Chapter 32: Secret Power of the Eagle Staff
"What is that," said Lee shakily. He had already taken several steps back from my sand giant.
"My Sand Giant, I use my sand to make a large human-like figure. It's pretty cool," I said smugly. Using the sand giant, I lunged forward and punched where Lee stood. He easily dodged but the floor crumbled under the force. I'd need something more destructive in order to complete my plan. I glanced around, finding the giant hand statue making the Ram hand sign as my target. I slowly walked over there while Lee watched from afar. I punched the base of one of the fingers with my sand giant's hand. It crumbled and fell sideways to the ground. I then picked it up with both of the sand giant's hands, handling it like a club. I turned around and grinned maliciously, making Lee flinch before he regained composure.
"Even if my enemy is ten times my size, I will not give up," he vowed before zooming toward me. I didn't even try to aim with the club, I just slammed it into the ground. The ground cracked and pieces of it shot up into the air, forcing Lee to dodge. I kept during this over and over again, the ground around me becoming completely destroyed. Lee couldn't seem to get close enough, he was having a hard time moving through the rubble.
"Come on, I'm getting bored again," I complained to him. Maybe I should just let him use Primary Lotus on me to begin opening the Eight Gates. It would be interesting to fight him like that but at the same time, I would be outmatched. The Eight Gates technique wasn't something to take lightly, the Gaara from the anime had almost lost to it. Looking around, I was happy with the new terrain I had made inside the arena. Dust hung in the air and jagged pieces of the stone floor jutted at random angles everywhere. This should be good enough for what I was planning. Lee wouldn't be able to move around very well in this unstable environment and the rubble would work perfectly with the Jutsu I had in mind. I allowed the sand giant to collapse back down to a pile of sand. I had never intended to use it to take down an opponent such as Lee, though it had been fun trying to.
"I think it's time we got serious isn't it Lee? You better prepare yourself," I warned him. I began to weave hand signs, suddenly hearing a shifting of rubble as I neared completion of the Jutsu. I threw up a shell of iron sand, long before Lee could reach me. My sand shield only activated when danger came within a certain radius of me. That didn't mean I couldn't keep a constant shell around me to counter Lee's speed right now. Though I wasn't sure how long such a shield would hold up against him, he was quite relentless. Thankfully that wouldn't matter now that my Jutsu was complete.
"Sand Cyclone," I muttered inside my dark shell. I couldn't see outside of my shell so I obviously didn't know the results of my Jutsu just yet. The pounding on my shell ceased after a few moments, signaling my Sand Cyclone Jutsu was picking up speed. I could feel my chakra draining steadily from me as the Jutsu grew in strength as well as size. I felt the wind beating against my shell and heard several random objects bounce off my shell as they flew through the air. Lee and everyone else in the arena would be having one hell of a time outside. Meanwhile, I was completely safe inside my iron sand shell. After another minute, I decided it was time to check on my progress.
"Desert Eye," I mumbled as I covered my left eye. There was a flicker in my vision and suddenly I could see outside. My eye was positioned high above the arena floor, looking down at everyone. It was quite the sight to behold, to be honest. Sand, rubble, and other miscellaneous objects whipped around the room. They crashed and slammed into each other which only created more chaos. The genin and jonin in the stands held on for dear life, while the more experienced ones used chakra in their feet to weigh themselves to the floor. Hayate Gekko looked quite annoyed and amazed at the Sand Cyclone throwing objects at him while trying to tear him off the ground. Poor Rock Lee was getting pummeled by the gusts of wind and debris. It looked like he should be finished by now. I canceled both the Desert Eye and Sand Cyclone Jutsu, making dozens of objects fall to the ground. My shell retracted back to a pile on the ground along with the rest of my sand. It only took a few moments to find Lee laying eagle spread on the ground a few meters away from me. He was bruised and bloodied which was to be expected. I walked over and examined him, he looked to be at his limit. Hayate also was making his way through the rubble to see if Lee was out.
"I think we can call the ma-"
A massive pressure slammed right into my chin, sensing me flying up into the air. I tasted blood in my mouth but I couldn't focus on that for long. Cloth wrap coiled itself around me and I felt someone grab me from behind.
"Primary Lotus," yelled the all too familiar voice of Lee. He must have only been acting like he was out soon I would get close to him. At that short distance, there was nothing my sand shield could do to protect me. I now only had my sand armor to protect me. We started to spin at an alarming rate, plummeting to the ground at a dangerous speed. If I was to hit the ground at this speed, the match would be over. Not even my sand armor could protect me from this attack. Right as we neared the ground, I used Sand Particle Conversion on my whole body. I simply vanished through Lee's grip as he slammed himself head first into the ground. I quickly reformed myself a few yards away from the crater he now laid in limply. Without me there to soften the blow, Lee had basically hit himself with the Primary Lotus. Vanishing through Lee's grip had also thrown off his balance, worsening his injuries. I was amazed he was still even able to stand after all the stuff I had put him through. Lee shockingly managed to pick himself up and stumble out of the crater he had made from the Primary Lotus.
