The Days of Being the Richest Man in the Ninja World-Chapter 372 - 18. Youth!!!

[V2] - 18. Youth!!!

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"Konoha's shot failed!"

With the announcer's loud shout, the spectators supporting Sunagakure erupted in cheers.

They had failed!

Even after using two A-rank ninjutsus to blow a huge hole in the Absolute Defense, Konoha still failed to score!

"Failed! Still a failure!" Kankuro watched as Gaara finally sealed the hole just in time, and he placed his hands on his hips, looking down at the Konoha ninjas with a smug expression. "I told you! There's no way you guys could ever break Gaara's Absolute Defense! Hahaha!"

"Damn it!" Sakura clenched her fists angrily in her heart. [Sasuke worked so hard!]

Even though she thought Kankuro was really hateful, at this moment, on Konoha's side... everyone looked a bit dejectedly at the deflated ball.

Even after all that—still not enough?

"Failed?" Shikamaru retracted his shadow and yawned. "As expected... breaking that Absolute Defense really is a bit difficult."

Can they get off the field now? It's almost noon—time for a nap!

Next to him, Choji, somewhat discouraged, took out snacks and started eating. If they couldn't break that Absolute Defense, there was no way to score.

Sunagakure even brought out a Jinchuriki... that's basically cheating!

Even Sasuke sighed helplessly and patted the ball stuck in the sand. "Forget it! We tried our best!"

If it weren't for Onii-chan coming to watch him play, he wouldn't even have participated.

Damn it!

He actually let Onii-chan see him fail!

"We were so close!" Naruto clenched his right fist and slammed it into the grass. "Just a little more!"

It really was just a little more!

In the stands... quite a few people felt regret watching this scene.

At that moment, after the cheers from Sunagakure's side, the entire arena fell into silence, and waves of disappointed sighs echoed.

"It looks like Konoha lost!"

"Damn it! I clearly bet on Konoha to win!"

"Me too! After all, Konoha is the greatest ninja village!"

"We were just about to win!" Boruto also clenched his fists angrily. "We were this close—just a little more and it would've gone in!"

"Failure is failure! As a ninja... if you don't complete the mission, then it's a failure—even if you're just a bit short, it's still a failure." As his teacher—Big Sasuke also glanced at Boruto at that moment. "That's why, no matter what... as a ninja, you can only relax after truly completing the mission and defeating the enemy!"

This game wasn't entirely fruitless.

At least it helped Boruto understand some truths.

Not far away, Minato and Kushina also sighed in regret. "They really tried their best!"

"Damn it! Sunagakure actually used a Jinchuriki—how shameless!" Kushina angrily raised her fist. "Nine-Tails is such a useless fox—he didn't help Naruto at all!"

Nine-Tails: ...

Let's not mention I'm inside your body and can't help Naruto right now. Even if I could help—external assistance is against the rules!

But thinking about it, it's better not to argue with an enraged mother... better go back to sleep.

[So boring! I might as well stay home and surf the internet!]

To think his little brother lost to that guy One-Tail!

What a disgrace!

But, whatever.

Anyway, Minato promised that if he behaved for now, he'd get to charge 188,888 at that time.

A whole 180,000!

He hadn't had such a big top-up in years—so Nine-Tails was actually quite looking forward to it.

"Alright now, Naruto and the others really gave it their all." Minato smiled helplessly and shook his head. "This is a competition, and a lot of ninjutsu are restricted. Otherwise... I believe they would've found a way to defeat Sunagakure."

As the Fourth Hokage, he still had strong faith in Konoha's new generation!

"It's just frustrating~" Kushina pouted but soon beamed as she looked at Naruto below... and the Hyuga clan's princess.

She had heard from Minato about the other ninja world.

She hadn't expected that in another world, both she and Minato had died, and they even had a grandson and daughter-in-law.

Especially Naruto... who eventually became the Seventh Hokage.

She immediately chuckled to herself, "My Naruto has the talent to be Hokage!"

"..."

...

"You lose, Konoha!" Kankuro, seeing how deflated the Konoha team looked, crossed his arms and laughed arrogantly. "You could never break Gaara's Absolute Defense."

As soon as he said that—

Naruto, fired up again, shouted, "You guys didn't score either! At most it's a tie!"

"Oh right~ We've been playing so long, and Sunagakure hasn't scored either!"

"They're acting all smug like they won!"

"What's this idiot so full of himself about?"

The Konoha players around also fired back.

They didn't score—but neither did you!

That immediately froze Kankuro's triumphant laughter.

But he quickly curled his lip in disdain and glanced at Konoha's Rock Lee. "Next, we'll score for sure! That guy carrying the goalpost has been at it for so long—he's probably exhausted!" He smiled confidently. "Scoring is going to be easy!" He arrogantly stared at the Konoha ninjas. "You've already lost!"

As the words fell—

"..."

The Konoha ninjas fell silent too.

At this rate... they really would lose.

Because after being toyed with by Sunagakure like this... most of them were already exhausted.

