35. The Difficult Battle Continues

"This is truly infuriating! I had intended to conserve my chakra and go back to retrieve something else."

"In that case, accept the cruelty of this moment. Thank me, for I shall let you witness what true speed is!"

Taiyuan Zeng activated Swift Release once more, only this time, the chakra he unleashed was incredibly dense.

A faint, mist-like aura of chakra could be seen emanating from his body. Under the perception of Ye Yuexin's Flying Dagger Mode, Taiyuan Zeng's speed was now even more rapid than before.

It was actually twice as fast as it had been moments ago.

Ye Yuexin immediately felt a sense of foreboding; he hadn't expected Taiyuan Zeng to still be hiding his true strength.

Alarm bells rang in his mind, and he shifted the direction of his charge.

In this moment of crisis, Ye Yuexin no longer worried about the depletion of his chakra. Wind-attribute nature transformation surged throughout his entire body, and a sudden gale roared to life, expanding the range of his wind pressure.

His short blade streaked through the air like a meteor, just barely managing to parry the kunai Taiyuan Zeng was thrusting toward him.

"Earth Style: Earth Grasp!" Just then, Ebisu's attack arrived.

A massive hand made of earth suddenly erupted from the ground, reaching out to seize Taiyuan Zeng.

The timing of this Earth Style jutsu was impeccable, and its speed was impressive. Any ordinary ninja, caught in mid-air with no leverage, would surely have been caught.

But Taiyuan Zeng, an elite jonin who excelled in speed, was no ordinary ninja. Instead, he used the attack to his advantage, finding a point of leverage.

Taiyuan Zeng kicked off the giant earthen hand reaching for him, triggered Swift Release, and instantly reappeared at Ye Yuexin's side.

He swept his leg out. With Taiyuan Zeng no longer holding back his chakra consumption, his speed was truly terrifying.

Even though Ye Yuexin's Flying Dagger Mode had detected the direction of the attack, his body's reaction speed simply couldn't keep up.

He was sent flying in an instant, a mouthful of blood spraying from his lips as he lost control.

After the strike, Taiyuan Zeng showed no intention of stopping; he pressed his advantage, intent on finishing Ye Yuexin right then and there.

But Ebisu would not stand idly by. He immediately unleashed another jutsu, and a wall of earth suddenly rose up behind Ye Yuexin.

It blocked Taiyuan Zeng's follow-up attack.

Every time he was about to succeed, he was interrupted. Taiyuan Zeng grew furious and kicked off the rising earth wall.

Swift Release activated.

He shot toward Ebisu like an arrow released from a bowstring.

Ebisu had used too many jutsus; his chakra was now bottoming out, and he was gasping for air.

In his current state, he was completely unable to resist.

They say that when death approaches, the flow of time around you slows down. Ebisu watched as Taiyuan Zeng's kunai slashed toward his neck.

Just as he was about to resign himself to his fate, a sudden kick interrupted Taiyuan Zeng's attack.

"Don't you dare hurt my teammate!"

"Gate of View! Open!" Following the roar, the chakra that had been thinning on his body was suddenly forced out once more.

It wrapped around Might Guy's body, burning like a vibrant green flame.

"What?!" Taiyuan Zeng cried out in shock and anger.

But Might Guy, having gathered his momentum, did not give him a chance to recover. Facing such a golden opportunity, he pressed the attack, landing punch after punch on Taiyuan Zeng's body. Blood sprayed continuously from Taiyuan Zeng's mouth.

"Bang!" With one powerful blow, Taiyuan Zeng was sent flying by Might Guy. "Nice one, Might Guy!"

Ye Yuexin gave Might Guy a thumbs-up.

However, even under the Flying Dagger Mode, he sensed that Taiyuan Zeng was actually standing up again.

This made no sense. With the force of Might Guy's fourth gate, Taiyuan Zeng's sternum should have been shattered.

No one expected the most cliché plot twist from a movie to occur: Taiyuan Zeng pulled a steel plate out from his chest.

Ye Yuexin felt his spirits plummet from heaven back to earth.

"You have thoroughly angered me! You damned brats!" Having just narrowly escaped death, Taiyuan Zeng began to lose his mind.

The sensation of impending death had been too terrifying.

Without waiting for him to say anything else, Might Guy saw Taiyuan Zeng stand up and immediately resumed his assault.

The two of them relied on their speed, clashing rapidly in the air.

Ye Yuexin did not join in, as he could no longer keep up with Taiyuan Zeng's speed.

He decided to use his flying daggers for a sneak attack instead.

His Flying Dagger Mode observed the battle between the two with intense focus.

Yet, the feeling of an unerring strike never manifested in his heart.

However, at that very moment, the corners of Ye Yuexin's mouth suddenly curled upward.

That's right—through his observations, Ye Yuexin had finally discovered Taiyuan Zeng's weakness.

He shouted loudly, "Might Guy, control the distance! Fight him in close quarters!"

Swift Release refers to overall speed, not the speed of punches or combat.

Although it also included the boost from Swift Release, it was absolutely no match for the Blue Beast, who had practiced taijutsu day and night.

And this was the Blue Beast with the Eight Gates opened.

Might Guy also heard Ye Yuexin's words and began to fight Taiyuan Zeng at close quarters.

Sure enough, after changing his strategy, Might Guy stopped his wide-open, sweeping attacks and began a fierce, close-range assault. Taiyuan Zeng immediately began to lose ground.

After another setback, Taiyuan Zeng used the force of Might Guy's blow to put some distance between them, immediately shifting his fighting style.

When it came to combat, an elite jonin's experience was certainly very rich.

Taiyuan Zeng began to employ a kiting strategy.

This fighting style was quite effective because, in terms of overall speed, even Might Guy with the Fourth Gate open was still a bit slower than Taiyuan Zeng at full throttle.

Taiyuan Zeng's chakra reserves were not something Ye Yuexin and the others could compare to.

Therefore, he began to fight a war of attrition. Yet, Might Guy truly could not afford to drag this out, as his peak was slowly passing and he had already begun to go downhill.

Moreover, his entire body had started to turn red; it seemed that opening the Fourth Gate was still a bit of a stretch for Might Guy right now.

The reason for the redness was that his capillaries were rupturing due to the shock.

However, there was no major damage.

After observing this situation, Ye Yuexin immediately joined the battle. Although his speed was not quite enough, Ye Yuexin's footwork was treacherous. He was still capable of pinning Taiyuan Zeng down.

Once Ye Yuexin joined the fight, the strength of both sides immediately leveled out again.

There was even a growing intention to suppress the opponent.

Wounds began to slowly appear on Taiyuan Zeng's body, all caused by Ye Yuexin utilizing his footwork to slash him.

Just like this, in one go, finish him off completely, Ye Yuexin thought.

Because he knew Might Guy could no longer drag this out; his body was about to reach its limit.

Just as he finished that thought, Might Guy opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Might Guy!" Ye Yuexin shouted in concern. Distracted for a moment, he was immediately struck by Taiyuan Zeng and spat out a mouthful of blood himself.

"Ah!" A roar was released; it was Might Guy.

He squeezed out the last bit of strength in his body, his attack speed suddenly accelerating, and he landed a punch on Taiyuan Zeng's left arm, sending Taiyuan Zeng flying once again. At the same time, Might Guy could no longer hold on.

He collapsed to the ground.

[New book released.. Suggest adding to library first.. Let it grow before reading. Your support is needed.. Thank you everyone.]