"One strike… and it's that strong?"
Kiyohara watched from the rear.
Right here, Might Duy had turned the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist into "the fortunate three." It was terrifying.
He also noticed shards of metal had flown off—the fragments had vanished somewhere into the underbrush.
"Duy-senpai… do you have any last wishes?"
Kiyohara was the first to step forward.
He knew the Seven Swordsmen were finished. The three who fled wouldn't dare turn back now.
Looking at Duy's state—like he could stop breathing any second—Kiyohara knew that unless someone like Six Paths Naruto descended with Yin–Yang Release, there was no saving him.
At his words, Duy turned stiffly.
Once the Gate of Death was opened, there was no turning back.
All of one's chakra, one's blood—everything that could burn would burn, until there was nothing left.
Only charcoal—like the last ash of a spent log.
"Last wishes… this is what I've always longed for—youth burning at its brightest," Duy said.
The blood-red vapor wrapped around him was thinning.
His body was beginning to break apart, bits of him flaking away.
Just then, Guy, Ebisu, and another ninja came crashing through the trees.
Clearly, Guy hadn't been able to ignore the massive chakra fluctuations; he'd come to look for his father.
"Dad…"
The instant Guy saw him, he knew Duy had opened the final gate.
The Gate of Death was absolute.
Once it opened, the only thing waiting was death.
"Don't cry, Guy. Death isn't the end. This is the peak of youth," Duy said.
Hearing that, Guy clenched his teeth, forcing the tears back.
Breaking down here would dishonor his father.
"Every generation has its own mission. I can only help you this far, Guy," Duy continued, eyes full of gentle affection.
That was the meaning of the Will of Fire.
A torch passed from one generation to the next, never going out.
Now it was Guy's turn to carry it.
"I understand, Dad," Guy said.
With each forced breath, his face grew more resolute.
"Kiyohara and Kakashi are good comrades. Don't let them down. Chase your youth with them," Duy said, voice growing fainter.
He smiled one last time and raised his thumb, flashing a gleaming white grin.
A heartbeat later, fissures like flowing lava spread across his skin, dimming as they branched.
Then his body crumbled into dust, scattering in the wind—
Carried off toward the horizon.
A man, burning himself down to nothing, shining with the brightest light in his final moment.
For once, Kiyohara was silent.
This world was like that.
Some people train for twenty years for a single moment of brilliance.
Others are born with everything.
Most ninjas, though, live mediocre lives and fade away.
The force of Duy's will here would ripple through Guy's whole life.
He died—but in another sense, he would keep on living.
"Collect the weapons," said the escort squad's captain, Akiyama Shōma, stepping forward at last.
He ordered the recovery of the four blades:
The Blunt Sword: Kabutowari
The Twin Swords: Kiba
The Needle Blade: Nuibari
The Blast Sword: Shibuki
"Move. Don't linger," Akiyama said once they'd collected them.
Spending time searching for Executioner's Blade fragments was pointless. The enemy could come back at any moment. Moving on was more important.
Their primary mission was still escorting the Hyūga main family.
"Yes, Captain Shōma," his chūnin subordinate replied quickly.
Kakashi patted Guy's shoulder.
Guy picked up his father's discarded clothes and gave Kakashi a silent nod.
The rest began packing up. Byakugan users scanned the surroundings and plotted a new route.
The commotion here had been way too big. If they stuck to the original path, they'd almost certainly walk into an ambush.
Watching the ninja recover the four swords, Kiyohara felt a stab of greed.
But he knew they were untouchable.
The blades would be confiscated without question.
The Seven Swords were symbols of Kirigakure itself.
Mist would stop at nothing to reclaim them.
Even with their capture, under Hiruzen's leadership, Konoha would have to hand them back for diplomatic reasons.
Future me, he thought.
He tapped the urn in his mind.
Magnet Kiyohara's spirit emerged again.
Kiyohara briefly explained what happened and said that if he could get a fragment, it would help him beat Pakura.
"I see," Magnet Kiyohara said, arms crossed.
He understood Kiyohara didn't just want it for the fight—he wanted to get stronger, fast.
He partially possessed Kiyohara's right hand and began turning chakra into magnetism.
A special magnetic pulse surged from Kiyohara's palm—
And a small fragment of metal clinked into his hand out of the dark.
"I kept an eye out for you. No Byakugan is watching this way," Magnet Kiyohara said, slipping back out.
"Thanks," Kiyohara thought, heart leaping.
This was the real prize.
It wasn't a shard of the Lightning Blade: Kiba—that was a bit of a shame—
But having a piece of the Executioner's Blade was plenty.
Each of the seven swords had unique properties.
The Executioner's Blade could absorb iron from an enemy's blood to repair itself, and drain vitality when it cut—earning its reputation as the "unbreakable sword."
If he could fold that fragment into his own blade, how much maintenance cost would he save?
"I could melt it down and plate the edge with a thin layer," Kiyohara mused, weighing it before quietly slipping it into his pouch.
The Executioner's Blade was the biggest of the seven, and the fragment was sizeable.
Now he just had to figure out how to fuse it into his own.
The column continued in heavy silence.
Duy turning to ash was burned into everyone's mind.
It was a mix of awe at his final blaze of glory, grief for their loss, and quiet relief at having survived.
Akiyama kept them moving until they were dozens of kilometers away, finally stopping in a remote valley to rest.
Everyone's stamina was stretched thin.
Uzushio was huge—to reach the coast, they still had nearly two hours of travel left.
That was "two hours" at a shinobi's pace.
They'd spent most of the night skirting enemies, taking detours and losing time.
Without that, they might already be back in Fire Country.
No fires were lit.
Only the soft sounds of people eating rations broke the stillness.
Guy sat with his head bowed, Ebisu and another companion keeping silent watch beside him.
Kakashi leaned back against a rock wall, lost in thought.
Kurenai was helping Rin tend to lightly wounded Hyūga shinobi who'd been jostled around in the retreat.