The Mera Mera no Mi Awakened

The Iwagakure ninja pursuing Li Yi widened their eyes at the sight; they had truly never seen a pale golden giant skeleton before.

After all, few had ever witnessed Uchiha Madara in action, let alone this Susanoo.

Uchiha Kagami gently waved his arm, and the pale golden skeleton swept across the field. The pursuing Iwagakure ninja were instantly sent flying; aside from the Jonin and Special Jonin, several Chunin were struck with such force that their survival was uncertain.

Uchiha Kagami did not spare them another glance. Instead, he turned around and formed hand seals, and the Susanoo enveloping him followed suit. Uchiha Kagami took a deep breath, and the massive Susanoo skeleton spat out a gargantuan fireball from its mouth, which descended upon the pursuing ninja like a meteorite.

These Iwagakure ninja were elites, after all; they slammed their hands against the ground, raising successive walls of earth to block the massive fireball.

At this moment, Uchiha Kagami retracted his Mangekyo Sharingan and commanded, "We must go!"

Li Yi glanced over and noticed blood leaking from Uchiha Kagami's eyes, a testament to the immense toll such a jutsu took on his ocular power.

Once the Iwagakure ninja had withstood the super fireball, they frowned as they watched the direction in which Uchiha Kagami and Li Yi had fled.

After all, if they were to fight to the death against such a powerful jutsu, they would likely lose a large number of men, which clearly did not align with their expectations.

"Forget it. Our mission is to intercept the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist; let them go," the leader of the Iwagakure ninja snorted, choosing to give up.

Uchiha Kagami and Li Yi fled all the way, finally crossing the border blockade and entering the Land of Grass. Neither dared to rest, pushing straight through the Land of Grass until they reached the border of the Land of Fire. Here, the presence of Konoha ninja increased, and the two returned to the Konoha base camp without further incident.

Currently, the one in command at the border was Shimura Danzo, one of the "Konoha F4." At this time, Shimura Danzo was not yet the gloomy old man he would become; he was still a Danzo who held a deep belief in the Will of Fire.

Uchiha Kagami reported the intelligence he had gathered to Danzo. Danzo was shocked; no wonder the Iwagakure and Hidden Mist Village had suddenly started fighting—it turned out the Second Tsuchikage and the Second Mizukage had actually perished together. It was simply unbelievable; he could not fathom what the two Kage had been thinking.

Li Yi, acting as a wallflower on the side, clicked his tongue in secret. As expected of Uchiha Kagami; while they were both in the thick of it, Li Yi had spent his time dodging or being hunted, whereas Uchiha Kagami had still found time to gather intelligence. That was the gap between them.

"Kagami, you have done well. I will inform Hiruzen of all this. You have worked hard; go and get some rest." After Danzo finished speaking, he nodded at Li Yi, seemingly quite approving.

The two then went to a tent to rest. Truth be told, they hadn't rested at all along the way, racing at breakneck speed. Uchiha Kagami had even used his Mangekyo, consuming a massive amount of chakra, so he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Li Yi was no better off. It wasn't until the next day that they woke up. Uchiha Kagami was summoned by Danzo's men as soon as he rose, while Li Yi, having nothing to do, began to study his own chakra nature transformation in the tent.

It must be said that after witnessing the Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique spat out by Uchiha Kagami's Susanoo, Li Yi had gained a profound understanding of nature transformation. Combined with his own accumulation, Li Yi's hands were itching to try it.

Leaving the tent, Li Yi went to a secluded spot in the back and began to form hand seals, incorporating chakra nature transformation. He opened his mouth and spat out a massive fireball; wherever the fireball passed, the grass was instantly scorched black.

This was the power of a jutsu performed at the Jonin level—at least three tiers stronger than a jutsu without nature transformation.

Truth be told, once you grasp it, you grasp it; no amount of talk from others matters. Now that he had mastered nature transformation, Li Yi's strength could effectively double.

Thinking of his Mera Mera no Mi, Li Yi pondered for a moment. He quickly formed hand seals for the Great Fireball Technique again, but this time, he added not only nature transformation but also the power of the Mera Mera no Mi.

The originally orange-red fireball turned black-red, and the rock struck by the fireball was completely incinerated into grayish-white powder.

This truly gave Li Yi a start. Was it really that powerful?

Of course, the chakra consumption was not insignificant. With his current reserves, Li Yi felt he could only perform the Great Fireball ten times before running dry.

This gave Li Yi a headache. He had developed a powerful jutsu, but his endurance seemed insufficient; he needed a power bank. If he could capture a Tailed Beast and seal it within himself, that would be fantastic.

Unfortunately, that was just a pipe dream. Every Tailed Beast currently had a master, and even if he did capture one, he would have to return it after the war.

Li Yi even wondered if he could capture a Tailed Beast, the Four-Tails Son Goku would undoubtedly be the most suitable for him.

But that was just thinking; for the current Li Yi, facing a Tailed Beast was undoubtedly suicide.

"Elementalization!" Li Yi whispered. His entire body was covered in faint red flames. He clenched his fists, and a cluster of scorching fire immediately erupted from them.

It worked! Li Yi was overjoyed. He could finally achieve full-body elementalization, not just partial. Moreover, after achieving full-body elementalization, Li Yi felt he had truly activated the Mera Mera no Mi.

Thinking of the Mera Mera no Mi's abilities in One Piece, if he could fully develop it, he should be able to survive in the ninja world.

Forming his fingers into the shape of a handgun, Li Yi whispered, "Fire Gun!"

Instantly, a small burst of flame shot from his finger, striking the ground and leaving a small pit.

Li Yi was delighted. As expected, he had only truly awakened the Mera Mera no Mi once he could elementalize; before this, it had been too embarrassing to look at.

It was, after all, one of the more powerful Logia fruits; in Li Yi's hands, it had been pathetic. Now, however, it finally brought him some comfort.

If he were to face those Hidden Mist ninja or the Iwagakure ninja again, Li Yi would definitely not have to run away in such a sorry state.

"Right, can the Mera Mera no Mi also fly?" Li Yi muttered. He wanted to release flames from the soles of his feet for propulsion, but to his shock, his butt erupted in flames first, and Li Yi shot into the sky, taking off in an incredibly bizarre posture.

"What the hell!" Li Yi exclaimed. This was not what he had intended at all.

If someone saw this, wouldn't he be socially dead? Butt-propulsion? What the hell was this?