A/N: Check out the p.atreon for an early release of 40 chapters ahead.
https://www.p.atreon.com/MidNightTwist
Ps: Leave reviews and comments, thank you!
****************
In the days following his discharge approval, Rock Lee's hospital room became one of Konohagakure's most popular destinations.
His companions visited in an endless stream. Naruto, Sakura, Choji, Shikamaru, nearly all of his former Academy classmates came to see him.
They looked at Rock Lee, whose body remained wrapped in bandages, and listened to him recount the battle in what seemed like a casual manner. Their eyes filled with admiration and awe as he spoke.
The thick-browed dead-last who'd once been a laughingstock had somehow transformed into a hero they genuinely looked up to.
Rock Lee enjoyed this feeling, though not for the praise itself. He savored the thrill of the information gap he'd created.
Everyone assumed he was bedridden and immobile, that he'd need several months of careful recovery before returning to active duty.
But only he knew the truth. Under the system's influence, the torn muscle fibers throughout his body were being frantically reorganized and regenerated at an alarming rate, becoming even stronger than before the injury.
The sensation felt like soaking in a natural hot spring, with every cell in his body celebrating its renewal. It was more effective than any miracle medicine could ever be.
On the fourth night after his "near-death" experience, the last traces of muscle soreness finally disappeared completely.
Lee slowly sat up from his hospital bed.
He removed the cumbersome bandages one by one, revealing his bare chest, and walked to the window. Moonlight streamed through the glass, illuminating the contours of his physique. His muscles weren't particularly large or bulky, but the lines were distinct and cleanly defined, suggesting explosive power waiting to be unleashed.
He clenched his fist experimentally, feeling an unprecedented surge of strength flowing through his body.
'At least thirty percent stronger than before I opened the Fourth Gate.'
'Is this what happens through the cycle of destruction and reconstruction?'
A slight smile played at the corners of his lips.
'Training in the hospital is still too slow. I can't make any significant movements without drawing attention.'
His gaze drifted through the window toward Training Ground Three in the distance, barely visible in the darkness.
'That's my real gym.'
He moved quietly to the door and slipped out into the corridor.
A nurse on night patrol happened to pass by at that exact moment. When she spotted him, her eyes went wide with shock.
"Lee? Why are you out of bed? Get back in there right now! Your injuries..."
Her words died in her throat.
Right in front of her startled eyes, Rock Lee lowered himself smoothly to the floor and performed a perfect one-handed push-up. The movement was fluid and precise, showing no hesitation or pain whatsoever.
The nurse's mouth fell open in disbelief.
"I feel much better," Lee said as he stood and dusted off his hands, flashing her a bright, cheerful smile. "I just want to take a walk and stretch my muscles a bit."
Without waiting for her response, he strode confidently down the corridor and out into the night, still wearing his hospital gown.
The nurse remained frozen in place, her medicine tray slipping from her nerveless fingers and clattering loudly against the floor.
Training Ground Three was bathed in cool, silvery moonlight.
This was one of Konohagakure's most classic training facilities. Countless weathered wooden posts stood scattered across the open space, casting long shadows that stretched across the ground like rows of silent soldiers standing eternal watch.
Rock Lee inhaled deeply, breathing in the cool night air and feeling the power surging through his limbs with each breath.
The hospital air had always carried that sharp smell of disinfectant, making it difficult for him to feel truly comfortable or at ease.
Only here, on this land where countless drops of sweat and blood had been shed over the years, could he experience genuine freedom.
His gaze swept methodically across the training ground as he searched for a secluded corner where he could begin his evening warm-up exercises without being disturbed.
However, he stopped abruptly mid-step.
In the open space at the center of the training field, a figure was already moving rapidly under the moonlight.
White robes fluttered elegantly in the gentle breeze. Long black hair flew wildly with each precise movement.
The person's actions were swift and graceful, his palms moving with a unique, measured rhythm. Each strike seemed to stir and compress the surrounding air itself, creating waves of invisible pressure that rippled outward.
It was Neji Hyuga.
He was practicing the Gentle Fist technique alone, his Byakugan activated and glowing prominently in the darkness. His focus was so absolute and complete that it seemed as if the entire world consisted only of him and the empty air he was striking.
Rock Lee made no effort whatsoever to conceal his presence. He simply walked forward confidently across the open ground.
Neji, who was deep in the middle of his training routine, had clearly already sensed Lee's approach with his all-seeing eyes, but he didn't stop or acknowledge the interruption. Instead, his palm strikes became even more ferocious and aggressive. Each blow was accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound as it cut through the air, as if he were attempting to vent some powerful emotion through sheer physical exertion.
Only after completing an entire set of Eight Trigrams Palm techniques did Neji finally stop moving. He turned slowly and fixed Rock Lee with a cold stare, his Byakugan seeming to pierce straight through to Lee's very core.
"Rock Lee," his voice came out as cold and emotionless as the moonlight itself. "Why aren't you lying in your hospital bed waiting to recover? What are you doing here?"
His words were as sharp and cutting as always, filled with the condescending superiority of a natural genius looking down on someone he considered the class failure.
Rock Lee, however, didn't seem bothered in the slightest. His signature honest, open smile revealed a row of perfectly white teeth. "Lying in bed for too long makes my bones feel like they're rusting. I just wanted to get some exercise."
