Chapter 79: A Terrifying Talent for Ninjutsu Development
West of the Yellow-Green Forest.
Sarutobi Tenchū and his wife sat atop the Ink Bird, rapidly closing in on Li Yao's location.
When they were about eight kilometers away, Sarutobi Ayase narrowed her brows and closed her left eye to link it with the Ink Bird's left eye.
In an instant—
The scene eight kilometers away became vividly clear in Sarutobi Ayase's left eye.
Whoosh whoosh!
High above, Li Yao stood on the back of the Black Iron Giant Eagle, executing various flying maneuvers with it.
This scene appeared clearly in Sarutobi Ayase's vision.
"It's Li Yao."
Sarutobi Ayase stopped the Ink Bird and turned to speak to her husband.
So it really is Li Yao… Sarutobi Tenchū's eyes flashed slightly, and he immediately instructed his wife to steer the Ink Bird downward to avoid being spotted by Li Yao from eight kilometers away.
Realistically, at that distance, no normal human eye could see them—unless, like Sarutobi Ayase, they were using the vision of the Ink Bird.
But since Li Yao was unique, with unknown abilities yet to be revealed, Sarutobi Tenchū didn't dare be careless.
Once the Ink Bird landed on the treetops and steadied itself, Sarutobi Tenchū immediately asked, "Is it the real body? What's he doing?"
"I'm not sure," Ayase replied, frowning with her left eye still closed. "Li Yao is standing on the back of a massive black eagle, doing... wait, no, that doesn't look like a real eagle."
After focusing her attention, she noticed that the eagle beneath Li Yao didn't appear to be a living creature—its texture looked more like his black chakra chains.
"That's right. That black eagle under Li Yao must be something he formed with chakra," she said.
"Another new ability… no, wait." Sarutobi Tenchū suddenly raised his brows sharply and asked urgently, "Ayase, do you see Li Yao fighting anyone right now?"
Ayase frowned and carefully observed Li Yao's surroundings before answering, "No. Li Yao is just standing on that chakra eagle, performing various flight maneuvers. It's kind of like…"
"Like he's practicing how to control the chakra eagle's flight, right?" Tenchū finished for her.
"Yes, that guy seems to be familiarizing himself with flying it," Ayase nodded. Then a sudden realization struck her, and she widened her eyes to look at her husband. "Could it be that he…"
"That must be it."
Sarutobi Tenchū nodded, his expression turning serious. "That guy must've gotten the idea after seeing your Ink Bird, and through chakra materialization, created his own flying eagle—thus developing a brand-new flying ninjutsu!"
"That can't be real, right?" Ayase's lips parted slightly in shock, not quite able to believe that Li Yao had developed an entirely new flying ninjutsu in such a short time.
"It's real," Sarutobi Tenchū said with certainty. The chakra eagle was clearly a new jutsu Li Yao had just developed.
If he had already possessed that technique when escaping Konoha…
He wouldn't have had to destroy most of the chakra points in his body just to get out.
Back then, both he and Ayase were away on missions.
Without Ayase's flying ability at the time, if Li Yao had taken to the skies, no one could've stopped him.
That he didn't use such a flying technique when fleeing Konoha was clear proof that he didn't know it back then.
And how many days had passed since then?
Not even three.
It might have been just last night when his shadow clone saw Ayase's Ink Bird and got inspired.
And now, by midday the next day, Li Yao had already developed a flying ninjutsu no one had ever heard of.
This level of talent was terrifying just to think about.
Especially for his enemies.
Facing someone who could casually create jutsu that others could only dream of—how could anyone not be terrified?
"Damn it, it's all because of that old bastard Danzo."
Sarutobi Tenchū cursed bitterly. He'd heard parts of the story from his father. If it weren't for Danzo—always eyeing the Hokage's seat—being greedy and defying orders, Li Yao would have been dead already.
There wouldn't be this trouble now!
"What do we do now?" Sarutobi Ayase asked, clearly unnerved. "Should we try sealing Li Yao now?"
Li Yao's talent was simply too frightening. Ayase instinctively wanted to use every method available to seal him here and now.
Originally, the plan was to observe and test Li Yao's abilities using other ninja world elites, and then formulate a perfect sealing strategy based on his revealed capabilities.
But now, Ayase worried that those elites might not even draw out all of Li Yao's strength—and worse, they might push him to develop even more unknown and powerful jutsu mid-battle.
Like this time—if not for the war and the enhanced chakra detection at the barrier centers, they'd have had no idea he had developed a new flying ninjutsu.
If they'd faced him without knowing he could fly, their tactical assumptions would've been dangerously flawed.
And that kind of error in a life-or-death battle could be fatal.
Sealing Li Yao while he was still growing was the best option. Otherwise, he'd only become harder to stop.
"Report the intel that Li Yao can fly. Let my father decide. We'll continue tracking him," Sarutobi Tenchū said, shaking his head and rejecting her proposal.
He, too, feared Li Yao's abilities and wanted to seal him before he became unstoppable.
But facing someone who could fly and was a sealing master himself, even working together, he and Ayase would struggle to seal Li Yao.
Not to mention, if truly cornered, Li Yao could just use Spirit Transformation to escape.
They weren't capable of sealing him themselves—it had to be his father who prepared the plan.
If they were going to strike, they had to be certain of success.
Otherwise, Li Yao's talent for developing jutsu meant that any tactic used once would probably never work again.
For now, they just needed to watch him, probe his abilities further, and prepare for future sealing attempts—nothing more.
"Huff… I understand," Ayase sighed deeply, calming her nerves. She realized she had been too hasty—sealing Li Yao couldn't be done recklessly.
So the couple continued observing Li Yao from seven kilometers away using the Ink Bird, not daring to approach, wary of any shadow clones he might have set as lookouts.
Not long after—
About ten minutes passed.
In the sky, Li Yao seemed satisfied with his mastery of the Black Iron Giant Eagle and descended, disappearing from view.
Seven kilometers away, Ayase immediately used Super Beast Imitating Drawing to create ten swift ink swallows. They scattered and darted toward Li Yao's location, flying low through the treetops.
The couple followed behind at a distance on the Ink Bird.
From earlier observations, Li Yao's aerial movements had been focused in a single area, suggesting that was his temporary base.
They just needed to pinpoint it—no need to get too close. The smaller ink swallows could do that.
Meanwhile—
Li Yao had now fully mastered all the flight movements of the Black Iron Giant Eagle, ensuring he could instinctively react in battle.
Then he descended to the pool, dispelled the eagle, and returned with his shadow clone to the waterfall cave.
"I'll rest now. You stay alert. Let me know if there's any chakra fluctuation," Li Yao instructed.
"Okay," the clone nodded.
Li Yao disconnected his consciousness from the shadow clone, lay down on the damp stone, and within fifteen seconds, fell into deep sleep.
Neither the damp air nor the roar of the waterfall disturbed him.
Ever since Li Yao's soul merged with chakra, his control over his body had advanced further—he could quiet his consciousness and reduce his physical sensory input to near zero, like a vegetative state.
External noise, the wetness of the air, the hardness of the stone—none of it could affect his sleep.
His consciousness had entered a deep rest to quickly recover his mental state.
This was when Li Yao was most defenseless and most vulnerable to ambush.
But with a shadow clone standing guard, he dared to rest this deeply.
He hadn't slept at all last night, and after receiving some of the clone's memories, his mind was fatigued.
Now he needed sleep. Once rested, he would take off on the Black Iron Giant Eagle and soar high above, finally free from Konoha's pursuit.
(END CHAPTER)
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