Chapter 22: The Perfect Display of the Six Styles and the Way of the Muscle

Chapter 22: The Perfect Display of the Six Styles and the Way of the Muscle

"It's you who's been underestimating ninjutsu all along!"

Naruto refuted, a hint of anger flashing across his face.

"No! I've never underestimated ninjutsu! It's you who lack understanding of the martial way! Come at me with all you've got, Naruto-kun!"

Lee turned away suddenly as he spoke, leaving Naruto with only a strong silhouette.

Naruto was thoroughly enraged by Imperial Lee's actions. At this moment, he felt a level of contempt like never before!

This Lee was as annoying as that arrogant Sasuke!

"You jerk! I've had enough! Wind Style: Spiral Shuriken!"

Naruto roared, channeling his wind-style spiral shuriken towards Lee.

But the next moment, as the attack was about to land, Lee's body instinctively twitched, dodging the shuriken.

"Hmm?"

Naruto was puzzled, and with another shuriken in hand, he swung his arm again, aiming for Lee. However, his attacks were effortlessly evaded one after the other.

"Is this Shinhi?"

Naruto recalled the first time he encountered the Dragon Vein guards, their ability to continuously dodge among the shadow clones.

"Looks like Little Naruto has experienced it before, good! This is Qi Shinhi.

It's a technique that allows your body to become as light as paper, sensing the rhythm of the surrounding air, and thus, dodging attacks.

It's quite ineffective against those unversed in the martial way."

Imperial Guy laughed as he explained.

"Damn it! You still want to dodge my attacks with this move! I will never let you guys underestimate me again!"

Naruto roared in frustration.

He pressed the wind-style spiral shuriken towards the ground with one hand! The shuriken made contact with the ground, and in an instant, a terrifying boom and shockwave erupted!

The force was incredibly swift, causing Naruto's shadow clone to explode immediately!

Lee, who was very close by, couldn't dodge in time! He was swept away by the shockwave and flung far away!

"Lee!"

"Rock Lee!"

Seeing this, Yamato and Sakura were both shocked.

Although, for now, everyone from the Empire had been very friendly to them.

But they weren't naive enough to believe that this friendliness would remain if they hurt any of them.

No matter how similar the people from the two worlds were, they were still from two different worlds! This fact wouldn't change anytime soon.

"Lee!"

Even Naruto was filled with worry. He shouted and rushed towards Lee.

However, Lee, who was flung backwards, twisted his body and landed firmly on the ground. Smiling at the approaching Naruto, he gave him a thumbs-up and said:

"Wind Style: Spiral Shuriken is really powerful!"

"What... How is this possible? You're not hurt at all?"

Naruto was stunned, looking at Lee from head to toe, he couldn't believe his eyes as Lee remained completely unscathed.

Wind Style: Spiral Shuriken was an S-rank ninjutsu! Couldn't it even hurt this world's Lee?

How strong was this guy?!

Even Tsunade-obaachan couldn't do this, right?

Could it be that this world's Lee was stronger than Tsunade-obaachan?

No! Impossible! Tsunade-obaachan was the Hokage!

Naruto shook his head vigorously as these frightening thoughts crossed his mind.

"An S-rank ninjutsu couldn't hurt him? This is the power of the martial way? It's beyond imagination and utterly absurd!"

Yamato exclaimed in astonishment.

"Lee... He's so strong!" Sakura also marveled.

"Hahahaha... You're wrong about that.

I can't deflect an S-rank ninjutsu without getting hurt yet.

To achieve that, Master Kai could do it.

But I'm still a little short."

Lee smiled and held up a finger, swaying it gently.

"So... You're injured? But... You don't look like it."

Naruto was skeptical.

The other three shared the same sentiment.

In their hearts, they wondered if this world's Lee was trying to save face for them, to comfort Naruto?

Although this might be your good intention.

But the more they tried to comfort him, the more hurt Naruto seemed to feel.

"I'm not injured!" Little Lee shook his head.

"Then what are you trying to say?" Naruto's expression darkened, feeling a bit played with by this watermelon-headed guy.

"Little Lee used his clever strength this time. He employed Paper Shell to prevent your Wind Style: Spiral Shuriken from hitting directly. As for the subsequent explosion, it wasn't enough to break through Little Lee's Steel Block."

Empire Guy, standing beside them, burst into laughter once more as he explained.

Only then did the Team Kakashi members realize what had happened.

Even with this explanation, the power of the Martial Way's Steel Block was still unbelievably formidable, especially when used in conjunction with Paper Shell.

As the Team Kakashi quartet marveled at the might of the Six Styles of the Martial Way, they also eagerly anticipated the final technique that was yet to be revealed.

"Next up is the last of the Six Styles, the Shave. Everyone, watch closely." Little Lee said seriously, and in the next moment, his figure vanished without a trace.

The group was startled and about to search for him when they heard Little Lee's voice from behind.

"Over here."

"!"

Team Kakashi immediately spun around and saw Little Lee standing behind them with a smile.

"Is that the Body Flicker Technique?" Yamato asked.

"No! This is the Martial Way's Shave! It involves an explosive burst of speed from the feet to launch a swift assault on the enemy. And now, for the advanced version—the Martial Way's Hurricane Shave! Hyah!" Little Lee roared.

Boom!

The next moment, a thunderous rumble echoed like rolling thunder, and Little Lee's body split into two, then four, and finally eight!

The eight Little Lees spun around the group, a whirlwind of motion.

"What is this? Is it a Shadow Clone? But it doesn't seem like it!" Naruto exclaimed.

"No... It's not a Shadow Clone. It's more like an illusion..." Yamato frowned, correcting him.

"Hurricane Shave? Afterimage? Could it be that only one of these Little Lees is real, and the others are afterimages created by moving too fast?" Sakura, the academic scholar, speculated.

This answer caused the group to gasp once more.

If that were the case, just how fast was Little Lee moving right now?

"Sakura's guess is close but not entirely correct. Speed is part of it, but another factor is the intertwining of qi and air, which makes it harder for the retina to erase these afterimages. To truly achieve afterimages with pure speed, Little Lee still has a long way to go." Empire Guy explained.

"Teacher Guy! I'll work even harder!" Little Lee, upon hearing Guy's explanation, showed a hint of embarrassment before shouting enthusiastically.

"Yeah! I believe in you, Little Lee! Let's work hard together!"

"Let's do it!"

The two thick-browed, watermelon-headed guys raised their right arms and shouted in unison.

"Is this all of the Six Styles? It's so powerful! I really want to learn it!" Naruto exclaimed, his face filled with yearning.

"Hahaha! This is indeed all of the basic Six Styles. But beyond these, there are secret techniques of the Six Styles after Life Returning. However, due to the previous training, I'm a bit exhausted now. Can you give me a short break before I demonstrate it?" Little Lee asked with a toothy smile.

"Life Returning? Let's skip that kind of technique... It's too taxing on the body and would also trouble the healing class." Kakashi wiped the sweat off his forehead and quickly spoke up.

"Secret techniques? There are even secret techniques?! That's so cool! Uncle Kakashi, I want to learn this!" Naruto couldn't contain his excitement.

"Take it easy, Naruto. While it's a pity that we can't use Life Returning, the Muscle Martial Way is also very powerful! Watch closely! This is what true muscle strength and beauty look like! Hyah! Muscles—Liberation!"

Little Lee stretched out his body, arms outstretched.

His muscles rippled and, to the astonishment of Team Kakashi, his physique expanded further, his height increasing from 1.9 meters to nearly 1.95 meters.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end