Chapter 72: Absolutely Impossible
Nightfall.
Following the trail left by one of Li Yao's shadow clones, Sarutobi Tenchu and his wife arrived ahead of Ryoma and Shika, locating the clone that had headed north.
In a valley carpeted with golden fallen leaves, Li Yao's clone sat cross-legged on a massive boulder, eyes closed, maintaining a focused chakra-sensing state.
Having received the directive from Li Yao's main body, the clone had stopped traveling and remained in the valley, waiting for a pursuing shinobi squad to confirm whether or not this was truly the wartime period of the ninja world.
However, since the clone's chakra sensing was weaker than the original's, it had to fully concentrate to expand its detection range.
"Why hasn't anyone arrived yet?"
Li Yao (the clone) was puzzled. The traces he had left behind were quite obvious—someone should have found him by now.
But within a two-kilometer radius, his chakra sense picked up nothing.
What Li Yao didn't know was that four kilometers above the valley, Sarutobi Tenchu and Ayase were already there, watching him from the sky.
"Is that Li Yao?"
Tenchu asked. From this height, he couldn't see clearly.
Ayase, with one eye closed and the other linked to the ink bird she rode, nodded. "It's him."
She could see through the eyes of her ink creation, clearly identifying the figure sitting in the valley, just like an eagle watching prey from kilometers away.
"That settles it—let's go down," Tenchu said.
"Shouldn't we probe first?" Ayase asked. "We don't know yet if that's a shadow clone."
"No need," Tenchu replied. "Shadow clones can't last that long. If he's still there tomorrow, we'll know."
Shadow Clone Technique—especially the Multi-Shadow Clone version—was labeled a forbidden jutsu precisely because when the clone is dispelled, all its accumulated memories flood back into the user.
If you made more than ten clones and kept them active for over an hour, that would be the equivalent of taking in ten hours of combat memories all at once.
The mental burden was immense.
Most people couldn't survive such a memory shock. Their brains would be fried on the spot.
If this Li Yao was a clone, that would mean it had existed for over ten hours already.
Even a single clone with that much memory could overload a normal brain.
Even Tenchu himself would suffer lasting damage if hit by such a flood—he'd need a week to recover.
He didn't believe anyone could endure twenty hours of continuous memory feedback.
If the one in the valley was a clone, it should disperse by midnight at the latest.
Midnight came.
Li Yao was still there.
A slow grin spread across Tenchu's face. "Looks like this one's the real Li Yao."
Ayase also smiled. "No way a clone could last that long."
They were both convinced: the one in the valley was the real body. The one Ryoma and Shika found in the southern village had to be a clone.
Thirty minutes later, Ryoma and Shika did locate Li Yao in that southern village.
Using Ayase's ink eagle for communication, the two squads were in touch, but the big question remained: which one was real?
For now, Tenchu and Ayase believed their target was the real one. The others had found the clone.
But that belief shattered the next morning, just before sunrise, when they received a message from Ryoma and Shika via ink eagle.
"Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
Tenchu stared at the letter in disbelief.
Ayase's beautiful eyes widened in shock as well.
The message said: Li Yao was still in the southern village—he hadn't dispersed.
Ryoma and Shika wanted to know whether the Li Yao they found was a clone or not.
"This…"
Ayase didn't know what to think anymore. She turned to her husband, the team's shadow clone expert.
Tenchu shook off the shock, took a deep breath, and said, "Ayase, control your birds. I'll send a shadow clone to attack Li Yao—we'll test it directly."
No matter how Li Yao managed to maintain a clone for over twenty hours, even if he had some kind of resistance to memory overload, there was still one inescapable truth:
Shadow clones consume chakra.
The longer they last, the more chakra they drain.
A clone that had lasted over twenty hours had to be running low on chakra. If it was a clone, a bit of pressure should make it pop.
"We'll find out if he's a clone soon enough."
Ayase asked, "What about Ryoma and Shika? Should they test theirs too?"
Tenchu thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. But tell them to stick to long-range attacks. No close combat."
Li Yao's clever use of clones had shaken Tenchu. He wasn't even sure anymore whether either target was the real body.
Testing both was safest.
But they had to be cautious.
Most genjutsu had a limited range. Staying over 100 meters away could keep them safe from illusions.
"I'll contact them now."
Ayase drew another eagle and sent Tenchu's order to Ryoma and Shika.
Then Tenchu created a shadow clone and sent it down into the valley.
Above him, Ayase's thirty ink birds soared silently, ready to provide support.
(END CHAPTER)
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