Sakura had just finished her match and Lee was so excited she had won he just wanted to get out there and fight. He wouldn't have to wait long though as it was his turn to step onto the battlefield. Sakura gave him a smile as he walked out there and wished him luck which gave him energy to fight. He was so eager to prove himself to Gai after losing last time and after seeing all the Konoha ninjas win so far, he wouldn't let anyone down; this time he was fighting a ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village. Lee stepped out there, thinking how Gai couldn't accompany him to the Rain country as he had missions to do back in Konoha, but he would return a Chuunin for certain. Hard work pays off and he had worked harder than anyone. The still raining battlefield would take a little away from his speed, but he knew his opponent would not be as quick as him and meant he could use his speed to take the other off balance. Lee saw his opponent step onto the field. His opponent was tall, with long white hair that hung down, Lee took notice of what he was wearing, or what he wasn't wearing to be specific. Everybody had at least some kind of clothing on that protected them from the cold as the rain and winds made it very fresh. This ninja wore very loose clothing for summer wear as if he felt no cold at all. Lee hoped his renge style of fighting would be enough.
The referee began the match and both ninjas charged at each other. Lee wasn't going to show all his moves straight away but didn't want to lose an early advantage. He decided he would begin with some strong fist moves. As they sparred, Lee was getting a few shots in. Lee kept getting shots in and when the ninja tried to block his attacks he wasn't quick enough and was connecting with Lee's wrists after they had already hit him. He should have been making a better effort to block and counter from Lee's shoulders to arms rather than the wrists but Lee wasn't going to tell him this and continued fighting. The ninja who was pressured jumped back to create some distance between them and Lee wasn't going to let up. He jumped forward to continue punching and aimed for the same spots but realised he suddenly wasn't as quick or couldn't get hardly any power in his punches. His hands were suddenly quite tired and there was a burning sensation in them and as if knowing what was going on, the opponent began there own combo. Lee was quick enough to dodge most of them, but he couldn't use his hands to block any attacks and the opponent got some shots in on his upper arms this time. Then Lee's arms began to become tired and have the burning sensation-it was this ninja's attack plan the entire time. The opponent smiled after Lee created some distance for a rest. "You are quite good at taijutsu Leaf ninja, but it seems you have finally seen my technique come into play. You thought you were getting the better of me from the start but it was really what I wanted. Using your arms and hands may be a little hard for a while." Lee didn't want to get distracted by what he came to do, but he couldn't deny he had fallen into the enemy's trap on this one. The enemy used some kind of attacks that did internal damage just like Neji. The enemy ninja knowing Lee was resting came in and was able to unleash a combo that severely hurt Lee and sent him flying back.
Lee got up from the ground using mostly his legs rather than his arms and could only just barely wipe the mud from his eyes. His arms and hands felt…dry. They were so dry, his skin felt yuck and he couldn't move his joints properly. There were puddles of water all around him and he kneeled down, lowering his arms into them while keeping an eye on his opponent who wasn't moving. "Having no moisture in your limbs is a little annoying isn't it?" Again Lee said nothing but chose to come at his opponent from different directions. This seemed to work better and the ninja didn't know where Lee was coming from and therefore couldn't connect any of his attacks. The little movement he got back into his arms would be a good distraction to sweep the ninjas legs out from underneath him and kick him in a combo Gai had taught him before he left. The ninja slammed to the ground and rolled away to get some space before charging back into Lee who was readily waiting for him. Lee had himself all pumped up; whatever techniques this ninja would use was not going to be enough. He had to win, for himself, for Gai Sensei, for Sakura...for Naruto. As he came in Lee saw that the ninja's hands were glowing slightly, he knew he needed to avoid getting hit and went back to moving in different directions with his speed. Lee finally got into a good position right behind the enemy and was ready to pull off a huge attack but the ninja got there first, "Heat Whirl Technique". Lee was hit directly with a wave of hot air that burnt his skin and seemed to take all the wetness from his skin even though he was standing in rain. As he was quite damaged, the ninja charged in to finish him off but Lee was able to get up and get himself to a safe distance but again being the victim of another heat wave. His whole body was affected and he was becoming less mobile from these techniques. He was in a dangerous situation now, just like Gaara he had to outrun something other than their physical speed.
