"It's time to show my ninja way!" Lee's voice echoed.
"Third Gate, Gate of Life, open!"
With his roar, a faint green blood vapor suddenly burst forth from within Lee.
"This is...?" Kakashi's face was filled with surprise from the spectator seats. He turned to look at Gai, a hint of reproach in his voice. "Gai, you let Lee use a forbidden technique like this in such a setting?"
"I wonder if Sasuke can successfully receive this attack?" Kakashi thought to himself, his gaze locked onto the arena.
Below the competition grounds, Sasuke stared at Lee, who seemed reborn, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, but then a grin of excitement tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"That's what makes him worth defeating!" Sasuke muttered, his fighting spirit blazing.
"Whoosh!" A blur streaked past, and Lee vanished again. This time, his speed was several times greater than before, making him nearly impossible to track.
"So fast! This speed is unbelievable!"
Naruto, Shikamaru, and the others widened their eyes, their faces full of shock. Mighty Guy also revealed a confident and proud smile.
"Sasuke-kun, this is the ninja way I seek, the path to proving myself through taijutsu!"
Lee's voice boomed in Sasuke's ear, and in the next instant, his form appeared before Sasuke like a phantom, a fist shooting out accompanied by a fierce gust of wind.
However, Sasuke's Sharingan spun rapidly, seeing through everything. With unbelievable speed, he threw a punch to meet the attack head-on, directly blocking Lee's strike.
"Shave!" Sasuke muttered, his form flickering as if teleporting, instantly engaging Lee in a fierce exchange of blows.
From the looks of it, even Lee, empowered by opening three gates, seemed slightly inferior to Sasuke, cleverly suppressed by his opponent.
"When did Sasuke's taijutsu become this powerful?" Kakashi's eyes widened slightly, filled with doubt and surprise.
"Wahhh, Kakashi, you truly are my rival! You must have been secretly supporting Sasuke, making him train so hard in taijutsu!"
Beside him, Mighty Guy was already emotional, tears streaming down his face as he tightly embraced Kakashi, as if he'd found a kindred spirit.
"Wahhh, it seems after this battle, Lee and Sasuke will forge a bond as deep as ours."
Mighty Guy spoke with anticipation, as if he could already see the beautiful future unfolding.
Kakashi, however, gave a helpless roll of his eyes, looking at Mighty Guy with his characteristic dead fish stare, a series of denials tumbling out: "That wasn't me. I didn't do it. Don't make things up."
A hint of exasperation laced his words.
"As expected of a genius. Even after opening three gates, I'm still no match for you?" Lee's expression was grim, as if weighed down, sweat tracing paths down his cheeks.
"But I will still win!" A beast seemed to roar within Lee's heart, the sound piercing through his chest.
"Fourth Gate, Gate of Pain, open!" With Lee's low growl, blood vapor erupted from his entire body like a surging tide, a nearly green aura carrying a fierce, unignorable power.
With a single step, he launched into the air like a cannonball, his form flickering in mid-air like a phantom, showcasing his astonishing speed and power.
"Bang!"
Lee's heavy punch crashed down on Sasuke like a meteor. Although Sasuke quickly blocked it with his arm, the force still pushed him back a step or two.
Yet this didn't cause Lee to pause for even a moment; he used the momentum to leap into the air again.
"Such tremendous power." Sasuke clenched his slightly trembling, numb arm, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, but more than that, a thirst for battle.
"Gai, this is too reckless. Lee's body is probably at its limit. If he keeps going, he won't hold up." Kakashi frowned deeply from the sidelines.
"Don't worry." Mighty Guy said firmly. "Once he truly reaches his limit, I'll concede for him."
Below, Sasuke gazed at Lee, who was constantly maneuvering in mid-air, understanding clearly that this must be some kind of forbidden technique Lee had mastered.
"The correct approach would be to stay on the defensive, wait for the right moment, and Lee's power will eventually collapse from overexertion."
Sasuke analyzed calmly, but then, a bold smile curved his lips.
"But I, a genius of the Uchiha clan, disdain such a tactic."
