Run.
If escape had been a viable option for the two remaining Kirigakure shinobi, then it would have been the best possible choice.
When facing an enemy that cannot be defeated under any circumstances, the optimal decision—one that barely even qualifies as strategy—is to flee.
Within a single minute, Might Duy had already finished his battles against three members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist: Kushimaru Kuriarare, Jinpachi Munashi, and Raiga Kurosuki.
The result was total victory.
It could hardly be called a massacre, but every enemy was eliminated in an instant. Once speed and strength surpassed all limits, even the simplest techniques became lethal.
Because they were lethal.
Against Duy's current state, he used nothing but taijutsu—simple to the point of austerity, yet terrifyingly sharp.
So what if he couldn't use ninjutsu?
So what if it was "only" taijutsu?
At the extreme, there was no solution.
Fundamentally, Duy completely countered the Seven Swordsmen. Their combat style relied heavily on close-range bladed techniques, and within that domain, the Eight Gates Formation granted Duy absolute superiority.
At this moment, Might Duy could not be confronted.
He could not be defeated.
That conclusion was obvious.
One of Lightning Release's ultimate techniques, Lightning Cutter, was famed for being fast enough to slice through lightning itself—but during the time it took for someone to perform that feat, Duy could stop them more than ten times over.
That was how fast the Eight Gates Formation was.
Thus, retreat was indeed the most correct choice.
However, blind retreat was also the worst possible choice.
Conversely, although Duy was overwhelmingly powerful, this power was purchased with his life—and it was strictly time-limited.
Such strength could not last ten minutes. Once the technique ended, the backlash would lead only to death.
Therefore, compared to escape, an even better choice was delay.
Delay until Duy's chakra was exhausted.
Delay until the Eight Gates closed.
Delay until his life reached its end.
The remaining two Kirigakure jōnin sought victory without battle—to outlast Might Duy.
Unfortunately, that option was just as unworkable.
No one understood Duy's condition better than Duy himself. If the enemy wanted to stall, then his natural response was to annihilate them with the strongest, fastest, most absolute techniques he had.
In the little time he had left, Duy needed only one thing—
Attack.
The two shinobi exchanged glances, then simultaneously reached into their ninja tool pouches and hurled spherical objects to the ground.
Purple smoke erupted instantly.
Smoke bombs.
They attempted to obscure Duy's vision, delay his attacks, and buy time.
Hidden within the smoke, Jinpachi Munashi rapidly formed seals. In an instant, over a dozen Water Clones appeared and scattered—some charging toward Duy, others fleeing in different directions.
The goal was still delay.
In Jinpachi's judgment, Duy's taijutsu—even at such speed—was limited to single-target attacks. To identify the real body among the clones, Duy would have to eliminate them one by one.
He underestimated the Eight Gates.
The plan was sound—but ineffective.
Powerful wide-area techniques were not beyond Duy's reach.
Duy thrust both arms forward, his hands forming a peculiar seal.
White steam ignited from his fingertips. Shockwaves wrapped around his body, coalescing into the shape of a roaring white tiger.
Daytime Tiger.
The massive shockwave obliterated the smoke screen before the main blast even arrived.
This was a wide-area taijutsu technique that destroyed everything through sheer air pressure.
In the next instant, the Water Clones dispersed, revealing the real body—
Directly in the path of the attack.
From the sidelines, Hagoromo could scarcely believe what he was seeing.
With Duy as the center, his facing direction as the axis, and a thirty-degree spread, Daytime Tiger carved a path that began beneath Duy's feet, tore across the entire island, and continued far out into the open sea.
After the strike, all vegetation and rock within the attack zone had vanished, leaving behind nothing but bare, gouged earth.
Standing alone in that devastated path was Jinpachi Munashi.
Perhaps someone could survive such a technique.
But Jinpachi was not one of them.
Especially not against Daytime Tiger unleashed in the Eight Gates state.
Blood poured from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Blastsword: Shibuki slipped from his hand, and his body collapsed lifelessly.
Daytime Tiger was meant to be unleashed with both arms. Duy had used both—but to preserve his right arm, he forced his left arm to bear the entire recoil.
The result was double the damage.
His left arm shattered.
It was no longer usable.
His body, too, was nearing its limit, and pain finally twisted across his face.
A flaw.
Only one enemy remained—and he had been waiting for this moment.
Even if all his comrades had fallen, the man before him was clearly at the brink.
Victory was possible.
Hiramekarei—Release!
