Chapter 52: Clash with the Third Hokage
"No time to explain, transform, Enma."
The Third Hokage had only one urgent thought in his mind now—he had to capture Li Yao as quickly as possible.
Why hadn't Li Yao died?
Why could he use something so similar to the Uzumaki Clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains?
And was Li Yao truly a member of the Uzumaki Clan?
The Third didn't want to delve into any of that anymore. He only knew one thing—Li Yao was dangerous, and he had to be taken down immediately.
A man who had endured inhuman torment under him for half a year, who harbored deep hatred, now escaped and, upon meeting him, didn't show a trace of vengeance—just turned and left.
That level of cold rationality made the Third's scalp tingle.
At this point, Li Yao's identity no longer mattered.
Because the Third absolutely could not allow such a composed, intelligent, and dangerous enemy—one capable of perfect body possession—to continue living.
This time they had been lucky. Minato Namikaze discovered the possession.
But what if next time, having learned from this, Li Yao possessed a newborn from the Hidden Yuzu ? Who could detect it?
No one.
Even someone with Minato's exceptional chakra sensory ability couldn't spot it.
Infants didn't have chakra.
And the chakra Li Yao would develop after possession would be different from what he had now.
Even Minato's unique ability couldn't identify Li Yao's presence.
What if Li Yao chose to possess an infant from the Sarutobi clan?
If the possessed child later showed prodigious ninja talent, the Third might even personally nurture him—hoping he could become the next Hokage.
The very idea of personally training his most hateful enemy to be Konoha's future Hokage made the Third's skin crawl.
Li Yao had to die—tonight.
The Third's resolve to kill was absolute.
"Understood—transform!"
As his old battle partner for many years, Enma trusted him completely. The moment the Third gave the order, Enma transformed into a golden adamantine staff.
The Third gripped the staff with one hand at its base, the other hand holding it steady, the tip aimed at Li Yao, who was being pulled away mid-air by two black iron chains.
Whoosh!
The adamantine staff, with its ability to extend at will, shot forward like an arrow, slicing through the air and slamming hard into Li Yao's back.
The moment it hit Li Yao's clothing, Enma tried to manifest two arms to grab him.
With Enma's indestructible body, if he got a hold of Li Yao, it would be over.
But Enma's transformation technique failed.
The moment he made contact with the iron chain-woven garment on Li Yao's back, his chakra flow was interrupted—he couldn't channel chakra through the extended part of the staff.
Enma's adamantine staff was a unique transformation technique.
To generate arms from the staff, he had to channel chakra through it.
But now, his chakra was sealed. The arms wouldn't form.
Whoosh!
Li Yao took advantage of the momentum from the impact and the force of the pull, accelerating forward even faster.
He was heading toward the side of the Hokage Rock.
The Root's underground base wasn't in the village, but on the outskirts, near the base of the Hokage Rock.
"Hiruzen, that chakra cloak he's wearing is formed of sealing chakra. It can bind and suppress chakra. That's why I couldn't transform."
Enma retracted his staff form, his mouth appearing on the shaft to report what he'd learned to the Third.
"I see."
The Third nodded, staring at the distant Li Yao whose cloak was undetectable to the eye, but unmistakable in chakra nature. His tone grew heavy.
"Even the cloak is made of Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
The chakra cloak, formed entirely of sealing chakra—he had sensed it, but hadn't expected such mastery.
A terrifying sealing talent.
A terrifying level of chakra control.
This man could not be allowed to live!
"After him!"
The Third led eight ANBU as they leapt rapidly through the trees, using the Body Flicker Technique to chase after Li Yao.
The Root agent Wind Hawk didn't follow. Instead, he entered the base through the hole Li Yao had come out of, heading to locate the other three Root members.
As for Li Yao—
He quickly neared the sloped terrain near the Hokage Rock.
Two hundred meters away from the incline, he fired two black iron chains behind him, anchoring them to the slope ahead.
Then, he manipulated them like slingshot bands and launched himself forward.
But just as he soared through the air, the Third—who had already guessed his plan—stepped on Enma's outstretched hands, using the staff's extending ability to shoot himself upward, positioning himself above Li Yao.
The Third instantly formed hand seals, and a massive fireball—Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique—erupted from his mouth and hurtled toward Li Yao.
Although Li Yao noticed in time, it was too late to dodge.
He only had time to wrap a tightly-woven iron chain hood over his head when the fireball struck.
Boom!
The explosion knocked him from the sky. His chains didn't swing him to safety—instead, he crashed onto the slope at the base of the Hokage Rock.
Bang!
Whoosh!
The moment he hit the ground, Li Yao adjusted himself with his chains and sprinted toward the rear of the Hokage Rock—away from Konoha's center.
He had to get as far away from the Root base as possible.
Boom!
Suddenly, a figure descended from the sky and landed in front of him, kicking up smoke and dust.
Li Yao halted sharply.
From the cloud emerged a figure wielding an adamantine staff—it was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Go!"
Li Yao reached forward with a clawed hand. Eight black iron chains shot out behind him like vipers toward the incoming Third.
Clang clang clang...!
The Third's movements were like a monkey leaping through a mountain—nimble and agile. Enma's transformed staff spun, flicked, extended, and retracted with fluid grace. All of Li Yao's chains were deflected.
The Third swiftly reached Li Yao's side and swept the staff in a wide arc, slamming it into Li Yao's abdomen.
Bang!
Even with the chakra chain cloak's protection, Li Yao felt the immense power crush into his body. Like a steel baseball, he was knocked flying.
Crash crash crash...
He tore through tree after tree, snapping them apart as he flew.
Li Yao was knocked back into the woods.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Before he could even land, four of the eight ANBU had already reached his location, surrounding him, with the Third and the remaining four closing in.
"Four Violet Flames Formation!"
Four walls of twisting, fire-like purple chakra, each over fifty meters in length, erupted from the ground, instantly forming a closed barrier.
Boom boom boom!
Li Yao anchored himself with three iron chains to the ground, stabilizing from the force of the Third's attack.
Pfft!
As he stopped himself, the chakra iron chain hood dissolved back into his acupoint space, revealing his face—which immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
He looked up at the Third and the four surrounding ANBU. A flicker of gravity flashed in his eyes—then he smiled.
So this was the man known as the Third Hokage.
That taijutsu strike... it had exceeded his expectations. Even with the protective cloak dispersing most of the force, the remaining power penetrated his body, breaking ribs and injuring his organs.
If not for the Wood Style chakra's powerful healing properties, that one blow would've ended him.
"Just minor injuries?"
Perhaps trusting the strength of the Four Violet Flames Formation, the Third didn't attack again immediately. Instead, his brow furrowed upon seeing Li Yao appear relatively unscathed.
As Tsunade's teacher, he was well-versed in chakra-enhanced strength—taijutsu techniques that explode with power through precise chakra control.
Combining that with Enma's indestructible staff, that blow should've done far more than cause a little blood.
Yet Li Yao looked barely injured.
"Seems like that black chakra cloak also has terrifying defensive properties."
The Third studied the black cloak on Li Yao's body and quickly deduced more intel.
A ninja battle is, after all, a race to gather intel on your opponent faster than they do on you.
(END CHAPTER)
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