A/N: I'm really sorry guys for the late update. There was so much going on ever since I graduated and came back. I've been struggling to survive in the past 3 weeks, but now I'm slowly gaining my foothold. I'm writing 2 fic at the same time while having ideas for at least 3 more, not to mention the pile of work waiting for me so thing will get slowed down a bit. But don't worry. This is still not the end of the world for me ^^. Now enough of my babbling, enjoy this chapter!
It was barely dawn when Gai-sensei called for them. They gathered in their usual meeting spot, waiting for their former sensei, now fellow shinobi. He showed them the newest mission:
- Look alive, my youthful students! – Gai shouted – Hokage-sama just assigned us a very important mission, ranked S.
- S? – Tenten gasped, those missions at such rank were usually very dangerous – I can't believe it! She finally sees our true capability.
- That's the spirit, now here we go – The Konoha's taijutsu expert pulled out the mission scroll and began to read – "Team Gai, consists of Maito Gai, Tenten, Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji are to assassinate a team of four humanoid turtles, under the cover of a hand-to-hand combat tournament named Battle Nexus in a multi-verse dimension. Instruction regarding of how to reach the destination will be given to Maito Gai. The ruler of such dimension, the Ultimate Daimyo will provide assistance and arrange for the turtles to face each member of team Gai. However, during the match, only weapons and taijutsu are allowed to be used, ninjutsu and genjutsu are strictly forbidden. Hyuuga Neji will be positioned as the leader. Team Gai hereby accepts this mission."
Gai's beloved students stared up at him, letting the information sink in. Lee pumped a fist in the air:
- Yosh! This mission is truly where I will prove to everyone that taijutsu is enough to become a great ninja!
- I don't think it's as simple as that – Neji crossed his arms – First of all, Hokage-sama assigned me as leader, not Gai sensei as usual. Second, why bother with a complicate tournament, when it's much easier to use ninjutsu and attack those 'turtles' outside the match, when they least expecting us. And third, if the so called 'Ultimate Daimyo' is the ruler of that multi-verse dimension, shouldn't he have some personal force that can take care of this?
- Sharp observation as always, Neji-kun – Gai gave him a sparkling smile – But we are here to accept the mission, not to question it. The mission only restricts us to taijutsu, which is our team's strongest point. It didn't say anything about how we carry it out, during or outside the match.
- Which means we can set up ambush for those creatures in that 'Battle Nexus' – Tenten sprung out a set of kunai just for show – Leave it to me! They won't know what hit them.
- Hm… I think, as leader, that we should participate in the match first. We need to estimate the creatures' abilities before coming up with a plan.
- That only works for you, Neji-kun. I'm not exactly an expert in taijutsu like you two.
- Not to worry, Tenten-kun – Gai patted her shoulder – According to the information Hokage-sama gave me, you are allowed to use weapons. It won't be a total lost.
- I guess so… Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going already!
…
Neji felt the solid ground under his feet when he was teleported back to his team. He looked to his sensei:
- I'm sorry, Gai-sensei. I couldn't finish the turtle in time.
- There will be plenty more chance for us to finish the job later, Neji-kun – Gai gave him a pat on the shoulder – Now rest, you have done your part.
- I wonder… - Neji let his eyes trailed off to Lee, who was bouncing where he stood in excitement.
When they first met the Ultimate Daimyo, they were told that these creatures were merciless, vicious, and not to hesitate when taking them down. But now, seeing the turtle named Raphael reacted to how he and his brother would meet their end, Neji felt something… off about the mission. He walked up to Lee:
- Lee-kun. Your match is next. I know you will do your best as the mission requires, but I want to ask you a favor.
- Anything, Neji-kun.
- I need you to hold back, not to kill the next turtle.
- Why not? I thought the mission…
- I have a feeling that we've left something out – Neji frowned – 'A ninja must see underneath the underneath'. I want to investigate more about these turtles before we continue with the mission.
The recited lesson seemed to calm down the boy in green. He looked down to where the turtles were, across the ring. His eyes widened as what he saw, then he muttered:
- I understand, Neji-kun. I will not kill my next opponent.
- Good. Just rid him off the tournament.
Those were the last words Lee could hear before being teleported to the ring. In front of him now were Michelangelo, a turtle with orange bandanna. He gently bowed:
- Greeting. My name is Rock Lee. This is my first time participating in this tournament, so please take care of me.
- I'll take care of you alright – Mikey pulled out his nun-chucks – I'll get all of you for beating up my brother.
Lee looked him straight in the eye, then raised up his thumb:
- I saw you gave your brother this pose before entering the ring. Do you know what this means?
- What's this now? A riddle?
Lee was about to answered when the gong signaled their fight. Stretched to his usual pose, Lee held up his hand:
- I think we have a misunderstanding. I will explain the meaning of that pose after we finish this.
- Whatever.
Mikey snorted and started to focus. But he hadn't reached his mystic power when Lee was inches from his face. Left with no time to react, the orange clad turtle received one full blown hook right at his chin. He made one perfect arc before landing on his shell with a loud klunk. Gritting his teeth to bite back the pain, the chucks wielder concentrated on his power right where he was left. Lee gave his opponent no time to rest when the boy dashed forward, sweeping his feet to Mikey's head. The impact never happened when the human's feet collided with nothing but air, at the same time a gush of wind blew him several steps back. Lee widened his eyes as the turtle before him, shining with orange wind mark. Mikey tightened his grip around his chucks:
- Okay green boy, let's dance!
