Chapter 153: Blood-Red Steam, Fierce Battle Against the Four Kage
At this moment, each of the Four Kage used their own techniques to escape the attacks of Li Yao's shadow clones and charged toward his real body.
Only the self-proclaimed "strongest Hokage," the Third, nearly had his heart pierced by a single Kongōken from one of Li Yao's shadow clones. Thankfully, Enma reacted in time and blocked the strike with his transformed Adamantine Staff.
Bang!
Terrified, the Third instantly leapt back a great distance, staring in shock at Li Yao's clone. That was close—he had nearly died.
Li Yao's Lightning Chakra Mode was unbelievably fast.
Speedy and powerful opponents like this were exactly the type the Third Hokage feared and was most vulnerable to.
Without Enma's support, he wouldn't stand a chance against even one of Li Yao's shadow clones.
Sizzle!
No time to think—the attacks of three of Li Yao's shadow clones suddenly closed in. The other two clones targeted Ayase and Sarutobi Getsuishi.
Li Yao didn't underestimate Ayase and Getsuishi—in fact, he regarded them seriously.
They were aware of his genjutsu and knew how strong he was.
If they lacked special techniques, there's no way they'd be allowed to operate alongside the Five Kage. Even if they hadn't joined the fray yet…
Li Yao still needed to probe their abilities with his shadow clones.
"Damn it!!!"
Watching the Four Kage push forward while he, the so-called strongest Hokage, was forced into a desperate state by three of Li Yao's shadow clones—Hiruzen was furious. Even with Dan Katō's spirit occasionally assisting with jutsu, he was barely hanging on.
In truth, if he had space to pull back and prepare some jutsu, with his foundation in combined elemental techniques, he might have stood a chance of holding them off.
But Li Yao wasn't the same man he was a year ago—just released from the Root base, easily kicked away by Hiruzen.
And times had changed. Who would give you the time to form hand signs and cast jutsu?
Li Yao's three clones were incredibly fast thanks to Lightning Chakra Mode. They had quick reflexes and black lightning for ranged attacks.
There was no time for Hiruzen to create distance or use ninjutsu.
All he could do was rage helplessly. He now realized that, in this plan to kill Li Yao—the one he had proposed—he might end up being the first to fall. He couldn't even compare to young Getsuishi.
"For the Sarutobi Clan… for Konoha!"
Seeing their clan leader overwhelmed by Li Yao's clones and two more closing in, Sarutobi Getsuishi knew it was time to repay his family.
"Eighth Gate: Gate of Death—Open!"
"Eight Gates Formation!"
BOOM!
In an instant, a tremendous force exploded from around Sarutobi Getsuishi. Li Yao's clones saw only a blast of white steam, within which a red silhouette began to emerge.
At that moment, blood-red steam surged from Getsuishi's body. His black hair turned red under the heat, and his entire body appeared slightly charred from the sudden burst of power.
"What terrifying chakra!!!"
Li Yao's shadow clone was shaken. In his chakra perception, the power exploding from Getsuishi was far more terrifying than when he had opened his own chakra nodes.
"Blood-red steam… this must be the Eight Gates Formation—when all eight gates are open."
Li Yao's clone immediately understood what forbidden technique was being used. He hadn't expected that the Eight Gates and his own node-opening method would have such a difference.
This also proved that the Eight Gates and node-opening were not the same concept.
Recalling how Might Guy nearly ended the original series with a single kick using this technique, Li Yao's clone instantly changed course, moving in an erratic zigzag pattern toward them.
With Lightning Chakra Mode's speed and reflexes, maybe—just maybe—he could evade the Eight Gates' attacks.
Ayase stood behind Getsuishi, quietly alert. If he failed to stop Li Yao, she would take to the skies immediately.
"Don't underestimate the Eight Gates Formation!"
"Evening Elephant!"
Seeing Li Yao approach in an irregular pattern, Getsuishi roared in his heart and threw out a double punch.
