2/3

Genma looked on with a smirk of approval 'He used one of his Shadow Clones as bait and waited for a chance to take Neji down, even when he was getting his ass pounded into the ground he never stopped planning out his next move. He never lost any faith in his ability to win this match. Naruto knows on instinct that believing in yourself can give you the power to change your destiny, and on top of that he's got one hell of a left hook.'

"So you wanna do anymore preaching?"

Neji promptly coughed up a small amount of blood "I should've guessed you would use the Shadow Clone Jutsu, it's you're specialty after all. I grew careless and I let down my guard at the last moment."

Slowly, Naruto limped over to Neji "For the record, I failed the graduation exam three times because there was this one jutsu that was always on the exam and it tripped me up every time. It was the one jutsu that I just couldn't master. The fucking Clone Jutsu. So don't come whining to me with this destiny stuff, and stop trying to tell me you can't change what you are. You can do it to because unlike me you're not a failure, you're a genius."

Genma smirked and called it "The winner is, Naruto Uzumaki."

The crowd let out a thunderous applause.

Naruto looked up somewhat bashfully, then pumped up a fist and slowly made his way back up to the competitor's box.

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Lee let out a primal roar as he ripped off his leg warmers and ripped them to pieces "An amazing match, now to show the world what I can do! TANTRUM!" he jumped down into the arena and let out another primal roar.

"...What's wrong with him?" Dosu finally asked.

Tatsu sighed "The idiot must've gotten into my stash of Tantrum again."

"Wait, you have Tantrum?"

"My brother heard it was being discontinued so he stocked up on 50 gallons worth of the stuff before he got killed. Well, it's all or nothing now I guess." he leapt down into the arena, then started stretching somewhat before the fight began.

Gemna stepped up "Are both fighters ready?" both nodded "Begin!" he leapt back in anticipation of a fierce brawl, but that's not what he got.

Lee held up a hand "Just a second Tatsu, I have to do something first." he knelt down and removed the weights around his legs, then launched a few kicks to test himself, and it was clear to anybody that he was much faster than before.

Tatsu nodded in approval "Nice work, looks like you haven't been wasting your time."

"Absolutely not, I tripled my usual training regimen."

"Sounds intense."

"Considering I had Guy-sensei breathing down my neck over it, what do you think? Anyway, I never quit before and I won't start now." he held out his hand "Now then Tatsu, may the best warrior win."

"I intend to." Tatsu grasped his hand, and the second he released both of them vanished in the blink of an eye.

The crowd was silent as they watched both warriors unleash their speed, with both blitzing all over the arena at speeds that ordinary people couldn't even comprehend.

Tatsu and Lee returned to view, with Lee's shin meeting Tatsu's in the middle, the shockwave from the colliding attacks slamming into and fracturing the walls.

Lee let out a slight huff "You're as fantastic as I remember Tatsu, I'm already enjoying this battle."

Tatsu nodded "I know how you feel Lee, you're awesome too. I haven't enjoyed a spar like this since I trained with my brother." he met Lee's sprint with his own, skimmed over the ground and slammed into Lee to meet the charge, arms and legs vanishing before the spectator's eyes as they went into a stationary clash.

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Tenten marvelled at the battle "Unbelievable, he's actually giving Lee a run for his money."

Kiba could only nod dumbly "I know."

"It is impressive." a voice agreed "But what's even more impressive is that they're trading blows at full power and speed at such close range and neither of them has even taken the slightest bit of damage so far."

Kiba and Tenten looked to see Kakashi behind them "Kakashi-sensei, when did you get here?"

"I've been here the whole time, I even saw Naruto defeat Neji."

"Say Kakashi." Tenten spoke up "What's the history with Lee and this Tatsu guy, how do they know each other?"

"Well, I myself didn't know much about it until Tatsu told me about 6 months ago. It started when Tatsu was about 7 and Lee was 8, back when Lee was in his first year in the academy."

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(Flashback- 9 years after Kyuubi Attack)

Lee formed some hand seals "Clone Jutsu!" nothing happened "Transformation Jutsu!" still nothing happened.

"Hey."

Lee looked back to see Tatsu doing pushups behind him "Oh, hi. What're you doing?"

"Training."

"Same, only problem is I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu no matter how hard I try. Maybe I'm just not cut out for it."

"Maybe you're just not supposed to."

Lee's head snapped over to Tatsu 'Who is this guy? Despite the topic of our conversation, he's so relaxed and nonchalant. So you think I'm not supposed to be a shinobi?"

