Legend of the Iron Monkey

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own a single shred of Naruto.

Chapter 2: Father

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Lee tossed and turned, stirring himself awake. When his eyes opened, he found himself in a decent amount of pain, but less than what he should be feeling. He had just fallen off of a cliff and should be in excruciating pain, if not already dead. He looked around his surroundings, unfamiliar to it all. He was inside a cave, or at least that's what it looked like. There was a dripping sound of water, falling from the ceiling and onto the ground. He found himself leaning on a stalagmite that was sprouted from the ground. He had a white blanket over his body, which was stained red, probably from blood. Lee examined his arms and found that his bandages had been torn to shreds, most likely because of the explosion that he suffered from the exploding kunai. When he stood, he found that his legs were numb and couldn't feel them. Lee shook his legs, allowing the blood to flow through them again. He looked around once more. He now knew that he was inside a cave, but who brought him here? And why? Perhaps the blanket that was on him belonged to that same person as well. Whoever it was, he had to find them. Before he was able to walk the next few steps, a figure emerged from the shadows, standing up from his sitting position. He had black pupils, long black hair, and a fairly muscular upper body. He was light-skinned, wore what looked like a martial arts robe, a pair of cloth pants, and a set of black, leather boots. His hair was tied up to a pony tail and a smile was placed on his lips. He glanced to Lee.

"I see you've finally awoken," he said.

"Who are you? Where am I? Shouldn't I be dead?" asked Lee, booming at the stranger with an explosion of questions. The stranger nodded at all of Lee's questions, fully intended to answer every single one of them.

"You are in my favorite cave where I've lived for quite some time now. You aren't dead because you landed in a large body of water, a flowing river if you will, while I was bathing. I checked for vital signs and found that you were still alive. I brought you back in here and treated your wounds. You've been asleep for about a week," he said. Lee's eyes widened in surprise.

"A week?! Why did you not wake me? I have to return to my squad. I need to tell them that I'm alright. They're probably worried sick about me," said Lee as he turned away. He was about to sprint out of the cave when the man's voice stopped him.

"Do accept my apology, young one. A man with a hair cut similar to yours, a white-eyed fellow, and a bun-haired girl, came here a couple of days ago, in search of you. I hid you away and told them that I had not seen you," he said. Lee walked up to him.

"Gai-sensei, Neji, and Tenten were here and you didn't reveal to them my location? How could you do such a thing? They are my squad and you told them that you hadn't seen me?" Lee asked in anger. The stranger chuckled a bit and walked a little bit passed him.

"I've been waiting for you for a very long time. You must understand why I couldn't let them have you, at least not yet. You're not yet prepared of what is to come and I have to make sure that you are," he said as he turned to Lee. "You've been an orphan throughout your entire life and I do apologize for that. There's a reason why I couldn't show my face to you, or to the village."

"Hold on, how do you know that I'm an orphan? Better yet, who in the world are you?" asked Lee. The man nodded at the question and smiled a little wider, although not very noticeable.

"My name is Hirameki Hanazawa and you... are my son," he said, awaiting for the boy's reaction. Lee was stunned, unable to move. All this time, he has a father, and he never showed himself to the village? Surely there was some sort of explanation, right? No father just leaves his son to be cared for by the rotten citizens of the village hidden in the leaves. Sure they raised him, but they did not care for him the way a true parent should. So why would a parent leave his own child? It made no sense...

"If you're my father, why did you leave me? It makes no sense at all," said Lee.

"I left for a reason and I didn't return for another reason. I left you because your mother died in child birth and I couldn't bear to be without her, so I left you in front of the village gates. You see, your mother and I were running from assassins who were hired by organizations seeking to eliminate our family blood line because we were too powerful. Your mother was injured while we were fleeing and I could not stop it," he said, looking down at the ground in guilt. "When she could run no more, we hid underneath a bridge, near a lake where we bathed in the water to wash away our scent. Because of her injury, her survivability rate was dramatically decreased upon giving birth to you. Her last wish was that our son would live in peace."

