Naruto sprinted forward in a rage, only to be intercepted mid-way by Lee.
"You!" Naruto glared at Rock Lee, bewildered.
"I understand your feelings perfectly, Naruto..." Lee said, his gaze firm. "But a victory should be settled in a formal match. Can a failure defeat a genius through sheer hard work? Isn't that a match worth waiting for?!"
Lee turned his eyes toward Neji. "Besides, there is a high chance his opponent will be me! Even if my final opponents end up being you or Kanon, there will be no regrets!"
Naruto grit his teeth, finally abandoning his plan to attack Neji. He walked back to Kanon's side, his face dark. "Kanon, if you end up facing him, you have to give him a real thrashing!"
"Don't worry," Kanon nodded. "That's exactly what I intend to do."
As they spoke, Lee and Guy began their usual display of over-the-top "Youthful" energy on the side.
Suddenly, a medical emergency broke out. Hinata had gone into cardiac arrest, her heart suffering from ventricular fibrillation. Medics rushed in to perform emergency resuscitation. Naruto watched as Hinata was carried away on a stretcher. He knelt down silently, dipping his fingers into the blood Hinata had left on the floor.
When he stood back up, he looked directly at Neji Hyuga and made a solemn vow: "I will definitely defeat you!"
At this point, only four contestants remained: Choji Akimichi, Dosu Kinuta, Gaara, and Rock Lee.
Before long, the electronic scoreboard flickered to life, revealing the next pair.
Rock Lee vs. Gaara!
The moment the names appeared, sand swirled violently in the center of the arena. Gaara materialized from the grains, crossing his arms and standing perfectly still. "Come down."
Nearby, Lee and Guy exploded with "Youthful" fervor once again. With a roar of "Youth!" from Guy, Lee's blood began to boil.
"Alright! Go for it, Lee!"
"OHHHHH!!!"
Lee leaped down, landing in front of Gaara and dropping into his combat stance. "I didn't expect to face you so soon. I'm actually thrilled!"
Gaara remained silent for a moment, staring at Lee with cold, hollow eyes.
"Now, the ninth round..." Hayate Gekko announced. "Begin!"
The moment the match started, Gaara uncorked his gourd. Not wanting to be on the defensive, Lee lunged forward with a feint!
"Leaf Hurricane!"
The kick was heavy and powerful, yet it was effortlessly intercepted by a floating wall of sand. Faced with Gaara's icy stare, a wave of yellow sand surged toward Lee like a predatory beast. Lee flipped backward, narrowly avoiding the grasp of the sand.
The Leaf Hurricane didn't even work...
Lee realized that the sand surrounding Gaara was like an iron fortress. He needed to increase his speed immediately.
"Is that... sand?" Sakura asked, puzzled.
"Is his gourd filled with sand?!" Naruto was equally surprised.
"A strange ninjutsu," Kakashi observed seriously.
Kanon remained silent, her eyes fixed on Lee below. She knew this guy's hard work went far deeper than a simple kick. She remembered the time Lee had unwrapped the bandages on his hands; a sudden realization hit her—he was going to do that.
The tide of battle shifted rapidly. Lee charged at Gaara again, his movements becoming swifter, more precise, and increasingly violent. Yet, no matter how fast he moved, the sand automatically intercepted his strikes just before they could touch Gaara's skin.
The other ninja in the stands held their breath. They could see the immense challenge Lee was facing. As time passed, Lee's attacks seemed to lose their momentum. He couldn't break through the ultimate defense, and the sand he managed to scatter would simply reform instantly.
The ground isn't working? Then I'll take to the air!
Lee leaped high into the air, hurling three shuriken at Gaara's main body. They were swatted away by the sand like flies. It was completely futile.
"Lee's high-speed Taijutsu is useless..." Sakura swallowed hard, her eyes wide.
"What is going on?!" Naruto frowned.
