Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 71: Rock vs Sand Part 1
The next match was between Rock Lee and Gaara of the Sand.
"So, I have been left for last," Naruto realized, his eyes moving to the last member of the Sound Village. That would be his opponent.
"Good luck, Lee!" Guy Sensei cheered for his students with his usual enthusiasm.
"This is bad… he should give up." Kiba, still in the viewing area despite the bruises on his face, commented.
"What are you talking about?! Lee is not going to lose," TenTen replied, staying to cheer for her teammate even after Neji left without saying a word.
"You have no idea…" Kiba looked genuinely afraid, casting quick glances at Gaara. "That guy is a psychopath… my team and I saw him kill an entire team by himself… he was laughing."
TenTen frowned.
"Just because he's crazy doesn't mean he's strong."
"He is strong. There's no doubt about that," Naruto said from the other side.
"Naruto…" TenTen glanced at him.
"Tsk… what would you know about being strong, dead last…" Kiba muttered, though he reluctantly agreed.
"Begin!" Hayate gave the signal and moved away from the arena.
Naruto observed this fight very carefully. These two were the most interesting genins, in his personal opinion.
Lee's fighting style reminded him of his early days when he had to rely on pure martial arts.
As for Gaara… there was something familiar about him, but Naruto couldn't quite put his finger on it yet.
"Let's have a good match!" Rock Lee shouted.
"Pff… shut up." Gaara said, keeping his usual frown. The cork on his gourd loosened and shot towards Lee.
Lee dodged it by moving his head aside before charging directly at Gaara.
"Leaf Spinning Wind!" He jumped into the air and performed a powerful spinning kick aimed at Gaara's chest.
A large amount of sand emerged from Gaara's gourd and blocked the attack while Gaara remained with his arms crossed.
"Sand?..." Naruto looked a bit surprised. It was very unusual to find someone who would choose sand as a weapon.
Those who delved into the Dao of Earth usually preferred to employ rocks.
Lee tried a few more times, but all his attacks were blocked by the sand while Gaara didn't even have to move from his spot.
"It's useless… he won't be able to touch him…" Kankuro approached the railing and looked down.
Naruto couldn't help but notice how afraid Kankuro looked.
'He's that scared of his own teammate?'
"Up until now… there has never been anyone capable of putting a scratch on Gaara," Kankuro added.
TenTen's expression changed; she now looked much more worried than before.
Lee didn't change his strategy and continued throwing punches and kicks.
All were blocked with little to no effort.
"He should try something else…" Naruto said.
"It's not like he doesn't want to…" Guy Sensei commented.
"Lee can't use anything other than taijutsu."
"He can't?..." Naruto said.
'So this wasn't a personal choice… taijutsu is the only thing he can do.'
"Lee has dedicated his life to perfecting his taijutsu skills. And that's why he's going to win!" Guy gave a thumbs up.
"Go ahead, Lee! Take them off!"
Lee glanced at his Sensei with doubtful eyes. He had been told to never take them off unless it was to protect something precious.
"But…."
"Go ahead, Lee! You have my permission!" His Sensei shouted.
Lee removed two sets of weights from his legs.
"Great! Now I can move so much faster!"
"How stupid… that's not going to change anything…" Kankuro snarled.
Naruto kept his mouth shut, but he agreed with that statement. Even if removing a few pounds would allow Lee to move a bit faster, it wouldn't make much of a difference.
However… when they saw the destruction caused by the weights when Lee dropped them…
"What?! How much was he carrying?!" Temari got closer to the group.
They got no answer from the Sensei.
Then… Lee began to move.
"How is this possible?" Naruto didn't think he would be this surprised by one of the genins, but Lee's increase in speed made no sense.
'Unless…'
Lee was now moving at least five times faster than before.
Gaara's sand was having trouble keeping up as Lee moved around, throwing all sorts of attacks.
After a few more seconds of this… Lee finally managed to get his first hit, as one of his kicks connected with Gaara's head.
"No way!"
"Impossible!"
Gaara's teammates were the ones most shocked. They knew how powerful Gaara's sand defense was.
"See? Lee won't lose to anyone, even if he can only use taijutsu. He's a taijutsu specialist!" Guy Sensei declared with pride.
"When you say that he can't use anything other than taijutsu…" Naruto looked at the jonin with a serious face.
"Is this caused by some sort of medical condition?"
Might Guy was a bit surprised by the question but still answered.
"That is correct… Lee was born with malformed chakra veins, so he's unable to circulate chakra properly, and thus, unable to use ninjutsu."
"Malformed chakra veins… I see." Naruto now had a good idea of how Rock Lee could move like that.
To have that speed and strength at his age and with that body type… it should be impossible unless Lee was a cultivator like himself.
By absorbing chakra into one's body, it was possible to push it past its limits.
And by the looks of it, Lee's cultivation was ahead of his own. He seemed to have reached the peak of the Body Forging Stage.
'But if cultivation manuals don't exist in this world, there's only one other possibility… Lee must have been born with a special constitution…'
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