"This?! Sakura exclaimed, feeling the wind gust from Naruto, held in Kiba's grip. "That chakra..."
"His wounds!" Gai yelled. "Kakashi, you see it too?!" He turned to his rival, who bared left eye, staring at Naruto as shocked as anyone.
"What the?!" Shikamaru bent over railing toward Naruto.
"No way..." Asuma whispered, new cigarette falling from mouth.
"No doubt... The Nine-Tails' power." Kakashi whispered.
"Nine-Tails?" Sakura wondered, and as Kiba clone flew into his arms, Naruto dropped to all fours, claws out. Hair spiked; crimson chakra swirled visibly, even to naked eye.
"Hm?" Gaara blinked.
"What is..." Baki thought. "This kid..." Baki eyed Gaara's back. "Him too...?"
"Holy shit!" Kankuro yelped, ducking, hands to face.
"That power..." Temari backed from railing, shielding face. "He's had THAT ace up his sleeve?!"
"This power... Just like Orochimaru-sama." Dosu whispered. "No, wilder, seems stronger. Not sure whose chakra's more terrifying, but volume not at Orochimaru-sama's level yet. What kind of kid is this?!"
"Teacher Kakashi, now I'm a Copy Ninja too!" Naruto shouted. "Watch me copy his clan technique!"
Naruto's speed changed abruptly. In the time it would take to even blink, he gathered all his Chakra, forming a ghostly shroud around himself, and appeared behind both Kibas.
A wild swing sent the original flying, and even Akamaru in clone form couldn't hold him back. They both tumbled across the floor. Then the unbelievable began. Perfectly replicating Kiba's stance, he charged at him, starting to move in jerks around in a circle. His speed increased with each jerk until it turned into a red blur chaotically flashing and kicking up a whirlwind of dust around Kiba and Akamaru, who had stood back-to-back.
Suddenly the whirlwind died down sharply, and a loud clap rang out, its shockwave scattering those standing back-to-back in different directions. All the Chakra that had covered him from head to toe went into that clap, amplifying the shockwave.
Naruto had won.
With the power of the Nine-Tails that he had shown, it was easy for him. When he spoke about his clash with Orochimaru, Kakashi had doubts that the latter had been forced to reveal himself precisely because of Naruto's power. After meeting him in the underground hall, Kakashi had convinced himself that one of the three legendary ninja had revealed himself of his own free will and that it was just part of his game.
Well, or he was just messing around.
And the ability to control Chakra similar to the Nine-Tails', even if in a limited amount, which he had sensed on the bridge, raised doubts in the Copy Ninja. He was more inclined to believe that the seal could only release a limited amount of the demon's Chakra, and afterward fully blocked its flow, returning Naruto to normal.
However, all doubts had now been dispelled. He controlled it.
Of his own free will and apparently even in his right mind, he fought using that power. It accelerated his regeneration, and even after suppressing it—which was incredible in itself—his own Chakra was fully restored. Judging by his heavy breathing and the sweat breaking out on his body, which quickly evaporated, it hardly came without consequences for him; at the very least, such accelerated cell regeneration would definitely shorten his life, if only slightly.
"Kakashi..." Guy whispered. "Did YOU teach him that?"
"You're joking?" he replied. "Even I'm far from that level of irresponsibility." Kakashi looked at the upper balcony where the Hokage stood. The latter also glanced at him for a second, put his pipe in his mouth, took a drag, smiled, and pulled his Kage headdress down over his eyes. It seemed he had expected something like this from Naruto.
Even after all that Chakra had vanished, Sakura couldn't stop her hands from trembling. It felt like if she let go of the railing right now, she'd collapse in a faint. Teacher Kakashi continued watching Naruto, who was already heading for the stairs leading to the balcony after Hayate, no less surprised by the performance, declared him the winner.
Hinata pulled something out of her pouch and ran down to her teammate lying next to his pup.
Only one person decided to mark Naruto's performance with applause—Gaara of the Sand.
The boy with dirty-red hair and what looked like the kanji for "love" carved on the left side of his forehead clapped for Naruto, who just turned around in surprise, looking at him. They didn't say a word to each other, but the guy's mood clearly improved. From the start of the prelims, he had either been sleepwalking or showing complete indifference to what was happening. Only during Sasuke's performance did his expression change a bit, and he smirked restrainedly when he saw the Sharingan in the Uchiha's eyes, but that was it.
No match had made Gaara even flinch. He stood with an unchanging expression and indifferent gaze as if he had long since used the substitution technique and now there was just a statue before them.
And now, when all that Chakra had surged out of the guy, he first looked surprised, then broke into a smile. Unlike the others, he didn't cover his face with his hands; instead, he stepped forward to the railing to get a better look.
"Gaara, you..." Temari began, but immediately faltered, knowing how he might react to stupid questions. Kankuro watched him with a nervously twitching eyebrow.
"Now I understand what you saw in him, Temari," Gaara said without even looking at his sister.
"No, I had no idea he..."
"Deny that you took a liking to that kid?" Gaara asked, glaring at her with his light-green eyes without turning his head.
"Uh..." Temari began.
"In any case..." He looked away. "If it's mutual, you should ask him about the source of that power."
"Gaara, you..."
"He spilled everything to her already!" Kankuro objected. "Did you even see that brat's eyes?! He's scarier than you!"
"Yeah?" Gaara said questioningly, now looking Kankuro in the eyes. Under his gaze, the puppeteer backed up slightly and swallowed. "You're clearly overestimating him. Temari caught his eye from the start, and if you give him a shred of hope, he might blab something extra."
"What hope?!" Temari huffed. "Don't take me for a complete fool; he's still our enemy."
"Right, Temari," Baki interjected. "If you can't beat the enemy with strength..." He said this while looking at her, then shifting his gaze to Naruto climbing the stairs. "Deceive him. You don't need to talk again about what kind of hopes boys need, do you?"
Temari turned away sharply, shooting her teacher a sidelong glare. Baki had never been known for tact.
"Uzumaki Naruto..." she whispered. "Interesting kid..."
***
For a few seconds, staring into the clapping Gaara's eyes, I wondered if I should say something, but in the end decided just to turn around and head for the stairs.
Right now, if I opened my mouth, I could only ruin the impression.
Better to leave like a gentleman.
Hinata nearly knocked me over on the stairs in her rush to Kiba. Or was my vision already swimming and I didn't notice her? I turned to see if she had turned around... She had, and our eyes met. There was fear and surprise in hers. But mostly fear. After descending, she ran after the medics.
Kiba was still conscious but could barely climb onto the stretcher himself. She picked up Akamaru, who was also conscious, but blood was flowing from his nose and ears, and the pup could only whimper pitifully. Placing Akamaru on his chest, she handed him some ointment and said,
"Kiba, here... This will help heal the wounds."
"Heh..." He exhaled, turning his head to her. "Don't worry about me." He noticeably raised his voice. His hearing was probably seriously impaired right now, and his head felt like the worst hangover. "I didn't get it that bad. Hinata..." He switched to a whisper, and the medics carrying the stretcher paused in the doorway for a minute. "If you draw that redhead or Neji, forfeit. Don't risk it. You don't need Chunin rank that badly to risk it like that. Those two will kill you." Suddenly, the scoreboard lit up and spat out the next pair in a couple seconds.
"Hinata Hyuga VS Neji Hyuga"
I had just approached Kakashi and Sakura, who had sharply pulled away from me. Shikamaru was boring holes into me with his gaze, his head seemingly forever turned left.
Kakashi handed me my sword and congratulated me on the win, pulling his headband back over his left eye.
Hinata walked to the starting position like to the scaffold, while Neji jumped down from the balcony and walked out under Guy's stern gaze, who whispered something to him that made the Hyuga just frown.
"Hello, brother," she said softly, nodding in a bow. Neji began his moral pressure, while Kakashi, Guy, and Lee patiently explained to Sakura and the joining Choji the essence of the Hyuga fighting style. Was I the only one from my class who bothered to read up on it extra in the Academy library? General info isn't classified. Specifics on acupuncture, Chakra points, that's another matter... Techniques and some Byakugan features really aren't for mere mortals, but damn. Sometimes I marvel at their ignorance. The smartest of them all was Lee.
