Chapter 387: Li Yao, the Masked Man
"Who exactly are you?"
Tsunade gritted her teeth as she spoke. Li Yao simply smiled and replied again, "You'll find out eventually."
Whoosh!
Seeing that Li Yao had no intention of killing Tsunade, Jiraiya left. He really couldn't bear to keep watching Tsunade—now no longer under genjutsu—interact so intimately with Li Yao.
If Li Yao hadn't set a restriction that kept him from straying more than ten meters away, he would've long since fled far off.
Now he could only return to the base of the Hokage Rock. Out of sight, out of mind—though the painful sounds still reached his ears.
The night passed without words.
At dawn, the peaceful little village of Konoha was suddenly awakened by a scream.
"Something's wrong—Lady Tsunade is missing!"
"What?!"
Chaos erupted instantly. Naruto and the others rushed to Tsunade's residence and found it empty. Even the ANBU assigned to guard her had disappeared. Everyone's expressions turned grave.
"Go find Lady Tsunade!"
Naruto and the others immediately split up to search for their Hokage.
But as the people of Konoha searched frantically, the woman they revered as the Fifth Hokage stood atop her own Hokage Rock monument, basking in the sunlight beside a man they had never seen before.
Soon, the red sun rose fully, drenching Tsunade in light. Her skin soaked in the sun's warmth, and she lay back with a look of quiet satisfaction.
Li Yao buttoned his clothes while handing Tsunade hers.
"In an hour, I'll go find Naruto and give him a chance to defeat me. Tell him to prepare Sage Mode."
Before extracting the Nine-Tails from Naruto, Li Yao had decided to give him one last chance to resist—or rather, a shocking surprise for the Naruto who had regained his memories of Loran. A clear, crushing defeat.
Tsunade said nothing. She silently dressed herself, enduring the discomfort in her body.
After a night of… "Water Style conversation," she was utterly drained, both in body and spirit. She had no strength left to express anger or hatred—only a numb acceptance remained.
"Remember—don't you dare harm our child. You know what the consequences will be."
As he sent Tsunade back to the real world from the dimensional space, Li Yao reminded her. He was very interested in the child inside her—perhaps it could be a suitable spare body for his next possession.
Tsunade gave him one last hateful glare but said nothing. Li Yao didn't care. He simply snapped his fingers.
Fully clothed, Tsunade instantly reappeared atop the Hokage Rock.
"Lady Tsunade!"
"We found her—Lady Tsunade...?"
"Grandma Tsunade, are you…?"
Nearby Konoha shinobi spotted her immediately—Naruto among them.
Everyone was stunned by Tsunade's rosy cheeks, her alluring expression, and her overly "refreshed" appearance.
The younger ones were confused—why did she look like this?
But the more mature men were clearly thinking: Lady Hokage looks like she just finished a particularly intense battle… and still had traces of… glow on her face. What was going on?
Had she disappeared just to be with a man?
No one dared ask. They were just relieved she was safe.
Konoha couldn't afford to lose her right now.
"I'm fine. Everyone, go back."
Tsunade didn't want to talk about Li Yao. That name would haunt her forever. Now wasn't the time.
She dismissed the others and signaled Naruto to come with her as they returned to her home.
Once there, Tsunade used a Water Style jutsu to wash away the last traces of her sunbath and freshen up.
After composing herself, she called Naruto in.
"Grandma Tsunade?"
Naruto entered her home, looking serious. He hadn't noticed earlier, but now it hit him—her disappearance hadn't been voluntary.
"Listen carefully, Naruto."
Tsunade, though weary, spoke with calm determination. "There's another enemy in the shadows. His name is Li Yao. He's extremely powerful. His chakra rivals yours, and he has mastered not just one, but multiple space-time ninjutsu."
Even though what happened last night had been devastating, Tsunade did gather some intel during their time together.
Li Yao's chakra felt like that of a Tailed Beast—she could sense it most clearly during "deep exchanges."
Also, the space he took her to had all the signs of a space-time jutsu. And his sudden, ghost-like movements suggested he had more than one space-time ability.
She didn't know everything about his powers yet, but what he had shown was enough to be terrifying.
"Space-time ninjutsu…"
Naruto frowned and thought for a moment. His expression suddenly changed. "Grandma Tsunade, the person you encountered—was he wearing a mask?"
"Mask?" Tsunade looked confused, then shook her head. "No. Why do you ask—who is this masked man?"
Naruto explained, "When I almost lost control of the Nine-Tails, I saw my mom. She told me that the Nine-Tails incident years ago was caused by a masked man. That masked man might be the real mastermind behind Akatsuki—he's been pulling the strings all along."
"The most important part is—Mom said he used a powerful space-time jutsu. He could pull people into another dimension and bring them out at will."
Back during the Nine-Tails incident, Obito had to transfer Kushina into Kamui space and then bring her out again. So she knew the general ability of Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan.
She had told all this to Naruto.
He shared all that intel with Tsunade.
After hearing Naruto's story, Tsunade began to suspect—could Li Yao really be the masked man?
That mysterious space was likely the kind Naruto's mother described.
It also explained how Li Yao had infiltrated the heavily warded delivery room back then.
Someone with space traversal abilities could bypass Root's layered barriers and assassinate Danzo with ease.
"Li Yao must be the masked man you spoke of."
After pondering for a while, Tsunade concluded that Li Yao had to be the masked man. There were too few shinobi who possessed space-time ninjutsu in the world—and no one else had multiple.
"So that means... Li Yao also has a space-time jutsu that lets him make his body intangible. And... he has powerful genjutsu too."
Tsunade furrowed her brow, feeling an unprecedented pressure.
Li Yao was terrifying enough just with space-time ninjutsu. But what made Tsunade feel hopeless was that genjutsu—so powerful she had no means of resistance.
Naruto definitely wouldn't be able to defend against that level of genjutsu.
What could they do?
Tsunade racked her brain for a way to defeat Li Yao—but couldn't come up with a single viable plan.
(END CHAPTER)
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