Diamond! Ten Thousand Catty Kick!

Ebisu stood ten meters away.

His hands were still held in a hand seal.

He watched the chunin, whose entire body was on fire and whose neck had been sliced open, collapse with a thud.

He froze for a second.

Then—

"Hahahahaha!!!"

He burst out laughing.

"Did you see that?! Did you see that?! I hit him! I hit him!"

"I defeated an Iwagakure chunin!"

"An elite ninja! I'm an elite ninja!"

Genma held a toothpick between his lips and glanced at him.

He said nothing, but the corner of his mouth lifted.

Guy grinned at him first, then turned his green-glowing body toward the other side.

That was where the real battlefield lay.

In the distance, Choza and Iwami Shigezo had already pulled apart.

The two faced each other from ten meters apart, neither making a move for the moment.

Because both of them had seen it.

They had seen Guy slash down the first chunin.

They had seen Ebisu's fireball smear across the second chunin's face.

They had seen Guy's blade-light slice open that man's throat.

Iwami Shigezo stood there as rainwater streamed down his face.

He looked at the bodies scattered across the ground.

Three chunin.

Nine genin.

A full twelve people.

All dead.

Killed by three... no, by one brat.

Iwami Shigezo slowly raised his head.

The expression on his face changed.

It was not anger.

It was coldness.

A coldness that sank into the bone.

He stared at Guy.

At that blood-covered brat with green vapor rising from his body.

The corner of his mouth slowly stretched wide.

His smile was ugly.

"Good."

"Very good."

"Boy from the Akimichi Clan, your soldier is impressive."

After saying that, he suddenly pressed his palms together.

An earthen-yellow chakra glow gathered in his hands.

It was denser than at any previous moment.

"But if you killed my men, you'll pay with your life."

Iwami Shigezo spoke in a chilling voice.

Choza's pupils contracted.

"A forbidden technique?!"

Without the slightest hesitation.

He reached into his clothes, took out a Curry Pill, and tossed it into his mouth.

He bit down and swallowed it.

"Ugh—!!"

Choza let out a muffled groan.

His body suddenly swelled.

Five meters.

Six meters.

Seven meters!

His muscles bulged, veins standing out.

Chakra surged from his body like flames.

"Earth Release: Great Mountain Collapse Technique!"

Iwami Shigezo flung his arms wide and slapped both hands against the ground.

"Rumble rumble rumble—"

The earth roared.

Centered on him.

The ground within fifty meters rolled like ocean waves.

Mud, boulders, shattered stone...

All of it was swept up by that terrifying chakra and crushed toward Choza.

Such a ninjutsu could already be called a natural disaster.

The entire ground was collapsing, sinking, devouring.

The Curry Pill Choza had swallowed had taken effect.

His body had expanded to seven meters.

He braced both hands against the ground.

His enormous palms plunged into the churning earth as he tried to steady himself.

"Stop right there—!!"

He roared, the muscles in his arms swelling as veins bulged like tree roots.

The surging ground paused before him for an instant.

But only for an instant.

The second wave struck right after, stronger and fiercer than the first.

The ground beneath Choza's feet cracked. He sank downward as the mudslide already rose past his knees.

"Captain!"

Ebisu's face went pale. He tried to rush over, but Genma grabbed him.

"What good would it do if you went?!"

Genma gritted his teeth, his voice trembling.

Guy stood in the rain, the green vapor around him growing thinner and thinner.

The time limit for the Third Gate of the Eight Inner Gates was almost up.

One last minute!

He watched Choza's figure being swallowed by the mudslide, watched the seven-meter giant sink inch by inch.

His heart pounded wildly.

Not from fear.

From calmness.

Extreme calmness.

He knew what he had to do.

Guy's figure suddenly charged into the battlefield between the two jonin.

"Captain!"

His voice pierced through the curtain of rain and the thunderous rumbling, reaching Choza's ears.

Choza abruptly turned toward Guy.

"Get back!"

But Guy ignored him, landing on Choza's shoulder with a serious expression.

"Captain, hold him down for one second!"

Choza was just about to curse.

But the words reached his mouth and were swallowed back down.

He wanted to say, Are you insane? That's a jonin. Are you, a genin, trying to get yourself killed?

Besides, what could one second possibly accomplish?

