"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."
Inside the hall, afterimages filled the air, the sound of air exploding was incessant, and occasionally the sound of fists and feet colliding rang out.
Whenever this happened, a violent airwave would definitely surge in the hall, blowing so hard that the spectators on the second floor couldn't open their eyes.
Jokichi didn't use ninjutsu. He stabbed the Sword of Protection into the ground in the center and fought Lee relying solely on physical strength.
Although not using full strength in a match is an insult to the opponent.
However, the gap between the two was simply too huge.
Even if Lee opened the fifth gate, he would only just surpass the speed of sound.
And Jokichi...
Although he couldn't reach supersonic speed relying solely on physical speed, he only needed to use the Body Flicker Jutsu.
Although one is a short-distance burst, has a distance limit, requires chakra consumption, and needs hand seals.
The other is enhanced physical strength, capable of continuous running, which is a huge advantage.
But with Lee's current physical fitness, if he opened the 5th gate, he would suffer full-body fractures just throwing one strike.
A single taijutsu compared to a wide variety of ninjutsu; the disadvantage was too great.
If Jokichi used ninjutsu with his full strength, the battle would end in an instant.
Not using ninjutsu was his respect for Lee's spirit of never giving up and never admitting defeat.
The battle was too intense.
The aftermath of their clashes plowed through the floorboards over and over again.
Neji unknowingly activated the Byakugan. Beneath the bulging, hideous veins, his face was full of shock.
When did that dead-last who constantly challenged him in the squad become so strong?
And that number one among the rookies, he's actually this powerful!
Might Guy unknowingly clenched his fists tight.
Although the battle hadn't yet determined a victor, when Jokichi displayed that inhuman healing ability, Lee had already lost.
Lee couldn't deal with that immortal-like healing ability.
If it were an ordinary person, one could still use the pain caused by the wounds to defeat the opponent mentally.
However, when Jokichi broke his arm earlier, his expression didn't change, nor did he break out in a cold sweat or anything.
He wasn't forcing himself to endure the pain; he was already used to it.
Trying to rely on pain to defeat the opponent mentally was fundamentally impossible.
Lee had no chance of winning whatsoever.
"5th Gate, Gate of Limit, Open!"
During the battle, another unparalleled airwave erupted from Lee, blowing dust everywhere in the arena.
Before everyone could see clearly, Lee stepped on the air, suddenly changed direction, and fiercely threw a punch at Jokichi.
This was his final strike.
His body had already reached its limit. Without opening the fifth gate, he wouldn't be able to continue.
Regardless of the outcome, this was his strongest strike.
It was the will and power he had accumulated through years of arduous training.
Moving at a speed surpassing sound, breaking through the air, he fiercely clashed his fist against his opponent's.
"Hidden Lotus!"
"Boom!"
A massive sound like an explosive tag detonating rang out, and layers of airwaves erupted.
Two figures flew out, one to the left and one to the right.
It was Jokichi and Lee.
In that clash of pure physical strength, neither gained an advantage. The right arms they clashed with both hung limply by their sides.
Clearly, both were broken.
However, Jokichi's arm recovered to normal while he was still flying backward.
"Boom!"
Both crashed into the walls, smashing out deep craters.
Jokichi walked out as if nothing had happened.
And Lee...
Although he tried to stand up, after several efforts, he didn't succeed.
Finally, he let out a breath and fainted on the ground.
"Winner, Sakakura Jokichi."
Gekko Hayate announced the winner of this match.
Jokichi, including all the spectators watching from below, breathed a huge sigh of relief.
This kind of high-intensity battle was mentally draining even for spectators.
And Jokichi was left with no choice.
Pure physical strength and taijutsu, this was already his limit.
If a victor still couldn't be decided, he would have had to resort to other methods.
Fortunately, the victor had been decided.
He pulled out the Sword of Protection stuck in the center of the arena and went to the second floor to watch the matches.
And Lee was taken to the hospital by the medical team.
After watching the wonderful performance of the two, a gratified expression appeared on the Third Hokage's face.
This new generation is truly formidable.
He could already see Konoha's future prosperity.
The exams continued.
The second match was a Kusa ninja against Shino, and Shino won without any pressure.
The third match...
The fourth match...
The fights below were in full swing, but Jokichi was indifferent.
He was checking the system's prompt log.
Earlier, when his hand touched Lee's blood, the system had issued a prompt.
It was just that he was fighting at the time and didn't hear clearly what the system said.
[Ding! Detected special material "Burning Hot Blood", can forge special item "Limiter Switch". Do you wish to forge?]
Although it didn't mention any relation to the Eight Inner Gates, when he saw the words "Limiter", Jokichi concluded it was an item related to the Eight Inner Gates.
Instantly, a wave of heat surged in his heart, and he no longer had the mind to watch the matches. He left the hall under the pretext of going to the restroom.
About five minutes later, Jokichi hid in the restroom.
After using the scouter to confirm no one was around, he directly chose to forge.
Instantly, an extra red bracelet appeared on his hand, with eight tiny buttons on it.
"Limiter Switch: This is a bracelet possessing magical power. It can open the Eight Inner Gates of the wearer's body."
"It really is an item to open the Eight Gates!"
Jokichi wore a "just as I expected" expression.
Although Lee could only open 5 gates now, that was only because his body couldn't meet the requirements to open higher gates.
As long as one gate of the Eight Inner Gates is opened, it means the forbidden jutsu has been successfully mastered. As long as the requirements to open a gate are met, they can be opened successively.
Just like Might Guy and Might Duy.
They only opened the 8th gate once in their lives, but they already knew how before opening it.
Ninjutsu doesn't require being used to be mastered.
Therefore, even if Lee could only open 5 gates now, the item forged from his blood could also open 8 gates.
Without hesitation, Jokichi put the bracelet directly on his wrist.
The bracelet automatically tightened to fit his arm. Out of the 8 buttons on it, six turned blue and two turned red.
This was telling Jokichi that his current physical fitness could only support opening 6 gates. If he forcibly opened the 7th and 8th gates, his body would explode.
Although the perfect Sage Body's healing power would allow his body to recover quickly.
But being unable to withstand the power rendered it meaningless.
Jokichi patted the bracelet and returned to the hall contentedly to watch the matches.
Time passed bit by bit.
Three hours later, the preliminaries finally ended.
The winners included Sakura and missed Dosu, but otherwise, there were no changes from the anime.
Sakura's opponent was still Ino.
However, Ino didn't like Sasuke like in the anime, so her relationship with Sakura was very good.
But, because of Sasuke graduating early, Sakura thirsted for strength. Both her mindset and strength had changed greatly compared to this point in the anime.
Ino, however, hadn't changed.
Therefore, in the duel between the two, Sakura emerged victorious.