
He had used it continuously for half a year.
It accompanied him through the Forest of Death.
Through supply escort missions.
Through countless battles against Iwagakure Ninja.
And now...
...it had finally shattered.
Guy slowly grinned.
"Thanks."
Then his legs gave out completely and he collapsed heavily onto the ground.
Ebisu immediately rushed over before catching him.
"Guy! You actually did it! You killed a Jonin!!"
Ebisu's voice trembled violently from excitement.
Genma quickly ran over before tearing apart his own sleeve.
He knelt beside Guy and immediately began bandaging the shattered right leg.
At that same moment, Choza finally climbed out from the cracked battlefield.
The effects of the Curry Pill had already faded while the terrifying side effects began assaulting his body.
Every inch of him felt agonizing pain.
Yet he still endured it and hurried over to check Guy's injuries.
"Fractured leg bones. Multiple muscle tears. But he won't die."
Choza instantly made a judgment.
Then he looked toward Ebisu and Genma with an unusually serious expression.
"You two."
"Take Guy and immediately return to Mount Kikyo camp!"
"Captain! What about you?!"
Ebisu asked nervously.
Choza shook his head.
"Don't worry about me. I can still walk myself. Just get Guy back first!"
Just as Ebisu prepared to agree, Guy suddenly gritted his teeth before forcing himself upright once more.
Before Choza could even react, Guy directly tossed something toward him.
Choza instinctively caught it.
When he opened his hand and saw what it was, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
"Another pill?!"
Choza immediately felt a headache coming.
After experiencing the horrifying side effects of the Curry Pill, he had already sworn to himself that he would not eat another pill for at least an entire month.
"Captain... hurry and eat it. Then we leave together."
Guy spoke with difficulty.
Choza looked utterly helpless.
Nobody understood the terrifying side effects of the Three Colored Pills better than someone from the Akimichi Clan.
The exhaustion inside his body could not recover quickly at all.
The reason he ordered Ebisu and Genma to leave first was precisely because he did not want to become dead weight.
"You should keep this pill for yourself. I'll be fine!"
"If you don't eat it... then I won't leave either!"
Guy's expression remained extremely serious.
Seeing that stubborn determination, Choza finally compromised helplessly.
Still, he felt extremely speechless inside.
"This brat... he has no idea how terrifying the side effects of our Akimichi Clan's Three Colored Pills truly are."
Choza tossed the pill into his mouth.
Gulp.
He swallowed it directly.
"Now can you sto"
Before Choza finished speaking, his eyes widened violently.
The exhaustion inside his body vanished instantly.
The vitality his body had forcibly overdrawn moments earlier seemed to recover completely in a single instant.
"Wh... what kind of pill is this?!"
Choza was completely shocked.
Just as he prepared to question Guy further, he suddenly realized that Guy had already fainted at some unknown moment.
A strange expression appeared inside Choza's eyes.
In the end, he merely sighed softly before picking Guy up into his arms.
"You two. Follow me!"
After speaking, Choza immediately sprinted back toward Mount Kikyo.
Ebisu and Genma saw their captain fully recover and immediately followed after him excitedly.
Guy knew nothing about any of this anymore.
After giving Choza the Small Restoration Pill, he only managed to glance once toward the System notification before completely losing consciousness.
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