Guy just kept looking at Lee and said "Keep watching Kakashi. You are in for a surprise." Lee had boosted his power to a great extent and just when everybody thought that he was done powering up, Lee shouted again.
The Third Gate...Gate of Life.
After a few seconds...
The Fourth Gate...Gate of Pain.
Again after a few seconds...
The Fifth Gate...Gate of limit.
In just under a minute, Lee had increased his strength severalfold. There was pin drop silence all over the tower. Everyone could feel the strong power radiating from Lee. 'How can a genin be that strong?' was the question that came to everybody's mind. Even Neji who had seen Lee for so many years couldn't believe that this is how strong Lee was. Neji was convinced that he couldn't defeat Lee no matter how many clan techniques he used. The only question he had now was how was Yami going to overcome this?
Gaara who was standing on the sidelines with his siblings and Baki had a change in expression. He had confidence in his absolute defense but there was a limit as to how many attacks it can cover and how fast. He understood that the Lee standing in front of him could give a run for his money.
Yami as always didn't move from his place the whole time. 'Everyone is stronger than their canon self and I expected Lee would also be able to open his sixth gate but seems like he will need more time to open it.' Yami thought.
Lee who was looking as if he will burst like a bomb any minute looked at Yami and said "I thought this would make you unsheathe your sword."
Neither did Lee nor the others expect Yami to say or do anything as a reply to Lee's statement but Yami smiled as he said "No it isn't enough to make me unsheathe my sword but you did make me do something else." Yami looked at his legs. He was wearing his usual sandals and a thin tape from his ankles to his calf. Everyone including Lee was focused on Yami's legs. They didn't think that there is any kind of weight as Yami hadn't worn anything baggy like Lee.
The next second they all saw a dim light around his leg glow a little and then become dim again. They didn't understand what had happened. It was so anti-climatic. Some had expected something flashy like the eight gates but it didn't happen. The veterans who were in the tower understood that it was something related to fuinjutsu.
"What was that?" Lee asked. He had still opened his fifth gate and his skin was red in color. This was one of the tricks Yami had come up with. He knew Lee couldn't maintain the stage he was now in for too long and the best way to secure victory would be to waste as much time as he could.
'Even though it's a cheap trick, it's still an effective strategy.' Yami humphed in his mind.
He smirked at Lee and said "Gravity seals. They apply weight to my body just like yours with only one difference"
"What difference?"
"They are heavier than yours." Yami said as the smile on his face grew and he disappeared. Everyone didn't have the time to even look for Yami as all the windows in the tower shattered. This also included Kabuto's glasses. Lee looked around and no matter how much he tried he couldn't see Yami. All he could see were blue glowing lines all over the tower. The ground and the walls were crushed in many places but Yami was nowhere to be seen.
"What is even happening?" Neji muttered as he looked around. Even the walls which were above the railing had those cracks meaning Yami had propelled himself from the walls without anyone even knowing when and how.
'This isn't the time to defend. I must counterattack him or else I might lose without even knowing how.' Lee thought and even his figure blurred. The strength he used to propel himself from the ground was way more than what Yami was using. Due to Lee just kicking the ground once, a quarter of the stage's surface was destroyed instantly.
Kakashi activated his Sharingan and now he could see better. Asuma noticed this and asked, "Kakashi tell us what you see."
"I-I can see Lee but he's still a little blur but my eyes can't match Yami's speed at all." Kakashi said as he gulped some saliva. When he saw the windows around him break, many thought that Yami had destroyed them but veterans like Hiruzen and Orochimaru understood that Yami's speed had reached a whole new stage. Now even after using his Sharingan, Kakashi couldn't see Yami clearly. He just like Lee could only see the blue light bouncing on the walls of the tower.
Lee who was now chasing the blue glow was getting closer and closer. He saw the blue glow touch a wall and propel it in a different direction. Lee also did the same thing but when he turned in the other direction, he couldn't see the blue glow.
'Where did he go?' Lee thought and immediately he realized that he had been played like a fiddle. He felt a sharp pain in his back but this pain wasn't like when he was kicked or punched. This was a sharp pain as if someone had cut him deep. Lee coughed a little blood and landed in the middle of the stage. He wasn't standing or the right way to say would be he couldn't stand. He felt a tingling sensation like he had been paralyzed by lightning and the wound on his back was painful it hadn't just cut him but also burnt a little.
Seeing the slash mark on Lee's back, everyone including Lee thought that Yami cut him with his sword and Lee who smiled at this realization looked up and said "I made you use your sword. I made you go all out."
"No you didn't" A cold voice was heard behind Lee and as he turned he saw something he or no one else in that tower ever expected to see.
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