"I never said that, I said you're not meant to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, but those aren't the only areas for a ninja to excel in. For all you know, you're probably destined to be a great swordsman like my sensei Hayate."

"Maybe, but I've never been interested in using a sword."

"Alright then, maybe you're supposed to be a great taijutsu master. Look at the old Master Chen from the 3rd Great Ninja War, he's supposedly one of the greatest taijutsu masters to ever live, for all we know he could've been just as much of a hopeless case. So what if you haven't got any ninjutsu or genjutsu, devote yourself to becoming the greatest taijutsu master this world has ever seen."

Lee seemed to ponder his words for a moment.

"Well, what you decide from here on out is up to you. Later." and he walked off.

(Flashback End)

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Tenten thought back to when she and the others first became genin 'Lee, you said that a certain someone showed you the way, and you want to become the greatest taijutsu master this world has ever seen, and that this guy was probably the only reason you didn't let Guy convert you to the Flames of Youth. Tatsu, on behalf of all of us, thank you.'

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Lee's fist thrusted forward, but flashed past Tatsu's head when he dodged.

Tatsu's arm came up and pushed Lee's fist away, before his foot blasted towards Lee's ribs.

Lee's arm came down and slammed hard on Tatsu's arm, forcing it down just enough for him to put his hand on Tatsu's shoulder, then appear above Tatsu, one hand still on Tatsu's shoulder and both feet in the air. Lee then fisted his hand on Tatsu's gi and kicked his feet over behind Tatsu's back, with the momentum knocking Tatsu off balance, allowing Lee to hurl him towards the wall.

An instant before he made contact, Tatsu threw his arms out and unleashed a kiai (shockwave) that launched him so high into the air that he went beyond the Kage's box, before blitzing through several hand seals "Sorry Lee, but I'm gonna have to get serious!"

"Damn!" Lee's mind was racing 'If I get hit by that I'm just asking to be fried! Still, that's what makes Tatsu such a worthy opponent.'

"Fire Style: Crimson Dragon!" Tatsu quickly breathed out a red fire dragon that blasted downward, the force making a vicious blast of hot wind rip through the stands before it even hit the ground.

'Now's my chance!' Lee sprinted straight at the wall, before there was a flash of light and a fiery explosion enveloped the entire arena floor in smoke.

From high up on the arena wall, Tatsu tried to sense out Lee's chakra 'Where is he? I know that attack was nowhere near enough to kill him, it's more than enough for most of the mooks in the arena, but not for him. Damn, he's gotten even better at concealing his chakra level. Now I can't sense him.'

Then Lee burst from the smoke column below and ran straight up the wall, then launched himself into the air, hitting the top of the barrier separating the arena from the village "I've got you now Tatsu!" he reached Tatsu's level and lashed out with one leg.

Tatsu was caught off guard so he didn't have time to block it, taking the full blow right in the side of his jaw. He was flung back, but still managed to grab Lee by his ankle and quickly pull him in "Not yet!"

Lee saw only white as Tatsu's fist crashed into his face, missing his nose just by a few inches. His free leg came up on instinct and returned the attack full force, then came up and then back down, his heel slamming down on Tatsu's shoulder directly over his collarbone.

Tatsu tightened his grip on the leg he held, then quickly spun and hurled Lee away, slamming him into the ground below.

Both let out a sharp exhale as they made contact, then bounced right back up, before they vanished again and began slamming together all across the arena.

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"How are they still moving after that?" asked Kiba "I mean, they hit the ground at full force!"

"Kiai." explained Kakashi "It's a method most martial artists us to help them absorb an impact. Tatsu sacrificed a decent landing for a chance to hurt Lee because he knew he probably wouldn't get another chance for awhile. Think of it like a game of Shogi, you've gotta sacrifice another piece to get the one you want. There are also ways of falling in the right manner that allow for the falling warrior to spread, absorb and deflect the force of his impact so that he doesn't get hurt too seriously."

"So where does the kiai come in?" asked Tenten.

"It's a method for keeping the pressure in the lungs even. By exhaling sharply, they still retain air and the warrior can breath immediately instead of waiting for their lungs to refill with air which would've cost them a crucial few seconds."

"I'm kind of surprised." Kiba spoke up "I figured Tatsu was good, seeing how he beat Gaara and all, but Lee's keeping up so easily. I've never really seen what he's capable of at full power, but still."

