Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

The flames touched the ground, enveloping Sasuke in a circular ring of fire.

The flames, which had transformed into rings of fire, only intensified instead of diminishing!

The intense burning transformed the ring of fire into a cylindrical wall of fire surrounding Sasuke.

After the first Chunin Exams, the tactical intelligence revealed in Lee's battle with Sasuke was used by Sasuke.

Sasuke knew that his eyes couldn't keep up with Lee's speed. Once Lee found an opportunity to get close, Sasuke would probably be kicked into the air again!

Then why not just keep Xiao Li away from me?

Sure enough, faced with the wall of fire created by Sasuke, Rock Lee, unable to continue his taijutsu attack, stopped his high-speed movement—he did a backflip and jumped onto the index finger of the ninja arm statue that was forming ninja hand seals.

The view from the top of the statue allowed Lee to see Sasuke through the wall of fire.

With just one Fireball Jutsu, Sasuke turned the tide of the battle, which had initially seemed to favor Rock Lee...

...a stalemate ensued.

Chapter 48 Don't look directly into the eyes of the Uchiha.

The protection provided by the fire wall gave Sasuke precious time to devise a strategy for fighting Rock Lee.

Sasuke also took this opportunity to recover as much of his stamina as possible from the high-speed taijutsu that Lee had used up.

He looked at Lee standing on the statue with his dark eyes, hesitating whether to use his Sharingan...

In the previous battle with Rock Lee, Sasuke's single-tomoe Sharingan couldn't see Rock Lee's movements clearly.

He has now awakened the double-tomoe Sharingan due to the cursed seal. With each additional tomoe in the Sharingan, his ocular power will increase.

Perhaps the Sharingan with two tomoe will allow him to see through Lee's movements.

But... after careful consideration, Sasuke gave up the idea of ​​using the Sharingan right now.

Sasuke could feel the burning pain from the cursed seal on his shoulder and neck; he had only just used the Great Fireball Technique.

Sasuke has already realized that he is starting to lose control of the cursed seal.

Using the Sharingan requires more chakra, and if the time spent with the Sharingan open is too long, his will will be taken over by the cursed seal.

and……

Sasuke's gaze fell upon Kakashi in the stands diagonally above and to his side.

Kakashi happened to meet Sasuke's gaze as he looked over.

Kakashi had clearly stated in his previous conversation with Sasuke that if Sasuke was unable to control the cursed seal, he would step in to stop the match.

At that point, Sasuke's match with Rock Lee would end in defeat.

Sasuke's gaze shifted from Kakashi to Naruto and Sakura standing beside him.

How could he easily fail here after working so hard and persevering until now?

Think, Sasuke Uchiha!

This is the second time I've faced off against Rock Lee—using intelligence from both battles, I've analyzed the weaknesses of this troublesome guy!

Then, Sasuke indeed noticed something amiss.

The wall of fire did indeed surround Sasuke, forming a defense that effectively restrained Rock Lee's taijutsu.

However, the wall of fire could not protect Sasuke's head.

Sasuke had to leave enough space to ensure that the flames burning oxygen wouldn't obstruct his breathing.

Now that Lee is standing on high ground, he can see Sasuke's every move clearly.

All Lee needs to do is change his attack method, replacing taijutsu with ninjutsu.

The wall of fire protecting Sasuke will instantly turn into a cage that imprisons him!

But Lee chose to continue observing instead of attacking with ninjutsu...

why?

Are you worried that I have a backup plan?

Sasuke squinted, watching Lee's every move, feeling that he was about to figure out why Lee insisted on using only taijutsu to attack...

……

From the stands, Naruto stared at Sasuke's expression and realized that Sasuke had become suspicious of Lee's behavior of only using taijutsu.

So what will Sasuke do next?

Even if Sasuke eventually discovers that Rock Lee doesn't use ninjutsu and genjutsu because he can't use them.

But how will he exploit Li's weakness of only being good at hand-to-hand combat?

Just like "a person dies when they are killed," this is a truth that even toddlers who are just learning to speak instinctively know.

