The moment the words fell—
Kyo's blade slashed down!
In an instant, the world seemed cleaved apart, reduced to nothing but black and white!
The next second—
from the tip of his sword, a vast moon-white crescent burst forward!
Its scale was incomparably enormous, nearly covering the entire sky!
It completely… surpassed every previous slash!
Even from afar, the suffocating pressure radiating from it felt like the embodiment of death itself!
The violent winds in the air were sliced apart, shrieking sharply!
Seeing this—
Kakashi and Guy, who had just been discussing tactics, froze mid-thought!
Their hearts clenched, pupils dilated, breathing halted—
'Unbelievable!!'
'What… what the hell is that—?!'
'A single sword slash could produce energy of this magnitude?!'
'And that scale—what is that?!'
'This is…'
'his power when he's "serious"…?!'
Their minds went blank.
They had known earlier that Kyo wasn't using his full strength—
but compared to this strike,
those earlier attacks weren't merely restrained…
they were playful!!
Against this overwhelming crescent—
everything before could be ignored!
Kakashi, who had been analyzing tactics, went completely rigid!
His thoughts cut off entirely!
But at that moment—
Guy suddenly gritted his teeth and roared:
"Move!! Kakashi!!!"
Before Kakashi could react—
Guy grabbed him!
Without hesitation, he activated the Body Flicker Technique and leapt violently to the side!
If they stayed—
Only death awaited!
They had to dodge!
But even as Guy acted instantly—
they were just a fraction too slow!
Right as they were about to escape the edge of the crescent's range—
the terrifying shockwave caught them!
Boom!!!!
Both bodies were blasted away by invisible force!
Boooooom!!!!!
Before that colossal moon-white slash—
they were as small as ants.
Thrown violently, they crashed into the ruins of a building to the left!
Thud! Thud!!
Meanwhile—
the massive crescent continued forward—
and then—
Booooooom!!!!!
A blinding explosion erupted like a nuclear detonation!
Dazzling light shot skyward like a white sun rising from the earth!
The ground trembled violently, shaking so hard no one could stand steadily!
A towering mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
"!!"
Everyone witnessing it was stunned!
Even the masked man watching from a distant rooftop was utterly dumbfounded!
'What the hell is that?!'
'An explosion?!'
'A single slash caused this scale of destruction?!'
'That's practically the effect of a Bijudama!!'
'That's insane!!!'
He gripped the railing tightly, frozen stiff.
Below, bounty hunters closer to the blast nearly lost their souls in terror.
"W-what kind of terrifying technique is that…?"
"Unbelievable… is this the true power of someone worth ninety million ryo…?!"
"I—I'm out! Whoever wants that bounty can take it! I'm not earning this money!"
"Me neither! I quit!"
They stared at the nuclear-like explosion in shock.
Meanwhile—
on the ruined side of the battlefield—
the storm from the blast swept through.
Dust was blown clear.
And there—
Kakashi and Guy stood, faces filled with shock!
Especially Kakashi—
his right arm throbbed with pain; the bones had clearly suffered severe damage from the shockwave.
If Guy hadn't shoved him slightly outward in that instant—
he would've been hurt even worse!
Kakashi immediately turned, gritting his teeth:
"Guy! Are you alright?!"
Only then did he see—
blood trickling from the corner of Guy's mouth!
Though they had narrowly avoided the direct hit—
the aftermath alone had left them heavily injured!
Guy wiped the blood slowly, shaking his head slightly.
Then he looked at Kyo in the distance, voice heavy:
"Incredible… just the aftershock…"
"Just the residual force of the slash carries such overwhelming power… it's impossible to resist!"
His back throbbed faintly.
In truth—
when Guy realized they couldn't fully evade the shockwave,
he had tried to block it with his Taijutsu.
But—
it was useless.
His strength before that crescent was like a mayfly shaking a tree!
They were blown away regardless!
If they had taken the full strike…
would they have been reduced to ash?
Their expressions grew more serious than ever—
tinged with fear.
At that moment—
Kyo descended calmly to the ground, walking toward them step by step.
He casually spun the pale blade in his hand, tracing perfect circles in the air.
Seeing him approach—
Kakashi and Guy's faces shifted.
They gritted their teeth and forced themselves to stand again.
Then—
Kyo smiled faintly.
"Unexpected."
"To still be standing after my 'Getsuga: Serious Tensho'… impressive."
"As expected of the two pillars among Konoha's younger generation."
"I'll call you… hmm… the Konoha Twin Pillars."
"???"
'Twin… Pillars???'
Kakashi and Guy exchanged strange looks.
They felt "Twin Heroes" might've sounded better…
But now wasn't the time for that.
After a brief silence—
Guy stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Kakashi.
Without turning fully, he spoke quietly:
"This battle… is more dangerous than anything before."
"Kakashi, you're the future that the Third Hokage-sama placed his hopes in. You can't fall here."
He raised a thumb, forcing a confident grin.
"So next…"
"Let me, Might Guy, show off a little."
"—?!"
Kakashi's pupils shrank.
A terrible premonition rose in his chest.
"Guy… what are you planning?!"
Guy slowly turned his head, smiling.
"I know, Kakashi."
"Your right arm is badly injured. Forming hand seals isn't possible now."
"So rest this time."
"When this battle ends…"
"let's spar again back in Konoha, alright?"
His tone carried something deeper.
Hearing this—
Kakashi's expression changed drastically.
That feeling…
He had heard similar words from many comrades before.
And almost every single one—
had died in battle afterward.
'Was Guy about to…?!'
Kakashi gritted his teeth and stepped forward to stop him—
But the moment he moved—
Suddenly—
an unexpected change occurred!
Boom!!!
A pillar of dazzling white light descended from the sky without warning!
It landed directly in the center of the battlefield!
And within that beam—
stood a man wrapped in crackling azure lightning!!!
"—?!"