Chapter 73: Eight Gates

Rock Lee was sent flying and landed hard on the ground. As Gaara stood high above, he looked at the latter's monstrous strength. Could he really not win this battle?

No! Hadn't he already decided to overcome talent with hard work and prove to everyone that one could become a ninja with Taijutsu alone!

Rock Lee's eyes were once again filled with hope. He looked up at Teacher Gai.

"Go, Rock Lee. I give my consent!"

Even though the battle situation was unfavorable, Gai still believed in his disciple! Rock Lee, go and prove yourself to the world.

"Got it, Teacher Gai!"

Kakashi felt a sense of unease when he saw Gai's reaction.

"Hey, Gai! What move are you letting Rock Lee use?"

"Well, Kakashi, just stand there and watch quietly then!"

"But his body won't be able to take it if he uses that move!"

"Kakashi! Rock Lee is my most promising disciple, the only one in our class who has learned Eight Gates. He won't lose to that black - eyed kid with a gourd on his back!"

Rock Lee was surrounded by a whirlpool of Chakra. A strong gust of wind picked up layers of sand and rapidly spread with the whirlpool. Rock Lee's whole face turned red, and more and more Chakra was released from his body.

"Eight Gates: The first gate, Opening Gate, open! The second gate, Healing Gate, open! The third gate, Life Gate, open!"

Rock Lee soared into the sky surrounded by a terrifying Chakra whirlpool. With a glance, he quickly located Gaara with his arms crossed. In less than the blink of an eye, he flashed in front of him.

"The fourth gate, Harm Gate, open!"

Neji opened his Byakugan and observed the flow of Chakra in Rock Lee's body. He couldn't help but be shocked. Was this still the Rock Lee he knew?

Now the flow of his Chakra was completely different, extremely terrifying.

The moment Rock Lee activated, he crushed the hard bricks on the ground. With a Konoha Spinning Kick, he kicked Gaara high into the air. Gaara's proud automatic defense didn't give any warning at all. He opened his mouth in pain while in the air.

A huge pit bigger than the last one was smashed into the ground. Gaara's sand could barely defend against Rock Lee's fierce attack. He stood up shakily and looked at Rock Lee with a ferocious expression.

"Damn it! This is so damn annoying!"

Gaara commanded the sand to chase after Rock Lee, but the speed of the sand couldn't even touch the corner of Rock Lee's clothes.

Rock Lee kicked Gaara into the air again. The continuous kicks were so blindingly fast that Gaara's sand couldn't catch up with his speed.

"Awesome!"

Naruto was strongly impacted. The Taijutsu Rock Lee had shown before was already incredibly powerful, but Naruto never expected Rock Lee to have such a powerful jutsu!

...

"Well, Naruto, the world is vast, right? There are countless powerful people out there! Didn't you always think you were something? Now, when you compare yourself with Rock Lee, don't you think the gap between you two is quite big?"

Naruto tightly clenched the iron railing with both hands and gritted his teeth in frustration. Sasuke was such a jerk to provoke him again.

Looking at the completely transformed Rock Lee in front of him, he knew that even if he went all out, he was no match for Rock Lee at this moment.

"Naruto, don't you always keep shouting that you want to be the Hokage?"

"Rock Lee's move is called Eight Gates. When all eight gates are opened, its power can reach dozens of times that of a Hokage in a short time! How about giving the position of Hokage to Rock Lee!"

Hearing this, Naruto bared his teeth and glared at Sasuke, who was standing calmly beside him, deliberately crossing his legs to look cool.

"What are you so proud of? You can't beat Rock Lee now either!"

Sasuke just smiled faintly and didn't respond to his words. He just silently murmured in his heart.

Naruto, work hard on cultivation and training. There will be ninjas stronger than Rock Lee showing up in front of you in the future.

Anyway, Naruto at present is weak. He urgently needs a master to teach him, and this person...

.................

The Armour of Sand covering Gaara's body began to shatter over a large area. Rock Lee knew that this was his last chance. He endured the pain all over his body with great effort and summoned up his courage and perseverance.

"Limit Gate (the fifth gate), open!"

Rock Lee's body rapidly fell from a high place. He kicked Gaara hard in the stomach with both feet. Gaara's body slammed heavily onto the ground like a cannonball fired from a gun.

Suddenly, dust filled the air. Rock Lee, exhausted to the point of collapse, propped up his body and lay on the field. His muscles all over his body were torn. He was so tired that he had no strength at all and could only glance at Gaara in the center of the smoke.

Gaara was lying in the middle of the match field. There was a deep pit on the ground. At this moment, the always arrogant and cold - blooded Gaara actually looked extremely weak. His eyes looking at Rock Lee were full of hostility!

Don't think that hurting him like this can easily end the match.

"Your name is Rock Lee, right? I'll remember you. This is the last bit of respect I'll show you!"

Gaara tremblingly raised his hand and commanded the sand on the ground to rush towards Rock Lee.

Rock Lee tried to run away. As soon as he stood up, severe pain hit him all over his body. He staggered and fell to the ground, watching helplessly as his hands and feet were entangled by the sand and he couldn't break free.

Gaara slowly tightened his five fingers. He wanted to cripple Rock Lee and then kill him!

Just as Rock Lee was struggling and feeling that the sand binding his hands and feet was getting tighter and tighter, Itachi Uchiha stepped in.

He saw that the situation was not good, rushed forward and scattered the sand binding Rock Lee at once.

"You bastard!"

Gaara roared, looking at Itachi Uchiha in front of him. This dangerous man. From the first time he saw Itachi, he felt that this man was hostile towards him.

But what no one expected was that he actually interrupted the match and directly interfered with the confrontation between the candidates!

Temari and Kanpō loudly roared their discontent on the stands.

"If the Examiner from Konoha shows such favoritism towards the ninjas of his own village during the exam, won't it arouse the five major countries' doubts about the fairness of this Chunin Exams once it gets out?"

Apart from the ninjas from Sunagakure on the stands, the remaining ones were only the Konoha ninjas and the sole Sound Ninja, Toss. They had all received a strong warning in the form of overwhelming pressure from Itachi Uchiha before.

Needless to say about the Konoha people. As for the remaining Sound Ninja, he was sly and calculating. He definitely wouldn't jump out to oppose Itachi Uchiha's actions at this moment.

"Tsk! A bunch of cowards..."

Kanpō looked at the silent crowd and clicked his tongue in disgust.

Itachi glanced indifferently at the Sand ninjas who were dissatisfied with his interference and spoke softly in an emotionless tone.

"The outcome is already decided. In my judgment, there's no need to go on!"

.................

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