All I could do was listen to Neji and endure Shikamaru's stare. I decided to take the moment to step aside. Shikamaru finally mustered the courage to follow me.
"You understand..." Neji droned on. "Deep down, you feel you're unworthy to be a ninja." Hinata flinched at each end of his phrases. "For a weak and timid girl like you, it's perfectly natural. You should just accept it and stop trying to argue with fate. Hinata, accept that you can't beat me and forfeit. A girl who came to the exam just for her teammates will never become a Chunin."
"That's... not true... Brother Neji, don't say that..." She tried to shout at him. It didn't come out well.
"Yeah? Then why are your hands at your mouth and your gaze trembling? Hinata, I see right through you with my own eyes. "Byakugan!"" He shouted at the end, and the veins on his face around his eyes bulged, his silver eyes changing as pupil outlines appeared in them. "Not a single gesture or tremble will escape my gaze!" Hinata began trembling openly, tears welling in her eyes. Stepping aside, I noticed Lee clenching his fists watching the scene. He hated seeing such pressure on a girl, but at the same time Neji was his teammate, and he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't openly go against him. Certainly not in this situation. "Forfeit, Hinata. I'm giving you one last chance. Forfeit and accept the inevitable, stop fighting fate, and accept it like I accepted being from the branch family while you're the clan princess. If you decide to fight, know there'll be no mercy!"
Shikamaru walked after me and just stood next to me, leaning on the railing, looking now at Neji pressuring Hinata, now at me, not daring to ask about what I'd pulled off in my fight.
"Ha... Is he really ready to finish off his sister?" Shikamaru started with the current fight.
"Looks like it..." I replied, exhaling. "Their relationship is anything but sibling-like; more hostile. Does it bother you?"
"Not really..." He shrugged. "Hinata just looks pathetic."
I agreed with him and perfectly remembered how the original Naruto had inspired her to fight to the end, but it ended with her getting beaten half to death. In my world, I'd seen plenty of violence against women and girls. Watching this scene now was no less disgusting to me than to Lee, and even more so than to Shikamaru. However, fighting back in this situation wasn't the way. I'd seen cases where women successfully fought back, as well as failed attempts, and it never ended well. She could never prove anything to Neji, but anger him and get twice as much—sure.
Should I inspire her to fight too? When this girl means nothing to me and I don't really care how right or wrong Neji is here. Can I take responsibility, even indirect, for Hinata getting beaten to the hospital, nearly killed? Closing my eyes, I pondered all these questions.
Definitely no.
Not my business to meddle in their family squabbles.
Two fight, third gets fucked.
Maybe I look like an asshole standing and watching a weak girl get humiliated by another asshole like Neji, but better that way. Of these two evils, I choose non-interference.
Hinata squeezed her eyes shut, and Neji continued, already assuming a fighting stance and turning to Hayate to say...
"Examiner, I'm going to attack if she doesn't forfeit. Stop me, or her injuries and death will be on your conscience. I've done all I can. I don't care if she doesn't defend herself!" Hayate just clicked his tongue. Dick... He managed to drag even Hayate into it.
"B-brother... Neji..." She naturally heard it and, covering herself with her hands, began backing away.
"Hyuga Hinata," Hayate addressed her. "Should I take this as a forfeit? Or do you accept the fight?" "I... I don't..." She began, and her darting gaze stopped on me. Like on the stairs then, our eyes met, and now there was desperation and a plea for help. Clenching my fists, I closed my eyes and inhaled as much air as possible.
"I'm not standing here forever!" Neji's patience snapped, and he charged at her, circling to her right side.
"Kurama, help a little... Just a bit." I said inwardly and gathered all the Chakra I could release at once for the instant movement technique.
Normally, a dash is possible only at a distance roughly equal to or slightly exceeding a Kyu. If I can release Chakra for a maximum of twenty meters right now without the Fox's help, I can "jump" about 25 meters at best... The distance now was about 30-35 meters not counting height, plus another five meters from above. Using Kurama's power, I wanted to set a personal record in instant movement and reach the level of a weak Jonin, or strong Chunin, depending on how you look...
