45 Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Kaen made a shadow clone to take Kiba to the infirmary while he stayed and waited for the next match. Only five participants were left—two more fights. Kaen looked forward to whom Sasuke would fight. Both Rock Lee and Neji Hyuga would be great opponents for him. But he had to wait for it as two names appeared on the black screen—Hinata Hyuga vs. Ino Yamanaka.

Kaen knew little about Ino but couldn't imagine her defeating Hinata. Hinata's worst weakness was her kindness. She is always hesitant to hurt others, even at her own expense. Yet that weakness can become a strength if cultivated well. If she can't bring herself to hurt her foes, she must bring them down fast, not letting them struggle.

That is why Kaen taught Hinata efficiency. No tricks or overthinking, only striking fast and hard, leaving no room for a counterattack. It could be said to be the most brutal method of battle, but at the same time, the most kind. Now was the time to prove she was capable of it, and if she couldn't do it now, Kaen would have to teach her harsher in the future.

"Begin," Gekko announced the start of the match as Hinata and Ino assumed their respective stances, ready to engage in combat.

Kaen knew that Ino had a confident and assertive personality and initially attempted to use her Mind Transfer Jutsu to take control of Hinata's body. However, it was her mistake. Even if Hinata looked shy and unconfident, she had a strong will and intense focus. Nobody should assume Hinata's gentle personality for weakness. In this world, to be kind, one has to be strong.

Hinata moved before Ino could shake off her mistake and make another move. She approached Ino fast, getting close to her, and without mercy, used her gentle palm taijutsu style to block off Ino's chakra points, closing her network and making her unable to counterattack. The fight was over the moment Hinata got close to Ino.

To some, it might look like a brutal beatdown, but Kaen knew that Hinata didn't use excessive force, only enough to block chakra points but not hurt Ino further. Within moments Ino's limbs went limp. She couldn't use them anymore. Kaen could see that Ino wanted to struggle but couldn't. With a dejected look, Ino had to accept her loss. It was clear that Ino had much more prepared for the match, but Hinata didn't let her do anything.

"The winner is Hinata Hyuga," Gekko announced.

"Don't look so dejected," Kaen said to Ino as she passed him and returned to her teammates. "She was the worst opponent you could have faced. It is too bad. I wanted to see what you would have done with your poison idea."

"Kaen is right, Ino. Against another opponent, you could have shown your strength, but Hinata, not wanting to let you counterattack, used her full strength," Asuma patted Ino's head in consolation.

"I wish, Kaen-sensei was as kind to his students as he was to others," Shino muttered to Hinata as she returned.

"Now it is the time for the final match," Kaen said. "This should be exciting."

True to his words, Kaen saw Sasuke's and Rock Lee's names on the black screen. While the last fight was short but efficient, this fight should be interesting. Sasuke was already waiting in the arena before Gekko even said anything. Kaen could tell Sasuke was waiting for the battle and was excited too. Kaen was envious. After looking at all those fights, he wished he could have participated in the chunin exam at his age.

"It seems our precious apprentices will face each other, Kakashi," Gai commented. "But I have to tell you not to have high hopes for Sasuke, as Rock Lee's Youth burns more brightly than anything."

"Hmm," Kakashi turned to Gai. "What did you say? I wasn't listening."

Kaen tuned down Gai's words after that too. Ignoring Gai was a valuable skill on its own. Good thing Kaen had something to distract himself from Gai's nonsense as both Rock Lee and Sasuke took their positions and assumed their stances. After seeing that the participants were ready, Gekko began the match. And just as Gekko's words left his mouth, Rock Lee moved.

Kaen was pleasantly surprised by how explosively fast Rock Lee was. It was fast enough for Sasuke to rely on his sharingan to defend himself. Kaen wished Sasuke didn't rely on his sharingan so much, but he overlooked it for this match, as not using it would not be advisable against Rock Lee. For the first encounter, anyone could tell that Sasuke's and Rock Lee's taijutsu was superb.

"The famous Leaf Gale," Kaen commented, seeing Rock Lee's fighting style. "But it won't be enough against Sasuke."