"I knew that I couldn't satisfy that request, should I continue to live with you. Assassins will always be after our bloodline and I loved you so much, just as your mother did. I had to leave you in the village that I grew up in. I know that the village hidden in the leaves have the strongest shinobi army in existence, and they will be able to protect you until you are ready to seek me out," he said. Lee nodded every so often, taking in the information. "I spoke to the Hokage, told him never to mention me or my bloodline... your bloodline. When all was secured, I left you and eliminated the organization myself. Once they were taken cared of, I gave your mother a proper burial and became a wanderer."

"So you left me to protect me. I suppose that's good enough of a reason but your story arises a few of my own questions. The first one I will ask is, how were you able to take down an entire organization that had the money to hire assassins, on your own?" he asked curiously. If this man was that strong, perhaps time here wouldn't be wasted after all.

"I was able to take them down because I was raised in the village hidden in the leaves, but also because of our unique bloodline ability, our kekkei genkai," he explained. Lee raised his bushy eyebrow. That was going to be his second question, about this so called bloodline limit that this man possessed. "Our kekkei genkai is a passive ability and consists of one universal power. The first and only is our unique ability to get stronger and stronger, each time we heal from a wound that has inflicted a considerable amount of damage to our bodies. As for the second ability, only one person in the clan may possess it. It allows the person to copy the technique that an individual can use, just by having it inflicted on the body of the person."

"You mean like... a muscle mimic?" asked Lee. Hirameki nodded.

"Precisely. But this wielder can only perform his opponent's techniques one time. After that it has been used, the mind may remember how to do it, but the body will not. It is as if the knowledge of the ability will no longer be known to the body, as opposed to the mind," he explained. "In addition to that, there is a third ability that you may possess, a rapid cellular regeneration ability, which basically means quick healing, but that requires special conditions for you to achieve."

"Those abilities sound very powerful," Lee complimented. "A cellular regeneration ability that will heal any injury, the ability to make us stronger because of such damage, and copy the inflicted attack to have it used against our opponent once? That's pretty amazing... but how is it that I have not awakened these abilities?"

"Oh, but you have, at least only one of them. By surviving an attempt on your life that could have killed you, you have unlocked the ability to get stronger with each time you heal from an injury that has done a considerable amount of damage on your body," said Hirameki. Lee nodded and looked around for the stalagmite that he was leaning on. Once he found it, he approached it, reeled his fist back, and punched it. The mere force of his punch destroyed the stalagmite and a bit of the ground that it was planted upon.

"Not bad, kid, but with a bit of training in this place, you'll be able to do more than what you just did," said Hirameki. Lee turned around with a smile.

"How do I unlock the other two parts of my kekkei genkai?" Lee inquired, completely thrilled upon the new found knowledge that there really was someone watching over him through his life. Never in his lifetime had he experience so much confidence in himself. Maybe now, his dreams of becoming a great shinobi with only the use of taijutsu, can be achieved after all. Hirameki approached his son.

"Achieving your rapid cellular regeneration ability will be very difficult and very time consuming, but invaluable for what you have to face in the future. You must train here, in this cave for a long time, maybe even years depending on your dedication, or until you master all the powers of the Iron Monkey. In time, this cave will grant you the power to heal very quickly," he said, raising another question in Lee's mind. Any amount of years is a long time, but rapid cellular regeneration will indeed be very useful for a taijutsu master. Besides that...

"What is an Iron Monkey?" he asked.

"It is not an, it is the," said Hirameki. "The Iron Monkey is an immortal deity, in human shape with a monkey tail, who taught taijutsu to man. The Iron Monkey is a skilled individual in all fields of jutsus, especially taijutsu. His mastery in unarmed combat was unmatched by anyone who drew breath in this planet. So powerful was he in taijutsu, that he scoured the world for anyone who could defeat him in hand to hand combat. When he found no one, he fell in love with a young, mortal girl, who bore him a son."

