Lee was hungry, so he went to his garden, picked some garlic sprouts, sliced some cured pig meat, and made a bowl of garlic bacon soup.
It tasted amazing!
But even after finishing his meal and washing the dishes, Lee still hadn't come up with a way to compress the Rasengan further.
He could only push the annoying thoughts aside for now.
After all, he could figure out the rest later.
Right now, he felt the urge to focus on that glowing orb in his mind. So without thinking much about it, Lee sat cross-legged and began to focus on it. The next moment, his mind went blank, and he vanished from the house.
When his senses returned, he found himself in a vast, white space.
He tensed, ready for anything. But before he could move, words unfurled inside his mind:
[Gravity Training Room Manual]
[Through thought alone the user can enter and exit the training room at will. Through thought the user can also control the gravity and reality of the chamber to assist in training.]
[Note: Don't set gravity too high in the beginning. If you get crushed to death, we're not responsible.]
[A free Enhancement Serum is included. It will greatly enhance the user's physical abilities.]
[Note: Enhancing the body will reconstruct your body and may also alter your appearance for the better. It'll be painful, so please endure it.]
[A gift of 100 Senzu Beans. Originally from Dragon Ball, each bean can sustain a person for ten days and instantly restore them to peak condition.]
[Note: Use them wisely.]
[On the 1st of every month at 7:00 p.m., the training room will enter Laboratory Mode. During this time, the user will have unlimited stamina and chakra and won't take any damage.]
[Note: This state lasts for ten hours, so please make the most of it.]
The manual was short and clear, but Lee still read it several times, unable to suppress the smile tugging at his lips.
Finally, Lee burst into laughter.
Honestly, he had been worrying about his lack of talent, but that didn't matter.
What mattered was that he now had a system and a guaranteed future. More importantly, 100 Senzu Beans equates to 100 lives! No matter how many disasters came his way, he'd survive.
What surprised Lee the most was discovering that he had a laboratory mode. It was clearly designed for experimenting with unlimited chakra, unlimited stamina, and immunity to all damage. There was really no better environment for creating his own fighting style.
"This system is perfect! And even better, it'll be the first in 3 days so now all I have to do is wait. Then again the lab mode only lasts for ten hours, so I need to seriously plan what to refine and work on. Otherwise it'll be wasted. For now, I'll set the gravity level to 2x for regular training."
Then, without hesitation, he took out the Enhancement Serum and injected it straight into his nape. As soon as the shot was done, his entire body felt like it was on fire. A moment later, intense pain surged through him, as if his bones, blood, brain and organs were being scrambled and reconstructed.
It was excruciating.
But he clenched his teeth and endured. The manual had clearly said to "please endure," which probably meant the longer you endured, the better the results would be.
He couldn't be sure, but he didn't dare risk it. If he passed out too quickly and the result was worse, wouldn't that be a huge loss?
Unfortunately, he couldn't hold on any longer.
He ended up fainting in and out of consciousness.
He didn't know how much time had passed before he was fully conscious again. All he knew was, his mind felt clearer than it ever was before and he felt stronger, faster, and all around better, as if his body were cleansed of all of its impurities. He couldn't explain it; he could just feel it. Then a message appeared in his head:
[Enhancement Complete]
After getting adjusted to his enhanced body, he sprang into training. He was doing so well with the two times gravity that he dialed it up to three times before leaving.
Exhausted and exhilarated, he showered then collapsed onto bed.
The Next Day
What is a true genius?
In Guy's eyes, the so-called prodigies from major clans weren't true geniuses. They simply had better bloodlines, countless resources, and massive backings.
For a civilian to rise to greatness, the path was a thousand times harder. That's why he admired Togi, Jiraiya and the Fourth Hokage so deeply.
"Lord Third, even though that boy can't perform nature ninjutsu or genjutsu, he independently developed a technique astonishingly close to the Rasengan!"
In the Hokage's office, Guy talked passionately, almost vibrating with excitement as he made his case.
Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, took a slow, thoughtful puff from his pipe as he studied the boy's report.
"How's his taijutsu?" the old man asked after a moment.
"His muscle control and raw physical strength are starting to surpass even my own," Guy reported earnestly. "I had initially planned to recruit him into my team after graduation, but now I see that keeping him under me would limit how far he can go."
Sarutobi fell into a long, contemplative silence.
Theory scores, history, chakra control exams, and tactical analysis all contributed toward academic ranking.
And the detailed report spoke for itself.
[Name: Rock Lee]
[Chakra control: Top-tier]
[Academic scores: First]
[Taijutsu performance: First]
[Kunai and Shuriken Jutsus: First]
[Ninjutsu: Only able to perform Substitution, Clone and Body Flicker Jutsu]
[Genjutsu: Easily dispels illusions, but cannot cast any]
At first he thought the boy got lucky because in the back of his mind he knew there was no way an academy student could have, through independent thought alone, arrived at a technique nearly identical to the Fourth Hokage's Rasengan. But looking at these grades…. There was no question about it.
Rock Lee was a genius, one who didn't fit into the usual molds of talent.
"Lord Third!" Guy pressed again, unable to contain his excitement.
"I'll meet him first," Sarutobi said after a long pause. "Then I'll decide."
Later that afternoon.
"The results of today's shuriken test are in! Lee and Tenten tied for first place. The rest of you need to step it up!" the instructor announced.
