Chapter 135: Li Yao Must Die, Now!
Dan Kato, now taking Li Yao far more seriously, did not act rashly. He continued observing; the more intel he gathered on Li Yao, the better prepared he would be for a future confrontation.
Li Yao had no idea he was being watched by Dan Kato. His chakra sensory ability couldn't detect Dan in his spiritual form.
"Go."
After replenishing his chakra again, Li Yao summoned eighteen ink hawks and sent them flying in all directions to expand his visual and sensory range. He had no desire to be shadowed for ten kilometers again without noticing.
Meanwhile...
Fifteen kilometers from Li Yao, on the far side of a glacier, Dalaran — who had supposedly self-destructed — appeared completely unharmed.
Resting against the ice, Dalaran had long since looked toward the direction of the explosion, frowning slightly.
To force a self-detonation from a clay clone filled with most of his chakra, the opponent's strength had to be significant. It was probably Li Yao.
After all, he had battled the Third Raikage and escaped safely. Dalaran had anticipated a strong enemy.
But... wasn't this a little too fast?
After crossing the Frozen Lands, Dalaran had spotted the island mentioned in the intel through his telescope. Ever cautious, he hadn't approached directly, instead sending a clay clone imbued with most of his chakra to investigate.
He hadn't expected Li Yao to force a detonation so quickly.
Couldn't the clone even put up a fight?
Dalaran felt a bit annoyed. He had heard Li Yao was just a kid — yet his strength was this high.
Still... hehe.
His frown faded. No matter how strong Li Yao was, victory in the shinobi world wasn't about who was stronger — it was about who was more cautious, who could outlive the other and make their enemy lose everything.
Clearly, arrogant Li Yao would die because of his lack of caution.
"Seems Lord Tsuchikage won't need to step in."
Dalaran smiled and refocused on restoring his chakra. He had no intention of leaving immediately.
He didn't believe anyone could survive that ultimate explosion — not even Li Yao.
…
"Huh… still alive?"
In the sky, standing atop his ink eagle, Li Yao suddenly sensed a chakra signature five kilometers to the left — it was the same Iwa ninja who had supposedly self-destructed.
He immediately stopped.
"He's alive… Oh, right, it was a clay clone."
Li Yao remembered. Explosive Clay Release included clay clones.
But since he wasn't dead... time to fix that.
Li Yao smiled coldly and changed direction, flying straight toward the Iwa ninja.
"This guy's chakra reserve seems pretty high."
From his senses, the Iwa ninja four kilometers away still had nearly one Kakashi's worth of chakra left. Adding the three from the clone, his total was around four — impressive.
Li Yao hadn't even suspected the earlier version was a clone — the chakra had been too substantial.
"Chakra sensing range is about five kilometers, just like in the intel."
A hundred meters behind, Dan Kato continued shadowing Li Yao in spirit form, carefully noting down all of Li Yao's abilities.
Chakra perception was his primary concern.
Based on the distance between Li Yao and the soul of the Iwa ninja, it hadn't changed.
Dan Kato had now confirmed — this was definitely Li Yao.
He'd originally focused too much on the ink eagle and hadn't noticed the black iron feather cloak Li Yao was wearing — a signature ninjutsu of Li Yao's, formed by his black chakra chains, and a habit he maintained in battle.
Once he saw the cloak, Dan Kato had no more doubts.
"So cautious."
Li Yao was a bit surprised. In his perception, within a one-kilometer radius of the Iwa ninja, there were clay birds in the air and clay rabbits on the ice — all working as detection tools, leaving no room for sneak attacks.
But the clay birds didn't seem to have the ink eagle's extended visual range. Their detection range was limited.
Even within a kilometer, Li Yao remained undetected. He assumed their perception wasn't visual, but chakra-based.
Boom!
Once he entered the 500-meter range, the clay birds finally sensed him — and immediately exploded like triggered landmines.
Clearly, their main function was to serve as proximity alarms.
With the explosion, a loud boom echoed through the area. Dalaran, resting on the far side of the glacier, instantly snapped alert, leapt to the top of the ice, and saw Li Yao diving toward him on the ink eagle.
"Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
Dalaran's expression froze. His eyes widened in disbelief — Li Yao had survived the self-detonation of his chakra-filled clone.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
From the sky, hundreds of ink senbon the width of fingers poured down like rain, enveloping the area around Dalaran.
"Not good."
Shocked, Dalaran had no time to wonder how Li Yao was still alive. Faced with the barrage, he quickly formed hand signs and inhaled deeply.
