A Man of No More Than This

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What kind of speed was Rock Lee's? Even though Sasuke had only done one mission with Rock Lee, the impression had remained deeply etched in his mind.

This person's taijutsu was terrifying.

His Three Tomoe Sharingan had long since activated. Sasuke's dynamic vision, far beyond that of an ordinary person, caught Rock Lee charging toward him, but...

"Too fast!"

Sasuke had no time to dodge calmly and could only raise his arms to block.

Bang! An arm wrapped in white bandages collided with an arm covered by a white guard, producing a dull thud.

Rock Lee stared fixedly at Sasuke's... chin, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

After the Land of Waves mission, he had asked Might Guy for advice on how to deal with the Sharingan.

Don't look into their eyes. Rely only on observing the movements of the body below their head to decide how to act and respond!

It was difficult, but Rock Lee had learned to adapt.

Thoughts flashed through Rock Lee's mind, but his movements did not slow... His relentless taijutsu assault crashed down upon Sasuke like raging waves!

Bang bang bang bang bang...

His fists and kicks became afterimages, engulfing Sasuke in a storm of blows!

Sweat beaded on Sasuke's forehead as he desperately blocked and dodged.

"Sure enough, I absolutely can't get caught up in close combat with this guy!"

Though Sasuke in this state could clearly catch Rock Lee's attacks with his Sharingan, his body could not keep up with his eyes, much less Rock Lee's fists and kicks... He was only barely holding on.

An opening!

Sasuke's eyes flashed. Seizing a gap, he risked injury and threw a powerful punch at Rock Lee's face. Yet in this regard, Rock Lee was even more ruthless than Sasuke, directly relying on the toughness he had built from years of taking beatings to trade punches with him!

Bang bang!

Both were struck by the other and staggered backward.

Sasuke used the force to leap back, while Rock Lee forcibly steadied himself in an instant! Without a second thought, he charged toward Sasuke again like the wind.

I don't know any ninjutsu or genjutsu. The only thing I can rely on... is taijutsu.

I can only rely on these two fists of mine.

Flames appeared in Rock Lee's determined eyes—

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

More than a dozen blazing fireballs burst from Sasuke's mouth as he retreated! Rock Lee had not even seen when Sasuke formed the hand seals!

Yet Rock Lee did not slow as he charged. He shifted directions repeatedly, nimbly avoiding the oncoming fireballs... Thanks to Tenten, the weapons expert on his team, Rock Lee was more familiar than anyone with this sort of charging evasive maneuver!

Once he was close enough to Sasuke, Rock Lee suddenly exploded forward again in an instant, flashing ghostlike onto the ground before Sasuke! He planted his hands on the ground, the muscles in his legs swelling and slowly writhing...

"That stance...?!"

The Sharingan in Sasuke's eyes spun rapidly as alarm bells rang wildly in his heart. How could he fail to recognize this opening stance? Naruto had used it, Kakashi had used it, and even Sasuke himself had copied it with his Sharingan...

Rock Lee crouched low and kicked at Sasuke!

"As long as he gets kicked into the air, the following Front Lotus... will definitely decide the battle!"

But Sasuke was an exceptionally skilled ninja as well. In that split second, as Rock Lee launched that kick, the muscles in Sasuke's right leg twitched unnaturally. Sasuke had secretly channeled the electrical current of Lightning Release Chakra into his leg!

Thus, at that critical instant, Sasuke also kicked with all his strength!

Bang!

Everyone present saw the same scene: Rock Lee kicked Sasuke in the chest and abdomen from the ground in front of him, while Sasuke viciously struck Rock Lee beneath the chin at the very same moment!

The opening kick of the Front Lotus was immensely powerful, sending Sasuke floating into the air. Rock Lee, meanwhile, was kicked flying by Sasuke's desperate strike and rolled far away.

"Sasuke actually broke the Front Lotus like that..."

The Konoha jonin present were all astonished. Most of them knew of the taijutsu technique known as the Front Lotus. Among them, Might Guy was especially shocked. He knew deeply just how fast Rock Lee was at the instant he initiated the Front Lotus, yet he had never expected Sasuke of the Uchiha to react and counterattack in such a short span of time!

