I, Uchiha, will not be whitewashed!

Chapter 101: Passionate Youth!

In the final match of the qualifiers, Rock Lee played against Gaara.

The stands on both sides of the field were packed. The candidates who passed the preliminary rounds were already decided; after this match, there would be no more competitions. But no one left. Everyone wanted to see how long that green-skinned kid, who couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu, could withstand the monsters from Sunagakure.

"Go Lee!" Naruto's voice boomed from one side of the stands, his hands cupped around his mouth as he leaned over the railing.

Sakura Haruno tugged at him, but couldn't budge him.

Kankuro leaned against the railing, arms crossed, a smirk playing on his lips. "Go for it? That kid won't last a round against Gaara. The Sand Village's monster—the ace—is no match for Konoha's weaklings."

Temari glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Shikamaru put his hands in his pockets and said in a low voice, "The battle hasn't even started yet. We'll only know who wins and who loses at the end."

Kai stood at the edge of the field, arms crossed, chin clenched tightly.

His student, Xiao Li, was stretching in the center of the field, his right leg resting on the railing, his body leaning forward, his forehead almost touching his knee.

The movements were slow and steady, as if they were in their own training ground.

Gaara stood opposite him, his hands hanging at his sides, a gourd behind his waist, sand overflowing from the bottle's mouth and slowly wriggling at his feet. His eyes were half-closed, as if he hadn't woken up yet, or as if he didn't take his opponent seriously at all.

The referee raised his hand. "Begin."

Li straightened up, dusted off his pants, and walked towards Gaara.

It's not "rush," it's "go."

The first step was slow, the second a little faster, and the third even faster. His speed increased, and his footsteps made a dull thud on the ground.

Gaara did not move, and the sand gathered at his feet, forming a thin wall of sand.

boom!

Xiao Li's fist slammed into the sand wall.

Sand flew everywhere, half of the wall collapsed, and Gaara's figure was revealed.

He didn't back down, nor was he surprised; he just looked at Xiao Li as if he were looking at a flying insect that had run into a spider web.

Sand surged up from the ground and clung to Xiao Li's ankle. Xiao Li lifted his leg, the sand snapped off, but new sand clung to him. He stepped back a few paces, creating some distance.

""

Gaara remained expressionless, but his chakra surged.

He wanted to kill the green-skinned kappa in front of him.

Let's end this boring competition.

Sand poured out of the gourd, condensing in the air into dozens of sand shuriken, which rained down on Xiao Li.

Xiao Li didn't retreat. He braced himself with his hands on the ground, sprang up, and flipped in the air, dodging the first wave. The second wave followed immediately. When he landed, his right leg was grazed, and his pants were torn, but there was no bleeding.

"Leaf Whirlwind!"

He swept his right foot across, shattering the sand shuriken in front of him, and using the momentum to spin around, shattering the one on the side with his left foot.

Sand fragments scattered in the air like smoke and dust.

Gaara raised his hand, and sand condensed in his palm into a giant sand claw, which he then grabbed at Lee.

Xiao Li ducked to avoid it, but the sand claws grazed his hair and snapped the iron chain of the railing.

The iron chains jingled and fell to the ground.

Lee didn't stop. He rushed in front of Gaara and unleashed a barrage of punches, kicks, elbows, and knee strikes, slamming the sand wall into the wall.

The sand scattered, revealing Gaara's upper body. Lee's eyes lit up, and he threw a punch straight at Gaara's face. Sand surged in from the side, enveloping his arm.

"Oh no!"

Xiao Li's expression suddenly changed, and he quickly pushed off the ground with one foot to jump back.

He jumped several times, skimming the sand as he retreated until he reached the edge of the field, where he finally caught his breath.

Xiao Li glanced at Kai, whose brows were furrowed and whose lips moved slightly.

At that moment, Shuoge suddenly appeared beside Kai.

"Gaara has Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast, sealed inside him. If he goes berserk, Rock Lee won't be able to handle him. Don't let him open the door."

Kai's gaze remained fixed on the field, and he remained silent for a moment. "He's my student. I won't stand in his way. Youth shouldn't be about backing down."

Shuo Ge raised an eyebrow, but didn't care.

Kai has already warned him that he will intervene if Xiao Li is in danger.

Shuoge didn't say anything more.

"Take it down, Lee!" Kai shouted, giving a thumbs-up to Lee in the arena.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Li's face lit up with joy.

He lifted the weights off his legs, then let go.

"Weight? That kind of thing—"

A deafening roar!

As two enormous mushroom-shaped explosions rocked the arena, everyone wore expressions of utter disbelief.

"Kai, you bastard—"

Kakashi covered his forehead and complained.

