Where are Kakashi and Guy?
Doubt filled their minds. The absence of Kakashi and Guy was highly unusual. Guy had arrived ahead of them by only a short while; there was no reason he should not be there.
An unsettling possibility arose in their minds.
At that moment, Guy was buried under the rubble of a collapsed building, while Kakashi lay unconscious somewhere in the woods. Both had been struck by Ye Zi's natural energy-based attack. Guy, with his resilience, managed to withstand it, while Kakashi, though not fatally injured, was left in a state of dizziness.
Ye Zi didn't bother responding to Obito's question.
Suddenly, the rubble of the building exploded, and a green figure emerged, it was Guy, covered in dust, his face swollen but otherwise unharmed.
"Guy!" Obito exclaimed in surprise. "Where's Kakashi?"
Guy's appearance eased their worries slightly, but Kakashi's condition was still unknown.
Guy moved swiftly to join them, his expression serious. "Kakashi and I were both sent flying by Sensei Ye Zi. He was thrown toward the woods. I don't know his current state."
"You're still calling him sensei?!" Obito glared at Ye Zi with a mix of old grievances and new rage, his fighting spirit ignited.
Hiss!
His dark eyes transformed into the crimson three-tomoe Sharingan.
Guy was silent for a moment before speaking in a steady tone. "No matter what, Ye Zi will always be my sensei. But that doesn't change my resolve to fight him."
Hearing this, Kurenai hesitated, her eyes reflecting her inner conflict. Unlike Guy, she didn't have his unwavering conviction.
Obito didn't have time to argue about Guy's stance. His gaze remained fixed on Ye Zi, ready to attack or defend at any moment.
To use Flying Raijin effectively for offense, Obito needed to set up the kunai in advance. However, lacking the ability to perform the Shadow Shuriken technique and with only a limited number of specialized kunai, his best approach was counterattacking.
Using the combination of Flying Raijin and the Sharingan, Obito could predict the enemy's movements, then throw a kunai to a precise location and teleport for a surprise strike. This was his most effective strategy for now.
Rin, though worried about Kakashi, retreated to a safe distance. Despite her long training under Kushina, she adhered to the principles of a medical ninja: never engage in combat recklessly and prioritize her own safety to be available for treating others.
"Guy, give me a kunai," Kurenai said, the hesitation in her eyes gradually fading. She had worn the long red dress for her birthday, leaving her without any ninja tools on her person.
Guy glanced at her, then pulled a kunai from his pouch and tossed it to her.
Catching it, Kurenai took a deep breath and used the kunai to tear through her dress, cutting off the lower part to transform it into a short skirt. She also slit the fabric on both sides of her thighs for greater freedom of movement.
Underneath, she wore black shorts, so she didn't need to worry about exposure.
The irony wasn't lost on her, she had to destroy the dress Ye Zi had given her to fight against him.
"This time, you'll see how much stronger I've become!" Kurenai thought resolutely.
Everyone prepared themselves. Guy, too, took action by opening the Eight Gates.
"Gate of Opening... Gate of Healing... Gate of Life... Gate of Pain... Gate of Limit... Gate of View open!"
Guy's skin turned red as his body was enveloped in a bright blue aura, the air around him swirling with force.
Currently, Guy could open up to the seventh gate, the Gate of Wonder, though his control was less stable beyond the sixth gate, the Gate of View. To avoid mistakes, he chose to stop at the sixth gate, which was sufficient for his techniques.
Seeing Guy in this form for the first time, Kurenai and Obito were both taken aback.
"So this is the Eight Gates," Obito muttered.
Ye Zi observed the glowing aura around Guy and thought back to when he had first been intrigued by the Eight Gates. Unfortunately, he never had the chance to learn it.
"You think you can stop me with this? Foolish."
Ye Zi sheathed his blade. For what he planned next, a sword was unnecessary.
Morning Peacock!
In an instant, Guy unleashed a flurry of high-speed punches toward Ye Zi. The friction between the air and the punches ignited flames, creating a shower of fire that shot toward Ye Zi like the fanned tail of a peacock.
"What kind of Fire Release is this?! When did Guy master such powerful Fire Release?" Obito exclaimed in shock, mistaking Morning Peacock for a ninjutsu.
This isn't ninjutsu!
Through his heightened Sage Mode senses, Ye Zi could feel that the fire and shockwaves lacked chakra. The combination of wind force and flames significantly amplified the technique's power.
As the fiery display surged toward him, a wall of earth suddenly rose from the ground in front of Ye Zi, shielding him and obscuring his figure.
"That's useless! Morning Peacock can easily break through an earth wall!" Guy continued his relentless barrage of punches.
However, when the flames and shockwaves struck the wall, it didn't crumble immediately. Guy's eyes widened in surprise.
Blow after blow landed on the wall, which shook under the assault but remained intact, showing the effect of Morning Peacock but also its limits.
Behind the wall, Ye Zi's body merged seamlessly into the ground and disappeared.
Obito planted a Flying Raijin kunai at his current location and threw another beyond the range of Guy's Morning Peacock, sending it over the wall. Then, he teleported to the new location and looked down from above, only to find that Ye Zi was no longer behind the wall.
"Be careful! He's gone!" Obito shouted from the air before teleporting back to Guy's side.
Hearing this, Guy immediately stopped his Morning Peacock to conserve energy.
The wall, after enduring four seconds of continuous strikes, was covered in spiderweb-like cracks but remained standing.
"What a terrifying Earth Release!" Guy exclaimed, mistaking the wall for an advanced Earth Release technique. In reality, it was created by Ye Zi using the terrain and infused with Sage Chakra to increase its durability.
"Where is he?" Obito asked, growing anxious. He moved closer to Rin, haunted by the memory of the last time she had been taken by Ye Zi.
Suddenly, Ye Zi emerged silently from the ground. Using Wood Release in combination with his Inorganic Reincarnation technique, he had traveled through the earth faster than even White Zetsu.
Without a sound, Ye Zi appeared between Guy and Kurenai on one side and Rin and Obito on the other, placing himself at the center of all four.
Kurenai reacted first. She spun around, quickly forming hand seals, and cast a genjutsu on Ye Zi.
Genjutsu: Tree Binding Death!
This battle brought Kurenai back to the first time she had used Tree Binding Death against Ye Zi, a genjutsu that had successfully trapped him.
Unlike standard ninjutsu, the power of genjutsu depended on the caster's skill, and Kurenai's mastery of genjutsu had grown significantly since that time.
As Ye Zi turned his gaze to Kurenai, her ruby-like eyes locked onto his. At such close range, she was confident that her genjutsu would ensnare him completely!
However, the response she received was not what she expected.
In Ye Zi's right eye, the tomoe of a crimson Sharingan rotated slowly.
The genjutsu hadn't worked!
"What?!" Kurenai's eyes trembled in disbelief.
The next second, several thick stone pillars, as wide as bowls, erupted from the ground and impaled Guy, lifting him off the ground. A pained scream escaped him before his body went limp, his head tilting lifelessly to the side.
At the same moment, Rin and Obito, standing close together, were struck by a dozen more stone pillars. They too screamed in agony, their cries fading as death claimed them.
Kurenai's wide eyes stared in horror at the scene before her. A wave of icy fear swept through her, leaving her body trembling violently. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"No! No, this can't be happening! This can't be real!" Kurenai's legs gave out, and she collapsed to her knees, powerless and unable to accept the horrific reality.
As she looked up, she saw Ye Zi walking toward her, his Sharingan still spinning steadily. He stopped in front of her, reached out, and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her effortlessly into the air.
"Ye… Zi… sensei…" Kurenai's voice choked out as her breathing grew more labored. Her gem-like eyes filled with tears that streamed uncontrollably down her face.
Crack.
The unmistakable sound of bones snapping echoed in her ears.
What was that...?
Endless darkness swallowed her consciousness.
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Currently on Chapter 468 - Kimimaro's Lifeline