Suppressing the intense pain and heavy feeling in his chest and abdomen, Sasuke gritted his teeth and forcibly summoned a surge of Chakra. His hands flew through seals as he puffed out his chest, twisted in midair, and the instant he landed, a massive blazing fireball was already rolling toward Rock Lee!

Great Fireball Technique!

Meanwhile, Rock Lee's muscles on the ground were aching faintly—

The essence of the Front Lotus lay in that opening move! The user had to flash before the opponent at maximum speed, then instantly kick them into the air with the greatest force possible! It was a tremendous test of the user's explosive power and coordination throughout the body!

As Rock Lee caught his breath, the rolling heat wave had already reached the jumpsuit against his back.

This is bad!

Chakra instantly broke through his brain's inhibition. At the critical moment, Rock Lee dodged the Great Fireball! He leaped high into the air and landed atop the enormous statue in the center of the arena, its hands formed into seals.

Sasuke looked up at him. Once the pain in his chest and abdomen eased slightly and his breathing steadied, he smiled faintly. "What's wrong? Have you been too afraid to look into these eyes of mine?"

Rock Lee gritted his teeth atop the statue's "fingertip."

The genin around them had all been stunned by the clash between the two, especially Rock Lee's dazzling taijutsu assaults, which left their scalps tingling just from watching.

"Take them off, Rock Lee!" Might Guy suddenly shouted to Rock Lee high above. He raised a thumb and flashed a gleaming white smile. "I permit you to do it!"

"What are you talking about, Guy?" Kakashi beside him did not understand what Might Guy meant, but upon hearing Guy's words, Rock Lee's exhausted spirit abruptly rallied.

"Thank you, Might Guy-sensei!"

Rock Lee happily sat down and untied the weights that had always been bound to his legs. He stretched his arms out and released them...

Bang!

The two small weights struck the ground, smashing a huge crater into it and sending dust soaring high into the air.

"No way!?"

"Are you kidding me?"

Every spectator gaped in disbelief.

Sasuke's expression only shifted slightly as the three black tomoe in his scarlet eyes slowly turned... Then, Rock Lee vanished from the statue with a whoosh!

All anyone could see was an invisible current of air hurtling toward Sasuke at an unimaginable speed! Rock Lee had become too fast for the naked eye to track!

Bang!

Sasuke was suddenly sent flying! Only then did everyone see Rock Lee, who had paused from the attack, but in the blink of an eye, Rock Lee vanished from where he stood again!

"That's way too fast!" Cries of amazement rose one after another.

"Damn it..." Sasuke gritted his teeth and pressed a hand to the ground, trying to steady himself. But Rock Lee's voice came from behind him. "Too slow." Then a sharp pain exploded across his back, and with a bang, Rock Lee kicked him in another direction!

Rock Lee flexed his ankle, battle intent boiling in his chest as he prepared to pursue again.

But Sasuke, whom he had sent flying, suddenly vanished!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Sasuke's speed had suddenly skyrocketed! He raced madly in circles around Rock Lee, wind rising beneath his feet and stirring the air! Without the Sharingan, Rock Lee could barely see Sasuke's figure!

"What!?"

Rock Lee was utterly horrified. Sasuke's speed had suddenly become comparable to his own after removing the weights!?

"Who exactly is the slower one...?"

A faint voice suddenly sounded behind Rock Lee.

"Damn it!?"

Rock Lee twisted his head with all his strength, but what he saw was...

In his vision, Sasuke's fist was actually on fire as it smashed toward Rock Lee's face! The flames nearly scorched Rock Lee's skin! Rock Lee's eyes widened furiously, and in that thousandth of a second, countless memories flooded his mind...

"My dream is to become a great ninja even if I never learn any ninjutsu or genjutsu! This is everything to me!"

"Might Guy-sensei... can hard work... really catch up to genius...?"

"Those who give up easily do not even deserve the value of effort!!"

So much sweat, so many tears, falling again and again, bleeding and getting hurt again and again, gritting his teeth and enduring every time.

Was he going to fall here?

No!

Might Guy-sensei, now was the time to uphold my own ninja way!!

Boom!

A powerful burst of air erupted from Rock Lee's entire body! It easily blew Sasuke's attack away! In an instant, Rock Lee's skin turned crimson, bulging veins crawling all over it!

