25 Preliminary Round 2 (2/2)

Surprisingly the next battle was Lee vs Gaara from Suna.

Lee was pumped but his opponent didn't seem to care that much. Saito felt something was wrong with Gaara. He felt that something was off.

Lee was using his best speed to lunch attacks but the sand that came from the ground on his back blocked the attacks. Lee wasn't fast enough and soon he was pushed back by Gaara's Sand. After that he talked with Gai asking for the liberty to remove his weights. The others started laughing but Saito knew how heavy those weights where and soon the laughter turned into shock because the moment the weights touched the ground. A rumbling sound followed. The whole room trembled. The following scene was truly cinematic. Lee's speed increased so much that the sand could no longer follow.

Garaa managed to avoid a deadly attack used by Lee. And soon he started torturing Lee who was suffering from the backlash of the technique.

Garaa's attacks became more and more cruel. Sudently Lee unleashed a huge burst of power. Saito knew that Lee learned the Inner gates release technique. But he didn't expect him to be able to unlock 5 gates.

Saito felt the power released by Lee, it was on another level. Kakashi seemed angry at Gai for teaching Lee this technique.

Lee overpowered Gaara with his increased speed and power. After landing a final hit Lee finally released the technique and directly fell to his knees. Gaara was in tatters and his sand Armor was broken but he could still move while Lee already lost consciousness but to Saito's surprise even unconscious he still kept moving. Gaara started to move sand in order to catch Lee.

Saito jumped from his place while screaming at the proctor.

Saito: ”He already lost consciousness, stop the match.”

Gaara didn't stop his attack and his sand warped around Lee's left leg and hand.

Gaara started making a grabbing motion with his hand and Saito felt shivers he unconsciously knew what will follow. As fast as he could, he activated Chakra Sword and destroyed the link between Gaara and his sand. He could only hope that this will stop his technique. And luckily that was the case Gaara could control sand around him without any contact but at longer distance he needs to use the sand as a link to control his technique.

Gaara still didn't stop his attacks, seeing his failed attack he made another attempt wish was blocked directly by Gai. Who at that moment had a firm look on his face. He looked at Saito with gratitude.

Gai: ”Thank you.”

Saito was surprised this was the first time he saw Gai talk this seriously. He knew that if he didn't stop that last attack Lee would have lost the use of his left limbs.

Saito nodded and started using Mystical palm technique to heal the damage from the gate release. Lee suffered from torn muscles and bone fractures. Soon the medical nin responsible for the exam came in and checked on Lee.

After talking with Gai and informing him that Lee will be okay. Gai went with Lee to the hospital while Saito returned to his teammates.

Yamato sneakily talked to him.

Yamato: ”You did great.”

Yamato was happy that Saito interfered. When Saito jumped he wanted to stop him, but when he saw the following events he was happy that Saito stopped the battle.

The battle that followed was Chouji vs Dosu Kinuta a ninja from the sound village. Chouji did great at the first half of the battle but at last his opponent used sound to attack his body from the inside. Sending it through the water in Chouji's body. Saito was disappointed but Chouji still put up a good fight.

Akira was lucky enough to win by default due to the absence of his opponent.

With this the Preliminary Round ended and they were given a week to prepare for the finals.