While Minato pressed on with his mission, the elite Mist squad secretly raiding the Land of Fire had already slipped deep into its heartland.
They ran headlong into Might Guy's team on assignment.
None of the three had expected a routine task to throw them against foes this dangerous.
"Not good, we're surrounded!"
"We're not getting out of this!"
"Aren't those the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist?"
Ebisu's face went pale with despair.
Facing seven jōnin was a hopeless mismatch. They had almost no chance to escape alive.
"Didn't expect even brats from other villages to know us! Guess we're famous now!"
"Tch, there's a little notch in the blade. Gotta let it drink some blood so the iron can regrow."
Biwa Jūzō looked down at the young Leaf shinobi, a cruel smile twisting his scarred face.
Lopping off heads was such a delight.
The Executioner's Blade in his hand pulsed with a thirst for blood.
Sensing that feral killing intent, Guy's team grew grim.
"What do we do? Just us, we can't beat them..."
Genma Shiranui's expression darkened.
Just as they thought their deaths were certain, a surge of green chakra tore through the forest and dropped from above, planting itself between Guy's team and the Seven Swordsmen.
The same green tights, the same scruffy hair.
Konoha's eternal genin, Might Duy.
"Dad!"
Guy couldn't hold back a shout.
What was his father doing here?
Then his face tightened. "Dad, why would a genin come to a place like this?"
In his view, his father relied solely on taijutsu and couldn't possibly defeat the Seven Swordsmen.
He would only be throwing his life away.
And charging in knowing you couldn't win was a terrible choice.
"Enough talk. You three run. I'll buy you time."
Might Duy's voice was calm.
For the sake of the son he adored, he had already prepared himself to open the Eight Gates.
He had trained them his entire life for this one purpose: to protect what was precious to him.
Now it was time to test the fruits of that training.
"Run away... Dad! They're all jōnin, and the Seven Swordsmen at that. You can't beat them alone!"
Guy feared his father would be cut down the moment blades met.
He might not even manage to stall them.
"Don't worry. I have the Formation of the Eight Gates, the Gate of Death."
"But that technique..."
Guy's brows pinched tight.
He knew what opening the Gate of Death meant.
When the last torrent of chakra burned out, the heart would fall silent.
So his father's teaching had always carried one more rule: self-restraint.
Yet when Guy met his father's unwavering gaze, he closed his mouth.
His father was already prepared to die.
When it came to guarding the most important thing, even self-restraint could be broken.
"Father, do you believe... now is the time to break that restraint?"
Tears blurred Guy's vision.
Without him noticing, a fierce chakra kindled within Duy's heart.
"Guy, don't make that face."
"This is the moment."
"When you find something you must protect, I believe you'll make the same choice I do."
"So, Guy, run with your teammates."
Duy glanced back with a brilliant smile and gave his son one last thumbs-up.
Trading his life for his son's safety struck Duy as only right.
"Hey, hey, enough of the tear-jerker."
"Be good and let me lop those heads off with the Executioner's Blade."
"Relax, my blade is quick. You won't feel a thing..."
Jūzō drawled, already bored with their sentiment.
By then, Duy had opened the Seventh Gate. He jabbed his thumb hard into his chest.
A torrent of chakra erupted from his heart.
It seeped out through every pore, slicking his skin.
Duy shot forward with blinding speed.
"The Eighth Gate of Death, open!"
"Formation of the Eight Gates!"
In an instant, the leaking chakra merged into a single, blazing mantle, a vivid cloak of crimson.
"Crimson steam?"
"What jutsu is that..."
Feeling the searing heat rolling off that red vapor, Kushimaru Kuriarare widened his eyes.
By the time they truly registered it, Duy's speed had already carried him into their midst.
"What!"
"How can he be this fast..."
BOOM!
...
Elsewhere, in a forest of the Land of Fire.
A tall figure raced through the undergrowth.
After leaving the underground palace, Senya had not returned to Konoha at once.
He chose to travel, checking in wherever he went.
He hoped to obtain Ashura's other chakra, and to unwind his mind.
With his strength now, unless someone of Sage of Six Paths caliber appeared, no one could threaten him.
After receiving Indra's chakra and a surge in ocular power, his body had shown no further changes.
There was still no sign of the Rinnegan awakening.
Just then, within the breadth of his senses, a pure chakra slowly roused.
It erupted a heartbeat later with staggering force.
"Oh? This chakra..."
"Crimson steam, is it..."
Senya's thoughts stirred. He triggered Summoning Flash and blinked toward the source of that eruption.