"Being an immortal deity, the Iron Monkey was incapable of aging and found that his lover was aging right before his very eyes. He was so in love with this woman, that he wanted to spend what remained of her life, together. But in order to do that, he would have to give up his powers and his immortality, but he could not just give it to anyone. So he trained his son. He trained his son to be able to perform the highest level of jutsus, and also to be a master of taijutsu."

"When his son was able to do what he had hoped for, he passed down his powers and immortality to him, as well as his staff. But when the rites were completed and his son claimed his title as the Iron Monkey, the son found that he was unable to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu, that is the curse that the Iron Monkey's powers bestow upon the user, but that didn't matter. All the knowledge and wisdom of the Iron Monkey, was passed down to him and he used that power to protect his family. When the time came, the former Iron Monkey and his wife died from age, while his son lived on," said Hirameki, almost finished with his tale. "For generations upon generations, the power of the Iron Monkey was passed down from parent to child. Its power was enough to protect our clan... until your grandfather gave it to me. I was a fool and made terrible decisions, decisions that cost me the lives of our entire clan. Now, you and I are all that's left of our clan. I'm sorry, my son."

"I see..." said Lee. So that's why no one else heard of his family, because they were all dead before he was born, all except one. His father was responsible for the deaths of his clan, but he knew that his father had good intentions. Him being alive now and given the chance to live a normal life, was proof of that. Everyone deserves a second chance. "I can forgive, it's not that that you must worry about. I know of our history now, but I have a dream to accomplish and I think only you can help me now. I need to awaken my bloodline abilities and achieve my dream. I know that a few years is a long time but it is a sacrifice that I'm willing to make. I need to become strong enough to defeat my opponents and protect those that I care about."

Hirameki nodded.

"If those are your intentions, then I will train you. And as an added bonus, this cave was once the home of the original Iron Monkey and does possess some special properties. You see, time is different in this cave, than it is with the outside world. One year in here is approximately one week in the outside world. That being said, 10 years spent here will pass only 10 weeks in the outside world. In addition to that, your physical appearance will age only by what amount of time passes in the outside world, meaning, even if you stay here for 10 years, your body will change as if only 10 weeks have passed. That is why I stayed here until fate gave me the opportunity to meet with you at a proper age. Plus, I needed more time to get stronger so I can be a proper teacher for you," he said.

"But you said you've spent your times in this cave until you met me. That must mean you're thousands of years old, perhaps even more," said Lee. Hirameki nodded. "How can I master in a mere decade, what took you several thousand years?"

"I did it the hard way. You see, I inflicted injuries on myself to become stronger. Normally, that is impossible as our kekkei genkai only works when others inflict the damage to us. I had to constantly stab my body onto some of these stalagmites to activate that ability. And since I possess the powers of the Iron Monkey, I am incapable of creating shadow clones that I can use to train with, so I trained on my own. It was only a few decades ago that I finished training my body and decided to meditate, to train my mind and spirit. You will be able to all of this easily because you will meet challenges in your life, from all shapes and sizes. Some may even be stronger than you, but if you can achieve the power that may be granted to you by this cave, and if you can receive the spirit of the Iron Monkey, many things will be within your grasp," he explained. "I have a feeling that something big will happen within 10 weeks in the outside world, and I want you to have at least unlocked the full extent of your bloodline limits, before facing those challenges. You can train your skills at another time."

"I understand. But I have one final question. You explained to me how I unlocked my first ability, and how I'm going to receive the healing power. So how do I unlock the muscle mimic ability?" he asked, wondering how to release the last of his hidden kekkei genkai.

"The only way for you to gain that ability is to become the Iron Monkey, the power that I possess. I will pass it down to you when you are ready," he said as he leaped a couple of yards away and slipped into a combat stance. Lee formed his own fighting stance as well. "But before we start, please tell me the name that the village has given you. I will call you by that name until your training here is complete. At that time, I will tell you the name that your mother and I have given to you."

