Rain was falling from the sky.
In front of the Konoha Memorial Stone.
A boy in a green bodysuit, with a bowl haircut and thick eyebrows, was kneeling silently in front of a grave, staring blankly at the name and photo on the tombstone.
Shiranui Genma, with a toothpick in his mouth, gently placed a bouquet of flowers before the grave. He looked a little worried at Might Guy, who had been here for who knows how long.
"Uncle Duy died to save us…"
Ebisu, wearing his dark sunglasses, clenched his fists. His tone and expression were full of guilt as he placed his offerings at the grave and bowed his head.
As a three-man team, they had never expected to encounter the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist during their mission.
And they definitely hadn't expected to be saved by the father of one of their teammates when they thought death was certain.
None of them had imagined that this man—often ridiculed in the village, constantly doing low-rank genin missions, repeatedly failing to become a chunin, and always giving the impression of being a joke—would shine so brilliantly when fighting with all his might.
Seven ninja strong enough to take over a small country, famous even in the Hidden Mist Village.
But after fighting with Might Duy, four of them were killed, and the remaining three were either wounded or terrified into fleeing.
But the man who created such a miraculous feat—Might Duy—had burned out his life.
By the time Guy and the reinforcements arrived, all they found was Might Duy's body, along with the lifeless corpses of four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
"Guy, I brought you something to eat."
Genma Shiranui didn't know how to comfort Might Guy, so he simply placed the food he had wrapped in oiled paper into Guy's hands. This content belongs to novel-fire.net
"You've got to pull yourself together, Guy. Uncle Duy wouldn't want to see you ," Ebisu said with concern.
"I'm fine," Might Guy suddenly said. His voice was hoarse. He took the food Genma handed him and stood up from the ground.
Because he had been in the same position for too long, his legs were numb, and he almost fell when he stood.
But his well-trained body reacted quickly. Before his companions could reach out to steady him, he had already regained his balance.
After giving his father Might Duy's gravestone one last look, Might Guy began performing each of the training routines he used to do with his father back when they were in the village.
One hundred and eleven!
One hundred and twelve!
While he was doing handstand walking as part of his training, a pair of feet suddenly blocked his path. Guy tilted his head to look up and tried to go around the person, but was blocked again.
Genma Shiranui and Ebisu's voices told Might Guy who was standing in front of him.
"Want to take a walk with me?"
Kakashi looked at the upright Guy and invited him calmly.
Genma and Ebisu glanced at the two of them in silence and then knowingly stepped aside, choosing not to follow Guy out of worry.
They understood that there was a kind of rivalry between Kakashi and Guy, and the two were very familiar with each other.
As they watched the two figures disappear into the rain, Genma and Ebisu exchanged a glance and silently headed toward the nearest training ground.
After experiencing war and the shadow of death, they had come to deeply understand the importance of their own strength.
Even though they were already top among the Genin, and could even fight on equal footing with some Chunin, it still wasn't enough.
"Aren't you supposed to be on a mission outside the village?" Might Guy asked, walking beside Kakashi.
In the past, whenever he saw Kakashi, he would always chase after him, insisting on having a good, intense battle—even though over the years Kakashi's strength had grown rapidly, leaving him far behind.
But today, he just didn't feel like it.
"I'm back in the village to rest for a while with my teacher," Kakashi replied.
It involved Kushina-sensei returning to the village for a health check, and Kakashi didn't want to say much more.
But the truth was, after hearing the news about Might Duy dying in battle, he had begged to return to the village together with his teacher and Kushina.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist might have been an elite assassination squad from Kirigakure, but their strength was recognized across the entire ninja world.
After all, to be able to operate deep within Konoha for so long and still make it out alive—there was no doubt they were formidable.
So their deaths wouldn't be like those of ordinary ninja, fading quietly and unnoticed.
"You came to see me because you're worried about me?" Might Guy rubbed his eyes. "Don't worry about me! I won't be crushed by this!"
Although Guy's personality was intense and sometimes a bit dense, it didn't mean he didn't understand things.
He had once been very sensitive too, but under his father's guidance, he had learned to forget and ignore the strange looks and cruel words from others.
He knew that Genma Shiranui, Ebisu and Kakashi were worried about him.
Right now, even though he was still drowning in grief, he had already started to push himself forward.
Training—relentless training—was the only way he knew to move on and regain his strength.
When he trained, he could almost feel like his father was still there with him.
"I'm not worried about you," Kakashi said, his expression softening. "But you should make time to visit the hospital. Lady Tsunade wants to see you."
"Lady Tsunade?" Might Guy looked puzzled.
He didn't understand why she would want to see him.
The only interaction they'd had was years ago, before she left the village, when she prescribed some medicine for him and his father to help with overtraining injuries.
Other than that, there had never been any real connection between them.
Might Guy couldn't understand why Tsunade wanted to see him.
"I got the message while I was accompanying someone to the hospital for a check-up."
In truth, it was before Tsunade examined Kushina that she gave instructions to her subordinates—Kakashi had volunteered to take on this task directly from her.
Although he couldn't say he was very close with Might Guy, during those years when he himself had been consumed by obsession, Guy was one of the few who could tolerate him—besides Obito and Rin.
Guy, too, was someone who had his own form of unshakable persistence.
And Kakashi had witnessed the death of his own father, so he understood deeply the emotional shock that came in that moment.
He was worried that Might Guy might fall into the same kind of obsession he once had.
But from the looks of it now, Guy's mental state was far stronger than his had been back then—more resilient too.
At least Guy hadn't shut down or numbed himself to the world, refusing to communicate with others.
"Well, since you're alright, come with me to the hospital. Lady Tsunade is still waiting for you," Kakashi said with a sigh.
When the two arrived at the hospital and met with Tsunade, she was inside a patient room talking with Kushina.
Minato Namikaze was standing outside the door. When he saw Kakashi and Guy approach, he gave them a small wave.
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