Hayate had already jerked toward Neji, who shot past him like an arrow and thrust his palm forward, preparing to strike Hinata, when suddenly at the moment of his strike, Hinata was on the ground a meter from him, and I, stepping between them, grabbed his arm and deflected his blow upward and aside, exhaling noisily.
Fuuuh...
Looks like it worked, but don't ask me to repeat. Cold sweat broke out again from the dash, and I barely held back from standing there panting with my tongue out like a dog.
"I-interference in favor of Hyuga Hinata!" Hayate announced. "Winner—Hyuga Neji!"
"You?!" He fumed. I just gripped his arm tighter and with effort lowered it. "Tch... Why? It's not your business!" He shouted in my face.
"Sorry, but I'm not just gonna watch some weakling assert himself at a girl's expense."
"You..." He began swinging his free hand, sharply yanking his right arm from the hold.
"Naruto, Neji! Stand down!" Hayate shouted, and suddenly Kakashi and Guy were on the arena too, having performed instant movement, but without even straining. Dodging his strike, I felt Kakashi's hand grab my shoulder, while Guy stepped between me and Neji right after.
"Fights outside matches are strictly forbidden," Kakashi said. "Want to get disqualified from the exam?"
"I wasn't fighting, Teacher," I replied. Hinata slowly got to her feet, looking around and realizing she'd lost without even fighting.
"Next time, just say you forfeit if you don't want to fight your brother," Hayate told her. "Everyone, please leave the arena."
"What the hell, Sensei?!" Neji shouted in Guy's face.
"You won. Shut up and come up before I personally disqualify you." Neji glared venomously at Guy, but seemed to understand the "shut up" order correctly. And Guy didn't look like he was joking. He was probably not pleased with his student's behavior.
In complete silence, we went back up. I stayed next to Shikamaru, and Team Kurenai ended up closest to us. Hinata stared at me for a while longer, but I didn't want to say anything to her. Partly, I thought Neji was right. Why the hell did she stay a ninja? With her personality, she should sell flowers, not kill people. Like Ino, who still hadn't returned, while Asuma had come back without her.
While Lee and Guy noisily argued whether to fight now or in the final, Hinata finally mustered the courage and, handing me a small "pill" of ointment, said,
"Naruto, thank you so much, here..." And blushing, she bowed low. "This will help heal wounds..."
"No need, mine heal anyway like on..." I wanted to say "a dog," but then wondered if the Fox was canine family, and while I thought, the saying lost relevance, and I looked like an idiot. "Anyway, super fast..."
"Yeah, we noticed," Shikamaru snarked.
"Naruto, it's her sincere thanks. Just take it," Kurenai insisted, leaning over my right shoulder in a whisper.
"Well, if you don't need it, I'll take it, thanks," I said quickly and took the ointment. Seemed I got out of it... Now at least she wasn't looking at me with puppy eyes.
"Rock Lee VS Gaara of the Sand"—the scoreboard spat out with its characteristic sound.
Cringe radiated from two sources in all directions like a tight stream of joy.
I had just thought to warn Lee and somehow help him avoid serious injury, already turning toward him while he and Guy shouted cringy chants that he was even noting in his notebook... A girlish voice called from behind.
"Naruto..." I turned and saw the Sand princess walking toward us and Shikamaru, looking straight at me with a playful smile. "I remembered right, you're Naruto?" No, wrong, and I'm no Naruto at all. I wanted to say for some reason, but held back.
"Uh... Yeah. Temari, right?" I said, smiling, and she nodded. "What, bored standing with the human-statue and the painted freak?" I started with a joke.
"Hey, those are still my brothers!" She raised her voice, but the smile didn't leave her face.
"You can't pick family..." I shrugged. "Come join us. Way more fun here."
"Hm..." She smiled and walked ahead. I even zoned out a bit staring at her long legs in those fishnet stockings. At 15, she was already quite something...
