"It's already my turn? That was fast!"
"Watch me closely! I won't lose!"
Hozuki Suigetsu confidently made a gesture toward Haku and Kimimaro, then jumped off the railing.
"Is that overconfidence or just confidence...?"
Haku crouched beneath the railing, peeking through a gap. With Suigetsu's personality, he was bound to mess up one day. The only question was, who would be the one to humble him?
"This will be his first time fighting alone since we got here. Let's trust him."
"He might not be on our level, but don't forget, he's the younger brother of a Mizukage who could smile innocently while killing enemies."
Kimimaro leaned against the railing and glanced down.
Still, most Kirigakure ninja weren't suited for these straight-up, head-on fights.
Except for someone like Kimimaro, who could pull bones out and brawl face-to-face.
Suigetsu, on the other hand, was much better at sneaking out of puddles in the dark or in heavy mist and landing a deadly hit in one strike.
Even Haku used senbon needles—low damage, but extremely hard to detect.
These were the kinds of skills tailored for Kirigakure's needs.
Compared to Gaara's absolute defense, Hozuki Suigetsu was at the other extreme—you just couldn't hit him.
Both sides had their own unique style, and both were interesting.
Hatake Satoru watched with a grin as Lee jumped down from the railing.
"I didn't expect to face someone from Kirigakure in the very first match. This is exciting."
Standing across from Suigetsu, Lee raised a hand wrapped in bandages.
"I'm not good with big speeches, but you're not gonna land a hit on me! Let's get started."
Suigetsu rocked on his toes and looked over at Gekko Hayate.
No point chatting with strangers. During their earlier recon, they'd seen Lee in action once or twice.
Lee and the others seemed skilled in taijutsu and ninja tools.
But up to this point, Suigetsu hadn't met anyone who could take him down with just taijutsu.
"Suigetsu, huh… I don't really remember that guy. I don't think I've seen him fight before."
Naruto squinted like he was trying hard to recall. Back when Orochimaru showed up and those three from Kirigakure appeared, he was already passed out cold.
Sakura and Sasuke both remembered Kimimaro more—someone who could grow bones out of his body was way more threatening than Suigetsu.
"No idea what that guy's powers are."
But they couldn't underestimate Lee either. Before the written exam, Lee had fought Sasuke.
Even though he mainly relied on taijutsu and wasn't good with ninjutsu or genjutsu, he was seriously strong.
Even when Sasuke had his Sharingan activated, Lee nearly beat him to a pulp.
When it came to pure taijutsu, Sasuke's Sharingan didn't help much. It looked cool but wasn't doing much in reality.
His stamina also couldn't keep up—he might have been able to see Lee's moves, but he couldn't react in time.
"Alright then, match three—begin."
Gekko Hayate stood between the two with a blank face and swung his hand down.
At the signal, Lee charged straight at Suigetsu, putting all his strength into a high-speed kick.
"Leaf Hurricane!"
Splat.
Suigetsu's body burst into water, scattering all over the ground. The real him appeared in midair, pulled out a kunai, and slashed straight down.
"A water clone? He swapped out pretty fast, but honestly, it looks like he's just getting hit without doing anything."
Naruto, Sasuke, and the others had seen this trick before—Zabuza had done the exact same thing in front of them.
And if that water clone only had like a tenth of Suigetsu's actual power, then honestly... this guy didn't seem that tough.
Got kicked out just like that?
"Probably because his teammate's too strong and he doesn't have much skill himself."
"Isn't that guy who uses bones super strong anyway?"
Naruto squinted and glanced over at Kimimaro, who was standing by the railing not far away.
This time, Kimimaro wasn't acting distant or half-hearted. He had fully turned around and was watching Suigetsu below.
"I don't think it's that simple… but I don't really get what he's trying to do either."
If you're keeping up with strong people, you're probably not weak yourself. And this was still just the beginning.
Sasuke frowned as he kept his eyes on Lee and Suigetsu, who were moving quickly below.
Lee took a quick step back and caught Suigetsu's falling wrist.
"You're really slow. At this pace, there's no way you can beat me!"
············
"But your strength shouldn't be just this."
Compared to Lee, who's a taijutsu master, Suigetsu's speed felt like he was playing on fast-forward. It wasn't hard to deal with at all.
Even if he tried to stab downward with a kunai, there's no way he could hit Lee moving like this.
Lee then tried to swing Suigetsu away by the wrist he was holding.
"?!"
The moment Lee pulled, the flesh and clothes in his hand instantly turned into cold water, slipping right through his grip and falling to the ground.
Suigetsu's hand had melted at the wrist and dropped to the ground.
Most of the people in the stands couldn't see the details—they just saw a pale hand lying on the floor.
...
"His hand got cut off?!"
Tenten rushed to the railing and leaned over, eyes wide in disbelief.
"That's impossible. There's no way someone could rip off a hand just by pulling it like that."
Neji frowned as he looked at the two still facing off below.
The way the hand came off felt more like a trick. All Lee did was tug Suigetsu's wrist—unless he's made of glass, that shouldn't be enough to pull a whole hand off.
They knew something was off, but couldn't figure out exactly what.
"Yup… totally his style. Still trying to spook people at a time like this."
Hatake Satoru smiled slightly. The severed part of Suigetsu's wrist was facing their teacher's section.
But instead of blood, the "cut" surface was just rippling water.
Just as Lee looked down at the hand, Suigetsu flashed a row of sharp, pale shark teeth.
"Water Arm Technique!"
Suigetsu suddenly bulked up the muscles in his remaining arm, grabbed Lee's shoulder, and swung around behind him, locking him in a chokehold.
"My body can turn into water, you know."
"Trying to beat me with taijutsu? Not gonna happen."
He threw his arm forward, the one holding the kunai, and it flew back toward him, ready to reattach.
Lee, frowning from being choked, leaned back slightly. And just as Suigetsu was about to catch his kunai-wielding hand—
Lee suddenly leaned back hard and flipped Suigetsu straight over—head-first into the ground!
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