"You're a lot tougher than I thought you were," I admitted to Lee. He cracked a small smile at that but it did last long. Lee was in too much pain, even smiling hurt him.
"Sand Shurikens," I said while dozens of shurikens shot out of my sand. They raced towards Lee, who was making no move to evade them. The Primary Lotus took a big toll on the body, it would take him a minute before he would be able to open the Gate of Life. Right as they neared his body, mere feet from him, he dodged with breathtaking speed. It seemed he had already opened the Second Gate of Healing in his brain. This Gate re-energized the body so it would ignore any exhaustion brought on by using the Eight Gates for a certain period. This meant that next, he would unlock the Gate of Life and the Gate of Pain, which was one short of the highest Gate he could go.
"You've made a mistake allowing me to get this far," said Lee seriously. The air around him began to warp and his hair stood on end. His skin turned red, with veins bulging all over his face and arms. My sand began gathering around me at my command, I needed to prepare for what would come next.
"Gate of Life, open," yelled Lee as a shockwave of energy erupted from him. Sand enveloped me in a thick cocoon, hopefully enough to wait out Lee's Eight Gates.
"Gate of Pain, open," he scream as the energy radiating from him intensified. This was it, I would be facing one of the most powerful techniques ever known. Lee zoomed straight towards me, almost too fast for me to comprehend. My cocoon I had made out of regular sand and iron sand, which had also been hardened with my kekkei genkai, shook to its core as Lee hit it. It held firm as a barrage of kicks and punches slammed into it. My plan was simple, wait out Lee until the Eight Gates took their toll on his body and then claim victory. I wasn't arrogant enough to believe I could beat this with my current Jutsu. Taking any of my sand away from the shield to create a Sand Cyclone would be too risky in this scenario. The Eight Gates couldn't be used for too long otherwise irreversible damage could occur. Lee would tire out after a few more minutes, he wasn't old enough to maintain it for long.
An audible crack dragged me out of my thoughts. Looking around, huge cracks were spreading throughout my cocoon. My eyes widened in panic, I rushed to harden my shell even further but it was pointless. A huge explosion sent me flying back and another force then slammed into my back, throwing me into the air. I was relentlessly pummeled with punches and kicks that felt like mountains crashing down on me. I hurriedly used Sand Particle Conversion, with Lee's next punch blowing my body apart, sand flying everywhere. Now I couldn't see or hear anything, I could only feel the things my sand was touching. Reforming in the corner of the arena, I didn't even get a chance to grasp my surroundings before a punch straight to my gut sent me flying. Slamming into the wall, blood spattered out of my mouth. My ribs definitely cracked and my chest was on fire. Why had that one hurt so much more than the others? My sand armor should have-.
Wait, when using Sand Particle Conversion, I had stripped away my armor. I'd forgotten to re-apply it before converting back to flesh. Which meant I had just taken a completely unguarded hit from Lee, how was I alive? Sand gathered up around me and my sand armor started to wrap back around me but it was futile. Lee's leg slammed into my side which sent me flying for the second time but I never hit the wall this time. He appeared on the other side of me and delivered a crushing blow to me, sending me flying back. Lee repeated this who knows how many times. He finally let me out of that hell, allowing me to slam into a wall. Blood seeped from my mouth, big black and blue bruises coated me, and I didn't have any strength left in me.
"Concede, you have fought well," said Lee as he stood in front of me. I managed to tilt my head up enough to look him in the eyes. He was still radiating power from his body, with his skin red as fire. Then I looked past him and saw the people standing on the balcony. Most looked amazed at Lee's power, except for a handful. Migaki looked very worried, I could tell Kankuro was sweating and Temari didn't look much better. Baki had a grim look on his face, which made me frown. How big of a hypocrite would I be if both my siblings made it to the finals while I got eliminated? I was supposed to lead them and take care of them, I couldn't look weak or defeated.
Then I thought of my father. His blank expressions with eyes of disappointment staring down at me. How many times had I seen those eyes happy? Once? Twice? I couldn't remember a single memory of him smiling at me. All my life I had only been a disappointment to him, something that was a tool for Sunagakure. Maybe if I finally could prove to him that I wasn't a misfortune to Sunagakure, he would smile at me. Kankuro, Temari, Baki, Kohara, Omoda, and even Migaki. I had made promises to them that I would do my best and make them proud. I still had a long way to go before everyone would fully trust me, I couldn't falter now.
I would be Kazekage, one even better than my father. Being surpassed wasn't an option.
