"Rock Lee? What are you doing?" he asked, as the boy stopped right in front of them, looking at him with fiery passion.
"Sasuke Uchiha, I challenge you to a duel!" Lee shouted, catching Sasuke by surprise.
"A duel?" He blinked, not understanding what was going on.
"Yes, I want to measure my skill against that of the Uchiha clan," Lee explained.
Sasuke knew about Lee thanks to Neji, someone he often sparred against back in the Hyūga clan compound.
And he suspected that Lee knew about him from the same source.
Though he had to admit, Neji's description of Lee didn't do him justice; he was far stranger-looking than described.
And the outfit he was wearing?
Truly... Sasuke didn't know how to describe it himself.
But one thing was for sure: he wouldn't be caught dead wearing something that ugly.
"I don't know; we have to get to the exam," he said, though he was a little interested. He had never heard of someone using pure taijutsu at Lee's level; it was rare for someone to be so specialized.
"Come on, Sasuke, we don't have time for this," Sakura complained, and Sasuke agreed.
It wasn't worth wasting time on this.
"Sorry, we don't have time for this." He tried to refuse, but Lee clearly wasn't having it.
He suddenly reached out, grabbing Sasuke by the arm and holding him in place with surprising strength.
"I don't care; you are going to accept my challenge, and you are going to fight me here and now!" he stated with certainty.
Sasuke couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that. "Alright then, but if you are going to waste my time like this, I won't hold back," he warned.
"I wouldn't expect you to. I know that you are going to do your best to crush me, but I will not falter," Lee stated confidently.
"Sasuke, stop fooling around!" Sakura complained again, but this time, Sasuke wasn't listening.
If the idiot wanted to fight, he would give him a fight.
Moments later, they stood in an open, empty hall, facing one another, with four very reluctant teammates standing on the sidelines.
"We don't have all day, so get it over with," Neji said, clearly embarrassed at his own teammate's behavior.
"Fine, then I will start," Sasuke said, his hands moving into the basic stance of the Uchiha style.
His eyes glowed with power, his blood boiled with the thrill of battle, and his feet moved in an instant.
In a single moment, he was gone from his position, reappearing behind Lee.
But Lee's body moved on instinct, spinning on his feet and aiming a kick right at Sasuke's head.
It was fast, far faster than he had expected, forcing him to lean back, and even then, he got hit in the nose, sending him stumbling back.
He quickly regained his balance, and with his Sharingan still active, he saw that Lee was already moving to attack once more.
In a flurry of blows, Lee pushed Sasuke back, leaving him no chance to counterattack, no way of regaining the initiative, as he was forced onto the defensive.
Lee was fast, faster than even him.
And his taijutsu skills were polished, every movement efficient, no wasted energy, and always aiming for weak spots, trying to end the fight in a single strike.
Truly, this guy was a taijutsu specialist.
But no matter how good he was, that was all he had.
Sasuke might not be a match in pure taijutsu, but Sasuke was a master of both ninjutsu and genjutsu. If Lee thought he could win this fight without using anything else, then he was going to be in for a rude awakening.
With that thought, Sasuke stopped dodging and allowed Lee to attack.
And as he did, he brought his hands together into a familiar seal.
"Hōsenka no Jutsu!" he shouted, and just before Lee's fist connected with his face, a burst of fire exploded between them, sending Lee flying back.
Sasuke landed on his feet, unharmed, but ready for the next attack.
Only for it not to come.
Instead, Lee stood up from where he had landed, his clothes charred and his body covered in burns, but he was clearly fine.
"What? You don't like that I used ninjutsu? But I'm a shinobi, and we use everything we can to win," Sasuke taunted him, a little disappointed with how the fight ended.
"Indeed, Sasuke Uchiha, you are correct. A true shinobi uses everything he has. And I had hoped you would do just that, so that I could see the power of the Uchiha's Fire Style for myself. You did not disappoint me," Lee said, a smile on his face.
Sasuke was taken aback by the statement. What kind of person was this guy?
Clearly, he was a moron, just like Naruto, but one with a twisted sense of right and wrong.
"And so, I too will get serious. Guy-sensei told me not to use this move... but it would be disrespectful not to use it. So I ask you, Uchiha Sasuke, please, dodge my next attack!" Lee stated with a serious expression.
Sasuke didn't know what was coming, but he could feel it in his bones. Whatever it was, it was dangerous.
Yet, before Lee could unleash whatever he was planning on using, someone interrupted them.
"Lee, what are you doing? The exam is about to begin," a man wearing a similar green bodysuit asked, stepping between them.
Sasuke noticed that he was holding a watch, so he realized it was time to go.
"Guy-sensei!" Lee called out, surprised by the arrival of his teacher.
He turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke Uchiha, let us end it here for now, but I promise you, we will finish this someday," he said, before turning to leave, following his teacher.
Sasuke let out a breath, calming his pounding heart, and allowed his Sharingan to fade. "What was that about?" he asked himself.
"I don't know, but we have to go, or we will be late," Sakura told him, and he remembered that she was right.
"Let's go then," he said, and the two of them ran for the stairs, leaving the Hyūga team behind.
