"Not good—retreat, quickly!"
The Watermelon Mountain Pufferfish Ghost, standing at the front of the group, could no longer suppress his fear. Panic overtook him as he shouted for the remaining four to retreat.
Are you kidding me? In less than three seconds, two of their seven-man squad had already fallen!
If they stayed here any longer, they'd all be wiped out!
However, the Watermelon Mountain Pufferfish Ghost didn't receive the response he was hoping for. Turning around in shock, he realized the three others had already fled toward the beach, desperate to escape.
Cowards! he cursed inwardly, grinding his teeth in frustration.
He bent his knees and tried to leap away—
Sizzle!
A sharp, electric sound rang out as he froze in disbelief. Looking down, he saw a lightning-cloaked arm piercing directly through his chest.
Before he could react, a cold, calm voice echoed from behind him.
"Weren't you just enjoying ganging up on me?"
The Pufferfish Ghost gasped, his voice frail and trembling. "Wh...when? How did you—"
How had the enemy closed the distance so fast? One moment he was hundreds of meters away, and now he was here—
A realization struck him like a hammer.
"Oh... it's just your bad luck," the cold voice replied, "You happened to walk right where I threw my Flying Thunder God kunai."
Flying Thunder God...? Isn't that the Yellow Flash's—
"Yes," the voice confirmed. "The Yellow Flash is my teacher."
A flicker of understanding flashed in the dying ninja's eyes.
"So that's... how..."
His voice faded, and with a final, shocked expression on his face, the Watermelon Mountain Pufferfish Ghost fell silent forever.
Kakashi slowly pulled his arm out of the corpse and looked ahead.
Not far away, Uncle Dai had just finished battling Kizuna Chiba, the member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen who could liquefy himself into a massive water giant. After a brief but fierce struggle, Chiba had been utterly destroyed.
His luck had run out.
If Chiba had managed to run just a thousand meters farther, he could have dived into the sea, fully liquefied, and escaped with ease.
With the secret Ghost Lantern technique, it would've been nearly impossible for even Uncle Dai to catch him.
But fate was cruel.
Just as he reached the beach, Uncle Dai caught up with him.
Faced with Uncle Dai's fearsome Taijutsu, capable of burning the very air around him, Chiba's liquefied form proved helpless.
In the end, even his head was evaporated into nothingness.
Among the Seven, Kizuna Chiba had been the most difficult to kill.
The delay caused by his resistance allowed the remaining two—Biwa Juzo and Kurochu Raiya—to escape far into the distance.
"Uncle Dai, stop chasing them!" Kakashi called out to the older man, who was now standing on the sea's surface, prepared to give chase once more.
But Kakashi knew better.
Opening the Seven Gates of the Eight Inner Gates technique came with enormous side effects. Uncle Dai had already pushed his body to the limit, killing three Elite Jōnin in a row. If he pushed himself further, he might die in the ocean—unable to return at all.
As soon as Uncle Dai heard Guy's name, he stopped.
The fierce blue steam surrounding his body began to dissipate. He swayed unsteadily—once, twice—before finally collapsing into the sea.
"Damn it!"
Kakashi rushed forward, diving into the water and pulling Uncle Dai back to shore.
"Summoning Technique!"
Bang!
With a puff of white smoke, a two-meter-long Katsuyu appeared before him.
"Lord Kakashi, what is this situation?"
Katsuyu looked around in confusion.
The shore was a war zone—scorched earth, twisted terrain, and several bodies scattered across the sand. The remnants of a fierce battle were everywhere.
"Katsuyu-sama, please assist me in treatment!"
Kakashi gently flipped Katsuyu over, placing Uncle Dai into the soft body of the slug. At the same time, his hands began to glow with a gentle green light—the Healing Jutsu.
Katsuyu stopped asking questions. Without hesitation, she secreted healing mucus over Uncle Dai's broken body.
So serious...
Kakashi's expression was grim as he continued applying medical chakra. His internal scan of Uncle Dai's injuries revealed a horrifying picture: all the bones in his limbs were shattered, and even his spine, sternum, and ribs were cracked!
