The final blow.
It was also the last romantic gesture Might Duy could make after burning through his life force.
Youth was burning.
But Might Duy no longer had the strength to launch another attack.
It was not that he had been defeated.
He had simply run out of life force.
His life had reached its end, insufficient to support him through the final step.
But...
The inheritance of the Will of Fire.
It had always been that one generation could only accomplish the things that belonged to that generation.
No one was a god. Everyone was an ordinary person.
What they could not accomplish, they passed down.
Hyuga Sho suddenly remembered what Hatake Sakumo had once told him.
"Hyuga Sho, the things my generation cannot accomplish will be entrusted to all of you."
It was the same now.
Killing four and allowing three to escape—this was what Might Duy had been able to accomplish.
"..."
The man whose life force had reached its end slowly raised his left arm.
He held it straight out.
Then,
he slowly turned his head.
His fist tightened.
He stuck out his thumb.
Facing Hyuga Sho and the others, his face revealed a smile.
In the past, Might Duy's smile had always inspired people.
But this time...
No matter how they tried, they could no longer see that former sense of "youth" in his smile.
It only made tears fall uncontrollably.
"..."
Might Guy, Ebisu, Shiranui Genma, and the others had long since been weeping too hard to speak.
As for Hyuga Sho...
He raised his arm, returned the gesture, and offered a smile.
The next moment,
a figure drilled out of the ground.
He raised Kubikiribōchō high and roared, as though trying to expel all the fear within his body.
It was Jurozaemon