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In Konoha, Dai tightened his grip on little Gai's shoulder without taking his eyes off the volume, as though that touch said more than words ever could about the weight of the moments that come after the first failure to finish a battle.
Sakumo remained silent after his remark, because he had no need to add anything to the fact that Lee was now in the most dangerous mental state possible within the match.
Kakashi kept his eyes on the distance between Lee's body and Gaara's voice, understanding that this short distance might weigh more heavily than the crater itself.
Hiruzen did not look at the people around him, because he knew the chapter had seized all of them from the same point of disorientation.
As for Danzo, he did not seem worried, but he certainly no longer saw the scene as merely a display of courage.
Jiraiya smiled with an oddly charming tension, like someone who had finally found a battle incapable of giving him what he wanted on the same page that promised it.
Orochimaru alone, almost, looked as though he grew calmer the more chaotic the battle became.
…
The moment the final page of the scene was closed, it felt as though the shock had not remained trapped inside the exam arena alone, but had rebounded from it into the art shops of the different villages like a fast wave striking faces before walls.
It was no longer only about the power of the Secondary Lotus, nor about the shock of Gaara surviving it, but about that brief instant in which everyone believed the match had truly been decided, only to discover in the next moment that the battle still had cards it had yet to reveal.
Even at this moment, when the readers had only just begun taking their seats, the art store had already been noisier than usual even before the scene ended, but that very noise changed shape with the appearance of the sand shell.
At the moment of impact, a boy from the village's civilians jumped out of his seat so suddenly that he knocked over the cup of tea beside him, then said while staring at the open page with wide eyes,
"It's over! No one can stay standing after an attack that terrifying!"
He said it with genuine emotion as he pressed both palms against the table.
Beside him, a young chunin who had just returned from a short border mission smiled at first at the sight of the deep crater, but that smile faded the moment he saw the sand begin moving again.
"That strike was powerful, but power alone is not always enough against an opponent who does not fight with only his visible body."
He said it in a practical tone while rereading the final panel a second time.
Not far away, a woman from Konoha's civilians pulled her small son's cloak closer to her when Gaara appeared from behind, as though the page itself had become something one ought to step half a pace away from.
"That sand boy is scarier than I thought… even his victory or defeat does not appear in a normal way."
She said it softly while glancing around to make sure others had felt the same thing.
As for the ninja weapons seller who had closed his neighboring shop early just to come and read, he stroked his chin for a long moment before commenting, "I do not understand taijutsu the way shinobi do, but I do understand people's faces, and Lee's face here is the face of someone who realized too late that the battle had not yet allowed him to catch his breath."
He said it quietly while watching the image of Lee frozen in place.
At the back of the store, an ordinary genin leaned over his friend's shoulder and pointed at the shattered shell.
"Even if he did not win, he forced the Sand Monster to deceive him just to survive, and that alone means Lee is no longer just a brave competitor."
He said it with obvious admiration, tapping the paper with the tip of his finger.
An older ninja with an old armband on his arm replied, "True, and now the situation is even more dangerous… someone who reaches Gaara and then freezes afterward may be standing in the worst position a fighter can be in."
He said it with brief severity before turning the page slowly, as though unwilling to miss a single thing from the next stage.
…
As for Suna, no one was prepared to admit out loud what this level of damage appearing on Gaara actually meant, but at the same time they could not deny that this time his survival had not come from the image of an untouchable fortress, but from the image of something stranger and far less comforting to behold.
The atmosphere inside the art store had already been unusual by nature since the start of Lee and Gaara's match, but this particular scene split that atmosphere in half.
At that moment, a boy from Suna's civilians gasped loudly and said without thinking, "Did someone really reach Gaara to this extent?"
He said it while looking around as though expecting someone to deny it immediately. No one answered him at once, because many were trapped inside the same shock.
A brief moment later, a genin from Suna who had his arms folded tightly over his chest spoke up. "He reached him… there is no use denying that. The question now is not whether he managed to hit him, but why Gaara was forced to survive in this way."
He said it in a low voice.
Between the shelves, a woman from the village's civilians put her hand over her mouth when Gaara's laughter came from behind.
"This is not a scene of victory or a scene of defeat… this is just a scene that makes me deeply uncomfortable."
She said it while shaking her head nervously.
Beside her, a shinobi who had just returned from gate duty sat half-perched on a wooden bench, his eyes still fixed on the broken sand.
"Lee did what no one expected, but Gaara did what everyone fears… he brought himself back into the fight from the very moment when the ending had looked certain."
He said it with a visible frown as he tightened his fingers over his knee.
In another corner of the art shop, a man in his fifties from the civilians stepped closer to the page, then moved back a little, as though the image had grown larger than the paper could contain.
"That thick-browed boy shattered the image of Gaara the invincible, even if he did not shatter it completely."
