Rock Lee

Rock Lee (ロック・リー) is a shinobi of Konohagakure. While he lacks certain skills typically associated with life as a ninja, Lee seeks to make up for his shortcomings in whatever way he can. Receiving special training in this regard from his teacher, Maito Gai, he becomes a refined taijutsu master and seeks to only get stronger.

Background
During his time as a student in the Ninja Academy, Lee proved to have no talent for ninjutsu and genjutsu. As he was mocked by his peers because of this, Lee persevered, focusing on taijutsu.

When Lee eventually graduated he was then assigned to the jonin tutelage of Maito Gai, alongside his classmates Hyuga Neji and Tenten. For their final test to become genin, Guy forced his potential students to spare him and see their commitment to succeed. Ultimately, all three passed. Later, Rock Lee and his teamates were offered the chance to enter the Chunin Exams in the possibility of being promoted to said rank. However, all three decided to pass on the exams for the time being to further hone their skills.

During the team's first meeting, Lee vowed to become a powerful ninja without using ninjutsu or genjutsu. Neji laughed at him, but their sensei took a special interest in Lee. He encouraged Lee to keep at it and, in time, began teaching him powerful forms of taijutsu.

Personality
Under Guy's leadership, Lee has acquired a number of his sensei's personality traits: he is energetic, optimistic, and hot-blooded, and shows the epitome of a "nice guy". He believes that one cannot dislike food and shows strong dedication to his promises; when this promise is broken, just barely, he assigns himself arduous training to prevent it from happening again. Lee speaks respectfully to others, never using contractions or swear words and always addressing people with appropriate honorifics (except his team-mates, since Lee feels they are close enough to be spoken to informally). He also carries a small book and pencil to recall advice that Guy gives him over time, though he sometimes forgets that he cannot check them during a fight.

Despite his passionate nature, Lee has also shown strong instincts, staying focused at the task at hand and rarely losing his composure. He has a keen sense of honor and respects his opponents, refusing to hold grudges against those who have defeated him, and returning favors to those that have helped him. This was shown by his befriending of Gaara, forgiving him for crushing his arm and leg — injuries that nearly ended his career as a shinobi. Lee feels others should show the same respect towards their opponents, and is disgusted whenever someone is unnecessarily cruel to their enemies.

As such, Lee resolved to prove Neji wrong, and confronted another "genius", Uchiha Sasuke, in an attempt to test his worth. While Lee maintained the desire to defeat Neji in a fight throughout the Chunin Exam Arc, after Neji's eventual defeat by Uzumaki Naruto, another so-called "failure", he rejects his belief in fate and now holds great respect for Lee, believing that he will surpass the gifted with enough work.

Shortly after he introduced himself to Team Kakashi, Lee revealed that he liked Haruno Sakura, asking her to be his girlfriend and vowing to protect her immediately after they met. While she did not seem to share these feelings for him, and considered him weird, Lee maintained these feelings, and went out of his way to help her throughout the Chūnin Exams. Sakura became more appreciative after this, and punches Naruto whenever he insults Lee.

Despite this, Sakura does not seem to return any romantic feelings for Lee, as she refers to him with the more formal "Lee-san", as opposed to "Lee-kun". After the Exams' conclusion, Lee's interest in Sakura went largely unaddressed in the manga. It is occasionally referenced in the anime, such as when Naruto fought Lee in the Lee's Dojo Arc; Naruto transformed into Sakura, causing Lee to forget about the fight long enough for Naruto to attack him.

However, when Madara managed to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi on the moon, Lee's dream was of winning Sakura's affections, suggesting that he still had romantic feelings for her. These feelings have vanished by adulthood, showing that Lee had married someone else at some point and raised a son, Metal Lee.

Years later after the Fourth Shinobi War, Lee took on Guy's role of teaching hard work and embracing one's youth to the new generation.

Appearance
Lee possesses very thick eyebrows and large, rounded black eyes with prominent lower eyelashes. During his academy days, Lee's hair was much longer and fastened in a braid that, along with his style of dress, gave him a more traditional Chinese appearance. When first joining Team Guy Lee's appearance changed drastically. He had shorter hair than before that curved upwards in the back. He still maintained the Chinese appearance, since he wore a robe and a martial arts belt around his waist. After joining Might Guy's team, his appearance changed considerably to emulate his idol and sensei. Leading to the nickname "Centipede Brows" (ゲジマユ) In the English version,"Bushy Brows" by Naruto.

His hair is now cut and styled into a bowl-cut style like Guy, and he also began wearing the same attire, consisting of a green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, and a red forehead protector worn as a belt. The only difference in his attire were the bandages he regularly wears around his hands and wrists, which also cover a set of stitches on his left hand, a trait that was due to his rigorous taijutsu training. In Guy's youth however, it is revealed that he also wore bandages.

During Part II, his appearance has changed the least out of his friends. The most noticeable changes are that he has grown considerably taller, and wears a flak jacket, as a chunin, further emulating his sensei, however instead of wearing it open, Lee's is zipped up.

Two years after the Fourth Shinobi War, Lee's general appearance remains essentially the same. Apart from his face structure being broad, Lee's flak jacket is changed to a simple chest-guard which is a darker green and has clipped-on shoulder pads with high-collars colored a light grey and light grey strap across his waist.

Many years later, Rock Lee grew taller and noticeably muscular while developing more-defined cheekbones. His jumpsuit is now sleeveless and he's also wearing an orange neckwarmer.

Abilities
Guy's leadership has influenced Lee's training habits, which, coupled with his hard-working resolve, has allowed Lee to improve rapidly. For example, when making a promise, Lee assigns himself arduous tasks to complete in the event that he doesn't live up to his expectations. When this promise is broken, usually just barely, he trains to prevent it from happening again.

Lee has trained so extensively he can run and even fight while unconscious, using nothing but pure muscle memory. A flashback during the Curry of Life Arc, in Part I, highlighted that Lee can run in his sleep, due to training from Guy. As a properly-trained ninja, Lee is more aware of his surrounding through his senses than a regular person would be. This is highlighted in the 'Three-Tails' arc, when he was blinded by Kigiri's Destroying Smell Smoke Prison. Lee called on his training from Might Guy to be able to home in on Kihō through his "spirit sensor" — which he had developed through unceasing diligence and determination.

In the anime, it also seems that Lee is proficient with melee weapons. He tried to attack Kisame with a pair of tonfa, but he was stopped before he could show his abilities.

Though Rock Lee is a ninja unable to use ninjutsu, this doesn't mean he is unable to mould and use chakra, as shown when using his tree and water walking skills. However, he is unable to use it externally as ninjutsu or genjutsu, and instead uses it internally to augment his taijutsu.

Taijutsu
Lee has no talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu. Because this would ordinarily make life as a ninja impossible, Lee's dream is to become a famous ninja who uses only taijutsu. Taking a liking to Lee and his resolve, Might Guy has specially trained him to reach this goal, teaching him a number of forbidden techniques in the process. The most basic of these is his Strong Fist style of combat, a martial art style focusing on external damage. Through this gruelling training, Lee has become a taijutsu master. His prowess surpasses those of more experienced ninja, and it is only in unique circumstances that his taijutsu is not enough to defeat an opponent.

In the anime, he was able to fight against Gari, avoiding each and every one of his Explosion Release: Landmine Fists and defeating him with a well placed kick to the head. In the anime, with Guy's help, he could hold off the Nine-Tailed Naruto Clone with just taijutsu alone despite it being in a "Version 2" state.

Since Guy began training him, Lee has worn extremely heavy weights on his ankles that appear deceptively light, increasing his strength at the cost of inhibiting his speed to levels that his peers still consider quite fast. Upon removing the weights, Lee's speed vastly increases, making it almost impossible to see his movements with the unaided eye. When he removed his ankle weights during his fight with Gaara, they enabled him to be the first person to ever bypass his defences, and strike him. Lee's speed is so great in Part II that he could intercept a charge from Haku, who is known for his speed both in and out of his Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.

Lee also possesses immense physical strength, as he was actually capable of driving his hand into the earth to rip up a huge section of a giant tree's root. During the Fourth Shinobi War, after being enhanced by Kurama's chakra, he was able to completely bisect Madara Uchiha with a single kick.

Eight Gates
Through Guy's teachings, Lee has learned how to open the first five of the chakra gates at age 12, and later the sixth gate sometime before the Fourth Shinobi War. In the anime, Lee became proficient enough to access any of these gates individually without accessing any of the previous gates first. This feat caused him to be recognized as a genius by the likes of Hatake Kakashi as it is highly difficult for even the most talented ninja to open a single gate regardless of hard work. Because of the danger to his body that the gates' power presents, Lee is only permitted to open them in certain circumstances such as life-or-death situations, protecting someone dear, or defending his way of the ninja. Most humans can only access less than 20% of their muscle potential, but the eight gates uses chakra to "force" the muscles to work at much more power than they normally do, allowing the user to run at phenomenal speeds, pick up enormous weights, and much more at the expense of the muscles themselves. Near 50%, the muscles start to wear down and tear. Much more than that, approaching 100%, the muscles begin to break down and disintegrate. Once the Eighth Gate has been opened, they are practically unstoppable, but the user dies in the process. Lee has also learned or developed a number of taijutsu that take advantage of the extreme power and speed he gains from opening chakra gates.