What a madman!

Kaido grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth. If he wanted to catch up with the genius, how could he not be a little crazy?

In the field.

Lee took a deep breath, his chakra surging within him.

The first door opened! His skin flushed red, and veins bulged slightly. He rushed forward, twice as fast as before.

Before the sand wall could even solidify, a fist had already slammed into Gaara's face. Gaara's head tilted to the side, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Sand surged in from the side, wrapping around Lee's arm. He broke free, staggered back, and gasped for breath.

"The speed of the sand's automatic defense is just too slow?" Gaara wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

The sand-binding mechanism surged in from all directions, enveloping Xiao Li's right leg.

His muscles were squeezed, his bones creaked, and Xiao Li gritted his teeth, smashing the sand with his left fist before retreating.

Blood dripped from his trouser leg.

The second gate, the Rest Gate, is open!

The third gate, the gate of life, open!

He charged forward again, so fast that the sand couldn't defend itself.

Leaf-like whirlwind shattered the sand walls.

A gust of wind rose from Konoha, and Gaara was kicked into the air.

"

Lotus Flower!

Lee clamped his legs around Gaara's waist and spun him at high speed, slamming him into the ground. Sand was flung away, Gaara embedded himself in the ground, and pebbles flew everywhere.

Gaara stood up from the pit, his forehead was cut open, and blood flowed down to his eyebrows.

His eyes snapped open, his pupils reflecting Xiao Li, who stood panting at the edge of the pit. Sand gushed wildly from the gourd, not in defense, but in rage.

"Blood! It's blood!!"

The sand claws grabbed it down.

Xiao Li jumped backward and stumbled when he landed.

His right leg was swollen, and blood was seeping from his trouser leg.

Gaara's sand balls rained down one after another, and Lee weaved through the gaps, narrowly dodging each one. The sand piled up, shrinking his range of movement.

Xiao Li stopped. He turned around and glanced at Kai.

Kai gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Fourth Gate, Injury Gate, open! Fifth Gate, Blockage Gate, open!"

Chakra exploded from Lee's body, shattering the sand.

His skin turned from red to dark reddish-black, and his veins bulged.

There was no more breathing; each contraction of the muscle fibers carried the weight of certain death.

Gaara's pupils contracted, and the sand solidified into a thick wall in front of him.

Xiao Li's figure disappeared.

The sand wall was pierced, and the fist pierced through the sand wall, smashing into Gaara's chest.

Gaara flew out and crashed into the concrete wall below the audience seats. The wall cracked, and Gaara became embedded in it.

Sand poured out of the gourd, covering his body and repairing his injured skin and bones.

When Xiao Li landed, he was kneeling on one knee, his right hand hanging down, the bone offset from the elbow, and his left hand supporting him on the ground. The muscles on his side were twitching uncontrollably, and his whole body felt like it was falling apart.

The reason why the Eight Gates Formation is a forbidden technique is because it is a forbidden technique that unlocks the body's safety "valve".

Upon gaining power, the body will first enter a state of high stress.

To injure the enemy, you must first injure yourself!

If one's physical strength is insufficient, opening the door can cause injury.

However, the side effects of Li opening the five gates in his teens made his whole body tremble.

Gaara crawled out of the rubble, the sand receding to reveal a purplish-blue fist mark on his chest. He looked at Lee, and the sand condensed into sand spikes in front of him, aiming at Lee's hands and feet.

"You—go to hell!!!"

Xiao Li tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn't obey him. A sand awl pierced him.

With Schogor's reminder, Kai kept a close eye on the situation on the field.

Xiao Li's body has reached its limit.

That last offensive was the last resort.

If you cannot defeat your opponent —

"That's enough!"

Kai appeared in front of Xiao Li.

He smashed the sand cone with a punch, sending sand flying. He turned around, squatted down, and helped Xiao Li up. Xiao Li's head rested on his shoulder, his eyes closed, his breathing weak.

"Did I win?" Xiao Li's voice was very low.

"We lost." Kai's voice was also low. They had already lost the moment he entered the arena and tried to stop them.

"oh."

Xiao Li fainted.

Kai picked him up and carried him to the medical room.

The referee announced Gaara's victory. No one applauded, and no one booed. Gaara watched Gai's retreating figure for a few seconds, then put the sand back into his gourd and turned to leave.

In the audience, Shuoge watched Kai's retreating figure without expression.

He told Kai, but Kai didn't listen.

Whether Xiao Li opens the door or not is never up to Kai. Some people just won't turn back even after hitting a brick wall, even if it's smashed to pieces. Kai himself is one of those people.

But that's precisely why Kai is Kai!

"Youthful Days————"

"It is indeed passionate."