Whoa! Fuck! Calm down... I'm in sweatpants right now. God forbid an unexpected accident...
"You're funny..." she noted. "A strong and brave shinobi with a good sense of humor—rare." She praised me.
"A strong and beautiful kunoichi is an even bigger rarity. Usually it's either beauty or strength, but you're a pleasant exception." I replied compliment for compliment. She was slightly surprised by the answer and even blushed a bit.
"Whoa..." Shikamaru muttered to himself. "Since when did you learn to charm girls like that?"
"Shut up," I whispered back.
He was like the devil on my shoulder on the right, her on the left. She probably heard his mutter, but pretended not. Smart too... Sakura would've reacted for sure.
Gaara moved to the arena right away, even a moment before the scoreboard showed his name.
Lee only now decided to jump down, doing a somersault.
"That muscular guy's in trouble," she said, looking at the enthusiastic Lee. "Gaara's no match for him. And in general... No Genin has been born who could hurt my brother."
"I wouldn't say that..." I replied.
"Confident, Naruto, but I'm telling the truth."
"And I'm not talking about myself..." I said, and her eyebrows shot up. I really didn't know if I could break Gaara's defense. "Don't judge Lee by first impressions. That kid's way stronger than me."
"Huh?" Temari blinked in surprise.
"What?!" Shikamaru burst out unrestrainedly. "Him? After all you pulled off, you're saying that?!"
"I'm telling the truth. If Lee doesn't hold back, in strength and speed he'll outdo me many times over. I think at his limit he's about Teacher Kakashi's level now, though the latter would probably win due to experience."
"That guy..." She looked surprised at Lee assuming his stance and smiling.
"Ready? Fight!" Hayate announced.
***
Lee started with a sharp dash straight at the opponent.
Gaara stood calmly, arms crossed over his chest.
Lee's quick spinning kick to the chest... Missed. Something—or rather sand—quickly gathered right before the strike, stopping the leg centimeters from Gaara, completely nullifying the strike's energy.
The sand's speed was incredible, and more sand was silently creeping under Lee's other foot. Noticing it, he used instant movement half a second before being flipped onto his back. Gaara didn't stop; with a characteristic pop, the cork from his gourd flew out, ricocheted off the sand, and shot at Lee's face. His reflexes were enough to catch the "projectile" without issue.
"Come on..." Gaara said. "Entertain me more."
Without thinking long, Lee continued flashy attack attempts, dodging Gaara's sand counter from the gourd. The sand flew very fast, but Lee was faster, and closing to striking distance, he used Leaf Whirlwind, but that strike too hit an emerging sand barrier out of nowhere. Lee didn't stop and jerked his body sharply backward at the same speed, reusing "Whirlwind." For context, even simple use of this move requires instant movement at body spin-up and sharp stop at strike.
Instant movement technique—this is gathering and releasing a large amount of Chakra to cheat physics for a second or two, reducing your body weight by about 10-20 times. Hence the speed. Using it even once is tough. There's natural "recoil" after releasing that much Chakra into the muscles. Not to mention muscle strain, sudden acceleration/deceleration on reflexes. Your brain won't thank you either; it'll try inducing vomit reflex, like my first five times.
Imagine how much and how Lee trained to use instant movement without recoil multiple times in a row (Jonin territory already) and its modified version as "Whirlwind." And don't get me started on using Whirlwind twice in opposite directions without hitting the ground.
Damage from such an attack if landed could win, but the effort to train that skill is justified only in one case...
If you can't use Ninjutsu.
Gaara's sand counter forced Lee to retreat hastily, pulling off gymnastics miracles. He had to fend off, slicing with kunai waves of suddenly accelerating sand.
Gaara looked slightly irritated and began attacking much faster. All Lee's breakthrough attempts met sand tentacles whipping back like lashes. Only thanks to his incredible speed had he not been tagged by sand yet.
Lee circled the enemy and tried attacking from behind, but sand had no blind spots. It kept protecting Gaara with the same efficiency and counterattacked, forcing Lee to retreat again. This time jumping onto the fingers of the stone hands in seal.
