Battle Against Iwa Ninja (1)

Li Yu harvested quite a few White Zetsu, placing them into the sealing formation within the Kamui Dimension, and set off toward the Land of Earth, feeling quite satisfied.

As for the missing White Zetsu, Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu would eventually notice the problem. Even if they realized something was wrong, they wouldn't find any clues or know who was responsible. Even if the trail eventually led back to him, that would be a long time from now.

He firmly believed that by then, he would have already obtained what he wanted from Uchiha Madara, making the minor matter of missing White Zetsu irrelevant.

After half a day of traveling.

From his vantage point on the mountaintop, Li Yu looked toward the distant horizon, where a dark, dense mass was moving in his direction.

Separated by over ten miles and two small hills, Li Yu couldn't see the specifics clearly, so he found a spot with a better view and sat down.

"It seems these must be the ten-thousand-strong ninja force from the Hidden Stone Village."

"Looking at them from this far away, they really look like a swarm of ants crossing the land."

Li Yu activated his left Mangekyo Sharingan and pulled a bottle of water from the Kamui Dimension, taking a sip to steady his nerves.

He formed hand seals.

"Multi Shadow Clone."

He split into five clones. With a distortion of space from Li Yu's left eye, the five shadow clones entered the Kamui Dimension, where they closed their eyes and sat cross-legged.

Li Yu formed seals again, and four figures wearing masks with green patterns and clad in black robes appeared beside him.

With four Wood Release Clones as his guard, Li Yu also sat cross-legged, closing his eyes to absorb the natural energy from the air while waiting for the ten-thousand-strong Iwa Ninja force to approach.

Just as Li Yu was absorbing natural energy and feeling a bit drowsy, the clones beside him coughed a few times.

"Are they here? Have the Iwa Ninja arrived?"

Li Yu's spirit jolted; he stood up immediately and looked down the mountain.

"Damn, good heavens, look at all those ninjas wearing headbands."

"I've been waiting so long I thought I'd wither away."

With that, Li Yu took the lead and leaped off the mountaintop, leaving his clones staring in disbelief.

"This is over three hundred meters high; jumping down like this will turn us into meat paste."

"Let him fall to his death."

"He brought this on himself."

"Exactly, exactly."

Li Yu's four Wood Release Clones each expressed their own attitudes, their postures varying.

Swish.

Li Yu activated the Flying Thunder God, suddenly appearing behind the four Wood Release Clones, a malicious grin on his face.

"What are you babbling about up there? If I kick the bucket, none of you are getting away either."

"Go, go, go."

He finished his sentence and broke into a sprint, then, with a stylish maneuver, performed a 720-degree mid-air rotation as he dove downward, his hands busy forming seals.

"Diga—no, wait, damn it."

"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique."

As Li Yu descended, his body began to sprout limbs starting from the head, and a massive wooden figure manifested in the air around him.

BOOM.

It felt like the mountains were collapsing and the earth was splitting. After a deafening roar, the ground shook violently. The hundred-meter-tall wooden figure landed in a half-crouch, the massive shockwave kicking up a hurricane that swept up trees and sand, blasting everything in the vicinity.

"What is that?"

"Is it an earthquake?"

"It must be a typhoon."

"A volcanic eruption!"

Within the ten-thousand-strong Hidden Stone Village ninja force, the sudden, thunderous impact caused massive chaos, with everyone shouting different theories.

Many less-skilled ninjas, caught off guard by the sudden tremor while on the move, lost their footing and fell in droves. Some landed on their backsides, some collided with one another, some face-planted into the dirt, and others hit their heads against trees; it was a scene of total disarray.

While many ninjas managed to stabilize themselves through precise chakra control, they still looked incredibly disheveled as they struggled to stand.

As the hurricane and dust settled, the hundred-meter-tall body of the Wood Human was revealed.

Swish, swish, swish, swish.

The four Wood Release Clones appeared directly behind Li Yu, nodded to one another, and quickly departed from the wooden figure, heading in four different directions.

