Background
Height: 162.1 cm (Pre-Timeskip), 172 cm (Timeskip), 177 cm (New Era)
Age: 13 (Pre-Timeskip), 17 (Timeskip), 30s (New Era)
Weight: 46.6 kg (Pre-Timeskip), 54.7 kg (Timeskip)
Lee was born with the peculiar inability to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Living in a village of people who were all capable of using the pseudo-magic, he naturally developed a sense of inadequacy. As a result, he trained exclusively in Taijutsu, seeking to prove that he could be a ‘Splendid Ninja’ without Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, and one day defeat his rival and gifted genius, Neji Hyuga.
It didn’t go so well at first. But just as he was on the brink of giving up due to his repeated failures, his teacher, Might Guy intervened, and gave him the encouragement needed to persevere. Guy’s teachings also allowed him to master 5 of the 8 Gates by the age of 12, and take part in his village’s Chunin Exams. After protecting Sakura from a run-in with ninja from the Sound Village, Lee’s team made it to the preliminaries, where he faced off against Gaara.
Despite his best efforts, and using the 5th Gate, Lee was unable to overcome Gaara’s sand defense, and was critically injured. While he continued fighting for a time, even while unconscious, he ultimately succumbed to his injuries, which medics feared would be irreversible.
Even still, Lee didn’t give up, and continued to train with a permanently broken leg and arm. Once the famed medical ninja, Tsunade became Hokage, Lee was offered an operation to heal his arm and leg. The catch being that the operation was very risky, with only a 50% success rate. And should the operation fail, Lee would die. The risk was high, but Lee once again found guidance through Guy, and accepted the operation, concluding that he would be more miserable if he lived his life having given up on his dream.
To Lee’s fortune, the operation succeeded, and he was back in action just in time to head out and assist with the Sasuke Recovery Mission. After saving Naruto, Lee did battle with Kimimaro, only to be saved by the person who previously crippled him, Gaara.
Past that, Lee graduated to a Chunin and later a Jonin, assisted in rescuing the 5th Kazekage and numerous other missions, played a role in the 4th Shinobi War and taking down Madara Uchiha, and helped defend his village during Toneri’s attack. After the Fourth Shinobi War, Lee sought to carry on Guy’s legacy of hard work and perseverance, becoming a Jonin and instructor in his village, where he continues to teach Taijutsu to his son, Metal Lee, and other promising youth.
Important things about the Naruto universe…
Like most Shonen shows, Naruto has its own energy system: Chakra. There are several different caveats to how Chakra works, but it’s more or less ki, a life energy that’s dependent on a user’s physical, mental, and spiritual prowess. This energy is used for a variety of different mystical techniques, all of which fall into one of the following categories...
Genjutsu - Sensory techniques that are meant to create false images and illusions by messing with the target’s flow of chakra to their cerebral system. An example of this would be the Toad Confrontation Chant that Jiraiya can use.
Senjutsu - Techniques that revolve around drawing upon the chakra of the natural world around the user.
Taijutsu - Essentially any technique that is purely physical, or some variant of a martial arts move. Some moves technically don’t even require chakra, though they can definitely be enhanced with it. For the purposes of this fight, this is the most relevant category, since Guy specializes in it.
Ninjutsu - The catch-all category for pretty much everything else. Ninjutsu can range from anything from spitting fire, to creating clones of oneself, to large-scale energy attacks.
Experience
-Lee has been training from a young age, becoming a Genin at age 12.
-He’s noted for training considerably longer and harder than others around his age, and was specifically mentored by Might Guy, a master of Taijutsu and hand-to-hand combat.
-This training was extensive enough to let Lee unlock 5 of the 8 Inner Gates at the age of 12, a feat noted for being nigh-impossible, as even many adult ninja avoid using the Inner Gates due to the strain it puts on the body.
Kakashi mentioning that opening the 5th Gate at Lee’s age should be impossible (Naruto, Chapter 85, Page 7, Mangasee) https://mangaseeonline.us/read-online/Naruto-chapter-85-page-7.html
-Lee would go on to become a Chunin at age 15, and a Jonin after the 4th Shinobi War.
-In Naruto The Last, Lee lead a suicide corp, consisting of his village’s strongest Taijutsu users.
-Much like Guy, Lee became a taijutsu instructor in the New Era.
-According to the Naruto Databooks, Lee has completed: 25 D-rank, 21 C-rank, 4 B-rank, 10 A-rank, and 1 S-rank missions by the age of 17.
The full Databooks can be found here: https://narutoversity.wordpress.com/databooks-and-fanbooks/
Arsenal
Shurikens and Kunai: Despite primarily focusing on martial arts, Lee still carries around a standard set of kunai and shurikens for projectiles, and melee combat.
Lee using a kunai against Gaara (Naruto, Season 2, Episode 48, 10:08, Crunchroll)
Weights: To train, Lee uses weights. While seemingly ordinary, taking them off shows them to be considerably heavy, and lets Lee fight at his full speed and strength.
Lee taking off his weights (Naruto, Chapter 82, Page 19, 20, & 21 Mangasee) https://mangaseeonline.us/read-online/Naruto-chapter-82-page-19.html
Abilities
Beyond superhuman strength, speed, and durability, Lee has...
Martial Arts/Taijutsu Mastery: Lee is a master martial artist, specifically in a style called Strong Fist. The martial arts style focuses on powerful strikes and bone-crushing blows.
Guy describing his and Lee’s fighting style: Naruto, Chapter 79, Page 8:
https://mangaseeonline.us/read-online/Naruto-chapter-79-page-8.html
Drunken Fist: Lee is very susceptible to alcohol. Should he ingest even a small amount he will be able to use the Drunken Fist style. This makes his moves incredibly erratic and difficult to predict, even against combatants who Lee previously could not land a hit on.
-Lee gaining the Drunken Fist (or ‘Potion Punch’): Naruto, Chapter 210, Page 17, 18, & 19: https://mangaseeonline.us/read-online/Naruto-chapter-210-page-17.html
-Kimimaro struggling to predict Lee’s movements: Naruto, Chapter 11, Page 4, 5, 6, & 7
https://mangaseeonline.us/read-online/Naruto-chapter-211-page-4.html
-The fight in the anime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q5xR9mgkQQ
8 Inner Gates: Like Guy, Lee’s most powerful ability is the Inner Gates. It revolves around 8 points in his body (the ‘gates’). These gates normally restrict and manage the flow of chakra in order to prevent the body from being damaged. By ‘opening’ those gates, Lee is able to overcome those mental and physical limitations, increasing his power and speed substantially with each gate opened. This, of course, comes at the cost of making him physically exhausted and causing potentially permanent or even fatal damage to Lee’s body. The 8 gates are as follows…
Gate of Opening: The user removes the subconscious restraints the brain places on the body to access 100% of their strength. It also allows the user to use…
Front Lotus - The opponent gets kicked into the air, as the user leaps up, wraps them in bandages, then izuna drops them to the ground in a rapid spinning motion.
Gate of Healing: Re-energizes the lifeforce of the user.
Gate of Life: Increases the user’s power more, and causes their skin to become red. Also gives them access to…
Reverse Lotus - An onslaught of rapid-fire blows, that ends with the opponent being wrapped in the user’s bandages, and smashed to the ground.
Leaf Super Hurricane - A powerful roundhouse kick.
Gate of Pain: Increases the user’s speed and power, at the cost of potential muscle tearing.
Gate of Limit: Further increases user’s speed and power.
Gate of View: Unleashes enough of the user’s power that it begins to create a vortex around them, capable of bending water.
Gate of Wonder: A further increase in speed and power that and causes the user to sweat at an accelerated rage. It has the downside of slowly tearing the user’s muscles apart.
Important to note that, while Lee has never used all 8 Gates, it is stated in the new Boruto series that he has mastered all 8 (Boruto, Episode 70). Meaning he should reasonably be able to unlock all of them should the situation call for it.
Gate of Death/Eight Gates Released Formation: Once all 8 gates are opened, the user’s body begins emitting a red mist. This is their blood slowly evaporating due to the sheer increase in body temperature the final gate causes, essentially cooking their insides, and burning his body to ash. While assuring the user’s death, it also provides a substantial increase in power...
-A crude diagram of the Eight Gates for reference.
-A basic explanation of the gates: https://mangaseeonline.us/read-online/Naruto-chapter-52-page-12.html
Chakra Manipulation: Although Lee cannot use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, he can still manipulate his chakra to some extent in order to walk on water and up walls.