"That kid's very fast. His Taijutsu is impressive, but if that's all, he'll never touch Gaara," Temari said.
"Just watch..." I said, listening as Guy allowed Lee to remove his weights.
"Huh, weights? Come on... What's the point of weighing yourself down in a fight?! But even if he gets a bit faster..." She was saying, and at that moment he dropped them to the ground from about five meters up. "That won't hel..."
Two loud explosions rang out from the massive weights hitting the ground.
"WHAT?!" Everyone except me shouted simultaneously. Funny moment; I nearly burst out laughing at their faces.
Lee literally vanished. The instant the weights hit the ground.
He was next to Gaara in a second, landing several strikes from different sides like testing his sand's reaction, which couldn't keep up.
Even Gaara started whipping his head around trying to catch the elusive green beast with his eyes.
Lee was saying something, flashing next to him and deliberately slowing so he could see, then vanishing the moment the opponent launched sand at him.
And they say I go all out...
Suddenly Gaara's defense was hit on flanks and front almost simultaneously, then he took a direct punch to the face that cracked it literally, and the Sand prince flew three meters, plowing another meter along the ground.
"No way..." Temari exclaimed. "They hit Gaara?!"
"Heh-heh-heh... Told ya," I said meaningfully, raising a finger.
"But how?!" Temari marveled, and Shikamaru competed in "make a more surprised face." My time to show off. "How the hell is that possible? You were overflowing with that insane Chakra, and where does this guy get such power?!"
"That's not all his power. Lee's a unique case. He can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, and his Kyu is practically zero normally. But he still has Chakra. All the effort shinobi spend years perfecting Ninjutsu, learning new techniques, Chakra control, and so on—he put into physical body training and only that. Plus, in that sense, he's a genius like none born in this world."
"Exactly right, Naruto!" Guy chimed in and supported me. "When he realized he was born unable to use techniques, he set that insane goal—to prove that with Taijutsu alone he could become a top-class shinobi. Long before meeting me, he trained his body and will to exhaustion. After becoming my student, I just directed his efforts and fine-tuned the results he'd already achieved. In just a year under my guidance, from an Academy grad with a 'conditional pass' (C-minus), Lee became a fully specialized Jonin-level shinobi."
"Jonin?!" Temari and Shikamaru blurted in surprise. "That's not real..." Shikamaru added. "Jonin level isn't something you reach with just Taijutsu. No matter how fast or strong. Without techniques, plain Taijutsu... At Jonin level—one mistake and he's done!"
"Right, but Taijutsu isn't just plain. This specialty has its own techniques. And Lee hasn't shown all his power yet."
"Teacher Guy..." I addressed him. "Forgive me, but I know ALL of Lee's techniques." I emphasized the word. "If he has to go all out, stop the fight. They'll disqualify me for a second interference for sure, but if you do it..." Guy looked me in the eyes, slightly surprised, but as usual just smiled, gave a thumbs-up, and said, "I don't think it'll come to that, Naruto. Even if it does... Lee will definitely win! No doubt!"
Fuck! Stubborn bastard! Can't just tell him, sorry, but your favorite student risks becoming disabled. He wouldn't believe my future vision anyway. Well, I did what I could... We'll see. Maybe Guy intervenes sooner and Lee doesn't take such massive damage. So far, the fight followed canon...
Gaara got to his feet, his face literally crumbling to pieces, sand pouring from his head.
"That's still not enough..." Temari said. "Gaara's absolute defense second level—sand armor."
Gaara recovered and, under Lee's surprised gaze, covered himself in sand and seemed to even reinforce the shroud. Madness flashed in his eyes for a second, and he grinned all 32 teeth. Then he stood again, arms crossed, focused on the opponent.
The sand sped up and worked better on anticipation, not chasing Lee but trying to catch him. However, he gave Lee too much time to concentrate Chakra. Partially unwrapping his hands, Lee tensed and assumed a stance, opening the first inner gates and vanishing from everyone's sight watching the fight.
"Huh?!" Even from Kakashi, who had already pulled out his Sharingan from under the headband.
