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The last day!!
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Gaara's expression twisted further. For the first time in the matchāperhaps in his entire lifeāhis eyes showed a flicker of uncertainty.
"Accept your death... as the prey you are!" Gaara bellowed, thrusting his hands forward.
The sand surged again like a tidal wave as it rushed at Lee from all sides.
But it halted because the pressure emanating from Lee's body was so great that the sand refused to rise against it.
Lee's eyes snapped toward Gaara, glowing with raw fury and blazing youth.
"FOURTH GATE... GATE OF PAINāOPEN!!"
CRACK!!
A visible distortion spread out from Lee's body as his muscles bulged. His joints screamed. His skin tore in tiny red lines where the pressure exceeded normal flesh.
But he didn't falter. He dropped into a low stance, then launched himself like a bullet from a gun.
The floor exploded beneath him, and the tiles disintegrated from the force.
Gaara's sand tried to rise, but it was too slow as Lee was already there.
A spinning kick collided with Gaara's midsection and launched him skyward. The impact cracked the remains of the sand armor protecting him.
Gaara flew, helpless, a blur of red and beige against the ceiling's dull light.
He's airborneā¦ he can't control the sand without a baseā¦
Lee was on him in a blink.
He followed with a storm ofĀ strikes.
Like a thunder god, Lee rained punishment on Gaara, striking from above, below, from the left, the right, his form blurring between teleport-like movement.
To the spectators, it was no longer a fight. It was an assault of divine precision.
"He'sā¦ he's controlling the entire sky," Shikamaru murmured in disbelief.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Is this really Taijutsu...?"
Up in the rafters, even Neji could feel it... the quiet sting of shame. The boy he once dismissed as weak was now fighting on a level that shook everyone in the arena.
Gaara was hurled like a ragdoll between strikes. The sand armor cracked again, and this time, it didn't recover fast enough.
Lee landed on the arena floor. His body convulsed, and his muscles spasmed. But he forced himself to rise once more.
He whispered, this time more quietly.Ā "The Fifth Gate... Gate of Closing... OPEN."
More blood poured from his nose. His muscles screamed in rebellion, and his skin rippled with chakra flow surging wildly beyond its limit.
The world slowed down for him.
In the silence of his thoughts, Lee looked up at Gaara, who floated mid-air, disoriented, beaten, but still breathing.
"Sasukeā¦ I used to envy your talent."
"Nejiā¦ I wanted to prove I wasn't beneath you."
"Narutoā¦ thank youā¦ for believing in me."
"This final move... is for all of you."
With a silent prayer, Lee leapt high into the air.
Gaara's sand belt, the one once used to hold his gourd, still trailed behind him.
Lee caught it in mid-air and yanked Gaara back down.
It's time.
"Hidden TaijutsuāHidden Lotus!!"
The momentum built. They spiraled downward together as a comet of red chakra, full of rage and righteous youth.
BOOOOOOOM!!
They slammed into the earth with a force that shattered tiles, cracked walls, and silenced the world.
Gaara's body slammed into the floor so hard that it embedded into the ground.
Lee landed beside him, hunched and shaking.
Above, Gai's eyes welled with tears.
"YOU DID IT, LEE!!"
On the sidelines, Naruto stood frozen and then grinned.
He gave everything he had... just to stand on that stage. Even nowā¦
Lee's body trembled violently, his body refusing to move as blood dripped freely.
His legs nearly gave out, but his eyes burned with pride.
Gaara didn't move as dust and silence hung in the air.
------
The dust still danced through the broken air, and for a single fleeting moment, it seemed like Rock Lee had done it.
The arena watched in awe at the battered figure of youth's pride.
But in that very instant, hope twisted into horror.
A hideous smile bloomed on Gaara's blood-smeared face. His eyes were wild, craving, and monstrous.
His right hand twitched upward, and the sand beneath Lee answered the call.
'Hidden Jutsu ā Sand Coffin!'
The grains surged, snapping around Lee's vulnerable form like constricting serpents, grabbing his left arm and his left leg. The sand gripped with force meant to crush bones and dreams alike.
Lee could not move. The toll of the Fifth Gate still trapped him. The veins around his temples bulged as He clenched his teeth.
But the strengthā¦ it wasn't there.
BOOOOM!!!
But just then, a shock of chakra burst across the field.
The sand detonated into fragments, scattering like glass in a storm.
In that shattered moment, a figure appeared before Rock Lee with his back straight and his blue eyes calm but blazing with protective fury. His jacket fluttered from the momentum of his speed.
Everyone stared with stunned expressions, unable to react at all.
He had appeared in the blink of an eye, placing himself between Lee and the merciless claws of death.
"ā¦Don't you dare," Naruto muttered coldly, his gaze locked onto Gaara. "I won't let anyoneā¦ hurt my friends."
The weight in his voice wasn't loud, but it thundered across the arena.
Gaara's eyes widened, just a fraction, with recognition as he identified Naruto.
From the stands, the shockwaves of Naruto's sudden appearance began to ripple.
"ā¦He was in the viewing stands just a second ago," Kakashi murmured. "I didn't even catch his movementā¦"
Sasuke's jaw tightened.
'Againā¦! He's always ahead of me...!'
Up above, Might Guy had already stepped forward, prepared to intervene. But now, he stood still, his eyes wide behind thick brows.
"ā¦He beat me to it," he whispered in disbelief. "Even Iā¦ couldn't react in time."
Around them, murmurs swelled like a wave.
Some voices whispered his name. But one reaction was far louder than the rest.
"W-Wowā¦" Ino clutched her hands over her mouth.
"Narutoā¦ so cool," Hinata in the audience murmured, almost breathlessly.
"He moved like lightning," Sakura whispered, eyes shimmering.
Temari's eyes had widened the most. She had seen Gaara lose control before and had even felt the terror of it.
But nowā¦ someone had stopped Gaara mid-rage. And it was not just anyone, but a boy their age with a commanding presence. He looked so calm, grounded, and unwaveringly protective.
Her cheeks flushed faintly as her heart beat just a little faster.
Soā¦ this was the type of guy you are... Naruto Uzumaki.
Back in the arena, Gaara trembled slightly. His lips curled in rage, not from fear, but from confusion, frustration, and a little Hatred.
How?!
From the sidelines, Baki's eyes narrowed. His gaze moved from the shattered sand back to Naruto's outstretched hand.
Something was wrong.
"ā¦Iron?" He muttered. "There are magnetic particles in the air. In the sandā¦"
Temari flinched at his words whileĀ Kankuro's eyes widened. "No wayā¦"
Baki's voice was grave. "That'sā¦ impossible. The Magnet Release... the Kekkei Genkai of the Third Kazekage himselfā¦"
The strongest Kazekage in the history of the Sand.
Standing calmly in the center of the arena, Naruto exhaled quietly, lowering his hand as the remaining tendrils of sand hissed and fell to the ground, completely inert.
"Stand down," He said to Gaara. "You've lost control. This isn't your stage."
--- ā¦ ā¦ ā¦ ---
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