Naruto Uchiha

Chapter 45

Dear God it's been a while since I've touched this fic, but I think I've finally regained my muse for this…I know I've said that many times before about other stories, but I really have no other excuse. Anyways, here's the beginning of my take on the battles of the Sasuke Retrieval arc. Updates will be slow, as I need to watch the episodes of the Sasuke Retrieval arc and re-watch a lot of Shippuden for research, but I'll try and not let this fic die.

Also, I have several other projects I'm working on on other sites that take up my time and attention, but I haven't given up here.

Also, some people complained about how the Sound 4 beat the elite ANBU in the previous chapter, so here is my rebuttal. The ANBU were not defeated. Jirōbō's attack was a distraction, catching them off guard by the gigantic boulder he lobbed at them, which looked to be the size of one of the Kage Faces on the Hokage Rock, allowing the group to flee before they could regroup.

I understand that the Sound 4 lost to a team of Genin (excluding Shikamaru and the Suna trio) but 1, they were arrogant and underestimated the Genin, 2, we never got a real scale on how Oto-nin compare to the Shinobi of official villages, due to the lack of a formal academy in Oto, and 3, for Tayuya, Sakon and Ukon, it took Kankuro and Temari intervening to turn the tide, and they're powerful shinobi in their own right who had the exact skills needed to counter their opponents. The Sound 4 were judged to be the best because they defeated their fellow prisoners in battle royales, being the last ones standing, not because of their ranking in a bingo book. Also, for Jirōbō and Kidomaru, they lost, but they nearly killed their opponent in the process. Honestly, if they had faced any number of other Shinobi, the match would have ended differently.

Anyways…

Disclaimer: You know how it goes. Kishimoto owns Naruto, not me.

After splitting up in pursuit of the members of the Sound Four, Lee found himself leaping through the trees chasing after the largest member of the group, the one the ANBU had identified as Jirōbō. Despite his bulk though, the Oto-nin moved through the trees with considerable speed, but for someone like Lee, it wasn't a problem. Putting on a burst of speed, Lee shot forward closing the distance between them.

"Dynamic Entry!" yelled Lee as he delivered a flying side-kick to the enemy Shinobi, sending the Oto-nin tumbling to the ground as the coffin he was carrying landed a good distance away.

Lee landed on the forest floor and quickly made to retrieve the coffin that Jirōbō had dropped, but the muscular member of Orochimaru's guard recovered quickly and slammed his hands into the ground, "Doton Kekkai: Dorō Dōmu!"

Lee skidded to a stop as the earth surged under the Oto-nin's palms that began to grow into a large stone dome that quickly began to encase the Konoha Genin and block out the sky. Acting quickly, Lee pushed Charka to his legs and leapt up out of the dome, just in time to escape being trapped within. Flipping around, Lee pushed off an overhead branch with his feet as he twisted to deliver an axe kick down on Jirōbō.

"Konoha Otoshi!" yelled Lee as his leg slammed down on the Oto-nin as he brought up his arm to block the powerful blow, the force behind it cratering the ground under his feet.

Flipping backwards, Lee landed in a crouch before attacking again, this time launching himself into a series of spinning kicks aimed towards his opponent, "Konoha Senpū!"

"Not so fast!" growled Jirōbō as he slammed his hands onto the ground, causing a section of the earth to break off and rise up to form a wall to block the attack, "Doton: Doroku Gaeshi!"

Lee winced as he slammed into the stone wall, cracks forming across the surface from the impact, and was caught off guard as Jirōbō smashed through the wall with a powerful punch, before slamming his shoulder into Lee's chest.

"Tokken!" yelled Jirōbō as Lee was sent flying into a nearby tree, splintering the trunk upon impact.

Lee winced as he tried to recover, feeling that some of his ribs were bruised from the impact.

"No," grit out Lee as he crossed his arms in front of himself, "I will not lose here! Kaimon: KAI!"

With a burst of Chakra, Lee opened the first of the Eight Gates before shooting at Jirōbō with impressive speed and slamming a kick to the underside of his chin that sent the heavyset Shinobi flying into the air. Leaping up after him, Lee used the bandages from his arms to bind the Oto-nin as he grabbed him in a bearhug, before spinning them around as they streaked towards the ground.

"Omote Renge!" yelled Lee as he leapt clear as Jirōbō slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust as the forest floor cratered slightly from the impact.