"Actually, Tatsu's way ahead of Lee right now."

"No way, even with whatever bizarre tricks he's got Lee's still one of the strongest genin in this exam."

"Actually, Tatsu's not even taking this fight anywhere near as seriously as he could be."

"...What do you mean?"

Kakashi looked over at the arena floor as the clashing momentarily stopped, words were exchanged, and Tatsu did a familiar hand sign "Take a look, I think you're about to find out."

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Tatsu and Lee glanced off each other again, their fists just missing each other's faces, before they skidded apart and shot each other cocky smirks.

"Alright Tatsu, I think we should stop warming up and get serious." Lee suggested.

Tatsu nodded "I think I'm limber enough now." he formed a hand seal, blue chakra radiating around him "Gravity Seals: Release!" he was engulfed in a blue cloak of chakra, which then quickly evaporated and disappeared "Alright, I'm ready."

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"What the hell did he just do?" Kiba wondered.

"That is Tatsu when he gets serious." Kakashi explained, sounding rather smug "He's decided to stop toying with Rock Lee and released the Gravity Seals I gave him. Now Lee no longer has a chance of winning."

"That's where you're wrong my Eternal Rival!" an unbearable voice thundered "Lee's trained harder than ever before for this very moment. GO LEE! SHOW HIM HOW BRIGHTLY YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN!"

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Lee almost blushed 'Dammit!' then he got into a stance "Tatsu, this is the moment I've been training for. Prepare yourself! First Gate: Gate of Opening: Open!"

Tatsu raised a curious eyebrow 'The f*ck? His chakra shot up a good margin, but nowhere near enough to match me now.'

"Just wait Tatsu, it gets better. Second Gate: Gate of Rest: Open!" his chakra shot up again, a considerable margin more than what it'd been before "Third Gate: Gate of Life: Open!" this one was like a bomb going off, a wave of power shooting off Lee's body and slamming into Tatsu, making him stagger. The ground beneath him began giving way under the sheer force, rubble and debris flying off in random directions. Lee's pupils vanished and his hair began standing, and his skin turned deep crimson "Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain: Open!" the ground beneath him began to buckle, rubble being flung around randomly.

Tatsu was forced to shield his eyes from the onslaught of debris, some of which ripping through his gi top and legs, but nothing pierced his skin.

"Fifth Gate: Gate of Closing: Open!" the earth itself blew away.

Tatsu flickered as he blitzed around to dodge the debris 'Lee's chakra levels are going through the roof, I've never felt anything like it.'

Lee staggered slightly, sweat dripping from his forehead and teeth gritting somewhat, but he wasn't hunching over like he should've been 'Come on Lee, just endure the pain. After all, the muscles haven't snapped like they're supposed to.'

'From the look of it, he's finally feeling the strain.'

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"What… What the hell is he?" Kiba wondered.

Kakashi looked stunned by the display, but then he turned to Guy, his gaze sharpening in a way few have ever seen "Guy, you didn't! You taught him how to open the Eight Gates?"

Guy merely smirked "Kakashi Kakashi, you're one to criticize. Besides, you don't know Lee like I do. Watch, you'll understand. Lee has worked hard to master the Gates, he's practiced every second of every day, opening them every chance he gets for as long as he can. Even I haven't achieved what Lee has."

"What do you mean?"

"See for yourself."

Kakashi did, and once he saw the shape Lee was in, realization hit him "That shouldn't be impossible."

"And yet it is."

"What are you two talking about?" asked Kiba.

"Lee…" Kakashi began "Lee has mastered the Gates in a way no one before him has. He's used them so often and so much for so long that his body has accepted the strain."

"Accepted it and adapted to it." Guy continued proudly "Lee's durability and endurance has enhanced to the point the muscles don't snap upon activation, nor is he as drained as someone like Kakashi would be if he activated the Gates. Lee has taken the technique and made it almost entirely his own."

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Tatsu had leapt back onto the wall of the arena 'So he's mastered 5 of the 8 Gates to such an extent and doesn't even feel any pain?'

"Here I come!" Lee crouched down and then pushed off, the earth buckling beneath him from the force.

'I'd better use this new thing I've been trying out, I just hope I can endure this long enough to gather up the necessary chakra.' he barely got his guard up in time, the blow rattling his jaw when it connected. The two launched a barrage of attacks, their fists colliding in a way that rocked the entire arena as they fought in mid-air.

Lee was using some of Tatsu's attacks to keep himself in the air.

