Unravel the Bandages!

As he spoke, he even gave a thumbs-up to Uchiha Sora behind him!

Following that, he slowly unwound the bandages from his hands.

This scene only drew a cold snort from Gaara, his face twisted in mockery.

"Is that it? And you call yourselves best friends? If it's that kid Uchiha Sora you're talking about, don't even mention you—even if he came himself, I wouldn't care!"

With that, Gaara grabbed at the empty air, and as the yellow sand coalesced, a massive hand once again squeezed toward Rock Lee!

This time, everyone present gasped in unison.

"Oh no! Someone, hurry and save him!"

Iruka's expression shifted, clearly believing that Rock Lee would struggle to withstand this blow.

However, Kakashi beside him merely shook his head.

"It's not time yet! Do you really think the people of Konoha Village are pushovers?"

Might Guy, standing to the side, chuckled with a mysterious look on his face.

"Young man! You clearly don't understand what it means to carry bandages weighing hundreds of pounds. Did you really think that was the extent of Rock Lee's speed?"

"He trains like a demon with Tenten: waking up at five every morning, doing two hundred two-finger handstand push-ups, then running a handstand lap around the entire Konoha Village, followed by leg training upon his return..."

For a moment, the surrounding crowd couldn't help but wince at the thought.

"That's absurd. If that's really the case, the outcome of this battle is still up in the air."

Kakashi watched the dust swirling on the battlefield.

At this moment, in the center of the arena, yellow sand flew everywhere, obscuring the vision of most onlookers.

Yet, the gruesome scene everyone had anticipated did not occur.

After that palm slammed down, the scene remained eerily calm!

Then, someone in the crowd let out a cry of shock.

"Holy crap! Look at that shadow!"

Everyone turned to look, only to discover a ghostly figure darting through the sky-filling sand.

Moving at an outrageous speed, he was actually walking on the sand suspended in mid-air!

He had relied on pure speed to achieve the feat of stepping on air to fly!

It was none other than Rock Lee, now freed from his bandages.

Only then did the crowd realize that the yellow sand hadn't been kicked up by the giant hand, but by the shockwaves caused by the bandages hitting the ground.

"No way! How heavy are those two bandages? How does this guy even move normally!"

"Exactly! It's like he's been carrying two elephants on his hands. No wonder he has such speed!"

"It's getting tense! Who wins this is really up in the air now!"

The audience grew excited, finding the battle absolutely spectacular.

Even Uchiha Sora widened his eyes.

Of course, he wasn't marveling at Rock Lee's combat power; having read the original work, he knew almost everything.

What he was marveling at was whether the guy was actually pulling off a "left foot stepping on the right foot to take off" maneuver!

"Damn! This Lee, relying on his terrifying speed and the frequency of his footwork on the sand, has actually managed to replicate something like helicopter physics!"

Uchiha Sora's eyes shone. He never would have imagined that physics actually existed in the Naruto World.

Didn't they say Newton didn't govern foreign lands?

Well, so much for that—Newton's coffin lid is about to fly off again!

On the battlefield, Gaara's eyes widened in shock as well.

He could only see a blur of afterimages flashing before him.

Rock Lee was too fast; he was like a bolt of lightning, impossible for the naked eye to track.

Seizing an opening, he instantly swept a kick toward Gaara's face!

It was too fast; the yellow sand couldn't form a defense in time.

The kick landed squarely on his face!

With a bang, like a heavy sandbag hitting the ground, Gaara was sent flying backward.

It was as if the previous scene were repeating itself, as he spun and embedded himself into the wall.

He was nearly knocked unconscious, and it took him a long time to slowly crawl out of the crater.

This scene shocked everyone once again.

As for Gaara, his breathing was ragged, and a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

"Damn you... you actually destroyed my absolute defense. You're going to die!"

Gaara had lost his mind to bloodlust. He waved his hand, and a massive amount of yellow sand coalesced, forming sharp, blade-like spikes.

They rained down upon Rock Lee, covering the sky!

The density of the barrage was like a falling downpour.

Upon impact, they kicked up a massive cloud of dust.

Yet, Rock Lee's figure moved like a phantom, dodging every single attack with pinpoint precision.

As he retreated, he was filled with shock.

Because at this moment, he had realized that the guy in front of him was not normal.

Something's wrong! The amount of chakra is far too dense! It feels like it's inexhaustible... Could it be that he's unleashed the power of a Tailed Beast!

Having spent so much time with Uchiha Sora, Rock Lee had learned quite a bit about Tailed Beasts and some of the gray-area secrets within the village.

Besides, this wasn't exactly classified information; after all, it was practically common knowledge that the Nine-Tails resided within Naruto.

Because of this, Rock Lee was starting to panic.

High above, the Hokage furrowed his brows and cast a glance at the bald man beside him.

"I'm telling you! You are responsible for the people from your village. If things get out of control, we won't be holding back."

The bald man chuckled, his gaze sweeping across several corners of the stands below.

Seeing that everyone seemed to be in position, he stood up abruptly, a sinister expression appearing on his face.

"That's enough! Gaara, stop hiding. Unleash yourself, and let's teach Konoha Village a lesson!"

In an instant, earth-shattering explosions erupted throughout the entire village.

Fire soared into the sky, and even within the exam arena itself, several sections of the spectator stands burst into flames.

Immediately following, before the many ninja could react, white feathers began to drift down from the sky.

Carrying a potent hypnotic effect, they swept across the entire area.

"Not good! This is a genjutsu!"

Kakashi's eyes widened; with his Sharingan, he could clearly see that someone was casting a genjutsu upon the entire village!

Beside him, Might Guy gritted his teeth, forcing his eyes to stay open.

"Damn it... what's happening? Where is the Hokage?"

The ninja were thrown into immediate chaos.

In the stands, the spectators had all fallen unconscious, as had more than half of the Konoha Village ninja, who had been taken down by the genjutsu.

Only a few powerful individuals, such as Jiraiya and Asuma, were still able to maintain their clarity.

Among them was Rock Lee, who was still on the arena floor!

What is happening!

Rock Lee looked up in horror and was shocked to see that at the top of the stands, the Hokage was actually surrounded by seven or eight people.

That's right!

Among them were Orochimaru, Deidara, and Itachi Uchiha!

It wasn't that the Hokage didn't want to save the situation; it was that he truly couldn't spare a hand!

"Heh! Weren't you being arrogant just a moment ago? Now, I'll let you witness what true power is!"

At that moment, Gaara sneered, manipulated his yellow sand once more, and lunged it down to grab Rock Lee!