Chapter 232 - Showing Off Skills
Although the improvised tournament was over, Yuna claimed that there was another exciting event happening. That is why, so far, no one has left the training ground.
Most spectators looked confused as a weirdo in a green spandex suit stepped forward and took a fighting stance in front of Yuna.
Although most people recognized him from the previous tournament, most people never really paid him much attention since he didn't reach very far.
Yuna noticed that as well and couldn't help but smirk a little. Instead of saying anything about that, she started talking with Lee.
"Well, Lee, it seems like you are still not willing to remove your weights without the proper incentive."
"I follow the rules I made for myself."
Yuna could only shake her head wryly when she heard Lee's words.
"I am aware of that, but you better not regret it later when the split-second it takes you to remove them costs somebody their life. I already gave you a bunch of seals to quicken the process, but it still is not instant."
After pondering Yuna's words for a short moment, Lee's facial expression became serious, and he nodded his head.
"Actually, I started considering to deactivate your seals every time I take a mission."
"Better than nothing, I guess."
While Yuna and Lee were talking with each other, the crowd got even more confused. After all, the two people talked as if Lee was fighting while wearing some kind of restrictions, which most of them found beyond weird.
Neji, however, was slightly surprised that Lee switched from normal weights to seals.
After seeing that, she got everyone's attention; Yuna smirked a little and resumed talking.
"The person in front of me is called Rock Lee. Some of you might have already heard of him, but he is someone who can only use Taijutsu and nothing else."
As Yuna expected, the moment she said that, quite a few people were surprised while a few people started looking down on Lee for not being able to use Ninjutsu. Yuna's smirk widened as she continued speaking.
"He is a failure, right?"
As the murmuring in the surroundings grew louder, Lee didn't show the slightest reaction to Yuna's words. He might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he had a pretty good idea of what Yuna was doing.
Without commenting on Yuna's words, he deactivated the seals on his arms and legs and got into his usual fighting stance. A small smile appeared on his face when he felt just how light his body felt after he deactivated the seals.
"Well, Lee, how about you show everyone how much of a failure you really are?"
The moment Yuna finished speaking, Lee vanished from where he stood, and not even half a second later, a loud boom echoed over the training ground as Lee's fist smashed into Yuna's crossed arms, sending her skidding backward a few meters.
The audience's eyes bulged when they saw…or rather, didn't see how Lee moved. One moment he stood still, and in the next moment, he was in front of Yuna and attacked her.
Most of the jonin could still somehow follow Lee's movements, but the genin had no chance of doing so. Even Neji, with his Byakugan, could barely track Lee's movements. He could only stare in bewilderment at what he just witnessed. Although he knew that Lee, without his weights, was fast, it was never this extreme. He usually could at least follow Lee's movements with his Byakugan.
While the audience stared at Lee in wonder, a long staff entirely made out of ice appeared in Yuna's hands, while a face-splitting grin appeared on her face.
"Hehe, your improvement is as ridiculous as always. COME, LEE!!!"
"YOSH, I WILL SHOW YOU MY YOUTH!!!"
Both of them got into a fighting stance and disappeared in the next moment, just to reappear in the center of their previous positions. No, to be exact, they were slightly closer to Yuna's initial position, meaning that Lee was marginally faster than Yuna. In fact, if it were only a contest of speed and strength, Lee would be superior to Yuna.
While Lee spent pretty much his whole day improving his body, breaking through his limit, again and again, Yuna had to concentrate on multiple different things at once, so it couldn't be helped that Lee's physical abilities were superior to Yuna's.
That, of course, didn't mean that Yuna would lose in a pure Taijutsu fight. She still had the upper hand in battle experience and skill, but every time they fought, Lee was getting a little closer to defeating Yuna in their contest. Additionally, Yuna wouldn't use Kurama's chakra, and in return, Lee wouldn't open any of the gates.
Neji, meanwhile, was watching the fight unfolding in front of him with bulging eyes. Up until now, he thought that he could fight Lee as long as he didn't open more than one gate, but today he was proved wrong. Winning against the current Lee would be almost impossible.
Guy saw Neji's current condition and could only shake his head while smiling wryly.
"After the chunin exams, Lee's strength went through explosive growth. I am sure you still remember what Yuna said to him during their match, and I am pretty sure that is part of the reason why he suddenly started growing stronger at such an insane pace. The other reason is, without a doubt, his frequent fights against Yuna."
Neji still remembered Yuna's domineering words from that day, and he also remembered how he scoffed at her and Lee's dreams when they shouted them out to the crowd. However, he realized that the duo's words might not have been as empty as Neji thought they were.
Neji's gaze returned to the duel, and yet again, his eyes widened in surprise. While he wasn't looking, one end of Yuna's staff turned pointy and sharp, transforming it into a spear. Now, instead of Yuna's previous movements that were based on twirling the staff around with as much momentum as possible, she was keeping Lee at a distance with wide swings and powerful stabs, abusing the range advantage a spear had against bare hands.
However, that wasn't even the end of it. The moment Lee got too close to Yuna, the spear's other end changed as well, while it split in the middle, turning it into two very short spears, which, moments later, turned into two swords.
As the fight continued, Yuna's weapons, which were entirely made out of her ice, kept constantly changing forms. Despite continually changing weapons, Yuna used every single one of them proficiently, while her weapons' transformations were always flawless without producing the slightest flaw in her rhythm.
Seeing the spectacle in front of him, Neji had only one thing to say.
"She is a monster."
"Hahaha, she is. If it is about skill alone, even I am not her match."
Neji's head snapped towards Guy, Konoha's greatest taijutsu specialist, in disbelief.
"HAHAHA, CONSIDERING LEE'S GROWTH, IT IS ONLY A QUESTION OF TIME BEFORE HE SURPASSES ME, HAHAHA!!!"
Although Neji looked at Guy in disbelief for a while longer, when his gaze returned to the fight, his face paled as he realized what Guy meant.
Despite Yuna's incomprehensible fighting style, Lee wasn't one-sidedly getting pushed back. Lee was keeping up with her. No, he wasn't just keeping up with her; he would even occasionally push her back a little.
For some reason, the words Lee said during his fight with Yuna in the preliminaries of the chunin exam were suddenly echoing through his head.
'MY YOUTH WILL BURN BRIGHTLY!!! I WILL BECOME THE STRONGEST!!!'
At that time, he only chuckled and dismissed Lee's words as his usual nonsense. However, now, they sent a shudder through his spine. For some reason, he felt like a vast chasm in skill and power just opened up between Lee and him.
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