Escape

"Fuck you!" one of the Mist Shinobi cursed. Damn it, he'd never seen such a shameless ninja. You turn around and make Hand Seals like you're about to unleash some ultimate move, and this is all you've got?

The Mist Shinobi felt like they'd just been made to look like idiots, and they chased after Li Yi even more furiously. They were going to cut that kid into a thousand pieces.

Just then, Li Yi turned around again and ran backward, making Hand Seals with both hands. The Mist Shinobi held their breath and immediately started defending themselves. They might never have heard the story of the boy who cried wolf, but caution on the battlefield was never a mistake.

Unfortunately, Li Yi just kept running and didn't do a damn thing.

"Damn it, when we catch that kid, we're going to skin him alive!" one of the Mist Shinobi shouted angrily. That brat had gone too far.

Every time a Mist Shinobi got close, Li Yi would turn around and act like he was about to use Fire Style. It left them feeling rather aggrieved, but as Jonin, they wouldn't let anger control them. On the battlefield, you only had one life, so caution, caution, and more caution was the way to go. No matter how many times Li Yi tried it, they would slow down, even if that let him get farther away.

Of course, they wouldn't waste chakra by using ninjutsu preemptively, either.

Li Yi knew it would be difficult to trick them with this move now, but that was fine. They were all wary of one another, which would make things easier for him.

When the Mist Shinobi caught up again, Li Yi turned around as usual and quickly formed Hand Seals. The Mist Shinobi slowed down once more, and Li Yi unleashed a sea of flames that swept toward them.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

This was the most powerful Fire Style technique Li Yi knew so far. A vast sea of flames engulfed the five Mist Shinobi, blocking their view of one another. After unleashing the Fire Style, Li Yi formed Hand Seals and used the Shadow Clone Technique again before making his escape.

That one Fire Style technique had consumed more than half his chakra. If it couldn't stop the enemy, he'd be in danger.

Fortunately, the Mera Mera no Mi boosted Li Yi's Fire Style, making it extremely powerful. At such close range, the five Mist Shinobi clearly couldn't defend themselves in time. They had no choice but to endure the flames as they used Water Release. Even so, the Mist Shinobi at the front was badly burned.

"Captain, should we keep chasing?" someone asked as he hoisted the injured Mist Shinobi onto his back.

The captain glanced in the direction Li Yi had gone, then shook his head. Another Shadow Clone Technique. "Let's forget it. We're all in bad shape now. If we chase him recklessly, we probably won't get anything out of it. And that Konoha brat is as cunning as a fox. We don't want him to turn around and kill us."

After the escaping Li Yi felt no one pursuing him, he finally let out a long breath. He'd finally escaped them. He wondered how his teacher was doing.

But he couldn't worry about that now. Li Yi popped a Military Ration Pill into his mouth, crawled into a hollow tree, and began to recover.

After this battle, Li Yi had realized just how many weaknesses he still had. He lacked a way to kill an opponent with a single blow. Rasengan could do the job, but he'd have to get close first. Maybe he could kill one person with it, but the others could close in on him, putting him at great risk of being killed.

In short, his strength was still too pathetic.

He didn't have enough chakra or any area-of-effect techniques, so he was at a disadvantage against larger groups. Unfortunately, none of that could be fixed in a short time.

All he could do now was work toward releasing Ryujin Jakka. But based on what Li Yi had discovered so far, releasing Ryujin Jakka would probably require him to kill a lot of people. And there was the problem: to kill a lot of people, he needed to be strong. Without that, it was all pointless.

If he wanted to get stronger, he could only focus on developing the Mera Mera no Mi. As long as he could turn his whole body into flames, he'd make a real breakthrough.

Then he wouldn't have to fear close combat anymore.

Of course, he also needed to master Chakra Nature Transformation as soon as possible. The nature transformation of fire chakra mainly involved scorching heat, increasing the power of flames. With the Mera Mera no Mi, he should be able to do that to some extent. But if he mastered nature transformation and then added the Mera Mera no Mi's power, would the result be even more powerful?

Li Yi carefully recalled the power of his recent Fire Style techniques after adding the Mera Mera no Mi's abilities, and focused on that sensation. From then on, every time he used Fire Style, he released it with chakra shaped by that feeling.

That was why battle was the fastest way for a ninja to grow.

While Li Yi was pondering all this inside the tree hollow, two ninjas had appeared outside. They exchanged a glance, and one of them took a Kunai from his ninja pouch and threw it into the hollow. An Explosive Tag was attached to the Kunai.

Hearing the whistle of something cutting through the air, Li Yi burst out of the tree hollow. He saw the Kunai flying toward him and narrowed his eyes before rolling to the side. Meanwhile, the other ninja had already formed Hand Seals and slapped the ground. An Earth Spike burst from the earth and shot straight toward Li Yi's chest.

"Rasengan!" A blue orb of light appeared in Li Yi's hand. He slammed it into the Earth Spike and ground it to pieces.

Li Yi looked at the two ninjas and frowned. They were from Iwagakure. Things were getting more and more chaotic around here—even ninjas from Iwagakure had shown up.

Since the two ninjas had attacked him, there was nothing more to say.

Li Yi swung Ryujin Jakka and used Konoha Style: Willow.

The sudden genjutsu made the Iwagakure ninja's eyes narrow as he tried to break free. But Li Yi was already charging at him. He leaped high into the air and brought his sword down, splitting the Iwagakure ninja in two.

He was only a Chunin, so Li Yi had no trouble killing him.

And it had been the real Li Yi, because he saw Ryujin Jakka absorb a wisp of the man's soul.

The other Iwagakure ninja came to his senses and tried to jump away, but Li Yi had already looked at him. Genjutsu: Shackles of the Heart Technique.

The Iwagakure ninja faltered for a moment. Li Yi's sword struck in the next instant, piercing his heart. He had no intention of questioning the man for information.

As Ryujin Jakka absorbed a wisp of the other man's spiritual power, Li Yi quickly left the area.

A short while later, three ninjas arrived. The leader looked at the two Iwagakure corpses and frowned. He couldn't find any useful information, so all he could do was collect the bodies.

After leaping away from the area, Li Yi checked his direction and headed toward the border of the Land of Rain. He had to meet up with his teacher. Kagami Uchiha had told him that if they got separated, they should wait at the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire.