Chapter 47

Most of the crowd were unable to see him, but Lee was showing amazing prowess while moving at blinding speed around Kuzo, who dodged each attack perfectly.

Lee got frustrated with that. He had worked so hard to achieve this stage, but he was unable to land a hit on Kuzo despite all of his hard training. Moreover, Kuzo had yet to use Ninjutsu or Fuinjutsu that he used to defeat Gaara.

'As expected. His taijutsu is top-notch. Do I need to open the gates? But if I did… Still. No choice. Forgive me, Guy Sensei.'

Lee opened the first gate.

He vanished and appeared in front of Kuzo, rolling around himself and kicking, creating a whirlwind.

But at the moment Lee's leg was about to hit, Kuzo vanished from sight and appeared behind Lee.

'I didn't see him at all.' Lee opened his eyes widely. Uncertain of what to do, he didn't stay idle and ran. He looked at Kuzo's original spot, not finding him standing there. Lee moved his head, trying to spot Kuzo. When Lee looked at his own shadow, he noticed an extra shadow. It was needless to say to whom the second shadow belonged.

'No choice but to use the Front Lotus. I'm sorry Kuzo-san, but I have no choice against someone like you.'

Lee opened the second gate, stopped, and turned. He then squatted and kicked toward Kuzo's chest, the latter not budging from his spot.

"The Front Lotus; I see." Kuzo said. "It's decent."

Lee could tell that Kuzo used his chakra to stick to the ground. But that would amplify the damage from the kick. However, that didn't seem to be the case here, as Kuzo appeared unharmed.

Kuzo's finger started writing a kanji in the air.

'Fuinjutsu!'

Seeing Kuzo using his specialty, Lee knew he should move away. He didn't want to find out what that seal could do, not when the character meant 'Bind.'

But before he could dodge, Kuzo held his leg and smirked. The kanji flew and landed on Lee's chest, causing his body to freeze. Lee tried to move, but his body felt numb.

Kuzo let off his grip, squatted in front of Lee, and he said, "You give up, or I'll hurt you."

Give up? Never. After all the effort he had made, he won't give up. He struggled to move against the seal.

"Very well." Kuzo smiled, clenching his fist and punching toward Lee's guts, sending him to sleep without dreams.

-x-X-x-

Kuzo swept his forehead as he looked at the medical kits coming and picking up Lee away. 'Lee was going to use the remaining gates if I didn't stop him. Even I would have a bit of trouble against.'

'But the good thing is that my money tripled.' Kuzo jumped back to the watching seats amidst the admiring eyes of the watchers who didn't know his true power. 'Now, I think about it, I bet on the results of me going to the finals and winning, meaning the odds won't change if I win or show my power. My wealth won't decrease by a penny.'

With a big smile on his face, Kuzo took his seat and put a leg above another. He turned his head and looked in Danzo's direction, remembering the plan. Once the test was over, the "taking down Danzo" operation would take place.

The next match occurred: Sasuke against Neji. It was a breathtaking match as it was between the genius of the Hyuga and the last survivor of the Uchiha. Sasuke didn't have the curse mark power, yet he had the Sharingan, which enabled him to see every movement of Neji, who still had an absolute defense, making it interesting.

Sasuke moved at a speed that was equal to Lee without his weights. Neji didn't struggle with that as he activated his Kekkei Genkai and dodged Sasuke's kick. Neji then launched a series of poking attacks, which Sasuke parried while reading every movement with the Sharingan.

Backflipping high in the air, Sasuke weaved a series of hand signs. He then breathed out a huge fireball, which was reflected by Neji rotating around himself, creating a spinning sphere of chakra. The fireball then hit the wall, creating an explosion that almost harmed the crowd, who were then protected by a mud wall.

The match was long, and Neji seemed to have the advantage here. In the end, Sasuke chose to use Chidori and charged at Neji. But the latter reflected that successfully by rotating his chakra around him, pushing Sasuke flying away. Neji didn't forget to follow up and strike all of Sasuke's chakra points, rendering him unable to fight.

The victory was for Neji.

'Wish I had gambled on this.'

Hinata won as well against Kankuro, who couldn't hide his tricks from the Byakugan.

There was a match between Ino and a shinobi he didn't know who, but Ino won easily.

The next match, nobody called it, was for Kuzo against Hinata.

When he jumped down, he saw her hugging her hands to her chest while looking at him with wary eyes.

He asked her, "Are you afraid of me?"

She shook her head.

"Then what is it?"

"I want to thank you for cheering up for me," Hinata said shyly, cheeks turning red.