"Earth Style: Rising Earth Wall!"
Brownish mud spewed from his mouth, forming a rock barrier that enclosed him entirely.
Bam, bam, bam... The ink senbon struck like a sandstorm. They shaved away layers of the rock wall, but didn't fully break through — for now, it held.
"Earth Style: Earth Bullet—what?!"
Just as he prepared to counterattack with Earth Bullets, Dalaran suddenly blacked out. His consciousness was pulled into a dark void. He lost all sensation and control over his body.
"Go!"
A hundred meters above, Li Yao thrust out his right hand. A Vajra Chain shot from his palm, smashed through the rock wall, and pierced into the Iwa ninja's body, beginning to drain his chakra.
This time, Li Yao wasn't giving the enemy a chance to self-detonate.
Within seconds, the remaining chakra inside the Iwa ninja was completely absorbed. Then the Vajra Chain violently shattered his skull.
Target eliminated.
As Li Yao withdrew the chain and prepared to fly on, one of his ink hawks detected a massive eagle in the distance — with a Kumo ninja bearing a Cloud Village forehead protector riding atop it.
"A Kumo ninja… just one?"
Li Yao was puzzled. Iwa sending one made sense — not many had accurate info on him.
But surely Kumo knew how much power he had revealed during his battle with the Third Raikage.
Yet they'd sent only one ninja?
Did they think he wouldn't detect them?
"Heh."
Li Yao sneered, turned, and flew straight toward the Kumo ninja.
If Kumo dared to send just one man, how could he not dare to kill him?
If he didn't strike back, these people would keep thinking he was easy prey — that anyone could come and try to kill him.
"He's flying this way," said Inuzuka Akira, sniffing the air.
"Seems he hasn't spotted us," Biwako murmured, gazing up into the sky with a frown. "That really is Super Beast Imitating Drawing... What the hell is going on with him?"
Dan Kato had already returned and warned them — Li Yao had not only been found, but he was using the exact same improved version of Super Beast Imitating Drawing as Ayase.
Biwako, well-versed in the eagle's visual detection capabilities, had used Invisibility Technique to avoid detection — the hawk simply couldn't see them.
Still, she was perplexed — where had Li Yao learned Super Beast Imitating Drawing?
Wasn't he supposed to be incapable of using the Spirit Transformation Technique?
So how had he mastered so many secret techniques?
If he were just some lucky soul who had possessed Mokumura Yao's body, there was no way he would know so many advanced, exclusive jutsu.
Black Lightning was one thing — but Super Beast Imitating Drawing was a true Konoha-exclusive jutsu, developed only after the village's founding.
Every user of the technique was registered — there should've been no way for it to leak.
Could it be that Li Yao had once been a Konoha ninja who trained in the technique before taking over Mukura Yao's body?
But then… how do you explain the Third Raikage's Black Lightning?
That didn't add up either.
"Li Yao…"
Biwako furrowed her brow, thoughts racing, unsure again whether Li Yao could or couldn't use Spirit Transformation…
Wait — no!
Suddenly, Biwako's eyes widened.
They had all misunderstood.
Li Yao saying he couldn't use the Spirit Transformation Technique didn't necessarily mean he couldn't use a soul-possession technique. Maybe he had developed something similar, just under a different name — some "reincarnation" or "transfer" jutsu — so when he said he didn't know what Spirit Transformation was, he wasn't lying.
If that were the case, it would explain why he had so many secret techniques.
He may have already possessed and reincarnated through multiple hosts — possibly even through people in Konoha, without anyone ever noticing.
Then… what were the conditions for this possession or reincarnation?
Could he transfer immediately after death?
Probably not. If he could, he wouldn't fear death at all.
And she firmly believed that techniques like possession or reincarnation had massive restrictions. There was no way it was something easy or free.
"Right now is still the best time to kill Li Yao."
Biwako was now certain her eldest son had been right. The sooner Li Yao was killed, the better. The longer they waited, the harder it would become.
If they failed to kill him this time…
She shivered just imagining it. If Li Yao had already possessed Konoha ninja before, and they were unaware…
It was terrifying.
"Li Yao must die. Now!"
Biwako was ready to sacrifice herself if necessary. For now, though, the two of them remained still, watching from afar. With Dan Kato's spiritual sensing ability, they could track Li Yao from a safe distance and gather more intel.
This time, they would not give him another chance to escape.
(END CHAPTER)
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