Rock Lee vs Asahi Ren

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. Standing in front of him was Asahi Ren, the most powerful genin he has seen so far in his generation, and he is going to be fighting him.

Even though he was born without the talent to use chakra properly, he didn't think he was that unlucky.

Soon, the proctor announced, "Begin!"

And the atmosphere between them suddenly changed. Previously, he felt calm but now, he could feel a slight amount of fear bubbling inside of him. He didn't show it, yet his opponent saw it.

Ren lazily looked at him, and said, "Let's try a warm-up, shall we?"

Lee smiled, and replied, "Agreed."

He took on his stance, and suddenly appeared in front of the red-head with his fist already in front of Ren. But instead of making contact with his face, Lee's fist hit a green energy barrier that materialized itself in front of his opponent.

BAM!!

Lee felt the pain coursing through his entire arm, as soon as he hit the barrier. He gritted his teeth, and backed away almost immediately after seeing his attack failing.

Helel didn't change his expression, still sporting the same lazy eyes and apathetic look on his face.

It was insulting to Lee. He thought that even though Ren is stronger than him, at least he'll still have a chance of defeating him. Well, he does have a chance but it's minimal at best.

"That barrier jutsu… what is that?" He asked, curious, as well cautious.

"Merely a simple one, nothing more, nothing less," he replied, "But I digress. I know that you want me to use all of my power to beat you; I can see it in your eyes. Well, if you want for that to happen, then you must also go all out. But don't expect for me to use everything I have on you because, at the moment, you're weak. Incredibly weak, almost pathetic."

Lee almost wanted to snort. He's always been told that he's weak, even by his own teammate. But right now, he'll show them he is not.

He looked at his sensei, and Gai nodded, pointing a thumbs-up towards him with a smile.

"Go for it, Lee!" He yelled from the stands.

The spandex-wearing teen brought out a smirk. He bent down slightly, without ever taking his eyes off his opponent.

Ren waved his hand, beckoning for him to continue.

"Don't mind me, just take off your weights," he said.

With that, Lee took off his orange warmers from his legs and then removed the yellow weights that he uses for his training.

Without care, he easily threw them away, and then…

BOOOOM!!

His training weights were so heavy that they made a dent to the gym's floor, and everyone was in awe. Even Neji, who usually ridicules his teammate, couldn't help but be shocked when he saw that. He never knew that Lee was always wearing that thing, and now, he realized that the reason why his teammate is always so slow compared to him was because of those things!

Ren whistled, "I should try using weights on my limbs after this," he said.

"I recommend that," Lee replied.

Then, the red-head shrugged, and said, "Well, since you were the one to initiate the first attack, I should return it."

As soon as he said that, dozens upon dozens of energy arrows appeared around Ren, and Lee's eyes grew serious and alarmed. And before anyone could react, a single arrow launched themselves at Lee. They looked nothing special but Lee immediately knew that they were dangerous.

Even though barely, he could still see it, and when he dodged the arrow, he was shocked to notice that the energy arrow completely went through the floor like it was piercing through butter.

"These chakra arrows," he obviously lied about that one, "are different. They are strong enough to pierce through steel, and they can go faster than three-hundred meters per-second. Unless you can dodge them repeatedly, and unless your body is made of a material harder than steel, then you won't be able to survive them."

He can make them go faster than the speed of sound, even to Mach 10. He's just playing around at the moment.

With firm determination in his eyes, and taking on a defensive stance, Rock Lee said, "Come!"

Ren didn't do anything, only said, "Very well…"

And then, the arrows rushed towards the teen.

Barrage after barrage of arrows, Lee did his best to dodge them all. Even then, his body still took scratches after scratches.

When Ren was finished, Lee was already bleeding all over, while the red-head was still unharmed. Not a single sweat on his body, and all this time, he hasn't moved from his position.

Ren shook his head in disappointment.

"Is this all you amount to? How boring," he said while yawning.

Instead of being angered, Lee smiled, and said, "I haven't shown you everything yet!"

A twinkle of interest appeared in the red-head's eyes, as he said, "Hoh? Are you talking about the Eight Gates?"

The green spandex-wearing teen was a bit surprised that his opponent knew of this technique, considering that it's a very secretive technique, only known by higher-ranked people.

