"Damn, this is infuriating!! I was planning to save more chakra. I still need to head back and grab a few things."
"Since you insist, then suffer the consequences. You should thank me for letting you see what real speed looks like!!"
He used Swift Release again, but this time, Taiyuan Zeng poured an immense amount of chakra into it.
A faint, mistlike chakra could be seen rising from his body. Through Ye Yuexin's Flying Dagger Mode, she could tell that Taiyuan Zeng was moving even faster this time.
In fact, he was twice as fast as before.
Ye Yuexin immediately sensed trouble. She hadn't expected Taiyuan Zeng to have been holding back.
Her alarm bells rang, and she changed the direction of her charge.
At this critical moment, Ye Yuexin no longer worried about wasting chakra. Wind-nature transformation surged through her entire body, and a fierce gust sprang up, its range growing even wider.
Her short blade streaked through the air like a meteor and barely managed to block the kunai Taiyuan Zeng swung at her.
"Earth Release: Earth Grasp!" Ebisu's attack arrived at that very moment.
A huge hand made of earth suddenly rose from the ground and grabbed for Taiyuan Zeng.
The timing of this Earth Release jutsu was excellent, and it was fast, too. An ordinary ninja, with nothing in the air to push off against, would have been caught for sure.
But Taiyuan Zeng was an elite jonin renowned for his speed. Instead, the attack gave him a convenient foothold.
Taiyuan Zeng planted one foot against the giant earthen hand reaching for him and activated Swift Release. In an instant, he appeared at Ye Yuexin's side.
He swept out with a kick. With Taiyuan Zeng no longer concerned about conserving chakra, his speed was terrifying.
Even though Ye Yuexin's Flying Dagger Mode had already detected the direction of the attack, she still couldn't channel her chakra fast enough.
She was sent flying in an instant. A mouthful of blood burst uncontrollably from her lips.
After attacking, Taiyuan Zeng showed no intention of stopping. He pressed his advantage, intent on finishing Ye Yuexin off.
But Ebisu wasn't about to stand by and do nothing. He immediately performed another jutsu, and a wall of earth suddenly rose behind Ye Yuexin.
It blocked Taiyuan Zeng's attack.
Every time he was about to land a decisive blow, someone interrupted him. Taiyuan Zeng was furious. He kicked off the earthen wall as it rose.
Swift Release activated.
Like an arrow loosed from a bow, he shot toward Ebisu.
Ebisu had used too many jutsu, and his chakra was nearly depleted. He was breathing heavily.
In his current state, he was powerless to resist.
They said everything seemed to slow down when you were about to die. Ebisu watched as Taiyuan Zeng's kunai slashed toward his neck.
Just as he was about to accept his fate, a sudden kick interrupted Taiyuan Zeng's attack.
"Don't you dare hurt my teammate!!"
"Gate of Pain! Open!!" he roared.
The chakra that had been growing fainter around his body was once again forced out.
It wrapped around Might Guy's body, blazing like emerald flames.
"What!!" Taiyuan Zeng cried in shock.
But Might Guy, already on the offensive, didn't give him a chance. He seized the opportunity and pressed his attack, landing punch after punch on Taiyuan Zeng. Blood kept spilling from Taiyuan Zeng's mouth.
"Bang!" With one mighty punch, Might Guy sent Taiyuan Zeng flying. "Way to go, Guy!"
Ye Yuexin gave Might Guy a thumbs-up.
But through Flying Dagger Mode, she sensed that Taiyuan Zeng had gotten back up again.
That made no sense. With the force of Might Guy's open Fourth Gate, Taiyuan Zeng's ribs should have been shattered.
No one had expected this cheesy movie moment: Taiyuan Zeng actually pulled a metal plate out of his chest...
Ye Yuexin's spirits plunged from the heights of joy to the depths of despair.
"You've really made me angry! You damn brats." Having come within a hair's breadth of death, Taiyuan Zeng began to lose control.
The feeling of almost dying had been terrifying.
Before he could say another word, Might Guy saw Taiyuan Zeng get back up and immediately attacked again.
The two moved at tremendous speed, clashing in midair.
Ye Yuexin didn't join in. Taiyuan Zeng was now too fast for her to keep up.
Instead, she planned to catch him off guard with a flying dagger.
Flying Dagger Mode let her watch the two of them fight closely.
But she still couldn't find an opening where she was certain her attack would hit.
Then, suddenly, the corners of Ye Yuexin's mouth curled up.
That was right. After watching closely, she had found Taiyuan Zeng's weakness.
She shouted, "Guy, control the distance! Stay close and fight!"
Swift Release boosted overall movement speed, not punching or fighting speed.
Though it also enhanced his combat speed somewhat, it still couldn't match the Blue Beast, who had trained in Taijutsu day and night.
And now the Blue Beast had opened the Eight Gates.
Guy heard Ye Yuexin and started fighting at close range.
Just as she'd expected, once he changed tactics, Guy stopped making wide, sweeping attacks and began hammering Taiyuan Zeng at close range. Taiyuan Zeng immediately started to lose ground.
After another setback, Taiyuan Zeng used Guy's momentum to create distance and quickly changed his fighting style.
An elite jonin was bound to have plenty of combat experience.
Taiyuan Zeng began using hit-and-run tactics.
This tactic worked well enough. In terms of overall speed, even with the Fourth Gate open, Guy was still a little slower than Taiyuan Zeng going all out.
Taiyuan Zeng had far greater chakra reserves than Ye Yuexin and the others.
So he began to wear them down. But Guy couldn't afford to drag the fight out. His peak was already passing, and he was starting to weaken.
His whole body was turning red, too. It seemed that opening the Fourth Gate was still too much for Guy.
The redness was caused by his capillaries rupturing under the strain.
Still, there was no more serious damage.
After noticing this, Ye Yuexin immediately joined the fight. She still couldn't match Taiyuan Zeng's speed, but her footwork was tricky enough to keep him occupied.
Once Ye Yuexin joined the battle, the two sides were evenly matched again.
They even began to slowly gain the upper hand.
Wounds started appearing on Taiyuan Zeng's body, all caused by Ye Yuexin's footwork.
She thought, We have to finish him off while we still have the momentum.
She knew Guy couldn't hold out much longer. His body was about to give out.
She had barely finished thinking when Guy opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Guy!!" Ye Yuexin cried out in alarm. Distracted for an instant, she was struck by Taiyuan Zeng and sent flying. She, too, spat out blood.
"Ah!!" a furious roar rang out. It came from Guy.
He forced out the last of his strength. His attack speed surged, and he punched Taiyuan Zeng in the left arm, sending him flying again. Guy couldn't hold on any longer, either.
He collapsed to the ground.
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