Chapter 44: Chapter 43 - Chuunin Exam(14)
Chapter 43 - Chuunin Exam(14)
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Gai moved to the side of Neji to check on his condition, while Kurenai smiled as she said "I didn't expect you to save Hinata. Won't your little girlfriend be jealous?"
Naruto chuckled and replied "Let's just say it's thanks for the medicinal cream. And Haku isn't like that."
Kurenai smirked and pointed behind him "Look over there, she's pouting." and proceeded to tend to Hinata who was unconscious.
"Hm?" Naruto's face went pale as he indeed saw Haku pouting behind that appeared all of the sudden.
Naruto shrugged with a dry laugh "Haha… you know I won't do it because you said so right?"
With a pout, Haku replied "I know it's not your intention but… you're seducing girls…"
Naruto let out a dry laugh "It's not my fault if they fall for me right?"
"Hmp!"
Naruto held her by the arm and smiled "Only time will tell so let's forget about it for now, okay?"
Haku, still pouting, nodded anyway as she held Naruto's hand.
They proceeded to go upstairs.
Hayate announced "Next match. Gaara vs Rock Lee!"
Naruto watched in anticipation as Gaara and Rock Lee were strong in his opinion.
Gaara, surrounded by sand, appeared in the arena.
Naruto whistled and commented "Well that was cool."
Rock Lee simply jumped down from the second floor into the arena.
Rock Lee stood up straight and smirked "To be able to face you this early… I couldn't be happier."
"Pft…"
As Rock Lee reached the stage, Gaara's guard bursted out open with it's cap sending it towards Rock Lee's direction.
Rock Lee caught the cap and said "There's no need to get antsy."
"Now! The 9th Match begins!"
Rock Lee jumped from his position and sent a kick to Gaara's head. "Leaf Whirlwind!"
Thud! Shhhh!
It was blocked by sand coming out of Gaara's gourd.
'Sand?' Gaara thought as the sand tried to surround him and grab him.
"Ugh!" He screamed as he jumped backwards using the sand that blocked him as a stepping stone.
Naruto smiled and said "I always wondered where the sand came from earlier, it looks like it's stored in his gourd."
Rock Lee immediately stabilized his position and attacked from another direction with a punch that was again blocked by sand.
Changing his position he kicked, punched, and repeated.
"Hm… the attacks aren't working…" Naruto put on a face of puzzlement
Kankuro smirked and said "All physical attacks are useless against him. Because regardless of gaara's will… the sand becomes a shield and protects him. That's why up until now, there's never been a single person who's even able to put a scratch on Gaara."
Naruto chuckled "That's because all the opponents he fought were weak. Simple as that."
Kankuro's face twitched but it was indeed correct. Gaara has never fought an opponent that was stronger than him.
Sakura, who was watching from the side, asked "Why is Lee-san only using taijutsu? This close-range combat is tough, he should fight from a distance with ninjutsu."
Gai smiled and replied "It's not that Lee doesn't use ninjutsu but he can't use them."
"?!"
"Lee has almost no skill for ninjutsu or genjutsu."
"Eh? Then how'd he get this far?"
"When I first met Lee, he had nothing. He had no talent at all. So the technique left for Lee as a ninja is taijutsu. There aren't many ninjas who can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu."
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Continuous sand hands formed in the ground to try and bind Lee but he dodges and dodges, albeit difficult.
And finally stood atop the statue in the arena looking down on Gaara with a pale face.
Then he heard Gai say "Lee! Take them off!"
"Huh?" Sakura asked
"But Gai-sensei! That's… only for a time when I must protect many precious people, isn't it?!" Lee asked
Gai with a thumbs up replied "It's alright! I'll allow it!"
Happily, Rock Lee laughed atop of the statue as he took something off from his feet that was covered with a cloth.
'Hm? Weights?' Naruto thought
Rock Lee stood up carrying both the weights in each arm saying out loud "Yooosh! Now I can move easier!"
Rock Lee dropped the weights that looked slowly dropped into the ground then…
Boom!
The weights looked like explosive tags as they crashed into the ground with its heavy weight.
"!!!" All the genins looked in disbelief at what they saw.
Naruto commented, "As expected, they weren't ordinary weights."
Gai smiled and nodded in approval
Naruto then continued "I guess his master is a bit stupid."
"Hm? What do you mean by that?" Gai was a bit offended.
"Oops you're his master?"
"That's right. What were you talking about being stupid?"
"You heard me, I meant you. Why would you let him wear that during a life and death situation like the Chuunin exams."
