To everyone’s dismay, Gaara escaped the Initial Lotus at the moment Lee cringed in pain. He now appears behind Lee as his inner demon is now awakened and thirsty for blood. Gaara has his way with Lee, who is now exhausted from using his Lotus technique. Gai and Kakashi explain that Lee used the forbidden Renge (Lotus) technique, which while it allows its executor to move at incredibly high speeds, it also does immense damage to its executor’s body. That’s why it’s forbidden, and why Lee is now a lot slower.
Lee flashes back to his childhood as a number of kids tell him he’ll never be a ninja because he can’t use ninjutsu or genjutsu. Lee always ran away. But Gai watched with pride as Lee, who started with below average taijutsu, practiced relentlessly in his desire to master taijutsu. When Gai took on his three Genin team, he asked what each of their goals were. TenTen replied that she wanted to be a very strong ninja like the legendary Kunoichi (female ninja), Tsunade-sama. Lee wanted to prove that a person can be a respectful ninja even without the ability to use ninjutsu or genjutsu.
Neji remembers repeatedly fighting with Lee. Each time, Neji beats him. TenTen reaffirms that Lee can’t beat him, but Lee refuses to accept defeat.
Back in the match, Gaara attacks yet again with a delusional look on his face. Gai watches as Lee is hit again, and reminisces how Lee tried so hard to surpass his own goals. One day Lee became frustrated that he still couldn’t beat Neji, so Gai gave him a pep talk about believing in himself and his own abilities. The two share a bonding moment as Gai reveals that he once was a loser, but he now surpasses Kakashi because of all his hard work. If Lee believes in himself, he will eventually achieve his goals.
Lee prepares to perform his last move as Gai smiles and watches from above. The lotus of Konoha blossoms twice. Kakashi realizes Gai is permitting Lee to open the 8 celestial inner body gates (Hachimon-Tonkou) and do a Ura Renge (Reverse Lotus). Gai replies that he can open five gates. Hachimon-Tonkou is to remove limits as preparation for Ura Renge. Kakashi watches with his sharingan. On the chakra highway from the head to other parts of the body there are 8 gates: Kai-mon (Initial Gate), Kyu-Mon (Heal Gate), Sei-Mon (Life Gate), Sho-Mon (Harm Gate), To-Mon (Limit Gate), Kei-Mon (View Gate), Kyo-Mon (Wonder Gate), Shi-Mon (Death Gate). These 8 spots are where chakra holes are concentrated. The 8 gates always limit the amount of chakra flowing through the body. to do the Renge, he would break through those gates gaining the power a thousand times stronger than normal. The Omote Renge is a technique that opens only the first gate, Kai-Mon. it removes the limit his brain has on how far he can push his muscles. The 2nd gate, Kyu-Mon, will increase his body’s energy unnaturally, the 3rd gate, Sei-Mon… they come at a price, however. One can briefly gain the power that is above the hokage by opening all 8 gates, but anyone who does will definitely die.
Kakashi then warns Gai that he’s lost all respect for him by allowing lee to perform this. Gai retorts that Kakashi doesn’t understand Lee. He has an important goal that he wants to achieve, even if it means risking his own life. He wanted to make Lee a guy that could achieve his goals. That’s why he taught him this technique. It will be his most special technique. There is a very strict rule to use it…
Lee prepares to open the gate. He won’t be the one to lose this time. He powers up and opens the 3rd gate to unleash a mega power stream.