Rock Lee in a completely drunken state was unpredictable, but everyone could still tell that Drunken Fist alone was not enough to defeat Kimimaro.
Although Rock Lee kept making it impossible for Kimimaro to land a hit, compared to the straightforward Strong Fist from earlier, his movements were much more strange and elusive. However, in this state, there was also a problem with the way he generated power.
Against ordinary people, it might have worked. Against Kimimaro, it was clearly not enough.
Its main advantage was simply being weird.
"A strange Taijutsu style?"
Hatake Kakashi watched Rock Lee exchange blows with Kimimaro in the footage.
"He really is an incredible Taijutsu genius. But a fight like this still won't be enough to decide the outcome."
Sure enough, after being caught off guard and failing to see through the drunken Rock Lee's movements at all, Kimimaro no longer wanted to waste time. He directly began using his Kekkei Genkai.
"My attacking ability is bone. That brat with the clones already told you that, didn't he? I'll sober you up right now!"
Several bone spikes grew out of Kimimaro's arm, turning it directly into a weapon.
Only then did everyone suddenly understand where the bone sword in Kimimaro's hand had come from. It had actually been made from his own bones?
The Kaguya Clan's Shikotsumyaku / Dead Bone Pulse was truly an extremely unique Kekkei Genkai.
The two of them were evenly matched in Taijutsu talent, but Kimimaro, who possessed a Kekkei Genkai, had a huge advantage. With ease, he used the bones across his body to injure Rock Lee.
"Strange, isn't it? This is my Kekkei Genkai."
Kimimaro turned his ribs into weapons. He could even grow them in an instant and wound the incredibly fast Rock Lee.
"The Kaguya Clan…"
Uchiha Sasuke stared coldly at Kaguya Kimimaro in the footage, watching how he used his bones.
He wondered whether he himself would have fallen for that.
Without any preparation, he really might have been injured. The Sharingan could greatly enhance his dynamic vision, but that did not mean his body would always be able to react in time.
He also remembered something. In the earlier video, during his fight with Gaara, his movements had been exceptionally smooth. At that time, Hatake Kakashi had said he had copied Rock Lee's movements.
He immediately understood. So his movements and Taijutsu strength back then had actually come from this Bushy Brows?
In fact, not only back then. Even now, the Taijutsu movements Uchiha Sasuke had been learning were the ones his future self had displayed in that video. After exploring them for so long, he had more or less figured most of them out.
So he instinctively placed himself into Rock Lee's position. Since the two of them used the same set of Taijutsu techniques, the result would likely be the same.
And that strike instantly snapped Rock Lee awake, sobering him completely.
Rarely in the mood to speak at length, Kaguya Kimimaro said, "My Kekkei Genkai allows me to freely control bone cells and Osteoclasts. I can even control calcium concentration to generate bone. In other words, while the human body usually has over two hundred bones, for me, the number of bones is not fixed."
As he spoke, another bone grew out of his chest right in front of everyone.
"So this is the ability of the Shikotsumyaku / Dead Bone Pulse recorded in the clan records?"
Uchiha Itachi looked at the ability Kimimaro described and matched it against the records within the Uchiha Clan.
"But bones are still bones. Once they're broken, they're useless."
Rock Lee charged forward with a roar. Very quickly, he discovered that Kimimaro's bones were absurdly hard. They were nothing like ordinary human bones.
In an instant, his Taijutsu suffered a massive disadvantage against Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkai.
It could be said that close combat was completely Kimimaro's battlefield when it came to his Kekkei Genkai. As for Rock Lee, who only knew close combat, he was being countered in every possible way.
His attacks could not break through Kimimaro's defense. In contrast, Kimimaro could break through his defense with ease. That was a huge headache.
Fortunately, Rock Lee only needed to stall for time, so he could still fight.
"I just finished surgery, and my body hasn't recovered yet. But opening the first of the Eight Gates, the Gate of Opening, should just barely be possible."
Rock Lee vanished directly from everyone's sight.
"Only the Gate of Opening?"
Hatake Kakashi frowned. He had some understanding of the Eight Gates, and he also knew a little about Rock Lee's progress with them. Although he was not completely sure, Rock Lee had definitely gone far beyond the first gate.
Yet after being injured before, even after recovering from surgery, he could only reach the level of the Gate of Opening?
"So fast!"
Uchiha Sasuke watched Rock Lee's speed in shock. Rock Lee's speed was ridiculous, almost comparable to what he could achieve with Thunder Breathing.
Strictly speaking, Rock Lee was faster than him.
The first form of Thunder Breathing, Lightning Flash Step, granted the fastest speed boost, but it could only move in a straight line. That was its greatest problem.
Rock Lee, however, could still turn. That already proved Rock Lee's speed was above his.