Kuzo remembered something. When Hinata had beaten Sakura's ass, Kuzo had been cheering up loudly for Hinata, telling her that she can do it. When she had finished destroying Sakura, he exhaled a loud cheering scream.

When Kuzo turned his head to the audience, in Sakura's direction, he could see her veins almost popping out of her head.

He smiled as he looked at Hinata. "Please, be easy on me."

"I don't think I can beat Kuzo-san," she replied.

"Don't worry, try your best." Kuzo cheered her up again.

The next match was hard on Kuzo.

Not physically, but emotionally. Hinata was a shy girl with low self-esteem and cute features.

Hitting her felt wrong, like you would feel wrong when ripping off the wings of a butterfly. Of course, you wouldn't feel that way against a fly.

When Kuzo punched Hinata in the stomach and she fell on her knees, he saw her struggling to stand up while muttering that she won't give up.

Seeing her in pain, Kuzo stood behind her and lifted her in a headlock, choking her neck.

"Good game, Hinata. Now sleep." He then choked her until she passed out. That was the most gentle action he could do.

'That's nine times my money.' He thought as he dropped her gently on the ground. He then jumped back to the audience after he was announced the winner.

"You're still as soft as usual," said a familiar sound. When he turned, he saw Gaara, whose eyes didn't look as bloody as they were. Moreover, the dark circles that had been around his eyes vanished.

"Ah, the raccoon," Kuzo said.

"So, you always knew what I was," Gaara said, not denying he was a raccoon.

Kuzo didn't deny that.

"Why did you help me?" asked Gaara.

"Help you how?" Kuzo asked another question, dodging answering the first one.

"You sealed the raccoon's chakra from taking control over me whenever I sleep," replied Gaara.

"You looked like you could use some rest. I too get in a bad mood when I'm sleep-deprived." Kuzo turned to him, "You feel like killing someone today?"

"I feel like I don't want to bother myself. I remember deciding to live for myself. But now I think of it, bothering with the others' lives isn't exactly living for myself," Gaara said. Not sounding angry anymore, but more sad. "But that doesn't answer my question. Why?"

"Cause I pity you," replied Kuzo.

"Is there a reason for that?" asked Gaara.

"Do you need a reason?"

"Don't you?"

"You have a reason to want to kill someone, I get that. But why does no one ask the reason behind their desire to be loved."

"I see. I just looked pitiful."

Kuzo nodded.

"You're strange," Gaara said, crossing his arms and walking away.

After some time, Kuzo was called for his match against Neji, the Hyuga genius.

'9 times 3 would be 27. That's how much my wealth should increase.'

Kuzo jumped off the stage again, all of the eyes were on him.

"Congratulations on your wins until now," Neji said, taking his stance. "Albeit, you only fought trashes, like Hinata."

Kuzo turned his head to the leader of the Hyuga clan, who happened to be Hinata's father. The Hyuga clan's leader had a more sad expression than a triggered one.

Kuzo turned and looked at Neji. "You're no different."

"That was supposed to be my line." Neji chuckled, activating his Byakugan.

Kuzo, on the other hand, lifted his hand. A Rasengan appeared in his hand. Some of the crowd exclaimed in shock.

"Isn't that the Fourth Hokage's jutsu."

"Someone from Konoha mastered it!"

Kuzo chuckled when the referee raised his hand, announcing the match to start.

His other hand formed a hand seal.

Shadow clone was a complicated technique that could copy the weapons and the clothes. As for the Rasengan, it could be copied as well. Around 5 shadow clones appeared holding it and surrounding Neji.

"If you don't want to die, give up." He said, simply.

"Bring it on. Loser." Neji said.

When the first shadow clone approached Neji, the latter rotated, creating a defensive sphere.

The Rasengan hit the chakra sphere, growing up and creating a large chakra explosion. Neji's defense was pierced, and he flew a few meters back, breathing heavily all of a sudden.

"What's that technique?" Neji questioned, eyes wide open and legs shaking. Suddenly, two hands tapped his shoulder.

"It's called, your head on the line." Said the original Kuzo.

Neji didn't need to turn his head to see. There were two Rasengans at his head.

"Referee. It's obvious that he'll die and have lost."

The referee replied. "I guess there is no other choice. The winner in this match is Kuzo."

Neji almost fell on his knees as the clones popped away.

Kuzo ignored Neji and went back to his place.

More matches took place, and the finals happened to be between him and Naruto Uzumaki.

When Kuzo jumped back to the ring, he saw Naruto looking at him with a furious gaze.

'What did I do now?' Kuzo wondered as he looked at the Blondie.