Chapter 71: Won!
"What's up with that bushy-brow?"
"That chakra is... so strong. What technique is that?!"
"… …"
Every candidate stared in shock at Rock Lee, whose body was now shrouded in green energy and swirling blue chakra flames. The air around him was visibly distorting, his hair spiking upward.
Hinata Neji and Sasuke Uchiha, each with their own dōjutsu active, felt their hearts quake at the sight—they never imagined Lee could be so powerful.
Even the jōnin wore alarmed expressions, sensing the lethal threat emanating from Rock Lee.
"Eight Inner Gates… So the kid really knows that forbidden technique."
Disguised as a Sound ninja, Orochimaru now regarded Lee with newfound seriousness. "Konoha's latest generation is overflowing with gifted shinobi."
Just like the Flying Thunder God Technique, the Eight Inner Gates were a famous forbidden art in the ninja world.
Usually, to become an all-rounder jōnin, one had to master at least two elemental natures. If not, they'd top out as a Special Jōnin. But Might Guy became one of Konoha's trump cards using only taijutsu—renowned throughout the ninja world—by relying on none other than the Eight Inner Gates.
To learn it, one needs a rigorously honed body, capable of withstanding the shock of rampant chakra rushing through the meridians. Even Orochimaru had never seen a twelve- or thirteen-year-old open as many as three Gates. Yet moments later, he realized he was still underestimating the boy.
Lee's aura grew even more frenzied. Clenching his fists, body hunched, he gritted his teeth.
"Eight Inner Gates—Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain… Open!"
With a forceful shout, a surge of airwaves swept across the entire hall. The green energy around Lee swelled once again.
"He can already enter the danger zone?"
Orochimaru and Kakashi both tensed. The fourth gate marked the point where Eight Inner Gates became truly perilous. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered his pipe, fixing his eyes on Izayoi's solemn expression, to see if Izayoi would lose his nerve. Should Izayoi show any sign of panic, the Hokage would have the match called off. Indeed, the Eight Inner Gates provided an unfair power boost against any normal opponent.
Meanwhile, Lee had adapted to the Four Gates state, crouching as though set to sprint. Everyone present focused their undivided attention on him—Izayoi included, locking onto Lee's presence through his Mind's Eye of the Kagura.
Crack—BOOM!
First came the sharp sound of the floor splintering, then a thunderous explosion. Rock Lee's figure vanished. Unlike before—when removing his weights turned him into a fast-moving blur—this time, his forward dash obliterated the floor, kicked up a giant cloud of dust, and unleashed a blast of wind like a Wind Release jutsu, surging straight at Izayoi.
His strength and speed had grown utterly inhuman.
"He's fast!"
Izayoi felt a jolt of surprise. So this legendary taijutsu really lived up to its reputation. Even though his Mind's Eye of the Kagura could follow Lee's trajectory, there was no way he could boost his speed to Lee's level with mere Lightning Release chakra stimulation. If Lee at Gate One could use 100% of his body's physical capacity, then at Gate Four, he could reach 200% or even more. His raw Power and Speed now surpassed Izayoi's.
So Izayoi pressed a palm forward, releasing a howling gust of wind. The dust cloud cleared instantly—but Lee was nowhere in front of him. He'd already reappeared behind Izayoi.
Zzt… Zzt…
The crackle of electricity sounded again. Lee leaned forward, swinging at Izayoi through a swirl of lightning arcs. His punch generated a sonic boom cloud in the space between him and Izayoi.
BOOM—!
A shockwave from striking empty air crashed into Izayoi's electrical field, but it didn't send him flying. Izayoi's body turned into a puff of white smoke, leaving a wooden log thudding to the floor.
Substitution Jutsu!
Lee looked up, spotting Izayoi hovering near the ceiling, wrapped in a gust of swirling wind.
"We've won!"
Might Guy—who'd been standing with his hands pressed together in prayer—suddenly cheered. His only worry had been if Izayoi tried to stall Lee in a protracted chase across the arena. The Eight Inner Gates caused a huge strain on Lee's adolescent body, so a drawn-out fight was impossible. If he couldn't end things quickly, he'd be the one collapsing. But now Izayoi had jumped into the air and was using Wind Release to float, effectively turning himself into a target.