As Kaen has said, once Sasuke saw Rock Lee's movements, with his exceptional reflexes and activated Sharingan, Sasuke had no trouble avoiding Rock Lee's attacks. It wasn't enough, even if Lee's swift attacks overwhelmed Sasuke initially, and Lee displayed his remarkable speed and agility, landing a series of powerful punches and kicks.

Sasuke made the right choice by refusing to engage in a taijutsu battle when he specialized in ninjutsu more. While evading Lee's attacks, Sasuke weaved several hand signs before spitting small fireballs at him. It was only to make Lee back off before he used a powerful jutsu to make a fire barrier restricting Lee's movements.

It wasn't the end, but rather the beginning of Sasuke using various quick jutsu to corner Lee before using a massive Fireball jutsu to finish the fight. Lee managed to block it with his body making him crash into the wall. Sasuke seeing that Lee could still fight, moved his hands again to make another set of hand signs.

"Lee, remove them!" Gai shouted.

"But, sensei, you said," Lee looked uncertain.

"It is time. He is an opponent that deserves your full prowess, Lee," Gai gave a big smile to his apprentice as Lee nodded.

"What can that guy with a weird haircut do? It is clear he is outmatched?" Temari asked as everyone looked to watch Lee take weights from his legs. "Does he think that few weights would make a difference? What a fool."

Sasuke didn't underestimate Lee and spat another fireball at Lee as he held his weights in his hands. Apart from Kaen and team Gai, nobody expected Lee to throw the weights at the fireball. Not only did it break the jutsu, but it went through it for Sasuke. As Sasuke dodged the attack, he and everyone else looked at the big hole in the wall left by Lee's weights.

"What the hell was that?" Naruto asked. "How could he even move with these on his legs?"

"Who knows, but he could," Kaen replied. "Now the question is how fast he will move without them restricting him."

"This is crazy," Temari commented. "I have underestimated them far too much."

"You should have realized how strong this generation is when apart from your team, everyone else in the preliminaries was genin from Konoha," Kaen responded with a proud smile. "The world is vast, girl. Every village has its geniuses and monsters. Yours isn't that special."

In the arena, Lee moved around Sasuke at an incredible speed that no genin should possess. But Kaen knew it wasn't enough. To onlookers, it might have looked that Sasuke could barely defend himself, but Kaen knew it was because Sasuke chose to receive those attacks. He was learning Lee's taijutsu.

"Go, Lee, show your hard work. It will triumph over any talent!" Gai shouted with pride filled voice.

"Heh," Kaen laughed. "Is that how you see Sasuke, nothing but a talent?"

"Of course not, but no matter how hard Sasuke-kun worked, it would never be near the effort Lee put in," Gai replied.

"You're wrong," Kaen responded with a cold tone. "Sasuke trained every minute he had ever since he was a child. Sasuke put everything he had into his training, just like Rock Lee. Don't underestimate him. And unlike your student, Sasuke had a powerful motivator to push him further than his limits."

"What kind of motivation?" Gai asked.

"Fear," Kaen replied.

As Kaen finished his words, Sasuke proved them right by catching Lee's leg with his hand. It was so shocking to Lee that he stopped moving momentarily. Using the chance, Sasuke threw Lee over himself and slammed him into the ground with great force. It woke Lee up before Sasuke could deliver another attack. He used his hands to propel himself and his legs to kick Sasuke away.

"I don't get it," Sakura said. "Why won't Lee use any ninjutsu?"

"Because he can't," Gai answered. "He cannot use ninjutsu or genjutsu. So, he put all his effort into something he could use. And he became the most excellent specialist in taijutsu."

"But it doesn't look like it will be enough," Kankuro commented.

"He hasn't shown us everything he can do yet," Gai didn't look concerned.

Kaen looked at Rock Lee as he stood before Sasuke. Kaen immediately realized what Lee would do as he put his arms in front of himself. It was the first time Kaen saw the technique with his own eyes. The energy coming from Lee was extraordinary. His muscles became tighter, and his skin turned red from the strain.