Circling Gaara for acceleration, he didn't stop until reaching the speed I had circled Kiba at, raising a whirlwind with my dashes. But I don't need to open gates. Kurama doesn't spare my body even without them; I just get regeneration bonus, and such overloads are relatively safe, though I'm still shaken pretty bad, but it can't compare to what Lee endures.
Strike!
Gaara flies upward.
Strike! Strike! Strike!
Lee keeps accelerating the opponent's ascent while flying himself only by pushing off the ground with one hand.
Unlike Guy, I didn't look away for a second and noticed a sand clump fall from the cracked gourd and quickly land, disguising itself with transformation technique.
Lee did "Lotus" on a dummy. I wouldn't have noticed either without knowing exactly what to expect. Gaara ain't dumb; in standard shinobi practices, he'd outdo most Genin. Underestimating him for using only sand is deadly stupidity.
Now Gaara openly toyed with the weakened Lee, who couldn't return to previous speed, barely moving.
Lee dodging about half the attacks was a miracle.
That's the price of this power.
Watching this fight in reality, not on a monitor screen, I stood clenching my fists, mentally thanking god he didn't drop me into that kid's body. My willpower never could've handled it. From here, the spectacle was less thrilling than horrifying.
Soon Lee recovered some strength and even under constant pressure dodged from under the sand coffin literally a second before capture, opening the second gates.
He returned to previous speed and strength levels, able to attack again.
I looked at Guy; feeling my gaze, he turned, met my eyes, and gave a strained smile, saying nothing.
After several attacks on the opponent, Lee realized the sand armor had gotten tougher. Gaara had spent a lot of Chakra forming it after the forced shed.
Lee decided to use all his power.
He assumed a stance and began pumping his muscles with Chakra.
Meanwhile, Guy answered Kakashi's question about the gates technique and caught some judgment.
Third gates—Lee's face turns tomato red, and Chakra overflows the air around, spreading dozens of meters involuntarily.
Fourth gates—Lee's muscles hypertrophy, his outfit crackles audibly. He's openly screaming to the hall, unable to resist the pain, Chakra forming a greenish glow around him.
With that, he broke the sound barrier, if only slightly. Launching his body into flight, he ricocheted off the walls at incredible speed.
We spectators hadn't even seen him, only heard the claps from impacts against the walls and felt the entire unstoppable volume of chakra that had already exceeded what I'd released not long ago. As soon as he started orienting himself in space, it was Gaara's turn to get his ass kicked.
He didn't take it for long, but it was quality—about five seconds, though I'm sure it felt like eternity to him. As far as I remember, right before the final blow, Lee opens the fifth gate, but we won't see that.
The result of this attack didn't keep us waiting.
An awesome explosion from Gaara's body slamming into the ground kicked up a cloud of dust, while Lee was thrown back a couple dozen meters, tumbling across the floor like a sausage, unable to even tuck and roll.
Even in Temari's eyes, I saw a hint of fear for her little brother's life. No matter how they got along, family ties apparently weren't canceled.
The dust cloud gradually settled, and we saw that Gaara hadn't just survived—he'd even avoided part of the damage by gathering enough sand beneath him and turning his vessel into it, using it as a safety cushion. Lying there, he turned his head toward Lee and extended a cracked, trembling hand in his direction. A small volume of sand slowly crept toward Lee, and I glanced at Gai, who seemed shocked by what he'd seen.
I'd already decided to hell with it all and put my foot on the railing to jump, but Gai's hand appeared in front of my face, and Temari grabbed my shoulder.
"Naruto... Lee hasn't given up yet," Gai said, watching as Lee futilely tried to get to his feet and flee but kept falling, losing balance from the incredible overload on his body.
"Naruto! No!" Temari clenched her fist tightly on my tracksuit. "You'll just expose yourself to an attack..." she said, looking at me with a frightened expression.
In the end result of Lee's final lunge a few steps, the sand couldn't wrap around his torso, only grabbing his arm and leg.
"Sand Coffin!" Gaara rasped, clenching his fist.
A soul-rending scream of pain echoed through the hall. But he didn't give up.
