Chapter 27: Encounter
However, Naruto's figure flashed and directly blocked its path.
When the white wolf saw that a small human actually dared to block its way, its eyes instantly flashed with ferocity and it bared its teeth.
A beast of this size showing such a threatening posture still carried considerable pressure.
But Naruto remained calm. He had seen many fierce beasts in the Death Forest and was already used to it.
He drew his sword, infused it with chakra, and the blade slowly glowed with a dangerous cyan light.
With a casual flick of the sword, a several-meter-long cyan wind blade shot out from the blade.
However, the target wasn't the white wolf, but a large tree thick enough for three people to wrap their arms around.
The wind blade sliced through the tree like cutting tofu, cleanly severing it.
The tree slowly toppled, raising a cloud of dust. The cut surface was perfectly smooth.
Seeing this scene, the white wolf's eyes revealed a human-like fear.
The ferocity in its gaze had completely vanished, and its bared teeth turned into a forced, submissive expression.
A beast's instincts were sharper than a human's.
Just now, it had felt an overwhelming sense of powerlessness from Naruto.
If it became enemies with this human, it would definitely die!
A wise wolf doesn't fight a losing battle. It stared at Naruto with pleading eyes, at a loss for what to do.
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Naruto sheathed his sword and slowly walked toward the white wolf.
When he got close, he lightly leaped up and sat directly on the wolf's back.
The white wolf shivered all over but didn't dare to resist.
"Go to the riverside."
The white wolf could only obediently obey.
Naruto lay comfortably on the fluffy wolf's back, looking up at the blue sky.
As they walked, a hearty voice suddenly reached his ears.
"Naruto! Long time no see!"
Naruto slightly raised his head. Might Guy, wearing his signature green spandex suit, was grinning widely with his big white teeth, looking at him.
Behind Guy stood Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten.
All three were staring at Naruto on the wolf's back with surprised expressions.
They were very curious how Naruto had managed to tame such a large creature.
Upon seeing Might Guy, Naruto leaped down from the wolf's back and landed lightly on the ground.
"Guy-senpai, what a coincidence. Why are you guys in the Death Forest?"
Naruto still showed respect toward Might Guy.
Guy laughed heartily and patted Naruto's shoulder. "We took a mission. It's been a while — you've grown so tall! This is youth!"
Among the three, Rock Lee kept staring at Naruto.
He often heard Naruto's name from Might Guy.
Guy would say that Naruto was a genius even greater than Neji.
Most importantly, when Neji heard it, he never refuted it — he seemed to silently accept the statement.
This made Rock Lee even more curious.
After all, in his eyes, Neji was already a top-tier genius.
He really wanted to know what a genius even greater than Neji would be like.
So he walked forward with a serious face and looked at Naruto.
"Uzumaki Naruto! Can you accept my challenge? I want to know how big the gap is between me and a true genius!"
Rock Lee's sudden challenge left everyone present slightly stunned.
Might Guy quickly reacted, his eyes showing both approval and worry.
Daring to challenge the strong was a shortcut to becoming stronger.
But thinking of Naruto's talent, he was afraid Rock Lee would be too discouraged by the huge gap.
Neji also glanced at Rock Lee and unusually reminded him, "Lee, give up. You can't beat that guy."
But Rock Lee's expression remained firm. "It's fine! Even if I lose, I still want to try!"
Might Guy sensed the unyielding determination in Rock Lee's eyes and became fired up, choosing to support his student.
"Naruto, Lee is my disciple. Are you willing to have a match with him?" Guy asked, looking over.
Naruto didn't think much about it and nodded.
The two faced each other.
Rock Lee put one hand behind his back and held the other palm-forward in front of him, taking his starting stance. His voice was full of spirit.
"Uzumaki Naruto! Please use your real strength! I'm counting on you!"
Feeling Rock Lee's fighting spirit, Naruto's eyes became slightly more serious.
"Eight Gates! Gate of Opening — Open!"
Gate of Healing Gate of Life Gate of Injury Gate of Pain — Open!
Right from the start, Rock Lee went all out and used his trump card — the Eight Gates.
As each gate opened inside his body, the aura bursting from Rock Lee grew more and more terrifying.
When he opened the Gate of Pain, a visible pale green chakra began to emanate around him.
His blood started to heat up rapidly, and his skin turned bright red.
Neji activated his Byakugan, shocked that his usually hardworking companion had been hiding such a terrifying ability.
Guy also clenched his fists excitedly. "Lee! That's it! Go all out and unleash your youth!"
[If Lee is in this state, does he have any chance against that guy?] Neji thought, shifting his gaze to Naruto.
When he clearly saw the chakra inside Naruto through his Byakugan, his pure white pupils suddenly shrank!
