Rock Lee's Challenge

On the stairs leading to the third floor, Rock Lee's hurried footsteps suddenly halted. He turned back, his gaze firmly locking onto Naruto, who was leisurely following behind.

A subtle tension hung in the air as Rock Lee took a deep breath and declared in a booming voice, "Naruto, I challenge you!"

Naruto was taken aback at the words—this guy really was abrupt.

Even more unexpected, before his words had even faded, Rock Lee suddenly turned to Sakura and confessed passionately, "Sakura, I've always liked you! Please accept my feelings!"

Sakura's face instantly twisted with complexity. She shuddered, her composure nearly crumbling, and barely managed to force out, "I don't like bushy eyebrows!"

Rock Lee looked utterly defeated.

Just as the atmosphere grew unbearably awkward, Sasuke slowly stepped out from behind Naruto, his cold gaze sweeping over Rock Lee.

"A fight of this level doesn't require Naruto's involvement," Sasuke said calmly.

Rock Lee raised an eyebrow at this, his fighting spirit flaring even higher. "Oh? Then I'll beat you first, Uchiha Sasuke!" he declared confidently, as if already envisioning victory.

"I declare that you absolutely cannot defeat me, because I am the strongest among Konoha's Genin!" Rock Lee proclaimed proudly.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, a smirk curling at the corner of his mouth. "Interesting. Then I'll take you on!"

Sakura quickly tried to stop Sasuke. "Stop it, Sasuke. There's only thirty minutes left until the three o'clock registration deadline."

Sasuke closed his eyes, looking somewhat impatient, and replied calmly, "Don't worry!"

The moment the words left his mouth, their battle erupted instantly.

Sasuke slowly activated his Sharingan, instantly capturing every subtle movement Rock Lee made.

Rock Lee charged like a wild horse unleashed, his attacks fierce and swift, but Sasuke's Sharingan left none of his actions hidden.

However, even though Sasuke could see every move, his body couldn't keep up with that astonishing speed.

He tried to copy Rock Lee's techniques, only to find his own movements always a beat too slow. The gap in strength and speed plunged him into a tough fight.

Sasuke was driven back step by step by Rock Lee's relentless barrage of attacks, sustaining injuries in multiple places.

Just as Rock Lee leaped into the air, preparing to use his finishing move—binding Sasuke with his bandages—a larger-than-life version of Rock Lee suddenly appeared between them. It was Rock Lee's teacher, Might Guy.

Guy's arrival instantly ratcheted the tension to its peak, but just as he moved to separate the two, Naruto acted.

Naruto shielded Sasuke behind him, and a fight with Guy erupted in the blink of an eye, movements so fast they were dizzying.

But Guy's power clearly dwarfed Naruto's entirely; every attack put immense pressure on Naruto.

In one fierce exchange, Guy sent Naruto flying with a single punch.

Naruto twisted his neck, hesitating inwardly over whether to tap into the Power of the Nine-Tails.

At that moment, Guy suddenly called a halt to the fight, quickly explaining that he was Rock Lee's teacher and had come to break it up, not to fight. It was just that Naruto's movements were too fast, and he hadn't been able to pull his punch in time.

Guy's explanation eased the tense atmosphere somewhat.

When Rock Lee witnessed Naruto trading blows with his own teacher, Guy, a storm raged in his heart. He had thought Naruto was strong, but he never imagined Naruto was this strong—able to spar with a master like Teacher Might Guy without falling behind at all.

"This... how is this possible?" Rock Lee's mind reeled in shock. He knew Guy's strength; it was the goal he had been tirelessly chasing, the strongest Taijutsu expert in Konoha.

Yet now, he saw Naruto—someone his age he had once believed inferior to himself—going toe-to-toe with Guy.

Rock Lee felt an unprecedented shock.

"I... I have to work even harder too!" Rock Lee vowed silently in his heart.

Sasuke stood to the side, and every time Naruto made a move, a nameless urgency surged within him.

"I can't fall behind..." Sasuke silently admonished himself.

Sakura felt shaken, but more than that, it felt like something she should have expected. In her mind, after the Land of Waves, Naruto was no longer the prankster, the dead-last boy he used to be.

"Naruto should be this strong..." Sakura thought quietly, a look of admiration spreading across her face.

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. Through the Six Eyes, he clearly saw the strange and vast flow of Chakra within Guy, like surging undercurrents racing endlessly through his body.

Rock Lee's teacher, Guy, was no ordinary man. He was like a human beast, every cell brimming with astonishing power and speed.

Naruto couldn't help but marvel inwardly. This was the strongest ninja he had encountered since Gojo Satoru was reborn as Naruto—even at Gojo's peak, he might not have had a surefire way to defeat such an opponent.

Yet this shock didn't instill fear in Naruto; instead, it ignited a deep-seated fighting spirit and excitement within him.