Source: Wikipedia
“The Third Super-Beast!”
“Tsunade, fearing that Rock Lee will overexert himself and once again end his career as a ninja, warns him not to accept missions or train too hard. At the same time, a student arrives in town and can beat Lee at taijutsu, dodging all his moves and using one that nearly breaks his ankle. The student goes out with Might Guy on a mission while Lee recovers, causing Lee to believe that Guy has abandoned him. It is then revealed that the student is an impostor, and he lures Guy into a trap as Naruto, Neji, and Tenten arrive to support him.”
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Analysis
This episode reinforces the close bond between Might Guy and Rock Lee as a sensei and a pupil. It is reminiscent of Season 2: Episode 100. If you have forgotten, you can refer to the chapter in my first book after finishing this one. Moreover, the element of hope was evident when Might Guy gave words of encouragement to Lee. Lastly, the episode showcased an element of appearance versus reality, in that the student, Yagara, appeared to be a trainee, yet in reality, he turned out to be an impostor. Other details will be mentioned in my analysis.
It is crucial to note the hidden lotus, the leaf hurricane, and the C-Rank missions.
According to other sources on the internet, the hidden lotus is a more destructive version of the front lotus that requires at least three of the Eight Gates to be opened. Once enough gates are opened, the user kicks the target into the air and continues to strike them at inhuman speeds.
Moreover, the Eight Gates exist to limit the flow of chakra within an individual’s body. Ordinarily, individuals can use no more than 20% of their body’s full potential, the brain’s way of protecting the individual from harming their body through overexertion. With training, individuals can learn to remove these limiters, referred to as “opening” the gates. With each opened gate, individuals are given access to more and more of their body’s chakra, thus increasing their physical strength and speed.
Leaf Hurricane is the translation used in the English anime at different points for two different techniques: Leaf Great Whirlwind and Leaf Strong Whirlwind. For more details, you can check the Narutopedia Website, but it involves kicking the target at inhuman speeds.
C-Rank missions are low-risk missions that may involve fighting or other mild danger, but never combat against another ninja. C-rank missions require a commander of at least chunin rank, although the genin frequently participate in them.
The episode starts when Naruto visits the hospital to see Lady Tsunade. He was so melodramatic that he was not feeling well because he couldn’t eat five bowls of ramen at Ramen Ichiraku. Naruto was so dramatic to the extent that he was crying profusely, thinking that he would die, and in response to his idiotic tendencies, Tsunade said, “Oh, shut up, you’re fine.” Afterwards, Naruto noticed that Tsunade was reading Rock Lee’s medical chart, so when Naruto asked her what was going on, Tsunade said that Lee was overdue for a medical examination because he had been avoiding it. So, when Naruto was still insistent that he was sick, Tsunade kicked him out of the room, and then Naruto left. From the onset, the episode already hinted that it was going to focus on Rock Lee’s well-being; hence, it was a foreshadowing of what would happen later in the plot.
When Naruto got out of the hospital, she met Neji and Tenten and informed them that he was going to be fine. Moreover, when Neji left, Naruto asked Tenten if she had seen Rock Lee, and in response, she said she said no, but said they could find him at the dojo. Afterwards, when Naruto and Tenten arrived at the dojo, they found him training, doing 2000 push-ups with his fingers while his legs were upward, and he was sweating excessively. After witnessing what was happening, Naruto was impressed that he could still exercise, considering what happened at the Chunin exams when Gaara crushed his legs and arms with sand, which almost cost him his dream of being a ninja. This is again reminiscent of Season 1: Episode 50, so if you have forgotten, you can check out the chapter in my first book.
Meanwhile, after doing push-ups, Rock Lee screamed in agony, which caused him to pass out. Afterwards, Naruto and Tenten check if he is okay, and that’s when they inform him that Lady Tsunade is looking for him since he skipped his medical and physical examination. In response, he gave an excuse that it must have slipped his mind since he claims he feels much better lately, but Tenten said he doesn’t look well. As a result, Rock Lee, accompanied by Tenten and Naruto, went to the hospital.
