Fame in a Single Battle (1)

Li Yu woke up on Yan Xing's back, his spirit listless as he asked, "Yan Xing, where are we?"

"Zi Yu, you're awake. We've reached the Land of Birds. We'll be entering the capital soon, just hold on a little longer."

"No need to carry me, I feel a bit better."

"Although I can't mobilize much chakra and recovery is slow, my body is holding up."

"No, we cannot go to the capital of the Land of Birds."

Yan Xing asked, puzzled, "Why?"

Li Yu pulled a map from behind his back and pointed at it. "Look, the Land of Earth is above, and the Land of Wind is below. We are in the Land of Birds, caught between two great nations. To return to Konoha from here, we would have to pass through the Land of Rain."

"There is a group of people behind us, driving us into this trap."

"Zi Yu, how did you deduce all this?"

"I sensed that among those chasing us, there is one ninja skilled in Earth Release and one skilled in Wind Release."

"My worst-case scenario is that someone from Konoha is meant to die here. The Land of Birds is designed to ensure I have no way to escape."

"I fainted earlier; otherwise, I wouldn't have entered the Land of Birds. We should have bypassed it and entered the Land of Wind or the Land of Earth before the encirclement could form."

"We start detouring now. We're going to the Land of Earth. Let's gamble on it."

With that, the two changed direction, cutting diagonally straight toward the Land of Earth.

They hadn't been traveling long before they neared the border between the Land of Birds and the Land of Earth, where they ran straight into over a hundred Iwa Ninja. Because Zi Yu's mental state was weak, his sensory perception had been greatly diminished.

They charged left and right, but in the end, they were surrounded.

"Haha, Konoha Anbu's Zi Yu and Yan Xing."

"So it's the two of you."

"It seems we can finish you off right here without needing other nations to intervene."

"The credit belongs to our battalion."

Li Yu shouted, "Wait! How did you know we would come here?"

An Iwa Ninja who appeared to be the leader said, "Actually, we have special tracking methods."

"The encirclement radius was two kilometers and has been slowly shrinking. We paid a heavy price to kill you this time."

Seeing the situation, Yan Xing knew there was no hope of escaping. He looked back at Li Yu. "Zi Yu, you must survive. You are the only one in Konoha who has inherited the First Hokage's Wood Release."

"I know your chakra is low, but you must live."

Li Yu grabbed Yan Xing's hand. "I have space-time ninjutsu; I still have enough to take you out of here."

Yan Xing shook off Li Yu's hand. "Space-time ninjutsu consumes a massive amount of chakra to carry someone. Even if we escape this time, what then? Will it resolve the crisis?"

"If you save more chakra, your chances of survival are higher."

"Zi Yu, you must return to Konoha alive."

Saying this, he charged into the crowd of Iwa Ninja without looking back.

Li Yu watched Yan Xing's indomitable back and seemed to understand something.

After a ripple of space, Li Yu appeared on the peak of a mountain. He watched the battlefield as Yan Xing charged into the crowd, killing eight Iwa Ninja before being riddled with shuriken and kunai like a beehive.

After continuous fighting and fleeing such a long distance, Yan Xing's chakra must have been nearly exhausted. To still take eight enemies down with him against so many was no small feat.

Li Yu's eyes throbbed with pain, automatically activating his Sharingan. The Three Tomoe spun rapidly, his ocular power continuously increasing, before suddenly coming to a halt.

It did not evolve into a Mangekyo; it lacked the necessary ocular power.

After the pain subsided, he realized that apart from an increase in ocular power, there were no other changes to his eyes.

"What a pity."

Having just used the Flying Thunder God, Li Yu could only mobilize ten percent of his chakra.

Because of Yan Xing's death, Li Yu made a firm decision. He quickly ran back toward the Land of Birds.

"Since I can't run away, I won't run anymore."

Li Yu intended to enter the encirclement voluntarily, specifically the border area between the Land of Birds and the Land of Rain.

After a night of traveling, Li Yu found a mountain peak, sat down to rest, and closed his eyes to recover his chakra and spirit.

By this time, the army surrounding Li Yu had already reached the foot of the mountain.

Li Yu looked down and saw that the Hidden Stone Village had sent nearly five hundred people, the Hidden Sand had sent one hundred, and the Hidden Rain Village had sent one hundred.

He carefully sensed the area, detecting three powerful, distinct chakra signatures. From a distance, he spotted the figures in purple robes and those wearing red conical hats within the Hidden Stone Village ranks.