"It's over..." In the stands, Kakashi pulled down his Headband to cover his scarlet left eye and spoke faintly.

Third Gate! Fourth Gate! Fifth Gate!

Intense pain and an endless stream of power intertwined within his body. Amid the rising air currents around him, Rock Lee felt the blood in his body begin to boil...

Without a sound, Rock Lee vanished from the spot.

Bang! Sasuke was sent flying by "air."

Bang! He was sent flying in the opposite direction again!

Bang! Sent flying in the opposite direction!

Bang!

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang...

Sasuke was like a tattered sandbag, flying back and forth through the air in crossing arcs. In the blink of an eye, he had taken dozens, perhaps hundreds of high-speed blows! Yet Rock Lee's figure... had never stopped long enough to appear. His speed had surpassed the limits of human vision.

Even Sasuke's Sharingan probably could not see Rock Lee now.

His dream was burning.

"Reverse—Lotus!!"

Rock Lee's furious roar echoed through the arena. Then everyone saw his right fist become like a comet in the night sky, wrapped in roaring flames. His fist wind crashed down like a waterfall, smashing Sasuke brutally from the air!

Bang!!

Sasuke slammed into the ground, creating a massive crater.

Tap. Rock Lee landed from the air, his legs giving out as he dropped to his knees. He gritted his teeth and clutched his right arm... The bone was broken, and large sections of muscle had torn.

But... it was over.

An indescribable light flickered in Rock Lee's exhausted eyes, nearly closed from fatigue, as he looked at the crater before him.

Finally, finally... had he finally defeated such a genius?

Might Guy-sensei...

His eyes stung uncontrollably. Rock Lee's eyes filled with hot tears as he turned instinctively toward where Might Guy stood—

"Might Guy-sen..."

His pupils suddenly contracted!

Where was Might Guy in the stands? Where was anyone else? The stands were packed with Sasuke after Sasuke!

Scenes from the battle just now flashed rapidly through Rock Lee's mind...

Could it be...

Thump thump, thump thump. His heart pounded violently, as though it might burst! Rock Lee turned toward the crater and saw Gaara slowly rising beneath a covering of flowing sand. Gaara wore a cruel, gloomy smile as he watched him.

Then, crackle crackle... crackle crackle crackle...

Like a sound from another world, it grew closer and closer beside Rock Lee's ears. As Rock Lee knelt on the ground, a pair of enormous scarlet Sharingan appeared in the air behind him!

The haze before his eyes was blown away.

The lightning of Chidori reflected in Rock Lee's eyes, and it was as if a flame within those eyes suddenly went out, gradually fading into darkness...

"When?" Rock Lee smiled miserably and asked softly.

Sasuke dispersed the Chidori in his hand and said faintly, "When my speed suddenly increased and you turned your head back in surprise... in that instant, you exposed an opening." He paused. "You couldn't help looking into my Sharingan."

"Is that so..." Rock Lee weakly pitched forward onto the ground, then laboriously rolled onto his back, his empty eyes staring at the swaying ceiling above.

"It took me years to gain this kind of speed... I thought I was already the most diligent, the hardest-working among people my age... Because I couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu... I poured all my effort into taijutsu... Yet I never expected this... Damn it..."

Sasuke turned around, listening to the voice behind him.

The boy who seemed forged from iron behind him had somehow become covered in tears.

"That was Kakashi's method, using the electrical current of Lightning Release Chakra to stimulate the body and achieve high-speed movement through taijutsu..." Might Guy suddenly appeared beside Rock Lee, his expression complicated as he looked down at his prized student.

"Might Guy-sensei..." Rock Lee was nearly breaking down. He choked out, "Does hard work... really lose to talent and bloodline? Can it truly never surpass genius? Does my dream... really have any meaning?"

Every word dripped with blood, striking at the hearts of everyone present.

The Third Hokage pulled the brim of his hat lower. Tsunade stood with her arms crossed in silence.

Kakashi glanced at Naruto beside him, who was also silent, and sighed softly.

Sasuke, however, stood with his back to Rock Lee and Might Guy. After a long while, he finally said slowly, "If that is truly what you believe... then it only proves that you are a man of no more than this."

After saying that, he leaped up and landed in the second-floor stands.