Tsunade, fearing that Rock Lee will overexert himself and once again end his career as a ninja, warns him not to accept missions or train too hard.
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Rock Lee’s determination to become the best ninja, no matter what.
Tsunade, who was accompanied by Sakura, examined him and said he needed more rest, which meant that he was no longer supposed to train. Afterwards, a dialogue takes place between them:
Tsunade: There is cumulative damage to your chakra network. You’re forgetting that you were injured so badly that your days as a ninja might have been over.
Rock Lee: I live by my own rules.
Tsunade: Your own rules?
Rock Lee: Yes, and rule number 1 is to never forget your goal. I must work to be the best ninja I can be!
When hearing his words, Sakura was impressed, while Tsunade had a defeated look on his face, and then she said:
Tsunade: Oh, I give up. I’ll take you off active duty, but you can keep training. Just don’t overdo it.
Rock Lee: Right!
Tsunade: Above all, no Hidden Lotus, understood?
Rock Lee: Right!
Rock Lee is determined to become the best ninja he can be, no matter what. It explains why he trains so hard, considering he doesn’t possess any ninjutsu, genjutsu, or any kind of kekkei genkai. He relies on his taijutsu skills, which have taken him far, so it’s no surprise that after hearing that he couldn’t use Hidden Lotus, he felt depressed. To support this, when he left the hospital, he looked depressed to the extent that Naruto and Tenten assumed that his results must have been grim.
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The close bond between Might Guy and Rock Lee as a sensei and a pupil.
After he got out of the hospital, he went to the roof of the training hall to think, and after some time, Might Guy arrived. When he saw his sensei, Rock Lee told him that he could train, but was not allowed to use the Hidden Lotus. As a result, emotional music plays in the background with a deep bass guitar as Might Guy recalls the time when Rock Lee was on that roof crying about the possibility that his surgery wouldn’t be successful; hence, a flashback technique was used here. It is reminiscent of Season 2: Episode 100, when Might Guy said to Lee in that flashback, “You worked hard, Lee; there’s no doubt in my mind that the surgery will be a success. You have the power to shape your destiny, and on the one thousand, nope, one in a million chance something should happen to go wrong, I’ll die right along with you. Since the day I met you, my nindo has been to train you to become the most splendid ninja possible; that’s a promise.” This just further reinforces the close bond that they share; hence, in the present, Might Guy says, “You trusted me then, and your surgery was successful; you must trust me now. If you must forsake the hidden lotus, then you’ll just have to work that much harder. There is nothing you cannot accomplish through hard work.” Afterwards, they both ended up crying emotionally as Might Guy went on to say, “You can do it with your dedication.” Afterwards, they leave for training in the practice hall.
The bond that they share is remarkable to the extent that Might Guy was willing to die with his pupil if he had ever died from the surgery. Moreover, the fact that Might Guy was confident that the surgery would be a success brings out the element of hope. In other words, Might Guy symbolises hope, courage, and determination. Therefore, his word of encouragement gives Lee a sense of hope that he will become the best ninja. In other words, he is like a father figure to Rock Lee.
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The introduction of the dodgy character, Yagara.
At the same time, a student arrives in town and can beat Lee at taijutsu, dodging all his moves and using one that nearly breaks his ankle. When they arrived at the practice hall, they were doing push-ups, and after some time, they met a student named Yagara who was training by himself. The student’s movements were impeccable, and Might Guy said, “That’s Yagara; he’s been here for a week. A friend of mine asked me to determine whether he has the makings of a ninja.”
Afterwards, Yagara introduced himself to Lee and said he heard his skills were truly remarkable. So, he asked Guy sensei if he could train with Lee, and that’s when they planned to train using taijutsu. When Guy Sensei agreed to Yagara’s request, this imposter had a strange look on his face, and one could tell that he was somehow planning to harm Lee. Might Guy might not have noticed that since he was telling Lee not to harm him, since Yagara was just a pupil, but later he will realise that this Yagara character is dodgy.
