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Chapter 71 - Arc 4.5 - Brawling in the Streets: Lee Interlude
🕑 Added 2024-08-13 01:27:27 +0000 UTCThe first of probably three Interludes.
Instead of taking a week off to plot the next arc, I'm going to try and just do 3 smaller, less stressful interludes before starting off in Arc 5 next week. I think it'll work similarly, and Arc 5 is really short so the worst that happens is I end up deciding that didn't work and I take off a week after 5.
Lee kinda got the short stick on this arc, but Lee is very fun, so I hope you enjoy his and Gai's attitude. This is a little shorter than a normal chapter but like, that's the nature of an interlude.
Chapter 50 got some minor edits, nothing important. Maybe 100 more words of description and better worded sentence structure.
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“Smile my protegee, you were left behind because you were strong.” Gai’s voice in his ear has him beaming, but his heart is pouting. They left him. They found their first challenge and immediately dropped him and made him watch the town. It’s not an unimportant job, these people have already been attacked several times
It’s just, so much of his life has gone into being prepared for anything, to be the first and final line of defense for his allies. The very situation they walked into should have had him at the forefront, and yet he’s stuck here doing sit-ups and jumping around and working his muscles on the ground instead of in the field. He’s a whole damn machine, and they’re treating him like a cog.
Tenten would have been fine with this assignment, but then, she would feel bad too.
Maybe it’s for the best, he can brighten up this gloomy village!
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His stroll through the village is as it always is. Days have passed and nothing has changed, his team is still gone and no one has attacked or even committed a crime. The truth is that such a small disturbance in their problems was all the small village needed to kick off. Without issues to keep them from living their lives, the place is back to bustling and everyone is happy. It’s nice, and walking around with his headband on, he’s quickly becoming a fan favorite in this small area. “Free stew for you Lee, keep up the good work!” An older lady says as he passes.
“Thank you!” Free food is a regular, as is giving a thumbs up while he grips a bowl of stew in his free hand. His eyebrows are strong, and his enthusiasm is infectious. They’re feeding off him, and he’s feeding off them, a loop of greedy happiness making everyone around all the more joyful. Some misunderstand him, they think he’s stupid. Spreading acidic tastes in the back of one’s throat, and perpetuating bad moods by spreading yours to all around, that’s stupid in his opinion; he’d rather fill everyone around him with sugar and brightness. He’ll take a few dumb moments here or there to fill the world with sparkling glee, that’s how a real man goes about his day.
There’s no such thing as a bad mood when Lee’s around, he’ll fight it for you, he’ll punch your bad mood in the face and make it surrender, that’s the kinda boy he is. “This is very good,” he compliments, munching down on his gift as he walks through the street. He’ll return the bowl on his second patrol, “she’s such a nice lady.”
So lost in his enjoyment of the simple things and his fifth walk around the entirety of the village of the day - one must break between exercises when on mission, they need recovery time to be prepared for anything - that he doesn’t realize the world is glowing until he’s almost stepped onto the shining beacon beneath him. Jumping backwards, he takes it in, watching a shining beam appear in the dirt and spread into a giant circle that shimmers and spins. Lights glaring and jumping and drawing something eerie upon this world. The smell of scorched earth fills his nostril, and he prepares.
“I might need this.” He’s nothing if not ready to prepare in an instant. Unlike Neji, he must do his best to prepare himself for anything, because he’s gained everything through hard work and doesn’t just have an automatic option always available at a moment’s notice! He’s paying for the rope he needs before the creation is even finished scarring the land behind him.
For once, he knows exactly what this is, and what is going on. “Gai-Sensei, this is a summoning circle!” He shouts outside of the shop, holding his rope up high, and watching the circle before him spin and orchestrate itself to the rhythm of its own artificial heart, “what should I do?”
It’s unorthodox, and odd, and not at all what he’s seen before, but he recognizes his Sensei’s technique well. This circle will call something else from somewhere else, and when it does-
Well, he doesn’t have time to get Gai’s answer, for three figures spawn out of thin air. They hold weapons, and tattered garbs reminiscent of poor bandits, and Lee’s moving before the smoke clears. His feet cause him to blur, and a spinning kick slams into the chest of a girl, sending her up in the air, before his fist is implemented in another’s, sending her off-
The final, a sturdy looking guy, finds Lee’s foot in his face, slamming into him harder than the other two combined. He’d never hit a beautiful woman in the face like that, but this guy is fair game. He doesn’t have time to be too sparing though, pretty or not, for summons are strong! He’s never even heard of summoned people, what if they come with grim tidings and power outside of this world?
While they’re all three still in the air, only a fraction of a second having passed between each movement, the rope comes out. He darts around, tying their arms mid-motion, then their legs, and then he does a final lap around them like it’s an exercise, connecting them all by their stomachs.
He slaps his hands together to mark a job well done, as the three slam into the dirt below, tied together in a ball of rope and groans.
It’s only then, that his sensei appears in his own puff of smoke. Unlike with them, his sensei’s arrival isn’t a summoning, he just moved so fast the ground couldn’t accept his appearance and the dirt parted so fast it caused a chemical reaction. His sensei is so cool!
“Lee!” Gai shouts, posing in a dramatic way that makes the world brighter, as one should.
“Yes, Gai-Sensei!” Lee runs up with his arms outstretched, preparing himself for a hug of the century!
“You idiot!” Lee’s face takes a sudden downturn as the back of his head explodes in pain, before his nose impacts into the dirt hard enough to create a crater, “you can’t just attack people because they spawned out of thin air and look poor!”
“Gai-Sensei!” Lee whines from his place in the dirt.
“Untie these people and let them go until they do something wrong! Otherwise, it looks like you profiled them based on their poorly kept clothes and weapons!” Gai stomps the ground hard enough to bounce Lee back to his knees from the shockwave and risen dirt alone.
“Yes, Gai-Sensei!” Bowing down by shoving his face back into the dirt, then up, then down, then up, is the best Lee can do in a moment like this. Shining stars in his eyes, and tears of shame define his world. “I was wrong to attack them! I will atone for this sin by giving them some of our supplies so they can journey wherever they must go!”
“That is an excellent idea, my young protegee! I approve!” The shining thumbs up fills the disturbed area with a glimmer of golden justice.
The young captures would never quite know what just happened, but they would leave immediately, narrowly missing Sakura exiting the dungeon and being captured by the trio.
Comments
Dopplerdee
Man that is a perfect Lee
