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[— Manga Scene —]
"It's hard to say this…"
"He's breathing, but his internal bones are broken and crushed, and his muscles are torn… I think he needs a long time to recover, and he'll be fine, but…"
"But the damage to his left arm and leg is severe… very severe."
"..."
"But this body of his…"
"Won't allow him to live as a ninja."
"!!"
"This… this has to be a lie…"
Naruto's gaze was fixed on Lee's stretched-out body, as if the words hadn't fully reached him yet.
'Lee, I never imagined you would be defeated… I wanted to make your ninja way correct… Please forgive me, Lee, for not being able to stop you.'
Gai's face trembled slightly, while his voice caught in his throat.
"Hehe… mmhhhhh…" A laughing sound could be heard from the direction of the Sand team.
A heavy silence prevailed for seconds before the objection erupted again.
"He said that the failure would surpass the genius through hard work… Can't we do something?"
"This can't be, what can the eyebrows guy do when he hears this?!"
"And this… perhaps…"
"is the cause of this incident."
At this moment, Kakashi spoke.
"..."
"These wishes come true; using a forbidden, damage-causing technique to win. And this is the result.."
"He tried to keep his promise."
'The one he made with… Sasuke and Neji-kun…'
"..."
"And with you, Naruto…"
"He tried to move to the next stage to face you all."
"..."
"Don't forget this…"
Kakashi placed his hand on Naruto's head as he said that.
[— End Scene —]
In the Art Store in Konoha, no one moved away from the last page as soon as the scene ended. The eyes remained fixed on Lee's stretched-out body, as if the verdict pronounced by the doctors was too heavy to pass ordinarily within a place accustomed to receiving surprises.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was the first to speak.
"What a harsh scene."
He said, returning his gaze to the volume.
"The loss was clear since the end of the fight, but this result… is harsher than the defeat itself."
Danzo, who sat near him, didn't change his cold tone.
"This is the end of power when it is used before its time."
He said.
"The boy proved himself, yes. But he paid the price with his future."
As for Uzumaki Mito, she kept looking at the page a moment longer before saying:
"And that's what makes it painful."
She spoke calmly.
"A boy of this age shouldn't have to hear a verdict like this after a match. I hope my granddaughter's character in the manga heals him." She smiled after saying that, then glanced lightly toward where Tsunade was sitting.
No one argued with her. There was a simplicity in the sentence that made it sufficient without any further explanation.
…
Not far from them, Maito Dai had crossed his arms over his chest, while young Gai stood beside him, his eyes not leaving Lee's picture.
"He fought to the end."
Young Gai finally said.
"Then they told him he might not return as a ninja…"
Dai nodded slowly.
"Yes." He said in a tone lighter than usual.
"And that's why this chapter became heavier than the one before it."
Young Gai raised his fist slightly.
"Impossible, isn't it, Dad? This won't happen to Lee!"
Dai smiled faintly, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"Don't lose hope, Gai! Of course this won't be the end!"
Then he returned his gaze to Lee's picture and added:
"Because Lee simply doesn't deserve that."
…
In the Art Store in Kumo, the atmosphere was different. The silence there was not so much a silence of grief as it was the silence of men accustomed to respecting strength, even when it comes in the form of a bloody defeat.
The Third Raikage, A, sat in front of the open chapter, his huge arm resting on his knee. He kept staring at the page for moments before letting out a short, rough laugh.
"Heh." He said.
"I like this boy with the thick eyebrows."
Eyes quickly turned to him, but he didn't care about them.
"He lost the fight, yet he forced everyone to stop at him."
He added, narrowing his eyes.
"That's not something that happens every day."
Then he leaned back a little, as if something old had passed through his mind.
"That reminds me of a bad feeling."
He said this time in a calmer tone.
"Of the battle that I too lost months ago against that merchant."
He didn't name Rob, but no one needed clarification of what was meant.
"Loss is not always humiliating."
A continued.
"Sometimes it's the only proof that you truly entered a real fight."
Then he struck his palm against his knee once.
"That child from Konoha has a solid heart."
He said.
"And if he returns to standing after this, he will become much stronger."
And so, A didn't see in the chapter a lament for a fallen boy, but rather saw in it a stubbornness that knows its value well.