Meanwhile, Tenten and Naruto rush to the training hall, worried that Lee is training, considering their assumption that his condition is grim. When they get there, they witness the training between Rock Lee and Yagara.
When the training started, Yagara’s speed was impeccable, but what he said to Lee was strange. He said to Lee with a serious look on his face, “I want you to show me every secret technique that you have ever learned from Might Guy.” From my point of view, this seemed fishy to me. Moreover, in response to Yagara’s attack, Rock Lee said in his mind, “These are not the blows of a rookie; I cannot take much more.” This was another sign that Yagara was fishy since his taijutsu skills were too highly skilled to be a rookie. Therefore, Lee used Leaf Hurricane, but then Yagara used a cross block, where he crushed Lee’s leg with his elbow, thereby causing an injury to Lee’s ankle.
After they witnessed what happened, Might Guy, Tenten, and Naruto checked on Lee, and when Naruto wondered what happened, Might Guy said, “It was a cross block, capturing the opponent’s kick between a knee and elbow, crushing the bone. It requires perfect timing.” So, he asked Yagara where he learned the technique. In response, Yagara acted dumb, saying, “I didn’t mean to; it was only a reflex reaction, that’s all. I’m so sorry, Lee. Are you alright?” Luckily, Lee was not injured since he was wearing ankle weights. If Lee had not worn his ankle weights, the bone would have been shattered. Afterwards, Might Guy wants the medics to look at his
ankle, so they plan to take Lee to the hospital while Yagara says in his mind, “Even wearing weights, he was able to move that fast?” At that point, he was analysing Rock Lee’s movements to see whether he could copy his moves or not; hence, this is a dramatic irony in the sense that we know he is an impostor while the other characters are not yet aware.
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Characterisation of Rock Lee
At the hospital, Sakura bandaged Lee’s ankle and told him that his ankle was all right. So, now he must walk around with a walking stick, which means he can’t train, so he must rest. Afterwards, Rock Lee was walking around the village when he overheard a conversation between Neji, Tenten and Naruto about him at Ramen Ichiraku. Naruto said that Lee is feeling depressed because Yagara mastered the cross block, and Tenten said that Yagara mastered the cross block without even thinking about it, hence no wonder Lee is depressed. In response to Naruto and Tenten, Neji said, “If Lee were the type to let something like that get him down, he would have quit a long time ago. All his time at the academy, he’s been told he doesn’t have enough talent to ever master ninjutsu or genjutsu. If I were in his place, I would have given up long before now, but hard work and perseverance can be more than raw talent. I honestly believe that if he can just recover from his injuries, Lee may surpass us all.”
We see a characterisation of Lee when Neji gives an exposition concerning Lee’s character. Despite being told he didn’t have enough talent to ever master ninjutsu or genjutsu, he still persevered to become a ninja who specialises in taijutsu. Moreover, if Neji believes that he will pull through, then Lee will bounce back, hence bringing out a sense of hope.
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The crucial lesson Team 3 learnt from Might Guy
After Lee left, Naruto, Tenten and Neji were still conversing among themselves at Ramen Ichiraku. They told Naruto about their first day of training as genin. So, a flashback technique is used when there is a visual imagery of Might teaching them something about self-rule. He said to them, “As you go through life, you’ll find that the world is covered by many rules, but the most important rules are the ones that come from within, the rules that you place on yourself.” In other words, he was telling them that they can shape their destiny if they have their own rules that they live by; hence, when it comes to Rock Lee, his self-rule is to become the best ninja no matter what, without giving up.
The student goes out with Might Guy on a mission while Lee recovers, causing Lee to believe that Guy has abandoned him. At the Hokage’s office, Tsunade gave Might Guy a C-Rank mission since he was the only one available, so he decided to take Yagara since Rock Lee was injured.
