Chapter 9

Lee's teeth were clenched tight, the air around him seemed alive with heat and power. Blood flowed down from where his wounds had reopened. But Lee never noticed any of it. To him only two things existed, protecting Gai and killing the stanine.

Lee vanished and reappeared just in front of the stanine, kicking him up into the air. Lee vanished again and punched and kicked the stanine as hard and fast as he could, batting the stanine around in an endless loop.

Chouji and Ino finally caught up to where Gai and Lee disappeared to. Their eyes widened and they gasped aloud as they saw Gai bloody and unmoving against a tree and Lee moving so fast that they couldn't even see him. The stanine was in the air getting hit so fast that he appeared to be just hovering in the air.

"Konoha barrage!" shouted Lee hitting the stanine back down to earth with his heel.

The stanine went spiraling down and hit the ground with an enormous crash, creating a giant crater, he lay there unmoving, but Lee wasn't done yet.

"Konoha massacre!" shouted Lee as he sped toward the stanine. He collided with a well placed punch, right to the stanine's face. He then punched him so fast it appeared as if his hands were gone. His punches flew wildly hitting anything they could, head, chest, limbs, even the ground around the stanine, and making an even larger crater. He then took out a kunai and stabbed the stanine right between the eyes, and jumped away. The stanine coughed out a tremendous amount of blood, more than any normal human should have been able to cough up.

The stanine's thoughts were dire. 'This kid could actually kill me. I have to use "that" jutsu even though I don't like it.'

Lee smiled to himself, he knew the stanine was not yet dead, but the fight was favoring him now. 'Oh! If Gai-sensei were conscious right now he would be so proud, that his youth would be burning like a sun! Yes, unconscious, not dead, just unconscious. Hehe.' Lee whispered the last part in his mind.

"You did it Lee!" shouted Ino rushing over to hug him.

"Way to go!" shouted Chouji, giving Lee a thumbs-up.

"Wha-" Lee started to say before embraced by Ino and nearly strangled. "Hang on." Lee tried to say, but it came out as an "Aaaittteeuhh!"

"Oops!" said Ino apologetically after she realized that she was hugging his windpipe.

"Look out!" shouted Lee once he was free. Knocking down Ino just as a bloody kunai flew where her head had been moments ago. The same kunai as the one he stabbed into the stanine, Lee noted.

"Good reflexes," said the stanine's deep voice.

Lee looked up at the stanine. A small hole was now in the middle of his face and bruises had appeared everywhere on his body. "You look like you just got your ass handed to you," said Lee smiling. The stanine wasn't.

"Alright, that's it I was actually thinking of not using this technique on you. I don't like it at all, it's like cheating, but after that crack, you're through." He then began making seals faster than Lee's eyes could keep up with.

"CONSCIOUSNESS ELIMINATION JUTSU!" he shouted.

Suddenly, Lee felt something strike the back of his mind, the last things he saw were Chouji and Ino falling to the ground, and then everything went dark.

The stanine watched as the fool boy fell unconscious, along with his companions. The stanine spit, he hated using that technique. He preferred to kill his opponents when they were still awake, so that he could see the fear in their eyes.

He smiled to himself remembering all the times he killed great ninja. The fear in their eyes was wonderful, full of disbelief as well. Oh well, the kid disserved it.

He took out his last kunai and walked over to the kid. Glancing at the older ninja, just to make sure he wouldn't be "interrupted." The man was unconscious as well. Perhaps he put too much into the genjutsu. Oh well, the fight was over anyway.

He held the knife directly over the sleeping child, and plunged it straight towards his heart.

"Good fight kid," said the stanine quietly.

Suddenly the boy's feet shot up and caught the kunai just inches from his heart.

The stanine gasped in absolute shock. The kid was running even when shut down. 'No,' decided the stanine, 'No, this kid will never cease to amaze me.