Hozuki Suigetsu's arm suddenly lost strength, and Lee took the chance to land a strong kick on him, trying to use the force to jump back a bit.
But the moment his kick landed, Suigetsu's body turned into rippling water, wrapping around Lee's lower leg.
It looked like Lee had kicked straight through Suigetsu's body.
"Huh?!"
"What kind of weird ninjutsu is this?"
"No wonder he said you couldn't hit him earlier."
A bunch of students sitting on the railing began whispering to each other. Suigetsu's ability clearly wasn't something you saw every day.
In fact, to them it almost felt like he was cheating.
Gaara narrowed his eyes, looking thoughtful.
This fighting style was different from Kimimaro's. Before, he only wanted to challenge that quiet guy, but now it seemed like this loudmouth wasn't weak either.
Lee frowned slightly. He had never fought someone this slippery before.
The guy was like a soft, squishy slime, constantly getting in his way—but no matter how he tried, he couldn't land a hit.
If he wanted to win with speed, he had to figure out the conditions for Suigetsu's water transformation.
Lee didn't back off. Instead, he stepped in closer and aimed a heavy stomp at Suigetsu's chest. Suigetsu had been leaning in to attack, but quickly spun around and blocked the kick with a kunai.
Lee took that chance to pull his other leg out from Suigetsu's belly. That feeling of kicking *through* a person was still kind of strange.
Lee instinctively took two steps back, worried Suigetsu would pull another trick.
Then, his foot slipped on some water left behind from Suigetsu's clone earlier.
Suigetsu dashed in with a kunai in hand.
"So that puddle was for this moment?!"
Sakura suddenly realized—an area full of water was bad news for someone like Lee who relied on taijutsu.
It basically got in the way.
Since taijutsu meant lots of fast movements, having water on the ground made it easier to slip and leave an opening.
Hatake Satoru raised an eyebrow. If the water was just to make Lee slip, then it seemed a bit overkill.
Suigetsu wouldn't waste a whole water clone just to make someone fall.
"He's probably planning to hide in all that water~"
Satoru said casually.
Kakashi glanced sideways at Hozuki Mangetsu. Mangetsu didn't say anything—seemed like he was already silently agreeing with Satoru's guess.
"If that's true, then he's at least got some sense for setting up a battlefield."
Kakashi raised his little yellow book and peeked down at it.
"After all, stuff like our Hidden Mist Jutsu is all about creating the best environment for us to fight in."
"Before a battle, we always adjust the terrain to our advantage."
Mangetsu said with a hint of pride.
This kind of setup technique was probably something Kirigakure ninjas were most known for.
"Oh, speaking of that—why didn't Suigetsu use Hidden Mist Jutsu?"
"Isn't that usually your go-to move at the start?"
Satoru scratched his chin, curious. The fight had already reached this point—using Hidden Mist wouldn't be strange at all.
Kakashi, having fought Zabuza and Haku before, also noticed this but didn't feel it was the right time to ask. He just kept thinking quietly to himself.
"Oh, because it would mess with the audience's view. If the whole place is covered in fog, no one would be able to see anything."
"I talked to the Hokage about it before, and we agreed not to let them use Hidden Mist Jutsu here."
"Yeah... I think that's what was said. The Hokage also said something about not turning the place into an assassination zone or whatever."
"I don't remember exactly, so I didn't think much of it."
Hozuki Mangetsu turned his head slightly and cheerfully said to the two people beside him.
Things like this—rules or requests—he just ignored them. Juzo Biwa and Shisui would handle them anyway. He'd hear it with one ear and let it out the other.
Saying people from Kirigakure couldn't use Kirigakure no Jutsu just to keep things "entertaining"? That rule was totally ridiculous.
Without that jutsu, Hozuki Suigetsu and the others weren't even fighting at full strength against the students!
"Well, I guess it's not a big deal."
Hatake Satoru took a deep breath and didn't push the issue any further.
*Cling.* A sharp sound rang out.
Lee's clothes were barely cut open by a kunai, while Hozuki Suigetsu slammed hard into the ground...
Lee had just dodged the hit with lingering fear in his heart. He rolled backward a few times and crouched on top of a nearby building, looking down over the battlefield from above.
Gone.
Aside from water splashed everywhere, Suigetsu's body had completely vanished after missing his attack.
"...Where is he?"
Sakura looked around, stunned. There was no sign of Suigetsu on the empty patch of ground.
Most of the students started murmuring in confusion. How could someone just disappear mid-fight? What kind of weird trick was that?
Naruto was leaning over the railing, stretching his neck to look down as he muttered non-stop.
"I clearly saw him miss! So why did he just disappear?"
"This power is weird. Not super strong, but it's really annoying!"
And don't forget, earlier Lee had even knocked Sasuke down. If Guy hadn't jumped in to stop it, Sasuke might've taken a full Lotus.
Now, after all that fighting, Suigetsu had suddenly pulled a disappearing act.
"He's in the water. Remember when we went to the Land of Waves? Didn't Kirigakure ninjas hide in the water and ambush us?"
"He's been trying to make everything around him water from the start. Now no one knows which puddle he's hiding in."
Sasuke frowned as he stared at the calm ripples below the railing.
*Splash.*
Suigetsu suddenly popped his head out from one of the puddles. He shook the wet hair sticking to his face and gave Lee a smug, taunting smile.
"How about this? I'm right here, you know!"
Just looking at his head sticking out, it was hard to believe his whole body could fit inside such a small puddle of water.
That's the scary thing about unfamiliar water-style techniques—soft but still powerful.
It was like playing whack-a-mole. Even though he was young, Suigetsu had total control over his abilities.
It might have looked like he was on the back foot, but really, the fight was even—and Lee was the one being dragged along by his rhythm.
Lee had to break out of this situation where he was just reacting. Only defending and landing useless hits wasn't going to win this fight.
Guy looked seriously at Suigetsu's smirking face, then turned and shouted to Lee, who was about to dive in again.
"Lee! Take off your weights!"
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