Kimimaro flew faster than Kai and Lee, and the bone spikes in his palms pierced towards their feet.
"Li, watch out!"
Seeing the bone spurs protruding from Kimimaro's body, Kai realized they were likely very hard, and that striking them with his bare hands would probably injure him. He quickly extended his right hand towards Rock Lee.
Having trained with Kai for many years, Rock Lee had developed a rapid reaction speed and ability. Seeing Kai make this move, he reached out his left hand and grabbed him.
Kai exerted force, throwing Rock Lee into the air, while his own body flew downwards as a result.
Kimimaro passed between the two men, his attack missing its mark, but his momentum didn't stop. The bone spike in his palm broke, and he threw the bone as Kunai at the two men.
"Um?"
When Kimimaro turned around, he found that Guy and Lee had disappeared. Just as he was about to look for them, Rock Lee's voice came from behind him. " Konoha Whirlwind!"
It turned out that Rock Lee had already learned aerial footwork. As he passed Kimimaro, he stepped on the air, forcibly shifting his body's momentum, and charged forward again.
"Click!"
Just as the Konoha Whirlwind was about to strike Kimimaro, he remained calm. The bone spikes behind him moved, forming a layer of bone armor that blocked the kick, but he was also kicked to the ground by the immense force.
"Boom!" Kimimaro plummeted from the sky, crashing into the ground and creating a large crater. Smoke and dust filled the air, and his fate was unknown.
Might Guy had already landed and didn't attack rashly. Seeing that Rock Lee had succeeded in his attack, he was very happy. "Well done, Rock Lee!"
He noticed that Rock Lee's physique had suddenly improved recently. He was tireless during physical training, and his energy was beyond his own. He only taught him the moves and how to coordinate.
"Hahaha! What a powerful Taijutsu ninja! Die!"
Just as Might Guy was about to launch an attack, Jugo, now in his fully-formed Sage Body Jūgo, charged in from the other side.
Six cylinders spewing Chakra appeared Jūgo, spraying large amounts of Chakra at incredible speeds. At such close range, Guy didn't even have time to react.
" Sashingan!"
Jūgo threw a left punch, and three cylinders formed from flesh appeared on his left wrist, which boosted his speed once again.
"Not good!"
Kai crossed his arms, barely managing to block Jūgo's fist, but Jūgo's punch was so powerful that he didn't have time to use the momentum to jump away.
"Ha ha ha, turn into blood!"
Although Jūgo had gone berserk, Kimimaro's presence allowed him to retain some of his sanity, and he was still able to use combat techniques in this state.
Jūgo's speed increased rapidly, and Gai's body was pushed back and unable to escape.
"Boom!"
Kai and Jūgo charged into the depths of the forest, their powerful force shattering countless trees.
" Teacher Guy!" Rock Lee exclaimed in amazement at Jūgo's strength as he saw Kai being pushed away.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
Several whooshing sounds came from the large pit where Kimimaro was. Rock Lee felt a chill and subconsciously used aerial footwork to turn around.
"Such fast flight speed!"
As the smoke cleared, Kimimaro's fingertips slowly recovered, revealing that his earlier attack had likely originated from this process.
Rock Lee landed steadily, but had a shallow wound on his face with a trickle of blood.
Kimimaro looked at Rock Lee as he landed and praised, "To actually dodge my Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets in mid-air, kid, your Taijutsu is quite good. You're qualified to be my opponent."
Rock Lee wiped the blood off his face. "Phew! That was close. Luckily, I did some Firearm Ninja Tools training with Tenten beforehand, otherwise this would have been terrible!"
Kimimaro slowly emerged from the pit, looked at Rock Lee, and the muscles on his left shoulder twitched and then split open, revealing a scalpel. "Since you're so young, let me tell you a little. I have five dances in total. The one I used during the attack was the Dance of the Larch, and this bone sword is extremely hard. Combined with my Taijutsu, it's called the Dance of the Camellia. Now, use your full strength."
At this moment, Kimimaro had already pulled out his shoulder bone, which had formed a sharp bone knife at the head.
