Boom!
The explosion came from up ahead again.
Guy's expression tightened, and he sprinted faster.
An Explosive Tag.
It had to be a person.
And if it was a person, there was a good chance it was a classmate.
He had no time to wonder who.
Obito? Ebisu? Gekko Hayate?
Whoever it was, he had to hurry!
Anko shouted something behind him, but he didn't catch it.
He had no time to listen.
The trees flashed past on either side. Branches scraped painfully across his face, but he didn't bother dodging.
Another muffled blast sounded, mixed with wolves' howls.
They were still fighting!
Guy gritted his teeth and pushed himself faster.
The moment he burst out of the woods, he saw it.
A clearing under the moonlight.
A charred crater still smoked, with several wolf carcasses lying beside it.
On the other side, more than a dozen gray-black wolves were lunging and snapping at someone.
The person was backed against a tree, black insects swarming over his body as he fought desperately to hold them off.
More insects poured out, only to be scattered by the wolves' claws.
But there were too many wolves.
They kept coming.
Several bloody gashes already marked his body, and his clothes had been torn in multiple places.
Guy caught a glimpse of his face.
It looked vaguely familiar.
The kind of familiar that meant he'd seen him somewhere before but couldn't remember where.
Never mind.
He was a classmate. That was enough!
"Get back!"
Guy drew his broad sword.
The blade swept through the moonlight. Before the wolf in front could react, its head flew off.
Blood sprayed high.
The remaining wolves turned toward him as one.
More than a dozen pairs of gleaming green eyes fixed on the intruder who had appeared out of nowhere.
Guy grinned.
"Come on."
The first wolf lunged.
His blade flashed.
He cut it down.
The second attacked from the side.
Guy turned and raised his leg.
Bang!
Vajra Leg!
The wolf flew like a ball, struck a tree, slid down, and lay still.
The third and fourth lunged together.
His blade swept across, and his leg followed.
Two heads flew. A third wolf took a kick that broke its back.
At last, the remaining wolves grew afraid.
They formed a circle and growled, but none dared attack.
Guy had no patience to wait them out.
He charged into the pack.
He cut through them like vegetables.
There was no other way to describe it.
Wolves went flying wherever his blade passed.
Bones snapped wherever his kicks landed.
Less than twenty seconds later,
more than a dozen wolves lay dead across the clearing.
The last one tried to flee, but Guy caught it and pinned its head under his foot.
Crack.
The world fell silent.
Guy sheathed his sword and caught his breath.
Not bad. That had loosened him up.
He turned to the person leaning against the tree.
Anko finally emerged from the woods, bent over with her hands on her knees and gasping for air.
"You... you ran so fast... are you trying to kill me?"
Then she looked up, saw the clearing littered with dead wolves, and froze.
"You... you killed them all?"
Guy nodded.
"Yeah."
Anko walked over and nudged the nearest carcass with her foot.
It was plump, with a glossy coat.
She frowned.
"Too bad wolf meat doesn't taste good."
Guy stared at her, speechless.
That's what you're frowning about?
He left Anko to it and walked over to the person against the tree.
The man was still catching his breath. The insects covering him slowly crawled back into his clothes.
His face came into view.
It was an ordinary face.
Blood and ash smeared it, but he didn't appear to have any fatal injuries.
Guy reached out and helped him up.
"You okay?"
The man looked up at him.
There was something complicated in his eyes.
Two seconds passed before he spoke.
His voice was hoarse, with a hint of relief at having survived.
"I'm alive."
"Thank you."
He paused.
"You saved me again."
Guy blinked.
Again?
He studied the man's face, trying to remember.
His mind drew a blank.
Who is he?
When did I save him?
The relief on the man's face slowly stiffened as he saw Guy's expression.
"You..."
He ventured a question.
"You haven't forgotten me, have you?"
Guy blinked.
Then an awkward look crept across his face.
That expression said it all.
The man's face visibly fell.
He looked a little aggrieved.
A little hurt.
And a little resigned, as if he'd known this would happen.
Anko couldn't stand watching any longer.
She walked over and gave the man a wave.
"Hi, Aburame."
He nodded.
"Anko."
Anko turned to Guy.
"Aburame Shikuroo. From the bandits' hideout last time. The one who nearly died."
Guy finally remembered.
Right!
The one lying in a pool of blood half a year ago!
The one who'd been slashed across the back and rushed to the hospital by Ikkaku Umino!
He slapped his thigh.
"I remember now! It's you!"
Shikuroo looked at him with a complicated expression.
"Yes. It's me."
Guy scratched his head and gave an embarrassed laugh.
"Uh... sorry. I'm not very good at remembering people..."
Shikuroo was silent for two seconds.
"It's fine."
He was used to it.
He really was.
Guy coughed twice and hurried to change the subject.
"Right, what was that explosion earlier? Did you use an Explosive Tag?"
Shikuroo shook his head.
"Not an Explosive Tag."
He raised a hand.
A black insect crawled out of his sleeve and settled in his palm.
"An Explosive Bug."
Guy leaned in for a closer look.
The insect was tiny, barely bigger than a grain of rice, and sat there motionless and pitch-black.
But on closer inspection, a faint red glow showed through its abdomen, like a burning coal.
"I raise them," Shikuroo said. "They absorb and store my chakra. When I need them, I can make them explode."
He paused and looked down at himself.
The black insects were still crawling over him.
But they had slowed noticeably. Some weren't moving at all.
"There were too many wolves, so I sent out all the ones I had left."
He raised his hand, and the Explosive Bug slowly crawled back into his sleeve.
"They drained all my chakra. If you two hadn't come..."
He didn't finish.
He didn't need to.
Guy nodded.
So that was what happened.
Guy glanced at the insects, then at Shibi.
The guy really had almost died again.
Two missions, two brushes with death.
His luck was something else.
Guy patted him on the shoulder. "All right. Stick with us from here on out."
Aburame Shikuroo froze.
"With you?"
"Yeah." Guy pointed at Anko. "The two of us teamed up too. If you keep going alone, there might not be anyone to save you next time."
Aburame Shikuroo was silent for two seconds.
Then he nodded.
"Okay."
He pushed himself to his feet and brushed the dust off his clothes.
The insects followed his movements, slowly crawling back under his clothes.
Guy waited until he was done, then asked another question.
"By the way, have you seen anyone else?"
Aburame Shikuroo shook his head.
"No."
"I've been heading east since I came in, but I think I drifted off course. You're the first people I've run into."
Guy nodded.
Fair enough.
At least it sounded like they were heading in the right direction.
And with everyone moving toward this area, they should have an easier time running into others from here on out.
Guy turned and headed into the trees.
"Let's go."
Anko followed him.
Aburame Shikuroo followed too.
After a couple of steps, he suddenly spoke.
"Um..."
Guy looked back.
"Yeah?"
Shibi looked at him.
In the moonlight, his ordinary face wore a solemn expression.
"Thank you."
Just two words.
But he meant them.
Guy broke into a grin.
He gave Shibi a thumbs-up.
His teeth flashed in the moonlight.
"No need to thank me. We're classmates."
Shibi looked at the raised thumb.
Then at Guy's face.
He stared for two seconds.
Then lowered his head.
"Yeah."
Anko watched from the side and couldn't help laughing.
"Come on, let's go. Keep dawdling and it'll be dawn."
Three figures disappeared into the night.
Day four in the Forest of Death.
Their team had grown to three.