The Mortal Who Burned His Life

The names on the electronic display scrolled once more, blue light flickering through the slightly dim tower hall.

The moment the two names finally stopped, the atmosphere throughout the venue subtly changed.

[Round Nine: Rock Lee VS Gaara]

"Is it finally that thick-browed guy's turn?"

Naruto leaned over the railing, watching the green-clad figure below with concern. "His opponent is that guy carrying a gourd... That guy looks dangerous."

"More than dangerous."

Sasuke's expression darkened as he recalled the suffocating Chakra he had sensed in the Forest of Death. "That guy... is practically a monster."

Meanwhile, in the corner, Ye Tian, who had been looking sickly all this time, unusually sat up straight. He set down his thermos, and his usually half-lidded eyes now stared brightly at the two fighters below.

More precisely, he was watching two entirely different "paths."

On one side was the Supreme-Grade Spirit Sand within Gaara's gourd, brimming with vicious energy. It represented the ultimate defense achieved through external power—Shukaku.

On the other was Rock Lee's body, devoid of any Spiritual Root but tempered until his Meridians were like refined steel. It represented the ultimate offense of a mortal digging into his own potential.

"The strongest shield against the sharpest spear?"

A playful curve tugged at Ye Tian's lips. "Though body cultivators in the cultivation world are often mockingly called brutes by spell cultivators, I've always believed that standing shoulder to shoulder with gods in a mortal body is the greatest kind of romance."

"Begin!" Gekko Hayate gave the order.

There was no probing whatsoever.

Rock Lee roared, "Leaf Hurricane!"

The green figure charged at Gaara like a whirlwind. Yet Gaara did not even raise a hand. A stream of yellow sand spewed from the mouth of the gourd behind him, automatically forming an impenetrable shield before him.

Bang!

The heavy kick was easily blocked by the wall of sand.

"Useless." Gaara looked at Rock Lee coldly. "You are not even qualified to touch me."

The next few minutes were a completely one-sided game of cat and mouse. Though Rock Lee's fists and kicks were fierce, no matter which angle he attacked from, the sand always moved ahead of him and defended automatically.

"So this is the so-called absolute defense?"

In the stands, Neji activated his Byakugan, his expression grave. "That sand... It seems to have a will of its own."

"No, that isn't consciousness."

Ye Tian silently corrected him in his heart. "That is the embryonic form of an Artifact Spirit. Spirit Sand tempered day and night by Shukaku's Chakra has already developed the instinct to protect its master. This kid is practically fighting with a top-grade defensive artifact on him at all times. Against Rock Lee, who can only fight in close quarters, that's just unfair."

Below, Rock Lee retreated several steps, panting heavily.

"Lee! Take him down!"

From the second-floor stands, Might Guy suddenly shouted and gave a thumbs-up. "I permit it!"

"Really, Guy-sensei?" A delighted light instantly burst from Rock Lee's eyes.

He sat atop the statue and began unfastening the orange leg weights around his legs.

"Tch, how heavy could those things possibly be..." Kankuro said disdainfully.

However, the instant those seemingly ordinary weights struck the ground—

BOOM—!!!

Two thunderous crashes rang out almost simultaneously. Two deep craters were smashed into the floor, and the dust they kicked up rose over two meters high. The entire hall seemed to tremble.

The whole venue fell deathly silent.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the slender boy in disbelief.

"Damn..."

Even Ye Tian could not help raising a brow, a trace of approval flashing through his eyes. "Those must weigh at least a thousand jin, right? He wears things like that in daily life? His bone density and muscle fiber strength are probably dozens of times greater than an ordinary person's."

"This is the pure body-tempering school—without Spiritual Energy to nourish him, he trained himself through sheer hardship... What a lunatic."

Freed from his restraints, Rock Lee finally revealed his true strength.

Whoosh!

He vanished.

It was not a ninjutsu. He was simply so fast that he had surpassed the limit of what the naked eye could track!