Sure enough, after confirming that the figure above him was indeed Izayoi, Lee bent his knees and clenched his fists, gritting his teeth.
"Eight Inner Gates—Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit… Open!"
BOOM—!
A furious storm of energy burst outward again. This time it swept not only the entire hall but also the second floor. The floor shattered even more, and dust all but blinded anyone lacking strong sensory perception.
In a fight of this caliber, the weak couldn't even watch from the sidelines.
Kakashi Hatake and the other Konoha jōnin tensed up, watching Izayoi hanging below the ceiling, ready to step in at a moment's notice. However, in the next instant, every high-level figure present—Hiruzen Sarutobi included—had a drastic change of expression.
They saw Izayoi spread his hands downward. A bluish vortex formed in his palms. Before anyone could fully register what was happening, the vortex multiplied and merged into one blue-white energy sphere. Several jōnin recognized it immediately, with stunned disbelief.
"That's… the Rasengan?"
"Impossible! How does this kid know about the Fourth Hokage's Rasengan?"
But then they realized something was off. The energy sphere in Izayoi's hands was growing larger, bigger than an adult's head. Inside it, two smaller spheres—each about the size of a fist—took shape. Initially, they were all the same swirling blue-white color. But in seconds, one sphere turned white (like crackling lightning), and the other turned ocean-blue (like water).
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru, and Kakashi all reacted with alarm upon seeing the two elemental transformations. The Rasengan itself was an A-rank jutsu of pure shape manipulation. Adding nature transformation into it was akin to infusing Chidori with shape manipulation to create the S-rank Lightning Cutter. Now Izayoi wasn't just applying one elemental nature—he was combining two. What level of power would that produce?
Perhaps the one needing rescue wouldn't be Izayoi but… Lee!
BOOM—!
A sonic boom thundered as another surge of air ripped apart the lingering dust. Cloaked in green light, Lee rocketed skyward, warping the air itself as he shot toward Izayoi near the ceiling. Along the way, his form flickered repeatedly—he was stepping on thin air to move at high speed.
Izayoi calmly closed his eyes, zeroing in on Lee's exact location with Mind's Eye of the Kagura. In his hands, the "Super Typhoon Serial Spheres" roiled. Within it, the two smaller orbs spun wildly like tomoe in a Sharingan. They started rotating clockwise, but after a few cycles, one reversed direction, colliding with the other. The two separate nature transformations didn't cause an early explosion. Instead, they fused, becoming a radiant beam of energy that filled the entire sphere.
"Judgment!"
Izayoi shouted, and the energy sphere morphed into a pillar of radiance—a laser-like beam that expanded as it blasted downward.
"Reverse Lotus!"
Unable to dodge in the cramped hall, Lee—his speed producing sonic clouds—could do nothing but hurl his fully charged fist into the oncoming laser. Cloaked in green light, his punch generated a terrifying shockwave, colliding with the beam from below.
It was a clash of finishing moves—taijutsu vs. a fusion of water and lightning. Neither was something a genin should possess. Even Special Jōnin, and many full jōnin, lacked the ability to counter either technique directly.
Before the audience could wonder whose trump card was stronger, Lee's shockwave quickly lost ground. The beam tore it apart, then surged forward, swallowing Lee.
"Lee!!"
Might Guy cried out in alarm.
"Lightning Cutter!"
Just before the laser smashed into the hall's floor, which might have left who-knew-how-deep a crater, a figure appeared out of nowhere with a hand crackling like lightning. It was Kakashi Hatake. His blade of electricity sliced through part of the laser, severing the section that had engulfed Lee.
A blur flashed by—Hayate Gekkō caught Lee, who was unconscious and barely clinging to life, and vanished immediately.
BOOOM————!!
The rest of the beam slammed into the ground. The entire central tower shook violently. Candidates who hadn't clung to the railings or secured themselves with chakra toppled over. Dazed, they scrambled to grab onto whatever they could, watching in wide-eyed shock as the column of light gradually shrank and finally blinked out.
When the beam fully disappeared, there was hardly any unscathed surface left in the hall—only a bottomless black pit.
~~~
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