"Eight Gates," Kaen couldn't help but mutter.

"Eight gates? What is that?" Naruto asked.

"It could be said to be the most powerful technique in the world," Kaen explained.

"It can't be that strong?" Even Shikamaru was surprised.

"There was once a genin," Kaen said as the ground under Lee started to crack. "People called him eternal genin because he didn't know any ninjutsu or genjutsu. The village couldn't promote him for that. But his taijutsu was unparalleled. He defeated all seven swordsmen of the Mist in the Third Shinobi World using this technique. His name was Dai Might."

"Dai Might?" Naruto asked. "And wait, did you say he defeated all the seven swordsmen of the Mist by himself?"

"That right, he was Gai Might's father, and not only he defeated them, but he also killed most of them," Kaen answered. "Even though he was only considered a genin, he became one of the most respected heroes of the village."

"Unbelievable," Sakura muttered. "But what happened to him?"

"He died," Gai answered. "He died to protect the shinobi of Konoha."

"Fourth gate of pain, open!" Everyone turned back to Lee as he shouted.

Kaen was surprised at how fast Lee moved that he had to activate his sharingan to be able to see him. Sasuke could barely see him, but even if he saw Lee's movements, Sasuke wasn't fast enough to react. An uppercut sent Sasuke flying into the air, yet it wasn't over as Lee appeared above Sasuke and kicked him back to the ground creating a massive crater in the center of the arena.

"What kind of human can move like that?" Kankuro wasn't the only one wondering. "And that was only a fourth gate of the eight?"

"This is the end of the match," Gai smiled.

"No, it is just a beginning," Kaen disagreed. "Beginning of battle of attrition."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked. "Lee is way too strong for Sasuke."

"There is something you should know about Uchiha," Kaen replied. "We grow stronger while we fight a worthy opponent. Our eyes aren't the only thing others fear. Our most fearsome trait is the lust for battle."

"Lust of battle?" Kakashi turned to Kaen.

"Look at Sasuke," Kaen said.

"He is smiling!" Gai exclaimed.

"What?" Everyone except Naruto was shocked.

Not only did Sasuke stand up while coughing blood, but he also smiled at Lee and got back to his stance. Just like Kaen, Sasuke relished significant challenges. Kaen could tell Sasuke's blood was boiling with excitement. It was the first time someone pushed him so far and be at the same age as him. And most importantly, there were no tricks but pure strength his foe possessed. It was a true battle.

"What did you mean by the battle of attrition?" Shikamaru asked.

"The one to lose will be the one who will fall first," Kaen explained. "Before you ask, Lee's technique isn't something anyone could learn. Look carefully, you can see that Lee's muscles are tearing themselves out. The question is who will endure the most. Will Sasuke endure long enough for Lee to reach his limits? Or will Lee overpower Sasuke and knock him down first?"

From there on was a brutal beatdown done by Rock Lee. Sasuke couldn't do anything but receive the attacks, but Kaen knew how much beating Sasuke could endure. After all, Sasuke received much beating from Kaen for years. So even when Lee opened the fifth gate, Sasuke refused to be defeated. He was punched, kicked, and thrown like a ragdoll, but he would always stand up.

"Incredible, his youth is burning so brightly," Even Gai was shocked at the display of endurance.

No words were exchanged as Rock Lee and Sasuke stood before each other. Both were at their limits. Sasuke was bloody, with his outfit torn to pieces, and Lee could no longer sustain the fifth gate's power. His muscles had received too much pressure, he could barely lift his fist, and his legs were trembling while trying to keep his body standing.

Nobody said anything as both slowly walked to each other. They dragged their broken bodies through the arena to each other. It took a long moment, but they got to each other and lifted their fist before throwing them at each other. They hit the jaws of each other at the same time. Yet even then, they refused to fall. Then they lifted their firsts again and threw them at each other again. This time, neither could hit the other, and Lee fell to the ground next to Sasuke.

"I have won," Sasuke said while raising his hand to prove it.