"Your speed really is impressive, but this is over."
Kimimaro spoke coldly.
Although Rock Lee was fast, much faster than him, it did not matter. If he only had Taijutsu, then no matter what, his hands and feet had to reach Kimimaro to attack. And if they reached him, they would be blocked by his bones.
Compared to various types of Absolute Defense, his bone defense could be described as full of holes. But against a ninja who only had Taijutsu, there was no doubt that it was a perfect counter.
Just as Kimimaro was about to take advantage of Rock Lee being trapped by his bones and kill him in one strike, a mass of sand appeared out of nowhere at the critical moment and rescued Rock Lee.
"Who are you?"
Kimimaro shouted.
"Konoha Allied Nation, Sunagakure Shinobi."
Gaara appeared before everyone with a huge gourd on his back.
"That's Gaara?"
Uchiha Sasuke looked at Gaara in the video and was immediately confused.
Judging by his appearance, Gaara did not look any different from the one Sasuke had seen today. But his aura was completely different.
The Gaara he had seen today was like a suppressed beast, one that could go berserk at any moment and was only being held down by sheer will.
That terrifying killing intent was something he still could not forget.
Kaede Kitahara had even joked that he was some so-called minor boss. Yet the Gaara now looked obviously like one of the good guys. That faint smell of blood was gone. That dark, hysterical killing intent had vanished too.
How long after the present did this video take place? How could there be such a massive change?
"Konoha's allied nation?"
The corner of Hatake Kakashi's mouth twitched slightly. It was true that Sunagakure was Konoha's allied nation, but Sunagakure's resentment toward Konoha had probably been building for far more than a day or two.
If he had not already known about the Konoha Crush Plan, he probably would have been fooled too.
Sunagakure? Konoha's allied nation?
No matter how he heard it, it sounded absurd.
"So after the Konoha Crush Plan failed, they quickly signed the alliance treaty again?"
Namikaze Minato frowned and immediately made his own judgment.
Uchiha Sasuke's defection clearly happened after Konoha's Chunin Exams, while the Konoha Crush Plan unfolded during the Chunin Exams. After Konoha's Chunin Exams, both sides should have completely torn off all pretense.
Although he did not know the exact situation, he could fully imagine what the conflict between Konoha and Sunagakure was about.
It was simple. An imbalance of resources.
The Shinobi World had fought so many wars by now. Aside from the unclear meaning behind the Fourth Great Ninja War, the root cause of the other three wars had ultimately been uneven distribution of interests.
The Land of Fire occupied the center of the continent, along with all the best places, the most suitable farmland, and the most livable territory. The other four great nations all had their own problems.
Among them, the Land of Wind, where most of the territory was desert, was the most miserable.
Its territory was vast, but most of it had no value for development. Only the scattered oases within the desert could be put to use.
If not for some usable mineral deposits, this place would not have been suitable as the foundation of a great nation at all. What use was vast territory on its own?
What mattered most was whether it was suitable for human survival.
That was why Sunagakure was often the first to lose patience. Its economic situation was the worst, so it had to act first.
A great nation's so-called strategic patience had to be built on its own strength. The stronger you were, the greater your strategic patience, because you could choose when to enter the field at any time.
Of course, the Land of Fire, surrounded by enemies on every side, often had no choice. Even if you did not want to fight, when others insisted on coming after you, there was truly nothing you could do.
With few people and limited commercial interests, Sunagakure could not support enough ninja. In fact, many merchants within the Land of Wind even preferred hiring Konoha ninja. That would create enormous problems.
Without enough missions, many ninja could not gain experience, and they had no resources to grow.
That was why Minato had analyzed in private before that Sunagakure, as an allied village, directly betraying Konoha and cooperating with Orochimaru was absolutely not as simple as people first thought. It was not merely that the Kazekage had been killed by Orochimaru, then Orochimaru impersonated the Kazekage and had Sunagakure stab Konoha in the back.
Every village had many high-ranking officials besides its Kage. No Kage could truly act alone, especially not in a major matter like betraying an ally. It was not something the Kazekage could accomplish just because he wanted to.
If Sunagakure's other higher-ups had not also been dissatisfied with Konoha for a long time, how could such a thing have been achieved so easily?
So the Konoha Crush Plan had been built on long-standing resentment between the two sides. Without that betrayal, perhaps Sunagakure would have simply launched another direct attack on Konoha by itself.
As long as Sunagakure attacked Konoha alone, the other villages joining the war afterward would only be a matter of time. Everyone was dissatisfied with the Land of Fire monopolizing such favorable territory in the center of the continent.
At that point, it would inevitably trigger the Fourth Great Ninja War.
So even after being betrayed, Konoha still had no choice but to swallow the humiliation, agree to peace talks, and sign the alliance treaty again?