Bang!
Chihane returned to the spot where he had first encountered Might Duy and the others, then fired Konoha's distinctive signal flare into the sky.
A red leaf hung in the sky, looking beautiful.
Chihane waited quietly where he stood. Soon, the sound of several sets of footsteps came from the woods.
Might Duy emerged from the woods with Might Guy and the other two.
"Uncle Duy, are you all right?"
Seeing Ebisu being supported by Genma Shiranui, Chihane thought Might Duy had already fought the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist before his arrival, so he asked him with concern.
"We're fine. Chihane, thank goodness you came. Otherwise, today we would have..."
Might Duy looked at the concerned Chihane and spoke with heartfelt gratitude, but Chihane interrupted him before he could finish.
"Otherwise, you would have opened the Eight Gates of Death and beaten all seven of them to death. Ah! My fault. I stopped a hero from being born."
Of course Chihane knew what Might Duy meant, but this was nothing like the Might Duy he usually knew. So he joked around, even giving a comical shrug at the end.
"Pfft!"
Genma Shiranui burst out laughing at Chihane's words. He rarely interacted with Chihane in class and had never imagined that Chihane Hatake, renowned throughout the Shinobi World, could have this side to him.
What he did not know, however, was that Chihane was telling the truth. He thought Chihane was joking, but Chihane knew Might Duy had the strength to kick those seven Calabash Brothers down to a Lucky Trio.
The price, however, was that Might Duy would die after activating the Eight Gates Released Formation.
"All right, Chihane, enough. In any case, I really am grateful to you this time. Otherwise, we might all have died