"That's great! It's Guy-sensei! We're saved!"
Upon seeing the newcomer, Uchiha Yujin finally let out a deep sigh of relief.
He immediately shifted his attention back to the monstrous Water Release Mask tangled in battle with Kimimaro.
Even if someone rolled dice and picked a random Konoha ninja to save him, Yujin would still choose the man who almost kicked the story to its finale in one blow—Might Guy.
At this point in time, without understanding Kakuzu's abilities, even if the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, himself were summoned, there was no guarantee he could take Kakuzu down.
But Might Guy could.
Kakuzu lifted his gaze toward the newcomer, his brows furrowing slightly.
In Konoha, aside from the ANBU, a ninja's general capabilities were semi-public knowledge. With just one glance, Kakuzu recognized the man with the bowl-cut hairstyle standing before him.
After all, among all the taijutsu specialists in Konoha, there were only a handful worth remembering—and Might Guy was the strongest among them.
The Green Beast of Konoha.
Kakuzu, who had lived for over eighty years, had witnessed the reigns of four Hokage. He had memorized almost every jutsu and story the village had to offer.
There was even a rumor about a certain green jumpsuit-wearing genin from Konoha who, during a mission, encountered the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
In a fit of rage, he kicked four of them to death. From that day on, the Seven Swordsmen were never complete again.
And the man standing before Kakuzu now—whose movements and expressions were even more exaggerated—was that legendary genin's son.
Kakuzu did not dare to be careless.
His hands flashed through a rapid series of seals. "Earth Style: Earth Spear!"
In an instant, his body hardened, covered in a dense layer of rock-like armor. His arms transformed into sharp stone spikes that glimmered with a cold, metallic light.
Without hesitation, Kakuzu followed up with another technique. "Fire Style: Intelligent Hard Work!"
Flames erupted from his mouth like a raging serpent, roaring toward Might Guy. Wherever the fire swept, the ground charred black and cracked open, and the air itself shimmered from the blistering heat.
Facing the blazing inferno, Might Guy's eyes burned even brighter.
A fierce grin spread across his face.
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
With a thunderous shout, his body shot forward like a green flash of lightning. His spinning kick tore through the fiery heat, slamming directly into Kakuzu's shoulder.
The impact echoed through the battlefield—but Kakuzu's Earth Release armor was terrifyingly resilient. Guy's powerful leg strike sent ripples through the stone plating, yet caused no visible damage.
Using the rebound from the impact, Guy twisted midair like a spinning top, rotating several times before landing gracefully to the side.
His feet hit the ground with perfect balance, his sharp gaze locking once more onto his opponent.
The Green Beast of Konoha had truly entered the fight.
Might Guy had barely steadied his footing when his body suddenly erupted with a burst of blue vapor.
It was the unmistakable sign — the Fifth Gate of the Eight Gates Technique, the Gate of Limit, had opened.
Kakuzu's eyelids twitched sharply. A wave of unease surged through his chest, his instincts screaming danger.
He didn't dare to let his guard down. Both of his hands blurred through a flurry of hand signs, and in the next second, he roared,
"Lightning Release — False Darkness!"
Bolts of lightning poured from his body like a raging storm, tearing through the air toward Guy.
Guy had long treated Kakashi as his lifelong rival, and he knew all too well the devastating might of Lightning Release. These bolts, fiercer than even Kakashi's Chidori, were not something he could afford to take head-on.
He darted to the side, his body twisting and bending in impossible angles as he narrowly evaded the flashing arcs of lightning.
With the Gate of Limit opened, Guy's speed was transcendent — his figure blurred into streaks of motion, weaving between the deadly strikes like a shadow born of thunder itself.
Kakuzu's attacks were relentless, sealing every route of escape. Yet, for all his precision and fury, he couldn't land a single hit on Guy's blazing-fast form.
For a tense heartbeat, the battlefield hung in fragile equilibrium.
At the far edge of the clearing, two more figures fought furiously against the blue-faced Water Mask of Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear.
Uchiha Yujin's Sharingan flickered, tracking every movement. He raised walls of swirling water — Water Formation Wall — to block the mask's torrents, while beside him, Kimimaro unleashed a storm of ivory bones.
He tore them from his own body without hesitation, hurling them with deadly precision. The sight made Yujin's eyelid twitch in disbelief.
Are those bones… endless?
Just as Yujin prepared to counter another Water Release: Water Curtain Tent, Might Guy's sharp shout echoed across the battlefield.
"Get back!"
Yujin reacted instantly, leaping aside — just as the Fire Mask burst onto the scene, flames spilling across the ground.
Fire on the left. Water on the right.
In an instant, the two young shinobi were cornered, trapped against the base of a massive tree.
Guy wiped the sweat from his brow, his senses split between the lightning chasing him from behind and the chaos erupting around him. There was no time to breathe — no room for distraction.
Kakuzu's vast chakra reserves gave him absolute control of the battle's pace.
Guy couldn't get close, much less defeat him quickly. Meanwhile, the two genin were standing on the edge of death.
"Kimimaro!"
Uchiha Yujin's voice cut through the roar of the battlefield. "Hold them off for ten seconds!"
There was no hesitation.
Kimimaro's bones began to dance.
Ten Finger Drilling Bullets! Dance of the Larch! Dance of the Pines!
He unleashed everything at once, his attacks exploding outward in a storm of white and crimson.
For eight seconds, he held them back with sheer willpower — but just as he gritted his teeth to endure the last two, a torrent of fire and a jet of water surged straight toward him.
The flames roared like a living beast, eager to devour everything in their path. The water cannon struck beside it, crashing forward with the force of a raging flood.
Despair flickered in Kimimaro's eyes.
He knew — in his current state, there was no way he could withstand such a devastating, two-pronged assault.
Death was only an instant away.
At that desperate, heart-stopping moment—
A massive, hundred-meter-tall iron gate suddenly rose from the ground!
With a thunderous boom, it slammed into place right before Kimimaro, standing like a wall between him and certain death.
Flames and torrents of water crashed violently against the iron surface, creating an ear-splitting roar.
The gate trembled under the impact. With a sharp crack, the demonic face engraved on it was pierced straight through by the water cannon.
But by then, Kimimaro had already leapt aside, eyes filled with gratitude as he looked toward Uchiha Yujin.
A wave of relief washed over him — he had survived by the narrowest margin.
The sudden appearance of the Rashōmon Gate threw both Guy and Kakuzu off for a moment.
For someone this young to summon such an enormous construct…
That amount of chakra was unbelievable.
"I'll kill you!" Kakuzu roared in fury, his rage twisting his face.
He refused to believe Uchiha Yujin could create such a miracle on his own, and credited it entirely to his Earth Grudge Fear's Wind Mask.
But Yujin had no intention of standing still to test that theory.
He chose a direction, closed his eyes, and sprinted at full speed!
The Fire and Water mask monsters under Kakuzu's control moved to pursue—
Only for Might Guy to flash into the scene, his leg whipping through the air as he kicked the Fire Mask backward in one powerful strike!
That left only the Water Mask chasing after Uchiha Yujin.
****
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