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Use of dialogue between Yagara and Rock Lee that shows an element of appearance versus reality
While Might Guy was at Tsunade’s office, Rock Lee was walking outside the village when he came across Yagara. As a result, a dialogue takes place between them:
Rock Lee: Yagara! Do not worry, we will train again-
Tense music plays in the background as Yagara walks past him, stops a bit, and says:
Yagara: Thanks, but I don’t think that will be necessary. You did well considering those ankle weights, but still, there’s nothing special I would want to steal from you.
Rock Lee (confused): Steal from me?
Yagara: You have no gift of your own; you’re just a hard-working grunt, a pale imitation of Guy Sensei.
Rock Lee (offended): A what?!
Yagara: Even Guy Sensei himself knows that he’s given up on you.
Rock Lee (defensive): That is a filthy lie! Guy Sensei has always said that his whole purpose as a ninja is to make sure that I become a fine ninja too!
Yagara (chuckles): If that’s the case, then let me ask you this: why would he ask me to accompany him on a mission—me, not you?
Rock Lee (stunned): He would never.
Yagara: Hah, sorry, but hard work is no substitute for real talent hahaha.
He walks away, as Lee said, while following Yagara a bit.
Rock Lee: It is a lie, I tell you, guy sensei would never.
Rock Lee then sees Guy sensei leaving with Yagara and feels betrayed as he says:
Rock Lee: No way, I do not believe it.
Tense music stops playing in the background.
This Yagara imposter was trying to get under Lee’s skin by trying to convince him that Guy had betrayed him. In other words, he is manipulative and seems to hold a grudge against Might Guy. What’s the story? Only time will tell. Moreover, Rock Lee lacked common sense because Might Guy decided to go with Yagara. After all, Rock Lee was injured, so that should have told him that his sensei was looking out for his well-being. Instead, Rock Lee let his emotions control him rather than using his head.
It is then revealed that the student is an impostor, and he lures Guy into a trap as Naruto, Neji, and Tenten arrive to support him. They found out that he was an impostor when Shizune informed Tsunade that the real Yagara was attacked before he even reached the Leaf Village and that he was badly hurt, so he was in the hospital. In response, Tsunade immobilised Tenten, Naruto and Neji to look for Might Guy and the Yagara imposter. Moreover, she also instructed Shizune to ask Sakura to watch over Lee because if he heard about this, he’d forget his injuries and do something rash.
Meanwhile, Neji’s team are travelling in the woods and heading to the Land of Mabu streams where Guy was supposed to be with the impostor. While they were in the woods, Might Guy and Yagara were running up the mountains until Yagara seemingly fell off the cliff to lure Might Guy to save him. When Might Guy landed on the ground, the area was surrounded by fog, which symbolised that something bad was about to happen. He didn’t find Yagara but instead came across a lot of wooden training dummies. Afterwards, the dummies attack Might Guy and in response, he uses taijutsu to defeat them. However, when he jumped in the air, the dummies also jumped in the air to attack him. In response, Might Guy crushed them with taijutsu, but they kept rebuilding themselves. It’s an endless cycle where Might Guy is using taijutsu while the dummies keep on rebuilding themselves.
While Might Guy was having trouble with the dummies at the dojo, Rock Lee was training at the dojo. He was doing push-ups with his fingers while his legs were up. Since he was injured, he was just focusing on his upper body strength, hence showing how dedicated Lee is to becoming a fine shinobi. In other words, he is a dynamic that continues to grow as a ninja.
Towards the end of the episode, Might Guy continues to destroy the wooden training dummies, but they keep rebuilding themselves, and this time, they form a shelter to trap him inside. It is safe to assume that this is Yagara’s ninja technique. What vendetta does he have on Might Guy? This will likely be revealed in the next episode, leaving us in suspense.
The lessons from this episode can be derived from Neji and Might Guy’s statements:
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Might Guy
“You have the power to shape your destiny....”
“There is nothing you cannot accomplish through hard work.”
“As you go through life, you’ll find that the world is covered by many rules, but the most important rules are the ones that come from within, the rules that you place on yourself.”
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Neji
“But hard work and perseverance can be more than raw talent.”
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and then Add to home screen.