Kanon watched the battlefield in silence, offering no comment. Nearby, the battered Kankuro explained to the group: "Physical attacks are useless against him. Gaara doesn't even have to control it; the sand forms a protective shield automatically. Because of that, no one has ever been able to wound him..."
Kanon let out a small smile. She turned to Kankuro, whose face she had personally bruised, and whispered softly, "Then today, he might just get hurt."
"Kanon Uchiha..." Kankuro grit his teeth. Looking at Kanon's exquisite and cute face, his own face flushed slightly for a moment. She was simply too beautiful. However, because of his face paint, Kanon couldn't tell he was blushing; she just thought he was being stubborn. She chose to ignore him.
Below, Lee grit his teeth in frustration. His opponent was just standing there, doing nothing. While Lee was thinking, Gaara pointed at him.
"Is that all you've got? Make me feel it... the blood I want... it's still not enough."
As he spoke, the sand beneath Gaara's feet shot out, grabbing Lee by the leg and slamming him against the wall. Lee stubbornly climbed back to his feet, continuing his assault, but just like before, every blow was blocked by the sand.
Kanon's brow furrowed. If he knows that move, why isn't he using it?!
Sakura voiced her own doubt: "What is Lee doing? Why is he only using Taijutsu? In this situation, he should keep his distance and use Ninjutsu!"
Might Guy crossed his arms and revealed a harsh reality to them. "It's not that he refuses to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. It's that he can't."
"No way!" Sakura and Naruto stared at Guy in shock.
"When we first met, he had nothing. He had zero talent..."
"That's... hard to believe..."
In the arena, Lee was being driven back by the sand. During one of Gaara's attacks, he backflipped onto the fingers of the massive hand-sign statue, looking down at Gaara from above.
"A shinobi who can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu is rare. So, to become a true ninja, Lee only had one path left." Guy looked back at Kanon, Sakura, and Naruto with absolute confidence. "That path is Taijutsu! And because of that, he will win!"
Kanon smiled, finally understanding Guy's plan. As expected, Guy shouted down to Lee at the top of his lungs: "Lee, take them off!"
"But Guy-sensei! You said I could only do that when I'm protecting those most important to me!" Lee shouted back in confusion.
"It's alright! I give you permission!"
Lee let out a jubilant laugh. He sat down and reached for his leg warmers, revealing heavy weights strapped to his shins.
"Those are..."
"They look heavy..."
Kakashi looked at Guy, somewhat speechless. "Is that kind of training even useful?!"
"I see!" Naruto realized.
"Kakashi-sensei, it's very useful," Kanon said softly. She reached down and unzipped her own shinobi boots, revealing weights that were similar to, or perhaps even heavier than, Lee's.
"Kanon... you have them too!" Both Kakashi and Guy stared in shock. Guy, in particular, was increasingly fascinated by the Uchiha genius; it seemed her hard work rivaled even Lee's.
"Yeah. I've been wearing them since I was seven..."
After the tragedy of her clan's massacre, Kanon's heart had been deeply scarred. But one goal remained paramount: becoming stronger. Only by becoming stronger could she find a slim hope of survival in moments like that. If it weren't for her and Konin's training, she would have died that night at the hands of the masked man. Thinking of the scene where Izumi was heartlessly killed, Kanon grit her teeth.
Down below, Lee didn't notice the commotion. He laughed to himself. "Great! Now I'll be much lighter!"
"Idiot, that's not something to be proud of! This daily weight is all you need to master!" Kanon shouted down to him.
"Right! I'll remember that!"
Temari of the Sand smirked. "So he just dropped a little weight. He still won't be able to keep up with Gaara's sand."
BOOM!
A massive explosion of sound echoed as the weights hit the floor, cratering the ground and sending plumes of dust into the air.
Naruto, Sakura, and Temari were dumbstruck. Kakashi turned his gaze back to Kanon.
"Kanon, yours..."
"They're about the same," Kanon muttered. In truth, the weights in her boots were currently identical to Lee's.
As the entire room stood in shock, Kakashi shook his head and looked at the man beside him. "You went way too far... Guy."