Shikai 2

That Fire Release technique Li Yi had just used could already be considered a Kekkei Genkai-level jutsu.

The Third Raikage was also analyzing Li Yi. He could gather flames beneath his feet and fly. Honestly, the Third Raikage had never heard of an ability like that. And the idea that a Fire Release user could simply do this—ha! Although the Third Raikage couldn't use Fire Release, he'd been in the Shinobi World for many years and had never heard of a Fire Release user who could fly.

So, in the Third Raikage's view, this had to be a Kekkei Genkai. Li Yi's Fire Release had been incredibly powerful, too, clearly another ability of the same kind—far stronger than ordinary Fire Release.

It was a bit troublesome, but not a major problem.

Several members of the Raikage Guard were in trouble. Li Yi's Blaze Release wasn't something just anyone could ignore. The Third Raikage could shrug it off thanks to his Lightning Style: Chakra Mode, but the others couldn't.

"Looks like we'll have to get out of this sea of flames!" The Third Raikage frowned as he felt the heat around him. After muttering under his breath, he quickly grabbed one of the guards beside him and prepared to charge out. But by then, Li Yi had already finished forming his Hand Seals.

"Blaze Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"

A gigantic dragon's head appeared. Surrounded by Li Yi's sea of flames, it looked even larger, and in one bite, it swallowed the Third Raikage A and the others.

The blue sparks dancing over the Third Raikage A's body shone even brighter. He couldn't afford to hesitate. Grabbing one person, he burst out through the dragon's head and the sea of flames. He moved so fast that Li Yi couldn't react before he was already out.

That was how fast he was.

The other shinobi caught in the sea of flames weren't so lucky. Two were swallowed by the fire and burned to ashes, while the other three struggled to hold on. The two who had been consumed by the flames were the shinobi who had first used Water Release.

In truth, those two and the sensory shinobi had been Li Yi's targets.

Unfortunately, the Third Raikage had rescued the sensory shinobi first.

Then the Third Raikage charged back into the sea of flames. Li Yi could see exactly what he was planning, but the three people still inside weren't his targets. His target now was the sensory shinobi.

The sensory shinobi watched him warily. He had a feeling Li Yi was looking at him.

Just then, a figure suddenly darted over, a blue orb of light flaring in his hand. The sensory shinobi didn't move. The Third Raikage appeared beside him and punched straight through Li Yi's chest.

Li Yi turned into a cloud of smoke.

"A Shadow Clone. He really is cautious!" The Third Raikage frowned. He had left the sensory shinobi outside partly to bait Li Yi into making a move.

But Li Yi had only used a Shadow Clone to test them. His real body hadn't come.

Watching all this, Li Yi gained an even greater appreciation for the Third Raikage's speed. As expected of the Third Raikage. Unless someone was a specialist in Taijutsu, Li Yi figured they'd get completely overwhelmed if they ran into him.

Of course, if you insisted on arguing with Li Yi and bringing up Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama, then he'd take back what he'd said.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Storm!" the Third Raikage shouted. A powerful storm of lightning cut through the sea of flames, forcibly carving out a path. Three members of the Raikage Guard charged through it, all looking rather battered.

"Looks like I'll have to use my trump card," Li Yi muttered.

The sensory shinobi had to die. There was no other way. Li Yi couldn't stay in the sky forever. If he didn't want to reveal his elemental transformation in front of the Third Raikage, he had to kill the sensory shinobi.

Otherwise, if the Third Raikage ambushed him, he'd have no choice but to use elemental transformation. Once the Third Raikage found out, he'd certainly look for a way to counter it.

"Let all creation return to ash. Ryujin Jakka," Li Yi said calmly.

A layer of scorching flames instantly wrapped around Ryujin Jakka in his hand. This wasn't an ability Li Yi had granted it with the Mera Mera no Mi. It was Ryujin Jakka's own power—and the first time Li Yi had used it.

"Hmm?" The Third Raikage turned toward Li Yi. He saw flames burning along Li Yi's long sword. He'd never heard of a weapon like that. Could it be an ability granted by Li Yi's Kekkei Genkai?

"Lord Raikage, the flames are coming from the weapon itself!" the sensory shinobi beside him suddenly said.

The Third Raikage nodded, thinking of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist in Kirigakure. Could Li Yi's blade be a similar weapon?

"As expected, having a sensory shinobi around is a real nuisance," Li Yi said with a shake of his head.

The Third Raikage immediately stepped in front of the sensory shinobi. He knew Li Yi was probably targeting him, and he wouldn't let Li Yi have his way.

He'd chase Li Yi to the ends of the earth if he had to. He would kill him.

"Taimatsu!" Li Yi swung his Zanpakuto in an instant.

A whirlwind of fire immediately engulfed the sensory shinobi. As the flames spun wildly, he was burned to ash.

That was how powerful it was. The Third Raikage hadn't even had time to rescue him before he watched his sensory shinobi burn to ash.

"This... flames appearing out of nowhere, without any Hand Seals!" The Third Raikage's expression turned grave.

Li Yi felt the chakra inside him and silently marveled. Ryujin Jakka really did consume a lot of chakra.

Watching Li Yi in the sky, the Third Raikage was furious. But no matter how powerful he was, it was pointless if he couldn't hit his target. Li Yi simply wouldn't come down.

"Third Raikage, I'll leave your head where it is for now. I'll come back to claim it later!" Li Yi said. Then he put away his Zanpakuto and flew off.

The Third Raikage watched Li Yi fly away, his face dark with anger, but there was nothing he could do.

Now that the sensory shinobi was gone, finding Li Yi would be like searching for a needle in the ocean.

Next time, they couldn't alert Li Yi without making thorough preparations.

News of Kumogakure's movements quickly reached the other villages through their spy shinobi.

Konoha had produced someone capable of killing a Two-Tails Jinchuriki, which drew every village's attention. Anyone who could take down a Jinchuriki was incredibly powerful.

Of course, news also came to light that Kumogakure had lost Yotsuki Hayate, Kujokawa, and Takahashi in succession. Li Yi had become famous at last.

After all, whether it was Yotsuki Hayate, Kujokawa, or the even more formidable Perfect Jinchuriki Takahashi, they had all been elite shinobi, yet every one of them had fallen to an unknown Konoha shinobi.

The other villages naturally gathered plenty of information on Li Yi, and reports about him soon made their way to the Kage of each village.