Boom!
Chakra erupted from within his body.
Might Guy's skin rapidly turned red, and his aura surged in an instant.
Gate of Healing!
His speed and strength rose simultaneously, and the ground beneath his feet exploded.
He threw a punch, and the air let out a dull boom.
Lie Yang raised his blade to block.
Clang!
The blade bent violently.
Lie Yang slid several meters backward, plowing two deep trenches beneath his feet.
Might Guy gave him no chance to recover. He shot forward close to the ground, sweeping his right leg at Lie Yang's waist.
Kakashi, however, was not watching the battlefield ahead.
Three shuriken had already closed in on Hinata Yota and Kurenai Yuhi!
Kurenai Yuhi had only just turned around when the spinning blades were already before her.
"Yuhi, duck!"
Lightning surged from Kakashi's right hand.
The blinding current instantly lit up the forest.
"Lightning Cutter!"
He charged out without hesitation.
Lightning pierced through the first giant shuriken.
Boom!
Steel fragments burst in every direction.
Kakashi forcibly twisted his body, sweeping Lightning Cutter toward the second shuriken.
Amid an ear-piercing screech of friction, the giant shuriken was shattered down the middle.
But the final shuriken, hidden low to the ground, had already circled behind Hinata Yota!
Chakra erupted beneath Kakashi's feet again.
"Too late!"
Hinata Yota whirled around.
But Kakashi was already in front of him, Lightning Cutter striking the final shuriken head-on.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion erupted.
The blade shattered.
The immense recoil also threw Kakashi off balance, sending him crashing forward.
His Lightning Cutter had yet to dissipate.
His right hand was aimed directly at Hinata Yota's chest!
"Yota, move!"
But they were too close.
If Hinata Yota dodged, the out-of-control Kakashi would charge straight into the battlefield between Lie Yang and Might Guy.
With Lie Yang's speed, that opening would be fatal!
Hinata Yota gritted his teeth, his Byakugan locking onto the flow of chakra in Kakashi's back.
He did not move.
His right palm shot out.
"Gentle Fist!"
His palm force landed on Kakashi's back.
It was not aimed at any acupoints.
Instead, it redirected Kakashi's forward momentum to the side!
Kakashi was forcibly shoved aside. Lightning Cutter grazed Hinata Yota's shoulder and tore a long, narrow trench through the ground.
"Yota!"
Kurenai Yuhi had just regained her footing when her face turned deathly pale.
In saving Kakashi, Hinata Yota had completely exposed himself before Lie Yang.
Lie Yang blocked Might Guy's kick head-on, using the force of the collision to slide backward.
And the direction of his retreat was precisely where Hinata Yota stood!
Hinata Yota's Byakugan caught the blade.
He also saw Lie Yang's wrist turn.
But his palm had only just struck Kakashi, and he had yet to recover his center of gravity.
There was no time for Rotation.
Even less time to dodge.
Lie Yang swept past him.
A flash of blade light.
Squelch!
Hinata Yota's head flew into the air.
The headless body took half a step forward before blood gushed from its severed neck.
"Yota!"
Kurenai Yuhi's voice changed completely.
Kakashi knelt on the ground, his Sharingan fixed on the falling head.
Hinata Yota had stood there willingly to save him.
If he had not redirected Kakashi's impact, Yota would never have been exposed.
If Kakashi had not insisted on destroying the shuriken, he would not have lost his balance.
From the moment Guy left the treetop, the entire ambush had spiraled out of control!
"Lie Yang!"
Might Guy let out a furious roar.
Chakra erupted from within him once more.
"Gate of Life, open!"
Boom!
The Third Gate opened!
Greater power surged through his meridians. Wild currents of air swirled around Might Guy, and his skin turned completely red.
He stomped the ground to pieces and shot toward Lie Yang like a cannonball.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
His right leg swept out.
The violent wind from his kick crushed through the forest first.
The surrounding grass and trees were torn apart at their middles. Vast stretches of ground cracked, and stones were blasted into dust by the wind pressure before they could even fly up.
Kurenai Yuhi stopped breathing.
If that kick landed on a person, it would be enough to pulverize their bones and internal organs on the spot!
Lie Yang did not retreat.
He sheathed his ninja blade and raised his left arm before him.
Bang!
Might Guy's shin smashed heavily into Lie Yang's arm.
The dull impact sounded like a massive boulder exploding.
The ground beneath Lie Yang's feet sank with a roar.
Cracks spread madly outward from beneath his legs.
Yet his body did not retreat even half a step.
Might Guy stared at Lie Yang.
"Impossible!"
The Leaf Great Whirlwind in the Third Gate state had actually been blocked head-on by a single arm!
Lie Yang's five fingers clamped around Might Guy's calf, and the muscles in his arm tensed instantly.
"Not bad strength."
"Terrible control."
Might Guy's body suddenly lost balance.
Lie Yang twisted his waist and arm, swinging him bodily toward the ground.
Might Guy planted both hands in time and forcibly flipped himself over, driving his other leg straight at Lie Yang's jaw.
Lie Yang tilted his head aside to evade.