Tatsu's head was ringing as a blow slipped past him, making his vision go blurry, but he recovered quickly and dove back into the fray faster than Lee had anticipated, allowing Tatsu to deal a blow to Lee's face as well.

Lee went rocketing downward, flipped to his feet as he hit the ground, skidded backwards and hit the wall behind him, causing it to shatter, a deep hole blown into its surface as he stopped himself by throwing an arm out behind him, a vein bulging in his forehead as he strained himself to absorb all of the force.

Tatsu watched as Lee began yanking 'His arm must be embedded too far into the wall, there's no way he can pull himself free.'

As Lee continued trying to free his arm, something emerged from the wall.

'Wait, he's not freeing himself. He's pulling!' Tatsu formed several hand seals.

Lee yanked a water pipe out of the wall, breaking off a sizable section when he pulled it out far enough. He immediately whipped it at his opponent.

Tatsu was forced to cancel out his technique to dodge the pipe, which missed him by the ear just barely.

Lee buried his fist into Tatsu's gut, doubling him over as the bandages began wrapping around him.

Tatsu wasn't able to regain his awareness before he was bound tighter than a mummy and unable to move.

"You took your eyes off me, a poor decision on your part." Lee flipped over so they were pointed head first at the ground, then began spinning like a tornado, picking up speed and power on the way down until the dirt began swirling, a brown and green tornado lighting up the sky, with Lee and Tatsu only recognizable as a dark smudge inside the cyclone "A new technique Tatsu! Cyclone Lotus!" the bottom of the cyclone blew out in a massive explosion of earth, the cyclone dissolving into nothing more than a small mass of dust, the heavier particles falling to the arena floor as earthen rain. Lee himself then shot out from the cloud below, bandages on one of his arms unraveled slightly, and he pulled Tatsu out, once again ensnared in his bandages, the cyclone disappearing as green chakra surrounded his fist "This is the end Tatsu! Cyclone Lotus Fist!" he thrusted the first forward.

'Now!' Tatsu suddenly broke free of the restraints, blue chakra surrounding his fist "Leaf Dragon Fist!"

The attacks collided, enveloping the two in a ball of green and blue chakra, which then imploded and detonated in a massive explosion, the shockwave sending both warriors tumbling to the ground on opposite ends.

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Kakashi quickly felt realization hit him "At the last second, Lee transferred the chakra from the attack into his fist for one final strike, and Tatsu did the same with the chakra he'd been saving for his Leaf Dragon God."'

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Tatsu was the first to stand and coughed out blood "Okay… that hurt… more than… I thought it would…"

Lee then stood and coughed up blood "Same… here…"

"What… was that?"

"Cyclone… Lotus… Fist… new jutsu…"

"Scary… you almost… had me there…"

"It wasn't… enough…"

"A little faster… and you would've won…" that was all he could say for a moment as his breathing evened out as much as it could 'Incredible, I never thought he'd master the 8 Gates to such an extent. He'd almost beat my Tenseigan Chakra Mode at this level, at least if it wasn't for all the strain. "You're really something Lee, but the Eight Gates might turn out to be more of a hindrance than a help. Sure they power you up to an unbelievable extent, but the strain on your body is close to unbearable. That fact that you're still standing is impressive in itself, but you can't have much left." he took a long deep breath, his chakra radiating around him, renewed determination burning in his eyes "I can win this."

Lee seemed startled, then his red skin returned to its normal shade as his pupils returned, and he let out a bitter chuckle "You're right…" then a sound was heard similar to rubber bands snapping, and he managed one yell before his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness, but still remained standing.

Genma suddenly reappeared and looked over Lee closely, before leveling his right hand over towards Tatsu "Winner: Tatsu Kamikaze."

The crowd's reaction was immediate and ear shattering, and anyone and everyone was on their feet screaming and cheering for the battle they'd witnessed.

Tatsu let out a relieved sigh as he powered down "Good thing… he didn't… call my bluff." then he passed out then and there and was taken away on a stretcher."

A half hour intermission was called to allow several shinobi to repair the arena with Earth-style jutsu.

Once that was done, Gemna then addressed the crowd "Alright everyone, we're moving on to the next match. So Shino and Kankuro, come down."

Kankuro was sweating 'My match doesn't matter at all now. Besides, I don't want to reveal the mechanism of my trained Crow puppet to the enemy before our plan comes to fruition. Proctor, I withdraw."