In an instant—
BOOM BOOM!
His high-speed fists struck the air with terrifying force. The air seemed to solidify under the pressure, forming a cylindrical shockwave like a white laser beam that instantly pierced through two of Li Yao's clones in mid-sprint.
"So fast!!"
"So powerful!"
Crack crack crack… The Lightning Chakra Armor and Black Iron Cloak on Li Yao's clones shattered within two seconds under the sheer pressure of the shockwave.
BOOM BOOM… The clones exploded and vanished.
Bang!
Having finished off the two clones, Getsuishi dashed toward the Third Hokage.
"That strong?"
Standing on his ink eagle, Li Yao's face immediately changed.
He hadn't expected that attacks from the Eight Gates Formation would be that terrifying—that a shockwave from six hundred meters away could destroy both his chakra armor and iron cloak.
The sheer power made him feel a real sense of mortal danger.
"I absolutely cannot let this guy get close."
Thinking that, Li Yao dissolved one of his chakra-filled clones with Kushi . His real body instantly regained a full chakra pool.
"Shadow Clone Technique."
He created a new clone, then dissolved another from Kushi 's side, repeating the process to create five shadow clones, each holding half of his chakra.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh… All of these new clones activated Lightning Chakra Mode and donned the Black Iron Cloak, rushing toward the Five Kage.
Li Yao himself steered the ink eagle around the barrier, dodging ambushes from the Kage to buy more time.
"Ink Mimicry: Iron Rain!"
On the ground, one of Li Yao's clones encountered Ōnoki first. Facing the airborne Tsuchikage, the clone formed a mass of ink that transformed into a storm of iron rain—needles covering hundreds of meters, shooting up at Ōnoki.
Sensing the speed and piercing sound of the storm, Ōnoki didn't take it lightly.
"Earth Style: Black Earth Prison!"
Pitch-black rock with a metallic sheen spewed from his mouth, forming a wall in front of him.
Ding ding ding… The ink-formed needles struck the rock with a metallic clash. Ōnoki's defense was formidable.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle… Seeing this, Li Yao added lightning to the ink needles. With lightning countering earth, the electrified needles became faster and more penetrating.
Chchchchch… The black rock began to crumble as if gnawed by countless rats.
For a moment, Ōnoki was unable to escape.
Meanwhile, the other three Kage also encountered Li Yao's clones.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Rain!"
The Third Kazekage was first to strike. Countless fine iron sand needles rained down like a storm toward Li Yao's clone on the ground.
It was identical to the clone's earlier attack on Ōnoki.
With half of Li Yao's chakra, this clone had plenty of options. It first formed a thick circular iron-ink shield for defense, then shaped countless senbon needles on its surface to counterattack toward the airborne Kazekage.
Iron Sand Rain versus Ink Rain.
"Iron Sand Wall!"
Like Li Yao's clone, the Kazekage used a sand wall to defend.
On the Mizukage's side, Li Yao's Earth Style disrupted the ground and forced him to surface.
But when Li Yao launched his ink needle attack from a distance, the Mizukage simply became elemental, letting the needles pass through, then turned into a long black water serpent and shot toward Li Yao's clone.
Whoosh whoosh… The clone dodged swiftly, launching Fire Style attacks to force the Mizukage to stop his advance toward Li Yao's real body.
As long as he could stall the Four Kage, the balance of victory would tilt toward Li Yao.
However… Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
The Third Raikage completely ignored Li Yao's clone attacks and flew straight toward the real body.
Empowered by the Peacock Method, his flying speed was too fast—Li Yao's clones couldn't stop him.
"If I can't stop him, I won't try."
The clone meant to intercept the Raikage turned instead, forming an ink eagle to ascend and bombard Ōnoki from afar.
Among the Five Kage, the one most dangerous to Li Yao was Ōnoki. As long as he could be held back, the rest could still be dealt with.
(END CHAPTER)
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