Shinju lowered his hand.
He no longer looked at Gaara. His attention had already shifted to the unconscious Rock Lee lying on the ground.
He raised his other hand and extended his index finger.
At the fingertip, a pure green light bloomed.
The glow wasn't dazzling, but its presence felt tangible, almost heavy.
Gaara stood where he was, unable to move. He could clearly feel that, the moment that green light appeared, Shukaku inside him fell into absolute silence.
A fear and submission coming from the very deepest layer.
The chakra inside his body was filled with hatred, slaughter, and the will to destroy.
But that tiny green light represented the opposite—creation, new life, and order.
They were two things that could never coexist.
Shinju bent down and gently pressed the light onto Lee's arm, which had been twisted into an unnatural shape, the bones shattered to pieces.
In that moment, Shinju couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.
If he hadn't been here, Lee would have been doomed to repeat the fate of the other timeline—months of rehabilitation, and only a desperate, high-risk surgery from Tsunade-sama to save him.
But with Shinju here, destiny wouldn't be allowed to walk the same path.
The green light spread at once, covering Lee's entire body.
What happened next was beyond the understanding of everyone present.
Lee's arm, bent at an inhuman angle, began to echo with a series of crisp, rapid clicks as his bones reset. The broken pieces aligned themselves beneath the skin; dislocated joints slipped back neatly into place.
Next, the horrific tears in his muscles—caused by pushing them far beyond their limits—filled with fresh granulation tissue at a speed visible to the naked eye. The ghastly wounds vanished, torn skin smoothing over until not even a scar remained.
His face, pale as paper just moments ago, quickly regained a healthy flush.
His short, shallow breaths grew steady, deep, and powerful.
The entire process took less than thirty seconds.
This could no longer be called medical treatment.
This was creation.
It was a complete remolding of a living being.
"Medical corps! Move!"
Only then did Hayate finally find his voice through the shock, shouting hurriedly.
Four ninja with medical kits on their backs burst from the contestants' tunnel, sprinting toward the center of the arena as fast as they could.
The squad leader at the front was seasoned and experienced. With a single glance at Lee's condition, his face turned extremely grim.
"Prepare a cardiac stimulant! Check his vital signs immediately! The aftereffects of Hachimon (Eight Gates) are catastrophic. His body functions—"
He didn't finish.
He was already at Lee's side. Green chakra flared around his hands as he prepared to use Shosen no Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique) to begin emergency treatment.
But the moment his palms touched Lee's body, he froze.
"Captain?"
One of the team members behind him called out in confusion.
The squad leader's hands were trembling.
The stern look on his face vanished, replaced by raw shock and bewilderment. He increased his chakra output and used his own medical ninjutsu to carefully examine every inch of Lee's internal condition.
His muscle fibers were intact—no, tougher and more elastic than before he opened the Gates.
His chakra network flowed smoothly. There was no sign of stagnation or damage anywhere.
His bones showed not the slightest fracture. The density was even, the structure flawless.
His internal organs were uninjured, brimming with vigorous life force.
"Impossible…"
The squad leader muttered unconsciously, his voice dry and strained.
"How is this possible… all the permanent damage from Hachimon (Eight Gates) is gone?"
He couldn't make sense of what he was seeing. It completely violated everything he had ever learned about medical ninjutsu.
"Even Tsunade-sama's Sozo Saisei (Creation Rebirth)," he thought, "requires the caster to sacrifice a large amount of their own life force, trading accelerated cell division for rapid regeneration. But this boy…"
Lee's life force hadn't diminished at all. On the contrary, it was even stronger than before the battle.
"How are the results?" one of the members asked anxiously.
The squad leader lifted his head, looked at his men, then turned to glance at Shinju, who stood aside with no change in expression.
In the end, he gave a conclusion that even he felt absurd as the words left his mouth.
"He… he isn't injured."
"What?"
"I mean, his current physical condition is in a perfectly healthy state. No—better than ordinary health."
"This isn't medical ninjutsu…" The squad leader stared at Shinju, his voice full of reverence. "This is… a miracle."
Gaara had seen and heard everything.
A miracle…
He had always believed that the ability to make sand move on its own to protect him and strip life from others—that was the kind of power only a god could have.
But now, he had witnessed a completely different kind of "god"…
One that could grant life and reverse death.
He looked at that boy—at the boy who, from beginning to end, never spared him a single glance, focusing only on the "enemy" he had just saved.
Why?
Why would he save someone who had just been fighting against him?
What was the meaning of power?
For the first time, Gaara's heart was shaken to its core.
The world in which he had always used killing to prove his existence cracked for the first time before that warm green light.
At that moment, Lee's eyelids trembled.
He opened his eyes.
His gaze was blank at first. Then he remembered everything that had happened before he passed out and immediately tried to sit up.
He looked down at his arm. At his legs.
They were completely fine.
He clenched his fists experimentally. Power surged through his hands.
He moved his joints. No pain at all.
Lee was utterly stunned. He had no idea what had happened. He remembered very clearly the agony of his body collapsing—there was no way he could have recovered without at least several months of rest.
"I saw your efforts."
Shinju's voice sounded beside his ear.
"A ninja who burns himself for his belief shouldn't wither away in a place like this."
Lee lifted his head, staring at the boy who looked only a few years older than him. He couldn't see through that gaze—it was too deep.
Shinju straightened up, no longer paying any attention to Lee or Gaara.
He turned toward the chief proctor and, in a voice loud enough for everyone in the arena to hear, delivered his judgment.
"From Sand, Gaara attempted to deliver a killing blow after his opponent had already lost the ability to fight, violating the rules of the match."
"In this bout, the victor is—Leaf, Rock Lee."
With that, he helped the still-somewhat-weak Lee to his feet and walked step by step off the arena floor under tens of thousands of eyes filled with awe, fear, and worship.
From beginning to end, he never once looked back at Gaara.
As if the ultimate weapon of Sand was not even worth his notice.
In the center of the arena, only Gaara remained.
He clutched his head and crouched down, feeling—for the first time—an emotion other than killing intent and pain.
Confusion.
(End of Chapter)
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