"There's no use. Taijutsu can't break through Gaara's defenses!"
"The outcome of this fight was decided long ago."
Gaara's gaze grew colder, and his killing intent slowly rose.
Just as everyone thought the fight was about to end-
Might Guy spoke up, telling Rock Lee to remove his restraints.
Rock Lee slowly raised his hands toward the heavy black weighted wraps around his wrists and ankles.
"The moves I'm about to use are the fruits of training I staked everything on."
The moment he finished speaking!
Whoosh-!
Four incredibly heavy iron weights came off in an instant!
They crashed to the ground!
The entire arena floor shook violently, and dust billowed into the air!
Everyone's pupils abruptly contracted!
Those were extreme weights that had restrained his body for years, suppressing his speed and strength!
Training for years under such terrifying weight was simply inhuman!
In the next instant!
Rock Lee's movements completely surpassed the limits of human vision!
He moved so fast that only afterimages remained!
The naked eye couldn't track him at all!
"Eight Gates Released Formation-Gate of Opening! Gate of Healing! Open!"
Both gates opened instantly!
Surging red chakra vapor instantly wreathed his entire body!
A gale swept across the arena!
At that moment, Rock Lee was completely transformed!
His sheer speed overwhelmed everyone!
The once-impenetrable sand defense could no longer keep up with Rock Lee at all!
Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam!!
A relentless barrage of close-range attacks rained down like a raging storm!
Countless afterimages struck Gaara's sand shield at once!
The solid barrier of yellow sand was smashed apart, torn to pieces, and utterly crushed in an instant!
The entire crowd erupted!
Everyone stood up, their faces filled with shock!
"What kind of speed is that?!"
"Is this the pinnacle of pure taijutsu?!"
"That's insane!!"
Even the proud, aloof Neji Hyuga's expression changed instantly. He stared fixedly at the arena, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Tenten gaped, completely dumbstruck.
The whole crowd was in an uproar, shaken to the core!
Gaara, who had seemed invincible only moments earlier, was forced to retreat and defend again and again for the first time, completely on the back foot!
For the first time, shock and panic appeared on his expressionless face!
Rock Lee gave his opponent no chance to catch his breath!
He moved like the wind, his fists and feet striking like thunder!
Countless chained attacks hammered down!
Afterimages swept across the arena!
At that moment, Rock Lee shone brighter than ever!
But Gaara's Sand Release was terrifyingly resilient. Against Chunin and Genin, its defenses were nearly invincible.
As time passed, the side effects of the Eight Gates Released Formation began to ravage Rock Lee's body.
His muscles tore, his bones and tendons ached intensely, and his stamina was exhausted.
His speed began to drop little by little.
At last!
Seizing a split-second opening!
The killing intent in Gaara's eyes surged!
The flowing sand erupted instantly!
His absolute defense transformed completely into a terrifying killing move!
An enormous wave of sand engulfed the arena with a roar!
Boom!!
A deafening crash rang out!
Sand and dust exploded into the air!
The fight was over.
The outcome was settled.
The winner-Gaara.
Rock Lee collapsed heavily to the ground, grievously wounded all over. His body was pushed almost beyond recovery, leaving him completely unable to fight.
He had lost.
But not a single person in the crowd dared to mock him.
On the Sky Screen, the other contestants' matches continued as usual, punches and kicks flying as ninjutsu clashed one after another.
But beyond the Sky Screen, everyone throughout the Shinobi World remained utterly fixated on the fight between Rock Lee and Gaara, unable to calm down for a long time.
Discussion swept across the entire Shinobi World, filled with amazement and bewilderment.
"I never imagined pure taijutsu could be this powerful without ninjutsu, genjutsu, or a kekkei genkai!"
"What was that move that made vapor pour off his whole body after he activated it? Some secret technique unique to Konoha?"
"That's ridiculously powerful. It's simply unbelievable!"
But nowhere was the shock greater than in Konoha itself.
At the Konoha Ninja Academy in particular, every teacher and student was utterly stunned, their faces filled with disbelief.
Normally, Rock Lee couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. He only doggedly trained in taijutsu, stubborn and hot-blooded, and his peers at school had always shunned and mocked him.
Everyone saw him as a dead last, an oddball. In private, they outright called him a dumbass.
Everyone thought Rock Lee was destined to be mediocre for the rest of his life.
But that one fight on the Sky Screen completely overturned everything they thought they knew.
That dumbass dead last, whom everyone had mocked, actually possessed the strength to overwhelm geniuses!
As Rock Lee watched his battered self lying on the ground in a sorry state on the Sky Screen, he felt no dejection over his defeat. Instead, his whole body trembled, his eyes reddened, and large, hot tears kept rolling down his cheeks.
He clenched his fists, raised his head, and shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice firm and burning with passion.
"I knew it! Hard work will pay off!"
"I'm not worthless! I'm a genius of hard work!!"
In a corner of Konoha, Might Guy was also streaming tears, trembling all over with excitement.
He thrust out a long arm and clamped it tightly around Kakashi Hatake's neck beside him with tremendous force. His eyes were red and overflowing with tears, filled with pride and emotion.
"Kakashi! Did you see that?!"
"That's my student! That's the student I trained with my own hands!!"
Caught in the chokehold, Kakashi's neck was squeezed tight. His entire face flushed red, his eyes kept rolling back, and his arms and legs struggled desperately. He repeatedly slapped Guy's arm, doing everything he could to break free.
"Let go... I can't breathe..."
But Might Guy, swept up in passion and immersed in emotion and pride, completely failed to notice that Kakashi was on the verge of suffocating. He continued speaking through his tears, his eyes full of conviction.
"I always believed in Rock Lee!"
"I knew long ago that someone who worked that hard could never be mediocre!"
"He's a one-of-a-kind, unparalleled genius who rose above everyone through hard work!"
Kakashi's eyes rolled all the way back, his breathing growing weaker and weaker as he furiously cursed inwardly.
Guys, can anyone relate?!
I don't know whether Rock Lee is a genius!
But if Guy doesn't let go soon, I'm going to die-Kakashi Hatake, the genius acknowledged by the entire Shinobi World!
Before you continue