After Zeref vanished, Li immediately swept his eyes over the surroundings. Having lost the Mangekyō Sharingan, Li had also lost his superior dynamic vision. To be honest, the dynamic vision of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan was not much different from Li's unaided eyesight.
Just then, Li suddenly sensed killing intent from behind him. Before he could react, a sharp pain erupted in his lower back. He could not spare attention for anything else and immediately slashed behind himself with his sword. Yet as his blade swung, Zeref did not continue his attack.
The blood seeping from Li's lips was no act. Though the strike had seemed effortless, Li was already struggling to endure it. Back when he possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, he had been fully aware of every change in his surroundings. But now that he had abruptly been reduced to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, it had become far more difficult for him to track Zeref's movements.
Li stared fixedly at Zeref and gently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The three tomoe in his eyes slowly spun, as if he intended to see completely through the man before him.
Then Li smiled. He slowly raised the blade in his hand, laughing at what he had become. Had he truly reached the point where he could only fight opponents by relying on those special abilities? Those abilities were indeed part of his strength, but because he had relied upon them, he seemed to have stopped progressing as well.
Back when Li had been in the world of the Hokage, he had been little more than cannon fodder. Yet his heart had then been filled with an unyielding will. If he had been able to defeat those whom he could once only look up to, would he now lose to