Lee couldn't use ninjutsu, couldn't use genjutsu, and even his taijutsu itself was merely average.
But in Guy's eyes, Lee was a genius with the ability and the potential to surpass Neji.
"You're a genius of hard work!"
That was what Guy had told Lee in the flashback.
"I've always believed it. As long as I put in two, three times the effort Neji does, I'll definitely be able to surpass him!"
But just as the memory reached this point, a voice broke through the flashback itself.
"A single word—'genius'—can sometimes negate a person's hard work. But that's wrong!"
The picture shifted once again.
It showed a young Neji standing in a corner.
And across from Neji was a girl standing before a training post.
From morning until night, and after darkness fell, the girl's hands were already dripping blood—yet her training never stopped.
"…Because she's the genius of the Hyuga Clan."
"Since she's a genius, it's only natural for her to possess power like that."
"If only her eyes were still intact…"
Neji had watched Hanabi grow up.
Compared to Lee's training, the Hanabi of those days was, if anything, even more relentless.
But in everyone else's eyes, whenever they heard about Hanabi, all they did was marvel at her talent and lament her misfortune. No one, though, ever noticed her hard work.
"Don't carelessly use the word 'genius' to express your envy—because that only erases what a person worked for."
Neji's words made even Hanabi turn to look.
"Ara, ara, truly worthy of my honored elder brother."
Hanabi hadn't expected that she herself would get a little extra screen time courtesy of Neji's "flashback" treatment.
[When the person smarter than you is also working harder than you…]
[Didn't Hanabi say earlier that her constitution is special—she gets hurt and feels pain easily, right?]
[Not just that, my wife also has a no-scar constitution. She's gorgeous and pretty and all, but if you really get into it, with no scars and no calluses even walking is a hassle]
[Holy crap, my heart aches for my wife]
[No wonder my wife isn't afraid of pain QAQ]
[One second of sympathy for big-brother-in-law]
[Hold on, how'd he become "big-brother-in-law"?]
[To be a genius, big-brother-in-law's got a great little sister ahead of him; to be a hard worker, Lee over here works even harder than him—so big-brother-in-law's just got nothing at all]
[Big-brother-in-law's training is super grueling too, you know]
[Lmao, true trash is useless no matter how hard it works—being able to get strong through effort is itself genius, okay]
[Couldn't agree more. Twenty years ago everyone still thought hard work paid off; now everyone knows lying flat is the way]
"Ara, ara, my dear audience has suddenly gone all negative on me." Hanabi tilted her head. "Hey, Stage, when do I get to post some bullet comments of my own?"
If only she could fire off some bullet comments too.
The thing is, some topics will always be a case where both sides can make a convincing argument. But the audience just loves debating them, never tiring of it.
And every time that happened, Hanabi's Popularity Points would surge.
In the current situation, she was already nearing a hundred thousand followers. Once she hit a hundred thousand, she'd be able to climb from Minor Supporting Character Lv.1 to Lv.2. That said, from minor supporting character to major supporting character was still a long road—and from major supporting character to protagonist went without saying.
[Popularity Points Shop random refresh: the Barrage Megaphone allows you to send bullet comments; permissions insufficient for other methods]
So there really was a way.
A shame she didn't have the permissions.
"Come on, Lee. Since you say you'll surpass me, then use everything you've got!" Neji charged in, and he and Lee tangled together.
Unlike before, Lee's rhythm had become unstable.
"How'd Lee fall behind all of a sudden?" Sasuke, who'd thought the whole time that Lee had the advantage, couldn't make sense of the situation now.
"It's because of Gentle Fist," Hanabi explained for Sasuke. "Neji-nii-san's Gentle Fist is extremely powerful. Haven't you noticed? Every time Lee blocks, he uses the nunchaku—he's avoiding making contact with Neji-nii-san."
The moment they made contact, Lee's chakra points would be sealed. After all, Neji had been "power-boosted" too.
As the first Jōnin among the Konoha 11, Neji really was the strongest of everyone besides Hanabi.
What's more, Neji was formidable in combat intelligence as well. Despite being at a matchup disadvantage against Kidomaru, Neji could still turn around and kill Kidomaru, while Second Pillar had been kicked around like a ball by Kidomaru's group…
Hm, why is it Sasuke again?
Hanabi couldn't help turning her head toward Sasuke.
"What about me?" Sasuke was a little mystified, thinking Hanabi had something she wanted to say to him.
"No, it's nothing."
Hanabi turned back around.
"Hm? Lee's movements got faster!" Kakashi suddenly noticed that Lee's whole body had abruptly begun to accelerate. "Is it the Eight Inner Gates? Is the second gate about to open too?"
"Heh heh!" Guy had appeared beside Kakashi at some unknown point. "It's not that simple! Konoha's Lotus will bloom once more!"
Kakashi was startled. "The Reverse Lotus… Just how far has that boy opened the gates of the Eight Inner Gates?"
"The fifth gate."
"That, um… what even are the Eight Inner Gates?" Naruto sidled over.
"The prerequisite for completing the Lotus is the Eight Inner Gates. By using the Eight Inner Gates to undo the body's limits, you can pull off a technique like that," Guy said.
"The so-called Eight Inner Gates are eight points along the chakra meridian system. The Gate of Opening, Gate of Healing, Gate of Life, Gate of Pain, Gate of Limit, Gate of View, Gate of Wonder, and Gate of Death." Hanabi kept right on stealing the scene. "Our bodies have a self-protection mechanism, and these eight gates restrict our chakra flow in everyday life. The Front Lotus Lee was just trying to use is a technique that requires opening the first gate."
Kakashi, meanwhile, observed the fight in the arena with his Sharingan. "Open the gates, and for a short time you can obtain power rivaling the Hokage—no, surpassing the Hokage… but after that… you'll die without fail."
"How can that be…" Naruto was rattled, just a little.
"Guy, you're being far too reckless—handing a technique like this to a child of that age!" Kakashi rebuked him.
"And how much do you even know about that boy!" Guy said. "Lee—he has something he must protect, even if it costs him his life."
"Mm. If it's purely taijutsu, then Neji-nii-san really is no match for Lee. And he's not suited to Eight Inner Gates training either. He can force a few gates open, but it doesn't help Gentle Fist much, and he never learned the Lotus." Hanabi spoke up too. "Honestly, Neji-nii-san has been holding back this whole time."
Strong Fist and Gentle Fist are fundamentally different styles, so Neji had never learned it either.
"Neji's holding back?"
Sasuke didn't think Neji was holding back at all.
"Ah… because everything Neji-nii-san has used from the start until now has been taijutsu."
Forget ninjutsu—Neji hadn't even brought out Revolving Heaven.
The Reverse Lotus really was formidable. But the best way to deal with a technique is to prevent it from being used in the first place.
So Neji's fight this time around could be called a pure taijutsu sparring match and nothing more.
But if things kept going like this, he really didn't seem like a match for the Reverse Lotus?
"Huh, did I maybe buff him too hard?"