"The Four-Tails jinchuriki Roshi and the Five-Tails jinchuriki Han. Very good."

"And the one from the Land of Wind must be the One-Tail jinchuriki Bunpuku."

"Excellent. This saves me the trouble of hunting you all down later."

Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, the Third Kazekage, and Hanzo the Salamander were all hovering in the air. They certainly thought highly of him to bring such a force.

This formation made Li Yu feel as if he were Uchiha Madara himself, standing alone against an entire ninja army.

Even though Li Yu could only mobilize thirty percent of his chakra, a surge of heroic spirit suddenly welled up within him.

"Listen up, those of you below!"

"I am an Anbu ninja of Konoha, codenamed: Zi Yu."

"Today, I shall let you witness the strongest kekkei genkai of the Senju Clan."

As he finished speaking, a green dot appeared in the center of his forehead, expanding into a circular green pattern. Green eyeshadow manifested at the corners of his eyes, and combined with his Three Tomoe Sharingan, a formidable aura erupted from his entire being.

Hidden behind his mask, the army could not see the changes in Li Yu's face, but they could judge his power through his overwhelming presence.

Onoki remarked, "What is going on? I thought he was running low on chakra?"

The Third Kazekage replied, "Who cares? We have the numbers."

Hanzo the Salamander scoffed, "A brat who hasn't even grown his hair out yet. He's nowhere near the level of the First Hokage."

Li Yu flung all of his specialized kunai, scattering them deep into the crowd.

Space suddenly rippled, and Li Yu appeared in the midst of the Hidden Stone army. He quickly formed hand seals, locking his hands in a cross.

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Centered on where Li Yu stood, trees and vegetation began to grow rampantly. This technique, fueled by Sage Art, was far more powerful than any Deep Forest Emergence he had used before.

The forest spread rapidly, vines entangling the ninjas, draining their chakra, and growing further to ensnare even more victims.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Explosive Tags flew everywhere.

"Get away! Get away!" They tried to cut the trees with their ninja tools, but they could only leave deep gashes before the wood automatically repaired itself.

"Aaaah!"

"This is that same technique used by the First Hokage!"

Within a dozen breaths, the vast forest fell silent.

Li Yu utilized the Flying Raijin Jutsu to vanish from his spot, reappearing beside the battered Onoki. He immediately unleashed a flurry of punches upon the old man.

Enhanced by Sage Art, his speed increased drastically, leaving Onoki no time to even form a hand seal.

Onoki's Dust Release was the most dangerous threat, but as expected of the Third Tsuchikage, he found an opening to use an Earth Clone to escape.

Hovering in the air, Onoki gasped for breath, clutching his bruised stomach and sporting a black eye. He shouted in fury, "I'm going to kill you!"

"Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"

A transparent, cubic barrier trapped Li Yu inside. Onoki wore a triumphant smirk. "Brat, you enjoyed hitting me earlier, didn't you? Now, die!"

This was exactly what he had been waiting for. In the games he used to play, the easiest way to land a hit with one hundred percent accuracy was to strike while the opponent was locked in their own skill animation.

Thinking he was safe because he had flown into the air, Onoki didn't notice the massive Rasengan forming in Li Yu's hand, which was aimed directly at his back.

"Taste this, old man! A Konoha bestseller!"

"Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan!"

Onoki spun through the air, making intimate contact with the ground.

"BOOM!"

He smashed into a massive crater.

Nearby ninjas screamed, "Lord Tsuchikage!"

"Lord Tsuchikage!"

Since he had been marked with the Flying Raijin seal, flying away was useless.

Seeing Li Yu descend from the sky, all the remaining Hidden Stone ninjas threw kunai and unleashed countless ninjutsu at him.

Li Yu sneered. He had intentionally hovered in the air, planning to bait the army into wasting their skills.

He used the Flying Raijin mark on Onoki to teleport directly into the crater.

"Ancestral: Strength of a Hundred!"

He landed another punch squarely on the back of the still-prone Onoki.

BOOM

The ground split wide open, and with Onoki at the center, shattered rocks scattered as the earth sank several feet further.

Onoki let out a miserable shriek, "Ah!"

A song of sorrow was sent to Onoki as he was knocked clean unconscious.

"Lord Third Tsuchikage!"

"Lord Third Tsuchikage!"

After shouting, the two jinchuriki of the Hidden Stone Village glared with murderous intent and charged toward Li Yu in the crater.