Breathing hard, Lee tried to catch his breath from the kickback of the technique before beginning to make his way to the Coffin that Jirōbō had been carrying, when suddenly his instincts screamed at him to dodge, prompting him to dive to the side just in time to avoid being crushed by a rather large piece of earth that had been torn from the ground.

"That was a nice try," growled Jirōbō as the dust cleared to reveal his new form, "but you'll have to do better than that, trash!"

The Oto-nin's skin had turned reddish orange with warts growing in random places and his hair had grown out into a wild mane. Finally, his eyes had turned yellow with the whites becoming jet black. Like Sasuke had done in the Chunin Exams, Jirōbō had fully activated his Cursed Seal, and the transformation it granted him had allowed him to brush off the impact of the Omote Renge.

"You didn't think that Orochimaru-sama's personal guard would be just run of the mill Shinobi?" laughed the transformed Jirōbō, "We were each granted a Cursed Seal and a portion of our master's power. Now that I've released mine, your puny attacks won't do a thing."

Charging forward, Jirōbō launched several powerful blows at Lee, moving with surprising speed for one his size. The pain from his earlier injuries hindered him, allowing a couple of hits to glance off his body, rattling his bones severely before he could put some distance between them.

'I need more speed,' thought Lee before remembering his fight with Sasuke in the Chunin Exams and the advice the Uchiha had given him then.

Quickly reaching down, Lee removed his leg warmers and unlatched the weights he wore on his legs before kicking twice at Jirōbō just as the Oto-nin charged at him again, temporarily stunning the larger Shinobi as the weights hit him in the face and body, knocking him out of his charge and across the ground.

With his weights removed, Lee blurred into motion, stopping inside Jirōbō's guard with his body tensed like a spring before kicking upwards into the underside of Jirōbō's chin. However, unlike before, Jirōbō only staggered back slightly before smirking and smacking Lee aside with a backhand.

"That's not gonna work!" growled Jirōbō, "With my current form, I'm ten times stronger than before! Your weak attacks won't break through my defense."

Lee winced as he pulled himself to his feet. Kicking him that time was like kicking an iron wall, and if what he said was to be believed, then his conventional attacks won't be enough.

'I can't give up!' thought Lee, 'My friends are counting on me! I cannot let them down! I need to find a way to break past his defenses.'

Suddenly, he thought back to his spars with Neji and his Clan's use of the Juuken technique, and an idea came to him. Crossing his arms again, Lee focused his power before opening the Second of the Eight Gates, "Kyūmon: KAI!"

Upon opening the Second Gate, Lee felt his exhaustion wash away and new vigor fill him, allowing the Taijutsu specialist to shoot at Jirōbō in a blur of speed. Dodging as the Oto-nin aimed a powerful palm thrust at him, Lee quickly lashed out with several precise strikes to nerve clusters in Jirōbō's arm that caused him to recoil as pain shot through the limb, followed by a mild numbness.

"What did you just do?" growled Jirōbō as he tried to restore feeling to his arm.

"I may not have the same eyes as my teammate Neji," said Lee, "but I do know the weak points on the human body. Your body may have transformed, but the points are still there, and your strength will not be enough to guard them."

"We'll see about that," growled Jirōbō as he reached down and gripped the earth, "Doton: Doryō Dango!"

Lee's eyes widened as the transformed Oto-nin ripped a massive chunk out of the ground and held it over his head.

"I'll crush you worm!" roared Jirōbō before hurling the massive boulder at Lee.

Thinking quickly, Lee threw himself out of the way, and as the boulder crashed down, kicking up a dust cloud, he quickly removed his weights from his legs and heaved them at Jirōbō with all his might. Unfortunately, the Oto-nin merely swatted the weights out of the air with a swing of his arm, but it gave Lee the opening he needed to dash in close, utilizing his unhindered speed to get inside his guard and deal a barrage of attacks to various pressure points and nerve clusters across his opponent's body.

"You trash!" growled Jirōbō as he reeled in pain, "Asshō!"

Slamming his palm into the ground, Jirōbō created a shockwave that knocked Lee back, sending the Konoha-nin tumbling across the ground. Recovering quickly, Lee rolled out of the way as Jirōbō tried to stomp on his prone form, and quicky got to his feet, jumping back to put some distance between them and think up a plan.

'He's strong, and can take a beating,' thought Lee, 'if he lands a single blow, then I am done for. However,' he realized as he thought back to Jirōbō's movements and attacks, 'he isn't fast or agile, and he cannot hit me if he cannot touch me.'