Thinking back now, Sunagakure had deliberately let them go on the offensive from the start.

Because they knew Konoha couldn't break that Absolute Defense.

A One-Tail Jinchuriki...

That was way too unfair!

"Forget it, forget it!" Shikamaru yawned. "We couldn't break that Absolute Defense from the beginning anyway."

"You're totally killing your own reputation, Shikamaru!" Ino pouted beside him. "Can't you pull yourself together? It's your fault for not coming up with a good plan!"

"..."

If only you had followed the original plan!

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we already gave it our all. How about we just surrender? I heard the salamander hot pot in the Land of Rain is on discount these days. Let's ask Asuma-sensei to treat us later!"

"Salamander hot pot?" Choji's eyes lit up at the mention of food. "Then let's go now!"

"Damn it! We can't just end it like this! We haven't lost yet!"

"Naruto, just let it go! If you're that angry, you and Sasuke can bring a sack later and beat them up or something!"

"..."

Is that something a person should say?

At this moment, everyone could see—

Konoha's side... had lost its spirit.

They had lost!

In the first match, the so-called strongest ninja village in the ninja world—Konoha—had already lost!

Everyone sighed with regret again but said nothing. After all, Sunagakure's trump card really was terrifying. Even a Jonin would probably struggle to break that Absolute Defense under restricted conditions!

However—

At that moment—

"Naruto is right!" Rock Lee suddenly put down the goalpost he was carrying, stepped on a new ball just handed over by the referee, raised his fist, and shouted with burning passion, "We haven't lost yet! The match isn't over yet!"

"Rock Lee..." His teammate, Hyuga Neji, gave him a helpless glance. "We really don't have a way to break that defense. Just let it go!"

"No! We do have a way!"

"???"

Everyone froze.

Just then... Neji and Tenten seemed to realize something. Their expressions changed.

"You're not thinking of using that, are you?! You know Guy-sensei wouldn't allow it!"

"Eh? Eh? What is it? Did Rock Lee learn some kind of ultimate move too?"

Everyone was puzzled.

But—

Neji and Tenten said nothing. They just stared seriously at Rock Lee!

"Youth doesn't admit defeat so easily!" Rock Lee gave a thumbs up, and his smile seemed to sparkle. "This is what Guy-sensei taught me!"

"It's just..."

"My youth will not fail here!" Rock Lee cut her off directly, then seemed to notice something, turned to look at the stands, took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Sensei! I'm sorry! Please allow me to do this!"

As his voice fell—

Everyone was startled.

"Guy-sensei came to watch the match?!"

Curious, they looked up.

Sure enough—

On the railing stood a man also wearing a green bodysuit, giving them a thumbs up!

Guy-sensei!

"Show your youth, my beloved disciple!"

"Yes, Sensei!"

Rock Lee answered loudly. Then, under everyone's confused gaze, he crouched down and took off the weights he had been wearing on his ankles.

At first, people wondered what he was doing. The Suna ninjas, dumbfounded, suddenly burst out laughing.

"You think just dropping a few weights can break Gaara's Absolute Defense? That's just..."

Before he could finish—

Boom!

The entire arena trembled.

Everyone stared at the crater left by the dropped weights, and a thought flashed through their minds:

This guy... has been carrying this the entire match?!

And he could still move that fast with them on?!

As expected, the ninjas of the strongest village—Konoha—were not simple at all!

Before anyone could react—

"Fourth Gate! Open!"

Gasping for breath, Rock Lee activated the Fourth Gate. Blue light flared from his body as he rushed forward.

But that wasn't all.

"Fifth Gate! Open!"

With another roar, his aura surged again!

At this moment—

His momentum was even stronger than at the beginning!

"His speed! It's increasing!"

"Stop him!"

Everyone watched that green figure darting past one Suna ninja defender after another, dribbling the ball.

It was as if they were seeing once again that lone warrior who once charged forward carrying the goal—

The King of Football: Might Guy!

Could it succeed this time?

Even Big Sasuke was watching the Fifth Gate–opened Rock Lee below, his heart stirred, and he muttered, "I feel like I've seen this scene somewhere before."

Oh, right.

During the Chunin Exams, Rock Lee had also faced Gaara...

Thinking that, the corner of his mouth twitched. "So there are still some similarities?"

At times like this... it really does feel a bit weird.

Meanwhile—

Might Guy looked on proudly at Rock Lee, his eyes seeming to well up with tears. "I've already seen your youth, Lee!"

As he said this—

Shiranui Genma beside him frowned. "Opening the Fifth Gate is still dangerous for Lee, isn't it?"

After all, he knew just how dangerous the forbidden jutsu of the Eight Gates truly was.

However—

"No problem!" Might Guy gave a confident thumbs up, his smile seemingly sparkling. "I already called Tsunade-sama before coming. She's here right now—so I believe there won't be any danger!"

"..."

You really thought this through, huh?

At that moment—

As Shiranui Genma's mouth twitched—

Rock Lee had already passed every enemy and charged straight at Gaara.

The offense... had begun again!

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