Chapter 31: Rock Lee! Challenging Sasuke!

Three days later, the Chunin Ninja Exams officially began.

In the corridor outside the exam hall, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura of Team 7 were ready to go. Candidates from various ninja villages crowded around them, the atmosphere tense and restless.

Naruto stood on tiptoe to peer over the crowd, scratching the back of his head in agitation.

"Seriously, where did Zuo Hao run off to? He hasn't even shown up for something as big as the Chunin Ninja Exams!"

Sasuke leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets, his tone unhurried.

"Stop complaining. He promised he'd come, so he'll be here."

That only made Naruto more anxious. He turned to glare at Sasuke.

"How can you be so sure? What if he overslept? What if he forgot all about it? If he misses the entry deadline, he's done for!"

"What if Zuo Hao decided to slack off and didn't come at all? Hey, Sasuke, say something!"

Standing beside Sasuke with her arms crossed, Sakura couldn't help rolling her eyes.

"Naruto, can you be quiet? Zuo Hao will definitely come."

Despite her words, her gaze drifted involuntarily toward the end of the corridor.

Just then, crisp footsteps rang out from the other end.

It wasn't Zuo Hao.

Three people were approaching.

Leading them was a thick-browed boy with a bowl cut, dressed in a green bodysuit with a Konoha forehead protector tied around his waist. He walked with the headlong vigor of someone fired up beyond reason.

Behind him followed a girl with her hair in buns, a somewhat resigned expression on her face.

Neji Hyuga brought up the rear, dressed in white, his eyes equally pale. His arms were folded, his steps steady, and his gaze as still as stagnant water.

Team 3, Might Guy's team.

The thick-browed boy rotated his wrists as he walked, muttering things like "Youth demands our utmost effort" and "Today, my blood will burn!" His voice was loud enough to carry through the entire corridor.

Rock Lee's gaze darted around as though he were searching for a target.

Then he saw Sakura.

Time seemed to freeze at that instant.

Rock Lee stopped in his tracks. Beneath his bowl cut, his round eyes widened like saucers, reflecting Sakura's long pink hair and green eyes.

His mouth fell slightly open, and his face flushed at a visible speed. The red spread from his neck to his forehead, as though it might even push his forehead protector up.

"Hea... heaven..."

His voice shook, and his lips trembled.

Walking behind him, Tenten knew trouble was coming the moment she saw his expression. She hurriedly reached for the back of his collar. "Rock Lee, wait. Calm down."

But she was a step too late.

Rock Lee shot forward like a spring, leaving a green afterimage in the air before landing squarely in front of Sakura and dropping to one knee.

Everyone in the corridor turned to look.

"Please go out with me!"

Rock Lee looked up, sincerity and determination written all over the impassioned face beneath his bowl cut. His eyes sparkled under his thick brows, and his teeth flashed like a star beneath the corridor lights.

"I'll protect you with all my youth! Until I die!"

The corridor fell silent for three full seconds.

Naruto gaped, pointing at Rock Lee with a look of shock and indignation.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's this guy doing?!"

Sakura's expression went from confusion to astonishment, then from astonishment to disgust, all in a second and a half.

"No." She stepped back, crossing her hands in front of her chest, and rejected him without hesitation.

Her refusal was crisp and decisive, without the slightest wavering.

Still kneeling, Rock Lee froze as though struck by lightning. The sparkle vanished from the eyes beneath his thick brows, and his lips trembled even harder.

"Wh... why...?"

Behind him, Tenten covered her face and let out a groan of despair.

"I knew this would happen... Rock Lee, come back. Stop embarrassing yourself..."

Neji remained behind them with his arms folded, his expression unchanged, though his Byakugan flicked almost imperceptibly toward Sasuke.

Rock Lee suddenly stood.

The dejection on his face lasted less than two seconds before an even fiercer fighting spirit replaced it.

His eyes blazed beneath his thick brows. He turned, his gaze stabbing like a blade toward Sasuke Uchiha, who was leaning against the wall.

"You!"

Rock Lee thrust a finger straight at Sasuke, his voice making the corridor windows buzz.

"Sasuke Uchiha! I challenge you!"

Sasuke remained against the wall, his hands still in his pockets. His black eyes swept lazily over Rock Lee, his tone as cold as a piece of ice licked far too many times.

"Not interested."

"Why?!" Rock Lee's thick brows knotted together, and the finger pointing at Sasuke trembled slightly with excitement. "You're the genius of the Uchiha Clan! I'm going to defeat you right here!"

Watching from the side, Naruto's eyes lit up. He clenched his fists, his face brimming with eagerness for them to start fighting.

"Sasuke, he's challenged you. You're not chickening out, are you?"

Sasuke still didn't move. He looked away from Rock Lee, his tone retaining that maddening indifference.

"Boring."

"What?! You call this boring?!" Rock Lee's face grew even redder. "Are you looking down on me?!"

Sasuke cast him a sidelong glance, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. His face was full of arrogance and certainty. "Do you know what the name 'Uchiha' means?"

Rock Lee paused and scratched his head. "What?"

Sasuke's gaze abruptly sharpened, and an almost searing obsession seeped into his voice. "It means strength! It means invincibility!"

"It means invincibility?"

Rock Lee repeated Sasuke's words, his eyes suddenly narrowing beneath his thick brows.

Instead of flying into a rage as he had before, he smiled.

"I see."

Rock Lee took two steps back, putting roughly ten meters between himself and Sasuke.

He loosened his ankles, then his wrists. Under the corridor lights, his green bodysuit reflected a strangely defiant sheen.

"Sasuke-kun, you said Uchiha means strength. Then let me tell you something too."

He raised his head, a blazing smile spreading across the earnest face beneath his bowl cut.

"My name is Rock Lee! Everything I do is to prove one thing!"

His body suddenly vanished.

It wasn't the Body Flicker Technique. There wasn't the slightest fluctuation of chakra, just pure Taijutsu speed.

"Hard work can surpass genius!"

Rock Lee's voice came from behind Sasuke.

Sasuke's pupils abruptly contracted.

Where?

His Sharingan had activated in both eyes at that very instant. The Two Tomoe spun wildly in his pupils as he tried to track Rock Lee's movements. But all he saw was a blurred green afterimage.

Too fast.

So fast that his Sharingan couldn't keep up at all.

The next second, a vicious kick came whipping toward him from the left.

Almost instinctively, Sasuke crossed his forearms to block his left side, but the kick carried astonishing force. It was like an iron rod slamming into his forearms.

Bam!

The dull impact exploded through the corridor. The kick sent Sasuke flying sideways, his back crashing hard into the wall as flakes of plaster rained down.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out, covering her mouth.

Naruto's jaw nearly hit the floor, his bright blue eyes bulging as though they might pop out of their sockets.

"Wh-what just happened?! I didn't see anything!"