Solving the Sand Shinobi

It was better to act sooner rather than later. Victory meant beating the Sand shinobi until they could no longer wage war.

The order was quickly passed down. Everyone knew that tomorrow would be the decisive battle, and they were all itching for a fight. After all, they had been here for a long time, and they missed their wives and children back home.

Li Yi returned to his tent. Kato Taka was sprawled on the bed, utterly carefree. He had quite a few injuries, but it was obvious he didn't care at all.

Nearby, Maruboshi Kosuke sat looking helpless. When he saw Li Yi return, he said, "That kid's so reckless. You should find time to talk to him. He'll get himself killed on the battlefield!"

Li Yi smiled. Kato Taka had an Immortal Body; he wasn't so easy to kill.

He said, "The decisive battle is tomorrow. Be careful."

Kosuke nodded. They were among the Genin, and with his abilities, he could protect himself without much trouble.

The night passed without incident. Soon it was the next morning. Once everyone had assembled, Mitokado Homura waved his hand, and they charged toward the border of the Land of Wind.

By then, the Land of Rivers had long since been occupied by Konoha. That was how ruthless war was: battles were never fought on the Land of Fire's own soil. The surrounding small nations were always the battlefield.

Of course, if the fighting ever reached the Land of Fire itself, things would truly be dangerous.

Thousands of shinobi set out for the Sand shinobi's camp. The Sand shinobi had also received word. Bunpuku was personally overseeing the battle, and he certainly wouldn't let the Konoha shinobi cross the border.

In wars between great nations, it was all about reputation. If the Hidden Sand Village were driven back into the desert, it would mean they had lost.

And what face would a defeated hidden village have left to cause trouble?

"Kill!" Akimichi Kufū suddenly grew enormous and roared. He charged forward, transformed into a giant. On the other side, shinobi from the Hidden Sand Village unleashed wave after wave of Wind Style techniques to stop him.

Li Yi stood high in the sky, watching below. He had already spotted the monk. He was probably the legendary One-Tail Jinchuriki. And if not for Li Yi, that monk would likely have been the longest-lived Jinchuriki.

Bunpuku looked up at Li Yi, standing in the air, and pressed his palms together. A huge mass of sand appeared beneath his feet, carrying him up into the sky.

"Bunpuku?" Li Yi said.

Bunpuku looked at Li Yi. "I didn't expect you to know who I am."

Li Yi smiled. "From the way you're doing, you must have a good relationship with Shukaku. You could just about be called a Perfect Jinchuriki."

Bunpuku didn't answer. He simply extended a hand. "After you."

Li Yi nodded. "Let's go somewhere else. You don't want your shinobi to suffer heavy losses, do you?"

Bunpuku glanced down. The Konoha shinobi and the Sand shinobi were locked in battle below. He gave a brief reply and flew toward the desert farther away.

Li Yi followed. His role was to deal with the One-Tails and leave the Hidden Sand Village with no strength to fight on. That way, they would have no choice but to admit defeat.

They soon landed. Li Yi pulled back his Forehead Protector, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning as he looked at Bunpuku.

Genjutsu was useless against a Jinchuriki. Two kinds of chakra existed inside them, so they could dispel an illusion instantly.

"Sand Hand!" Bunpuku sprang into action. He thrust out a hand, and a giant hand of sand instantly rose from the ground and slapped at Li Yi. As Li Yi dodged, he rapidly formed Hand Seals and took a deep breath. "Blaze Release: Great Fire Destruction!"

That was right—he went straight for a powerful technique. He was facing a Jinchuriki, so he couldn't afford to be careless.

With the movement of his hands, he spat a gigantic fireball from his mouth. Its scorching flames seemed ready to devour everything around them. The black-red fire gave off a terrifying aura, like demonic flames from hell, and shone with a dazzling brilliance.

Bunpuku knew how powerful Li Yi's Fire Style was, so he waved his hand. Walls of sand burst from the ground one after another, blocking Li Yi's great ball of fire.

The sand was quickly melted through, leaving hole after hole. Fortunately, there were enough walls of sand, and they soon stopped Li Yi's fireball completely. But the fireball then burst apart, and flames spread across the ground.

Bunpuku frowned. He knew he couldn't let Li Yi's flames reach him, so he began retreating through the air. By then, Li Yi had already formed Hand Seals. He called out, "Blaze Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"

A gigantic dragon head formed in the sea of flames and shot toward Bunpuku so quickly that he nearly failed to react in time.

This was one of Li Yi's insights: if he first created a battlefield that favored him, he could use his techniques much faster. That was why he hadn't hesitated to spend a huge amount of chakra at the outset to create a sea of fire.

But Bunpuku was a Jinchuriki, after all, and had a vast amount of chakra. Just as the Great Fire Dragon was about to bite him, a great quantity of sand suddenly burst from his body. Strange patterns marked the sand. With a burst of speed, he evaded the dragon's attack. Not only that, but his arm had transformed into a giant beast's limb, and he smashed the Great Fire Dragon into the ground with one punch, scattering it into flames.

"Blaze Release: Great Fire Annihilation!" Li Yi had already finished forming his Hand Seals. He opened his mouth and spat out a vast sea of fire, which pressed down on Bunpuku from all sides.

Faced with such a technique, Bunpuku knew he had no choice but to use the Feigned Sleep Technique.

He closed his eyes. Countless grains of sand gathered over his body and on the ground, forming a monster that looked like a tanuki.

As soon as the monster emerged, it roared with laughter. "Bunpuku, I told you to let me out! I'll beat him to death!"

It was outrageously arrogant. But that was just Shukaku's usual habit. It always thought it was second only to heaven and earth.

But the moment Shukaku came out, Li Yi's flames engulfed it. The black-red fire made Shukaku shriek in agony. There was nothing it could do—this was Li Yi's Blaze Release, not ordinary Fire Style.

At that moment, Shukaku's body was almost burned to glass.

"Ah! Damn it! Wind Style: Air Bullet!" Shukaku was furious. It had only just come out, and someone had already burned it into this state. How could it not be angry?

A huge ball of wind appeared, instantly swept up all of Li Yi's flames, and blew them deep into the desert. Whether anyone over there had the bad luck to get caught in it—well, that was the last thing on Shukaku's mind.

"You little bug, you're dead!" Shukaku suddenly doubled in size again, and its gigantic palm came down at Li Yi.

Li Yi leaped backward to evade the attack. When he looked up, he saw a small sphere forming in Shukaku's mouth.

It was a Tailed Beast Bomb!