"Exercise?" Neji sneered, his eyes filling with undisguised mockery and contempt. "Just because you managed to survive one encounter through sheer brute force and reckless luck, do you actually think you can change your destiny? A failure is still a failure, no matter what temporary recognition you receive. Your fate was sealed the moment you were born without the ability to properly mold chakra for ninjutsu."
He couldn't forget the profound shock he'd felt several days earlier when the ANBU operative had read out Lee's official commendations in front of everyone.
A worthless fool in his eyes, someone who only knew how to throw himself at problems with raw physical strength, had actually received honors that even Neji himself had never been awarded.
This created a small but significant crack in his seemingly perfect philosophy of fatalism and predetermined destiny.
That was precisely why he'd come here so late at night, using frantic solo training to reinforce his beliefs and prove to himself that there remained an insurmountable gap between himself and the Academy's dead-last.
"Yeah, I'm definitely the dead-last," Rock Lee agreed immediately and without any hesitation.
To Neji's complete surprise, Lee nodded along with his assessment.
His smile remained unchanged and genuine, but his eyes held a depth and determination that was difficult for others to fully perceive or understand.
"It's precisely because I'm the worst that I have absolutely no way out. I don't have the luxury of options like a genius such as yourself, someone who was born with everything already handed to them." As he spoke, Rock Lee began casually cracking his wrists and rotating his ankles, loosening up his joints.
"Therefore, I can only work a hundred times harder, a thousand times harder than everyone else just to keep up. Every single training session is a direct challenge against the destiny people say I'm trapped by. This feeling of constantly putting my life on the line is something a natural genius like you will simply never understand or experience."
After delivering that statement, he stopped looking at Neji entirely.
Instead, he turned around to face one of the thick training posts, easily as wide around as his own waist.
The next instant, without any warning or buildup, he moved.
BANG!
A deep, resonating impact exploded through the silent night air.
Neji's pupils contracted sharply in shock.
Rock Lee's entire figure moved so impossibly fast that he became nothing more than a green blur. His right leg lashed out like a steel whip, striking the wooden post with devastating force concentrated into a single point of impact.
This wasn't just an ordinary kick executed with simple strength.
Neji's Byakugan could see everything with perfect clarity. The moment Rock Lee's leg made contact, every muscle fiber tensed and compressed simultaneously, channeling and focusing all available power into that precise point of collision.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
A rapid series of devastating kicks rained down on the exact same spot on the wooden post, each one landing with mechanical precision. The assault resembled an unstoppable storm of violence.
Each individual blow caused the incredibly hard and durable training post to groan and creak in protest under the punishment.
Neji could actually see with his Byakugan that countless hairline cracks were rapidly spreading outward from the impact point like a spider's web.
'What kind of power is this?'
'Is this really the same person who was lying in a hospital bed just four days ago, diagnosed with complete muscle breakdown and barely clinging to life?'
'No, that's not right.'
'This power is even greater than what he demonstrated during his fight with Gaara in the Chunin Exam preliminaries!'
'His technique has been refined even further!'
CRACK!
With one final, crisp snapping sound, Rock Lee's kick split the thick wooden post completely in half.
The upper section of the post flew high into the air, tumbling end over end several times before crashing heavily onto the ground some distance away with a dull thud.
Rock Lee slowly lowered his leg back to the ground and exhaled a long breath of satisfaction. His face showed an expression of genuine, exhilarating pleasure.
He turned his head to look at Neji, who remained completely frozen in stunned disbelief, and showed that same honest, cheerful smile once again.
"See? With enough dedicated effort, even the worst student can kick straight through a training post."
Neji's throat worked as he tried to swallow, but he couldn't manage to produce even a single coherent word.
His Byakugan remained locked on Rock Lee, taking in every detail.
He could see the terrifyingly vigorous flow of blood and vital energy circulating throughout Lee's body. He could observe the explosive power contained and compressed within those muscle fibers. And even more disturbingly, beneath the few scars on Lee's body that had only recently healed, there was new skin tissue that appeared even more resilient and durable than before the injuries.
'Monster.'
The word surfaced in Neji's mind completely unbidden.
He'd always assumed that Rock Lee was nothing more than a hot-blooded fool who didn't understand his own limitations. He'd believed that Lee's efforts were ultimately nothing but a pathetic joke when measured against the absolute reality of predetermined fate.
But now, this supposed joke was systematically shattering his understanding and worldview time and time again in ways he simply couldn't explain or rationalize.
This wasn't mere luck or a temporary fluke.
That resilience, that seemingly supernatural power to recover and rise stronger from devastating injuries, it defied all logical explanation.
"You..." Neji's voice came out slightly hoarse and unsteady. "What exactly are you?"
"I'm just a fool who genuinely believes that hard work can surpass natural genius," Rock Lee interrupted him calmly, his tone remaining light and conversational.
He brushed some dust off his hospital gown and began walking toward a different section of the training ground.
"I won't disturb your training any longer, genius."
After taking several steps, he paused and glanced back over his shoulder at Neji, who still hadn't moved from his position.
"Oh, right. One more thing."
"Good luck in the Chunin Exam tournament finals."
With those parting words, he disappeared completely into the darkness without looking back, leaving Neji standing utterly alone in front of the broken training post. The moonlight cast his shadow across the ground, making it appear long and somehow fragile.
"Can hard work really surpass genius?"
Neji whispered the question to himself, staring down at his own palm.
These hands, publicly praised as the most talented in the Hyuga clan in over a century, now somehow felt weak and uncertain, as if they couldn't quite hold onto the beliefs he'd always carried.