While Naruto was lost in his thoughts, the battle between Lee and Gaara was reaching its climax.
Lee was thrashing Gaara. With four of the Eight Inner Gates opened, he was running around the battlefield, punching and kicking Gaara.
His movements were so fast that even Gaara's sand couldn't keep up.
And his sand armor was collapsing rapidly.
At that moment, Lee, while in mid-air, realized he needed more power. Power enough to destroy Gaara's sand armor in a single strike.
[Fifth Inner Gates]
[Gate of Limit- Open]
He was literally breaking apart. The green Chakra flowed everywhere while his skin started steaming like a cooked lobster.
He dashed towards Gaara while in mid-air, striking him on the stomach with the fist before wrapping his bandages around him.
Then, he suddenly pulled Gaara towards him while launching a kick and a punch at the same time.
[Reverse Lotus]
As he punched with all of his strength, Gaara's gourd started breaking apart into sand as it went below him like a cushion.
Bang!
Before Gaara collided with the ground, Lee managed to get away in time, but Gaara also managed to safely land thanks to the sand gourd.
But he didn't relax. Instead, he raised his hand towards Lee.
Suddenly, a layer of sand covered Lee's left leg and hand before he could even run away.
Because of the Reverse Lotus, Lee could barely move.
[Desert Coffin]
As Gaara clenched his fist, the sand attached to his hand and leg crushed Lee's bones.
"Ahhhh!"
Lee screamed in agony.
But Gaara didn't stop. He released another layer of sand to kill Lee, but suddenly, his sand was dispersed easily.
At this moment, Might Guy stood in front of him.
Gaara couldn't help but raise his killing intent as he asked.
"Why did you save him?"
Guy took a deep breath and replied.
"Because he is my beloved student."
This only irritated Gaara further, but he didn't make a move. Instead, he turned around and said.
"That's enough!"
Hayate landed on the ground and swung his right hand.
"Winner is Gaara!"
But at this moment, Lee suddenly stood up, facing Guy with a fighting stance.
"Enough, Lee! The fight is over."
When Guy said those words, he found that Lee wasn't even looking properly. Then, his eyes widened.
He realized Lee was unconscious, but his Will to win this battle was so strong that he hadn't given up.
'Lee, you don't need to prove anything. You are a Great Ninja.'
Guy felt like crying, but he kept his heart strong, proud of his student's Willpower.
At this moment, medics came and delivered even more sad news.
With Lee's injuries, he would never be able to become a Ninja again.
At this moment, even though, even though Naruto knew the outcome, he couldn't help but feel frustrated.
Clutching his hand on the railing as he looked at Lee on the stretcher.
His only solace was Tsunade. He knew he had to bring her back. She was the only one who could heal Lee.
He didn't try this himself. Lee's injuries were quite serious, and he wasn't sure if Nine-Tails Chakra could heal him.
And, even if it could, he didn't know if Kurama would help him.
At this moment, the final round started and also ended quickly.
The battle between Choji and Dosu ended with Dosu using his vibrations on Choji through the water in his body.
As soon as he stopped Choji's spin, he managed to send his destructive sound waves through the water in his body and defeated him.
After Choji was sent away, Hayate announced.
"Well, with this, the Preliminary Trials for the Round 3 Test have been completed!"
After Hayate's announcement, Hiruzen started talking about the third round.
In simple terms, it would start in a month, and they would also get a month to prepare for this.
Because of this, they were asked to pull out a certain paper with a number written on it.
Surprisingly, Naruto did pull out number while Neji pulled out number two.
'It's as if nothing has changed.'
Naruto thought to himself as he checked others' numbers. He couldn't help but wonder what the point of those memories was if nothing had changed.
Was it a shortcut to strength?
Then, he noticed Sasuke's presence next to him. This made him realize that he had indeed changed something.
Sasuke was no longer lying in the hospital. He wasn't even seriously injured or Chakra depleted.
Soon, the announcement ended, and everyone went their own way. Naruto said goodbye to Sakura, Hinata, Sasuke, and Kakashi.
"Wait, Naruto!" But Kakashi stopped him and said.
"This time, I have to take care of Sasuke because of certain threats. So, someone else will be in charge of teaching you."
Hearing that, Naruto paused.
Indeed! He was given Ebisu. But now, he didn't need that man. And, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to meet Pervy Sage.
Sometimes, knowledge was a curse.
Knowing that his parents had made Jiraiya his godfather, and that the only reason the man returned was because of Akatsuki and Orochimaru's threat, made Naruto sad.
If he hadn't had the memories, he wouldn't felt anything. Instead, he would've been happier training with Pervy Sage.
But the memories only made him sad.
If he knew he didn't have any relatives, he wouldn't have cared much.
But knowing that he had one, but that same person chose to ignore him for twelve years, made him sad.
He took a deep breath and waved his hands.
"No need, Kakashi-sensei! I've already got a lot of things I need to digest first."
"Besides, whoever you choose will never be equal to him."
Saying so, he turned around and left.
Kakashi raised his hand but froze.
Yeah, who could be a better teacher than the Fourth Hokage himself?
At this moment, he didn't know how to face Naruto.
"Kakashi-sensei, will Naruto be alright?" Sakura worriedly asked.
Kakashi released a deep breath and said.
"Don't worry, he just learned a lot of things beyond his comprehension. He needs some time to digest it all."
"Sakura, I will be taking Sasuke with me for this month. I can ask Ebisu to train you if you want."