The entire arena fell silent.
The fight had been too fast—too violent.
The audience was stunned, overwhelmed by the brutal intensity that had exploded before their eyes.
What Rock Lee displayed was the absolute limit of the human body as ordinary people understood it—pure physical power pushed to the extreme. Fierce. Violent. Almost savage.
"Are ninjas… really this terrifying?"
"Don't be afraid. They're also protecting us."
"But… will Gaara die? That's too pitiful. He looks fierce, but he must be soft inside…"
Gradually, voices returned. The crowd began to process what they'd just seen, arguing over the outcome.
Shiranui Genma rushed to the edge of the crater, his expression grim.
Lee's final move had been so fast that even he, the referee, hadn't had time to react. By the rules, he'd failed.
Crack.
The "Gaara" lying in the crater suddenly peeled apart—his face splitting open to reveal emptiness inside.
Genma's pupils shrank as he leapt backward.
Crack. Crack.
Gaara's entire body shattered piece by piece, collapsing into yellow sand.
It was a sand clone.
"What?!"
"A clone?! How is that possible? In that kind of fight—how did he do it without anyone noticing?"
"Rock Lee is in trouble now. He just used his ultimate move. His stamina must be nearly gone."
Lee reacted instantly, flipping away just as a new Gaara condensed from the sand where he'd been standing.
Gaara grinned.
At his command, the arena began to resemble a desert. Massive waves of sand surged forward, threatening to drown Lee entirely.
Boom!
The sand slammed into the ground, shaking the entire stadium.
Lee landed on the wall high above, staring down at Gaara with sharp focus.
"If you don't surrender… I won't be able to hold back anymore."
Gaara's voice sounded sincere for a brief moment—almost clear.
Then madness flooded his eyes.
His smile twisted, darker and more cruel, as grains of sand seeped across his skin. He looked like a completely different person.
"The demon inside Gaara is coming out…"
"He can't control himself anymore…"
Temari and Kankuro clenched their fists, pain written across their faces.
They understood this was part of the plan—but it still hurt.
"Surrender?" Lee said, smiling fiercely.
"Youth doesn't know surrender!"
"Master Guy—may I go all out?"
"You have my permission! Go, Lee!"
Master and student shouted back and forth, perfectly in sync.
The crowd erupted.
"What?! He wasn't even going all out before?!"
"Are you kidding? That kind of taijutsu would crush most jonin!"
"How many monsters does Konoha even have?!"
Lee crouched on the wall and calmly removed the weights strapped to his legs—thick bands engraved with the kanji for root.
"They're just weights," Temari scoffed. "That won't change anything."
The weights dropped.
Boom!
The ground shook violently.
The entire audience froze. Temari and Kankuro went pale, their scalps tingling as they stared at Lee like he was some kind of inhuman beast.
"Guy… that's at least a thousand pounds," Kakashi muttered.
"It's not my fault," Guy replied proudly.
"Originally, Lee only wore 200 kilograms per leg. After Naruto's training camp, he said that was too light."
"…How much now?"
"Double that. Eight hundred kilograms."
"…Per leg?"
Kakashi sucked in a sharp breath.
Sixteen hundred pounds.
And Lee had been fighting Gaara with that on.
Guy was already a monster—but his student was even worse.
"This is amazing… amazing!"
"Hurry up! Hurry up!"
Gaara laughed wildly, his eyes burning with obsession.
"I'm coming," Lee said softly.
He vanished.
A sand wall erupted in front of Gaara—fast, precise.
Boom!
Lee punched straight through it.
He appeared in front of Gaara, fist crashing forward.
"Sand Shield!"
Gaara leaned back as a smaller shield formed—then shattered instantly.
Lee vanished again.
Gaara sidestepped, raising another wall, another shield.
Boom! Boom!
Both exploded.
Lee's fist slammed into Gaara's face, cracking the sand armor.
"Sand Rain!"
From the gourd behind Gaara, sand erupted into countless needle-like projectiles, spraying outward like a deadly storm.
Even Temari and Kankuro were shaken.
"Gaara… is losing?"
"What kind of monster is Rock Lee?!"
Gaara was stronger than ever—his chakra surging, his reactions sharpened beyond anything they'd seen before.
And still… he couldn't keep up.
"Yes… this feeling…"
"It hurts. It really hurts!"
"I want to tear him apart!"
Gaara laughed hysterically even as Lee's blows landed.
Sand flooded the arena, transforming the battlefield completely.
"Desert Wave!"
Lee struck again.
Gaara roared. The sand swallowed him whole, forming a massive sphere.
Lee's punch landed—and felt like striking solid iron.
Then—
Sharp sand spears burst outward.
Lee jumped back, blood trailing from his knuckles.
He stared at the hedgehog-like defense, breathing hard.
For the first time, he hesitated.
Outside Konoha Village, in the forests—
"Targets are moving."
"Sunagakure is ready. What about us?"
"Wait. Let them move first."
Figures leapt through the trees like ghosts, killing intent spilling into the night.
At the base of Konoha's great wall, shadows gathered, clinging silently, charging themselves for the moment to strike.
The undercurrent surged.
The arrow was already on the string.
All that remained… was the order to fire.
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