Time seemed to freeze in that instant.
In Iwami Shigezo's pupils, a golden giant leg was reflected.
Only one word remained in his mind.
"No."
"BOOM!!!!!!!!!"
The golden giant leg slammed into Iwami Shigezo.
It struck the layer of Stone Armor.
"Crack—"
The armor split.
Starting at his chest, cracks spread like a spiderweb, covering his entire body in an instant.
Then—
"Crash!!"
The armor shattered.
It crumbled to dust.
The golden giant leg landed squarely on Iwami Shigezo's chest.
"Crack."
A crisp sound.
It wasn't the armor breaking.
It was Guy's leg.
The recoil from a force of ten thousand jin was more than his body could withstand!
His lower leg suffered a compound fracture.
The force of the recoil surged from his lower leg through his entire body.
It felt as though his whole body had been torn apart.
This was Guy's strongest kick!
He could only deliver a kick like this once, at his current level!
But—
It was enough!
"BOOM!!!"
A deafening crash rang out.
Iwami Shigezo was sent flying backward.
He looked as though he'd been hit by a cannonball.
He shot between Choza's two palms.
He smashed through the rock wall behind him.
He snapped one tree.
Then a second.
A third...
At last, he rolled seven or eight times through the muddy ground.
Covered in blood, he lay facedown.
The armor was shattered.
The clothes on his chest had burst open.
A purplish-black footprint showed on his chest.
Nearly every rib was broken.
"Pfft!"
He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
It was full of fragments of his internal organs.
That kick had nearly killed Iwami Shigezo.
But he was still breathing!
"He's still alive!"
Guy's pupils contracted sharply.
His body was torn apart, and his right leg was ruined.
And even that hadn't killed his opponent?
Iwami Shigezo struggled to his feet.
He stood in the rain, covered in blood and swaying unsteadily.
He knew he was finished.
Though he'd forced himself to stand, his internal organs were shattered. He was already half dead.
"But before I die..."
A final trace of cruelty showed in his eyes.
"I'm going to kill that little brat!!!"
He roared and struggled to form Hand Seals.
Rat—Horse—Dragon—Tiger.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
Iwami Shigezo used the last bit of chakra in his body to unleash one final jutsu.
The soil in front of him gathered into the shape of a dragon.
The Earth Dragon opened its jaws and spat a stream of earth at Guy.
A dense barrage.
Like a volley of miniature cannonballs.
Even though Iwami Shigezo was on the verge of running out of strength, a C-rank jutsu cast by a Jonin was still several times stronger than one cast by a Chunin!
If those earthen bullets hit Guy,
he would die without a doubt!!
But Guy was badly injured and couldn't move at all.
Akimichi Choza was still stuck in a deep pit in the ground and wouldn't be able to escape anytime soon.
Ebisu and Genma were still far away.
The situation was dire.
"Die, brat!!"
Iwami Shigezo's face twisted with madness.
Rainwater mingled with his blood, revealing his final, frenzied desperation.
He could already picture Guy being pierced by the earthen bullets.
Facing the barrage that could pierce right through him, Guy's expression was unexpectedly calm.
He felt no fear.
No regret.
He simply drew the great cleaver from his back and held it before him.
The moves of the Precept-Breaking Blade flashed before his eyes like scenes from a lantern.
Severing Purity.
Falling into the Mortal World.
Slashing Karma Fire.
Invoking Outer Demons.
Severing Reincarnation.
Breaking Delusions.
Crossing the Calamity.
Proving the Unique.
Staining Karma...
The Forty-Nine Forms of the Precept-Breaking Blade.
One move after another, one form after another.
He had practiced them tens of thousands of times!
Every repetition was the same.
And yet, every repetition was different.
Blades flashed through his mind.
One strike.
Another strike.
Then another.
At that moment, all those flashes of blade light converged into a single strike.
Guy's hand moved.
He raised the chipped great cleaver in his hand.
He swung it forward with a seemingly casual slash.
"Precept-Breaking Blade: Ultimate Slash."
"Break the Precepts!"
The instant Guy finished speaking,
a golden great blade suddenly appeared in the empty space before him!
It wasn't a great cleaver.
