"I'm this way! No, this way!"
Moving at inhuman speed, Rock Lee was toying with his enemy. Gaara's sand shield was becoming more and more vulnerable.
Only twenty seconds had passed since Rock Lee had removed the weights from his ankles, thanks to this, the course of the fight had changed drastically.
Right now, Rock Lee had Gaara's back against the wall.
"It's too fast, I can't see it."
Watching Rock Lee's quick movements and attacks, Sakura clenched the metal bars tightly as she let out a long sigh. Her reaction was justified, she had never seen anything like it before, a ninja so fast that the human eye has a hard time seeing it.
*Bam!
With a strong downward kick, Lee hit Gaara in the head. Both Temari and Kankuro's eyes widened in disbelief. But this wasn't over, as, in a quick succession of punches, Rock Lee managed to punch Gaara in the face. Due to the recoil of the blow, the Sand Village ninja fell to the ground, rolling to a stop.
"Well done, Lee!"
Shouting with excitement, Naruto liked this. Rock Lee was too strong and too fast. Not only his taijutsu was perfect, but also his control of his emotions as the fight progressed.
And just like Naruto, Sakura was also excited, after all she could already imagine the outcome of this fight.
"What...?"
No, it wasn't as simple as Sakura thought. Since right now, Gaara stood up from the ground, at the same time, the surface of his body started to split like ceramic, revealing, the horrible sadistic smile of this demon child.
Kankuro saw this and swallowed saliva. This was getting out of control. He knew very well what happens when Gaara smiles like that, there is no way to stop it.
Still, the sand surrounded Gaara's body again, covering him with the sand armor once more.
(He seems to have armor that protects him from being hit, this is going to be tough, but...).
Seeing the challenge that had been presented to her, Lee nodded her head before looking at Guy with a smile.
Seeing his student like this, Guy also smiled, as, he knew what Lee was going to do. So, holding his thumb up with a smile on his face, Guy said:
"Do it, Lee..."
Nodding his head, Rock Lee turned his gaze on Gaara, before the expression on his face turned serious. At the same time, Lee loosened the bandages on his arms, causing the bandages to caress the ground.
Only a millisecond passed, Rock Lee disappeared from everyone's sight, but reappeared a second later, now he was running around Gaara at an inhuman speed. The great speed caused the sand to rise from the ground, forming a small tornado.
*Bam!
With a kick from below, Rock Lee lifted Gaara, causing him to be suspended in the air for a few seconds, but his move didn't end there, as he took a big jump and using his legs, hit Gaara in the back over and over again, this made the two ninjas rise until they reached the roof of the fighting arena.
Then, the bandages on Lee's arms began to spin, wrapping around Gaara's body.
"Get ready, Omote Renge! [Primal Lotus Flower]"
Holding Gaara tightly, Lee began to descend while spinning on his own axis. This caused them to fall to the ground like a reverse tornado.
*Boom!
With a loud boom, the ground split apart. Lee's jutsu had succeeded in damaging his enemy, as at that moment Gaara was buried in the ground, the expression on his face showed that he was in shock due to the strong blow.
But they were wrong, because Gaara's body began to break apart, showing that Gaara's body was only an empty shell of sand.
"It can't be..."
With a great pain in his back and legs, Lee was shocked and somehow scared. The strain his body received from doing this jutsu was great, it had left him incapacitated, as right now he couldn't move freely.
"This is too weird..."
Naruto lowered his gaze as he tried to process the information. He was sure that Gaara had taken the hit from Lee, but that didn't explain the empty sand shell that was on the ground.
Yamato and Kakashi thought the same, but Guy, he was worried. He appreciated that this enemy was more than Lee could handle.
"That... is that all?"
As if materializing in front of him, Gaara appeared covered by a cloud of dust and sand. Seeing this, the expression on Lee's face showed that there was no escape from this situation.
"Die..."
"Damn it!"
The sand began to move, trying to hit Lee. Although he managed to barely dodge it, Lee was tired and his body couldn't take it anymore. The pain was unbearable, so much so that it could be seen on Rock Lee's face.
