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Since a young age, Lee has been unable to mold his chakra due to his underdeveloped chakra coils, leaving him unable to use any ninjutsu or genjutsu. This led his fellow Academy students to tease him for his handicap and his below-average taijutsu, though Lee ignored their words and began specializing in taijutsu, hoping to become a powerful ninja despite his inability. Upon being assigned to Team Guy, Might Guy took a personal interest in Lee's attempts to prove himself and began to help him in his dream of excelling in taijutsu. With Guy's assistance Lee began to learn many advanced taijutsu abilities, bringing him ever closer to achieving his goal of becoming a splendid ninja.
[edit] Personality
Tenten, Lee, and Neji in Part IILee is known for speaking respectfully to others and never using contractions. He also uses formal Japanese, applying proper titles ("-san", "-kun", etc.) to anyone he meets. His relationship with Guy has also caused him to acquire many of Guy's traits. Lee's green jumpsuit and shiny bowl haircut, having already had Guy's distinctive thick eyebrows, are direct results of his modeling himself in his sensei's image. In Part II he even begins wearing a tactical vest like Guy, the only difference being that Guy leaves his unzipped. Guy's influence has also caused the reshaping of Lee's personality, and his dedication to his promises as well as his belief that one cannot dislike food are also characteristics of Guy.
Lee has a number of other odd personality traits, though whether or not they are results of Guy's mentorship is unknown. One such trait is his apparent lack of common sense, believing at times that he can get what he wants by not wanting it. At other times, he takes copious notes, but forgets that he cannot check them during a fight. He also has a keen sense of honor, refusing to hold grudges against those who have defeated him and returning favors to those that have helped him.
Lee's attempts to prove and better himself are recurring themes for his actions throughout the series, which is initially most evident with Neji Hyuga. Neji, a "genius," finds Lee's efforts of bettering himself to be in vain, believing Lee to be stuck as a "failure" for the rest of his life. As such, Lee resolves to prove Neji wrong, and confronts another "genius," Sasuke Uchiha in an attempt to test his worth. While Lee maintains the desire to defeat Neji in a fight throughout the Chunin Exams, Neji's eventual defeat by Naruto Uzumaki, another "failure", seems to make him lose interest in this particular goal. Neji's rejection of his previous belief in fate may also have contributed to this, as he now respects Lee, believing that he will surpass the gifted with enough work, and that he would have given up if he were in Lee's situation.
During his battle with Gaara during the Chunin Exams, Lee's attempts to prove himself have terrible consequences for him. Gaara's abilities render Lee's attempts to damage him futile, and Lee's attempts at using his more powerful techniques to defeat Gaara leave his body broken. After Gaara's attacks further damage his body, crushing his left arm and leg, Lee is left injured so badly that he can no longer pursue life as a ninja. When Tsunade offers him an operation that will return him to his former state, though carries the possibility of causing his death, Lee is hesitant to accept the operation. While he can't stand the thought of not living as a ninja, he also can't stand the idea that he will die before he can fully prove himself. Through Guy's encouragement and words of dedication to him, Lee goes through with the operation and survives, causing his resolve to get stronger to only increase.
Shortly after his introduction, Lee reveals that he likes Sakura Haruno. While she does not seem to share these feelings for him and considers him weird, Lee maintains these feelings throughout the Chunin Exams, even coming to her rescue and using forbidden techniques in an attempt to protect her, considering her someone dear to him. The only apparent return of his feelings is when Sakura brings him a flower while he is in the hospital, hoping that he will recover from his injuries. Likewise, after he comes to her rescue during the Chunin Exams, she becomes much more appreciative of him, but does not seem to have any feelings for him, as she refers to him as "Lee-san" instead of the more intimate "Lee-kun". After the Exams' conclusion, Lee's interest in Sakura goes largely unaddressed, the only other exhibition of these feelings being seen during the anime's filler arcs where he is unable to attack Naruto while he is disguised as Sakura, being overcome with joy at seeing so many of her.
[edit] Abilities
Guy's leadership has also influenced Lee's training habits, which, coupled with his hard-working resolve, has allowed Lee to rapidly improve. When making a promise, for example, Lee assigns himself arduous tasks to complete in the event that he doesn't provide. For example, he promises himself that if he cannot do a certain number of exercises in a row, he will have to do a larger number of other exercises- as he usually barely fails each goal, he trains for a long period of time. Since Guy began training him, Lee has worn heavy weights on his ankles, 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. As such, the removal of his weights is a huge trump card for Lee, and in most situations doing so can all but guarantee victory. Lee has trained so extensively he can run and even fight while unconscious, using nothing but pure muscle memory. Over the timeskip he becomes a Chunin, indicating his training has paid off well.
Through Guy's teachings, Lee has learned many powerful taijutsu techniques. The most basic of these is his Strong Fist style of combat, a martial art style focusing on external damage. Lee has also learned how to open the first five of eight chakra gates, a feat that is difficult for even the most talented ninja. Because of the danger to his body that 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). Lee has also learned or developed a number of taijutsu techniques that take advantage of the extreme power and speed he gains from opening chakra gates.
Lee has manifested a natural predisposition towards the Drunken Fist (酔拳, Suiken?), a unique battle style that can't be learned or taught and is reminiscent of the actual Zui Quan martial art. When he drinks as little as one drop of alcohol, he becomes an unpredictable and unstoppable force of destruction and chaos. His actions while drunk are usually a combination of misguided attempts to impress Guy, regardless of whether or not Guy is around, and he drunkenly attacks any friend or foe that is near him. When drunk, his moves have an extra edge of unpredictability to them, which when coupled with his already formidable taijutsu skills makes him a force to be reckoned with. Guy explains that after Lee accidentally drank a small amount of sake during a congratulatory dinner after he learned Reverse Lotus, he proceeded to demolish the pub they were in, and it took the combined efforts of Guy and Neji to hold him down without harming him.
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