Highlights
- The Chunin Exams Arc showcased Rock Lee's impressive taijutsu skills and cemented his reputation as a formidable shinobi.
- Lee's battle against Gaara was a highlight of the arc, displaying his true strength and breaking Gaara's aura of invincibility.
- Despite his initial growth, Lee's character development was neglected in later arcs, leaving his potential untapped and his contributions limited.
Even today, the Chunin Exams Arc from Part I of Naruto stands as a stellar example of a tournament arc with a twist. It succeeded in building up its cast, the larger shinobi world, and advancing the series' narrative progression while providing doses of electrifying action through its many fights. In fact, a large portion of the series' supporting characters were given their first real taste of the spotlight in this arc, with one of the most memorable examples of this being Konohagakure's Rock Lee.
Lee's first few battles against Sasuke and Gaara were landmark moments in the Chunin Exams and Konoha Crush Arcs of Naruto, and did well to enhance his reputation as a taijutsu specialist without equal among his peers. This was further confirmed by his exploits in the Sasuke Recovery Mission, where he unveiled a whole new dimension to his skills as a shinobi. However, subsequent arcs, particularly those after the time skip, did not allow his abilities to shine as much, which left his character arc sorely lacking in many respects.
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A Taijutsu Prodigy
At the start of the Chunin Exams, Sasuke was built up as a generational talent who was leagues ahead of others in his age group. In fact, only Neji was shown to be on a similar level as him at first, despite being a year older. That being said, this impression did not last long after Lee was introduced, as he issued a challenge to Sasuke and nearly defeated him without too much difficulty.
This was but a taste of things to come, as Lee's real strength was put on full display in the Chunin Exams preliminaries, where he went up against Sunagakaure's strongest genin, Gaara. While confronting the sand powers of the One-Tail's jinchuriki, Lee realized that his normal attacks were ineffective, which prompted him to release the ankle weights that had been restricting his mobility. Given full freedom to cut loose, Lee unleashed his true strength and subjected Gaara to the full brunt of a Strong Fist taijutsu assault.
For many viewers, this fight was a highlight of the Chunin Exams as a whole, both due to the emotional weight of Lee's character arc, and the awe-inducing display of strength that he put up against a truly formidable foe in Gaara. Although he was eventually worn out after opening the Fifth Gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation, Gaara's aura of invincibility was dealt a crushing blow, as his once impregnable sand barrier was rendered obsolete by Lee's speed.
This cemented Lee's talent, even if it jeopardized his future as a shinobi. Fortunately, Tsunade intervened and performed surgery to remove bone fragments from his spine, which had prevented him from recovering completely. With this, Lee was restored to full health, which allowed him to continue his journey as a shinobi.
The Chaotic Power Of Drunken Fist
With his body rejuvenated from the ordeal it went through while fighting Gaara, Lee was ripe for action, and it could not have come at a better time. On Naruto's return from his search for Tsunade alongside Jiraiya, his growing rivalry with Sasuke reached a point of no return, and the pair nearly fought on the rooftop of the Konoha Hospital. Subsequently, Sasuke chose to defect from the village to train under Orochimaru's tutelage, in a bid to grow stronger and finally take on his elder brother Itachi.
Sasuke's flight from the village alongside the Sound Four led to the formation of the Sasuke Recovery Mission Team, which included some of Konohagakure's most promising genin. Lee was able to recover from his surgery just in time to help Naruto in his battle against Kimimaro Kaguya, who possessed the coveted kekkei genkai known as Shikotsumyaku. Having mistaken some alcohol for his medicine, Lee drank it just before starting his fight against Kimimaro.
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While differences between the anime and manga may be subtle, these characters are the ones that shine brighter in the former.
Due to his low tolerance for alcohol, Lee was completely inebriated as soon as he finished the bottle. As a result, Lee fought Kimimaro in this state, and was able to channel his abilities in the Drunken Fist style, where his unpredictable attack patterns and unorthodox movements quickly overwhelmed his opponent. Lee was a natural prodigy of this fighting style, especially due to his already impressive taijutsu skills, which turned him into a chaotic force of nature that could wreak havoc upon everything around him.
Lee's otherwise soft-spoken nature gave way to a more forceful and belligerent persona, and his fighting style became more aggressive and unconventional. Combined with his mastery of at least three of the Eight Inner Gates, it might have been safe to say that Lee was one of Konohagakure's strongest genin when fighting with the Drunken Fist. The fact that he was able to gain the upper hand against Kimimaro is testament to this, and he may have been able to obtain more ground if he had not sobered up so soon.
Relegated To The Background
By the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Lee had mastered usage of the Sixth Gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation, although his abilities in this form were not really given a chance to shine. This was at the heart of the problem with Lee's development, as all the build up regarding his character in Part I of Naruto, completely went out the window. Although he did play some part in the Kazekage Rescue Mission, Lee's defining rivalry with Neji all but faded, and there was little to no contribution from him in the fights against the Akatsuki, Pain, or even in the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Lee's most prominent involvement in the war was the act of bisecting an Edo Tensei Madara Uchiha. Even if this was an admirable feat that did hold value in halting the enemy's advance — particularly in the wake of Neji's sacrifice — it was Lee's only real solo moment in the spotlight. From then on, he and the rest of the supporting cast were firmly pushed to the background to allow Naruto, Sasuke, and the revived Hokage to take center stage.
Of course, this was a natural direction for the story to veer towards, as the Ten-Tails was far too powerful for Lee or the rest of the Konoha 11 to take on. Moreover, by that point, his development had been neglected for so long, that series creator Masashi Kishimoto had little other choice. In this vein, the true tragedy of Rock Lee's wasted potential was the fact that his growth in Part II was consistently sacrificed in favor of narrative progression, and even the series' fairly large volume of content did not have room for more moments dedicated to his character, amid all the battles, exposition, and world building.
Naruto is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