"My name is Rock Lee, but please, call me Lee," he said. Hirameki nodded.

"Alright, Lee, let's begin!" he said as he charged at his son. Lee tightened his fists and dashed toward the Iron Monkey as well.

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Four weeks (four years in the cave) later

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Everyone, except for team 7 who was away on a mission, mourned for the loss of one of their brightest genin, Rock Lee. According to his jonin teacher and his two squad members, he was last seen falling down a near bottomless area, from a very high cliff. A search party was sent for him and have been sent to find him for two weeks, but every party returned empty handed. Although many knew him, few took the time to mourn his loss. But no one, not even his squad members, mourned as much as his jonin teacher, Mito Gai. The boy was like a son to him and he was unable to protect him. Lee resembled everything that Gai was and so the blow of the loss was greater on the jonin than it was to everyone else. After the Hokage declared Lee to be dead, Gai was never the same. He stopped preaching about the youthfulness in everything. He became the sensei that Neji always wanted, but Tenten no longer liked. Gai was never his cheerful self, always taking everything seriously, even light jokes.

Another one who was affected to a certain degree, was Hinata. She was the one that Lee last spoke to, besides his squad, and the one to be questioned by ANBU, upon Lee's disappearance. She was affected because Lee shared a similar goal that Naruto has and she found herself admiring people with aspiring goals as those two have... well, only one of them now anyway. She hoped that Naruto wouldn't meet the same fate in his mission as Lee did. The young heiress knew that her heart would not be able to handle a second blow. Besides Hinata, Neji and Tenten were also affected, but mainly Neji. The misunderstood Hyuuga, although never admitting it, always considered Lee as a powerful rival, and someone worth every moment in a sparring match. Now Lee has gone to the afterlife without knowing how the Hyuuga really felt about him. Neji had always thought of Lee as a brother, mainly because he was one of the few people that he met who never questioned his status as a branch member of the Hyuuga clan, but always recognized his skills in battle more than his rank in his family.

Tenten had also thought of Lee as a brother, as she didn't have any siblings of her own. Her parents, being busy shinobi and blacksmiths, never really had the time to raise another child and would often have Tenten to care for herself. She didn't mind it at all, but sometimes wished for the company of another sibling. Lee treated her that way, and what made it special was, no one else treated her that way. The loss of Lee was like a massive strike to her spirit, a strike that wasn't capable of mending for a very long time. Even as a shinobi that wasn't talented in ninjutsu or genjutsu, Lee was still a respected individual, but he was now gone without that piece of knowledge shared to him.

Neji and Tenten awaited for their sensei at their usual spot. Even with Lee's death, they were still charged with completing their mission and the mission was accomplished, but it was one of their scariest ones yet. Throughout the whole time, their sensei had not shed a single word. They merely followed his body actions and acted accordingly. When they made mistakes because Gai remained silent, he merely shook it off as if he didn't care, but they knew that he did. The loss of his pupil was probably too much for him to take, especially since it was Lee that followed in every single step of their sensei's teachings. They patiently waited until Gai appeared in a puff of smoke.

"So sensei," said Tenten. "What are we doing today?"

"The Hokage has assigned me an A rank mission and I'm not taking you two, it's far too dangerous. I will return in a couple of weeks, until then, train on your own or take the time off," he said as he vanished as quickly as he came. Neji sighed and decided to head home, as did Tenten. As Neji walked to the Hyuuga compound, he wondered what life would be like if Lee was still around. Gai-sensei would definitely not be acting this way. His friend pretty much admired their sensei like he was some kind of god, a Japanese diety of sorts. Lee was the one that inspired hope into their sensei, who never really had much of a family of his own. Either he was way too busy with his shinobi work, too weird for any woman, or that he wasn't very appealing to the eye.

