The Iwa shinobi who had been chasing after Li Yi saw this and widened their eyes. They'd never seen a giant skeleton glowing pale gold before.
After all, there weren't many people who had seen Uchiha Madara, let alone this Susanoo.
Kagami Uchiha gave a slight sweep of his arm. The pale golden skeleton swung across, sending the pursuing Iwa shinobi flying. Aside from the jōnin and Special Jōnin, several Chunin were struck so hard they were left hovering between life and death.
Kagami Uchiha didn't spare them another glance. Instead, he turned around and formed Hand Seals. The Susanoo surrounding him formed them as well. Then Kagami Uchiha took a deep breath, and the enormous skeleton spat a colossal fireball from its mouth. Like a meteor, it hurtled toward the pursuing Iwa shinobi.
These Iwa shinobi were elites. The moment they pressed their hands to the ground, a series of Earth Walls rose up to block the enormous fireball.
By then, Kagami Uchiha had already deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan. "Hurry, let's go!"
Li Yi glanced at him and saw that blood tears had begun to run from Kagami Uchiha's eyes. It was clear how much chakra such a technique had drained from him.
After the Iwa shinobi had finished defending against the colossal fireball, they looked in the direction Kagami Uchiha and Li Yi had fled and frowned.
A technique that powerful meant that if they fought the two of them to the death, plenty of them would likely die too. That clearly wasn't what they'd signed up for.
"Forget it. Our mission is to intercept the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Let those two go." The Iwa shinobi leading them snorted and decided to give up the chase.
After fleeing all the way, Kagami Uchiha and Li Yi finally crossed the border blockade and entered the Land of Grass. They didn't even dare to rest. They went straight through the Land of Grass and reached the border of the Land of Fire. There were many more Konoha shinobi stationed there, and the two made it back to Konoha's camp without further incident.
The one commanding the border was Danzo, one of the Konoha F4. Shimura Danzō wasn't yet the gloomy old man he would become later. At this point, he still firmly believed in the Will of Fire.
Kagami Uchiha reported the intelligence he'd overheard to Danzo, who was stunned. No wonder the Iwa and Mist shinobi had suddenly started fighting. Their Second Kage had actually killed each other. It was unbelievable. What on earth had the Second Tsuchikage and Second Mizukage been after?
Li Yi, keeping a low profile off to the side, marveled inwardly. As expected of Kagami Uchiha. They'd both been out there running around, but Li Yi had spent his time dodging danger or being chased, while Kagami Uchiha had somehow found time to gather intelligence. That was the difference between them.
"Good work, Kagami. I'll report all of this to Hiruzen. You've worked hard. Go get some rest." After Danzo finished speaking, he nodded at Li Yi as well, seeming to think quite well of him.
The two went to rest in a tent. Honestly, they hadn't had a moment's rest on the way back; they'd raced here at full speed. Kagami Uchiha had also used his Mangekyō earlier, consuming a huge amount of chakra. The moment his head hit the pillow, he was out.
Li Yi wasn't in much better shape. They didn't get up until the next day. As soon as Kagami Uchiha woke, someone sent by Danzo came to fetch him. Li Yi had nothing to do, so he stayed in the tent and began studying his chakra nature transformation.
Seeing the Great Fireball Technique spewed by Kagami Uchiha's Susanoo had given Li Yi a deeper understanding of nature transformation. Combined with everything he'd learned so far, he was itching to try it out.
He left the tent and went to an empty spot behind it. After forming Hand Seals and adding chakra nature transformation, he opened his mouth and spat out a huge fireball. The grass blackened wherever it passed.
That was the power of a technique used by a jōnin. It was at least three levels stronger than a technique without nature transformation.
Honestly, once you understood this, you understood it. It didn't matter what anyone else said. Now that Li Yi had mastered nature transformation, his strength had practically doubled.
Thinking of his Mera Mera no Mi, Li Yi hesitated for a moment, then rapidly formed Hand Seals. He used the Great Fireball Technique again, but this time he added not only nature transformation, but the power of the Mera Mera no Mi as well.
The orange-red fireball turned black and red, while the rock struck by it was burned into pale gray powder.
This startled Li Yi. Was it really that powerful?
Of course, it consumed a lot of chakra too. With the amount he had now, Li Yi figured he could use the Great Fireball Technique ten times before running out.
That gave him a headache. He'd developed a powerful technique, but he didn't have the stamina to keep using it. He needed a rechargeable battery. If only he could capture a Tailed Beast and seal it inside himself.
Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking. Every Tailed Beast had a host now, and even if he managed to capture one, he'd have to return it after the war.
Li Yi even wondered whether, if he really could capture a Tailed Beast, Four-Tails Son Goku would be the best fit for him.
But that was only a thought. Facing a Tailed Beast as he was now would be suicide.
"Elemental Transformation!" Li Yi shouted. Faint red flames spread across his whole body. He clenched his fist, and a ball of blazing fire appeared over it.
It worked! Li Yi was overjoyed. He could finally transform his entire body into an element, not just part of it. He felt that only now, after transforming his whole body, had he truly awakened the Mera Mera no Mi.
Thinking of the Mera Mera no Mi's abilities in the Pirate King series, Li Yi figured that if he fully developed them, he should at least be able to protect himself in the Shinobi World.
He shaped his fingers like a pistol and shouted, "Fire Gun!"
A small flame shot from Li Yi's finger and struck the ground, leaving a little crater.
Li Yi was overjoyed. Sure enough, he'd only truly awakened the Mera Mera no Mi once he could transform into an element. His earlier efforts had been downright embarrassing.
It was supposed to be one of the more powerful Logia fruits, but in Li Yi's hands, it had been utterly useless. Now, at last, he felt a little better.
If he faced those Mist shinobi again, or the Iwa shinobi, he definitely wouldn't have to flee in such a sorry state.
"Wait, can the Mera Mera no Mi let me fly too?" Li Yi muttered. He tried to release flames from the soles of his feet as propulsion, but, to his surprise, fire shot from his butt first. Then Li Yi rocketed into the sky in an extremely bizarre pose.
"Holy shit!" Li Yi cried out. This was not at all what he'd expected.
If anyone saw him, wouldn't he be socially dead? Fire shooting from his butt—what the hell was this?
Before you continue