44 Chunin Exam Part 6

"Impressive! You've improved again, Neji Nii Chan." Hinata declared as she blocked his attacks,

Neji, being from the Hyuga clan, also had access to the Pink Muscle Transformation Technique, so the two were near equal when it came to the strength of their physiques.

Hinata then flickered back as she released water senbons with her Jutsu. Neji was surprised by this because he didn't recall Hinata having an affinity with water.

After Neji dodged out of the way, Hinata took this chance to close the gap between them. When she got close enough, Hinata used another Water Jutsu.

"Exploding Currents!" A geyser of water appeared from out her mouth as it exploded in Neji's face.

Before he could defend himself, Neji felt Hinata's presence beside him.

Neji's raised his hands and deflected the wave of Chakra infused water as Hinata's hands turned into blurs, striking all of his Chakra points vital areas,

While his Tenketsu was being punctured by Hinata's Chakra, Neji noticed a different kind of technique added to her Gentle Fist Style.

It was like there were runes drawn in with her Chakra that sealed away his Tenketsu and kept them from recovering.

Feeling his body grow weak, Neji fell to the ground when Hinata said, "If we rely on only our Gentle fist style we will fall behind the other clans, Neji you need to practice your transformation release techniques and add them into your fighting style. Just so you know, I had plenty more techniques at my disposal."

Neji laughed as he received a scolding from Hinata. After a few harsh words, Hinata undid her Chakra Point Seals, and Neji returned to his feet with almost no damage.

He then bowed to Hinata again as he said, "I wish you luck in the finals, cousin."

Hinata came back up to a cheering Team 7.

"Way to go, Hinata!" Sakura and Karin shouted at the same time while patting her on the back.

"Good fight. A bit easy for my taste though," Sasuke complemented and complained at the same time.

"Can't you just be normal and say she did well?" Kibo said to Sasuke with his arms crossed.

"Can't you just mind your own business?" Sasuke replied with a mischievous smile.

"Hmm....No..." Kibo responded in monotone, earning a laugh from the neighboring team.

"Shut up Choji!" Sasuke shouted with a red face.

Naruto hugged Hinata and lifted her into the air while saying, "MY GIRLFRIEND IS THE STRONGEST!"

While she was busy blushing, Lee looked over to her in disbelief. His rival had lost to his younger female cousin. Lee stood dumbstruck and didn't know how to react.

When Neji came back and was pitted by his fellow teammates, Kibo spoke some kind words to comfort Lee, "There is always someone stronger. Even if you become the strongest person on the planet, there will still be someone stronger in the cosmos."

Kibo's words gave more help to Lee than it did Neji, but it still comforted him none the less.

The announcer's voice rang out as Kibo looked over to see the new names appearing on the large screen display.

"Gaara versus Rock Lee!"

The two came down to meet and stood across from one another.

Before the fight got underway, Kankuro paid a visit to team Guy, who was standing next to team 7.

"Hey I just wanted to let you know your pupil should forfeit this match, he's gonna get himself killed."

Guy looked to Kankuro and said, "I'm not so sure about that. After all, he is my pupil."

Kankuro shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, and sighed before saying, "Well I tried to warn ya. No matter what he does it will be useless against Gaara."

That's when Naruto looked over and said, "No. Your teammate is strong, but I don't think the match will be as one-sided as you think."

Kankuro lifted an eyebrow and said, "But you still think he'll lose."

Naruto gripped the railing causing it to slightly distort while he thought, "Yes. But that's only if he relies on the Shukaku's power."

The match started off as it did in canon. Gaara launched his cork out towards Lee making him catch it,

"Please don't be so hasty friend," Lee said as he threw it back.

Before Gara could catch it, Lee moved with overwhelming speed before he appeared next to Gaara's outstretched hand.

Lee then shouted "Leaf Hurricane!" A puff of sand moved to block the kick, making a loud thud echo throughout the room.

Gaara, surprised by Lee's strength, began chasing after him with his sand,

Lee moved back rapidly avoiding the sentient sand's movements and managed to pull far away by jumping onto the large hand sign statue's fingertip.