On his way to his home, Neji passed by the Ichiraku ramen stand, the place that Naruto had practically made as his personal kitchen. Over time, Lee had started to come by to this place as well. His intentions were never really clear to anyone, nor did anyone really ask. According to the ramen chef, Lee was trying to eat more ramen bowls than Naruto ever could. But even Neji knew that to be an impossible feat. No one, not even a champion of food eating contests, can top Naruto's record in eating the most amount of ramen in one visit, yet Lee wanted to break that record. Lee always wanted to achieve the impossible, such as trying to defeat Neji in a taijutsu combat, or eating more ramen than Naruto. He would challenge himself, pit himself against difficult tasks everyday, just to make himself stronger or at least better than someone at something, but he always had pure intentions. Neji looked to the ground. The loss of Lee would be something that the genin of his generation would be talking about for a while.

When he reached his compound, he found his uncle, Hiashi, working on some documents, his cousin Hanabi training, and his other cousin, Hinata, training as well. Is this some sort of holiday for genin and a day for missions for jonin teachers? Neji could have sworn he passed by Shino and Kiba, as well as Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, on the way to his home. The only ones not on vacation were the members of team seven; Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. They get to have all the fun while everyone else has to sit back, bored out of their minds. It probably wouldn't bug someone like Shikamaru or Choji, hell maybe even Shino, but it bothers everyone else when they know that they should be doing something but are unable to do it without proper guidance. Neji joined his cousins but not in training. He sat down and began to meditate, reflecting upon his past. Hiashi noticed the arrival of his nephew and left his paperwork on his desk. He approached Neji.

"Why are you not training with your squad, Neji? Has your sensei left you for a mission as well?" asked the older Hyuuga.

"Yes he has," replied Neji.

"It's because of that Lee child, no doubt. Stupid fool had to get himself killed. Now all of you are paying for his mistake," said Hiashi. Neji stood from his meditation position and glanced into the eyes of his uncle. Even as head of the clan and the compound, no one has the right to insult anyone from the village, especially one who had such an effect on people who didn't realize his importance to the village until he was gone from it. Hinata ceased her training and glanced at her father as well, giving him a rare look that she would only give to her opponents during missions. Lee had an effect on her too and was actually a good friend. Her father had gone too far this time. She could usually tolerate his nonsense, but saying such things about someone who is already dead is foul-play. It's as good as hitting someone in the back.

"Father, you don't know what you're saying!" she shouted, approaching her cousin. "Lee isn't a fool. If anything, he's a braver shinobi than the rest of us, even Neji. He had a dream, a dream that's comparable to Naruto's. He wanted people like you to respect him but he knew it wouldn't be easy. That's why he trained harder than anyone. He wanted to prove to people like you that even someone that couldn't perform ninjutsu or genjutsu, is capable of achieving great lengths with only taijutsu. He's handicapped in a sense, but that's no reason to talk behind his back."

"Hinata..." Hiashi trailed off.

"She's right, uncle," said Neji, nodding to his cousin. "I didn't treat Lee very well and now that he's gone, I know that I probably should have. He's more to me than I would ever let anyone know. Lee was like a brother to me, one that I never had in this wretched family. He was the first person that I met who never mocked me for being a part of the branch family. He respected my skills as a shinobi, not my rank in this family and that's something that earns my respect. I never told him this, and I know I should have. I refuse to allow someone like you to kick his name like a piece of meat."

"Lee is more than what you have ever become, Hiashi," said Neji. Hiashi was stunned, not just of Neji's out burst but Hinata's display of backbone as well. Perhaps this Lee character really was more than what anyone could expect of him. If he was able to give his daughter this kind of courage, then maybe he was wrong in making a mockery of such a shinobi. Anyone who can inspire that amount of confidence in his daughter is definitely one to be remembered. Hiashi sighed and retreated to his quarters, allowing his nephew and his daugter to resume their training and meditation. In all honesty, he wasn't really working on his paper documents, but mainly thinking about all of the times when he would insult people who were lower than his own stature. Perhaps Hinata and Neji were right in some aspect about Lee.

