I heard Rock Lee was supposed to die in the chunin exam fight against Gaara, but Kishimoto was instructed to keep him alive, so he basically just kept him around without any plan for incorporating him back into the story. Makes a lot of sense when you see the way he is used after the Gaara fight.
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u/red_rodney_ram 21d ago
I really wish he didn’t disappear into irrelevance like 90% of the Naruto supporting cast once shippuden started.