'What?'

"I withdraw, so please advance to the next match." he received various boos.

"Due to Kankuro's withdraw. Shino Aburame wins by default."

Then, with a blast of wind, Temari made her way down "Hey."

"And you are?"

"It's my turn right?"

"Well you're an eager one aren't you? Fine, let's start the next match then. Hey you up there, come down."

"Oh come on." Shikamaru grumbled "Why did I have to be so early? This is such a drag."

"Shikamaru Nara, come on."

'Great, if it's gonna be like this then maybe I'll withdraw too.'

"Less stalling, more getting off your ass and actually doing something for a change!" a comically pissed off Sasuke then proceeded to shove Shikamaru off the balcony.

Shikamaru hit the ground with a loud thud 'Sasuke, you jerk.'

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Tatsu finally came to and found Naruto, Sasuke and Ino sitting by his bed "Hey guys, what'd I miss?"

They tried to smile, but it came out rather weak "Not much."

"So, where the hell am I?"

"The hospital wing." Ino told him "You had a bad concussion, some light internal bleeding, a crushed shoulder and 5 broken ribs. The doctors are saying you're lucky to be alive, but they fixed most of it. Now you just need a little rest."

"No need. That's the good thing about the Kamikaze clan, we burn through chakra fast but we recover it even faster." he sat up and winced, then slowly got onto his feet and reached for a pair of crutches "Besides, I've had worse. It's not like the scar I got from Zabuza, and I'm already back to 70%. By the way, how's Lee doing?"

"About the same as you, his leg and arm are in really bad shape though. The bones are in shambles, it's almost too much to fix and every muscle in him has some kind of tear in it."

"I see."

"I'm lucky though." that was when Lee sat up, fully conscious, then got his feet with his own pair of crutches "Apparently some medic worked a little magic and kept me out of the ICU, now I'm back to 60%."

"You're one lucky bastard, I honestly didn't think either of us would make it out of that one."

"Same. You've gotten way stronger Tatsu, and if you'd used your Tenseigan Chakra Mode then I would've been one-shotted."

"There's a reason I use it, but that's for another time."

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Despite being initially unwilling, Shikamaru agreed to fight Temari due to his desire to refuse to lose to a girl, and after studying the arena and its elements he quickly came up with a strategy for the battle.

Despite this, Temari had seen how Shikamaru's jutsu worked and knew of its strengths and weaknesses, and it appeared that she was able to evade his Shadow Possession Jutsu and adapt to his tactics.

However, it turned out that that Shikamaru had actually been luring her to one of the tunnels that had been created in one of the previous matches, allowing him to catch her in his trap through the use of the tunnel.

However, despite the fact that he had clearly won, Shikamaru forfeited at the last second, claiming to have exerted too much chakra in capturing Temari to continue the match, also adding that if he continued and won, it would just mean more work.

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Kiba made his way down into the infirmary "Hey Ino, the repairs are finished and you and that Sound guy are up in about 5 minutes." and then he left.

Ino glanced over at the others "So do you have any advice?"

Tatsu gave a shrug "Just release the gravity seals and make this fast, I don't know why but I've got a bad feeling in the pit of my gut."

"Right." and so Ino made her way out towards the arena.

"You realize that after she and Dosu go at it, the two of you are gonna go at it next right?"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, then at Tatsu "So, any advice?"

"I have only one thing to say to the two of you."

"Yeah?"

"...Just punch each other as hard as you can."

Naruto and Sasuke fell anime-style, then got back up and made their way towards the stadium.

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The next match was about to begin.

Genma stood in between Ino and Dosu as both got raring and ready to fight "Are you both ready to begin this match?"

Ino gave a simple nod as she pulled off her arm warmers and dropped into a simple taijutsu stance.

"And what about you?"

"More than ready." Dosu braced himself.

"Then begin."

Dosu promptly leapt away to gain some distance "Go ahead and make your move."

"Gladly." Ino formed a quick hand seal "Gravity Seal: Release!" her body glowed with blue chakra for a moment and she charged forward at even greater levels of speed.

'She's even faster now. Earth Style: Mud Wave!" Dosu formed a few hand seals and summoned a large wave of mud and rocks that he was able to ride on "I know how those seals work, by releasing them you're at least twice as fast as before. I can't afford to let those get anywhere near me."

"Pretty observant."

"With someone like your boyfriend it's hard not to be."

"Tatsu isn't my boyfriend."

"I never mentioned any names."