Rock Lee vs. Gaara was undoubtedly the most thrilling and eagerly anticipated battle of the Chunin Ninja Exams preliminaries.
That wasn't to say the others, like Sasuke, Naruto, and Neji, weren't strong. It was just that their opponents couldn't force them to show their full strength.
But Rock Lee and Gaara were different. One was the mysterious prince of the Hidden Sand Village, a genius ninja known as a merciless killing machine; the other was a dead-last who'd been unable to study ninjutsu since childhood and had focused solely on taijutsu.
Absolute speed against absolute defense—the two clashed from the very start, sparks flying as the fight turned fierce.
There was no denying that Gaara's passive skill, Sand Guardian, was truly absurd against ordinary attacks.
Fortunately, Rock Lee was no ordinary person.
After several probing attacks failed, Lee got Might Guy's permission to remove the weights on his legs, stunning the spectators.
Freed from their restraints, Lee's speed instantly increased until he was moving too fast for the naked eye to follow.
At that speed, Gaara's Sand Guardian couldn't keep up with Lee's attacks. In just a few seconds, Lee landed several punches from his Iron Fist of Love.
Gaara's face didn't bleed where Lee had hit him. Instead, cracks appeared, and sand kept flaking off.
Humiliated, Gaara's face gradually twisted into a grimace, and the aura around him grew increasingly violent.
The spectators were stunned by Gaara's transformation. They hadn't expected a Genin from the Hidden Sand Village to be so powerful that even his Sand Armor had emerged.
Seeing his attacks had no effect on Gaara, Lee was briefly taken aback. But he quickly composed himself and decided to use his ultimate technique—the Front Lotus.
Boom!
As Lee wrapped his arms around Gaara and spun with him toward