"Hagoromo, who do you think will win this fight?" Kakashi asked him.
"Judging purely from the strength the two of them have shown on the surface, the winner would naturally be Kimimaro. But… it depends on whether Guy taught his disciple any of those flashy, unnecessary-looking moves."
Hagoromo answered. Kakashi had probably noticed something as well; otherwise, he would never have asked that question in the first place. After all, even if you only considered the fact that Kimimaro had two more years of growth on Lee, it was obvious who should win.
Both of them could guess that with Guy's personality, he had definitely taught Lee the sort of things Hagoromo had classified as "flashy and unnecessary."
Battles between shinobi were exciting precisely because they were full of unknowns and uncertainty. Upsets where the weak defeated the strong had always existed. Otherwise, why would anyone even fight? Everyone could just sit in a row, compare their stats, and decide the winner that way.
"So, overall, I think it should be… fifty-fifty."
Kakashi: "…Huh?"
In truth, that was not what Hagoromo really thought. Even if Rock Lee could use the Eight Gates, he still believed Kimimaro would win, unless Lee could open the final three or two gates. But considering Lee's age, that was almost impossible.
When fighting a shinobi like Lee, Kimimaro had a natural advantage. After all, even Hagoromo himself found it extremely uncomfortable to engage Kimimaro in close-quarters taijutsu… If Kimimaro used the Shikotsumyaku, one only had to imagine the situation to understand how unfair it would be. He was like a hedgehog covered head to toe in hardened spikes, leaving his opponent with nowhere to strike.
So, when dealing with Kimimaro, the best method was to attack him from mid to long range and never give him a chance to get close. But if his opponent was Lee, then there was a problem. Both of these taijutsu-type shinobi could only fight at close range, because Lee had no long-range attack methods at all.
"Hahaha, just watch carefully, everyone. Lee will definitely give you all a huge surprise," Guy cut in, his voice carrying a strange excitement.
Hagoromo and Kakashi exchanged a glance, both feeling helpless.
Something that should have been surprising would no longer be surprising after Guy said it like that. Looking at that guy's smug expression, everyone could basically guess what was about to happen. After all, there was probably only one technique that could make Guy act so proud and eager to show off.
Looking down from the second floor, Lee had already charged toward Kimimaro in a straight line. The extremely short distance between them vanished almost instantly.
There was no denying that Lee's current speed was already among the very top tier of genin.
And from the way there was not a single wasted motion in his attack, it was clear that his taijutsu foundation was extremely solid. Without a considerable amount of training, this would have been absolutely impossible. Or rather, despite his young age, Lee's body had already been tempered through countless repetitions.
But if that was all he had, it still would not be enough to effectively suppress Kimimaro… Do not forget, Kimimaro had grown up eating energy-gathering rings since childhood.
Lee closed in on Kimimaro's side. Then, his body, which had been slightly bent forward to store power, suddenly snapped straight. He accelerated instantly with a forward lunge, then drove a powerful straight punch toward Kimimaro's torso with one hand.
Clean, sharp, and incredibly decisive.
This was how taijutsu should be used.
Unfortunately, this kind of acceleration-based attack did not throw Kimimaro into the slightest disarray. He possessed jōnin-level observational ability, so the moment Lee began preparing that movement, Kimimaro had already prepared his own response.
As his center of gravity shifted with a step back from his right foot, the step he took was not large. But when combined with his upper body leaning backward, it was just enough to avoid the punch coming at him.
At the same time, the twin sword Hiramekarei, originally held in his right hand at the right side of his body, was pulled by Kimimaro's strength behind him, then transferred into his left hand. Immediately afterward, he swung it forward with tremendous force!
In effect, he had made the heavy weapon perform a circular slash around his waist.
As the saying went, every extra inch of reach brought an extra inch of advantage. In terms of attack range, Kimimaro, who held a weapon, naturally far surpassed the barehanded Lee. And although Kimimaro's body did not look especially bulky, and this move was merely him swinging a giant blade with one hand, the sound of air being torn apart by the strike was enough to imagine just how much force it contained.