Rock Lee: "Thanks for the reminder! I will do my best!"
After saying that, Rock Lee assumed a fighting stance, ready to meet the challenge.
Kimimaro frowned. "Is this all you've got?"
Rock Lee raised his thick eyebrows. "That's right, I'm always at my full strength!"
At this moment, Kimimaro felt his strength waning and knew his time was running out. Without saying a word, he launched an attack. "Strange, why is my Chakra being consumed so much? Is it because my bodily functions have stopped?"
What Kimimaro didn't know was that Rock Lee now possessed Kisame and Samehada cells, allowing him to absorb his opponent's Chakra to replenish his own during battle.
Having activated the Rock Lee of Gate of Limit Lee reacted with lightning speed. "Since your bones are so strong, then I'll use Lightning Release, the most powerful thrusting technique, as my attack! Konoha Gale: Lightning!"
"Crack!"
Having absorbed Kimimaro's Chakra, Lee could now use Ninjutsu. Surprisingly, a large amount of lightning appeared around Rock Lee's body, which was enveloped in a blue aura, enveloping his entire body. Stimulated by the lightning, his speed increased dramatically once again.
Rock Lee vanished in a blur, and by the time Kimimaro reacted, Rock Lee's Konoha Gale had already reached him, his ribs protruding from his chest as a defense.
"So fast!"
"Click!"
To Kimimaro's surprise, the instant Rock Lee kicked his ribs, he felt a numbness in his body. It turned out that the Lightning Release had invaded his body at the same time as the kick, forcibly hindering his movements. Then, the force of Rock Lee's leg directly shattered the ribs he was using for defense, and the remaining force ruptured his internal organs.
"Puha!"
Kimimaro immediately coughed up blood and flew backward, then gently redirected most of his power in mid-air before landing.
Since both of them are Taijutsu -type ninjas, the amount of Chakra that Rock Lee absorbed from Kimimaro was not large, and he completely exhausted it after using the Konoha Gale.
Kimimaro wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Among the younger generation of Konoha, there is actually a master like you. Then I will have to use my full strength. Be careful, what follows is no joke, but a true dance of death!"
Kimimaro's Cursed Seal gradually spread, directly entering the Stage Two of the Cursed Seal of Earth. A massive amount of Natural Energy flowed into his body, and the damage to his internal organs was almost instantly restored to its original state. His body underwent a transformation, becoming a form similar to a Stegosaurus, with six huge bones protruding from his back and a tail covered in bone spurs.
Kimimaro pulled out his spine. "Boy, tell me your name."
Rock Lee straightened up. "Oh! I am the proud Blue Beast of Konoha, Rock Lee!"
" Rock Lee? I am Kimimaro, the strongest of the Sound Five. Then, let's finish this quickly!"
Kimimaro was already on the verge of death. Using the Cursed Seal at this moment would further erode his body. It could be said that as soon as he released this state, he would die on the spot.
"Yosh! I'm so glad to have your approval! Now I'll use the Taijutsu potion that Hongshi-kun gave me!"
Rock Lee pulled a fist-sized black pill from his ninja tool pouch at his waist, threw it into his mouth, and began to chew it.
Kimimaro: "(°ー°)..."
"(ー`´ー), the taste is weird... why does it have a... slightly intoxicating flavor!"
Kimimaro: "Hey! You haven't been scammed, have you?"
This was naturally the " Erguotou Pill " specially made by Hongshi for Rock Lee.
Rock Lee: "Hey! You bastard, what are you... uh... what kind of monster are you! And you even have a tail!"
Lord God: "Σ(ﾟ∀ﾟﾉ) Holy crap, you got drunk in less than two seconds after eating that!"
Rock Lee's face was Red Eye, his eyes were glazed, and he was swaying as if he were about to fall at any moment.
" Eight Gates Released Formation - Seventh Gate of Wonder - Open!"
The Lord God: "I bet you won't die if you come to the Eight Gates, why don't you give it a try?"
Suddenly, like a ferocious beast, the steam around Rock Lee turned blue, and the surrounding air seemed to be repelled, as an unnamed wind blew onto Kimimaro's face.