Li Yu watched the ten-thousand Hidden Stone ninjas, thrown into chaos and making fools of themselves by the sudden shock, and couldn't help but reveal a smug smile.

"It really feels like watching a disaster blockbuster from the States. No matter how good your skills are, you can't handle an unexpected situation."

Just like in those disaster or alien invasion movies, whenever a major event happens, there's always a pile-up of cars on the road; the scene was eerily similar.

After the hurricane and dust dissipated, the Iwa Ninja saw the hundred-meter-tall Wood Human, and sounds of shock, terror, and dread erupted from their ranks as they instinctively took several steps back.

"W-w-what is this?"

"So huge."

"Is it an enemy?"

"Is it an enemy sent by the Land of Lightning?"

Some Iwagakure ninja who had participated in the operation to surround and kill Li Yu in the Land of Birds recognized this ninjutsu.

"No, he's an Anbu ninja from Konoha. He's a Konoha ninja! Ah, it's him!"

"That's right, it's him! Why is he here? He..."

Seeing that the effect was sufficient and the intended intimidation had been achieved, Li Yu stopped waiting. He controlled the wooden figure to slightly bend its knees, hunch its back, and prepare to strike.

"Water Release: Water Travel Wave!"

"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"

Appearing suddenly from three directions, two Water Release and one Wind Release ninjutsu surged toward the densely packed Iwagakure ninja on the perimeter.

"Ah!"

"Ah!"

Screams immediately rang out through the Iwagakure ranks. Under the continuous sweeping of the high-pressure water jet from the Water Severing Wave, over a dozen heads flew into the air, and trees and rocks were sliced clean through, terrifying the nearby Iwagakure ninja into a frantic retreat.

On one side, the Vacuum Serial Waves—Danzo's signature technique—were imbued with massive amounts of chakra and precise control by Li Yu's Wood Release Clone, greatly increasing their density and lethality. Severed limbs flew everywhere, and many Iwagakure ninja, bunched too closely together, collided while trying to flee, leaving behind a trail of blood and gore as they retreated.

The other side was relatively "gentle"; the massive torrent of the Water Travel Wave, like a dam bursting, rushed into the crowd of Iwagakure ninja with overwhelming momentum, knocking many unconscious or leaving them choking on water.

Intentionally or otherwise, Li Yu drove the Iwagakure ninja in a single direction. The retreating ninja gathered in a disheveled mass in the center of their formation, looking around vigilantly for any other enemies.

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

The black-robed Li Yu, who had emerged from the ground, stood in the center of the driven crowd of Iwagakure ninja, pressed his palms together, and shouted.

With this Wood Release Clone as the center, trees and vines grew wildly in all directions, constantly binding the surrounding Iwagakure ninja. By absorbing the chakra of those trapped, the trees grew even faster.

"Oh no, it's Wood Release!"

"No matter how much we cut, they won't stop! There are so many, no!"

"No!"

Before long, the area within a hundred meters had been transformed into a lush forest, with Iwagakure ninja bound to the trees like withered husks.

Some peripheral Iwagakure ninja who managed to escape the Deep Forest Emergence lingered in fear, staring at the man-eating forest. Even after reaching the main group, their hearts remained unsettled, each of them looking around like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.

Standing atop the wooden figure, Li Yu watched the performance of his four Wood Release Clones and nodded in satisfaction. He had created such a massive commotion specifically to draw their attention, keeping the Iwagakure ninja focused entirely on the hundred-meter wooden figure while his three Wood Release Clones launched surprise attacks. While inflicting casualties, they had also intentionally herded the ninja into one spot.

Finally, by using Deep Forest Emergence—a wide-range ninjutsu that could also utilize the enemy's own chakra—he had dealt with a large number of foes. Li Yu's brilliant tactics had successfully neutralized over a thousand ninja.

Li Yu looked down at the sea of black-clad ninja below, feeling that ten thousand ninja were not so easy to deal with after all. It was a pity he didn't have the Rinnegan; using Super: Almighty Push might have made it easier to take out even more. For Li Yu, chakra was not an issue.