Gai increased his speed as he exited the village gates. He didn't really have an A rank mission at all, but instead requested for permission from the Hokage to continue his search for Lee's body. He just couldn't accept the fact that Lee was dead without finding a corpse or something to prove to himself that his brightest pupil could be dead. Where others have given up searching, Gai would not. It's not like he had his own family to care for. Lee was pretty much his only family and he knew that his own family would never give up on him either, had he been on the same shoes. Lee had fallen off a cliff, not too far from the village borders. That place is a good several hours of running, but he would search it again. He had been in many search parties during the time where people were still interested in finding him, and they didn't find a single shred of evidence that the taijutsu practioner could still be alive. But even as they all gave up, Gai couldn't allow himself to do the same. He knew that Lee was out there somewhere, and he was driven to find him and bring him back.

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"Come on Lee, you've gotten better but you still have areas of improvement," said Hirameki as he sent his son sprawling on the ground. They had been training for four years now and Lee had long since unlocked his rapid cellular regeneration ability, which was proving to be something that would come in handy after all. As soon as he and Hirameki learned of his new ability being unlocked, Hirameki decided to use stronger efforts into training his son, knowing that his body would be able to take it all, and he was right. Lee became a powerful master of the art of taijutsu, but still had much to learn in armed combat. The Iron Monkey's main weapon is a retractable bo-staff. Lee had been battered and bruised by the legendary weapon of the Iron Monkey, but his body healed every single injury, turning it all into added power for his body to absorb. Lee stood up and felt his broken rib mending itself. He gripped his training staff and lunged at his father.

Both opponents exchanged blow for blow, some of which actually landed on Hirameki, but more landed on Lee. The staff of the Iron Monkey is indeed a powerful weapon, and Lee saw to it the hard way. His father was no longer holding anything back, once they found out that he had unlocked his healing ability. Whenever Hirameki broke some of Lee's bones, he would feel a tinge of sadness but shook it away. Lee's power can handle any type of injury and every time he heals from it, the energy used to inflict damage onto his body would make him stronger instead. Even with all the strength and enhanced abilities that Lee had mustered through the four years of training, it still wasn't enough to defeat his father, but he knew he had to in order to make him proud, as well as his entire clan. The four years that he spent in the cave wasn't just used for training, but also for education about the history of his clan. Lee was never one for scholastic teachings, but found the history of his clan rather interesting. He absorbed the knowledge like a sponge and enjoyed his father's lectures about their Iron Monkey deity.

Besides his enhanced mind and body, his physical appearance had changed as well. He no longer had bore the bowl-cut hairstyle but was instead replaced by spiky black hair. Since there was no barber or hair specialist in the cave, Lee had educated himself in cutting his own hair. The spiked areas of his hair also had a small bit of hair dye, courtesy of his father, that was colored red. He had also discontinued his use for his green spandex. His father offered him a long, white, leather coat that exposed his bare chest and arms. It stretched all the way down the the knee area of his white cloth pants. He also wore a pair of wrist bands, and a pair of leather army boots that his father attained from the west, during his wandering days. His eyebrows were no longer bushy either, but slimmer and resembled a set of normal eyebrows, like his father. Lee parried a down strike from his father and was about to break his father's kneecap, when he vanished. Lee's eyes moved around slowly, trying to detect his father's movements. When he felt a small ripple around him, he turned around and blocked what could have been a painful strike to his back. Hirameki smiled.

