Bunpuku

Li Yi furrowed his brow. There was no helping it. A Tailed Beast Bomb wasn't something a person could withstand. Not everyone had a Buddha Form Susanoo to protect them.

As Li Yi was now, he couldn't withstand a Tailed Beast Bomb either. He could become intangible, but surviving an attack and withstanding it were two different things.

Besides, his current position was rather awkward. The Tailed Beast Bomb might pass right through him and fly toward the battlefield where the Hidden Sand Village and Konoha were fighting.

If it exploded then, the losses would be catastrophic.

Otherwise, why do you think a shinobi like Senju Hashirama would say that Tailed Beasts were dangerous? Was he just showing off? Or was even his Buddha Form unable to control them? No, it was because a Tailed Beast could fire a Tailed Beast Bomb at your village from far away. At that point, your village would be destroyed.

At that thought, Li Yi clenched his fist. In an instant, blazing flames appeared around it. His arm had now transformed into an arm of superheated fire.

Li Yi swung at Shukaku. His arm shot out, stretching in an instant, and a gigantic flaming fist hurtled toward Shukaku's mouth.

"Fire Fist!"

It was the power of Li Yi's Mera Mera no Mi. The blazing fist rapidly grew larger in Shukaku's eyes. It moved so fast that even Shukaku's tiny, coin-like eyes widened in disbelief.

There was no helping it. He had never seen a jutsu like this, let alone anything like it.

As the flaming fist struck the Tailed Beast Bomb, it forced the bomb straight into Shukaku's mouth.

The Tailed Beast Bomb hadn't fully formed, but it was still formidable. When it exploded, Li Yi's Fire Fist burst into a shower of flames, scattering in every direction. Shukaku's massive body was also reduced to sand by the blast.

The moment the Tailed Beast Bomb exploded, Li Yi transformed into fire. As sand flew in every direction, he thought that if he couldn't become intangible, the blast would have turned him into a pincushion. After all, those high-speed shards of glassy sand were basically shrapnel from a grenade.

Don't ask how the sand turned glassy. That was the result of Li Yi's Fire Fist.

When sand met extreme heat, what else could it turn into besides glass?

"Roar!" A furious bellow came from underground. The surrounding sand gathered together, forming Shukaku once more.

Li Yi was starting to get a headache. Even a Tailed Beast Bomb hadn't finished Shukaku off. Judging by the way he looked, as long as there was sand, he could simply reform.

A monk appeared atop Shukaku's head. His eyes had been closed, but now he opened them and looked at Li Yi. He rapidly formed Hand Seals, and a massive ball of wind blasted from Shukaku's mouth.

As Li Yi watched the wind ball hurtle toward him, he flicked his wrist, and Ryujin Jakka appeared. He shot into the sky, dodging the attack, then said, "All things in the universe, turn to ash. Ryujin Jakka!"

As Li Yi released Ryujin Jakka, blazing flames erupted from the blade. He swung it casually and said, "Taimatsu!"

In an instant, a gigantic Fire Tornado engulfed Shukaku and began burning fiercely.

Such powerful Fire Style, and he didn't even use Hand Seals. Could it be the power of a Kekkei Genkai? Bunpuku wondered as he felt the flames burning outside.

Shukaku spoke up as well. "That's not all. It seems he can also enter a state where attacks can't hurt him. I saw him use it just now!"

Bunpuku nodded. He hadn't expected Li Yi to have an ability like that. It just went to show that shinobi battles were all about gathering information. In just a short while, Bunpuku and Shukaku had worked together and already figured out Li Yi's intangible state.

"Should we seal him?" Shukaku asked. The flames outside were burning, but he wasn't particularly afraid of them.

Bunpuku shook his head. "We shouldn't reveal that unless we're absolutely certain we can succeed. Otherwise, Li Yi will be on guard, and it'll be harder."

Shukaku said nothing. He already hated Li Yi. That guy had just made him explode once.

He'd even swallowed his own Tailed Beast Bomb. It was humiliating for a beast.

"Wind Style: Wind Tornado!" Bunpuku finished forming the Hand Seals. A Wind Tornado sprang up around Shukaku, carrying Li Yi's Fire Tornado into the air. Though the flames grew more powerful, they were also swept away from Shukaku.

Li Yi raised an eyebrow as he watched Bunpuku dispel his Taimatsu with that method. Not bad. Fighting shinobi really is a hassle. They have all kinds of tricks, and the key is that most shinobi battles revolve around tactics. They'll do whatever it takes to gather information about you, then come up with a counter.

"Wind Style: Sand Buckshot!" Shukaku opened his mouth wide and channeled a large amount of Wind Style chakra. Bunpuku finished forming the Hand Seals, and countless sand pellets appeared around them, sweeping toward Li Yi.

Li Yi knew that dodging alone probably wouldn't be enough. He transformed into fire in an instant and raised Ryujin Jakka high, bringing it down toward Bunpuku.

But just then, Li Yi's body faltered. His eyes widened in shock!

He couldn't move. Bunpuku raised his hand and brought his palm down.

Below him, Shukaku made the same motion. A gigantic sand palm slammed down!

That wasn't all. Bunpuku shouted, "Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal!"

Li Yi was on the verge of being crushed. Shukaku's arm instantly transformed into a pyramid covered in countless strange patterns, ready to pin him down.

Li Yi was truly stunned. I'm in trouble.

If he got sealed, he figured he'd be finished.

At that critical moment, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in Li Yi's left eye began spinning wildly, then transformed into a Four-Point Pinwheel. Just as he was about to be crushed, Li Yi activated the Mangekyō Sharingan's ocular technique.

The strain on his eye caused a streak of blood to slide from it. In an instant, he and Bunpuku switched places.

Bunpuku froze. That was a Sharingan ocular technique! And then there was nothing more. Shukaku sealed him.

Shukaku was also dumbfounded. Where had Bunpuku gone? Then he, too, turned to sand and gradually dispersed.

Li Yi lay on the sand Shukaku had become and coughed. He realized why he hadn't been able to move just now: he'd been hit by the sand from Bunpuku and Shukaku. With sand inside his body, they'd been able to control him.

Thinking about it, Li Yi sighed. He hadn't expected becoming intangible to have a drawback like this. Still, there was a way around it. He transformed into fire again, expelled all the sand from his body, and finally recovered.