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"Master Tsunade, please don't joke like that… Xiao Li will take it seriously."
Metkay forced a smile, his voice low and strained.
"I'm not joking," Tsunade replied flatly. "The spinal cord and nerve network are surrounded by countless shattered bone fragments. The damage is deep. With an injury like this, he can no longer perform shinobi duties."
"Even with surgery, there's a long recovery, massive risks… and only a 50% chance of success. If it fails—he dies."
Her words were calm, almost detached, making it hard to guess what she was truly thinking.
Metkay's face twisted in disbelief, struggling to accept the reality.
No one knew how elated he'd been upon hearing that Tsunade might return to Konoha—how he'd hoped, even dreamed, that Lee could be saved and rejoin the team.
Now that hope was crashing down. The higher the hope, the harder the fall—from heaven straight into hell.
"Don't listen to her, Li!"
Suddenly, Metkay shouted, pointing at Tsunade. "She must be an imposter! Using a transformation jutsu! Some villain in disguise—who are you really!?"
His emotions burst. He was desperate—denying reality even as it stared him in the face.
But Tsunade only cast him a brief, cold glance—one that erased any doubt.
"This can't be real!"
Metkay clutched his head in agony, his eyes hollow.
"Even Tsunade-sama… even she can't heal Xiao Li? Isn't she the greatest medical ninja in the world!?"
The training ground behind the Ye Dou estate had become the makeshift gathering place of Team Guy.
After receiving the news, Tenten and Hyuga Neji had rushed over—only to be met with a truth they couldn't accept.
"Because she is the strongest medical ninja, it's even more devastating."
Neji exhaled grimly.
They all turned to look at Li Luoke, who sat silently on a stone slab, motionless. No one could find the words to comfort him.
Even Metkay, normally a firestorm of passion, stood stiffly—fists clenched, lips trembling. The word "youth," usually spoken so proudly, couldn't leave his throat.
Just as Neji had said, it was precisely because Tsunade was the best that Lee's situation felt so hopeless.
Once a beacon of hope, Tsunade had now become the final verdict—the executioner's gavel.
"Give up."
Ye Dou finally broke the silence, voice firm. "Living is more important than anything."
A 50% chance—too low, a coin toss.
Success would bring joy. But failure meant death. Permanent, irreversible. No dreams. No future. Only darkness.
"Ye Dou…"
Neji tugged at his sleeve quietly, cautioning him with a glance.
Still, Ye Dou went on, "There's still life. Maybe today's medical jutsu can't cure you. But the future may be different. As long as you're alive… there's hope."
Rock Lee's hands balled into fists—then relaxed. Tightened again. Over and over.
Finally, he looked up at Ye Dou.
"…What would you choose, Senior Ye Dou?"
Ye Dou fell silent.
The choice was brutal—live as a cripple, or risk everything for a sliver of a chance to continue walking the shinobi path.
"If I fail… I die," Lee whispered. "But if I succeed—I can prove it. That even without ninjutsu or genjutsu, I can still be a great ninja. That's my ninja way. That's everything to me."
He wasn't like the others. Not like Ye Dou or Metkay, who had little aptitude for ninjutsu—Lee had none. At all.
Back in the Academy, his scores were worse than even Naruto's. He couldn't even perform the basic Clone Technique.
He'd always carried the labels: dropout, talentless, failure.
He had endured sneers and ridicule—but from those ashes, he'd forged his resolve.
To prove that even with only taijutsu, he could stand among true shinobi.
But now… even that was being taken from him.
"Li. Take the surgery. If it fails… I'll die with you."
Metkay's voice trembled with fury as he stepped forward, no longer silent.
"Sensei!?" Tenten, Neji, and even Ye Dou stared in shock.
"Do you know what you're saying?" Ye Dou asked sharply.
"Don't try to stop me." Metkay's eyes were blazing. "I'm completely clear-headed. If a man is to walk this path, he must see it through—even at the cost of his life!"
His words struck like lightning.
"Living in misery isn't true youth. That only brings pain."
"Li, as a man—stick to your ninja way to the end! You've never stopped working hard. You've never given up. And because of that, I believe in you."
"You won't die. And I won't either!"
A gust of wind blew through the trees, stirring their clothes and their hearts.
Everyone stood frozen, as if seeing Metkay—truly seeing him—for the very first time.
"Nindo… only a fool would die for it," someone murmured, but the resolve in Metkay's eyes silenced all doubt.
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[Extraordinary Promotion]
The next day, Metkay and Li Luoke went together to Tsunade.
They stood tall, unwavering, and asked her to perform the surgery.
Tsunade didn't argue. She nodded, and promised to use every ounce of her skill to increase the operation's success rate.
Grateful, the two bowed deeply.
After returning, Rock Lee resumed his training—burning with passion once more.
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