I'd have to agree with Strider on this one. Kimi did attack Lee several times which was met with swift and painful counter attacks. However, I also have to disagree with him about Kimimaro's current curse seal level. In actuality, not only does one of the pages show the curse seal spreading from the three marks into a full blown tattoo-style marking on his chest (right when he makes the first 'bone gauntlet' around his hand against Lee) but the translation for the narration at the end of that chapter was "The frightening blood line ability that requires an activated curse seal!!" or you know, possibly a slightly more accurate translation than that, so it's pretty safe to say by those two pieces of evidence that he has used the first level of the curse seal. Which does bring me back to the point that it looks like he has 2 levels, since the seal IS operating in the same manner as Sasuke's level 1 curse seal did (Increases power vastly, but apparently speed as well, since before the curse seal Kimi could hardly react to Lee's drunken rage, but now he was able to stop Lee's Otome Renge starter with like half a dozen bones, which would SERIOUSLY require some kind of speed overhaul, since it's been made obvious that having the first gate open is quite a boost to Lee) I guess that means Mut@t@ was wrong... if his new signature is to be believed, that would make it twice now. Interestingly enough, since he argued with me by saying that Kimi didn't have a second curse seal form (I might have been reading too much into his argument, however), that would make him wrong yet again if Kimi does have a level 2. I wonder if he'll have to edit his signature again..
To be a very very VERY late responder, Mut@t@, I assumed that Kimimaro couldn't emit chakra from every chakra hole in his body, because that's been described as an ability completely unique to the most elite of the Hyuuga clan. And since that was the *ONLY WAY* that Neji (equally a close combat freak, just as Kimi has been appearing to be, although we haven't seen any Ninjutsu from Kimi yet) was able to even DETECT Kidoumaru's arrow before it hit him, let alone survive it (The wind displacement bent the oak trees, my friend. That's some hefty punch that thing is packing there. You're not stopping it. At all. Deflecting maybe, but that would require detecting it in the first place, and Neji is FASTER than rock lee without the weights, so saying Kimi is faster would still be quite a leap of faith.) I was saying that a similar situation would have been VERY hard for Kimimaro to survive without a level 2 seal. Even now at level 1, Kimimaro has shown great abilities in close combat, but nothing that would save him from such a powerful and fast and accurate blow. At any rate, we know that Kimi's seal is from orochimaru, as it's the same type of three pronged mark that everyone else has, and spreads out across the body when activated in the same way (although each person's pattern is quite unique) and gives a similar status boost, and because Kabuto said it was. That said, if Kimimaro was so close to dying, it stands to reason that he would have a level 2 curse seal, as coming close to death is the only requirement we are aware of for the level 2 curse seal, and that's all sasuke appeared to go through to obtain it. So, that's a VERY late articulation on why I believe Kimi has a level 2 curse seal, and I'm done living in the past now. In the current situation, I'd find it hard to believe a match with Rock Lee *AND* Gaara against Kimi would be remotely exciting if Kimi didn't possess a level 2 seal as well. After all, Kimi is frightening, but it's hard to believe he's THAT frightening in level 1 form.
That all being said, I should note that I always feel compelled to respond to Mut@t@'s criticisms. Maybe he and I don't 'jive' well for lack of a better term.
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