After finishing all this, the mysterious figure acted as if he had merely cleared away some trash. He did not spare the hellish beach below another glance. Controlling the blue flying blades as they dragged the ten serpent-monster corpses behind him, he transformed into a streak of gold-and-crimson light and vanished into the sky in an instant.
Only after that streak of light had completely disappeared from view did Kakashi—already deep within the forest—dare to stop.
He leaned heavily against a tree, swallowing hard as his heart continued to pound wildly. It took him a long while before he finally managed to steady himself.
"I… I really thought I was going to die back there," Guy said, leaning against another tree. His face was deathly pale, his breathing ragged, his voice still trembling with lingering fear.
That feeling—being utterly enveloped by the shadow of death, so powerless that even the thought of resistance could not arise—was more terrifying to him than the pain of opening the Eight Gates.
"Haha…" Kakashi forced a laugh, trying to dispel the chill in his heart. The smile, however, was stiff and awkward.
"Guy… so you get scared too, huh."
Guy took several deep breaths, calming the turbulent chakra and blood within him. His eyes were complicated as he spoke slowly,
"I'm not afraid of dying in battle, Kakashi. But this… this feeling—of not understanding anything at all, of not even being able to touch the opponent's sleeve, of having life and death decided by someone else's whim—I really don't ever want to experience that again."
"Yeah…" Kakashi reached up and lowered his forehead protector, covering the Sharingan that had been active the entire time—yet still unable to clearly track the opponent's movements. A rare, bitter confusion crossed his face.
For someone who had always relied on intellect and strength to overcome danger, the sensation of his life being completely out of his own hands was an unprecedented shock.
The shinobi world seemed to be sliding rapidly toward a direction they could neither understand nor control—one far more dangerous and unknown.
"This time… not many people probably made it," Guy said quietly, gazing into the silent depths of the forest.
The memory of figures falling like harvested grass weighed heavily on his heart.
Kakashi nodded silently, his expression just as grim.
"Yeah. Anyone who spoke up—even those who merely shouted in agitation—are probably all dead."
He had seen the speed and precision of those blue flying blades with his own eyes. He did not believe anyone could survive that kind of attack.
The mysterious figure's coldness and decisiveness were chilling.
Guy fell silent. But the tightly clenched fists and taut muscles in his arms betrayed the turmoil raging inside him.
Kakashi noticed and spoke in a low voice, tinged with icy sarcasm:
"Treating human lives like grass… right, Guy?"
Guy nodded heavily, his face more solemn than ever.
"That's wrong, Kakashi! In that person's eyes, we shinobi might really be no different from roadside cats or dogs—or even ants. If he's in a good mood, he ignores you. If he's in a bad mood, or feels offended… he just crushes you without a thought."
Kakashi did not refute him. He simply looked up at the sky where the mysterious figure had vanished and let out a helpless sigh.
Before an absolute gap in power, morality and notions of right and wrong seemed pale and powerless.
Then—Kakashi's eyes suddenly sharpened, the lingering fear and confusion swept away, replaced by cold clarity. He lowered his voice urgently:
"Guy—we need to go back. Now!"
Without waiting for a response, he vanished in a blur, sprinting back toward the beach along the same path.
Guy froze for a split second, but his absolute trust in Kakashi left no room for hesitation. He grit his teeth against the pain in his body and followed at once, asking as he ran:
"What is it, Kakashi?! Why go back? It's too dangerous!"
Kakashi didn't turn his head, speaking rapidly as he ran:
"The serpent-monster bodies were taken—but the sea! Their blood is still in the water!"
"Even if we can collect just a tiny sample, bringing it back to Lady Tsunade would make it invaluable research material!"
"We might be able to analyze their origins, weaknesses—maybe even the secret behind those bizarre abilities!"
Guy's eyes lit up immediately. He wasn't foolish; he instantly grasped the importance.
"Right! The Fifth Hokage's medical ninjutsu is unmatched in the shinobi world. Maybe she really can uncover something from that blood!"
The two said no more and pushed their speed to the limit, quickly returning to the beach that had just witnessed a massacre.
The sight before them was nauseating.
Bodies lay strewn across the sand in every direction. Blood had nearly dyed the entire shoreline red, and the thick stench of iron assaulted their senses.
Every ninja who had shouted in anger or fear earlier lay dead without exception, the fatal wounds in their foreheads or hearts stark and unmistakable.
Their faces were frozen with the emotions they had worn in life—rage, terror, confusion—intermingled with the earlier victims of the serpent monsters, forming a true vision of hell on earth.
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Only the sound of waves crashing against the shore remained, painfully clear and jarring.
Kakashi and Guy exchanged a glance, each seeing the same shock and chill in the other's eyes.
The mysterious figure's methods were far too ruthless.
"Move fast. Collect the blood-water samples and leave immediately," Kakashi said without delay.
He pulled out blank scrolls and sealed containers he carried with him, carefully gathering seawater that had not yet been fully diluted—water still infused with the serpent monsters' blood.
Guy stood guard nearby, helping when he could.
They had to hurry. No one knew whether the gold-and-crimson armored figure might return—or whether some other unknown danger might descend again.
This sea had become more dangerous than ever.
Kakashi and Guy's actions served as a signal.
Soon, faint rustling sounds came from the edge of the forest as several more figures appeared.
These were survivors—those who had sensed the danger early, or who had remained silent out of fear and avoided questioning the mysterious figure.
Seeing Kakashi and Guy collecting the blood-water, they immediately understood its value.
After a brief hesitation, their desire for power and research materials overcame their fear.
They rushed onto the beach and joined the grim "gold rush."
Various containers were produced; some even tore strips of cloth from their clothing to soak up the bloodied seawater. Any water tainted with the serpent monsters' blood became a frenzied target for collection.
There were even the truly reckless—those who, staring at the still-crimson sea, clenched their teeth and leapt back in, using Water Release or sheer courage to search deeper waters for possible fragments of flesh or scales left behind.
Despite having just witnessed the horror of the serpent monsters and the merciless purge by the mysterious figure, the temptation of immense value made the risk seem… worth taking.
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