Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing about Zi Xu's performance. There was a reason he'd rushed onto the field. That kid Gaara had no idea what had gotten into him; the moment he saw that Rock Lee was his opponent, he went a little crazy.
Sand poured out of the gourd in great heaps, as if it were free. Gaara hadn't intended to hide his strength from the start. Rock Lee darted through Gaara's sea of sand with his superb Taijutsu, but gradually, his body began to give out.
"Gate of Opening! Gate of Healing! Gate of Life! Gate of Pain! Gate of Limit!" Red energy radiated from Rock Lee's body. He knew he'd have to give it everything he had if he wanted any chance of beating Gaara. He hurled all the weights strapped to his legs at Gaara and took the opportunity to open five gates in succession.
The sand, which had previously kept up with Rock Lee's attacks and defended automatically, finally couldn't stop him with five gates open. Like a gust of wind, Rock Lee slipped through gaps in the sand and struck Gaara.
Gaara once again used sand to wrap his body, returning to a defensive stance.
But Rock Lee, with all five gates open, unleashed power beyond his limits. He pummeled Gaara's defenses with punch after punch, gradually denting the Sand Ball.
A muffled thud rang out. Under Rock Lee's relentless assault, the Sand Ball finally broke apart. By then, Rock Lee was nearly exhausted.
"Ha... ha..." Rock Lee panted heavily. The Eight Gates released the body's restrictions on Chakra, but he still couldn't withstand the strain of opening the fifth gate. At that moment, even standing took all his strength.
Rock Lee staggered over to the shattered Sand Ball and threw one last punch with