*Bam! Boom!
Again and again, the sand lashed out at Lee. More and more, now Lee was on the ground, the sand had managed to hit him. There was no escape, but still he was not going to give up.
"Ahhhhhh!"
As if it was a giant wave, the sand crushed Rock Lee, he couldn't help but scream in pain. Enough had been enough, he couldn't against his enemy.
"He won't be able to resist anymore, the best option Rock Lee has is to surrender. Otherwise, he will be killed."
With a muffled voice and a poker face, Toru saw the suffering Lee was going through. It was obvious that this fight already had a winner, but why suffer in vain? It would be better to give up. But for someone like Rock Lee, the word 'surrender' was not in his dictionary.
He will keep fighting, no matter if he gets hurt badly, no matter if he feels pain. He will get up, and he will keep fighting, because this is his unbreakable will, no one can make him give up, that's why Rock Lee is the perfect definition of a ninja.
"This is bad, stop the fight before Lee dies!"
Sakura was scared, so was Naruto, as Gaara was smirking at the sight of Rock Lee suffering.
"Don't underestimate him..."
With a grim look on his face, Guy looked at Rock Lee, and then....
"Huh?"
In a splendid way, Rock Lee was dodging the attacks from the arena. Somehow or other, he had managed to regain his mobility. But this had an explanation.
"How come...?"
"He can still move?"
Naruto and Sakura were shocked, this boy was full of surprises.
"Of course he can move, this is Lee we're talking about. Apparently, he's opened the first door."
Guy smiled slightly, Rock Lee was now going to use his maximum strength. But hearing this, made Kakashi look at him in disgust.
"Guy, you... I can't believe it."
"Well now you'll have to believe it, after all, it was Lee's own decision. He more than anyone else wants to prove that a ninja with no talent can be better than anyone else. That's how I trained him."
"You shouldn't have taught him to open the inner doors to that boy. That will only end up killing him."
Listening to the two Jounin's conversation, Naruto swallowed saliva. Using a force that can kill you was a strange thing to do, but somehow admirable.
"The inner doors... What do you mean, sensei?" Sakura asked.
"The eight inner gates, are specific points in a person's chakra circulatory system, which limit their overall chakra flow. By opening the eight gates, you can gain power similar to that of the Hokage, but in exchange for that power, you die..."
Looking at Rock Lee, Sakura didn't know what to say. Using a technique that can kill you, it was something ridiculous, but it is Rock Lee who is being talked about.
"First door open, the opening door."
Rock Lee smiled as he raised his guard, now it was his turn to strike his enemy.
"Ah?"
Quickly appearing behind Gaara, Rock Lee threw a punch, knocking Gaara back.
"Second door open, break door."
Without giving his enemy time to respond, Rock Lee threw a kick, hitting Gaara in the stomach.
"Agh!"
Gaara shot out against the wall. This left a dumbfounded expression on his face. He couldn't figure out, how someone like Rock Lee was so strong and fast.
"Third door open! Door of life!"
Clenching his fists tightly, Lee frowned. At the same time, small rocks were rising from the ground due to the chakra surrounding him.
"This is why I consider Lee to be a taijutsu expert. Now, Lee! Let the flame of youth explode!"
"Fourth gate open, Gate of Pain!"
Gradually, Lee's skin turned a reddish color. At the same time, the chakra around him changed color, it was now crimson red, with a sky blue outline.
"Aghhhh! Fifth door open, closing door!"
Everyone looked at him in surprise. Rock Lee, at his peak power was in front of their eyes. This caused a smile to form on the Hokage's mouth. This was without a doubt, amazing.
"I will end this fight, right now!"
Letting out a battle cry, Rock Lee disappeared, at the same time, the ground split into hundreds of pieces. The battle arena could barely withstand this power.
*Boom!
Throwing an upward kick, Gaara was once again suspended in the air. A second later, Lee appeared in front of him.