They made their way to the room listed on their papers, only to find Kakashi-sensei waiting inside.
"Sensei?" Sakura asked, confused.
"You three sure are cutting it pretty close, aren't you? But at least you all showed up on time," Kakashi said, reaching out to get their papers.
He quickly stamped them and gave them another one. "Now get going; your exam is right up the stairs. Good luck," he told them.
The three nodded and quickly ran up the stairs.
They opened the door to the exam room, finding dozens of people already inside, and a man waiting by the door.
Sasuke quickly handed over the paper and entered, looking around for an empty spot, only to be interrupted.
"So you guys are here as well, eh?" Kiba Inuzuka, one of his classmates from the Academy, said as half their old class came over.
"This is going to be easy," he said with a grin, clearly overconfident in himself.
"I wouldn't say that," Sasuke said, looking around at some of the other Genin inside.
There was a clear divide between the teams from the great villages and those from the lesser ones, but even among the lesser ones, there were a few that stood out.
And then there were the Sand trio, who stood out the most, their leader exuding a presence that said he was dangerous.
This exam was not going to be easy, not by a long shot.
But while he wasn't the only one who realized this, that didn't mean there weren't those who were a bit too sure of themselves.
Kiba was among them, and he was loud, hitting it off with Naruto, who was equally loud, drawing the entire room's attention to them.
"You guys should try to keep it down; you are drawing a bit too much attention," a Konoha shinobi helpfully offered. He wore glasses, had grey hair, and looked harmless enough.
Not that Sasuke relaxed his guard; after all, looking harmless could simply be a mask.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked rudely.
"Ah, I'm Kabuto Yakushi, nice to meet you," the boy introduced himself.
"And why should we listen to you?" Kiba asked, not impressed at all.
"Heh, you are Konoha Genin, right? I heard you started just last year, but I'm not surprised you don't know who I am. After all, I've been taking the exam for the past few years," Kabuto explained.
"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked.
"Just to gather information, you see. I have a few cards here," Kabuto said, pulling out a deck of cards from his pocket. "With information on every person that took the exams since I started, I'm happy to share a little bit of that info, but it isn't cheap," he added, clearly planning to make a deal.
Sasuke understood his angle; he was selling information to Genin who were taking the exam for the first time, but he didn't trust him.
After all, how much worthwhile information could a Genin possibly have?
"You really gonna charge your fellow villagers?" Naruto asked, this time almost sounding shocked at the very idea of someone charging others for his services.
Kabuto was clearly shocked by the unspoken accusation and had little choice but to walk it back a bit. "Well, that's true. As your senior, why don't I let you have a few for free?" he offered, shuffling the deck.
Sasuke thought it might be worth it to see what he had to offer, but Naruto was too impatient. "Alright, give me info on Uchiha Sasuke!" he said, causing everyone to turn toward Sasuke, who was less than pleased with the blond.
He gave him a dark glare, but Naruto didn't seem to care.
Kabuto also gave him a look before pulling out a card. "Sasuke Uchiha, 13 years old, missions: 47 D-rank, 4 C-rank. Graduated the Academy with top grades, considered Rookie of the Year," he began reading.
But as he did, Sasuke realized that the information was correct, which meant this Kabuto knew his stuff, unless he was lying, but he didn't seem like it.
He even knew the details of three of those C-ranked missions, which were only C-ranked on paper.
"Interesting," Sasuke mumbled. "What about Gaara of the Sand?" he asked, clearly interested in the boy he had seen not long ago.
"Oh? You heard of him? Well, this is interesting. Gaara of the Sand, 12 years old, missions: 20 D-rank, 11 C-rank, 17 B-rank," Kabuto said, drawing out a shocked reaction from the crowd.
Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat. B-ranked missions? At 12 years old? And he wasn't even a Jōnin?
No wonder he felt so dangerous.
"1 A-rank mission," Kabuto continued. "And... he has never been hurt on any of his missions, not once," he added, and the crowd gasped.
"You mean not even a scratch?" Kiba asked, clearly finding that hard to believe.
"That's right, not a scratch, which means he is far stronger than me. He is dangerous; you should stay away from him if you can. I would say that he has to be the strongest person here," Kabuto explained, earning himself some murmurs from the crowd.
"What about her?" Sasuke asked, as he spotted someone else he knew in the room, someone who shocked him greatly.
Because sitting over there was none other than Karin Uzumaki, the student of none other than Kaguya-hime. She had been with her last time he saw her, but now she was here.
And that was shocking, because Kaguya was a rogue shinobi, so how could her student be taking the Chūnin Exam here?
It was all very confusing.
"Karin Uzumaki, 13 years old. She is here as a shinobi from Amegakure, but there is no information about her, which is strange. I've never met her before," Kabuto admitted.
Sasuke nodded, this time not doubting his words.
The fact that she was here as a shinobi of Amegakure alone was shocking enough, and it raised more questions than it answered.
But one thing Sasuke was sure about was that, when he met her a few months ago, she wasn't an Ame shinobi.
So... why was she one now? What had changed? And what was Kaguya-hime's connection to Amegakure?
(End of chapter)
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