Tensing his muscled, Lee blurred into motion, launching himself at Jirōbō, dodging around his punches as he delivered blows of his own to soft points on Jirōbō's body, forcing the Oto-nin to his knees. Quickly crouching down, Lee delivered a powerful upwards kick to the transformed Shinobi's chest, sending him flying upwards into the air. Leaping after him, Lee unwound some of the wraps on his arms and quickly bound his opponent with them before launching them both spinning downwards towards the ground.

Unfortunately though, this wasn't going to be enough, as Jirōbō, seeing the threat quickly approaching, let out a roar and used his enhanced muscles to tear free of the bandages and knock Lee aside, causing them both to land roughly, but not as hard as it would have been if the attack was successful. Lee winced as he pulled himself to his feet, feeling the aches throughout his body from the hard landing. Not only that, but the strain on his body from attempting the Front Lotus could be felt spreading through his muscles.

"Ha ha ha!" laughed Jirōbō as he climbed out of the crater his body had left and cracked his joints, "Did you really think that puny attack would work, trash? I'm an elite, and you're just an ant."

However, Lee could see the signs that his bravado was just an act, Jirōbō hadn't come out of their scuffle unharmed. He had scuffs across his form and he was subtly favoring one leg, not to mention the internal damage Lee had dealt earlier. Based on their condition, Lee didn't think he could afford to let this battle draw on any longer. It was time to end things with a powerful decisive push.

"I will show you the strength of Konoha!" grit out Lee as he crossed his arms in front of him and focused his Chakra flow, "Seimon KAI!"

Lee felt power flow through him as the increased Chakra flow forced open the third gate, his skin turning red and hair standing on end…but this wouldn't be enough.

He needed to push beyond.

"HAAAAA!" yelled Lee as he focused inwards, pushing against his physical limits, "Shōmon, KAI!"

Lee then shot forward in a blur of motion, closing the distance between him and Jirōbō in an instant and began barraging the Oto-nin with powerful, bone rattling punches, ignoring the aches from pushing his body so hard and the blood that began to drip from his nose. While Jirōbō's enhanced strength and durability protected him against the worst of the damage, he was still driven back by the force behind each blow before a final one sent him off his feet, flying backwards into a tree.

"Damnit!" growled Jirōbō before quickly righting himself and slamming his hands onto the ground, "Doton: Doryūheki!"

Four earthen walls rose up around the Oto-nin, shielding him from all sides, but Lee wasn't going to let that stop him. Remembering the Sandaime's words after the Chunin Exam, Lee abandoned his initial plan of attempting to smash through the stone walls and instead leapt upward, positioning himself above them, facing the opening Jirōbō had left above him.

"What the…?!" exclaimed the Oto-nin, but Lee wasn't done yet.

Snapping out with his leg fast enough to kick off the air, landing inside the walled off area with enough force to form a crater around him. Channeling all his resolve to help his friends into strength, Lee let out a roar of defiance, powering through the pain coursing through his body from the use of the Fourth Gate and deliver a powerful punch straight to Jirōbō's solar plexus, stunning the larger Shinobi and knocking the wind out of his lungs. Not letting up the assault, Lee struck at him again, delivering punches as fast as lightning with the force of a mighty tempest, each aimed at one of the weak points.

A punch shattering his floating rib, a fist to the face that demolished his nose, blows to the nerve clusters in his arms that put the limbs out of commission, the strikes kept coming, an unrelenting storm of attacks that drove him back into one of the stone walls he had erected as cracks formed across the earthen surface from the force of the impacts. Only his Curse Mark fueled boost to his endurance kept him from blacking out due to the onslaught.

…however, that was until Lee delivered his final blow.

"HAAAA!" yelled Lee as he punched forward one final time, "Konoha Hageshī Arashi!" he yelled as he slammed his fist into Jirōbō's neck, crushing and collapsing his windpipe with enough force to snap his neck and drive him straight through the stone wall and send his corpse tumbling across the dirt before coming to a stop.

Breathing hard as the drawback of opening the Gates began to catch up with him, Lee managed to limp over to the coffin that Jirōbō had been carrying with him and smash it open with a final kick…revealing it to be containing nothing but air and dust.

Slumping to the ground as the technique overtook him, Lee's last thought before losing consciousness was a prayer that his friends would succeed where he failed and rescue Sasuke.

To be continued…