Naruto Fans Gather to Relive One of Rock Lee’s Best Moments

Perhaps in the many years of Naruto’s history, there is no fight that is thought of more favorably than the hard hitting fisticuffs battle between Rock Lee of Konoha the Hidden Leaf Village and Gaara of the Hidden Sand Village. As Rock Lee dropped the weight that were wrapped around his person, the battle truly began as the big eyebrow ninja pitted his fists against Gaara’s sand. Now, Crunchyroll has decided to revisit the amazing moment that still resonates among fans as being one of the greatest fights of not just the Naruto franchise, but all of anime in general.

Crunchyroll shared a quick look at the video from the early Naruto fight, showing when Rock Lee dropped the weight that he used in his training, allowing him to move at super sonic speeds to attempt to bring down Gaara of the Hidden Sand Village in their deadly one on one battle during the Chunin Exams:

The fight between Gaara and Rock Lee was a tragic one, as even though the battle was fast and furious, it resulted in the injury of Lee that broke several of his bones in the process. With Rock unable to defeat Gaara, the former villain used his sands in order to cripple the hard working ninja. Though Rock eventually managed to return to the world of ninja missions, he was never quite the same following this battle.

Rock Lee was an interesting character because unlike basically every other ninja that had been introduced, Lee didn’t rely on any ninjutsu, rather focusing on taijutsu. Taijutsu focused on a ninja training his physical abilities, bolstering their muscles in order to pull off high flying moves that would work well against moves such as the Rasengan and Chidori, just to name a few.

What did you think of the original fight between Rock Lee and Gaara? Was it your favorite fight of the Naruto series? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the Hidden Leaf Village!

Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, Naruto follows a young ninja, with a sealed demon within him, that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The series ran for 700 chapters overall, and was adapted into an anime series by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex that ran from 2002 to 2017. The series was popular enough to warrant a sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations which is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and features the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.