"You'll have to kill me if you want to win. I'm not going to quit now," I choked out. Lee flinched, a slight uncertainty in his expression. I took this opening, my sand shooting up in the air.
"Desert Haze," I sputtered as I hurriedly weaved the hand signs. Visibility suddenly went to almost zero, as if I was inside of a sandstorm. I crawled away just in time to hear the wall where I had just been sitting against get demolished by Lee's kick. He must have blindly lashed out, there was no way he could open his eyes in this environment. I could of course use the sand in the air to sense my surroundings, I didn't need to open my eyes. I could feel and hear Rock Lee blindly lashing out and swatting away my Jutsu. It had only been to buy time, it wouldn't last too long. My options weren't abundant though, I was badly injured and my chakra was pretty drained. I had been far too careless with it, I had underestimated Lee. An idea suddenly popped in my head, a foolish one but I didn't have many other options. My hands searched desperately along my sling and in my pockets before I finally found it. I took the scroll out, unwrapping it quickly and summing forth the Eagle Staff. Picking it up, it felt just as smooth and light as when I had last touched it. My Desert Haze suddenly was blown apart by a huge wave of force, probably from Lee.
"Gate of Closing, open," screamed Lee. My eyes widened as I spun around with the staff in my hands. The force of Lee opening the Fifth Gate almost sent me to the ground. I managed to hold firm though, using the Eagle Staff as support. One thought went through my head while standing before Lee.
I am either the bravest or craziest person to ever exist, no sane person would fight Lee with a literal stick. A smile crept into my lips despite that thought. I wouldn't back down, not now, not ever.
"Quit showing off and fight me already," I taunted him with my hoarse voice. I readied my staff in my hands, not sure what to expect other than a beating.
"Very well," roared Lee. He bolted towards me as if he had been shot out of a cannon, almost too fast for me to comprehend. I swung the staff with all my might in a downward arc, aiming straight for his foot that was racing towards me. I pushed my chakra into the Eagle Staff, every last drop and all my energy left inside of my body. Something surprising them happened, something I never would have imagined.
The staff reacted to my chakra, glowing to life and connecting with it. An enormous wave of power washed over me, originating from the Eagle Staff. My agony and exhaustion disappeared as the energy poured over me. What was this strange power? Never before had I felt anything like it, not even when in partial transformation. Time slowed down, Lee suddenly seemed to be going at normal speed. My staff and his leg met with ferocious strength, a massive shock wave blowing back on Lee as well as me. I felt the floor and building shake, with everyone in the stands reacting in slow motion. No, they weren't in slow motion. Lee and I were simply moving so fast that everyone else looked slow. Lee's expression was one of absolute shock but it didn't last long. He let back and then charged forward again. This time he swing his right arm at me. I swung the staff and met him again, another shockwave exploding from the collision of the Eagle Staff and Lee's fist.
This contained for what felt like hours, Lee would attack and I would meet him with the Eagle Staff, causing a shock wave. Part of the ceiling started to fall down and huge cracks formed in the walls of the arena. The rubble around us was sent flying or turned to dust.
"Gaara, what is this energy of yours? Since when did you learn to master nature energy," asked Shukaku. Nature energy? Was that what the power from the Eagle Staff was?
"I haven't, for some reason it's coming out of the staff and into me," I said hurriedly as I fended off another attack from Lee. I felt Shukaku peer through my vision and observe my motions, surprise evident in his actions.
"Was that staff owned by a sage?"
"Yes, the Eagle Sage, what does that have to do with anything?" Shukaku snorted in annoyance at my apparently stupid question.
"The wood that staff is made of is from the ebony trees that grow on Cloudtip Mountain. The wood from those trees is tougher than any metal you'll find and conducts chakra. The sage that wielded this staff last mus have left some nature energy in there," explained Shukaku. It was a little hard to understand all of what he had just said while fighting Lee but I got most of it. If Shukaku was right, then that meant this energy had a limit until it ran out. We had already been fighting for quite some time, maybe around fifteen minutes. Lee and the staff would both be reaching their limit soon.
"Shukaku, lend me a hand so we can finish this," I told him. Without a word spoken, Shukaku's power began to transform my body. My speed almost doubled and my strength went up by half. No longer did I have to stay on the defensive against Lee's speed. I rushed forward and slammed the staff right into Lee's stomach. I heard an audible crack and Lee's face contorted in pain. He went flying back but managed to land on his feet. Lee's body started making snapping and cracking sounds as he charged forward again, blood flowing from his mouth freely. At this rate, Lee was going to kill himself from the exertion on his body. I needed to end this now, for both of us.
