"Your speed's pretty good, but against my eyes, your moves are completely exposed, Lee."
Neji casually raised his arm and blocked Lee's attack with ease, making Lee's afterimage-speed completely useless.
Lee jumped back, eyes focused.
To beat Neji, he needed even more speed.
After a second of silence, he said in a deep voice, "Neji, I'm going to use *that* move. If you can't block it, you'd better give up now!"
"That move?"
Both of them were trained by the same teacher, and Neji thought he knew Lee very well.
But he had no idea what move Lee was talking about.
The Lotus?
No… it didn't feel like that…
"The Third Gate—Gate of Life, open!"
In an instant, blood rushed through Lee's whole body, his skin turned red, and the air around him surged. Green energy and blue chakra exploded out from him!
"He can already open the third gate?" Kakashi said in shock.
Might Guy stood with his arms crossed and a proud look on his face. "That's not all!"
"The Fourth Gate—Gate of Pain—open!"
"Nani!?"
Kakashi's eyes widened, full of disbelief. "Guy, don't you think that's too much? His opponent is your other student, remember?"
"I know,"
Guy's face turned serious. "But even so, Lee has a reason to go all out! Because Neji is the genius he's always wanted to surpass! Just like you!"
Someone with no special background and no natural talent as a ninja—his dream is to defeat a genius!
Lee, go for it!
And Neji... I'm sorry!
The moment Lee opened the fourth gate, he vanished from where he stood.
He moved so fast that even Neji's Byakugan almost couldn't keep up.
But even if the Byakugan barely managed to see him—it didn't help!
Because Neji's body simply couldn't react to Lee's speed anymore!
He was just too fast!
"Ugh!"
Neji was kicked into the air by Lee and let out a muffled groan.
Before he could react, Lee kept attacking him in midair at a speed far beyond anything a normal human could do.
It looked just like someone playing volleyball—hitting the ball over and over.
In the stands, Naruto watched Neji getting beat up and started thinking.
Maybe he could come up with a move like that too. And if he used it with his Glint-Glint Fruit powers, it would be even faster and stronger!
Even Might Guy's Eight Gates didn't reach the speed of light!
"Light Style: Evening Gale?"
...
"Neji, do you give up?"
Lee kept punching Neji while asking, but Neji stayed silent, glancing around as if trying to spot an opening in Lee's attacks.
But he couldn't see the future!
His Byakugan could track where Lee was at that moment, but not where he'd go next.
So it was useless!
And in this situation, he couldn't even use his best defense, the Rotation!
Seeing Neji stay quiet, Lee finally made up his mind.
"Fifth Gate—Gate of Limit, open!!!"
Neji had nowhere to run and took Lee's full-force punch head-on. He crashed into the ground, leaving a massive crater.
Boom!!
The ground cracked, and dust filled the air.
The entire arena was wrecked!
Silence.
The arena went dead quiet. Everyone held their breath, staring at the field, waiting for the final result.
A gust of wind blew at just the right time, clearing the dust and revealing what had happened.
Neji was down and not moving. Rock Lee stood in place, breathing heavily.
The outcome was clear!
"The first match is over! The winner—Rock Lee!!!"
"YEAHHH!!!"
As Genma Shiranui announced the result, the whole place exploded with cheers.
Everyone was shocked by Lee's power—and even more moved by his spirit!
Before the match, almost everyone had their eyes on Neji from the Hyuga clan.
Top graduate of the last class, born into a prestigious family—one of Konoha's strongest clans!
And yet, this genius was beaten by someone from a normal background. A guy who didn't know any ninjutsu or genjutsu—just taijutsu. A so-called loser had overtaken him and won!
It was incredible!
"So he really couldn't win?"
Naruto wasn't too surprised by the outcome.
Even though Neji was known as the strongest Genin at the time, once Lee opened the fifth gate, not even a Jonin from Konoha would have an easy time against him!
The only downside was how much it took out of him—after this fight, Lee would probably need at least a month to recover.
If it didn't have such a big drawback, people wouldn't hesitate to say Lee was already at Jonin level!
"Match five—Kankuro vs. Aburame Shino, come on down!"
After Neji and Rock Lee were carried off the field, Genma announced the next match.
Surprisingly, Kankuro chose to forfeit!
"What the hell? Those guys from the Sunagakure!"
"How could he quit at such a critical match? If I ever give a mission to the Sunagakure again, I'm an idiot!"
"Yeah, maybe all Sunagakure ninjas are cowards?"
"Screw you! Give us our money back!!!"
...
The audience was full of angry shouting, but none of it changed Kankuro's decision to give up.
"Since Kankuro has forfeited, the winner of the second match is Aburame Shino," Shiranui Genma said with a hint of annoyance.
"Next match—Hyuga Hinata vs. Temari. Come on down. I assume neither of you plans to give up?"
Temari did think about forfeiting to save her strength, but looking at those bloodthirsty nobles and Daimyo, she knew if she gave up now, she'd get cursed out like crazy.
And the Sunagakure's reputation would take a huge hit if they gave up again.
So after a short hesitation, she floated down riding her fan.
At the same time, Hyuga Hinata also walked into the arena.
This time, Naruto didn't say anything to her beforehand.
Temari's abilities were already fully exposed in her last match, so if Hinata was prepared, she should have come up with a way to deal with her.
Shiranui Genma breathed a sigh of relief when he saw both fighters step onto the field.
He was worried that someone might forfeit again. If that happened, it would make a mess of the whole tournament.
The Sunagakure might get labeled a coward village, and Konoha could get accused of rigging the matches.
If someone insisted that the Sunagakure's ninjas gave up because they were secretly paid off by Konoha, no matter how they explained it, those nobles and Daimyo might still think something shady was going on.
So it's best not to fall into a trap where you're trying to prove your innocence.
Whoever spreads rumors—just crush them!
"Alright then. The third round of the Chunin Exams... begin!"
Hinata and Temari didn't bother with trash talk. The moment Genma gave the signal, they started fighting.
Temari swung her fan and sent a Wind Style attack toward Hinata.
Hinata used her Byakugan to see through the move and dodged with a quick jump!
The battle started off evenly, with both sides matching each other move for move.
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