Shadow of Nara [98]
After opening the Gate of Rest, Rock Lee didn't stop. One after another, he forcefully opened the Gate of Life and the Gate of Pain, unlocking the fourth gate of the Eight Inner Gates. His chakra surged violently, his physical strength skyrocketed—but that power came without restraint. It ran rampant within him, tearing through his body, causing internal damage with every second.
In mere moments, Lee's skin flushed a deep crimson. The vessels beneath were straining, overclocked beyond human limits. He was already suffering the agonizing backlash of breaking his body's natural boundaries.
Streams of blue chakra became visible to the naked eye, leaking from his body uncontrollably.
"His body's already feeling the backlash," Kakashi murmured, his Sharingan analyzing every detail. "His heart is under immense strain. That must hurt like hell…"
Back in the arena, just the sheer pressure of Lee opening four gates shook the entire stadium. Without warning, he bent his knees—and then vanished.
A gust of wind exploded across the arena floor, followed by a blast of dust and shrapnel as Lee's figure streaked forward. In a blink, he appeared directly in front of the stunned Gaara.
His punch came like a cannonball.
BOOM!
The explosion of wind and stone blanketed the field in smoke and debris. Even the audience on the stands felt the force of the blow. Temari gasped out loud. For the first time, she was genuinely worried about Gaara's safety.
As everyone squinted into the dust cloud, a body suddenly flew into the air—sand crumbling off it like flaking armor.
It wasn't Lee.
It was Gaara.
Even Lee's own teammates, Tenten and Neji, had never witnessed this trump card before. None of them truly understood the power of opening four gates.
"Where's Lee?" Tenten asked, scanning the arena with growing concern.
Neji didn't respond. His face had gone rigid. His Byakugan was already active, the veins around his eyes bulging as he strained to follow Lee's movement.
With a 360-degree field of vision and the ability to detect even the tiniest chakra nodes under motion, the Byakugan rivaled and even surpassed the Sharingan in detection. Even Lee's blinding speed couldn't hide from Neji's eyes.
"Above," a voice cut in.
But it wasn't Neji who spoke.
It was Shikamaru.
Lee's movements had long exceeded the limits of human eyesight. And with the battlefield filled with swirling sand, dust, and the crash of debris, visual tracking was virtually useless. Shikamaru had shut his eyes and relied purely on sound.
Human hearing responds faster than visual stimuli. And for someone as sharp as Shikamaru, sound became a more precise instrument than vision itself.
Lee couldn't fly. But he didn't need to.
As Gaara's sand tried to recover him mid-air, Lee leapt high—using the walls and ceiling to ricochet off the stadium like a meteor. He slammed downward toward Gaara from above, forcing him back into the air again and again.
What the audience saw looked like something impossible: Rock Lee bouncing off surfaces at incredible speed, while Gaara was tossed around like a ragdoll—unable to even land.
"This is insane," muttered Chōji, mouth agape. He instinctively compared this Lee to Shikamaru and felt his confidence vanish. Not even most jōnin could move like that.
Still, Gaara's Sand Armor proved formidable. Despite the onslaught, it hadn't completely shattered. Lee realized he couldn't keep this up for long. His time was limited.
Clenching his fists, Lee made a decision—and opened the Fifth Gate, the Gate of Limit.
His body trembled as he forcibly directed a storm of chakra into the pressure point. The strain was enormous. Veins bulged across his arms and face, his muscles tore and healed in the same breath, but he did it.
The fifth gate burst open.
Wind howled around him. His speed, already incomprehensible, now reached levels that seemed supernatural.
"How is this even human?" Gaara braced himself, raising both arms. But inside, panic was setting in. "How is he this fast?! This shouldn't be possible!"
From across the arena, Lee stole a glance toward Neji, whose face had finally shown a hint of shock.
"Neji," Lee thought, "this is the trump card I saved just for you… But today—I'll use it to win this battle. To prove… my ninja way!"
BOOM!
Lee vanished from Gaara's line of sight.
Before Gaara could react, an explosive impact to the stomach sent him crashing downward like a missile. But just as he fell, he realized something had coiled around his waist—
Lee's bandages.
In the moment of impact, Lee had wrapped his leg bindings around Gaara's midsection. Now, blood running from his nose, veins bursting under the pressure, Lee pulled hard.
"Hrrrghh…!"
He twisted his torso, forcing his body through sheer will. With a yell that echoed through the stadium, he yanked Gaara back into the air—positioning him.
Arms folded, legs bent.
Ready for the final blow.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin