CHAPTER 131
Might Guy, Ebisu, Shiranui Genma, and Uchiha Shisui left Konoha's main headquarters and began their journey back to Outpost No. 8.
Ebisu carried a large bundle of carefully packed lunch boxes as he chatted with Genma along the way, his face full of satisfaction.
This trip had truly been worthwhile.
He glanced at Might Guy beside him, nudged him with his elbow, and lowered his voice with a teasing grin.
"Hey, Guy."
"Be honest."
"Are you disappointed you didn't get to see Kurenai?"
Without slowing his pace, Guy kept his eyes fixed ahead and stubbornly denied it.
"What nonsense."
"I was already happy enough just seeing Shikuro."
"Kurenai was carrying out a mission."
"It's only natural that we couldn't meet."
"Oh?"
"Is that so?"
Ebisu deliberately dragged out his words while pushing up his sunglasses.
The smile hidden behind the lenses clearly said, "I know better."
Walking beside them, Uchiha Shisui smiled gently after hearing their conversation.
"Didn't Captain Inoichi say it?"
"The next time you come here, you'll probably be able to see her."
"The front lines are busy, but there will always be another opportunity."
His calm voice naturally carried a reassuring warmth.
Guy simply nodded without replying.
However, his hand unconsciously rested against his chest.
Just then...
Whoosh!
A sharp sound suddenly tore through the distant sky.
Immediately afterward, a brilliant red flare exploded above the mountains and forests in the distance.
Even beneath the bright daylight, it was dazzlingly conspicuous.
"A Konoha distress flare!"
"Someone's requesting emergency support!"
Shisui's expression changed instantly.
He stopped immediately.
The three tomoe of his Sharingan spun into existence as his crimson eyes locked onto the direction where the flare had erupted.
Within moments, he calculated the approximate location.
At almost the exact same time...
Inside Guy's shirt, the pitch-black kikaichū that Shikuro had secretly entrusted to him suddenly began vibrating violently.
The trembling was so intense that it almost felt as though it wanted to crawl out of his clothing.
This kikaichū would only react when it sensed the Chakra of another paired insect nearby.
And such an intense reaction...
Could only occur when the owner was releasing Chakra violently.
The direction of the distress flare...
The violent reaction of the kikaichū...
"It's Kurenai... or Asuma!"
"They're in danger!"
Guy's pupils contracted violently.
"Captain!"
Before he could say anything else...
Shisui had already reached his decision.
"We're going to rescue them..."
However...
Boom!!
Before the final word even left his mouth, an explosive roar erupted beside him.
The ground beneath Guy's feet exploded into two shallow craters as dirt and broken stone scattered everywhere.
Green steam erupted violently from every pore of his body.
His skin instantly flushed crimson.
"The Eight Gates..."
"The Fourth Gate..."
"Gate of Pain..."
"Open!!"
The training weights hidden beneath his clothing were instantly released.
Without the slightest hesitation...
Without even glancing back...
Guy vanished.
His figure transformed into a green hurricane that the naked eye could scarcely follow as he shot toward the direction of the distress flare.
The violent burst of speed left behind a long green afterimage.
Within an instant...
He had already crossed dozens of meters.
Shisui stood frozen.
His Sharingan barely managed to capture that terrifying acceleration...
As well as the anxiety and fury burning across Guy's face.
"So... fast..."
He subconsciously murmured.
His heart shook violently.
That level of explosive movement had already surpassed ordinary Chunin.
No...
Even many Jonin could not erupt with such terrifying speed without using secret techniques.
"Captain!"
"Don't just stand there!"
"Hurry!"
Ebisu and Genma's voices rang out from behind him.
The instant Guy rushed forward, the two of them followed without the slightest hesitation.
Their trust in Guy was absolute.
For him to lose his composure like this...
The situation had to be unimaginably urgent.
Shisui immediately regained his senses.
The tomoe within his Sharingan rotated rapidly.
His gaze locked onto the nearly invisible green streak racing ahead.
"Move!"
He shouted.
Chakra burst through his body as he accelerated explosively.
His black figure instantly overtook Ebisu and Genma.
Like a dark blur, he sped toward the dense forest where danger awaited.
Deep within that forest...
