Bunpuku

Li Yi frowned. There was no helping it; a Tailed Beast Bomb was not something a person could simply catch. Not everyone possessed the protection of a giant Buddha or Susanoo.

As things stood, Li Yi had no way to catch a Tailed Beast Bomb either. Although he could turn into an element, being able to save his own life and being able to catch such an attack were two very different things.

Furthermore, his current position was rather awkward. There was a high probability that the Tailed Beast Bomb would pass right through him and fly toward the battlefield between the Hidden Sand Village and Konoha.

If that happened, the explosion of the Tailed Beast Bomb would result in heavy casualties.

Otherwise, why would a ninja like Senju Hashirama say that Tailed Beasts were dangerous? Was he just posturing? Or was the giant Buddha unable to suppress the beast? It was because a Tailed Beast could launch a Tailed Beast Bomb at you from very far away from the village, and at that point, the village would be destroyed.

Thinking of this, Li Yi clenched his fists. Instantly, raging flames appeared over them; his arms had transformed into limbs of superheated fire.

Li Yi lunged toward Shukaku. His arm stretched out instantly, and a massive, burning fist of fire struck toward the beast's mouth.

"Fire Fist!"

It was the power of Li Yi's Mera Mera no Mi. The raging fist of fire grew rapidly in Shukaku's eyes. It was so fast that even Shukaku widened his coin-like eyes, his face filled with disbelief.

There was no helping it; he had truly never seen such a ninjutsu, nor had he ever seen such a thing.

As the fire fist struck the Tailed Beast Bomb, it instantly forced the orb back into Shukaku's mouth.

Although the Tailed Beast Bomb had not fully formed, its power was not to be underestimated. With the explosion, Li Yi's Fire Fist was shattered into fiery fireworks, scattering everywhere, while Shukaku's massive body completely dissolved into sand amidst the blast.

Li Yi had instantly turned into an element the moment the bomb exploded. As sand flew in all directions, he thought that if he hadn't been able to do so, he would have been shredded into dice. After all, these high-speed shards of glass-like sand were essentially shrapnel from a grenade.

Don't ask how this glass-like sand came to be; it was created by Li Yi's Fire Fist.

When sand meets high heat, what else could it turn into but glass?

"Roar, roar, roar!" At that moment, a furious roar came from the ground. The surrounding sand converged, once again forming the shape of Shukaku.

Li Yi felt a headache coming on. A single Tailed Beast Bomb couldn't finish off Shukaku; looking at the beast, it seemed that as long as there was sand, it could recover indefinitely.

At this moment, a monk appeared atop Shukaku's head. The monk had been keeping his eyes closed, but now he opened them, looked at Li Yi, and rapidly formed hand seals. A massive sphere of wind was spat out from Shukaku's mouth.

Watching the wind sphere hurtle toward him, Li Yi flicked his wrist, and Ryujin Jakka appeared. He soared into the sky, dodged the sphere, and declared, "All things in the universe, turn to ashes. Ryujin Jakka!"

With Li Yi's Shikai, raging flames erupted from Ryujin Jakka. He waved his blade casually and commanded, "Taimatsu!"

Instantly, a massive fire tornado enveloped Shukaku, beginning to burn with a frenzy.

"Such powerful Fire Release, and I didn't even see him form seals. Could it be the power of a Kekkei Genkai?" Bunpuku muttered to himself, feeling the heat of the flames outside.

At this moment, Shukaku also spoke, "It's not just that. This guy seems to be able to enter a state of damage immunity; I saw him use it just now!"

Bunpuku nodded. He hadn't expected Li Yi to possess such an ability. It had to be said that battles between ninjas were all about gathering intelligence. Look, in just this short time, Bunpuku and Shukaku had worked together to identify Li Yi's elemental state.

"Should we seal him?" Although the flames were burning outside, Shukaku wasn't actually afraid; instead, he asked.

Bunpuku shook his head. "It's better not to expose it until we have absolute certainty. Otherwise, if Li Yi is on his guard, it won't be good."

Shukaku didn't say anything more. In any case, he really disliked Li Yi right now; this guy had actually made him blow himself up earlier.

He had even swallowed his own Tailed Beast Bomb—it was too shameful for a beast.

"Wind Release, Wind Tornado!" At this moment, Bunpuku finished his seals. A layer of wind appeared around Shukaku, carrying Li Yi's fire tornado up into the sky. Although the power increased, it also pulled the flames away from Shukaku.

Watching Bunpuku use such a method to break his Taimatsu, Li Yi raised an eyebrow. Not bad. Fighting ninjas was indeed full of trouble; these people had many tricks, and the key was that most ninja battles emphasized tactics. They would do everything in their power to gather intelligence on you and then counter it.

"Wind Release, Sand Scattershot!" Shukaku opened his mouth wide, and after a large amount of Wind Release chakra was injected, Bunpuku finished his seals. Countless sand projectiles appeared in the surroundings, enveloping Li Yi.

Li Yi knew that relying solely on dodging would likely be difficult, so he instantly turned into an element while raising Ryujin Jakka high, slashing directly toward Bunpuku.

However, just at that moment, Li Yi's body paused slightly, his eyes filled with shock!

He found that he couldn't move. At this moment, Bunpuku reached out and slammed his palm down.

Shukaku, beneath Bunpuku, performed the same motion, and a massive palm of sand slammed down!

Not only that, but Bunpuku also whispered, "Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal!"

Li Yi was about to be crushed, and Shukaku's arm instantly transformed into a pyramid wrapped in countless strange patterns, intending to suppress him.

This time, Li Yi was truly shocked; he was about to capsize.

If he were sealed like this, Li Yi felt he would definitely be done for.

Suddenly, at the critical moment, the Three Tomoe in Li Yi's left eye began to spin frantically, then transformed into a Four-Point Pinwheel. The moment he was being suppressed, Li Yi activated the ocular technique of his Mangekyō Sharingan.

Due to the consumption of ocular power, a line of blood tears slid down his left eye, and his position was instantly swapped with Bunpuku's.

Bunpuku was stunned. This is... the ocular technique of the Sharingan? Then, there was no "then"—he was sealed by Shukaku.

Shukaku was also dumbfounded. Where did Bunpuku go? Then, he too turned into sand and gradually dissipated.

Li Yi lay on the sand that Shukaku had turned into and coughed dryly. He knew why he hadn't been able to move earlier; he had been hit by Bunpuku and Shukaku's sand, and since the sand was inside his body, he had been controlled.

Thinking of this, Li Yi sighed. He hadn't expected his elemental state to have such a drawback. However, it wasn't without a solution. Li Yi turned into an element once more, expelling all the sand from his body, and only then did he recover.