Chapter 81: The Psychological Battle of Intelligence
"As expected, the enemy can see me even outside my chakra sensory range."
After flying eastward for about ten minutes, Li Yao's shadow clone glanced back. The two Konoha ninjas who had initially been pursuing him were no longer visible.
Or rather, they might still be there—just too far for him to see.
"But I need to confirm."
With that thought, the shadow clone steered the Black Iron Giant Eagle to descend over a forest. He landed atop the trees.
With a thought, he recalled the Black Iron Giant Eagle and dropped down, hiding behind a large tree trunk, waiting quietly.
Not long after—
More than twenty ink swallows swiftly entered his chakra detection range, followed closely by the two Konoha ninja standing atop the Ink Bird.
"So they really are relying on visual detection alone."
Li Yao's shadow clone raised an eyebrow and smirked.
With no sign of him in the sky, they had to close the distance and rely on their ink swallows to search from within the trees, clearly depending on visual contact.
That made things easier to hide from.
After all, the ink swallows' eyes weren't Byakugan—hide behind an obstacle and they couldn't see anything.
Poof!
With a thought, Li Yao summoned the pre-woven Black Iron Giant Eagle from the space within his "Death Gate" acupoint, mounted it, and soared back into the sky, continuing his original flight path.
He needed to draw those two Konoha ninja as far away as possible, giving them no chance to pursue his real body.
Meanwhile—
The real Li Yao, flying in the direction of the Land of Water on a separate Black Iron Giant Eagle, relaxed after linking his consciousness and confirming the enemy's tracking method was based solely on vision.
"If that's the case, then the shadow clone flying in the other direction is just wasting chakra."
Li Yao transmitted this decision to the shadow clone flying in the third direction. That clone immediately dismissed the eagle and then dispelled itself.
As a result, the chakra used to maintain that eagle was reclaimed by the real Li Yao.
Then, Li Yao adjusted his direction and flew back toward the original two Konoha ninja's approach path.
That would take him as far away from them as possible.
Poof!
Li Yao created another shadow clone.
This time, the clone didn't enter the eagle's body; instead, he stood on the eagle's back.
"From here on, you're in control. I'm going to get some sleep. Wake me if anything happens."
With that, Li Yao climbed into the hollow body of the Black Iron Giant Eagle and went to sleep.
The eagle's sides had two fist-sized vents for airflow, so there was no danger of suffocation.
Lying inside the relatively spacious interior, Li Yao closed his eyes. In less than fifteen seconds, he fell into a deep, fully detached sleep—completely cutting off external sensory perception.
At the same time that the other shadow clone was dispelled and Li Yao's real body changed direction—
In the Eastern Barrier Center, Yamanaka Goka detected the disappearance of the chakra fluctuations from the dispelled shadow clone's eagle, as well as the directional shift of the real eagle.
"Lord Tenchū…"
Yamanaka Goka immediately relayed both pieces of information to Sarutobi Tenchū.
"Disappeared?"
Tenchū, who had resumed tailing Li Yao from a distance, frowned when he heard this. He glanced at the small black figure ahead and thought, "Was it a shadow clone or…"
Then he abruptly stopped himself, realizing that the barrier center couldn't distinguish between a clone disappearing and the real one.
"No idea," Goka answered honestly, understanding what Tenchū meant.
"Got it," Tenchū replied inwardly.
"What is it, Tenchū?" Ayase asked. Since the communication with Goka was mental, only her husband had heard it.
"Message from the Eastern Barrier Center: the Li Yao flying toward Konoha—his chakra eagle has vanished."
"And also," Tenchū frowned, "the Li Yao heading toward the Land of Water has changed direction—he's now flying north."
"Vanished? Changed direction? Could it be…" Ayase's eyes lit up, and a realization struck her. She looked at her husband and said, "The one who changed direction is probably the real body."
"Most likely." Tenchū nodded, then his eyes flashed as he looked at her again. "Earlier, when Li Yao deliberately landed and hid, he must have sensed your detection method and wanted to confirm if we were still following him."
Ayase continued, "Once he confirmed we were still behind him, he had the other clone dispel itself and changed direction to prevent us from alerting Seika and the others to intercept him."
That was the only explanation for why this Li Yao suddenly landed and forced them to close the distance, then took off again, while the other one disappeared and the one headed for the Land of Water suddenly turned north.
It was all a probe—Li Yao testing their detection capabilities and pinpointing their position.
"But…" Ayase frowned. "How did Li Yao communicate with his shadow clones from such a distance?"
Normally, a shadow clone had to be dispelled before its memories returned to the original.
But the clone they were following was still active, so how did Li Yao know what was going on?
She looked at her husband and asked, "Could it be that shadow clones can mentally communicate over long distances—like how the Barrier Center sends messages to you?"
Tenchū's face turned grim and he shook his head. "Shadow clones don't have that ability. It must be something unique to him."
"Father once said Li Yao's Spirit Transformation Technique was a modified version—his soul is much stronger than normal. Maybe that's why he can communicate with his clones mentally."
"But…" Tenchū paused, then chuckled. "That might also explain why Li Yao's soul-sensing range is so limited—maybe even nonexistent."
He had originally followed Li Yao openly, expecting to be noticed by Li Yao's soul perception.
After all, users of Spirit Transformation Technique usually had a large range of soul-sensing ability.
But after several encounters, it became clear—whether it was the clones or the real body—Li Yao's perception seemed to max out at around four or five kilometers.
Beyond that, he detected nothing.
Tenchū didn't know the reason, but it was thanks to that limited range that they'd even been able to tail him at all.
"So should we…" Ayase began, "continue pursuing this Li Yao?"
They hadn't yet turned toward the real Li Yao.
Tenchū's expression turned complicated. Based on the barrier intel, the one who turned north was very likely the real body.
But shadow clones couldn't normally communicate in real time—that much he was sure of.
And whether Li Yao really had some special ability to communicate with his clones… it was just speculation.
So he couldn't be sure which one was real.
What if the Li Yao in front of them was the real one?
And what if, upon realizing that he himself was being tailed, he deliberately had one clone disappear, and another change direction to mislead them?
That way, they would think the one flying north was real and stop chasing him—allowing the real Li Yao to escape.
It was possible.
Just thinking about it gave Tenchū a headache. He cursed inwardly: damn shadow clones.
"Let's follow the one heading north,"
Just then, Ayase spoke with confidence. "Li Yao originally fled north. His instincts would likely follow that same direction now. I believe the one heading north is the real body. The one flying south has to be a shadow clone."
Tenchū pondered her words for a moment and agreed.
People often unconsciously choose the same direction they chose initially.
Li Yao turning north again strongly suggested he was the real one.
"Alright. We'll pursue the Li Yao going north," Tenchū said.
But before doing so, they needed to mislead this one.
The couple slowed the Ink Bird's speed, letting it drift back to a seven-kilometer distance—far enough to be out of Li Yao's visual range.
Then they continued tailing him from behind for a few more minutes.
Ahead, Li Yao, not seeing the Sarutobi couple in his vision, felt at ease, assuming they were still behind him, and continued flying.
This confirmed it for the Sarutobi couple: this Li Yao was a shadow clone.
Three more minutes passed, and seeing that Li Yao still showed no signs of descending to check, Ayase immediately turned the Ink Bird toward the north.
(END CHAPTER)
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