Gaara's pupils suddenly contracted. For the first time, his sand could not keep up with his opponent's speed.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A string of dull impacts exploded through the air. Gaara was kicked into the sky like a punching bag, and cracks began to spread across his prized Sand Armor.

"Front Lotus!"

Rock Lee wrapped Gaara in bandages, held him tightly, and spun down from high above before smashing him viciously into the ground!

Boom!

The floor cracked apart, and dust billowed everywhere.

"Did he win?" Sakura asked nervously.

As the dust cleared, Gaara lay in the crater, but his body turned into a pile of loose sand.

"Sand Clone..." Sasuke gritted his teeth. "That monster isn't hurt at all."

The real Gaara appeared behind him with a savage smile on his face. Sand surged toward the exhausted Rock Lee like a tsunami.

"No choice..."

Rock Lee climbed to his feet. Though his entire body was wracked with pain, his eyes had never been more resolute. He looked toward Guy-sensei on the second floor, and Guy nodded at him.

"That is..." Kakashi's single eye widened sharply. "Guy, did you teach him that? That is a forbidden technique!"

"For someone without talent in ninjutsu or genjutsu, this is necessary if he is to uphold his ninja way!" Guy said solemnly.

Below.

Rock Lee assumed a strange stance. The skin over his entire body became engorged and red, while a green storm of energy erupted wildly around him!

"Third Gate of Life, open!"

"Fourth Gate of Pain, open!"

With each roar from Rock Lee, the Chakra fluctuations around him surged geometrically. The floor was blasted apart, and the air trembled.

"So this is... the Eight Gates?"

Ye Tian activated the Heavenly Eye, staring intently at Rock Lee's burning Meridians.

In his vision, the eight "gates" within Rock Lee that restricted the flow of Chakra were being forcibly blasted open by violent energy.

Every gate he opened came with ruptured muscle fibers and burst capillaries. This was not fighting at all. He was clearly burning his own life force!

"So this is a mortal's Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique..."

Ye Tian was deeply shaken. "Using a mortal body to forcibly invoke the laws of heaven and earth and break the limits of the human body. The power is astonishing, but the price is too great. Right now, he is like a candle lit from both ends. His light may blaze brilliantly, but once it burns out, nothing remains but ash."

"Fifth Gate of Limit, open!"

Rock Lee let out his final roar, turning into a red bolt of lightning as he vanished from the spot.

This time, even Gaara's absolute defense had become completely useless.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Only countless afterimages could be seen in the air. Gaara was hurled from the ground into the sky, then from the sky back to the ground, unable to fight back at all. That terrifying speed and strength sent chills through every ninja present.

"Reverse Lotus!"

With the final devastating strike, Gaara was violently blasted into the ground.

However.

A mortal body ultimately had its limits.

At the instant the final blow ended, Rock Lee's body could no longer withstand the immense burden. His muscles tore, and his movements stiffened for a split second.

That single instant determined life and death.

The gourd transformed into a cushion of sand and saved Gaara's life. By then, Gaara had been driven completely insane by pain and humiliation.

"Die!"

Gaara extended his hand, and the yellow sand filling the sky transformed into a gigantic claw that instantly seized Rock Lee's arm and left leg, which he could no longer move.

"Sand Coffin!"

"Don't!!" Naruto and Sakura screamed from the stands.

Crack—!

The bone-crushing sound echoed through the hall, making everyone's teeth ache.

A mist of blood sprayed through the air.

Rock Lee let out a shrill scream before passing out completely.

Gaara did not stop. The sand surged once again, preparing to completely crush the enemy who had caused him such pain.

Boom!

A green figure instantly appeared in the arena. With a casual wave of his hand, he shattered the deadly wave of sand.

Might Guy stood before his beloved student, blocking the Shinigami's scythe.

The match was over.