But when he looked into Guy's eyes, he could not curse at him.

Because there was no recklessness in those eyes, no hot-blooded impulse.

There was only—

Seriousness.

"Just one second!"

Choza gritted his teeth and chose to trust him.

Though they had not known each other long, he believed Guy was not an impulsive person.

Besides, Guy's performance in wiping out the Iwagakure ninja earlier had proven it.

There had to be a reason Guy was saying this now!

Choza released the hand bracing against the ground, and the mudslide swallowed him up to the waist.

But he did not care.

"Aaaaaaah!!"

Choza threw back his head and roared.

His arms expanded again.

His muscles looked ready to explode.

Chakra shot from his body into the sky.

"Multi-Size Technique: Super Pushing Hands!"

Two enormous palms spread open.

Like a pair of city gates, they slammed toward Iwami Shigezo.

It was not an attack.

It was—closing in!

Iwami Shigezo wanted to dodge, but those two hands were too large, covering an area ten meters wide.

He had nowhere to retreat and could only take it head-on.

"Earth Release: Earth Dome!"

A thick rock wall rose from the ground before him.

"Bang!!"

Choza's palms slammed against the rock wall.

The two palms closed together, trapping Iwami Shigezo and the rock wall between them.

"Now!!"

Choza forced the word from his throat.

Blood streamed down from the corner of his mouth.

Though his hands were outside, his body was still enduring the impact of the enemy's ninjutsu!

His body shook, his muscles tore, and his bones groaned.

But he did not let go.

A sharp light suddenly burst from Guy's eyes.

What could one second accomplish?

Guy did not know about anyone else.

But one second was enough for him to throw one kick!

Without the slightest hesitation!

"Eight Inner Gates—"

"Fourth Gate—"

"Gate of Pain."

"Open!!"

"Boom!!!"

A shockwave exploded outward.

A shockwave ten times stronger than before erupted violently from Guy's body.

The rainwater was blasted upward into the sky.

Broken stones on the ground shot outward like cannonballs.

Guy's skin turned crimson.

It was not the flush after exercise.

It was the red of blood burning.

Veins bulged from his forehead, spreading to his neck, his arms, his entire body.

His eyes were bloodshot, as though two flames burned within his pupils.

The green steam had turned dark green.

Every strand of his hair stood on end.

He looked like an asura crawling out of hell.

He shot toward Iwami Shigezo.

"Boom!"

The ground where he had stood exploded into a crater.

In the next instant, he was already ten meters away.

Another instant later, twenty meters.

So fast that even the raindrops seemed frozen.

So fast that the air screamed.

Iwami Shigezo was trapped between Choza's palms, unable to move.

But he saw that green shadow.

He saw that child.

His entire body was crimson, dark green steam pouring from him.

Like a green bolt of lightning, he charged straight at him.

In that instant, a thought flashed through Iwami Shigezo's mind.

"I can't let him succeed!"

It was not a tactical judgment.

It was the instinct to survive.

He frantically mobilized his chakra, forcing his hands through seals within the cramped space.

"Earth Release: Super Hardening!"

An earthy yellow light covered his entire body.

From head to toe, it was as though he had donned a layer of Stone Armor.

This was Iwagakure's strongest defensive ninjutsu.

It could harden the body to more than ten times the strength of steel.

At the same time, Guy leaped high into the air.

His right foot gathered strength.

Golden light burst from the sole of his foot, brighter than ever before.

Vajra Leg, driven at full power.

But it was still not enough!

"Man's Heaviness! Right leg! Ten thousand catties! Crank it to the limit!!"

That was right!

This was what Guy intended to do!

The [Man's Heaviness] leg weights—one on each leg.

Each could be adjusted freely from zero to ten thousand catties.

By now, Guy had grown accustomed to carrying five hundred catties on each leg.

That was equivalent to carrying a thousand catties of weight every day while carrying out missions.

This was also why Choza had always believed speed was Guy's greatest weakness.

Before the battle, he had removed all the weight.

But now!

The weight on his right foot was cranked straight to the limit!

Ten thousand catties on one leg!

"Vajra—"

"Ten Thousand Catty Kick!!"

Guy let out a furious roar.

His right leg carried the force of ten thousand catties, the power of the Four Gates, and the strength of Vajra Leg.

He viciously kicked at Iwami Shigezo.