Meanwhile, up in the stands, Kankuro just got done explaining how his brother's sand moves and protects him on its own, without even needing Gaara to control it.

"...and that's why he's never been injured on a mission before," Konkuro declared.

Sakura then suggested he uses other Jutsus.

Thanks to her advice, Guy remembered that since Kibo helped heal Lee's clogged meridians, his disciple could use Nin-Jutsu now.

Guy quickly leaned over the rail and shouted, "Lee use Gen-Jutsu!!!"

Lee looked toward Guy with a motivated expression and said, "Right!"

He placed his hands up into a sign.

Seeing this, Gaara used the sand to cover his body to defend before Lee turned to Guy and said, "But I don't know any, Guy Sensei!"

. . .

Kakashi and the collective Konohagakure team members slapped their foreheads.

Guy then blushed a little before saying, "Well then, for this match I permit you to use it."

Lee, shocked by his Master's statement, looked to Guy and said, "But you said never to use it unless I'm protecting something precious to me."

Guy smiled as he held out his thumb and replied, "I'm allowing you to use it. To protect your Ninja way. Now win this thing, my disciple."

Lee looked happy as he let out a few laughs while removing his leg warmers. Underneath was a set of large bar-shaped ankle weights that were inside some-kind of flexible fabric.

Lee un-wrapped the weights from his legs and hung them in his hands. Although some people were surprised, Kankuro and Temari mocked Lee by saying, "As if losing a couple of pounds will do anything."

No sooner than they mocked him, Lee dropped the weights into the ground, sending up a massive storm of dust and stone debris.

Kakashi's face had a particularly funny expression as he thought, "Isn't that a bit too much."

Lee disappeared, and reappeared behind Gaara, his speed surprising everyone in the room.

Even Kibo whistled at how fast he moved,

Lee's fist shot through Gaara's sand barrier and sent him flying away with a fierce punch. Thanks to every muscle of his being altered through the use of the S rank technique, Lee's body was far stronger than the previous version of himself.

Gaara used the sand as a break and fell into it like it was a cloud. His face showed chips of hardened sand breaking off.

Gaara then showed a sadistic smile on his face as the sand returned to make a new layer over his skin.

"He broke Gaara's sand shell!" Temari cried out.

Kankuro's expression paled as he informed the Leaf Shinobi, "Gaara's gonna play with him now, and then kill him when he gets bored."

Naruto felt nervous and walked over to Guy and tugged on his sleeve.

"Guy sensei, I think you should tell lee to forfeit." Naruto whispered, getting his attention before he continued speaking, "That guy is the host for the 1 Tail. I'm not worried whether he'll win or not, I worried he'll lose control. I heard that they didn't use a very good seal on Shukaku's host, he might lose control and bring down the whole stadium."

"What?" Guy said with a look of disbelief.

Kakashi overheard and looked on at Gaara with wide eyes.

"Naruto how do you know this?" Kakashi asked as he moved closer to the two.

Naruto sighed and responded with honesty, "I know about the Nine-Tailed Fox, that's how I know about Sandypants down there."

"You do?!" The two Jonin shouted in hushed tones.

"Yep! We even came to be friends. Right now, he's telling me that Shukaku is getting restless."

Kakashi frowned and looked to Guy and nodded his head before saying, "We'd love to Naruto, but even if it's a tailed beast host, we can't stop the match."

Just as Naruto was about to complain, Guy finished what Kakashi started, "This is a match between Shinobi villages. Would you want us to deny you the right to participate because you're the nine-tailed host?"

Naruto looked down and depressed. Seeing Naruto's good-natured attitude and worry for his student, Guy smiled and patted him on the shoulder before saying, "Thank you for showing concern for my disciple, and don't worry. The moment things look bad Kakashi and I will act."

Naruto felt a little better.

When suddenly, the sound of Lee suddenly using the hidden lotus to send Gaara into the floor echoed throughout the chamber.

The ground shattered the arena, leaving only a crater and a broken Sand Shell of Gaara lying in it.

Gaara appeared from out of a pile of sand and launched a sneak attack at Lee's back,

Lee jumped away but got hit by the attack and slammed into a wall.