It was an ancient, heavy blade, gleaming all over with gold!
Its appearance dazzled everyone else, leaving them unable to keep their eyes open!
Then, with unstoppable momentum, the golden blade
slashed toward the oncoming earthen bullets!
A flash of blade light passed.
There was no sound.
No explosion.
Only a golden arc.
Every earthen bullet that touched the golden blade vanished completely.
The Earth Dragon at the front, too, disintegrated the instant the golden blade swept past.
The golden light did not slow down.
It passed silently through Iwami Shigezo's body and disappeared into the depths of the forest.
Iwami Shigezo stood rooted to the spot.
He lowered his gaze to his chest.
A thin red line ran diagonally from his shoulder to his waist.
He opened his mouth.
He wanted to say something.
"Pfft—"
Blood spurted out.
His upper body slid off his lower half.
One slash, and he was split in two!
The rain kept falling.
The blood thinned in the downpour and flowed into the muddy water.
Guy swayed and instinctively planted the great cleaver in the ground.
But the next second—
"Clink."
The great cleaver shattered.
It couldn't withstand the Precept-Breaking Blade's Ultimate Slash.
It broke into dozens of iron fragments that scattered across the ground.
Guy braced himself on one leg and looked at the shattered cleaver.
It was his first blade.
The bandit chief's blade.
He'd used it for half a year.
It had accompanied him through the Forest of Death, through his battles along the supply line, and through his fights against Iwagakure Chunin.
Now it was broken.
He grinned.
"Thanks."
Then his leg gave way, and he toppled to the ground.
Ebisu rushed over and caught him.
"Guy! You did it! You killed that jonin!"
Ebisu's voice was trembling.
Genma ran over and tore off his sleeve.
He crouched down and bandaged Guy's broken leg.
Choza had also climbed out of the fissure by now.
The Curry Pill's effects had worn off, and its side effects had kicked in.
Choza was now in unbearable pain all over, too.
But he still forced himself to go check on Guy.
"His right leg is broken, and he has multiple muscle strains, but he'll live!"
Choza quickly assessed the situation.
He looked at Ebisu and Genma, his expression grave. "You two, take Guy back to the Kikyo Mountain camp immediately!"
"Captain! What about you?"
Ebisu looked extremely worried.
Choza shook his head. "Don't worry about me. I can walk on my own. Take Guy and go!"
Ebisu was just about to agree when Guy, gritting his teeth, sat up again.
Before Choza could say a word, Guy threw something at him.
Choza instinctively reached out and caught it.
He opened his hand and found a pill in his palm. His teeth ached just looking at it.
"Another pill??"
Choza's mouth twitched.
After feeling the side effects of the Curry Pill, he had sworn:
He wouldn't eat another pill for a month!
"Captain, take it quickly. We'll leave together," Guy said with difficulty.
Choza looked helpless.
No one knew the effects of the Curry Pill better than he did.
The damage was nearly irreversible.
There was no way the exhaustion in his body would wear off in a short time, either.
He'd told Ebisu and Genma to take Guy and go because he didn't want to become a burden.
"You should take it yourself. I'm fine!"
"If you don't take it, I'm not leaving!"
Guy's expression was earnest.
Seeing how determined he was, Choza gave in.
But he felt rather helpless.
This kid... does he have any idea how strong the side effects of the Akimichi Clan's Tricolor Pills are?
He put the pill in his mouth.
With a gulp, he swallowed it.
"Now you can—"
Before Choza could finish, his eyes suddenly widened.
The exhaustion vanished from his body.
The life force he'd forcibly depleted seemed to be replenished in an instant.
"W-what kind of pill is this?!"
Akimichi Choza was stunned.
He was about to ask, but when he looked over at Guy, he saw that Guy had somehow already passed out.
A strange look crossed Akimichi Choza's face.
At last, he sighed and lifted Guy into his arms.
"You two, follow me!"
With that, he sprinted off along the path they'd come from.
Seeing their captain recovered, Ebisu and Genma were overjoyed and hurried after him.
Guy never found out what happened next.
After giving the Lesser Restoration Pill to Akimichi Choza, he only had time to glance at the system notification.
Then he passed out completely.