His elbow came down, striking the back of Might Guy's knee.
Might Guy's assault faltered.
Lie Yang's fist had already landed on his chest.
Bang!
Might Guy flew backward, snapping a large tree before rolling several times after hitting the ground.
"Guy!"
Just as Kakashi was about to provide support, Lie Yang turned to look at him.
The three Tomoe in his scarlet pupils suddenly stretched.
Black patterns extended and intertwined, forming three unique wheat-stalk shapes.
Mangekyō Sharingan!
Kakashi's body froze.
With a single exchange of gazes, his consciousness was forcibly dragged into boundless darkness.
Countless black vortices surged in from every direction, tearing at his mind.
Kakashi tried to disrupt his chakra.
Useless!
That ocular power pressed directly into the sea of his consciousness, giving him no chance to dispel the Genjutsu.
"Release!"
Kurenai Yuhi rushed to Kakashi's side, pressing a palm against his shoulder and pouring her chakra into him.
Yet blood suddenly flowed from Kakashi's left eye.
The three Tomoe spun wildly.
The ocular power slumbering deep within that eye began to run wild under the pressure of Lie Yang's Genjutsu!
The black Tomoe gradually stretched, faintly twisting toward a new shape.
Lie Yang paused for half a moment as he watched.
Fate had shifted.
He had used Mangekyō Sharingan Genjutsu to crush Kakashi's mind in order to completely strip him of his combat ability.
Yet under the pressure of life and death, Kakashi's Sharingan, taken from Uchiha Obito, had actually touched the threshold of the Mangekyō Sharingan ahead of time.
"So I became your whetstone."
Kakashi could not hear him.
His consciousness had already completely sunk into the vortices.
Kurenai Yuhi disrupted his chakra several times in succession, yet she still could not wake him.
"Kakashi!"
Might Guy burst from the shattered trees.
Blood stained the corner of his mouth, and only rage remained in his eyes.
The power granted by the Third Gate was driven to its limit as his fist shot straight for Lie Yang's temple.
Lie Yang raised a hand to block it.
Might Guy immediately bent his elbow and drove it down.
Lie Yang's palm stuck to his arm and pulled outward, causing the elbow strike to graze past his shoulder.
A knee strike followed close behind.
Lie Yang sealed off the point of force half a step early, blocking it with his shin.
Might Guy shifted his center of gravity and launched more than ten consecutive kicks.
Lie Yang stood where he was, raising both arms again and again.
Bang bang bang bang!
Every collision sent violent currents of air surging outward.
Yet no matter which angle Might Guy attacked from, Lie Yang could block him in advance.
A front kick was pressed down by an elbow.
A side kick was knocked aside by a shoulder.
A sweeping kick was cut off by a knee.
Might Guy's speed had already surpassed the visual limit of ordinary jonin, yet Lie Yang's reactions remained one step faster than his.
"Faster!"
Might Guy roared and threw a punch.
Lie Yang sidestepped, clamped five fingers around his wrist, and twisted sharply with the momentum of the blow.
Crack!
The muscles in Might Guy's arm tore on the spot.
Blood quickly soaked through the bandages.
He did not retreat. His other fist continued forward.
Lie Yang slapped the side of the fist, redirecting its force into empty air, then slammed his shoulder heavily into Might Guy's chest.
Bang!
Might Guy felt his chest tighten, and his body staggered backward.
Lie Yang did not pursue.
"Your taijutsu is good."
"But anger makes your movements more obvious."
Might Guy clenched his teeth and charged again.
"Shut up!"
Lie Yang raised a hand to block the punch, his gaze passing over him to Kakashi kneeling on the ground.
Blood was still flowing from Kakashi's left eye.
His body twitched from time to time.
Kurenai Yuhi's mastery of Genjutsu was unable to shake the Mangekyō Sharingan's ocular power. She could only barely keep his mind from being torn apart further.
Lie Yang spoke calmly. "If this continues, Kakashi will die."
Might Guy's fist paused for the briefest moment.
"What did you say?"
"His mental sea has already been eroded by Genjutsu."
Lie Yang dodged the kick and sent Might Guy flying back with a palm strike.
"Take him back to Konoha now, and he might still survive."
"Keep delaying, and he'll suffer complete mental death."
Might Guy turned to look at Kakashi.
In that instant, Lie Yang had already seized his arm and slammed him heavily into the ground.
Boom!
The ground caved in.
Might Guy flipped back to his feet, but his assault grew even more violent than before.
Every punch and every kick frantically squeezed out the power of the Third Gate.
"Release the Genjutsu!"
"Defeat me."
"Then I'll let you release it!"
Might Guy shattered the ground beneath his feet and hurled a heavy punch at Lie Yang's face.
Lie Yang tilted his head aside.
The force of the punch tore through the tree trunk behind him.
A second punch followed immediately.
Lie Yang raised an arm to block it, borrowing the force to slide several meters backward.
Might Guy continued his pursuit.
But Lie Yang suddenly stopped confronting him head-on.
Lightning flashed beneath his feet. His figure vanished from before Might Guy's fist, and in the next instant, he had leaped high into the forest canopy.
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