Chapter 197: Perfect Clone?
"I can't wait—I'll have to find a way to start the plan early. At the very least, I need to launch my revenge during the Third Great Ninja War."
Li Yao made up his mind, and began thinking of ways to carry out his revenge plan even if his real body couldn't leave Nagato's side.
"Shadow Clone!"
If the real body couldn't move, only a shadow clone could leave.
Poof!
Li Yao canceled his Perfect Transformation Technique and created a shadow clone, then had that clone use the Perfect Transformation Technique to become the captured shinobi.
"This works."
Li Yao's eyes lit up slightly. The clone's transformation was just as flawless—no difference could be detected via soul perception or chakra sensing.
That meant… except it still didn't work.
Li Yao frowned. A shadow clone was still a clone—once injured to a certain degree, it would vanish.
And to stay active long-term, the shadow clone would need to absorb chakra.
But using a chakra-absorption method would risk exposure—or at the very least, it would be exposed eventually. Not safe.
And more importantly: shadow clones couldn't eat. That was a fatal flaw. While not many in Konoha could use shadow clones, there were definitely enough that someone might notice a person who never ate.
"Damn it!!"
Li Yao couldn't help but curse. If shadow clones didn't work, then what else could he try... Wait—what about possession?
A sudden idea struck him.
He had speculated before that, due to his mutated soul, he might be able to possess someone using the Spirit Transformation Technique without suffering rejection.
What if he could have a shadow clone possess a body? And with Perfect Transformation ensuring identical chakra and spiritual signatures, it could function as a real, living clone.
In that case, the shadow clone wouldn't just be an illusion, but a true physical duplicate—capable of living and functioning like a real person.
"Maybe... Kimura Yao's father wasn't developing Perfect Transformation, but rather Perfect Duplication."
The more Li Yao thought about it, the more excited he became. Perhaps the original research was aimed at perfect clones—not disguises.
"Let's try it."
With a thought, he converted a large amount of chakra into Rinnegan ocular chakra and wrapped it around his right hand before grabbing the captured shinobi's head.
Before possession, the soul had to be removed.
While a shadow clone could use the Spirit Transformation Technique to create a soul projection, because it wasn't a true soul, the projection was weak—useless for attack. If it tried to possess a body, it would be instantly rejected.
Fortunately, Li Yao's successful replication of the Rinnegan's chakra allowed him to use some of its basic abilities.
And the Rinnegan, the eye that governs life and death, made pulling out souls easy.
Li Yao could use its chakra to do the same. It cost more chakra than it would for someone with the actual eye—likely because he lacked the physical vessel—but that was fine. He had far more chakra than Nagato.
The Rinnegan's chakra naturally possessed control over souls.
Li Yao grabbed the shinobi's head—like clutching his very soul—and with a pull, drew out a dull blue spectral figure that only he could see: the man's soul.
In its dormant state, a human soul looked vacant, like a vegetative husk.
This showed that people didn't normally have control over their own souls.
Thus, a soul remained in this dormant, brain-dead state.
Now that the shinobi's soul was extracted...
"Hm?" Li Yao gave a surprised grunt. He realized he could purify and absorb the soul—transforming it into pure... no, spiritual energy.
This spiritual energy was unique—it gave off no fluctuations. It was pure, like unclaimed energy—no identity attached.
Normally, every living being's soul emitted a unique spiritual signature—like DNA, it was the key to telling individuals apart.
But this purified energy was like a body with no DNA—rare and unusual.
Li Yao absorbed it in one go. It felt like drinking a chilled tea on a hot summer day—his entire body felt refreshed.
"It's like a blue potion for spirit points," he grinned.
Then he had the shadow clone use the Spirit Transformation Technique to possess the now soulless body.
Once the soul was gone, the body became like an electric car suddenly out of power—heart stopped, brain ceased issuing signals, all life systems shut down. Without intervention, it would soon die.
But if you recharged the battery fast enough, you could restart it before it fully shut down.
That's what made the possession a success.
The clone took over in time—success.
Li Yao could sense a strong rejection between the body and the clone's soul projection. But when the clone altered its spiritual fluctuation to match the original host, the rejection disappeared.
This confirmed Li Yao's theory: he could possess without rejection.
The captured ninja was a man in his twenties with a full beard—looked like Harden from the NBA.
Now, this "Harden" stood on the clay bird, locking eyes with Li Yao.
"Well?" Li Yao asked curiously. Though he could sense through the connection, only the clone could fully feel the result.
The possessed "Harden" clenched and relaxed his fists repeatedly, feeling the solidity of real flesh—so different from being just a clone. His eyes gleamed.
"Feels great!"
"Like being reborn!"
Heh... Li Yao chuckled. That's exactly what it was—rebirth through possession.
It looked like Perfect Clone Technique was a success.
Just as Li Yao was thinking this, "Harden" suddenly frowned and said, "No spiritual energy. I can't generate chakra. Once my current chakra runs out…"
He didn't finish the sentence—but Li Yao already knew the result.
Chakra is formed by merging spiritual energy and physical energy. Without one, it can't exist.
A shadow clone doesn't have a soul. It can't generate spiritual energy. So it can't produce chakra.
It's the same old problem: to exist long-term, a shadow clone must absorb chakra from others.
Otherwise, it's time-limited.
When time's up, the clone vanishes. And the possessed body, like one that just lost its soul, will die shortly after.
To fix this, the clone would need a soul.
"This…"
Li Yao's expression darkened.
Leaving aside the question of how to give a clone a soul—what if that soul gained independence? What if it developed its own will like artificial intelligence and turned against him?
That couldn't be ignored.
Li Yao would rather not have clones at all than risk creating one he couldn't fully control.
Even if the clone obeyed, if it could think independently, it was a threat.
He needed absolute control—no chance of surprises.
But for now, he needed to figure out how to give a clone a soul.
Only then could he consider whether it could be controlled.
(END CHAPTER)
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