…
As for the Art Store in Iwa, the scene had left a completely different impact.
Onoki was sitting on his small seat, his forehead more wrinkled than usual, while the volume remained open before him on the same page.
"Damn…"
He said after a short silence.
"All this in a Chunin Exam?"
He wasn't speaking with the sharpness of an angry man, but with the heaviness of a man who in his long life had seen many injuries, and knew well what the phrases said in the chapter meant.
"If this verdict is correct, then the boy didn't just lose a match."
He added.
"He lost the path he was walking on."
Then he exhaled slowly and looked back at the picture of the stretched-out Lee.
"That's the worst part of it."
He said.
"That a boy who works so hard might end up almost helpless before he even truly begins his life."
That's why there was no admiration nor complex calculations in Onoki's comment. There was frank, direct regret in it, befitting a man who had known the price of broken bodies more than once.
…
And in the Art Store in Amegakure, the calm of the damp place had been broken by something resembling an old enthusiasm.
Hanzo the Salamander sat in front of the chapter, his eyes fixed on the last pages. He didn't move for a moment, then features appeared on his face that his companions hadn't seen in a long time.
"Heh…"
The sound came out of him slowly.
"Since when did Genin battles become like this?"
He didn't wait for an answer.
"A boy who shatters his body to reach his opponent."
He said.
"And another who crushes him without hesitation and leaves the scene as if something within him had begun to awaken."
Then the corner of his mouth rose slightly.
It was a faint smile, but it wasn't a smile of mockery.
"This is good."
He said.
"This makes the arena look alive again."
In his voice was a trace of that feeling he had known long ago, the feeling of a man no longer stirred by small battles, who then suddenly found himself following the fight of two Genin as if he were seeing the beginnings of something bigger.
…
And in the Art Store in Kirigakure, the astonishment was no less present, but it came in the form of a wary silence.
The Third Mizukage sat in front of the last page, while young Zabuza sat near him, his eyes wider than usual since the reading ended.
"Are these really Genin?"
Zabuza asked first, without lifting his gaze from the volume.
The Third Mizukage gave him a short sidelong glance, then returned his eyes to the page.
"That's what the manga says."
He answered calmly.
"And that's exactly why it seems astonishing."
Zabuza remained silent for a moment, then said:
"If this is just an exam… then it's more violent than it should be."
The sentence wasn't complex, but it came out honestly from a child who saw in those pages something beyond a mere display of power.
"Violent? Hahaha! Zabuza, have you forgotten how your counterpart graduates as a ninja in the future?"
Hearing that, young Zabuza's body trembled.
True, violent? This was nothing compared to what his counterpart went through in the manga…
Seeing him reorganizing his thoughts, the Third Mizukage went back to speaking calmly,
"One nearly lost his future, and the other grew even more mysterious."
Then he half-closed the volume.
"A chapter like this doesn't pass lightly over anyone."
And that was enough. Even in the Village of Mist, where people were accustomed to cruelty, there remained in the scene something worth pausing at.
…
And at a far distance from all of that, in the deep cave underground, the dim light flowed over the cold rocks while Uchiha Madara sat in his place, a smile slowly creeping onto his face as he looked at the chapter.
He wasn't interested in Lee alone, nor in Gaara alone.
He was looking at the broader meaning hidden behind the pages.
A boy who shattered his body to preserve his path.
And another boy who grew darker as he triumphed.
"Hmph."
The sound came out of him faintly.
"Good…"
Then his smile bent a little, and he said in the tone whose cruelty is unmistakable:
"This is how the young learn early that this world grants power only to those who accept its price."
Silence prevailed in the cave after that, but the impact of the sentence remained heavier than the silence itself.
For the chapter, in the eyes of the villages, was perhaps the end of Lee's journey as a ninja.
But in the eyes of Madara…
it was just another reminder that small tragedies are the best soil in which the truly strong grow in this world.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 197: The Final Battle: Choji's Loss.
Chapter 198: First, I'll Enjoy Killing That Old Man!
Chapter 199: Kakashi vs. Kabuto!
Chapter 200: The Great Ninja Appears, Jiraiya! (End of Volume Ten)
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