Sand swirled around Gaara like living shield protecting him from every strike.
Rock Lee moved with incredible agility circling his opponent looking for opening. He punched. He kicked. But every attack was met by wall of hardened sand.
"Useless" Gaara stood motionless arms crossed. "You cannot touch me. Mother wants your blood."
On balcony Uehara Naraku watched closely. His eyes tracked movement of sand.
"Automatic defense" Uehara analyzed. "Sand reacts to physical threats without Gaara's conscious command. It is ultimate defense against Taijutsu."
"Lee!" Might Guy shouted from railing giving a thumbs up. "Take them off!"
"But Guy Sensei!" Lee paused mid step. "You said only to take them off to protect someone important!"
"It is okay!" Guy flashed a blinding smile. "I give you permission!"
Lee climbed to top of statue fingers working on leg warmers. He unstrapped heavy orange weights from his ankles.
"Weights?" Temari scoffed. "Removing a few kilograms won't make a difference."
Lee dropped weights.
BOOM.
Ground shook. Dust clouds erupted as heavy weights smashed through concrete floor creating deep craters.
Temari's jaw dropped. "What..."
"Now I can move freely" Lee said.
He vanished.
It wasn't teleportation. It was raw physical speed. Lee reappeared instantly behind Gaara delivering a kick that bypassed sand defense.
Smack.
For first time sand was too slow. Gaara's head snapped back.
"He hit him!" Naruto cheered. "Go Bushy Brows!"
Lee didn't stop. He became a blur of green motion attacking from all angles. Sand struggled to keep up. Gaara was tossed around like ragdoll his armor cracking.
"Primary Lotus!"
Lee kicked Gaara into air wrapping him in bandages. They spun down like a drill crashing into floor with earth shaking impact.
Dust cleared.
Gaara lay in crater his sand armor shattered. But as Lee panted from exertion Gaara's face cracked falling away like pottery to reveal an unharmed face beneath. He had substituted himself with a sand clone at last second.
"Impressive" Gaara rose slowly sand reforming around him. "But not enough."
"He is a monster" Sakura whispered.
"No" Uehara corrected softly. "He is a tank. High armor high health pool. Lee needs armor penetration."
Lee stood up breathing heavy. He looked at Guy. Guy nodded solemnly.
"Gate of Opening... Open!"
Lee's skin turned red. Veins bulged on his forehead. Chakra erupted from his body violent and green vaporizing sweat instantly.
"Gate of Healing... Open!"
"Gate of Life... Open!"
Pressure in room became suffocating. Floor tiles cracked under Lee's feet.
"This is bad" Kakashi unveiled his Sharingan. "The Eight Inner Gates. He is pushing his body beyond its limits."
"Gate of Pain... Open!"
"Gate of Limit... Open!"
Lee disappeared completely. Even Uehara's Scrying Orb struggled to track him.
Air exploded. Gaara was launched upward by invisible kick. Then Lee was everywhere bouncing off invisible walls of air pummeling Gaara with speed faster than sound. Sand armor disintegrated. Gaara couldn't react. He couldn't think. He was just a punching bag suspended in air.
"Hidden Lotus!"
Lee delivered final blow smashing Gaara towards ground with force of a meteor.
CRASH!
Entire tower shook. Debris rained down from ceiling.
Silence filled hall.
In center of crater Lee lay on ground muscles torn bones fractured body completely spent.
Nearby Gaara lay motionless.
"Did he win?" Naruto asked hopefully.
Gaara's hand twitched.
Monster of Sand rose. He was battered bleeding and insane with rage. But he was alive. His gourd had turned into a cushion of sand at last moment softening impact.
"Die!" Gaara screamed.
He raised a hand. Sand surged forward wrapping around Lee's left arm and leg. Lee was too exhausted to move.
"Sand Coffin!"
CRUNCH.
Sickening sound of bone shattering echoed in hall.
"Sand Bur..."
WHOOSH.
Might Guy appeared in arena. He swatted away sand wave with a single backhand standing protectively over his student.
"That is enough" Guy said his voice dangerously low. "He lost. The match is over."
Gaara clutched his head trembling. "Why... why did you save him?"
"Because he is my precious student" Guy replied.
Gaara stared at them confusion warring with bloodlust. Finally sand receded.
"Winner: Gaara" Hayate announced.
Medical ninjas rushed in. They checked Lee and looked at Guy with grim expressions.