"Good, very good," he complimented as he kicked off of Lee's chest and landed a few feet away from him. Lee smiled as he vanished as well, increasing his movement speed so Hirameki couldn't see him. The Iron Monkey smirked and matched his son's speed, knowing that he could still go a lot faster but wanted to maintain a speed that wouldn't put him at too much of and edge. The two fighters clashed in the air and disarmed each other of their weapons. Hirameki was about to pick up his staff, when Lee kicked it away and engaged his father in hand-to-hand combat. Hirameki knew that his son is a prodigy in taijutsu combat, but he didn't know that Lee would be able to master all of his own techniques in mere days. Lee really does have an eye for taijutsu techniques. The boy blocked a punch to his face and elbowed his father to the nose, causing a small dent on it. Hirameki's healing ability healed the injury right away, feeling a bit of strength flow through him from the other part of his kekkei genkai. While Lee was here training, Hirameki was slowly getting stronger too. He avoided a kick from Lee and punched him on the throat, hearing the much needed crack, and sent his son crashing to a wall.

Lee's neck cracked again, placing the misplaced muscles and bones back to its original position with the help of his rapid cellular regeneration. If not for that handy ability, he'd surely be dead long ago. Ever since he unlocked his healing ability, he knew that he was that much closer to achieving his ultimate dream. All he needed now was the final part of his kekkei genkai, and everything would be set. Getting stronger would be much easier, but he wouldn't stop there. He promised himself to use his power to protect all of his loved ones, as soon as he received them. After attaining two out of the three parts of his kekkei genkai, he knew that he would have to defeat the Iron Monkey to become the Iron Monkey and unlock his third ability. His father had explained to him what he saw in his visions. In his visions, Hirameki saw a large shadow of what looked like a snake, looming over the village hidden in the leaves. He informed Lee that this snake would be the end of one of the most powerful figures in the village, if he wasn't strong enough to face it. There's six years of training left, he still had a long way to go, but he had faith in himself, just as everyone else in the village does. He would either return to them as the Iron Monkey, or not at all. Lee grabbed his training staff, as did Hirameki, and engaged in armed combat once more.

"I will defeat you, father. I will become the next Iron Monkey!" shouted Lee, his voice echoing through the cave.

"I wouldn't have it in any other way, son. But you'll have to get much stronger and much faster in order to claim your rightful title as the next Iron Monkey of our clan. It will be hard, I won't go easy on you, but I know you can do it. You are the pride of our fallen clan, the beacon of hope to your mother, and a champion in my eyes," said Hirameki, parrying a strike from his son's staff. "When you become the Iron Monkey, evil will quake in their feet when they hear of your coming. Become the next Iron Monkey, Lee, and make me proud!"

"I'll do more than just make you proud, father. I'm going to see to it that the village remembers our clan as well as our enemies. I will tell tales of the mighty clan, descended from the deity himself. It will be the talk for generations to come and our enemies will learn to respect our name," said Lee.

"That's my boy. Now let's continue."

"I was hoping you'd say that."

With that said, both fighters leaped back and charged at each other, once more in breakneck speed. Due to the powerful enchantments of the cave, their fighting spirit was masked to the outside world, impossible to be detected or heard by local passersby. Adding to that, only those who are descendants of their bloodline, would be able to seek refuge into the cave. Others will see it as an ordinary cave and become entrapped by a spell that will cause their minds to turn them away from the cave and force them to forget about ever wanting to enter it for whatever reason that they may have. It is because of such powerful enchantments that Hirameki chose the cave to for the training ground that his son would partake in. Besides that, there was the different flow of time to consider, perfect for defying the laws of time in the outside world. Lee would receive his proper training while still having the time to save his village from the snake that clouded Hirameki's visions. Lee is getting stronger, he could feel it. And once he becomes the Iron Monkey, the village hidden in the leaves would be saved.

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Alright, for those of you who have already read this chapter, I've added a very small and probably insignificant addition to the chapter that will be explained in further chapters. Chapter 3 will be posted after New Years for obvious reasons and because I'll be busy with tons of preparations. Stupid New Years celebration will be at my house so that means more chores for me... great... just what I needed. Oh well. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Ja ne! XD