After the time-skip, Lee can now open the chakra gates instantly, even showing a faster recovery rate from using them without suffering any of the damaging after-effects, but he still shows noticeable exhaustion. In the anime, when both him and Guy used the fifth gate together, they were able to overwhelm the Nine-Tailed Naruto Clone despite it being in "Version 2", forcing it to get more of Kurama's chakra. He was also fast enough to save Guy from Madara's Truth-Seeking Balls before they could hit him while in the fifth gate.

Drunken Fist
Lee has a very low tolerance for alcohol, which gave him a natural predisposition for the Drunken Fist style. When he drinks as little as one drop of alcohol, he becomes an unpredictable and near unstoppable force of destruction and chaos. Guy explained that, after Lee accidentally drank a small amount of sake, he proceeded to demolish the bar they were in, and it took the combined efforts of Guy and Neji to hold him down without harming him.

During Lee's fight with Kimimaro in Part I, Lee accidentally drank sake instead of his medicine, and slipped into Drunken Fist style. Lee's usage of this style gives him considerably greater speed and dexterity, allowing Lee to strike and effectively dodge from various positions. This style caused Kimimaro, one of Orochimaru's strongest subordinates, to be pressured and ultimately overwhelmed, forcing the Oto ninja to activate the first stage of his cursed seal. Kimimaro noted that Lee's attack patterns with Drunken Fist was "too angular".

The problem with Lee's Drunk Fist state is his actions while drunk are usually misguided attempts to impress Guy, regardless of whether or not Guy is around. He drunkenly attacks any friend or foe that is near him.

Other Skills
As a properly-trained ninja, Lee is more aware of his surrounding through his senses than a regular person would be. This is highlighted in the 'Three-Tails' Appearance' arc, when he was blinded by Kigiri's Destroying Smell Smoke Prison. Lee called on his training from Might Guy to be able to home in on Kiho through his "spirit sensor" — which he had developed through unceasing diligence and determination.

In the anime, it also seems that Lee is proficient with melee weapons. He tried to attack Hoshigaki Kisame with a pair of tonfa, but he was stopped before he could show his abilities. Though Lee is a ninja unable to use ninjutsu externally, he can still mould and use chakra, as shown when using his tree and water walking skills. He can also instead use his chakra internally to augment his taijutsu. In the anime, he is also shown able to dispel genjutsu.

Chunin Exam arc
Having not been allowed to participate the year before, Team Guy took part in the Chūnin Exams along with the Rookie Nine. They initially tried to avoid attention by acting weak, but Lee accidentally let slip his true strength by interfering with a fight between Uchiha Sasuke and Kotetsu Hagane. He also fell in love with Haruno Sakura. Soon afterwards, he confronted Sasuke, challenging him to a fight to see how he fared against the Sharingan, but not before knocking out Uzumaki Naruto, who tried to fight with Lee himself. Guy interrupted Lee and Sasuke's fight, however, when Lee tried to use the Front Lotus, and Lee was forced to do laps around the practice range before he could proceed onto the first phase of the exams. With Tenten's help, he gained the answers for the written portion, and proceeded to the second round.

After spending their first few days in the Forest of Death gathering supplies, Team Guy split up in search of other teams. Lee came across Sakura being attacked by Team Dosu, and went to her aid. He used his Front Lotus on Dosu Kinuta, but he survived the attack because of Zaku Abumi using his Decapitating Air Wave in the ground, and Lee was left unable to defend himself from a counterattack from Dosu. Neji and Tenten soon arrived to help, but didn't have to because Sasuke woke up, and once he recovered they moved onto the preliminaries.

In the preliminaries, Lee was matched against Gaara. When his standard attacks proved unable to bypass Gaara's defences, he removed his ankle weights to increase his speed and managed to land a couple of hits on Gaara. Then, he attempted the Forward Lotus, but Gaara was able to escape at the last minute revealing a sand clone instead. His options running out if he was to win and prove himself, Guy allowed him to use the Reverse Lotus. Gaara barely survived by turning his gourd to sand to cushion him, and the techniques took a massive toll on Lee's body. Gaara added to Lee's injury by crushing his left arm and leg. Though Guy intervened to stop Gaara from killing him, Lee got to his feet to continue the battle, despite being completely unconscious.

Because of his injuries, medics predicted, that even if Lee recovered, his injuries would prevent him from ever being able to be a shinobi again. He nevertheless tried to train while he was in the hospital, something that only worsened his condition. When he was asleep, Gaara came to his room and tried to kill him, but he was stopped by Naruto and Nara Shikamaru and later by Guy. To try and cheer Lee up, Guy took him to watch the final round matches, but they were surprised when they arrived to find out that Neji had been defeated by Naruto. Envious of Naruto, Lee then watched Gaara's fight with Sasuke, and marvelled at how quickly he had learned to emulate Lee's speed. Before the fight could finish, however, the invasion of Konoha began, and Lee was knocked unconscious.

Invasion of Konoha arc
Lee can be seen at the Third Hokage's funeral alongside the other villagers, mourning his death.

Search for Tsunade arc
Over the coming weeks, Guy tried a number of his own remedies to heal Lee, though none of his efforts worked. It was not until news of Tsunade becoming Hokage reached them that they found hope. But, when she examined Lee, she informed him of the dire situation: his broken bones and torn muscles have healed, but fragments of bone had lodged in his spinal column, and removing them would involve an extensive operation that only she was capable of. When Tsunade offered him an operation that carried a fifty percent chance of returning him to his former state, or dying in the process, Lee was hesitant to accept the operation. Though Lee was worried he would die in the operation, thanks to Guy's influence, he accepted the surgery.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
Upon overhearing Naruto, Akimichi Choji, Inuzuka Kiba, and Nara Shikamaru talking about the mission to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, Lee suggested that Neji go with them. Lee was disappointed that he couldn't go with them, still needing to go through his surgery that was scheduled for later that day. (In the anime, Lee was recovering after having his surgery done the day before. In the end, Lee successfully survived the operation.

Once Lee was well enough to move, he left the hospital to follow them and provide assistance. He caught up with Naruto, who was in the middle of a battle with Kimimaro, and told him to go after Sasuke while he dealt with Kimimaro. At first, it seemed Kimimaro overmatched him, but after Lee drank some sake that he had mistaken for his medicine, he began to outclass Kimimaro. Though Lee's anticipated moves were unpredictable to Kimimaro, he revealed his Kekkei Genkai, Shikotsumyaku, which, combined with Lee sobering up, easily took over the battle. Before his attack landed on Lee, Gaara arrived just in time to save him. Even though Lee insisted to fight side-by-side with him, he knew he was only getting in Gaara's way.

For the rest of the battle, Lee watches and is amazed by Gaara's new abilities. Even though Gaara's new techniques completely buried Kimimaro, Kimimaro counters by turning the battlefield into a forest of bones, which Lee and Gaara escaped by hanging onto a pair of small clouds made out of sand. Kimimaro then emerged from one of the bones, preparing to kill the two at point blank range. They were saved, however, as Kimimaro finally succumbed to his disease and died. After the battle, Lee and Gaara reflect upon Kimimaro's purpose, then the two return to Konoha.

Pre-Shippuuden Filler arc
Lee revealed that he once ran a marathon with Guy near the village of Katabami Kinzan shortly after being assigned to his team, and when he collapsed from exhaustion near the Curry of Life shop, the owner, Sanshō, and her son Karashi fed him curry and saved his life. Lee's dedication caused Karashi to become enthusiastic, and he later left. A year later, when he came to the village with his team-mates and Naruto to defeat the Kurosuki family, he found that Karashi had joined, and was upset that Karashi had sought strength in this way. He allowed Karashi to seek redemption, but Karashi used this opportunity to lure Lee's group into a trap after their first battle with Raiga. The trap failed due to Naruto's use of shadow clones, and while the villagers were willing to seek vengeance on Karashi, Lee stepped in, promising to take responsibility for Karashi's actions.

Karashi used the opportunity to take Ranmaru to revive Raiga. Lee went to fight Raiga with Naruto and Neji, and was knocked out but brought back to consciousness with the Curry of Life. The curry, however, accidentally contained wine, and Lee was intoxicated and performed the Drunken Fist. He fought Raiga drunkenly, but was defeated, and Naruto finished Raiga off. Later, when the group went back to the Curry of Life shop, they found out that Karashi had made a new curry that looked so bad that even Naruto didn't want to eat it. Lee, however, couldn't wait to try it, so the rest of the group had to literally drag him back to Konoha while he cried for the curry.