"His arm and leg are crushed" medic whispered. "Spinal damage too. He... he will never be a ninja again."
Guy froze. Tears streamed down his face.
On balcony Naruto and Sakura were crying. Even Sasuke looked shaken.
Uehara watched scene with unreadable expression.
[Hidden Mission Complete: Witness the Power of Youth.]
[Reward: Item Component - Cloth Armor.]
"Cruel world" Uehara muttered. "Talent versus Hard Work. And Talent won."
He looked at Gaara who was walking away holding his head.
"But Gaara is broken too" Uehara noted. "His absolute defense was breached. His pride is cracked. He is unstable."
Board spun one last time.
Match 10: Dosu Kinuta vs Choji Akimichi
"Last match" Uehara sighed. "Fat boy vs Sound guy."
Fight was short. Choji rolled as a human boulder. Dosu used sound waves to disrupt Choji's inner ear balance. Choji vomited and passed out.
"Winner: Dosu Kinuta."
"That concludes Preliminaries!" Hayate coughed violently. "Congratulations to winners. You will proceed to Main Tournament in one month."
Hokage stepped forward again.
"One month" Hiruzen said. "Use this time to train. Analyze your opponents. Prepare new strategies. Finals will be watched by feudal lords. Do not disappoint us."
He held up a box.
"Now draw a lot to determine your opponent for first round of finals."
Surviving candidates walked up one by one.
Naruto. Sasuke. Neji. Shigure. Temari. Kankuro. Gaara. Dosu. Uehara. Shikamaru.
Wait. Shigure?
Uehara realized Shigure had won his off screen match against a random Grass ninja.
"Great" Uehara thought. "My cannon fodder made it to finals."
He reached into box and pulled out a number.
Number 5.
Ibiki Morino wrote names on a large bracket board.
Round 1:
1. Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga
2. Gaara vs Sasuke Uchiha
3. Kankuro vs Shino Aburame
4. Temari vs Shikamaru Nara
5. Uehara Naraku vs Dosu Kinuta
Uehara looked at bracket.
"Dosu?" Uehara raised an eyebrow looking at mummified sound ninja. "Free win."
But there was a problem. In original story Dosu dies before finals killed by Gaara during break.
"If Gaara kills him I win by default" Uehara calculated. "But then I lose loot and experience."
He looked at Gaara who was glaring at Dosu with murder in his eyes.
"I might have to protect my prey" Uehara decided.
"Captain!" Shigure ran over holding his ticket. "I drew Number 6! Who am I fighting?"
Uehara looked at board. Since there were uneven numbers due to draws and double knockouts brackets were adjusted. Shigure was placed in a play in match or extra slot.
"Wait" Uehara checked board again.
Actually Shigure was matched against...
Shigure vs Gaara (Winner fights Sasuke in Round 2).
Uehara patted Shigure on shoulder.
"Write your will Shigure."
"What?" Shigure paled. "Why?"
"Because you are fighting the guy who just crushed rock into dust" Uehara pointed at Gaara.
Shigure looked at sand monster then at his umbrella. He fainted.
"Well" Uehara caught his falling teammate. "At least we have a month."
Hokage dismissed candidates.
"Go rest. Prepare. Konoha awaits your performance."
Uehara walked out of tower into bright sunlight of afternoon.
Konoha was bustling. Chunin Exams were entering final phase. Orochimaru was plotting invasion. Jiraiya was probably peeking at women in hot springs nearby.
"One month" Uehara stretched arms.
He had 2000 Gold. He had a month of free time.
"I need to buy Void Staff" Uehara planned. "Magic Penetration 40 percent. If I get that even Gaara's sand won't stop my cards."
He looked at Naruto who was pestering Kakashi for training.
"And maybe" Uehara smirked. "I should go meet the Toad Sage. I bet he has some interesting side missions."
Mastermind of Rain walked into crowds of Leaf ready to turn their training arc into his farming session.
.….
Author Note
Hi guys! Thank you for reading my fanfiction.
I wanted to let you know that I'll be releasing bonus chapters for Power Stones. Here are the goals:
15 Power Stones: 1 Bonus Chapters
30 Power Stones: 1 Bonus Chapters
50 Power Stones: 1 Bonus Chapters
75 Power Stones: 2 Bonus Chapters
100 Power Stones: 2 Bonus Chapters
Thanks for the support!