"Yes, sir," the rest of the class replied halfheartedly.
Tenten clenched her fists, but sighed in resignation. She had accepted it long ago. Ever since Lee's rapid rise, her reign as number one in weapons training had ended. Now, she was lucky to tie. But Lee wasn't just a shurikenjutsu specialist.
In every field outside of nature transformations and genjutsu, he was simply unstoppable. Every instructor at the academy would inevitably end their discussion of him with a long, helpless sigh.
Tenten couldn't help but admire him, though part of her wished he'd just stick to taijutsu and leave the records for her.
"Lee-kun, do you wanna go practice throws together?" she asked hopefully.
"Sure, uh... actually, can you give me a minute?" Lee replied, glancing toward the teacher calling him over.
He gave Tenten an apologetic smile before jogging away. The teacher waving him over was Mizuki. He was competent at teaching, but otherwise he's viewed as "unremarkable".
"You called for me, Mizuki-sensei?" Lee asked.
"It's not me," Mizuki said with a smile. "Lord Hokage is visiting today. He specifically requested to meet you. Head to the conference room immediately."
Lee's heart leapt into his throat.
This had to be thanks to Guy-sensei putting in a good word for him. Suppressing the grin threatening to burst across his face, he bowed and sprinted off.
Watching him disappear down the hall, a few of his classmates muttered enviously:
"So lucky..."
"Even the Hokage wants to meet him. That's on another level."
"Tch, what kind of prodigy can't use nature ninjutsu?" one scoffed bitterly.
The others fell silent.
Nera Hyuga, off to the side, merely shook her head and jogged toward the training field.
These people had no idea.
They only saw the shining surface. But none of them saw the blood, sweat, and silent tears Lee shed to get there.
Outside the meeting room, Lee knocked politely.
"Lord Hokage, sir."
"The door's open. Come in."
"Yes, sir."
Lee entered respectfully, finding the Third Hokage calmly reading through a thick folder, glasses perched low on his nose.
Without looking up, Sarutobi said, "I see from your records that, besides training, you've spent a great deal of time in the library."
"Uh, yes, sir," Lee replied. "Without talent for nature transformations, I realized that I would need to create techniques that didn't rely on them. But the more I studied, the more I understood that creating new jutsu requires deep knowledge across many fields."
"Quite right," Sarutobi said, nodding approvingly.
Too many Academy students underestimated theory classes. It was rare and precious to find someone like Lee who understood how vital real knowledge was.
Still... It was a shame.
Such potential, shackled by the inability to use even a basic elemental ninjutsu.
The Third Hokage sighed quietly.
"I heard you also developed a new technique?"
"Well," Lee scratched the back of his head.
"I wouldn't call it new exactly. It turns out the Fourth Hokage had already created something very similar. I managed a basic version without realizing it and only recently understood how to improve it."
"Show me," Sarutobi said kindly, setting the folder aside.
Lee nodded and, just as he had done with Guy-sensei, formed a condensed orb of chakra in his hand. Only this time he was spinning the orb in multiple directions.
The Hokage observed closely, noting the fine control and the stable structure.
It was a different process than Minato's method, but the result was startlingly similar.
"You didn't know the Rasengan beforehand, and you developed this technique on your own," Sarutobi said, smiling.
"Yes, sir."
"Have you been working on any other ideas?"
"Yes," Lee replied without hesitation.
"I believe there's untapped potential in chakra shape manipulation and ultra-dense compression.
Techniques based purely on raw chakra have the advantage of being performed without hand seals. When combined with taijutsu, they can be devastating."
He spoke smoothly and passionately because he knew this interview would decide everything.
Sarutobi listened carefully.
He nodded, impressed, but after a moment, chuckled saying, "You're not wrong. Past masters have explored these paths, but they eventually moved on because adding nature transformation usually makes Jutsu vastly stronger."
Lee fell silent.
He couldn't deny it.
Even the Rasengan itself was incomplete. The Fourth Hokage had intended to combine it with nature transformation to create something even more powerful.
Sarutobi continued, "Kids like you, Rock Lee, are rare. For most, advanced ninjutsu is the easiest and quickest route to power."
"True," Lee admitted. "But I just so happen to be the exception."
"Exactly," the Hokage said with a smile. "And sometimes, it's exactly those exceptions that push the world forward."
He leaned back thoughtfully.
"You showed Guy-sensei your technique for a reason, didn't you?"
Lee straightened.
"Yes, Lord Third. I want to request early graduation so that I can begin studying medical sciences at the hospital."
"Medical ninjutsu?" Sarutobi raised an eyebrow.
"No sir, I want a deeper understanding of human anatomy. The medical department is the best place to learn that, and if possible or when, I'd also like to study the chakra scalpel technique." Lee clarified quickly.
He laid his ambitions bare. It was better to be honest with Sarutobi since he valued transparency, and trying to play politics with him would only backfire.
Sarutobi tapped his pipe against the desk thoughtfully.
"Early graduation programs were abolished years ago. However, a special permission form for 'advanced studies' could be arranged."
He paused, then smiled again.
"I'll set a full Chūnin-level practical exam for you, Pass, and you'll get your transfer."
Lee's heart soared.
He bowed deeply. "Thank you very much, Lord Hokage!"
It would be hard, yes.
But it's still better than being weak forever.
He would pass.
He had to.