So this is the cost of opening the Seventh Gate…
He was stunned. Compared to Uncle Dai and Guy, his own physical strength was mediocre. It had taken Dai twenty years of relentless training just to reach this stage.
No wonder, in the original tale, Uncle Dai died after using the technique to take down most of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
If Kakashi hadn't learned Tsunade's advanced medical techniques, Dai might have already died before he could be brought back to the medical corps.
Thankfully, Dai hadn't opened the Eighth Gate.
If he had… not even the Sage of the Six Paths could have saved him.
Over an hour later, Guy finally returned—along with his teacher Akamichi Choza and several members of the Uchiha clan, including Shisui.
"Kakashi! Are you okay? How's my dad?!"
Guy rushed forward, giving Kakashi a quick once-over. Seeing he was unharmed, Guy breathed a sigh of relief. But the moment he laid eyes on his unconscious father, being treated by Katsuyu, his heart clenched again.
"Uncle Dai opened the Seventh Gate to save me. He killed five of them," Kakashi said. "He's seriously injured but stable."
He paused, deciding to keep his own contributions under wraps for now.
Kakashi didn't want to reveal that he had been able to kill an Elite Jōnin solo. Nor did he want to take any credit. The truth was, he had visited Guy's house before.
It was small and humble—an isolated wooden home with barely any furniture. Their living conditions were terrible.
Even if Uncle Dai survived, his ninja career was likely over. But if Kakashi let him take credit for all five kills, the village would revere him as a hero. The bounties from the five Elite Jōnin would ensure Guy and his father could live comfortably going forward.
As for Kakashi himself—he wasn't short on money. His father, the legendary White Fang, had left him plenty.
"What!"
"You're telling me Might Dai killed five Elite Jōnin?! And from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, no less?!"
As expected, the Uchiha shinobi gasped in shock. The record was unprecedented. Even the most powerful of them—those who had awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan—could not dream of such a feat.
And Might Dai… was just a Genin. A man everyone laughed at, who caught cats and dogs for missions. No one wanted to team up with him.
"No... If he opened the Seventh Gate of the Eight Inner Gates, then it's possible," Akamichi Choza said, his voice deep and serious.
As a key figure from one of the Hidden Leaf's founding clans, Choza had access to confidential information—such as the Eight Inner Gates Formation, known as the strongest Taijutsu technique in existence.
Hearing Choza speak, the Uchiha stopped questioning it.
They all knew who Choza was. His words carried weight.
Suddenly, they all looked at Might Dai with newfound respect.
Even proud Uchiha, who considered themselves of the strongest bloodline, admired strength.
And there was something noble, something deeply inspiring, about a man like Dai—a humble, poor Genin—overcoming the odds through sheer effort, rising like a meteor in battle, and protecting his comrades with everything he had.
In the future, they'd likely tell their own children about Dai's example.
Look at him—he had nothing, and he still became a hero. You, born with the noblest blood, what excuse do you have for not trying your best?
"By the way, Guy—where's Lin?" Kakashi suddenly asked.
Logically, if she had escaped danger, Lin should've come back to check on him by now.
"That, um..."
Guy's cheerful expression faded. He scratched his head, clearly uncomfortable.
"What happened?" Kakashi's voice turned cold.
"Well... when we were on our way back, we ran into another group of Mist Ninjas. To buy time, Lin volunteered to lure them away..."
Guy's voice was heavy with guilt.
At the time, he had intended to sacrifice himself to draw them off. But Lin had rushed out without a word. Realizing Kakashi was still in danger, he had no choice but to return for help.
"What did you say?!"
Kakashi jumped up, his blood surging in fury and panic.
"Kakashi, don't worry!" Guy tried to calm him. "Another team has already gone to look for her. Maybe she's already back at camp!"
He was comforting both Kakashi and himself. Deep down, he felt the weight of guilt crushing his chest.
"No... it's too late..."
Kakashi shook his head. Even as he spoke, he activated the Flying Thunder God mark he had placed on Lin, trying to sense her location.
A chill ran down his spine.
Her signal was far away—on the sea between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water—nearly a hundred kilometers away!
That was far beyond his current Flying Thunder God teleportation range.
He could no longer reach her directly.
This time… I must go to Kirigakure!
---patreon (Obito_uchiha)