Chapter 238: Wind Release Slash – Spirit Assimilation Technique
Boom!
Li Yao's Wind Release clone leapt upward, bursting through the cave ceiling into the open air.
Rumble rumble… Below, giant stone spikes erupted through the cave, turning it into a dense forest of jagged rock—like a massive stone hedgehog.
Ding!
Li Yao landed lightly on one of the spikes, looking calmly at the eight Sunagakure shinobi disguised as Iwagakure ninja who had surrounded him.
He shook his head and chuckled.
"Seriously... Every hidden village has this same old plot—eliminating their own geniuses."
He mocked them aloud. As absurd as it was for Konoha to have driven the Sakumo to suicide, Sunagakure's leadership and even the Fourth Kazekage Rasa had once colluded with Kirigakure to ambush and kill their village hero—Pakura . That was even more outrageous.
In the end, it all came down to power and politics.
The Wind clone, Kazekaze, had been a rising star, especially after being turned into a clone by Li Yao. Over the past year, he had pushed himself to master the Wind Release Slash, taking on mission after mission.
He had never failed.
And the number of shinobi who had fallen to his Wind Release Slash continued to rise.
As his reputation in Sunagakure soared, this civilian-born shinobi became a symbol of hope for the non-clan ninja.
Many believed he might become the first non-clan ninja to sit as Kazekage.
But this posed a threat to the village's ten noble clans—especially the top three, who had no desire to let the seat of power slip away.
So, an assassination plan against Kazekaze was put into motion.
The two teammates who had died earlier were only the beginning.
The real kill squad was the eight elite shinobi disguised as Iwagakure ninja now surrounding him.
Poof!
All eight moved without a word, each tossing a white orb that burst instantly into thick clouds of dark purple smoke, enveloping a two-kilometer radius.
Each wore a gas mask and full-body suit, leaving no skin exposed.
Clearly, they knew Kazekaze's profile well—fast and deadly with Wind Release, but not proficient in other nature types.
A vast poison mist was the perfect way to suppress him—it didn't matter how fast he was.
But poison alone wasn't enough.
"Fire Release – Fire Stream Technique!"
"Fire Release – Flame Bullet!"
As soon as the poison gas erupted, they unleashed Fire Release jutsu in tandem.
If Kazekaze used Wind Release to disperse the poison, the Fire techniques would ride those winds back toward him, ensuring he inhaled the poison regardless.
Once poisoned, they could finish him at their leisure.
But to their surprise, Kazekaze didn't respond with a wide-area Wind jutsu.
Or rather, he didn't use any dispersing technique at all.
Shing—
"Wind Release – Slash!"
With a mere thought, Li Yao's clone unleashed invisible slashes at the eight shinobi—so thin they were on a molecular level.
The speed was blinding. The edge—unimaginably sharp.
They cut through everything—poison gas, fire, air itself—silently and without resistance, like a wire gliding through tofu. There wasn't even the sound of something being sliced.
"Ugh..."
"What...?"
"I..."
The eight assassins froze in the middle of their jutsu poses. Thin crimson lines split down their faces—from forehead to chin.
Splurt!
Their bodies, no longer held together, collapsed into halves under their own weight. Blood sprayed out, soaking the sand red.
Boom!
Li Yao's Wind clone jumped out of the poison fog, landing outside the zone. He watched ten ghostly souls slowly rise from within.
He raised a hand, and pale-blue Rinnegan chakra tendrils extended, pulling all ten souls into his body for absorption.
He hadn't forgotten—Sage of Six Paths likely had the power to view souls that entered the Pure Land. This was precaution.
After absorbing the souls, the clone threw a black hole sphere, compressing and swallowing the corpses and any traces at the scene before leaving.
With Wind Release Slash perfected, it was time to take care of the Third Kazekage.
Li Yao hadn't forgotten the Five Kage who once surrounded and tried to kill him. He would personally eliminate them all—one by one.
…
"It's done!"
"Wait… double success?"
Just as the Wind Clone completed Wind Release Slash, Li Yao's main body finished a breakthrough in his own experiment—will transfer technique.
Seaside.
A shadow clone pulled a soul from within an Iwagakure ninja—his spirit form.
To transfer someone's will, a soul vessel was needed.
Li Yao's method was to modify the Spirit Transformation Technique to become active rather than passive—forcing another person's soul into spiritual form.
This allowed him to extract both soul and will intact.
Of course, extracting a soul was something Rinnegan chakra could already do, but those spirits were dull and confused. Even if placed into a dog, they lacked intelligence or memory.
Worse, Rinnegan chakra-extracted souls couldn't control new bodies.
But if the spirit was forced into its form via his Spirit Transformation chakra, it would retain memory, intellect—and fall under his control.
Because it was his chakra that forced the transformation, his chakra signature existed within that soul, making it controllable.
"Who are you?"
"What are you doing?"
"What's happening to me?!"
The Iwagakure ninja's spirit looked at the clone, then down at his body, demanding answers.
That was the difference between soul and spirit.
A soul was dull and zombie-like.
A spirit was sharp, self-aware, fully conscious.
Without answering, the clone activated Rinnegan chakra, launching a soul attack to weaken the ninja's spirit.
Soon, the spiritual body faded—growing increasingly translucent until it hovered like a white mist in the air. If not for its odd texture, it would've been invisible.
At this stage, its willpower was drained to the limit, but intelligence and memory remained intact.
"Let's begin."
The clone moved the spirit toward a stray dog, purging the dog's native will with Will Purification Chakra.
"Ninja Art – Spirit Assimilation Technique!"
The dog's will was weak—easily removed. The clone then directed the spirit into the dog's body and soul.
Under his control, the two began to merge.
Li Yao had just created a new jutsu—a fusion of Spirit Possession and the Akimichi clan's forbidden technique: the Spirit Assimilation Technique.
Now the Iwagakure ninja's spirit could perfectly synchronize with the dog's soul, with no rejection—allowing indefinite survival.
Side effects? Sure. But Li Yao didn't care—he wasn't the one using it.
"Success!"
As the stray dog opened its eyes and stood up, wobbling slightly, the clone smiled.
"Woof woof… (What the…)
Woof woof woof… (My voice…?)
Woof woof… (My hands…?)
Woof woof woof… (No—this isn't me!)"
The dog lifted its front paws repeatedly, trying to speak but only barking in panic. Its eyes showed a rapid shift—from confusion to horror to complete madness.
Li Yao was very pleased.
The progression of emotion in its eyes proved that the will and mind within the dog were now that of the Iwagakure ninja.
In simple terms, it was as if the ninja's body had been replaced with that of a dog—his thoughts and perception remained human.
That's why the ninja-turned-dog couldn't accept his new reality.
Watching its descent into madness, Li Yao could already imagine the delightful responses once he turned the Third Hokage into a dog.
"Hahaha…" Li Yao laughed aloud.
Woof woof woof! The barking drew the stray dog's attention—it bared its fangs and lunged straight at the clone's crotch.
Clearly, it had realized who was responsible for its condition—and wanted revenge.
Boom!
The clone casually kicked the dog, killing it instantly, then tossed out a black hole sphere to compress and erase the soul completely—ensuring even the Sage of Six Paths couldn't spy on it.
(END CHAPTER)
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