Hiramekarei itself was a heavy weapon. Over the years, Kimimaro had put in no small amount of effort to use it smoothly.
As for the saying that "a heavy sword has no edge," what a load of nonsense. Against the flesh-and-blood body of an ordinary shinobi, getting smashed by this thing would basically leave only one ending: eating dirt.
So, faced with Kimimaro's dodge and counterattack, Lee's instinctive judgment told him not to continue forcing the attack. Instead, the muscles in his lower body exerted force, and he chose to retreat and evade… In other words, he went right back where he came from.
Neither side gained anything from the first exchange, but Kimimaro had seized the initiative.
While Lee was still rapidly retreating, Kimimaro had already gripped Hiramekarei's handle with both hands. As his legs pursued Lee with a steady rhythm, his hands clenched tightly, and a large amount of chakra surged into Hiramekarei.
Hiramekarei was a special ninja tool. Neither Hagoromo nor Kimimaro knew how the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist trained to use it, so Kimimaro's current method was something he had figured out on his own. It could be called a wild, self-taught style.
And those from a self-taught background often shared one trait: their moves were full of wildness and violence. Once you were caught, what followed would be a relentless storm of pounding blows and explosive strikes.
Compared to how Haku had hidden away the longsword Nuibari and only used it as a toothpick, Kimimaro clearly liked the gift Hagoromo had given him much more.
Chakra overflowed from the circular holes in the blade, then gathered into a deep blue mass of energy.
Each of the Seven Ninja Swords had its own unique traits. Although all of them bore the name "sword," many of them could not really be called swords, whether in appearance or usage. Hiramekarei was one such example. There was no arguing it: this thing was a hammer. It was meant for smashing people.
With a mass of energy gathered in front and chakra erupting from behind, the combined effect sent the weapon crashing forward in Kimimaro's hands.
The acceleration brought by Hiramekarei: Release caused Kimimaro himself to thrust forward at high speed as well. With a deafening boom, he smashed straight from near the center of the arena into one of the walls!
In an instant, smoke and dust billowed up, obscuring the situation inside the arena.
When the smoke gradually dispersed, the cracked and crumbling wall left exposed made the crowd of spectators gasp at Kimimaro's destructive power. That last strike had shaken the entire structure.
But only Kimimaro stood there.
His attack had not landed.
It turned out that at the exact moment Kimimaro attacked, Lee had relied on his purely instinctive reaction ability—one could even call it reflexes—to change his evasive movement. Instead of continuing backward, he had dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the fate of being smashed into the wall.
If he had continued retreating, there was no way he could have dodged Kimimaro's chakra-jet, Jinkela-style attack.
"As expected, you're very strong. Your physical ability is about the same as mine, but your chakra level is above mine. So, in my normal state, I probably can't beat you…" Lee said. As he spoke, his gaze had already turned toward Might Guy on the second floor.
"Guy-sensei!" Lee's voice was resolute.
"Mm. You may do it, Lee!" Guy replied, giving Lee a thumbs-up.
There was no doubt that he had given his beloved disciple the most positive and encouraging response possible.
The expression on Lee's face instantly brightened with joy. But when he turned back toward Kimimaro, it became solemn again.
He began unwrapping the bandages on his body and removing the weights tied to his limbs. During this time, Kimimaro did not attack.
This was currently a contest between shinobi of the same village, not a battle where someone had to be killed. Although Kimimaro had a cold face, he was not so petty that he would deny his opponent this much.
He would see what the other party intended to do.
"Be careful from here on. I'm going to use my real techniques against you."
Rock Lee bent his arms and clenched his fists, beginning to charge up his ultimate move in a posture somewhat like constipation. The scale of the chakra in his body began to grow exponentially, accelerating and intensifying.
"The First Gate: Gate of Opening!"
"The Second Gate: Gate of Healing!"
"The Third Gate: Gate of Life!"
"The Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain!"
"Opening, Healing, Life, Pain—Eight Gates, four gates opened in succession!"
The Eight Gates, huh. This should be the third time Hagoromo had seen this technique.
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