Uchiha Kagami Falls

The point is, he had truly taken flight, though the state of it was somewhat of an eyesore.

In the air, Li Yi carefully adjusted the Mera Mera no Mi ability within his body. By channeling it according to the flow of chakra and releasing it from the soles of his feet, the flames behind his backside finally faded away. With jets of fire erupting from his feet, Li Yi mastered his flight trajectory; after all, he was a ninja, and his balance was well-trained. It didn't take long before he had adapted to flying by propelling himself with flames.

When Li Yi landed, he felt the chakra consumption within his body; it was not insignificant. If this had been Hatake Kakashi, he likely would have been exhausted and collapsed long ago.

Li Yi didn't know if it was just his imagination, but his Mera Mera no Mi ability required chakra to manifest. When he had first transmigrated, he could only conjure a tiny spark, likely because he could only barely manifest it due to his strong spiritual power. It was only after learning to refine chakra that he could better develop and unleash the Mera Mera no Mi.

It wasn't until now, having learned chakra nature transformation, that his Mera Mera no Mi was fully unleashed, allowing him to elementalize his body and even perform some of the fruit's basic abilities directly.

By that same logic, would his Ryujin Jakka be the same?

However, the condition to activate the Mera Mera no Mi was chakra, but what was the condition for Ryujin Jakka? Was it the soul?

After all, every time Ryujin Jakka killed someone, it absorbed a wisp of soul power.

Perhaps only when he had killed enough would he be able to truly unleash Ryujin Jakka.

Li Yi was now full of confidence for the future, as the development of the Mera Mera no Mi had given him the power to protect himself.

In the entire ninja world, it wasn't as if there were no one who could counter him. For instance, his Mera Mera no Mi's power would be greatly diminished when encountering Water Style, especially from super-powerful Water Style ninjas. But he could fly, and how many people in the entire ninja world could fly?

Moreover, the ninjutsu he performed by combining chakra nature transformation with the Mera Mera no Mi's abilities already exceeded the original power of the ninjutsu in his view; calling it a Kekkei Genkai would not be an exaggeration.

In fact, the Fire Style Li Yi performed by adding nature transformation and Mera Mera no Mi abilities could no longer be called Fire Style; calling it Scorch Style would be quite fitting.

Returning to the camp, Uchiha Kagami had not yet returned. He didn't know what he was discussing with Danzo, but that was a matter for the higher-ups. Li Yi was just a grunt for now, and thinking about those things was useless.

Just as Li Yi was pondering in his tent, a Konoha ninja suddenly appeared outside and said directly, "Li Yi, Lord Danzo requests your presence!"

Li Yi walked out of the tent, saw a Konoha ninja wearing an animal mask, but said nothing and headed toward Danzo's tent.

Once Li Yi arrived, he found only Danzo there. Seeing Li Yi enter, he said, "Li Yi, Kagami told me you already possess the strength of a Jonin and asked me to join him in recommending you. Have you mastered chakra nature transformation?"

Li Yi hadn't expected this, so he said, "Lord Danzo, I have already mastered chakra nature transformation."

Danzo nodded and said, "Good, I will recommend you to Sarutobi Hiruzen. Also, Uchiha Kagami has gone to execute a mission; wait for the appointment to come down before making further arrangements!"

Li Yi naturally had no objections. Leaving Danzo's side, Li Yi realized why he hadn't seen Uchiha Kagami—he had gone off on another mission.

For the next few days, he should be relatively free. Li Yi planned to refine his Mera Mera no Mi abilities. Once he became a Jonin, the difficulty of his missions would likely increase, and it wouldn't be so simple to find time to practice ninjutsu quietly.

Two days later, Li Yi was called to Danzo's side once again. Danzo produced the Hokage's appointment, and from that moment on, Li Yi was officially a Jonin of Konoha.

Danzo said with satisfaction, "Kagami has trained a good disciple. Li Yi, in the future..."

Before he could finish his sentence, someone burst in. The person knelt on one knee and said, "Lord Danzo, it's bad! The Third Raikage ambushed Lord Kagami, and now, Lord Kagami is critically wounded and dying!"

"What!" Danzo and Li Yi exclaimed in unison.

They saw a group of ninjas carrying Uchiha Kagami in quickly. Another ninja had green light glowing in his hands, pressing them against Uchiha Kagami's chest, but the massive hole in Uchiha Kagami's abdomen was glaringly obvious.

Uchiha Kagami was clearly breathing his last; if not for the medical ninjutsu of that ninja, he would likely be dead already.

"Kagami!" Danzo cried out and rushed over. Looking at Kagami's condition, Danzo was heartbroken. Even though the village ostracized the Uchiha, Kagami was truly not among them.

Furthermore, the Second Hokage's three disciples were Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu.

He, Danzo, along with Uchiha Kagami and Akimichi Kufū, had been in the same squad. The three of them had been favored by the Second Hokage and became his subordinates; whenever they had questions about ninjutsu, the Second Hokage would never hesitate to teach them. If Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo were "frenemies" later on, then in the early days, Danzo and Uchiha Kagami were true comrades-in-arms.

Li Yi also walked over, looking at Uchiha Kagami on the stretcher with deep sorrow. This teacher had been very good to him and had taught him with all his might, yet in the blink of an eye, he was dying on the battlefield.

"Cough, cough!" At this moment, Uchiha Kagami coughed, his face flushing a deep red. He struggled to sit up, looked at Danzo and Li Yi, and said, "The Cloud Village has joined the battle. The Third Raikage is very strong, and his mastery of Nin-Taijutsu is extraordinary. I couldn't even break his defense, cough, cough."

Uchiha Kagami spoke of intelligence regarding the Third Raikage, especially mentioning the Hell Stab, which Uchiha Kagami bluntly stated even his Susanoo could not withstand.

"Kagami, sigh, I will record this!" Danzo said with deep emotion, seeing that Uchiha Kagami was still trying to relay intelligence at a time like this. He knew one of his teammates likely wouldn't make it.

Uchiha Kagami gave a bitter smile, suddenly reached out, and gouged out his own pair of Mangekyo Sharingan. He said, "Danzo, didn't you envy these eyes of mine in the past? I give you one of my Mangekyo. I only ask that you help my disciple, Li Yi, withstand the pressure from the clan! Li Yi, congratulations on becoming a Jonin. Teacher is afraid I cannot continue to witness your growth. I give this Mangekyo to you; I hope you carry this eye so that I may see your future growth."

After Uchiha Kagami finished speaking, his hand dropped powerlessly. Already at the end of his rope, he passed away completely.