"Shukaku, flow all of the strength you can give me into the staff, I'm ending this before we both die," I said to him. My partial transformation receded, the Eagle Staff now glowing brightly in my hands. It was hot to the touch, almost enough to burn me. Lee noticed this and his aura around him flared even brighter than before, the two waves of force colliding between us. The arena was crumbling around us and I could faintly her shouts of concern. Ignoring them, we both charged forward towards the center of the arena.
"Lead Hurricane," shouted Lee, barely loud enough to hear.
"Eagle's Claw," I screamed. I had made that up on the fly, of course, I didn't want to b left out of the cool technique name yelling.
The staff and Lee's foot met, a massive shock wave bugger than any before it exploding from the contact. We both were frozen for a few seconds, his foot resting on the staff and me shakily holding it up. Then it all came crashing down, Lee finally gave and was sent flying back as the staff crashed into his leg, the sound of bones breaking very easy to hear. Lee's eyes bulged before his whole body went like from the pain. His skin returned back to its normal color and his powerful aura disappeared. I quickly eased off the pressure, which probably prevented Lee from any worse injuries. Lee crumbled to the ground, my own aura from the staff dissipating away from me. I glanced around and only saw rubble, dust, and carnage. Chunks of the ceiling were missing, the walls were cracked, and I couldn't see a single person in sight. They must have evacuated or something, the balconies were barren.
"Looks like you drained all of the nature energy that was left behind in that staff. Of course, you can still put your own chairs into it but the results wouldn't be the same," said Shukaku. How did he know so much about this?
"You said the wood that this staff is made of comes from Cloudtip Mountain? What do you know about that place," I asked him curiously. This staff had been owned by the previous Eagle Sage, it was no coincidence that the staff he wielded that was adorned with eagles was from this special mountain.
"Looks like you are quick on the uptake for once, Cloudtip Mountain is home to the giant eagles, wolves, and rams," he said. Rams? Giant eagles?
"What do you mean giant eagles?"
"I'll explain it to you later when I'm less tired," Shukaku said before slipping back into my mind. Great, I had a dozen questions and wouldn't be getting an answer for who knows how long.
"Gaara!"
I turned and found Kankuro and Temari scrambling over the rubble. Baki was behind them along with Hayate and the other Hidden Leaf jonin. I guess they had evacuated, this fight had been too dangerous to get in the middle of without getting hurt. They all quickly made their way over, with Guy rushing to Lee along with some medical ninjas. Temari rushed up to give what I thought was a hug but instead was a punch. My sand shield stopped it thankfully but Temari got her point across.
"What the hell were you trying to do? You tell Kankuro and me to keep our matches short but then you almost bring the building down you hypocrite," shouted Temari. Why did she have to be so mean?
"I didn't have any other option, he was a tough opponent," I argued half-heartedly. My injuries were starting to take their toll on me, not to mention the fatigue.
"Gaara, I've never seen you use power like that before. You're crazy strong," said Kankuro ruefully. It was quite apparent he was jealous even though he shouldn't be. I feebly lifted my arm off the Eagle Staff and lightly placed it on Kankuro's shoulder.
"Trust me Kankuro, is give up this power if it meant I didn't have to feel like this every time I used it," I told him weakly. As if I had cued them, my legs suddenly buckled and I fell to the ground. I went to use the staff to catch myself but it was unnecessary. Baki grabbed my right side along with Kankuro while Temari grabbed my left side.
"Don't worry, we got you," said Kankuro as he hefted me upright. It felt so good to have someone take the weight off my shoulders. Temari simply shook her head as I leaned onto her more.
"What are we going to do with you," said Temari with a sigh. I would have laughed if I had the energy in me to do so. Medical ninjas rushed over with a stretcher, which Kankuro, Baki, and Temari helped me lay on. I craned my neck and saw Lee also getting carried away. Kakashi walked up to Hayate and nudged him lightly. The proctor had been surveying the damage with a look of dread, now spin around and listened to Kakashi whisper something.
"Ah, thank you Kakashi for reminding me. The winner of this match is Gaara," said Hayate with slight embarrassment. I smiled, hopefully I had made everyone proud. Maybe even my father would give me a little respect now. Something caught my eye, a figure clad in white standing on the rubble. It was Hiruzen, smoking his pipe while looking down on me. A chill went down my spine when I looked into his eyes, they were full of sorrow and iciness.
What had I done to deserve such a look? I wouldn't find out it seems, the medical ninjas were now carrying me away at a swift pace. I could only hope the rest of the chunin exams wouldn't be this stressful. Unfortunately, something in my gut told me I was wrong.
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((Hello, it is me again. First off, I apologize for this chapter taking so long. Secondly, I wanted to give you all a heads up that the story will change heavily after the chunin exams, very different from the original Naruto storyline. Lastly, after I finish this chunin exam arc, I will be taking a slight break so I don't burn myself out. Thank you for the support.))
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