He said it with cautious admiration as he turned toward the others.
A chunin from Suna, who kept one hand on his short sword more often than necessary, answered him, "Seriously, I never expected Rock Lee to be this skilled. Can hard work really make anyone reach such a level!?"
Even as a chunin from Suna, he found himself far weaker than Rock Lee in raw power after watching this fight.
At this level, Rock Lee truly could be compared to elite chunin, especially when Gaara had been beyond comparison from the beginning because of his insane abilities.
…
As for Kumo, the impression there quickly settled into a simple rule: Lee proved that he was capable of knocking down a monstrous opponent with a blow that crushed the earth itself, while Gaara proved that he was capable of turning that magnificent blow into nothing more than a prelude to an even more dangerous stage.
Here, the art shop had not been quiet to begin with, but the moment of the Secondary Lotus exploded inside it with the rough excitement fitting for the village, and then Gaara's survival reshaped that very excitement into something harder and more tense.
A young man from Kumo's civilians slapped the table with his palm when he saw the crater, then said with a laugh of sheer excitement, "That is a strike worthy of respect even if it did not end the fight!"
He said it loudly enough to draw everyone's attention.
Directly to his left, a jonin from Kumo watched the page with narrowed eyes that missed none of its flaws. "I agree, but what matters more to me is that Lee stopped inwardly for a moment after the strike, and that moment alone may be enough against an opponent like this."
He said it with curt roughness.
A blacksmith from the village's civilians finally lifted his hand off the volume after keeping it pressed there as though he wanted to keep the page from moving.
"Gaara is like armor that lets you believe you have broken it, then comes out from behind it to see whether you will collapse before he does."
He said it slowly.
As for a reckless genin who had been following the fight since earlier chapters as if it were merely a show of strength, he frowned for the first time in earnest. "I used to think strength meant crushing your enemy when you hit him, but this chapter says that some fights begin after the strongest blow, not before it."
He said it while looking back again at Lee's image.
…
In Kiri, the art store seemed more restrained by nature, but that restraint was not coldness. It was a kind of sharp concentration that made words fewer in number and heavier in weight.
When he saw Gaara return from behind, a man from Kiri's civilians tilted his head slightly and said, "This is not an ordinary survival… this is a calculated change of position born of a very cold mind."
He said it while tracing a finger near the edge of the page without touching it.
Beside him, a young kunoichi from Kiri, who held the volume steadily on her knees, commented, "Lee attacked with complete courage, but his opponent responds in a way that makes his defeat feel impossible. How the hell did his body turn into sand!?
"Is this some kind of bloodline like the one we saw with Haku!?"
Elsewhere in the art store, the voice of a retired sailor from the civilians rose, sounding unexpectedly absorbed in the scene.
"I like this kind of moment… when everyone thinks the wave has ended, and then the real wave comes from beneath it."
He said it with a small smile that did not hide his tension.
A medical ninja from Kiri, who had been reading in silence from the beginning, replied to him, "And I hate this kind of scene… because it means the damage we saw was not enough, and that both bodies will pay an even uglier price after this."
He said it with a still face that only made the weight of the sentence heavier.
…
In Iwagakure, the scene entered the art store there the way a stone rolls down from a slope: heavy, direct, and then its effects widened quickly.
After noticing the final pages of the chapter, a man from Iwa's civilians let out a short whistle and said, "If the ground itself shattered like that, then how is that sand boy still alive at all?"
He said it in outright astonishment.
A shinobi from Iwa, with the marks of ever-present dust on his clothes, answered him, "Because he did not remain the way you thought he did… he let the strike consume what chakra could be sacrificed, then preserved his original body unharmed until the final moment."
He said it with the eyes of someone well-versed in both endurance and cunning.
Near the volume shelf, a girl from Iwa's civilians set the book down on the table with a force too soft to be anger and too clear to be calm.
"This irritates me… I wanted Lee to be rewarded immediately for everything he did."
She said it in a sad tone while glaring at the sand shell resentfully.
A bald jonin from Iwa answered her while folding his arms. "He was rewarded indeed, but not with victory… he was rewarded by exposing the truth that Gaara cannot be brought down the way others are."
He said it in a heavy voice that suited the village itself.
…
As the scene spread across all these villages, one image began to repeat itself despite the different faces, local tones, and temperaments of the people: the image of Lee striking as though all his training had gathered into a single second, followed by the image of Gaara emerging from behind that certainty to shatter it.
In this chapter, and the one that follows, most readers across all the villages were able to see what hard work alone could truly accomplish.
Rock Lee truly was the genius of hard work!
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 192: Hard Work Is Useless If You Aren't Confident in Yourself!
Chapter 193: The Eight Inner Gates!
Chapter 194: Sand Coffin!
Chapter 195: Lee, You Are Truly a Splendid Ninja.
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