The Great Battle (2)

Using the Flying Thunder God, Li Yu arrived at the source of the golden sand sea and saw the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, being guarded in the center.

"It's you. You were the one who blocked my Gold Sand Waves just now."

"Since when did Konoha have a ninja with such powerful Earth Release?"

Seeing Li Yu flicker into view, Rasa stopped his hand seals for the Gold Dust Burial, his face heavy with gravity.

Because the Fourth Kazekage had been conserving chakra to deal with Li Yu, he had failed to fully execute the Gold Dust Burial, allowing many Konoha ninjas with decent strength who had been buried in the sand to crawl out and escape with their lives.

Those with weaker strength had simply suffocated to death without being able to break through the gold dust.

Beside the Fourth Kazekage, Chiyo spoke up.

"He is Tsunade's younger brother, Senju Nawaki."

"He excels in Earth and Water Release ninjutsu, and the Senju Clan's taijutsu should be nothing to scoff at either."

"To think he would dare to come here alone."

"He is another ninja who knows the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama's Flying Thunder God. Lord Kazekage, be careful."

Li Yu swept his gaze over the group of elite Sunagakure ninjas and counted them silently. "Rasa, Chiyo, and fifteen elite ninjas—seventeen in total."

"Attack!"

Ten Sunagakure ninjas pulled out scrolls and quickly formed hand seals.

"Release!"

Over twenty puppets appeared out of thin air, all shapes and sizes, their hands and feet bristling with various blades and weapons.

They swarmed toward Li Yu in a pincer formation. Without a word, they unleashed a flurry of poison needles and darts, their weapons hacking at Li Yu's body as if they intended to chop him into pieces.

Seeing this, Li Yu dodged and weaved, his two kunai dancing in his hands. Relying on the Senju Clan's formidable taijutsu and the occasional elegant use of the Flying Thunder God, he handled them with ease, occasionally using the Strength of a Hundred to shatter a puppet.

"This Konoha ninja's taijutsu is troublesome. Quickly, bring out more puppets!"

"We must finish him here!"

They immediately pulled out more sealing scrolls and formed hand seals.

"Release, release, release!"

A massive number of puppets were summoned, and every ninja joined in to control them against Li Yu. Chiyo controlled the most, manipulating ten puppets by herself, while the other puppeteers each controlled at least three.

Except for the Fourth Kazekage and five elite ninjas who remained on the sidelines to hold the line, the other eleven ninjas moved their fingers rapidly to control their chakra threads, not giving Li Yu a moment to catch his breath.

"Damn, more? I was actually hoping for a one-on-one with the Fourth Kazekage."

"I didn't expect you all to be so dishonorable. You're asking for trouble."

Seeing so many puppets lunging at him again, Li Yu activated the Flying Thunder God to flash out of the encirclement and quickly formed hand seals.

"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"

He spat out a column of water—a cutting jet that swept across the air, quickly carving a large 'Z' shape. In an instant, it sliced all the puppets in front of him into fragments.

In truth, when Li Yu was surrounded by the puppets, he had feigned being in a desperate, struggling situation to lure the enemy into committing more puppets, only to wipe them all out with a single ninjutsu.

"Heh, don't blame me then."

After finishing this, Li Yu suddenly felt a whim. He brought his heels together, pointed his toes outward, bent his elbows, and used his wrists to pose with his hands in orchid fingers, pointing diagonally downward. He shouted:

"Perfect!"

He performed the standard pose of Teacher Jin to mock his enemies and express his current sense of triumph.

The Fourth Kazekage Rasa, Chiyo, and the group of Sunagakure ninjas were stunned. Although they didn't understand the meaning of Li Yu's pose, the look on his face sent their anger levels through the roof.

Whether it was because their puppets were all destroyed or because they were stunned by his "perfect" display, the group fell into a dead silence, their expressions growing uglier by the second.

"Since that's the case, it's my turn to strike."

He pulled out a special kunai, his eyes shifted, and Li Yu prepared to begin his performance.

"Ah!"

Under Li Yu's Flying Thunder God, the elite jonin were no different from genin, each taken out with a single strike. This was especially true for the puppeteers, whose strength relied almost entirely on their puppets—and their best ones had already been destroyed by Li Yu's Water Severing Wave.

The Sunagakure ninjas fell like wheat being harvested, several at a time, scaring the Fourth Kazekage into using his gold dust to protect the others.

"Magnet Release: Gold Sand Shuriken!"

He fired a wave of sand shuriken, forcing Li Yu back and creating some distance.