The final enemy burst forth from concealment, leaping high with Twin Blades: Hiramekarei raised overhead, slashing down toward Duy.
The bandages unraveled instantly. Brilliant blue chakra flooded the blade, surging from the twin circular vents along its spine.
Like twin spheres of condensed energy.
Like a colossal hammer descending from the sky.
Hiramekarei fell—
And beneath it stood Might Duy.
Unshaken.
Unafraid.
After Daytime Tiger, after the cumulative strain of continuous attacks, Duy could no longer move at his former speed.
If the enemy had chosen to flee, Duy could no longer guarantee pursuit.
That moment of agony had been deliberate.
Duy knew the enemy would not run.
They would mistake it for an opening.
At the instant his left arm fell limp, Duy's right arm was already charged—ready to unleash his final strike.
This was Might Duy's last attack as a shinobi.
And also his strongest.
In the Eight Gates Formation, by striking the air with overwhelming speed and force, one could create a continuous air cannon shaped like an elephant's foot.
When focused into a single point, its destructive power rivaled Hagoromo's own technique—
The Lightning Release.
This final strike was called Evening Elephant.
In theory, Evening Elephant had five stages. But with only one arm, and at the brink of death, Duy could only unleash the weakest—First Step.
It was more than enough.
Duy's Evening Elephant surged upward, colliding head-on with Hiramekarei's release.
The clash produced a sustained, thunderous explosion.
Hiramekarei's chakra construct shattered instantly.
But Evening Elephant did not stop.
The continuous impact smashed directly into the enemy's body.
"Fifth," Hagoromo whispered.
With his final strike, Duy defeated his final foe.
The enemy—blade and body alike—was hurled vertically into the sky.
Duy did not look back.
He already knew—
The enemy would not survive.
At that point, life and death were no longer his concern.
The immense chakra surrounding Duy evaporated in an instant. His skin cracked like drought-stricken earth.
This was the end.
Duy turned toward Hagoromo. His left hand trembled as he raised a thumb, smiling.
For the first time on this island, Hagoromo saw Duy's face clearly.
That smile no longer held any trace of "youth."
It only made one's eyes sting with tears.
Hagoromo returned the smile—and raised both thumbs.
All of his respect was in that gesture.
The Eight Gates accelerated chakra flow, releasing everything in an instant to achieve power beyond all limits.
But now—
That was all.
Duy had done everything he needed to do.
As a shinobi, he could rest.
Konoha genin Might Duy spent twenty years for less than two minutes—
For five attacks.
Hagoromo inhaled deeply and stepped forward, toward the crater Duy had created.
His voice echoed across the island, now silent and cold.
His listener seemed to be Pakura.
But it was not only her.
"Shinobi may appear alike, but they are not the same. Most spend their lives drifting between life and death on the battlefield, accomplishing nothing…"
"But some carry a faint flame—so small it is easily overlooked—burning steadily throughout their lives."
"Such shinobi eventually trade the heat of their lives for a single, brilliant moment."
"They burn in blood-red fire until nothing remains but white ash."
Standing beside the body at the crater's bottom, Hagoromo stepped on the steel wire of Nuibari and picked up the blade.
Lightning flashed along the taut wire, turning red-hot before snapping apart.
He stepped past the corpse and climbed out of the crater.
"Brilliant as fireworks. Twenty years of silence for one instant of invincibility."
He continued:
"Nuibari fell to Leaf Strong Whirlwind(Konoha Senpū)."
"Lightning Blade: Fang fell to Hidden Lotus."
"Kabutowari fell to Morning Peacock."
"Shibuki fell to Daytime Tiger."
"Hiramekarei fell to Evening Elephant."
He reached Duy's side. Duy's left arm hung lifeless.
A body fell from the sky beside him, smashing like a rotten melon.
Hagoromo caught Hiramekarei midair, holding it in reverse grip.
"A shinobi's life does not need such a long epitaph."
He walked past Duy to a massive rock.
With Hiramekarei, he sliced downward—
Stone shattered. A mirror-smooth vertical cut split the boulder.
Lightning flared along Nuibari as Hagoromo carved words into the rock:
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were slain by Konoha genin Might Duy through the Eight Gates.
Konoha genin Might Duy lived a life of obscurity—
Until its final moment was dyed in a color no one would ever forget.
PS: I've been releasing chapters daily . Honestly, it hurts seeing almost no support on Patreon after all that work.If you're enjoying the fic, even a little, supporting me would mean a lot. It helps a student stay independent .
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