Four Konoha shinobi stood back-to-back as they faced more than twenty Iwagakure ninja surrounding them from every direction.
Three Konoha corpses already lay motionless upon the forest floor.
Their blood soaked into the fallen leaves beneath them.
Among the four still standing...
Two were unfamiliar Chunin.
Their uniforms were torn apart, and their bodies were covered in wounds.
Even so, they still gripped their kunai tightly.
The remaining two...
Were Asuma Sarutobi...
And Kurenai Yuhi.
At that moment, Kurenai continuously formed hand seals.
Her face had already turned deathly pale.
Her lips were tightly pressed together.
Cold sweat covered her forehead.
She was desperately maintaining a Genjutsu to interfere with the enemy's movements.
However, her Chakra had clearly reached its limit.
Even her hands had begun trembling.
Standing directly before her...
Asuma's entire body was drenched in blood.
His combat uniform had been torn apart in numerous places.
Hideous wounds covered his body.
He gripped his chakra trench knives tightly in both hands.
Yet the Chakra flowing along their blades had already become extremely dim.
Even so...
He still stood firmly before Kurenai without retreating even half a step.
His fierce eyes remained fixed upon every Iwagakure shinobi surrounding them.
The Iwagakure force wore cruel smiles.
Bloodlust filled their eyes.
Several of them completed their hand seals simultaneously before slamming both palms onto the ground.
"Die!"
"Konoha scum!"
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"
Several Earth Release techniques erupted simultaneously.
Mud condensed into roaring earth dragons.
Sharp stone spears burst violently from beneath the ground.
With the sound of death whistling through the air...
They charged directly toward Kurenai's group.
With their nearly exhausted Chakra and physical strength...
Blocking those attacks was almost impossible.
Watching the incoming Earth Dragon Bullet and the countless stone spears erupting beneath them...
Asuma's pupils shrank.
Without conscious thought...
His body instinctively stepped forward.
He placed himself directly before Kurenai.
Prepared to use his own body...
To withstand the fatal Earth Release attack.
At that critical instant...
"Adamantine Flame Whirlwind Kick!"
A thunderous roar suddenly exploded from high above the forest canopy.
The next moment...
Boom!!
A figure wrapped in violent winds and dazzling golden Chakra descended from the heavens.
His right leg blazed with brilliant golden light.
Fire Release Chakra surged around it like a gigantic flaming battle axe.
His kick came crashing down...
Directly onto the charging Earth Dragon Bullet.
Boom!!
The Earth Dragon Bullet shattered instantly.
Mud and shattered rock exploded in every direction.
At the same moment...
The tremendous shockwave from his landing crushed every stone spear erupting from the earth into countless fragments.
Dust billowed everywhere.
Within that cloud of debris...
The figure landed steadily upon one knee.
He slowly stood.
Green steam continuously surged around him like burning life itself.
The Fire Release Chakra surrounding his right leg gradually faded.
Then...
He slowly turned around.
Golden sunlight pierced through the gaps between the leaves above.
It illuminated the green jumpsuit...
The rising green steam...
And outlined his entire figure with a radiant golden halo.
Kurenai's beautiful crimson eyes widened.
Her lips parted slightly.
She stood there completely frozen.
Blankly staring at that familiar figure.
The person she had believed she would never see again...
Had appeared before her at the moment of greatest despair...
Like a hero descending from the heavens.
"...Guy?"
Her trembling voice was barely audible.
"Am..."
"Am I dreaming?"
Before she realized it...
Warm tears had already filled her eyes.
Asuma stared at the familiar green figure.
The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
"This idiot..."
"What the hell is he doing here?"
Yet...
The body he had kept tense through sheer willpower finally relaxed.
An indescribable sense of relief instantly swept away the shadow of death.
Guy had arrived.
That meant...
They would survive.
Guy's gaze slowly swept across the four battered Konoha shinobi.
Finally...
It stopped on Kurenai's pale face...
And the tears shimmering in her reddened eyes.
He said nothing.
Without another word...
He turned back toward the more than twenty stunned Iwagakure shinobi.
Green steam erupted even more violently around his body.
With a flick of his wrists...
The nunchaku appeared in both of his hands.