In that last flurry of action, Li Yu had killed eight elite ninjas. He flicked the blood off his kunai and said nonchalantly:

"Old hag Chiyo, I've long heard of how formidable your Chikamatsu Ten Puppets are."

"Why haven't you summoned them this time?"

Hearing Li Yu's provocation, Chiyo ignored him and let out a cold snort.

"Hey now, not taking the bait?"

He had been a bit too cocky just now; the Strength of a Hundred and that display of the Water Severing Wave had terrified Chiyo into not using the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets, fearing he would destroy them all.

"Forget it, I should quit while I'm ahead. I'm getting a bit too greedy."

Seeing that the situation had turned against them, the group seemed to have reached a tacit agreement, turning on their heels and bolting away.

Li Yu was stunned by this turn of events, but only for a moment; he immediately flung a specially crafted kunai and shouted, "Hey, where do you think you're going!"

The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, manipulated his gold sand to form walls and waves, blocking the kunai Li Yu had thrown and obstructing his pursuit.

Bang!

Bang!

Li Yu charged forward, shattering the sand walls and waves with single punches and kicks, unstoppable as a wild bull.

Faced with such absolute strength, the sand's defensive capabilities were still far too lacking; although Rasa used Magnet Release to infuse the sand with gold, the density simply wasn't high enough.

Seeing Li Yu closing in, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, resolutely decided to stay behind to cover their retreat.

"Go! I will stay behind to hold him off!"

"Lord Kazekage, we—"

"Go! I have my own way of escaping."

Having said this, he formed hand seals.

"Magnet Release: Gold Sand Waves!"

Li Yu hadn't expected the Fourth Kazekage to be so heroic; instead of fleeing, he had turned back to unleash such a large-scale ninjutsu. Caught in the heat of the moment, Li Yu was suddenly buried under a wave of golden sand.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Burial!"

Beneath the sand, Li Yu felt the density suddenly compress, the pressure on his body increasing sharply. Determined, Li Yu didn't even bother using the Flying Thunder God; instead, he chose the most chakra-efficient method, exerting force throughout his entire body.

Boom!

He burst straight out from the gold sand, sending a massive spray of particles flying in every direction. This display left the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, completely dumbfounded.

It was the first time anyone had ever broken out of his Gold Dust Burial by brute force alone, let alone emerging unscathed.

Having been caught off guard, Li Yu took a quick step forward and delivered a heavy punch toward Rasa's face. Rasa was, after all, a Kage-level powerhouse—even if he was at the bottom of the tier—and he managed to condense chakra into his forearms to block his face.

Bang!

The heavy blow knocked Rasa's arms aside, and the follow-up punch connected squarely with his right cheek, leaving him stiff and dazed.

Li Yu then assumed a Wing Chun starting stance. "Wing Chun Ip Man!" What followed was a torrential storm of strikes.

"106, 107, and the final blow: Strength of a Hundred—one hundred and eight!"

Rasa, his entire body covered in cracks, was sent flying like a cannonball by the final strike. He smashed through a row of trees before crashing into the mountainside, causing a localized collapse that buried him beneath the rubble.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling a cloud of stale air, Li Yu shouted, "Satisfying!"

"The Fourth Kazekage's shell is truly hard. I wonder how it compares to Gaara's."

"I could still take on ten more!"

Li Yu had just crossed a few broken trees and was preparing to inspect the rubble when suddenly, a dozen shuriken made of gold sand whistled through the air, flying straight toward him. Relying on instinct, he dodged the attack.

"Magnet Release: Gold Sand Shuriken again? This Rasa didn't pass out?"

A dark figure emerged from the rubble. The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was covered in bruises, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his eyes only half-open. With a few leaps, he vaulted into the air, standing atop a clump of gold sand that trailed a golden exhaust plume as he sped away into the distance.

"You've got to be kidding me, he can fly too?"

"No wonder he dared to stay behind; he has Gold Sand Armor and the ability to fly."

Li Yu shook his head, knowing he couldn't catch him. This battle had consumed nearly thirty percent of his chakra, and combined with his daily expenditures since arriving at the Land of Wind battlefield, he had burned through nearly forty percent of his total reserves.

He turned back toward the foot of Mount Kikyo and found that the battle on the other side was still white-hot. The Konoha ninja were of higher quality, and with both the Fourth Kazekage and Chiyo absent, the advantage clearly lay with Konoha. The defeat of the Sunagakure ninja was now only a matter of time.