Neji
looked at his teammate from outside the battlefield. Tenten looked to
him, "Neji, what kind of techniques are these? It looks similar to
Hyuuga Clan abilities with your gentle fist and Eight Trigrams
Spin."
"I wouldn't be surprised if this was some kind of
advanced bloodline ability. It seems Lee is at a risk from short and
long distance fighting but he should be able to win this." Tenten
turned to the battlefield, "Come on Lee, you can't go down like
this-keep fighting Lee."
Lee heard Tenten on the battlefield and it spurred him on. Moreso knowing that Neji was watching and this ninja was very similar to him; if he was every going to beat Neji-he had to prove it now. He was not going to lose no matter what. His opponent hearing the comments had to say something, "Oh I forgot you were in the same team as a Hyuuga weren't you?" Lee said nothing. "The Hyuuga are always put over us, but they cannot match the Atsui clan of the Rain country. We can create and control heat and you cannot beat me with no ninjustu that I know you don't have." So this is why he could stand in the cold with minimal clothing and the damage he was doing before. He was injecting heat into his joints and taking drying out the water in the blood that was necessary to keep him moving properly to fight. It was amazing how heat cold be used like this as a weapon but Lee wasn't here to admire. He had tried very hard to bring back movement to his joints and splashed as much mud and water on his body as possible and it was then he had an idea. He laid on the ground, rolling over so that he was covered from head to toe in thick mud.
Neji still looking over had a smile on his face, "Well done Lee." He looked to Tenten who was still hoping Lee would win this fight. "Tenten, everything will be ok-Lee will win this fight now."
Lee
wanted everyone to watch this, especially the crowd who were all
behind their home competitor from the Rain country. The mud on him
was so heavy it would take away from his speed but it had another
purpose. The enemy was sick of waiting and watching Lee roll around
in mud. "Time to stop playing, Evaporation Cloud." A cloud formed
on top of Lee and he could visibly see the water on the ground in his
area being dried up at an alarming rate. Lee began his attack, moving
straight towards his opponent who was getting his taijutsu moves
ready for internal attacks. He wasn't quick enough to catch Lee
though who got in some good shots. Once again the ninja was aiming at
his wrists and even his chest-but found it wasn't really taking
effect on Lee as it had done before. The ninja realised what Lee had
done and could do nothing now but run-Lee knew he was winning and
followed him getting more and more shots in. The heat ninja tried
another heat whirl technique but Lee jumped directly through it
having no effect against him. Now there were openings to fight which
he needed to take advantage of. He remembered in that instant how
Uchiha Sasuke had copied his technique with his own unique version,
so he would now use a variation of his Lion Combo. He kicked his
opponent up into the air but instead of coming up underneath his
enemy, he came in over the top. He performed punches and kicks so
quick the crowd couldn't even see them and the Rain ninja fell to
the ground unconscious and unable to move. Rock Lee had one the match
against one of the countries noblest clans.
The crowd cheered,
they had not witnessed taijutsu yet and were very impressed at the
show Lee put on for them. Although all audience members wanted to see
Konoha lose as much as possible they could not ignore the ninja
talent of Rock Lee.
Tenten was confused at what just happened and asked Neji to explain it. "Lee couldn't get hit by the techniques as it took away the water in his body using heat to dehydrate him. So even though the mud weighed him down, it had a lot of moisture in it. So when he got hit by the Atsui clan's technique, it was taking the moisture out of the mud rather than him-so absorbing the damage. The mud would most likely have dried up and fell off his skin, making him quicker as the other ninja got slower. Lee found a way to completely protect himself and won the match because of it.