Gai explained "The strength from him relieving his weights can only be used to protect not harm."
"Yup, that's what I'm talking about. If it was used to protect, the more reason he should remove it before battle. What can he do but stand still as he sees the person he was supposed to protect about to be stabbed and he couldn't move that fast to save him or her?"
"That…" Gai sweated a bit and Kakashi nodded in approval. Training was good and all but he has to consider the time and place.
Rock Lee directly disappeared from the top of the statue that greatly startled everyone watching.
Rock Lee suddenly appeared from the side of Gaara delivering a punch through the face. Gaara looked in his direction and saw sand covering him but was penetrated a bit.
Rock Lee again disappeared and appeared from his back. Delivering another punch. Boom! Swish!
Boom! Swish! Boom! Swish!
Rock Lee's punch and kicks had effect as the sands could barely keep up with his speed as he disappeared from place to place looking like he teleported.
Naruto smiled and said "Lee could have done that from the beginning. He already had a handicap of only being able to perform ninjutsu on top of that. Do you place another restriction? You trying to kill him during battle?"
Gai thought hard as he could have indeed endangered his student if he encountered a strong opponent. He was thinking, thinking, and thinking that Naruto was indeed right.
Suddenly Kakashi patted him on the shoulder to not worry "Naruto is a bit blunt and harsh in his words with the cruel truth but don't mind it much Gai. You can just do it next time and do it like Naruto just said."
Gai looked at him "Kakashi…" and nodded. He doesn't want his student to die.
Boom! Rock Lee finally delivered a flip kick into Gaara's head. That caught the attention of everyone.
With Gaara still absorbing the damage from the kick. He appeared behind him and Gaara tried to look at him but he was faced with a punch through the face.
Bam!
He was sent flying by Rock Lee's punch.
Shh… shh…. Sh…
Gaara was flying away like a wet rag dancing on the ground until his sand caught him.
Gaara's face cracked and smiled like a maniac in Rock Lee's direction.
This sent goosebumps through Rock Lee's skin and thought 'An armor made out of sand?'
Rock Lee didn't hold back anymore and freed the bandage in his hands.
"Hurry up and come!" Gaara taunted
Rock Lee answered his wish and appeared below him. Boom!
He was answered by a kick in his chin sending him up the air. But it wasn't enough so Rock Lee kicked him again and again
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Rock Lee's kicks were like explosions exploding in gaara's body.
Until he was finally up in the air.
Rock Lee appeared behind Gaara and slowly wrapped Gaara in his bandage.
Ignoring the damage from the sand attacks, Rock Lee grabbed Gaara's body wrapped in bandages and rotated in an incredible speed towards the ground
'Lotus!'
Bam! Crash!
The ground exploded and generated a lot of smoke as if a meteor hit the ground.
Rock Lee jumped away to lessen the damage taken as the 'lotus' taijutsu was a double edged sword "huff… huff…"
As soon as the smoke dispersed the looked at Gaara's body that hit the ground only to find an empty body made out of sound in the crater.
Rock Lee had a look of disbelief as he heard a creepy voice laugh behind him "Hehe…"
Rock Lee looked behind him to see
Swish!
A huge amount of sound trying to devour him. Rock Lee tried to jump but his feet was damaged 'Ugh'
The sands transformed into spikes piercing Rock Lee "Arghhhhhhh!" He screamed in pain.
Crash!
Rock Lee was sent flying to the wall. His eyes filled with fatigue saw an incoming sand. He could only block with his arms to reduce the damage.
He tried to change his talentless status and this happened but then he remembered Gai say "For those who don't believe in themselves, hard work is useless."
He then opened his eyes wide and thought 'Thank you, Gai-sensei." as he dodged the incoming sand and stood straight with a smile.
Gai smiled and said "The Lotus of the leaf blooms twice."
Kakashi heard that and said "No way… Gai! You…"
"That's right."
"You taught him the eight gates?"
"Yeah… He will open them…"
Kakashi sighed and said "I have no interest in making you tell me that kid means to you and your reasoning, but there are limits. I've lost respect for you. Gai."
Gai stared at him and said solemnly "What would you know? About that boy?"
Kakashi sweated and saw the similarities between Gai and Rock Lee. It comes from more than the appearance, they had the same mindset."
Gai smiled and continued "That kid has a a precious thing that he would give up his life to prove. So I wanted to turn him into a man that could accomplish it. That's all…"
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(A/N: Been writing original stories for awhile and have an endless draft but not making any progress so I'll focus on this first. Leave a power stone if you like the story. Thanks.)
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