"I hope you're ready."
Showing no mercy to his foe, Lee began to hit him, again and again. It was as if he was playing table tennis. Once Lee hit Gaara and sent him flying, he would quickly appear in front of him to hit him again.
*Bam! Bam! Boom!
(Something like this...)
Toru had his eyes wide open, he was holding the metal bars tightly while trying to follow Lee's movements with his eyes, but it was impossible, this guy was a taijutsu monster.
Lee's taijutsu was something destructive, he used strength and speed together to become a living weapon. Toru knew that as ninja that they are, they are living weapons that Konohagakure uses for their own benefit.
(The eight inner gates... I had read a bit about it, but never tried it, as it puts a great burden on the body. In the end, if a ninja opens all eight gates, he dies...)
Having knowledge about the eight gates, Toru couldn't help but sigh. This was something strange, Lee had the strength and will to bear the burden of having five doors open. Well, Toru doesn't know how to open the gates, so he just stared intently at this fight.
"Here goes, my final attack."
Holding Gaara's body with his bandages, Rock Lee lifted his leg, but an electric current stopped him before he struck. Still, he didn't let this limit him, so, in immense pain, Lee gave Gaara a downward hammer kick, causing him to fall in stomp at an absurd speed.
*Boom!*
A great roar was heard, at the same time, Lee fell to the ground, the chakra aura had disappeared, and apparently he couldn't move.
"I made it..."
Lee sighed in relief, but his eyes and everyone's eyes widened in disbelief. Gaara was still okay, at least that's what it looked like, as the boy was lying on the ground, his sand armor was completely destroyed.
"It can't be..."
Lee's face showed an expression of fear before he tried to get some distance, but he couldn't, his body was completely shattered, his muscles and bones hurt like hell, there was no escape anymore.
Raising his hand, the sand began to crawl, slowly approaching Lee. Toru looked everywhere, as if looking for a solution to this problem, in the end he found nothing.
(I know what's going to happen next)
Remembering the survival test, where Gaara killed three people using the sand, Toru didn't like this.
"Sand coffin..."
Clenching his fist, the sand wrapped around Lee's right leg and arm.
*Crack*
A crack was heard, followed by Lee's piercing scream of pain, a second later, he fell unconscious due to the pain of his wounds.
"Die..."
Gaara wasn't going to stop, so the sand started to surround Lee, but when the sand was about to touch the boy, Guy appeared, pushing the sand away with one hand.
"Why are you saving him? He lost, he deserves to die."
Such it seemed, Gaara didn't understand why Guy saved Lee. But Might Guy himself took it upon himself to explain.
"Because he's my student, I won't let him die."
These words caused Gaara to touch his head painfully, as if he was remembering something.
"No..."
Toru opened his eyes, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Despite all the damage he received, despite his muscles being torn, Lee stood up, exercising his authority by raising his guard.
Guy didn't want to turn to look, but he couldn't help it. He saw his student, completely torn up inside. He put his hand on Lee's shoulder, and with soft words said to him.
"Lee, you don't have to fight anymore, you've already shown the world what a great ninja you are-"
Gritting his teeth, small tears peeked from the corners of Guy's eyes.
"Oh, Lee, what have I done?"
Standing in front of him, guard up, Lee had a dull look on his face, his body trembling, he couldn't seem to stand. His leg and arm were bleeding, but he didn't seem to feel the pain. This boy, known as Rock Lee, was unconscious, yet his unbreakable willpower forced him to stand up, even if he was unconscious.
Seeing this, Toru squeezed the metal bars tightly. Somehow, Lee had earned the Asahi clan boy's respect.
After this big fight, the result was.
[Summary of the twelfth fight:
Gaara vs Rock Lee.
Time: 9.35 minutes.
Winner: Gaara.
Decisive blow: Sand cofferdam]
_______
Author's note: Phew... writing this fight was a bit difficult. But hey, I see you did reach the goal of 65 stones, so here's your reward. I'll post the next chapter later, as usual.