In one swift puff of smoke, Mikey vanished from vision. The crowd stood up screaming at the disappearing turtle for abandoning his match, but they fell dead silent when Lee suddenly got knocked to the side. People could barely make out a green and orange blur circling around the human boy, occasionally dove in for a strike. Bruises and scars started to form on his body. But Lee was far from giving up.
Spinning to the side to avoid another onslaught, Lee quickly removed something inside his leg warmers. The objects landed heavily on the ground, creating cracks on it. The boy bent backward to evade another attack, then he too disappeared from view. Now there're two blurry green lightning bolts zipping inside the ring, causing the spectator to go wild. But since Mikey was more orange than green, they could still make out that he had the advantage. Using the wall of the ring as foothold, he ricocheted back and forth, ramming his shell head on with his opponent. Each collision sent visible shockwave to the air and made the crowd cheer at the top of their lungs. Neither seemed to exhaust since they both sped up, each of their step left mark on the ground, which was too much for the ring's regenerate ability. With one more clash, both the turtle and the human in green shattered the whole thing. As the dust dissipated, people saw Mikey and Lee in an arm lock, one trying to break free from other's grip. Sweat pouring out made the terrapin's skin become slick, but he had a good grab on the boy's spandex. Glaring up, he found a pair of burning coal staring back at him.
- You fought well, Michelangelo-kun, but I'm afraid I have to remove you from this tournament.
- To finish off me and my bros? Over my dead body! – Mikey clenched his fist around Lee's wrist.
- I'm truly sorry, but I've received my order, and I have to carry it out.
Lee closed his eyes while still maintaining his firm grip. Mikey was unable to shake him off as he felt the air around them move, at the same time Lee's human skin started to turn into a shade of red.
- Lee! No! You can't use that now! – Tenten screamed from outside the ring, but her voice was drowned in the sea of cheer.
Veins popped out from all over the boy's body, making Mikey's stomach churned. This was definitely above anything a normal human can do. But before he could figure out a plan, Lee suddenly released him:
- Shoumon! KAI! – The boy shouted, and sent a shockwave to his surrounding, knocking the turtle flat on his shell.
Mikey gasped for air at the sight before him. A small whirlwind blew out from the boy in green, fluttering his hair upward. His whole body shone with a faint green light. Faster than an eye could blink, Mikey found himself flying parallel to the ground as Lee flanked him from the side. He couldn't even know what just happened, let alone react to it. Somehow his human opponent just had his strength, speed and pretty much everything else multiplied at least ten times. All the beaten turtle could do was curled up, coiling his limbs around him to provide as much protection as possible from the onslaught. His shell just received a bone cracking kick, sending him flying toward the sky. He heard Lee's voice screaming behind him:
- Prepare yourself, Michelangelo-kun! You gave me no choice but to do this!
Lee released the bandage around both his arms, letting them flying free. With a twist of his wrists, the bandage coiled itself like snake around the turtle, binding him in a dead grip. The crowd's shouted in terror as they saw Lee held his tied up opponent in a reversed bear hug, and they both pummeled to the ground below, spinning like a bullet shot out of a canon:
- OMOTE RENGE! – The shout of Lee's voice rose above the crowd as he drove them both to the finishing blow.
With the world spinning to a blur around him and the ground coming for his head, Mikey frantically reached for his depleting mystic power once more. He flexed all of his muscles, hearing them scream from the overexert use and also the ripping sound of fabric. They were so close to impact when Mikey could free his arms…
Looking up, he could see the spinning ground approaching…
Letting out a roar, he broke his legs free…
Leo and Don were screaming his name… He could see a piece of brick pointing at him…
He elbowed the figure behind him with all the strength he could muster… The grip had loosened…
KABOOM!
Debris clouded everyone from the result of the blow, but they could see a green figure jumped out from it. Lee landed and instantly fell to his knee, his hand gripping his side. The turtle must have broken a rib. But he couldn't rest yet. His technique had failed, that meant he's vulnerable now that he had used up all his chakra. Scanning around, he spotted a jet of orange light shooting at him and dodged by a hair's breath. Mikey panted, one hand extended as the source of the energy bullet:
- You won't touch ANY of my brothers. Not now… not… ever…
Drained from what's left of his strength, the turtle collapsed. Then and only then, Lee let himself relaxed. The Gyoji appeared from thin air, and with a wave of his fan, restored the ring to its original shape:
- Rock Lee had won the match. He will advance to the next round. That concludes the tournament for today. It will be resumed tomorrow at dawn.
Both were teleported back to their own team. Tenten slapped her green teammate senseless:
- You idiot! That technique could kill you both! How many times do we have to repeat it?
- No, Lee-kun's decision was correct – Neji came to his defense – that turtle was provoked by our intimidation over his 'brothers'. He fought with everything he's got, so it's just proper that Lee-kun respond in kind.
Lee said nothing, only raising his thumb as agreement. Looking up, he saw his sensei staring at him with watery eyes:
- Lee… my student… you have done so well… I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!
Tenten ran a hand over her face as she witnessed Gai hug his favorite student, not caring much that he was suffocating him…
- Now that we've finished for the day – Neji turned to the turtles' direction – Let's do some investigation while letting Lee-kun rest up…
From the other side of the ring, Don ran a hand over Mikey's head, resting his forehead on his brother's:
- Thank god you're just exhausted. You did good Mikey… You did good… Now rest…
- I'm sorry, Donnie – Mikey's voice was barely more than a whisper – If only I focused more…
- Stop talking now Mikey – Leo held his hand – You've done your part. Now it's our turn. We'll protect you and Raph, even if it's the last thing we do!
Deep in the shadow, a pair of dark figures was observing the two teams. They didn't look too pleased:
- It seems we have to take matter to our own hands…