"So, tell me, how many gates can you open?" Ren asked, curious.

Lee stayed silent for a moment, before saying, "I can open up to the Gate of Limit."

"That is a bit interesting. Since your normal attacks can't get through my barrier, why don't you power up for a moment? As a matter of fact, I'll even give you some breathing space," Helel said, becoming more and more interested in the 8 Gates.

If he could use it, he would, but unfortunately, he already has spells that could strengthen his physical strength up to the limit his body can handle. And they don't require anything other than some Arcane Energy.

Lee turned his eyes to his sensei, and after some hesitation, Gai gave him the seal of approval.

"Do it Lee! I believe in you!" The jonin said while smiling brightly, showing his shiny teeth.

Kakashi, who's just right beside him, said, "You really taught a kid a forbidden technique?"

Gai shrugged, and said, "Unlike all of the children here, who have all these flashy jutsus and such, Lee doesn't have anything. And I really believe that he is worthy to inherit my father and I's will of fire. And besides, you would've done the same thing if you had a student."

"Well, fair enough," and Kakashi returned to reading his orange book, which is oddly titled 'A Submissive Red-Haired Woman and her Sadistic Blonde Husband', which is just… way too specific.

Suddenly, a burst of chakra caught everyone's attention.

With veins showing up on his forehead, Rock Lee endured it as he was hit by a sudden sense of pain as he opened the first gate, the Gate of Opening.

Then, "Gate of Healing! Opened!" And the aura around him grew stronger.

His smile only grew wider as he saw Lee growing stronger and stronger, and Ren knew that once this child reaches the fifth gate, he'll be able to at least have some fun. And he couldn't wait.

His finger twitched in excitement, and for the first time since his battle with Itachi, he decided to use another martial art created by a master that died centuries ago.

"Gate of Life! Opened!"

He took on a stance that made even Gai gasp in surprise. It may seem like he's not doing anything other than standing around but the menacing aura around him, his eyes turning red, and two short horns protruding from his forehead, everyone thought that he's becoming a demon.

"Gate of Pain! Opened!"

The Demon of Victory, Balor, made this martial art. Its name is Demon's Brutality. Whoever uses this martial art will partially become a demon themselves. The more demonic features a user has, the more they've mastered this art.

Balor was one of the strongest and greatest cultivators at the time, reaching the staggering level of Divine Realm. However, he was unfortunate enough to gain Helel's wrath. The Deity Realm Cultivator was disrespected in the city which Balor ruled, and so, he destroyed everything in it. Enraged, the demon of victory tried to kill Helel, only for him to be captured. Then Helel took away his cultivation and tortured everything out of him, including all of his spells and techniques.

Only then, was he given the mercy of death.

Helel mastered his martial art to its greatest degree, even surpassing that of Balor, which only furthered the humiliation the demon received, even after death.

"Gate of Limit! Opeeeened!!" As soon as he said that, Lee rushed towards him with great speed. The momentum carried him as he jumped, and extended his foot towards Ren's barrier.

And Ren was surprised when it cracked, and then shattered.

He didn't defend himself, no, he let the kick hit his chest.

As soon as it connected, he flew away for several meters, until he landed on the floor.

Lee took the time to breath but Ren didn't need that. In an instant, he was already on his feet. But instead of a calm or angry face, he had an expression of madness. His smile reached ear-to-ear, as by the corner of his mouth, blood poured out.

He had been injured.

And he chuckled.

"To think I'd be internally wounded by someone like you… But eh, no matter," with that, a green energy washed over him as he used his spell, Lesser Healing.

For the first time since 12 years, he's been injured. And for him, it's a wonderful feeling because, now, he can finally fight someone that can actually break his barrier with his physical strength alone.

And as a fellow martial artist, Helel will give Lee the honor of fighting him in hand-to-hand combat.

This time, he will release some of his restraint.

Standing tall and upright, his nails slowly transforming into claws, his skin turning deep red, and his hair growing longer and longer, now, he looked more demon-like than ever before.

The Hokage was aghast, every Jonin prepared themselves, in case the Kyuubi was escaping, and all of the genins were confused.

But all Ren did was smirk, as Lee charged at him in a blistering pace with his fist cocked.