A weakness to genjutsu shouldn't be underestimated, especially when the
genjutsu user is ruthless enough to use explosion notes on her
friends...
Oh, Sakura would totally own Lee. He'd give her every opening, and she'd
exploit them all viciously.
Not _every_ opportunity, perhaps; he still wants to defeat Neji, after all. He would just work very hard to find a way to make her conceede without hurting her...
Well, it has to look convincingly like her intent was to attack him from
concealment. Neji can read her tells almost telepathically because of
his Byakugan, which means that she has to make it really look like she
wasn't expecting him to see through her genjutsu. Otherwise, he might
be on the lookout for her doing odd, suspicious things with her hands
as she stumbles away, injured. Sakura's strategy also plays to Neji's
abundant sense of superiority; by making herself appear more inferior
than she really is, she invites Neji to let his guard down...
But, except for the arrogance, a lot of your arguments don't make sense.
Assuming Sakura is a good enough actor to fool the Byakugan in the heat
of battle, she had to act like she thought she wouldn't get hit, which
means she couldn't be ready to defend herself (that would be very
obvious), which just makes it even more suicidal.
Um... exactly. And it's explicitly not suicidal because Neji has stated that he does not want to hurt her, so he will not be using killing blows when his opponent is _obviously_ too pathetic to even defend herself.
Sakura is not a good enough body actor to completely fool the byakugan, so her attacks and (lack of) defenses must be real; this does not mean she's not good enough to hide a few little things behind what Neji is expecting to see. It all comes down to what Neji is expecting: he expects Sakura to be defenseless, so she gives him 'defenseless.' He expects Sakura's attacks to be inneffectual, so she gives him 'innefectual.' When everything goes exactly how you expect it to, and you're as flat-out arrogant as Hyuuga Neji, you might tend to miss things that you're _not_ expecting to see...
Hmm... Sakura's enhanced speed might make closing to striking distance
faster than the 'draw time' on the Hidden Snake Hands; one _does_ get
the impression that she is now possibly the second-fastest genin in the
leaf, with how she's described as moving right here...
The idea of running being faster than handsigns bothers me on a basic
level. I concede, however, that it IS in genre.
It's not simply the speed of the seals; one must also take into account the flight time of the snakes...
This would be true if it weren't for the fact that she's described as
almost completely drained at this point, while Neji is still mostly
fresh; her poison does not seem to be fast-acting, so he might have had
enough time to run her to ground before it really kicked in...
Sure.
But is that any worse than fighting him now? He's only going to get more
tired, while she isn't going to get any more exhausted than she is after
that massive combo. This is a classic example of only having to fight not
to lose, not to win.
Er... that makes no sense. She _is_ going to get more tired after using that massive combo, probably even faster than Neji would chasing her, since Neji is both physically fresh and has better base endurance, and her poison impairs chakra control but he has to have at least enough basic taijutsu to beat up an exhausted opponent without the gentle fist. If she fled, right after utilizing the hidden snake hands, she doesn't really have enough chakra left to do anything so it just takes Neji a little longer to beat her.
By using everything she has at once, she risks all for a chance at victory that she will not see again. The Claw of the Fire Dragon probably _would_ have landed too, perhaps ending the fight in her favor, if she hadn't retracted the snakes first, thus allowing him a moment to perform the kawarimi.
Plus, fighting not to lose would not impress the person she wants to impress. She wants to make it absolutely clear in Tsunade's mind that she has become stronger, and if that means fighting to win, then that is what she is going to do.
- Wearing the weights.
She didn't lose anything for it in this case, though; her fights with
Ami and Ino would have been resolved more quickly if she'd simply
blitzed them with her superior speed, but neither fight really wore her
down much at all, and she didn't really show _any_ of her new cards
until the Neji fight because of this (even if Neji was prepared for the
speed specifically).
It still showed arrogance. It was justified against Ami, but Ino put her
on the ropes.
Ino put her on the ropes with strategy, though, not physical prowess. I also disagree that its arrogance on Sakura's part; i think it's more akin to Lee's weakness, the desire to test how strong she has become...
Hmm... by your own assessment criteria, both Neji and Lee should fail.
Neither of them took most of their fights seriously; Lee wore his
weights all the way up to the end, while Neji _consistently_ let
himself be baited into bad situations by overestimating his own
abilities and underestimating those of his opponents. Lee is still
stuck in an immature state of wanting to 'test' himself at every
opportunity when it would be better to just get the job done, while
Neji's overconfidence makes him slopier than a good ninja should be...
Just playing devil's advocate a bit ^_^;...
~Eimii
Well, let's look at Lee and Neji.
Both Lee and Neji have a big honkin' item in their plus column called "Can
beat the shit out of most Chuunin."
That is not what being a chuunin is about. A chuunin is a _command_ level ninja. A chuunin must make decisions that will determine the fate of entire squads of ninja, not just himself or herself. Though combat prowess is valued, clear thinking is far more important. That is why Shikamaru was promoted and nobody else was.
So, Lee:
++ Can beat the shit out of most Chuunin. + Personal emotional investment
by Tsunade. + Improvization as demonstrated by defeating the Waterfall
ninja. + Previously demonstrated determination and endurance (not really
much chance to demonstrate that here, as he almost never got hit) + Would
have been the winner had he not conceded. That does count for something.
- Known weaknesses, though they were not demonstrated in the exam. -
Arrogance. Lee actually did have to drop weights during a fight, showing
that he overestimated himself or underestimated his opponents. - Lost it
and used the Lotus after his second fight was over. Harming himself when
he knows Neji is next was a massive failure in strategy. Understandable
due to the Gaara flashbacks he was probably suffering in both his fights,
but still a mistake.
Ultimately, Lee will be passed on pure combat ability. He is simply too
strong to justify keeping him in a Genin team when the Leaf needs
Chuunin.
No, Lee can be safely kept a genin. Lee does not have the leadership ability, forethought or insight to command other ninja. A team with a competent chuunin commander could utilize his advanced combat abilities quite well in a variety of situations, but Lee is not fit to take command himself.
Neji:
++ Can beat the shit out of most Chuunin. + Hyuuga prodigy. Tsunade would
have to justify not passing him to the Hyuugas. + Demonstrated awareness
of, if not ability to overcome, his weaknesses. + Forfitted to Lee rather
than risk seriously injuring him. This kind of caring for a teammate
would not have occured to him in the last exam. This is, I think, the
point that will clinche it for him. - Still an arrogant asshole. -
Consistently underestimated his opponent and repeatedly fell for
deceptions.
Neji will be passed on a combination of ability and reputation, despite
his flaws. He has combat skills vastly in excess of the minimum,
displayed maturity during the exam, and was able to endure and recover
from the two times he was suckered.
Neji possesses adaptability, but he also has several flaws that make him unsuited to a command role. He is arrogant, and underestimates every opponent he faces. If it's just his own life on the line, his genius ability may be enough to save him in many situations, but his arrogance would get lesser ninja under his command killed in short order. His personality also does not exactly lend him to a position of authority. Neji's talents would be best utilized by a commander who can control him, such as Gai.
Both Lee and Neji demonstrated enough ability to conduct a C level mission
on their own, though they are probably not mentally ready for doing a B
or higher without a team. Neither are subtle or, yet, ready to be a
leader, but that's what Jounin are for.
William
Actually, as demonstrated by what Shikamaru was made to do for his first duty as a chuunin, that _is_ what chuunin are for. Chuunin are described as having the equivalent rank of 'captain.' They are field commanders. Jounin are recognized as superior ninja, but chuunin are the ones that get things done when there are troops to be commanded.
~Eimii
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