The Ninja Academy students were divided into teams of three and were assigned to a genin who would lead them on a mission against the other teams. Lee was assigned to lead a team of three Ninja Academy students: Chen, Samo and En. His time with them was not covered much except that he was doing better than Naruto. After fending off some 'bandits', one of Lee's charges addressed Lee as "Lee-sensei" out of awe, and, overjoyed, Lee went off into one of his declarations into the sunset whilst his students tried to tell him that he was going the wrong way.

Guy and Lee left the village on a mission, and two spies tried to imitate them. Tsunade immediately saw through their disguise, and gave them various difficult, disgusting, or humiliating missions in order to keep them busy and prevent them from learning anything. They encountered the real Lee and Guy on the way out of the village and tried to attack, but were sent flying back to Konohagakure.

Lee accompanied Neji, Naruto, and Tenten on the mission to Hoshigakure, playing a lesser role than in previous arcs. He attempted to follow two of Akahoshi's men while hiding under a barrel, as Tenten suggested, but was discovered almost instantly. While trying to infiltrate Akahoshi's mansion, he pretended to use a jutsu known as "Wall-Removing Technique", but, in actuality, it involved him moving at high speed to open a door from the other side. He was wounded during the final battle with Akahoshi, leaving Naruto to fight him alone.

Lee, seeing that he had little time to train with other people due to the many missions that must be done, sought a new means of training. He saw a man challenging a dōjō, ready to take the sign if he won, and ready to join if he lost, and believed that a dōjō would bring many strong opponents. When Naruto stumbled upon the dōjō, Lee asked that he fight, but Naruto hastily left, late for reporting back to Tsunade.

Guy, after hearing about the dōjō from Naruto, decides to disguise himself in order to fight Lee. However, he was given a mission at the last second, and an impostor replaced him. Lee fought the impostor and easily defeated him, but Naruto believed that the impostor was Guy, and that he was not fighting at full strength in order to avoid revealing himself. Naruto fought Lee while the impostor transformed into Lee, but met the real Guy while trying to leave, and was easily defeated by him.

Lee's condition worsened, and Tsunade became concerned about him injuring himself again. She removed him from missions, but allowed him to keep training after he convinced her to do so. Around this time, Guy arrived with a new student, who easily defeated Lee and injured his ankle. While Lee was recovering, Guy took the new student with him on a mission, causing Lee to believe that he had abandoned him. It was then revealed that the new student was an impostor, and that he planned on seeking vengeance against Guy. Lee headed to Guy's location, but was trapped in a castle made out of sparring posts. He and Lee were tricked into fighting each other by seeing the other as a sparring dummy, but they saw through the technique and opened their chakra gates to destroy the dummies without harming the actual person, freeing themselves and destroying the castle.

Lee, despite having few special abilities, made some noteworthy contributions to the investigation. While he initially encouraged the academy students to keep practising throwing kunai, once he realised that hitting the bull's eye would cause a chain reaction that would detonate explosives around Konoha, he caught a kunai in midair just before it hit the target, despite being far away from it. He defeated Gennō with his taijutsu during the final confrontation.

Naruto accompanied Sakura and Lee to escort Gantetsu. When the ship was sliced in half by a metal wire, Lee ended up with Sakura, and found the orphans Gantetsu had cared for. During the raid on the hideout, he fought the Shinobazu members outside.

Lee and Naruto helped Gaara fight and defeat an opponent who could absorb his enemies' chakra with his armor. After the mission, he sparred with Tenten, who was upset over being the only member of the Konoha 11 left out of the mission despite having a mission at the time, and noted that, in order to be able to face Naruto when he returned, they too must become stronger.

Two years after Naruto left the village to train with Jiraiya, Konohagakure decided to host an early Chunin Exam to help restore its reputation after the previous exam was ruined by Orochimaru's invasion. To better the chances of people joining this, it was co-sponsored by Sunagakure. Lee was very excited to take the exams again in hopes of being promoted. While waiting in line to officially enter, he and his team were surprised to see Naruto returning, but Neji reveal that it was Sarutobi Konohamaru in disguise, not wanting let this opportunity pass for Naruto. Lee and Neji, however, insisted that Naruto will return when he is ready and they will be there to greet him, something that Konohamaru and his friends accepted.

Once entering the exams, Lee and his team-mates were randomly split up and sent to different rooms to take the written test. On a monitor, Shikamaru as proctor explained that everyone only needs to answer one question on the test, but their combined score with their team-mates will determine if they pass or fail the exam as they need exactly 100 points to pass. As everyone began wondering how to go about scoring accurately with their team-mates, Lee spent his time trying to just chose which question to answer.

Ultimately, Neji figured out the proper method for each group to score perfectly by sending a specific number of vibrations through the wall. After all the teams understood and answered their respective questions and time was up, Shikaramu instructed everyone to answer a second question on the backside of their sheet. He asked in a situation that requires a decoy, which team-mate would be sacrificed. With this also meaning that team-mate would be disqualified from the exam, Lee, being too loyal to his team, chose not to answer at all. This proved to be the correct answer, allowing his whole team to pass the first exam. Afterwards, because there were too many who passed, a race was to be held to Sunagakure, where only the first 30 to arrive would qualify for the second exam.

Ultimately, Lee and his team made it to Sunagakure and qualified for the second round. While settling in, Neji noted his concerns about the Taki-nin team that easily outpaced everyone on the race. The following night, as all the participants were ready to eat a largely-prepared dinner, everyone grew nervous about the overly-sweaty Burami ruining the food. To which, the genin all quickly tried to keep him away from spreading his sweat, which resulted in Neji using his Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven and accidentally destroying the food. As tension grew between everyone over the recent event, an all-out brawl began. As Lee tried to end the fighting himself with passive attacks, his first strike was easily stopped by Shira. Ultimately, the late arrival of Fu, with her out-spoken desire to make friends and play games, caused everyone to lose their desire to fight. Later, Lee approached Shira, noting from their single exchange before that he also endured much adversity. Shira plainly said that true determination will ultimately succeed. The following day, the second exam began. Like the last exam in Konohagakure, the teams were each given either a Heaven or Earth scroll and were required to within three days to obtain a matching set. They were then required to bring the set to main building in the center of the Demon Desert.

Once the second round begin, Lee and his teammates were seen jumping into their location to begin the second round. As the exam began, Lee and his team began searching for enemies, only to find none of them within sight. As they began wondering around aimlessly, Lee realized a pattern and began marking rocks with kunai, soon realizing from them that they were wondering in circles. As the team dispelled the genjutsu, they finally found an enemy team, only to forced back by Team Shira. Sen removed another genjutsu, revealing to Lee's team that they were standing in quicksand, which dragged them down to the Sand Waterfall Pit. Lee then used the Second Gate to save his team. After which, Tenten summoned an enormous ladder to escape the pit. They soon found Team Shira and saved them from their treacherous fellow Suna-nin. Afterwards, Shira asked the Konoha-nin why they came to their aid, to which Neji simply explained they felt compelled to help. As Neji asked why they attacked Shira's team at all, it was explained that they had no respect for Shira as a ninja. Lee then deduced that like him, Shira has no skill for genjutsu and ninjutsu, causing him to be ridiculed by his peers.

Recognizing Shira's greater struggles than his own, Lee angrily went after the other Suna-nin to make them atone. Lee was able to quickly catch up to them, even with the delay of their trap. Lee ordered them to apologize to Shira, to no avail and soon he had to deal with the Suna-nin's group assault. Fortunately, Lee's team-mates arrived to save him. Lee after recuperating, was about to join in the fight but Shira begged the Konoha-nin to leave them be. He insisted that their distaste of him is his own fault for the person he is right now. determined to be a man of recognition in the future. Lee cried over how modest Shira was being, but ultimately he and his team agreed. Shira offered his scroll to one of the Suna-nin teams as they technically defeated his team earlier. As Shira's words finally reached the spiteful Suna-nin, they declined and instead gave Shira's team and Lee's team their own respective scrolls as they lost this battle. After the Suna-nin left, determined like Shira to prove themselves by finding more scrolls, Shira agreed to Lee's request to have a one-on-one battle.

Quickly the two taijutsu specialists proved themselves equal in raw speed and skill, although Neji noted Shira had a slight advantage with his more solid built and by extension greater raw strength. As Lee attempted to use the Eight Gates on Shira, he found it impossible as Shira already anticipated this, having struck Lee's pressure points to prevent this. As Lee began changing tactics from Might Guy's teachings, manipulating how Shira would move, he began to drive Shira back. Ultimately, Shira thanked Lee, noting it was because of him that Shira himself became a ninja. Lee however insisted that it truly was Shira's own determination being recognized. Deciding he wants to face Lee at his best, Shira struck Lee's pressure points again to remove the block, letting Lee use the Eight Gates. Once Lee did, Shira unleashed his own Seven Heavenly Breaths. As the two augmented fighters began clashing at such intensity, Shira's previous wounds opened, prompting Lee to call off the fight. As Shira was healed by Yome, he explained that after the Chunin Exams ending, he was going to enlist in a special force on the outskirts of the village so he could be closer to his parents. Lee wished Shira good luck and gave him one of his jumpsuits as a gift, acknowledging their new friendship.

The following day, Lee's team ran into a team of Ame-kunoichi. As Neji calmly asked the other team if they had an Earth scroll, they quickly attack Tenten and her team. After the initial skirmish, the enemies decided retreat, deciding that Team Guy was not the target they sought from their chakra levels. Despite this, Lee's team pursued the Ame-nin into an old ruins. During their continued battle, the ground collapsed, swallowing Tenten and Ajisai and separating them from their respective teams. Neji insisted to the other Ame-nin that they call off the battle as their respective team-mates were more important. While they agreed, the Ame-nin decided to go about saving their third member on their own. Lee suggested to Neji that they plow their way through the rubble, only for Neji to reject the idea in fear of causing more damage than desired.

Soon afterward, the Ame-kunoichi were attacked by another Konoha team. Lee and Neji quickly went to their aid. While the fellow Konoha-nin were shocked to see the two aiding another village, Neji insisted that they needed their help and that ultimately, there was no true alliance in the exams beyond one's own team. This prompted the other Konoha team to retreat now that the numbers were against them. Now agreeing to work with Neji and Lee, the Ame-kunoichi joined them in their pursuit. Eventually, they found themselves attack by a colony of large ants. Lee decided to draw their attention while Neji and the others went on. Ultimately, Tenten was the one to get rid of the ants and help reunite the teams by unleashing a large surge of water. With crisis now over, both teams agreed to part ways peacefully.

Later, Team Guy was caught in a massive sandstorm. Unable to push forward, Neji repelled with sand long enough for Tenten to summon a protective dome for them to wait out the storm. While waiting for the storm to settle down, Tenten told Lee to stop moving too much and he told her that he was sorry. Lee on the other hand complained for how long it will take for them to get out of the sandstorm, but Neji told them that they will have to wait to which Lee agree. Once the sandstorm did settle down, Neji informs Lee and Tenten, who are encouraged to head out to the direction of the tower, that they hold two heaven scrolls, noting that he didn't have a chance to tell his team-mates due to the recent events. Neji then uses his Byakugan to scout the surrounding area, catching the sight of a weary Matsuri. The three genin then run to the kunoichi's aid, with Lee mistaking Neji's intents and asking if he wants to steal the scroll from a shinobi in danger, only to be corrected by Tenten. As they approach Matsuri, she tells them that Gaara is in danger and asks them to go and help the Kazekage in battle.

Once arriving, Neji used his Byakugan and was shocked to see not only that Fu was there and a jinchuriki as well, but that a Suna-nin named Hoichi was attempting to extract both tailed beasts inside their respect ninja. Team Guy was soon approached by Fu's team-mates, where it was agreed to unite their efforts in saving the two jinchuriki. Lee and Matsuri joined Fu's team-mates in distracting Hoichi while Neji and Tenten went to save the jinchuriki. While their attacks were quickly repelled by the Suna-nin's barrier, Lee confidently said it was find as long as Hoichi focused on them. Ultimately, Neji was able to free Gaara and Fu with his Gentle Fist, which came at Hoichi's expense as the chains soon turned on him, still seeking tailed beast chakra and ultimately bound him. With the crisis averted, Fu then quickly approached Neji and asked him to be her friend, to which a flustered Neji agreed while Lee laughed at the awkwardness.

Despite lacking a matching set of scrolls, Lee's team decided to complete the exams and head to the main building. There, it was learned that the Chunin Exams were ended early due to controversy happening in the second exam. Instead, it was decided by Gaara that a report on each participant would be sent to their respective village leader for them to decide if they would be promoted. Upon returning to the village, Team Guy was promoted by Tsunade from genin to chunin status. In addition, per recommendation by Gaara, Neji was promoted from genin to jonin status, which Lee and Tenten congratulated their team-mate for. Lee also thanked his teammates for helping him come this far since he is now a chunin.

Kazekage Rescue arc
Team Kakashi was sent on a mission to rescue Gaara from Akatsuki. When Tsunade began to worry that they might have problems, she sent Team Guy as back-up. On their way to a rendezvous point, they were attacked by Kisame Hoshigaki. Kisame was quite angered that Guy didn't remember him from their fight in Part I. Kisame soon captured Lee, Neji, and Tenten, but by opening the sixth gate, Guy ended the fight quickly, and they moved on.

Once Kakashi's team arrived after them, the two squads found out that there was a barrier on the Akatsuki headquarters, something Team Guy volunteered to take down. They split up and removed seals spread out across the area, bringing down the barrier but triggering a trap: they were attacked by clones of themselves. When they were about to be defeated, Lee figured out how to beat the clones — by being stronger than when they met them. With that, Lee uses a new technique to defeat his clone. Later on Lee and the rest of his team-mates would confront Deidara who had been hiding and spying on Team Kakashi. With Deidara ultimately fleeing the scene and leaving an explosive clone behind, they are saved by Kakashi who warps the explosion away. Once Gaara was later revived, they headed back to Sunagakure and then later to Konoha. As they left, Guy had to carry Kakashi who had been incapacitated from using the Mangekō Sharingan too much. Seeing this as a form of training, Lee told Neji to get on his back so that they might race back to Konoha, but was forcefully rejected.

Sasuke & Sai arc
Lee and the rest of Team Guy were only seen in the very beginning of this arc in the anime, as they returned from Suna. Lee, thinking he had come in second place in his and Guy's race from Suna to Konoha, was shocked when Guy informed him that since he was carrying Kakashi on his back as well, Lee had only come in third. Lee was seen carrying everyone's packs when they returned to Konoha. After escorting Kakashi to the hospital, Team Guy went to rest.

Twelve guardians arc
Asuma's team returns from its mission. Team Kakashi returns to Konoha as well, with Sora replacing Sai on the team. Naruto tries to show Sora around Konoha but Sora goes his own way. Sora's insults precipitate a brawl with Kiba and Choji, with Naruto and Rock Lee joining in. Shikamaru and Asuma stop the fight. Later Asuma tells Sora he knew Sora's father, who is revealed as one of the Guardians involved in the coup attempt. He also shows Sora his chakra blade attack. Furido and the other body snatchers begin their attack on the Kohaku clan.

Furido releases Sora's seal, and tells him the truth: Sora is a pseudo-jinchūriki. The chakra that had leaked from the Nine-Tailed Fox when it attacked Konoha 15 and a half years ago was harvested and implanted into Sora. Just then, Asuma arrives at the scene with Naruto. Asuma recognises Furido and it is revealed that he is Kazuma, Sora's father. Yamato, Sakura, Kiba, Lee, Ino, Choji and Shikamaru also turn up. Enraged, Sora wants to destroy everything, and turns into the three-tailed form of the demon fox. However, Yamato is unable to restrain him, because he does not have the First Hokage's necklace on him.

The chakra of the Nine-Tails rages out of control within Sora, preventing Naruto and the others from subduing him. Asuma and Kazuma resume their old battle. Naruto is repeatedly knocked down in his attempts to restrain Sora, and the chakra seeps into him and transforms him as well. Yamato is unable to suppress the Nine-Tails' chakra in both jinchūriki, being prevented by an unknown outside force. Sora's fourth tail emerges, causing the Nine-Tails' cloak to envelop his body. He temporarily gains his own consciousness when he witnesses Naruto stab himself in the leg and successfully prevent the original Nine-Tails' cloak from emerging.

The struggle between Naruto and Sora continues. Asuma and Kazuma fight. Sai arrives, having snuck out of hospital, and binds Kazuma with an ink snake. Kazuma breaks out of Sai's technique and charges Asuma, but is killed. Naruto eventually reaches Sora, who manages to release the Nine-Tails' chakra. However the Nine-Tails' chakra that is released begins to become a miniature Nine-Tails. This provokes Tsunade to head out to engage the beast. It soon became clear that the miniature Nine-Tails could not form without a human host so it dissipated. Sora then leaves the village to travel the world. Asuma and Shikamaru play shogi and discuss who the king of Konoha is.

Hidan & Kakuzu arc
In the anime, he is seen at Asuma's funeral, mourning his death.

Three Tails arc
Tsunade finds the location of Orochimaru's hideout and sent Kakashi along with Team Kurenai to see it. They get into a fight with Guren and Shino sends back one of his crystallised bugs. Then Tsunade sends Yamato, Sai, and Sakura to help them along with Naruto who meets them along the way. Team Kakashi and Kurenai follow Guren and discover that the thing they were after was the Three-Tails. Shizune, Ino, Tenten and Lee are assembled to help with the hunt for the Three-Tails. They all meet up and split into to groups to seal the tailed beast in its own dimension and get Yūkimaru. The Sealing group, Team Three is Shizune, Hinata, Sakura, and Ino. The Guarding group, Team Two is Yamato, Tenten, Kiba, and Lee, while Team One the Fighting group is Naruto, Kakashi, Sai, and Shino.

Team Three tried to use Four-Corner Sealing Barrier to permanently trap the beast in its own dimension. Just as the sealing began to work, the Konoha ninja were interrupted by Guren, which prompted the beast to attack them all. Yūkimaru was able to calm the beast down temporarily, but, after he became tired, the Three-Tails turned its attention to him. Guren and Naruto came to his defence, but were swallowed in the process. With the help of their allies on the outside, they were able to escape, and the Konoha ninja tried once more to seal the beast

Just when the sealing was almost complete, Yūkimaru, angered by the apparent death of Guren, empowered the beast to break free of its restraints. The Three-Tails went on a rampage, attacking everyone nearby and crushing Nurari, Kigiri, and Kihō. Its attempts to attack Yūkimaru, however, had no effect. It was only through the use of the Wind Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet that the beast was driven away. The sealing attempt was left to ANBU members, and the remaining Konoha ninja returned home.

Invasion of Pain arc
During Pain's invasion of Konoha, Team Guy was away on a mission. On their way returning to the village, they noticed a large number of birds flying from the direction of the village and rushed to see what the issue was. When they arrived to see the village in ruins they also spotted a severely wounded Hinata, and got her medical attention. Later, Lee, alongside the other villagers, celebrated Naruto's victory over Pain.

Konoha History arc
In the ruins of Konoha, Mr. Ostrich decides to tell the story of his "rivalry" with Naruto to his young and how Naruto would interfere with his freedom. Tsunade assigns Naruto to capture Mr. Ostrich who escaped again into Training Ground Zero. Unlike last time, Mr. Ostrich trained himself into becoming a nindachō. Tsunade has Kotetsu Hagane captain of the team of Naruto, Shino and Lee. Izumo Kamizuki learns of Kotetsu's mission and whines about not being with Kotetsu which annoys Tsunade. Kotetsu has Shino locate Mr. Ostrich with his kikaichū and the team manages to find him who laughs at Naruto. Shino has Naruto to try and distract him while he would surprise him with his bugs. Naruto makes an insult about Mr. Ostrich's father but makes a fool of himself instead. Shino's bugs get eaten by fly traps and the ostrich makes an escape. Lee runs after him but runs into a boxing kangaroo. Mr. Ostrich runs to Naruto and surprises him with his ability to speak. Naruto, Kotetsu and Lee all struggle in fighting against the powerful animals and decide to retreat.

Kotetsu decides for the team to longer hold back against them when suddenly Mr. Ostrich and the kangaroo find them. Mr. Ostrich, who now names himself Condor, is tired of humans domesticating animals and formed a team of ninja animals. Shino tries to sneak his bugs to Condor again but they are eaten yet again by an anteater that is part of Condor's team. The team battles against the animals, who prove to be a handful for them. Kotetsu decides to use his Conch Shell Mace to fight Condor who is knocked down by his powerful kicks. Izumo arrives and yells at Kotetsu to run from Condor's attack. Izumo uses his Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field to trap Condor and Kotetsu manages to strike down Condor. The rest of the team manages to defeat the other animals they were fighting. Izumo arrived to help out Kotetsu but resulted in leaving a stack of Tsunade's paperwork unfinished. Kotetsu decides to make it up by finishing the work for him. The flashback ends and Naruto finds Condor who is surprised to see he escaped yet again and chases after him.

Lee arrives at Tsunade's tent and asks Sakura how she is feeling though Sakura nods her head no. Lee brought a bottle of medicine Guy made for her to get well and has a flashback of when Tsunade told him he could no longer become a ninja. Naruto and Sakura find Yamanaka Ino at the hospital who tells them they have a mission together. They say their hellos to Lee in his room. Lee accidentally drops his youth drink bottle that Guy made for him but Naruto catches it and drinks it all, putting Lee is dismay. Lee explains that, with the drink, he would be able to recover a little faster. Naruto decides to go see Guy and have him make another drink. Guy appoints Naruto to a mission to go to Mount Jofuku to retrieve the Jofuku Flower, a medicinal herb said to cure any illness, which is the missing ingredient in the medicine he is making. Before setting off, Naruto puts on the green jumpsuit that Guy gave him.

Naruto meets Sakura and Ino at the village gate who were waiting to leave with Naruto to their mission. Naruto tells them of his mission at Mount Jofuku which is also the place of his team's mission.

The team takes a break at a small tea soup where the old lady there warns them of Jofuku Forest that has ghosts of dead ninja wandering about. The team head to Jofuku Forest where they find a large sign blocking a path. Naruto decides to go through it with Sakura and Ino following him, having no choice. Naruto finds the Jofuku Flowers but upon pulling them causes some sand appearing that forms into Gaara after the mention of him from Ino. The team are shocked to see "Gaara" and decide to retreat but suddenly the Gaara impostor starts attacking Naruto, having the same abilities as the real Gaara. Ino tries her Mind Body Switch Technique on the impostor but cannot sense a consciousness in it. Naruto destroys the Gaara impostor with the Uzumaki Naruto Combo and a Rasengan. Suddenly they are approached by an old medical ninja from Konoha named Furofuki who is doing research in the forest.

Sakura asks Furofuki who or what was the Gaara impostor. They are then answered that it was a Jofuku Flower, which assumes the form of the nemesis of whoever pulls it. They give Furofuki the letter that they were assigned to do and are given another mission by her to take loads of Jofuku Flowers back to Konoha. With the final ingredient at hand, Guy is able to finish the medicine and makes a bowl full of medicine balls for Lee. Lee is shocked to hear that Sakura and her team did this and decides to recover as soon as possible. While Lee starts devouring the horribly tasting medicine balls, Guy does 1000 push-ups, not wanting Lee to be the only one to suffer, and the flashback ends.

Five Kage Summit arc
When news reaches Konoha of Sasuke's crimes against other villages, Lee and the rest of the Konoha 11 decide they should eliminate Sasuke themselves before he can involve Konoha in a war. So that Sakura can inform Naruto of their decision, Lee, Kiba, and Sai escort her to the Land of Iron. When they locate him, Sakura tells Naruto that she loves him, surprising Lee. This does not convince him to give up his own search for Sasuke, so they leave without another word. Sakura then asks her escorts to help her find Sasuke. When they are near his location, Sakura tries to knock them out so she can face Sasuke alone. Sai stops her, so Sakura convinces Lee and Kiba that he is a traitor. While they try to detain him, she succeeds in knocking them out.

After Sakura and the rest of Team 7 meet with Sasuke, they retrieve Lee and the others and return to Konoha. Lee is later seen with the rest of the Konoha 11 hearing Naruto's decision to take responsibility for Sasuke. Though they protested this action, Naruto firmly states that he would be the one to take care of Sasuke. Before leaving, he promises to tell them everything when the time was right.

Chikara arc
Lee is seen battling some of Kabuto's reincarnated shinobi.

Adventures at Sea arc
Lee dreamed fighting Obito, after awaking, he then thinks about his training to the upcoming war, and saw a boat, while Guy remembers their past "visualisation training" with him using the menu in a restaurant they celebrated when Lee mastered Reverse Lotus (although they left it in ruins when Lee was drunk). Guy wants to have it kept secret, he said it so they can remember what happened there (although he really knows what happened). First is training the White Crane Fist, but the birds beat them. Then the Snake Fist, but the quicksand almost killed them. Next is the Eagle Claw Fist, they had to climb on a seemingly-like cliff, but the eagle caught them. The last is then Lee getting near to know it, but Guy thinks of an alibi, but when they trained in a waterfall he then realises, and learned the Seasick Fist, which he then defeated Guy. Naruto then commented that he can't use said fist unless he didn't overcome his seasickness. Lee is later shown training it while riding in a boat.

At a meeting held by the Hyuga clan regarding the impending war, Neji is appointed as the commander of the clan on the frontlines by Hiashi which shocked some of the members. Hinata later meets with Kurenai where she is told by Shikamaru that he and quite a few of the other members of the Konoha 11 had seen Naruto since he left the village and that Tsunade was looking for her.

Hopeful that Tsunade had in fact requested her to go on a mission so she could see Naruto she goes in search of her only to be disappointed. She along with the other females of the Konoha 11 and Shiho are later invited by Tenten to a girls night out at Yakiniku Q. Somewhat saddened that he wasn't invited, Choji comes up with the idea of a guys night out at the same place. The two groups talk about Naruto and the past, reminiscing about the first Chūnin Exams. The girls are later joined by Shizune and a moderately intoxicated Tsunade. Tsunade attempts to apologise for how she dismissed Hinata earlier but Hinata tells her it was fine as she knew what she had to do. The next day during her training with Neji she tells him that she bore no ill will towards him for her father's decision and that he was the right person to lead them in the war.

After Rock Lee falls into a river during their training, Tenten has a flashback of her youth, while waiting for him to surface. When she was a child, she had dreamed to become a strong kunoichi like her heroine: Tsunade, and thanks to Guy's guidance she initially began her path towards becoming a legendary medical-nin. However she failed during her training trying to heal a fish, and her attempts to sign a contract to summon a creature like Tsunade's famed slugs met no success because of her quarrel with Ningame, Guy's summon. After many failures, Guy notes that she had a talent for fūinjutsu and began honing her unique fighting style. After that she realised that she was a weapons specialist and vowed that instead of becoming just like Tsunade, she would still become a legendary kunoichi.

Fourth Shinobi War arc
During the Fourth Shinobi War, Lee is assigned to the Third Division alongside Haruno Sakura and Maito Gai. He is seen fretting over his sensei's condition while Sakura tries to heal him. When members of the Surprise Attack Division are attacked by the reincarnated shinobi, the Third Division arrives in time to intercept the attack. He is then seen along with the Third Division clashing against the reincarnated ninja. Upon Hatake Kakashi's orders, they group into a Manji Formation, Lee promises that no matter what he will protect Sakura; she however tells him to also be careful as the last time Momochi Zabuza was able to penetrate the formation from its weak point; the centre. He and Guy later intercepted Haku's assault with the Leaf Coiling Whirlwind. In the anime, after the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were summoned, Guy told Lee to chase after Pakura while he went after Gari. After a long day battling, Lee and the recuperates with his remaining division members as night falls.

With the resumption of battle the next day, Lee sticks close to Sai who had been tasked with sealing the reincarnated Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Lee tells Sai not to worry and just concentrate on the sealing while he would protect him. When Naruto's shadow clone arrives on the battlefield, Lee exclaims that with him here their numbers would increase. However, Naruto tells them that he wouldn't be able to perform the Shadow Clone Technique in his current state, so they'd have to defeat the new wave of White Zetsu Army clones with quality of techniques instead of quantity in numbers.

Later in the anime, the Third Division came across another reincarnated shinobi: Master Chen — a renown hero of Konohagakure who was thought to have died during the Third Shinobi War. As Maito Gai who is happy at the prospect on challenging such a famed taijutsu master, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey soon finds himself being forced on the defensive by the old man. A shinobi is able to break away from the battle and in his search for reinforcements, finds Rock Lee who rushes to Guy's aid. Seeing the legend he met once before as a genin before him, Lee reveals his history with Chen before engaging the legend in battle. Ultimately, Lee is able to counter Chen's Leaf Dragon God technique, using the One-Man Front Lotus which he had engineered to counter the rotation of the winds of the former. As Chen's immortal body disintegrates, he remembers the time when he had his own student who was incapable of using ninjutsu, and how he had died during the Third Shinobi War. Finally letting go of his painful past and apologising to the young man for what he had said, the old master was able to break the summoning contract and his soul returns to the afterlife. Lee promises to Chen that he'll bring rice balls to his grave.

After being informed by Inoichi from HQ that Uzumaki Naruto and Killer B were fighting the "masked Madara", Lee and the rest of the Konoha 11 rush to his aid. As he runs, he spurred Sai — who was lamenting the fact that he could not use his Super Beast Imitating Drawing technique to get to Naruto faster — onwards telling him that now was the time to respond to the heroic efforts of those fighting Uchiha Obito.

Upon finally arriving at the battlefield, and seeing his mentor's state, Lee asked whether or not Guy had used the Daytime Tiger technique again. He later stood with the other members of the Allied Shinobi Forces as they prepared to face their opposition. Opening the Fifth Gate, Lee and his mentor prepare to attack the two Uchiha, but are buffeted by the force exerted by the now fully-matured Ten-Tails as it escaped the hole it had seemingly been trapped in. He is then seen with Guy and Tenten reacting to Hyuga Neji's death. Tearfully holding his fallen team-mate's corpse, he was stopped by Guy who told him to keep his tears and hold onto the feelings Neji left them. Lee was then seen listening on as Naruto imparted comforting words to the Allied Forces.

Thinking back on his time with Neji growing up and the conversations they had, Lee mused about something Neji had said to him. Having received chakra from Naruto, the now empowered Lee, respectfully closed his fallen comrade's eyes before joining the ranks of the other Allied shinobi. Charging forward with the Alliance, Lee signalled to Naruto that he would deal with Madara while he took care of Obito. With Guy giving him a boost, Lee propelled towards Madara and remorselessly bisected the Uchiha with a powerful kick, also destroying Madara's connection to the beast.

He would later stare in amazement at the red barrier that had been constructed around the Ten-Tails and listened on as Guy noted that only shinobi of Hokage-calibre were able to perform the Four Red Yang Formation technique. With the situation later turning grim as the Alliance was trapped in a barrier with a Tailed Beast Ball-firing tree, Lee and the other shinobi soon found themselves shrouded in the previous Version 1 mantles again. He and the other subsequently found themselves on the outside of the barrier, escaping the near-fatal attack thanks to Naruto and Namikaze Minato's action.

The Ten-Tails transformed into its final form, the Shinju, and many shinobi were attacked but Lee was able to escape. Senju Hashirama had Yamanaka Ino everyone link-up telepathically, Lee being one of them. Hashirama's words fail to inspire anyone, but Naruto's senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Mode combined with Ino's telepathy causes his emotions and personal memories to be transferred to everyone. Later he mobilised alongside his comrades when Naruto called out to them. Shocked when he was enveloped by Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode mantle, Lee was apprehensive about their strategy at first but ultimately launched an attack on Obito and was able to overwhelm his defence giving Naruto and Sasuke the opportunity to attack Obito directly. He and his comrades later aided Naruto in extracting the tailed beasts' chakra from Obito in order to stop the Shinju from blooming.

After his sensei over-taxed himself, unable to stand up on his own, Lee resorted to supporting him. While doing so, Lee and his teammates noticed Gaara speeding past them, where Lee noticed Sakura was with him. As Guy begins to worry about situation, Madara, having just revived himself and become the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki himself, flies past the Konoha-nin and regurgitated the Benihisago and Kohaku no Johei, which landed on top of both Guy and Lee.

After recomposing themselves, Guy and Lee went on ahead while Tenten remained behind. Guy arrived on the battlefield in time to save Kakashi and then confront Madara. Lee arrived shortly after in time to save his teacher from Madara's attack. As Guy reassessed the situation, he decided to gamble his life and use the eighth gate against Madara.As Lee began to cry at the realization of his sensei's impending doom, Guy told Lee not to be sad as this was his choice.

Watching Guy at full power taking on Madara, Lee was greatly proud to see Guy overwhelm Madara, yet angered at his own inability to fight at the same level to help Guy. Minato told Lee to not feel that way as Guy was making his sacrifice so Lee could live. After Minato explained the mechanics of Madara's chakra orbs, Lee activated the sixth gate and joined his allies in a group assault, throwing the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God Kunai in front of the chakra orbs to let Minato teleport most of the orbs away. Ultimately, the team gave Guy and opening to land powerful blow from his Evening Elephant.

Lee watched on in amazement as his mentor unleashed another powerful attack on Madara, noting that this time, the stance he took was not that of the Evening Elephant, but the Night Guy technique. Lee was later shocked to see Naruto return with Guy who was still alive despite opening all of the Eight Gates.

When Madara attempted to drop the massive earthen debris on the ground, Gaara asked him to leave there quickly, but later falling victim to the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Inside the genjutsu, Lee dreamed of finally defeating both Naruto and a still alive Neji in battle followed quickly by Sakura professing her love for him.

Ultimately, Lee and the rest of the world were free from the genjutsu by Naruto and Sasuke after they ended the war.

Blank Period
Nearly a year after the war ended, As the Tobishachimaru is about to take off, Kakashi spots a hooded figure sneaking off the ship. He engages the figure only to discover that it's Rock Lee. Realising what's happened, Kakashi boards the Tobishachimaru as it rises into the air. He finds Might Guy who, despite his history of motion-sickness, is eager to be one of the first people to fly in the air. Kakashi is not surprised by Guy's determination, as the injury to Guy's leg he received during the War has done little to discourage him from continuing life as a ninja. Since they aren't supposed to be on the flight, Kakashi and Guy seek out a place where they won't be noticed. In doing so, they discover a group of shinobi planting explosive tags around the ship. Later, a member of the Ryuha Armament Alliance delivers a message containing Rahyo's demands to Tsunade. After confirming the story, Tsunade radios Shikamaru — who is currently in charge of the Blood Prison — with what is happening. As they try to decide what to do, Lee breaks into the transmission to inform Tsunade that Kakashi and Guy are on the ship. Lee is force to stay behind to help Kakashi with his mission, while Guy is told to head back home. With the mission being a success, Lee returns home.

Many years later in Konoha, Kakashi assigns all the wedding's attendees a mission that is to be kept secret from Naruto and Hinata: bring a gift. Rock Lee takes the mission seriously, determined to get the best possible gift for Naruto. He runs laps around Konoha until he can think of what to buy. 864 laps later, Lee collapses from exhaustion; the best idea he came up with was a pair of dumbbells, which he doesn't think would be appropriate. Lee has a dream about Neji while he sleeps. Neji starts giving him advice for the wedding present, but only manages to make unclear references to strength and stamina before Lee wakes up.

As Lee lies in the middle of a street he is greeted by Might Guy. Guy is about to do laps around Konoha until he can think of what to buy for Naruto and Hinata and invites Lee to join him. Lee reports that he's already done that without success. Guy suggests that Lee try coming up with a gift for Hinata instead, while he thinks of a gift for Naruto. Lee thinks about Hinata's post-wedding life of childcare and housework. Guy thinks of Naruto's post-wedding life of home maintenance and carrying groceries. Both simultaneously conclude they should buy dumbbells to prepare Naruto and Hinata for their lives ahead. Neji's words suddenly make sense to Lee and he embraces Guy in a long, tearful hug. Unknown to them, that since they were so loud; the whole village heard them, and sent Kakashi complaints about this early in the morning.

Later, Lee comes to see Tenten while she trains. He is wearing a dress and make-up and is lifting dumbbells. Lee explains his and Guy's earlier reasoning and how, by dressing as a housewife in order to test out their idea, he is convinced that he and Guy made the right choice; he now wants to make sure Tenten isn't going to get Naruto and Hinata the same gift. Tenten doesn't understand Lee's explanation at all but nevertheless is put at ease by what he says.

On the day of the wedding, guests start arriving at the ceremony to be held under the Hokage Monument. Lee is seen with Guy as Tenten gives them instructings on how they should behave at weddings.

Epilogue
Years later, Lee continued his arduous training style and belief in youth, passing it on to a child, presumably his son.

Naruto movie 1
Lee was only seen in a flashback by Naruto.

Naruto movie 3
Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Hatake Kakashi and Rock Lee were assigned to a B-rank mission, to protect the prince of the Land of the Moon, Michiru, during his world trip; other escorts had been hired, but had quit due to being treated poorly. The Land of the Moon is a very wealthy nation, so Michiru tended to buy whatever he wanted, and had a very materialistic world-view. His son, Hikaru, also acted in much the same manner, which irritated Naruto.

During the trip, the caravan stopped at a circus. When Hikaru took a liking to a rare sabre-toothed tiger, Chamū, which was featured there, Michiru ended up purchasing not only it, but the rest of the circus as well, placing it under the team's protection. Hikaru attempted to befriend the tiger, but found that it disliked humans. He lost interest in the circus, and, during a sea voyage, when a storm hit, he appeared unconcerned about the animals' well-being, causing Naruto to become disgusted at his lack of value for them. Upset by Naruto's view of him, Hikaru went out to help Chamū get to safety, and Naruto saved both of them after they were washed overboard. The next day, Naruto, Sakura and Lee become friends with Hikaru.

After returning to the Land of the Moon, the team found that the country had been taken over by Shabadaba, one of the nobles and a former friend of Michiru. Having hired three powerful ninja to assist him, Shabadaba had disposed of the king, and planned to do the same with Michiru and Hikaru, the remaining heirs to the throne. He ordered the military forces to kill them all, but the team was able to escape with the help of some soldiers still loyal to the king.

Escaping to a hidden cave, Michiru found that his father was still alive, but Sakura, although able to heal his petrified arm, was only able to keep him alive for a little while. The king revealed that he had suspected that something like this would happen, and had arranged for the journey to keep Michiru out of harm's way. Before dying, the king told Michiru and Hikaru that people are truly important in life, not material goods. During an attempt to escape the country by boat, the three ninja hired by Shabadaba attacked, disabling Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, and Lee with reaction-dulling poison that slowed their reactions. The prince was captured, but the emergence of Naruto's fox chakra allowed him to repel the attacking ninja before the prince's son could be taken.

At the castle, Shabadaba's reasons for taking over the country were revealed to be purely material, the same things Michiru had considered important, as he intended to use the nation's wealth for himself rather than the people. Michiru was disgusted by Shadabada's attitude, and realised the truth of what his father had said. Shabadaba decided to put him to death by a drawn out hanging: he had Michiru balance on a board of wood not strong enough to support his weight while wearing a noose, ensuring that, sooner or later, he would fall and be hanged.

With the help of the circus Michiru had purchased earlier, Kakashi's team made a rescue attempt with Hikaru and the rogue soldiers, infiltrating the palace by disguising themselves as members of the circus. One by one, Kakashi and his team fought individual battles: Kakashi fought the many soldiers in the courtyard, while each of the genin fought one of the ninja. Lee wielded a pair of nunchaku that had the ability to connect to other staffs hidden in his leg weights, creating weapons such as a long staff and a chain whip. He killed his opponent, Kongō, using Reverse Lotus. Sakura was able to dispatch her poison and genjutsu-using opponent, Karenbana, by shattering a chandelier to locate her by watching where she moved, and subsequently killed her with one punch. It turned out Karebana had worn too much perfume (which had helped Sakura locate her opponent while in a genjutsu by smelling for the perfume).

Naruto fought against Ishidate, the leader of the three ninja, while helping Hikaru reach his father. Hikaru shot an arrow, severing the rope around Michiru's neck, and Naruto's shadow clones caught the prince and his father. Ishidate was enraged, and attempted to kill Naruto, but Shadabada ordered him to deal with Michiru. Ishidate powers up his petrification glove to the fullest as Shadabada continues to tell him which target to pick. Enraged by his constant bicker, Ishidate accidentally petrifies Shadabada. In the penultimate scene, Naruto, his leg disabled by his opponent's strange petrification, rode on Michiru's shoulders to attack with his Rasengan, which then reflected the light of the moon in such a manner that it grew and took on a crescent shape, creating the Crescent Moon Rasengan. He hit Ishidate with this attack, sending him flying and destroying Shadabada's stone remains killing them both.

After Ishidate's death, Michiru took the throne of the country, and promised to rule as his father had done while starting on a diet, beginning weight training and once the country settles down he was going to pick Hikaru's mama, Amayo. As Kakashi was immobilised due to overuse of the Sharingan, his team decided to take a vacation in the Land of the Moon while he recovers. Two weeks later, Kakashi has regained his strength and the team departs as the saviours of the Crescent Moon Kingdom.

Naruto Shippuuden movie 1
The opening scene of the movie showed Naruto fighting a monster, only to be killed by it. The setting then went back to a few days previous, where a man named Yomi (the word literally means "Underworld" in Japanese culture) attacked a shrine, to retrieve the spirit of Mōryō, a demon who attempted to take over the world and create his "Thousand Year Kingdom". Since he was lacking a body, Yomi offered his as a temporary substitute, until they could retrieve Mōryō's original one sealed in a different shrine.

The only threat to Mōryō's plan was a priestess known as Shion, who could seal his spirit away once more. He raised a stone army from their slumber, to attack the rest of the world, while his four subordinates went to murder Shion. They were given special chakra creatures to enhance their strength.

To deal with the threat, Konohagakure sent out many advance teams to stall the stone army. Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Neji Hyūga and Rock Lee were sent to guard Shion, and deliver her to the shrine where Mōryō's body was sealed. They fended off her four would-be assassins, who exhausted themselves in a failed attempt to kill Naruto. Shion told Naruto of his upcoming death; while initially sceptical, her assistant, Taruho, explained that Shion could see the future, and all 100 predictions she had made had come true. As they headed for the shrine, the group was ambushed once again by Yomi's four subordinates, and split into two teams. Lee killed his opponent by eating an alcoholic candy to get him into Drunken Fist, while Naruto was kept busy by his. Neji told Sakura to escape with Shion, unaware that his two opponents were actually just one man and a puppet, to distract him and let the remaining ninja catch up to Sakura and Shion, Sakura was then disabled by the remaining ninja, and Shion was killed.

This turned out to be a ruse: the dead "Shion" was actually Taruho, who transformed himself into a copy of Shion to trick them into thinking they had killed the real one. Shion explained that her power worked by allowing her spirit to jump back in time at the moment of her death, thereby allowing her to avoid it by having someone die in her place. Naruto insisted that he would not die, and likewise would keep Shion safe.

Thanks to Lee, Neji realised that the remaining three ninja must keep replenishing their chakra to battle effectively. Naruto was sent on ahead with Shion, while Sakura and Lee tricked their opponents into wasting their chakra on futile attacks. When they ran out of chakra and they had to replenish it, Neji disabled the final ninja, who was providing the chakra, leaving the other two powerless against Lee and Sakura.

At the mountain temple where Mōryō's body was kept, Naruto and Shion found the stone army waiting. On the first attempt to get pass the army, both Naruto and Shion fell off a cliff. Afterwards, Naruto came up with a plan and promised Shion that he would protect her. Naruto then held the army back using Shadow Clones while Shion headed inside the temple to begin the sealing ritual. Yomi was already inside, and tricked Shion into beginning the technique with him inside the barrier, allowing Mōryō's spirit to reunite with his body. Naruto came to rescue her. About to see her prediction of his death come true, she used her power to change Naruto's fate, intending to kill herself and Mōryō in order to save him. Naruto stopped her seconds before her death, saying that he promised to protect her and used Naruto and Shion's Super Chakra Rasengan, with both their chakra, to destroy Mōryō, creating a volcano where the shrine used to be in the process.

With Mōryō gone, Naruto asked Shion what she intended to do now. She replied that Mōryō was a demon caused by the evil thoughts, and that there was bound to be another Mōryō someday. Because of this, she said that she must continue the line of priestesses, that would suppress demons like Mōryō. Then she asked Naruto if he would help (indirectly asking if he will father her child) to everyone's shock, which a misunderstanding Naruto, happily agreed to.

Naruto Shippuuden movie 3
Lee was sent with the remaining members of the Konoha 11 after Naruto and Sakura to prevent them from going after Kakashi. After a brief encounter Team Guy was confronted by Ichi which resulted in his defeat when Lee and Neji combined their talents. He later joined the original team of nine in trying to defeat the Chimera created when Ichi, Ni and San fused together.

Naruto Shippuuden movie 5
Rock Lee appears along with the other members of the Konoha 11, Kakashi, Yamato, Guy, Shizune, and Tsunade to help save Naruto from the Hozukijo and help defeat Satori.

Naruto Shippuuden movie 6
Lee first appeared with his friends battling several Zetsu clones disguised as deceased Akatsuki members. Later in the alternate world, a different Lee is seen. While he is virtually identical to his counterpart, this Lee steals and wears women's undergarments.

Naruto Shippuuden movie 7
During Toneri's attack on earth, Lee and other taijutsu users defended Konoha from a larger meteorite after he opened the sixth gate. He later attended Naruto and Hinata's wedding.

Boruto movie
Lee makes a brief appearance in the film during the Chunin Exams, where he proctored the final round matches. When he announced that Boruto is the winner after the fight against Shikadai, Lee learns from Naruto Boruto cheated. So Lee is told by Naruto to disqualify Boruto and to make Shikadai the winner, in which he does by announcing it to the audience.

When Kinshiki and Momoshiki began their attack on the arena, Lee protects Shikdai. Then he tries to help some civilians evacuate. He is lastly seen during the end credits with his son.

Video Games
Rock Lee is a playable character in the following video games:
 * Battle Stadium D.O.N
 * Naruto RPG 2 Chidori vs Rasengan
 * Naruto SD Powerful Shippuuden
 * Naruto Shippuuden Clash of Ninja Revolution 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Gekito Ninja Taisen! EX
 * Naruto Shippuuden Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX 2
 * Naruto Shippuuden Gekito Ninja Taisen! EX 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Gekito Ninja Taisen! Special
 * Naruto Shippuuden Kizuna Drive
 * Naruto Shippuuden Legends Akatsuki Rising
 * Naruto Shippuuden Naruto vs Sasuke
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ninja Council
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ninja Destiny 2
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ninja Destiny 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja 4
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja 5
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Impact
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution
 * Naruto Clash of Ninja
 * Naruto Clash of Ninja 2
 * Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution
 * Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution 2
 * Naruto Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 3
 * Naruto Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 4
 * Naruto Konoha Senki
 * Naruto Ninja Council 2
 * Naruto Ninja Council 3
 * Naruto Ninja Destiny
 * Naruto Path of the Ninja
 * Naruto Path of the Ninja 2
 * Naruto Rise of a Ninja
 * Naruto The Broken Bond
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2 The Phantom Fortress
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm
 * Naruto Uzumaki Chronicles 2

Uzumaki Naruto
Originally Uzumaki Naruto saw Rock Lee as a rival and vice-versa. Lee's victory over Naruto before the Chunin Exams started was used by the latter as motivation to get stronger. After he stopped Naruto from attacking Neji for nearly killing Hinata, Lee admits his resolve to prove his team-mate's ideals of a fixed destiny being wrong. Seeing him sharing that same resolve, Lee was willing to let Naruto handle Neji in his stead prior to his injuries from fighting Gaara. Wanting to help Lee make a full recovery, Naruto brought Tsunade to Konoha in hopes that she could heal him. Naruto would work with Lee on missions from time to time, some anime-exclusive missions being comedic misadventures. During the Fourth Shinobi War, mourning over Neji's death, Naruto helped give Lee the strength needed to continue fighting and, with his assistance, helped sever Madara's and Obito's connections to the Ten-Tails. To strike the final blow on Obito, Naruto enabled Rock Lee to wield a ninjutsu for the first time by giving him a Rasengan he created. When Rock Lee questioned whether he could do it or not, Naruto gave a shout of encouragement. Lee like all the others fell prey to Madara's genjutsu trap. Later, Lee and the others are free from the genjutsu by Naruto and Sasuke after ending the war. Years later he attended Naruto and Hinata's wedding.

Knownable Relatives

 * Unnamed Wife
 * Metal Lee (Son)

Trivia
According to the databook(s): There are several differences between his character in the current time line and in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream:
 * Rock Lee has his own spin-off series called Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth by Kenji Taira, an assistant of Masashi Kishimoto.
 * Like his sensei, Rock Lee's character seems to be inspired by Bruce Lee, as shown from his name and having the same birthday and hair style. The outfit Rock Lee wears in part one may have been based of Bruce Lee's jumpsuit from the 1973 film Game of Death. Rock Lee's leg injury are also similar to the one Bruce Lee once received, both were also expected to never walk again.
 * Rock Lee placed very high in the first four Naruto character popularity polls. He finished 5th in the first and second polls, 8th in the third poll and 7th in the fourth poll. But his popularity slipped in the last two polls, finishing 13th in the fifth poll and 18th in the sixth and most recent. In the 3rd Databook, a combination of the previous six polls ranked him as the 9th most popular character overall.
 * In Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes, Lee calls himself "Leaf Village's Noble Savage".
 * Rock Lee's hobbies are his and Gai's intense taijutsu training regimes.
 * Lee wishes for rematches with Hyuga Neji, Uchiha Sasuke, and Gaara. Including an all-out rematch with Uzumaki Naruto.
 * Lee's favorite foods are medium spicy curry rice and curry pilaf. Though like his sensei, he finds it impossible to dislike any sort of food.
 * Lee has completed 61 official missions in total: 25 D-rank, 21 C-rank, 4 B-rank, 10 A-rank, 1 S-rank.
 * Lee's favorite words are "Endeavour" (努力), "Guts" (根性), and "Love" (愛).
 * In the current time line, Rock Lee joins the Chunin exams with the Rookie Nine. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, he joins all nine of them on a mission.
 * Even though he is a back up member of the Sasuke Retrieval Squad in the current time line. Since Naruto, Neji and Shikamaru are official members of the group in both the current time line, and in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, when he goes to help Naruto and Shikamaru fight against the Root ANBU members. It's reveal that Neji brought Rock Lee and Tenten as the other two Sasuke Retrieval Squad members.
 * In the current time line, when Lee and the others went to get Sasuke back. He fought against Kimimaro. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Lee fought against Hayate.
 * In the current time line, Lee never saw Naruto battle Pain. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, he does watch Naruto battle Pain even wanting to go help Naruto.
 * In the current time line, Lee fought against the Ten Tails. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, he fought against Sasori's human puppets.
 * In the current time line, was sad about Neji's death. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Lee is glad that Neji is alive to which they take a group photo their team, Naruto, the Konoha 11, Team Jiraiya and a redeemed Sasuke.

Voice Actors

 * Japanese : Yoichi Masukawa


 * English : Brian Donovan

all information on Rock Lee is from http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Rock_Lee