Genjutsu/Illusion Resistance: If we’re including filler, Lee has demonstrated the ability to dispel and resist Genjutsu. Given Guy is implied to have become resistant to Genjutsu as well, it’s fairly reasonable to believe. Though Lee was also caught in the Tsukiyomi, so the resistance should have some limit.
-Lee and his team having broken out of the ‘Cactus Genjutsu’: Naruto Shippuden, Episode 399, 11:48, Crunchyroll.
Superhuman Endurance/Perseverance: Lee has an abnormal persistence to the point that he will remain standing and attempt to fight, even while unconscious.
-Lee remaining standing and attempting to still fight even while unconscious and with a crushed leg and arm: Naruto, Chapter 86, Page 14, 15, & 16, Mangasee: https://mangaseeonline.us/read-online/Naruto-chapter-86-page-14.html
Misc
Techniques
Leaf Gale: A spinning low kick.
Leaf Drop: A powerful axe kick.
Leaf Whirlwind: A series of spinning kicks that progressively push the opponent higher and higher into the air.
Dynamic Entry: Guy’s signature move in which he leaps into the air performing a jumping side kick. Lee for some reason calls it the Konoha Hurricane instead.
Lee using the move against Kimimaru: Naruto, Chapter 209, Page 23, Mangasee: https://mangaseeonline.us/read-online/Naruto-chapter-209-page-23.html
Primary Lotus: Lee’s signature move. After kicking his opponent into the air, he wraps them in his bandages, and begins spinning them in an Izuna-drop-esque dive bomb towards the ground. It generally leaves a pretty hefty crater.
The aftermath of Lee mastering the Lotus: Naruto, Chapter 52, Page 10, Mangasee: https://mangaseeonline.us/read-online/Naruto-chapter-52-page-10.html
The first full use of the move: Naruto, Chapter 52, Page 17, Mangasee: https://mangaseeonline.us/read-online/Naruto-chapter-52-page-16.html
Hidden Lotus: The evolution of the Primary Lotus, which Lee uses while at least in the 3rd Gate. After knocking the opponent around in rapid succession, Lee pulls them back towards him with his bandages, and uses the momentum to perform a final powerful strike.
Lee using the Reverse Lotus on Gaara: Naruto, Chapter 86, Page 2, Mangasee: https://mangaseeonline.us/read-online/Naruto-chapter-86-page-2.html
Feats
Strength & Destructive Power
-Destroyed a part of a large meteor alongside his suicide corps (The Last: Naruto The Movie, 1:18:05,
-Early on the series, ripped out a large chunk of the ground. (Naruto, Chapter 52, Page 5, 6, & 7).
Speed & Agility
-Early on in the series casually moved faster than the eye could see.
-Would presumably need to be moving at least comparable to the meteor he destroys in order to intercept it (The Last: Naruto The Movie, 1:18:05).
-With the 8th Gate should presumably be able to reach speeds comparable to 8th Gate Might Guy (High Relativistic to Lightspeed).
Durability & Survivability
-Could remain standing even with a shattered arm and leg (Naruto, Chapter 86, Page 14, 15, & 16).
-Logically speaking, the amount of damage Lee can endure should be comparable to the amount of damage he can dish out.
Scaling
Who does Lee scale to?
Lee should reasonably scale to most of the higher level ninja in his series. This includes Jiraiya, his mentor Guy, and most of his peers. He’s noted for being one of the physically strongest and fastest ninja in his village, and sort of needs to be in order to make up for his inability to use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. And while he has technically never used all 8 Gates, the implication is that he could should the situation call for it. And since he was trained to be a worthy successor to Might Guy, it stands to reason that when he unlocks all 8 Gates, Lee would be comparable to Gate of Death Might Guy.
7th Gate Might Guy
-Created a powerful blast of air that spanned an entire Island.
8th Gate Might Guy
-With Night Guy, managed to reach a speed so intense, he contorted space and time (at least relativistic to just under lightspeed).
Base Form Naruto
-Blew a large hole in the moon.
Weaknesses
While Lee is one of the strongest and most physically capable ninjas in his village, he kind of needs to be. Because outside of that physical strength and Taijutsu, he can’t use any of the other techniques his comrades can. Because of this, he’s a bit lacking the versatility and variety found in other Naruto characters.
Fun Stuff
-Lee and Guy’s student teacher bond.
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