Chapter 389: The Second Battle Begins
"Oh… you're quite clever, aren't you?"
Li Yao looked at Tsunade, who was squirming in frustration, and was a little surprised that she had managed to guess his origin.
But so what if she had? Li Yao didn't care. He leaned back and let Tsunade continue to shift her body as she wished.
Knowing the truth wouldn't change anything.
Unless the Sage of Six Paths personally intervened, the shinobi world was his playground now.
Tsunade quickly realized this too.
The brief moment of pride she felt from deducing Li Yao's origin vanished instantly, replaced by panic. The truth she had guessed at was more terrifying than she could accept.
According to the original plan, Naruto's trip to Mount Myōboku wasn't just for Sage Mode.
As one of the three great summoning realms that had existed for a thousand years, Mount Myōboku was full of toads with deep knowledge of the shinobi world and the best intelligence network.
The idea had been to dig into Li Yao's past, to learn about the masked man's weaknesses and devise a strategy.
But now, it turned out the masked man wasn't Li Yao, but someone else entirely. That meant their intelligence was invalid.
If Naruto fought Li Yao using tactics designed for the masked man, it could end in disaster.
In battle, misjudging your enemy is fatal.
So what now?
What exactly were Li Yao's abilities?
Besides space-time ninjutsu and genjutsu, what else could he do?
"Mm…"
Blushing deeply, Tsunade tried to suppress the heat swelling in her body. She focused and drew on a thread of medical chakra, guiding it inward to sense the powerful, surging energy from deep within Li Yao.
A ninja's capabilities are reflected through their chakra.
There are seven basic chakra natures.
Whichever one is strongest generally indicates that person's affinity.
Although space-time techniques are considered neutral, subtle distinctions in chakra can still be sensed.
Of course, Tsunade wasn't strong enough to perceive the subtleties of space-time chakra itself.
But she wasn't looking for that. What she wanted to know was: did Li Yao have any other hidden talents?
If she could identify them, she could warn Naruto. Even a small piece of intel might save his life at a critical moment.
For Naruto's sake—for Konoha—Tsunade risked everything, carefully probing Li Yao's chakra with her own.
Naturally, nothing escaped Li Yao's chakra awareness.
But he didn't stop her. He allowed her to probe freely.
With his power, there was no way Tsunade could kill him. Besides, he had already placed a restriction in her brain—like the cursed seal Madara had once planted in Obito's heart.
If she ever tried to attack him, the forbidden seal would automatically activate, locking her down.
"Such powerful chakra…"
"Yin, Yang, Water, Fire—he's strong in all seven types!"
After sensing for a while, Tsunade was both awed and crushed.
The strength of each chakra type within Li Yao's body indicated that he was proficient in all seven nature transformations.
The five basic types were manageable—but Yin and Yang Release were something else.
For example, the Akimichi clan's body expansion technique was a Yang-style secret art, allowing one to amplify body size and strength.
The Nara clan's Shadow Possession Technique was a Yin-style secret art, letting them control others through linked shadows.
The Yamanaka clan's Mind Transfer Jutsu was also a Yin-style technique.
Yin-Yang Release techniques often had bizarre, overpowering effects—even the strongest shinobi could fall victim to them.
No one yet knew what Li Yao's Yin or Yang techniques were, but if he used them in battle… Tsunade didn't dare imagine the result.
"What can I even do…?"
Tsunade looked dejected. What could the Fifth Hokage possibly do now?
Very quickly, time passed in their continued "interaction."
Before an hour had even fully passed, and with no summons from Tsunade, Naruto—growing concerned—returned to Konoha using the toads' secret network and a reverse summoning connection through a nearby well.
Li Yao sensed Naruto's return. Before Naruto could even enter the village, he appeared near the crater rim.
"You... what are you doing here?!"
The moment Naruto saw Li Yao, he froze in shock—mouth agape, eyes wide, utterly dumbfounded.
That face… this man… ever since his memories were restored, he had remembered it clearly.
This was the man who had destroyed his father's spirit, killed Captain Yamato, and likely even Sara.
But why was he here?
Naruto's heart pounded, his mind raced. It was like seeing a ghost crawl out of the TV screen—a mix of fear and confusion.
"Surprised?"
Li Yao chuckled. Naruto's expression brought him great satisfaction.
"It's you!"
Li Yao's voice snapped Naruto out of his daze. He quickly realized—this was the man Tsunade had mentioned. He wasn't the masked man.
Tsunade needn't have worried. The moment Naruto saw Li Yao, he understood—this man came from... maybe the distant past, maybe the future.
In other words, the man might know everything about him.
A thousand thoughts flashed through Naruto's mind.
Though often called foolish, Naruto had a keen battle instinct.
Still, just like his father Minato, he mistakenly assumed Li Yao was from the future—thinking the man had come with full knowledge of Naruto's abilities.
This mistake caused both father and son to focus on trying to outwit Li Yao using what he knew about them, instead of focusing on Li Yao's own abilities.
It was this exact misunderstanding that once led Minato to be caught by Li Yao's Contract Seal during their battle in the Loran timeline.
"Come on, Naruto. Here's your chance to show me what you've got."
Li Yao smiled at him.
"Who is he, Naruto boy?" asked Lady Shima, the toad sitting on Naruto's shoulder.
She had thought the enemy would be Pain again, but this boy looked completely ordinary.
Yet Naruto's reaction suggested otherwise.
"Ma'am Shima, he's…" Naruto began explaining who Li Yao was. Hearing this, Shima stared at Li Yao in disbelief.
"Impossible. I've never heard of anyone crossing over from a parallel world using the Dragon Vein!"
"Parallel world?" Naruto frowned.
"Yes, that's right," Shima explained the concept of alternate worlds.
Unlike Naruto, she knew the truth behind the Great Toad Sage's dream prophecy. Those dreams didn't show the future of this world—but the fates of other worlds, other timelines.
In other words, prophecies weren't always correct.
Otherwise, there wouldn't have been two Children of Prophecy.
"Ah…"
Hearing that the famous prophecy was based on such logic left Naruto's mind reeling. He couldn't fully grasp the idea of parallel worlds.
But there was one thing he now understood:
The Fourth Hokage he met in Loran wasn't his real father.
His real father was the spirit that once dwelled inside him.
(END CHAPTER)
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