Fuck me, why are you all so goddamn crazy?! Lee, Haku—two lunatics who don't understand the meaning of the word "enough"!
Gaara started to rise, and a much larger volume of sand nearly engulfed Lee completely when Gai finally snapped and flew in to cover his student.
The sad but canonical outcome repeated itself completely. Lee would be crippled, and only Tsunade could save him, but whether she'd even show up in Konoha was a big question.
Temari, Shikamaru, and I silently watched as they carried out Lee's body.
"Ha!" came from Neji, who was standing against the wall with his arms crossed while Gai escorted the medics.
"No matter how the wingless try...
To leap from various heights.
The unworthy, born as such,
Aren't fated to sully the sky.
Unnoticed by them, try as they might,
Others flying can't comprehend.
How did it happen, what's the deal...
Worms can't fly?"
Of course, in Japanese, his poem sounded different, but unconsciously translating the meaning into my native language in my head, I heard roughly those lines.
To say it pissed me off would be an understatement.
Who the hell is he calling worms?! Lee?! Hinata?! Is he the one planning to fly around here?!
Asshole!
From the rage, I felt a surge of Kurama's power and my field of vision expanding.
"Bad news, hey sand girl, help!" Shikamaru shouted, seeing my gaze, and a second before I lunged at Neji and tore him to shreds, he wrapped around my torso while Kurenai started saying something to him—and judging by everything, it wasn't praise for the pretty poem, but I didn't care anymore.
"You fucking faggot! I'll slit your throat right now!" I yelled for all to hear. Temari correctly read Shikamaru, and together they held me. She tried to pin my arms, and sensing trouble, Kakashi showed up, glaring at me with his Sharingan, and it was like I was frozen.
My body went limp, and they laid me against the wall. I could still see and hear everything, but it was freezing cold. That state lasted while they all yelled at Neji in unison, chasing him to the far end of the balcony.
When I could move again, Kurama's chakra receded, and I snapped out of Kakashi's genjutsu like waking up hungover.
***
After that came Dosu's fight against Choji, which was supposed to entertain me, as was Temari's company. But after apologizing to Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Temari for my unworthy behavior, I stood there thinking about how I'd failed again to protect a good guy named Lee and let him go through that hell. Now I was definitely obligated to drag Tsunade here to fix my mistakes, but there was something even more important...
Dosu easily beat the fatty by shoving his fist between the folds of fat and activating his gauntlet while Choji couldn't escape the wall he'd pierced himself in ball form.
He really turned into a ball by inflating his body with chakra. Just thinking about how that shit worked made me feel sick... Only worse was with Shino and his bugs.
Ten minutes later, all ten winners—including Sakura—lined up in front of the senile old geezer in the Hokage hat. Everyone was there except Sasuke. Kakashi had drawn his number, which was weird, but who gives a shit?
Everything stayed the same here, but with a twist...
Me against Neji.
Sasuke against Gaara.
Kankuro against Shino.
Sakura against Temari.
Shikamaru against Dosu.
The old man explained the conditions of the third exam stage and announced that the tournament would be in a month. After that, under jonin escort, they led us all out of the tower back to the village.
A month off that I planned to devote to training—nice.
However, I shouldn't forget what I'd read in my notebook right after getting home. The third stage wouldn't be a normal tournament...
The third stage awaited war...
I settled in to read the "diary" once I was sure the housework was fully conquered. I took the sword to the workshop for hilt repair. Threw out the ripped tracksuit, washed and hung the essentials. Cleaned the house and ate, eyed a new jacket—buy it tomorrow, since I didn't have enough cash today. Get the tailor to fix it up too. Thanks, Orochimaru—my jacket was destroyed back in the forest.
Also bought two new undershirts and a T-shirt.
I finished all that around eight in the evening, though we left the tower around four, five at latest.
My reading and brainstorming were interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Uh..." I said, seeing who it was. "Feels like I've seen this somewhere before..." I added instead of a greeting.
"Sorry to bother you so late, Naruto..." she said shyly. "Can I come in?"
"Well, come in since you're here, Sakura..."
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: patreon.com/Granulan