In the Byakugan's vision, Naruto's chakra was outrageously vast!
The amount was simply horrifying.
Neji roughly estimated it was at least several hundred times his own! He couldn't help but cry out in shock.
"Is this guy even human?!"
For a moment, he once again felt that no matter how hard Rock Lee tried, he was destined to have no chance of winning.
Rock Lee suddenly exerted force. His figure flashed and disappeared from his original spot.
Using only taijutsu, he achieved the effect of the Body Flicker Technique.
The next second, a green figure appeared beside Naruto.
A Leaf Whirlwind kick, carrying a sharp whistling sound, swept toward Naruto's shoulder!
Transparent World was already active.
Although Rock Lee's movements were fast, they were completely exposed under Transparent World's observation.
Naruto raised his hand and blocked the attack with his elbow.
Rock Lee had thought Naruto would be sent flying by this Leaf Whirlwind, but the latter didn't budge at all. Instead, Rock Lee's own ankle throbbed with pain.
Sensing danger, he quickly leaped backward, but a sharp pain continued to come from his ankle.
After blocking Rock Lee's strike, Naruto roughly estimated his current strength.
Thinking back to the original story's fight between Rock Lee and Gaara during the Chunin Exams, Naruto looked at Rock Lee's lower leg and reminded him,
"Take off the weights. Otherwise, you won't have a chance."
Rock Lee nodded and removed the heavy iron weights from his legs.
They smashed onto the ground with a loud thud, raising a cloud of dust from their immense weight.
If Naruto used ninjutsu or Wind Breathing sword forms, he could easily end the fight.
But he didn't do that. Instead, he chose to have a pure taijutsu showdown with Rock Lee.
A battle between taijutsu had no complicated tricks — only fist-to-fist, meat-to-meat clashes.
After removing the weights, Rock Lee's speed rose to another level.
With a flash, he attacked again.
Looking at that speed, Naruto felt a little disappointed. It was still too slow.
He didn't dodge. Instead, he stepped forward to meet the attack.
Rock Lee swung out the white bandages wrapped around his hands, trying to entangle the incoming Naruto and directly use his ultimate move — Primary Lotus!
But Naruto didn't play by the rules. He reached out and, under Rock Lee's stunned gaze, grabbed all the bandages. With a fierce tug!
Rock Lee's body was pulled forward by the tremendous force.
What greeted him was an extremely sharp side kick.
Rock Lee reacted quickly too. Since he couldn't retreat, he could only go with the flow.
He also raised his leg and collided directly with Naruto's kick!
The result once again exceeded Rock Lee's expectations. This kick felt like he had kicked a mountain!
His entire body was sent flying more than ten meters by Naruto's kick before he could stop.
Rock Lee tried to stand up, but his leg couldn't exert any strength — it was already broken!
"How is this possible!"
Rock Lee looked at his slightly deformed leg in disbelief. He was in the Eight Gates state right now!
And he had still gotten his leg broken by an ordinary kick?
Filled with extreme unwillingness, Rock Lee endured the intense pain from his broken leg and forced himself to launch another attack.
It was time to end this.
Naruto directly activated the First Form and turned into a streak of cyan light.
His speed was so fast that Rock Lee couldn't track him at all.
By the time he saw Naruto, the latter had already kicked him squarely in the jaw, sending him flying into the air.
The next second! Naruto flashed again, appearing above Rock Lee. With a version of the Lion Combo, he kicked Rock Lee straight back down to the ground!
Rock Lee lay on the ground, unable to move. His whole body was in agony as he stared blankly at the golden-haired figure.
He didn't know if it was because the sunlight was too bright, but that figure looked so dazzling that Rock Lee could barely keep his eyes open.
All his movements had been seen through. Even the Eight Gates he had trained so desperately for couldn't compare to Naruto's normal state.
Even in the field he was best at, he had been completely crushed.
[So this is what a true genius looks like? Teacher Guy, can effort really surpass a monster like this…?]
For a moment, even the ever-energetic Rock Lee felt a sense of powerlessness.
Guy's expression also became serious when he saw this.
He had predicted Rock Lee would lose, but he hadn't expected such a complete and thorough defeat.
The two sides weren't even on the same level.
"This guy… is really strong…" Tenten muttered softly.
Neji also couldn't help clenching his fists. Hearing his own "genius" title now felt a little embarrassing.
Guy helped Rock Lee up with a heavy heart and patted his shoulder.
"Lee! Don't compare yourself to others — compare yourself to who you were yesterday! Keep surpassing yourself! As long as you remember this, it's enough!"
"Yes! I understand, Guy-sensei!"
After comforting his disciple, Guy walked over to Naruto.
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