Chapter 135: Naturalistic Savagery! Pt 9

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Lee's POV (East Forest of Irminsul - Terra)

"1,996!" Lee called as he did Gai's infamous one hand, handstand push-up. It was a mere warm-up; a full workout would be untoward due to the situation.

It had been an odd couple of days for Lee. He and Sakura had been on their way to the Iron Fair to warn the others of their newly missing comrades. Before suddenly, smoke erupted around him; somehow, Sakura and Lee were utterly surrounded by unseen creatures. Whatever they had been, they were violent and had attempted to maul Sakura and Lee. Not trying to kill them for whatever reason, but disable and restrain them. Luckily, Lee's training had come in handy, and Lee had somehow managed to protect them both. Somehow, during the scrap and subsequent teleportation, they had been separated, both his foes and the beautiful Sakura.

"1,997!"

Unfortunately, Lee had been injured significantly. Fortunately, he had arrived in a friendly location. Lee had awakened in a random tree house surrounded by raccoons of various sizes. He had attempted to excuse his interruption but had passed out. A full day later, I had awakened. Apparently, the raccoon home I had stumbled upon was called the Okama. This was a hideout they used as a flank base of sorts. A summoning clan that worked to keep the balance of the Wildlands in check, but now somehow a clan was reverse summoning nonsummoners. Which apparently had been what happened to him and Sakura. Clearly one of the clans were intending to force a large group of people to be their summoners. This place called the Wildlands was in deep turmoil and now Lee was involved, luckily there was help coming from Naruto and an assembled team. Lee had wished to immediately venture out and find the others taken and assemble with the Recovery Team; however, he had been preoccupied by a discovery as well as needing time to fully heal. The raccoons could use chakra even better than he; it was not a shocking discovery, but it became such when he noticed they didn't use hand signs. Apparently, Summoning Animals used chakra differently. It was due to their chakra coils being nearly as undeveloped as his own. At first, a fact that didn't mean much, until Lee considered what that could mean for him…

"1,998!"

If Lee could master such a method of chakra use perhaps he could use it to boost his current style. Develop a style that embraced the Strong Style given to him from Gai. But also offered him the growth he so desperately desired. As a nonsummoner, the Okama clan wouldn't teach it to him, but they did offer him some very light starters. Merely to flow chakra and absorb it from the surroundings around him. It was shocking how intuitive it was for Lee. Typically, even using chakras for tree walking or water walking was somewhat strenuous for him. But he was shocked that he could do this new version quickly. And with the council of the Okama they had used the new knowledge to perfect his new technique. The very one he had failed to use against Fuu.

"1,999!"

With this in mind and with help on the way, Lee made a terrible choice. I want to spend the time before help arrives to train. It was selfish of him, in a way Guy-sensei would surely disapprove of. But Lee needed to become stronger. He could not deal with more failure. At least this way, he could finally face his allies in success, to smile not only for pride but because he was prideful.

"2,000!" Lee cried with pride as he shoved himself with enough upper body strength to launch his body in the air, deftly landing on his feet. He stretched to relieve the tension in his muscles. And happily hummed enjoying the fading rush of a good workout.

"Hey, hu- I mean Lee. The elder keeps telling me to be more respectful towards you humans. Especially since we'll likely be seeing more of you." A feminine and slightly annoyed voice sounded out. Lee could not stop the smile from blossoming on his face. Muuni was a female raccoon, and she had been assigned to keep an eye on him for the good of him and the clan. While the female raccoon clearly didn't trust him, Lee respected her youthful vigor. "Anyway, Human Lee, there appears to be another human. We hoped you could see if it is an ally. She apparently lost her headband."

"Excellent, it must be one of my friends! This is a most wondrous event!" Lee said excitedly.

"Or a random human. It is a female with brown hair. Sound familiar?" Muuni replied with her usual odd attitude.

"With buns?" Lee asked.

"What in the world is buns?"

Lee smiled at the odd creature as he and it continued on. Lee hoped it was Tenten!