"Not only chakra, but also the energy and strength in a person's body will be absorbed by me from the point of contact with my palm."
His hands gradually lost strength and released Gai, whom he had just firmly held.
Careless! This guy is the most troublesome rival at this stage. He has the Cursed Seal. He can use it, but it'd be hard to explain if he did it in front of so many people. Also, if he uses ordinary chakra, his neck will hurt.
He wasn't sure if it was because of the relaxed life in the past few years, but he just felt that he couldn't stand the slightest bit of grievance now. He didn't want his neck to hurt just because of such a small thing!
Should he just admit defeat? He had fought this kind of match in his past life. To be honest, it didn't make much sense!
Naruto stood on the high - platform, watching Sasuke being pinned to the ground by this nobody Gai. He was so angry that he loudly cheered Sasuke on.
"What the hell are you doing, Sasuke? Why don't you take out this guy already! Are you only good at running your mouth at me? Are you the king of trash - talking? Or are you gonna be the Kage of Trash - Talking in the future?"
Hearing Naruto's almost mocking words of support, Sasuke, who had little strength, got veins popping out on his forehead!
What was that idiot shouting about? If it weren't for not wanting to expose himself and attract Orochimaru's attention, would he be acting here?
He mustn't lose face in front of this brat. He mustered up his last bit of strength, bent his knees and kicked, sending Gai, who was on top of him, flying far away. Then he staggered to his feet and distanced himself from the close - combatant Gai.
"Isn't it too late for you to try to keep your distance from me now?"
Gai patted the dust off his body and stood up as if nothing had happened. He twisted his neck and looked at Sasuke's embarrassed appearance with great disdain.
"The outside world's been hyping up the Uchiha clan like they're gods. But now, they're nothing special. Where's your most proud Sharingan? Aren't you going to use it? Or do you think it's a waste to use the Sharingan against a nobody like me?"
"You know it."
"Fine! I'll see how long you can keep your big - talking bravado going!"
Gai angrily gathered chakra in his hands again and rushed towards Sasuke. Just as his hands were about to touch Sasuke's body, there was a blur in front of his eyes, and Sasuke's figure disappeared from his sight.
Supporting himself with one hand, he aimed at Gai's chin and kicked upwards forcefully with his feet together. As Gai's body was parallel to the ground in the air, Sasuke supported himself with both hands and teleported to directly below Gai's body.
Speaking of which, he learned his Taijutsu from Rock Lee. Lee's solid Taijutsu skills had laid a good foundation for his future battles.
He slightly tilted his body and hooked Gai's body under him with a back kick. Then, Sasuke's swaying body spun several times in the air to build up momentum before delivering a powerful downward spinning kick that sent Gai crashing to the ground from the air!
"Lightning Flash Lion Combo"
As the floor cracked, Gai foamed at the mouth and lay on the ground twitching.
Itachi announced.
"The winner is Sasuke Uchiha of Konoha Village!"
Sasuke was so exhausted that he plopped down on the ground, gasping for air. Itachi, seeing this, was extremely distressed. He immediately rushed in front of Sasuke, ignoring the many pairs of eyes fixed on them, and squatted down.
"What are you doing, brother?"
"Come on, Sasuke. I'll carry you to the hospital right away!"
"..."
After a moment of silence.
"Brother, I don't think I'm hurt badly enough to go to the hospital. Besides, there are still my teammates' matches later. I want to keep watching."
Moreover, his brother's actions made him feel a bit embarrassed. He wasn't a kid anymore, and there were so many people around. How could he really lie on his back again?
As he said this, he propped himself up and staggered to his feet. However, he was still unsteady and stumbled forward. Itachi caught him firmly in his arms.
With a swift movement, he took the injured Sasuke to the stands.
"Okay, rest here. After this preliminary round is over, we'll go home together."
"Okay."
Itachi flashed back to the competition area again. Amid the surrounding whispers, as the big screen scrolled, the second match was between Shino Aburame and Zaku.
"Let the match begin!"
Seeing Zaku walk up with his hands wrapped in bandages like a mummy, Shino couldn't help but wonder if he could really fight like this.
During his fight with Sakura, Zaku was severely hit by Chakra Enhanced Strength. He still hadn't fully recovered. He cast a hateful look at the pink - haired girl on the platform. If it weren't for this woman, he wouldn't be in this situation now.
"Can you fight in this state?"
"If you have time to worry about others, you'd better think about yourself!"
Zaku gritted his teeth, enduring the pain in his body. He freed one of his arms and launched his signature Decapitating Airwaves at Shino before he could react.
The powerful sound wave blasted Shino several meters away. After rolling on the ground a few times, he quickly got up and rushed towards Zaku.
Since his rival was fighting while injured, he didn't need to hold back any longer. He directly engaged in Taijutsu with Zaku.
Zaku, who was in great pain and could only fight with one hand, clearly had a great disadvantage in the fight. Shino turned around and elbowed him, knocking him to the ground.
He desperately struggled to get up and wanted to use Decapitating Airwaves on Shino again, but countless bugs appeared in front of him, blocking his way.
"Do you think these bugs can stop me?"
He mobilized his Chakra and launched a fierce attack, knocking all the bugs in front of him aside.
"How about that!"
"Not so much. First of all, bugs have no hearing. Your so - called powerful sound wave attack has no effect on my bugs at all!"
"So what? It just needs to work on you!"
Zaku retorted indignantly.
"Unfortunately, your attack didn't work on me at all during our previous fight!"
"You sharp - tongued guy. Take another Decapitating Airwaves from me!"
As he aimed his hand [toward] Shino, who was standing there leisurely and calmly, and launched his attack, he never expected the Chakra in his hand to fizzle out. Without any reaction, a sharp pain shot through his arm.
[The Chakra Sound Wave] he was about to unleash exploded at his elbow. His arm was like a leaky pipe, and the Chakra scattered everywhere. He looked at the pipes in his palm in disbelief as they were crawling with bugs.
When did these things crawl up there? He was certain he'd always been very careful.
"Don't be so shocked. When I fought you just now, I released my bugs into your body. These bugs have blocked your Chakra channels. That's why your elbow got injured when you used your Chakra!"
...............
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