The group of spectators looked on as Lee stood forth and jumped back into battle.

Seeing the little green beast's condition, Kakashi looked over to Guy and shouted, "You didn't teach him that did you?"

Guy looked smug as he replied, "Lee is a genius. He didn't have the ability to use Nin-Jutsu nor Gen-Jutsu, so all he could focus on was his Tai-Jutsu."

"So that kid is actually able to perform the reverse lotus? How many gates can he open?" Kakashi asked.

"5. Lee can open 5 gates at the moment," Guy responded, making Kakashi gasp and activate his Sharingan to observe the battle.

Kibo also activated his Do-Jutsu. He had questions about how different the Hidden Gates are compared to his Profound Gates.

When he gazed over Lee's body, what he saw not only surprised him; but Seiryu and Suzaku as well.

"Those aren't the eight Hidden Gates but the 8 Chakra openings!" Seiryu replied with amazement in his voice.

Kibo was puzzled and asked Seiryu to continue explaining.

"There are 8 Chakra Gates throughout the body. The gate of Spirit, and Perception, are located in the brain. The gate of Expression is in the throat at the edge of the spine. The gate of Will is next to the heart, the gate of Power is near the solar plexus, the gate of Strength is in the arms, the gate of Drive is just below the navel, and the Root gate is located in the legs and feet."

Seiryu continued on as the battle grew more intense, "Their positions are similar to the 8 Profound Gates. Only when the body has been tempered by the 8 Profound Gates can the 8 Chakra's be used."

It turns out that the whole time no one in Naruto ever managed to open a single Profound Gate, but they were accessing something they shouldn't be able to.

Kibo couldn't help but think that Lee was amazing when Suzaku chimed in "What he's doing can't be called opening a Chakra Gate. It's more like he's holding them open with his Chakra and will power alone. If one doesn't master the 8 Profound Gates first then the Chakra Gates will never open fully, and they will never be able to use it properly."

Kibo was starting to get excited. If he opened all his Profound Gates and then his Chakra Gates, he was beginning to think that his physique may reach the level of a true god.

Seiryu confirmed his suspicions as he said, "If one opens up all 8 Profound Gates and 8 Chakra Gates, their physical strength would be unmatched under the realm of God. But the practitioner's Chakra and soul power would be lacking in comparison."

Kibo didn't want to reach godhood through his physique alone, but he still couldn't help but drool at the thought.

Suzaku laughed before she said, "Opening them fully isn't an easy task. Only a handful of people have ever managed to pull that off. Even so, their lower Soul and Chakra levels end up being their demise for when it comes time to take on their godly tribulations."

Kibo laughed at himself for thinking too far in the future. He went back to enjoying the fight when the sound of Lee opening the second Chakra Gate could be heard.

According to Seiryu, he opened his Spirit Gate first which increased the level of Chakra in his body allowing him to recover his stamina the second gate he opened was the root gate, for the third and fourth Hidden Gates he released was the Gates of Strength and Power.

Kibo saw his fellow Shinobi's dramatic increase in power as Lee rushed towards Gaara, carrying the broken debris of the floor behind the heels of his feet.

The battle escalated and Gaara was being knocked around the arena like a ping pong ball. Lee was moving so fast that the sand couldn't keep up.

Gaara tried to defend, however, Lee hit him high into the air and appeared above him a second later.

Lee then unleashed his fifth gate, the gate of Expression. He roared as he slammed his fist into Gaara's body.

As Gaara was sent flying towards the ground, Lee had managed to grab onto his sash and pulled him back up by jerking him closer.

At the same time, all the power gathered in his fist and foot, and with a single twisting motion Lee hit Gaara in the stomach with both limbs while shouting, "Reverse Lotus."

Gaara shot towards the ground. Just before he hit, his gourd turned into sand and softened the impact.

As Lee came down and landed nearby, he looked utterly exhausted,

Kibo was a little disappointed that his muscle transformation technique didn't do anything to extend the duration or lessen the taxation of the Chakra Gate openings. It appeared that not only did it made him stronger, but also made the strain greater as well.