Yet Gaara's killing intent had not faded, and Guy's grief had not ceased. Most moving of all was that Rock Lee—the boy who had lost consciousness and suffered compound fractures in his arms and legs—actually staggered... to his feet on instinct alone.

Even though his consciousness had already faded, even though his body was already broken, his body still maintained a fighting stance.

"Lee..." Tears streamed down Guy's face as he tightly embraced his student.

The entire venue sank into deathly silence.

Even Neji, who had always been cold and detached, clenched his fists at that moment, his eyes full of shock.

And in the corner.

Ye Tian watched this scene, leaving a deep indentation in the thermos clutched in his hand.

"Is this what they call... a crystal-clear Dao Heart?"

Ye Tian drew a deep breath. The string in his heart known as the Way of Survival had been fiercely plucked.

In the cultivation world, he had seen countless cultivators who would stop at nothing for immortality, who feared death and clung desperately to life. Yet he had rarely seen a fool like Rock Lee, someone willing to burn everything just to prove a belief.

"He may be a fool, but someone like him... should not be crippled like this."

Ye Tian watched as the Medical Corps carried Rock Lee away on a stretcher.

Under the scan of his Divine Sense, Rock Lee's left leg and left arm bones had been ground into powder. Worse still, the broken bone fragments had severed large numbers of nerves, while his Meridians had been torn apart inch by inch.

With this world's medical system, injuries like these were practically a death sentence. Even if Tsunade returned, the chance of success would be less than fifty percent.

"Fine. Since that mad resolve of yours reminds me somewhat of an old acquaintance..."

While everyone's attention was focused on Guy and Gaara, Ye Tian silently moved a few steps closer to the stretcher.

He pretended that the previous battle had frightened his legs weak, staggered sideways, and happened to bump into the shoulder of a passing Medical Ninja.

"Ow... Sorry, I'm dizzy..."

At the instant of impact.

Ye Tian's left hand discreetly brushed over Rock Lee's shattered left leg.

[Longevity Formula · Yi Wood Spiritual Energy · Withered Tree Revives in Spring]

A wisp of pure emerald-green Spiritual Energy, invisible to the naked eye, pierced into Rock Lee's leg acupoints from Ye Tian's fingertips like a fine needle.

That wisp of Spiritual Energy did not directly repair the bones—that would have been far too shocking. Instead, it swiftly enveloped the nerve bundles and main Meridians that were about to die, forming a protective membrane that preserved that last sliver of vitality.

As long as the nerves did not die and the Meridians were not severed at the root, there would still be hope for recovery in the future.

"Cough, cough... Sorry, sorry."

After finishing everything, Ye Tian immediately pretended to be weak and allowed himself to be helped aside. He covered his mouth and coughed violently, concealing the pallor caused by that instant of Spiritual Power expenditure.

"You sickly bastard, don't block the way!" The Medical Ninja shoved him aside impatiently before hurriedly carrying Rock Lee away.

Leaning against the wall, Ye Tian watched the stretcher recede, an imperceptible smile curling at his lips.

"This wisp of Yi Wood Spiritual Energy will keep your Meridians from withering for three months. As for the rest, that depends on whether the legendary Princess Tsunade truly has the skills."

"Rock Lee, your youth... isn't over yet."

Having done this good deed, Ye Tian felt as though he had gained a slight sense of transcendence as well.

At that moment, the electronic screen began scrolling again.

[Round Ten: Dosu Kinata VS Choji Akimichi]

"Tch, a trash match."

Ye Tian yawned and picked up his thermos again. The hot-blooded feeling from before had faded, and he had returned to being that cultivation-world slacker who only wanted to watch the show and perhaps pick up some scraps.

"The preliminaries are finally coming to an end... The month-long recovery period ahead is where the real action begins."

His gaze drifted vaguely toward the upper stands.

There, Orochimaru, in disguise, was watching everything with a sinister look.

"Old Snake Skin, it's time we settled our score properly."