"Die, monster!"
Rock Lee launched a charge and appeared in front of Kimimaro in an instant, throwing several punches.
" The Dance of the Clematis: Flower!"
Kimimaro's combat power was at its peak at this moment. He began to counterattack with the spine in his hand. Sometimes the spine in his hand transformed into a bone sword to thrust, and sometimes into a soft whip to lash out. It was unpredictable and dazzling. Meanwhile, Rock Lee completely disregarded his image and twisted into various comical postures to dodge the attacks. He even counterattacked in the gaps between his dodges.
However, in his Seventh Gate and Drunken Fist state, Rock Lee's attack pattern completely changes, becoming both offensive and defensive, with a significant increase in attack power. Kimimaro could not see through Rock Lee's attack pattern no matter what he tried; it was completely unpredictable, and he could only rely on his own superhuman reaction speed to attack and defend.
In just a few dozen seconds, the two had exchanged nearly a hundred blows. Kimimaro hadn't even touched Rock Lee's clothes, but instead had been hit by several punches from Rock Lee. Each punch shattered the bone armor on his body, causing him considerable internal injuries, and at the same time, he felt his Chakra being rapidly depleted.
Kimimaro never imagined that he would lose in Taijutsu to a kid who wasn't even an adult yet, and that the kid would only get stronger as the fight went on.
" Konoha Strong Fist Straight Punch!"
Seizing an opening, Rock Lee's fist struck Kimimaro's spine with tremendous force, shattering it instantly. He then accelerated his punch, unleashing a short-range strike that shattered Kimimaro's defensive bone armor.
Damn it!
Kimimaro coughed up blood and used the force to jump away, but he did not give up the attack. His fingertips split open, and he used the Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets again, shooting ten bone bullets toward Rock Lee.
Rock Lee made almost no unnecessary movements, twisting his body twice in place to dodge all the bone bullets.
Kimimaro, even at his strongest, was suppressed by Taijutsu. Under the influence of the Cursed Seal, he completely lost his mind, plunging his hands into the ground. "Kid, you are indeed strong. My Chakra is almost depleted, so... Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Seedling Fern!"
Just as Rock Lee was about to give chase, the ground suddenly shook.
"Click click click!"
Numerous white bone trees, as thick as trees, rapidly emerged from the ground and attacked Rock Lee. Their range and speed were so great that there was nowhere for him to hide.
"Ah!"
In his desperation, Rock Lee was pierced in the right shoulder by a white bone, causing a large amount of blood to flow out. At this point, he was seven-tenths sober and realized his current situation. He stepped forward, trying to use his aerial footwork to escape.
At this moment, Kimimaro withdrew his hands and walked directly into the white bone tree.
Just as Rock Lee thought he was about to leave the area of Dance of the Early Palace Gate, he suddenly felt a chill behind him.
Kimimaro merged with the bone tree and burst forth at the last moment before Rock Lee could escape. His right arm gripped a massive bone spear made of the hardest bone, and he thrust it forward with a fierce roar, "Hahaha, die!"
Rock Lee was caught off guard and pierced in the back by the bone spear. At the same time, the bone spear shattered, and his body flew downwards and crashed into the sharp bone tree. The steam from the Gate of Wonder on his body slowly dissipated.
Kimimaro, having delivered his final blow, was utterly exhausted. "Heh heh heh, no one can stop Orochimaru's advance! Let your blood stain my bones, serving as the curtain for my final act, pfft!"
Kimimaro coughed up his last mouthful of blood, falling through the air like scattered petals, finally reaching the end of his life. His body remained in the state of his final attack, as if time had stood still.
"Ouch! It hurts! It hurts!"
Rock Lee's body turned black at the last moment, as the Hongshi's Hardening Technique activated, blocking Kimimaro's final attack and saving his life.
I'm so tired.
At this moment, Rock Lee's physical strength was completely exhausted after the Eight Gates Released Formation ended. A strong sense of fatigue overwhelmed him, and he soon fell into a deep sleep.