Just then, Sasuke, who had been in a defensive posture, suddenly launched a sharp counterattack.
His speed abruptly increased, as if breaking through some barrier. In the next instant, he seemed to walk on air, his left and right feet alternating, taking invisible steps in the sky as he rapidly closed in on Lee.
"Iron Fist!" Sasuke growled, clenching his fist and throwing a punch that tore through the air with a howl, aimed straight at Lee.
Lee was startled inwardly; he hadn't expected Sasuke to take the offensive. But he too roared in response, throwing a punch. Two immense forces collided in the air, creating a deafening boom.
Watching this scene, Naruto felt both shocked and anxious, silently vowing to train twice as hard once he got back.
Under the force of the impact, dust exploded, and the two fighters crashed back to the ground like meteors, sending up a spray of rubble.
Sasuke steadied himself, his sharp eyes fixed on Lee, who had stumbled back several steps. A provocative smirk appeared on his face.
Seeing this, fury burned in Lee's eyes. His form blurred, instantly closing the distance like a phantom, his fist carrying a gale-force wind aimed directly at Sasuke's abdomen.
The wind from the punch howled, the displaced air vibrating around them.
"Hmph, this is a perfect chance to test one of the new Six Powers I've learned."
Sasuke thought to himself, a subtle smile playing on his lips.
Not long ago, he had just mastered "Iron Body," one of the Marine Six Powers, and was eager for a suitable opponent to test its effectiveness.
"Iron Body!" Sasuke chanted, his form instantly tensing. His muscles felt as if forged from invisible steel, but his posture was awkward, leaving him seemingly wide open.
Witnessing this, anger flashed in Lee's eyes: "What? He's choosing not to defend? Is he looking down on me?"
Fueled by rage, Lee poured even more force into his fist, which now seemed wreathed in strands of burning green blood vapor.
Sasuke, wearing a cold smirk, inwardly recalled the unbreakable nature of Vice Admiral Garp's "Iron Body."
However, the moment Lee's fist actually struck him, Sasuke's expression changed slightly.
"Bang!" After a dull impact, the air seemed to freeze.
The spectators were astonished to see Sasuke standing unscathed, while Lee wore a look of disbelief, unable to comprehend how his full-power strike had been so easily negated.
"Is my strength truly so insignificant?" Lee muttered, his eyes filled with confusion and unwillingness.
Only Sasuke himself knew that beneath that calm facade, he was enduring intense pain.
"That hurts so much," he inwardly screamed. He realized that while "Iron Body" enhanced defense, it also transmitted the full force of the attack directly to the body, magnifying the pain.
He suddenly remembered Roy's warning: "You'd better not use Iron Body."
Now, he understood the meaning of those words all too well.
But to maintain his pride as a genius, Sasuke endured the agony, keeping that faint, mocking smile on his face.
Lee, seeing his attack fail, felt his resolve waver slightly. He quickly readjusted his position, putting some distance between them.
"Is my body already reaching its limit? Then I'll decide this with one final blow!"
Lee's blood vapor boiled, green energy surging across his body's surface.
Seeing this, Sasuke made his decision.
He recalled Garp's teachings. Although with his current strength, he couldn't coalesce much Armament Haki, his brutal training with Garp had allowed him to use at least a trace.
Sasuke took a deep breath, channeling all his power, focusing it on his fist. Faint, intermittent traces of black began to gather—the most preliminary stage of Armament Haki, marking his entry into a new realm of power.
"Shave!" Sasuke accelerated again, becoming a blur as he launched himself forward, that faint black light trailing his fist as he threw a devastating punch at Lee.
"Iron Fist!" With a resounding crash, two figures collided fiercely.
When the dust settled, Lee's form was sent flying far away, while Sasuke landed firmly, appearing even more aloof.
"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke!" The referee's voice echoed across the open grounds. A moment of silence followed, before erupting into thunderous applause and cheers.
"What a spectacular battle! Huh? But wasn't he supposed to be a genius of ninjutsu? All he did was fight hand-to-hand!"
From the crowd, someone voiced a puzzled question, but it was immediately drowned out by the even louder wave of applause.
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