Suffocation, poisoning, bloodletting... the weaknesses of death are countless.

But knowing the weaknesses of death and successfully killing someone are two completely different things.

Based on Sasuke's performance in the original work, he was so corrupted by the cursed seal that he struggled even to deal with the physical attacks of the copper armor.

The red copper armor successfully touched his body, causing it to absorb his chakra and reactivate the cursed seal.

However, Lee's current strength is enough to put him in a match for Gaara in his normal state, despite the disadvantages of having no information and only being able to use physical techniques.

Based on the original work, all of Sasuke's current actions are just futile struggles, a ridiculous persistence to delay his defeat.

But the world presents Naruto with far too many unpredictable details.

Naruto's defection plan also altered the course of the original story.

While the general course of events is similar, no one can guarantee that the outcome will be the same as in the original story.

Naruto is very interested in Sasuke's next choice...

Will Sasuke lose the match "without any suspense"?

Or should he, under the name of the Uchiha genius, "naturally" defeat Rock Lee?

Naruto temporarily shifted his gaze away from Sasuke and Lee, who were still locked in a stalemate.

He glanced casually at Might Guy standing not far away, next to Neji and Tenten from Class 3.

"Kakashi, your student is really amazing... In such a short time, he has already noticed that Rock Lee had many opportunities to use ninjutsu, but he has only been using taijutsu attacks."

The next instant, it was as if an adult version of Might Guy, Lee, suddenly appeared in front of Team 7 in the stands.

Kai praised the excellence of the students trained by Kakashi, his close friend and rival.

But more than anything, it was an eagerness to show off to Kakashi that his student was superior.

"Xiao Li! Take it off!"

Guy, who was talking to himself in front of Kakashi, suddenly gave Rock Lee a thumbs up during the match: "I give my permission!"

"Take off what?"

Sakura didn't understand Kai's riddle-like words.

Naruto shifted his gaze to Lee's feet.

Xiao Li removed the iron blocks and straps from his left and right feet.

He threw the iron block and strap onto the ground, creating a huge impact!

Then, Lee, who hadn't attacked since Sasuke used the Fire Wall defense, launched another attack!

Without the constraints of weight, Xiao Li became even faster!

This time, his figure completely disappeared, and even his afterimage could not be caught!

Lee disappeared from the hall, and in his place appeared a gust of wind that could extinguish the wall of fire protecting Sasuke!

That was the wind that Xiao Li whipped up at an astonishing speed to extinguish the fire!

The wind will fan the flames.

However, if the wind is stronger than the fire, it is not impossible to extinguish the fire.

Xiao Li used the high-speed, sweeping gale to distort the shape of the flames, turning the wall of fire into a semi-circular fire shield!

The flames around Sasuke then completely enveloped him.

Sasuke's figure was completely obscured by the flames!

In the blink of an eye, the flames disappeared completely, and Sasuke was once again exposed to everyone's sight.

"Shadow Dance Leaf!"

This is a technique that Rock Lee used when he first fought Sasuke!

Lee used his taijutsu to teleport behind Sasuke and kick him into the air!

As Sasuke flew into the air, Rock Lee also leaped into the air, positioning himself parallel to Sasuke beneath him.

"I won't let you use ninjutsu this time!"

The bandages on Lee's arm completely wrapped around Sasuke's body!

He grabbed Sasuke and spun him around in the air at high speed, then slammed him headfirst into the ground!

The martial art that Xiao Li is currently using is called—Lotus Flower!

The powerful impact altered the floor of the hall, sending up flying stones and dust, demonstrating the immense power of the Lotus Flower!

Sasuke, however, took the hit with his bare body!

"How could this be!"

Sakura never imagined that Sasuke would lose in this way.

"Kai, you actually taught your student this kind of reckless technique..."

Kakashi was surprised that Guy would teach Rock Lee a taijutsu that would inflict heavy damage on both the enemy and himself.

Only Naruto quietly stared at Sasuke, who was being held by Lee and had fallen unconscious with his neck and back on the ground.

"I won, Mr. Kai! You saw that, right!"