Chapter 101: The Exposure of Wood Release
"Eh... that... seems to be the Third Tsuchikage's daughter—Ash Earth!"
From afar, Sarutobi Ayase observed for a while and noticed the naked, motionless woman lying next to Li Yao's feet looked somewhat familiar.
As a member of the ANBU, she was naturally familiar with the direct relatives of the Third Tsuchikage and had at least seen their photos.
Ash Earth, as the most beloved youngest daughter of the Third Tsuchikage, held a status in Iwagakure comparable to that of Princess Tsunade in Konoha.
At the same time, she was a voluptuous beauty, quite memorable, and Sarutobi Ayase clearly remembered her appearance.
"Are you sure?" asked Sarutobi Tenchu.
"I'm sure," Ayase nodded.
She formed hand seals, linking the vision of her tightly shut left eye with that of the ink bird.
The face of the naked woman lying beside Li Yao matched perfectly with the photo she had seen of Ash Earth—there was no doubt it was her.
"I see."
Hearing this, Sarutobi Tenchu suddenly understood. "That guy must've gone to the Land of Earth before. No wonder we couldn't find his tracks on any of these islands in this sea region."
"But still..." he frowned. "Why did he capture the Third Tsuchikage's daughter, Ash Earth?"
Li Yao didn't know that capturing Ash Earth would certainly drive the Third Tsuchikage mad and make him send elite ninja squads to hunt him down.
With what Sarutobi Tenchu knew of Li Yao's cautious nature, it didn't seem like something he would do—inviting trouble for himself.
Strange... Sarutobi Tenchu couldn't figure it out.
"Maybe... he doesn't know who Ash Earth is," Ayase speculated.
"Is that even possible?" Tenchu looked unsure.
Li Yao's identity before taking over Kimura Yao's body was mysterious. The Third Hokage had been collecting intel for a long time on strong individuals who used the spirit transformation technique but never found any solid leads.
Regardless, both the Third Hokage and Sarutobi Tenchu believed Li Yao had lived a very long time.
And the longer someone lives, the more intel they have... but not necessarily all-encompassing knowledge.
Ash Earth's identity was indeed prestigious and very important to the Third Tsuchikage, but according to intel, her own strength was only that of an average jōnin.
Besides, Li Yao had been living in Konoha for the past six years. It was understandable if he didn't know Ash Earth's identity.
At this moment, Sarutobi Tenchu was more inclined to believe that Li Yao had no idea who Ash Earth was and that capturing her wasn't part of any deal with Iwagakure.
Then why did Li Yao capture Ash Earth...?
Considering that Ash Earth was a stunning beauty, Sarutobi Tenchu glanced at his wife, thought for a moment, but didn't voice his guess aloud.
He figured... maybe Li Yao was simply feeling lonely.
Otherwise, there was no need to bring such big trouble along.
...
"Hm... is he heading into the Sea of Storms?"
Late at night.
The bright moon hung high.
The Sarutobi couple, who had been following Li Yao, noticed his flight path remained unchanged, heading straight into the Sea of Storms. They were shocked.
Previously, they had speculated that Li Yao had stayed in the Land of Earth, but that now seemed unlikely.
Otherwise, it didn't make sense for him to come from the Land of Earth and head directly toward the Sea of Storms with such a clear destination.
"Could it be that he was in the Sea of Storms this whole time?" Ayase frowned in thought.
"Probably," Tenchu nodded.
"Should we keep following?" Ayase asked with concern. "We don't have many soldier pills left. If we get lost in the Sea of Storms..."
"Don't worry."
Tenchu smiled. "Even if we're running low on soldier pills, we definitely have more than Li Yao. If he's not afraid, neither should we. Besides..."
His eyes gleamed as he said confidently, "There must be an island inside the Sea of Storms. Otherwise, Li Yao wouldn't be heading in so directly and purposefully."
Once they found the island Li Yao used as a base, they could mark its location on the map and determine their position within the Sea of Storms. That way, they wouldn't have to worry about getting lost.
Then they could temporarily retreat.
From the fact that Li Yao headed straight into the Sea of Storms after capturing the Tsuchikage's daughter, it was clear he intended to hide out there for a while.
So temporarily leaving wouldn't mean losing track of him.
On the contrary, they could use this time to leak Li Yao's location, letting Kumogakure and Iwagakure send in ambush teams. They could observe from the sidelines and look for a chance to seal Li Yao.
"Got it," Ayase said. She was completely in sync with her husband and immediately understood what to do next.
The ink bird continued flying seven kilometers away, keeping parallel with Li Yao as he entered deeper into the Sea of Storms.
At the same time—
Viper Island.
At five thousand meters above ground, a huge grayish-brown eagle hovered in place, its sharp eyes scanning in all directions with each tilt of its head.
On its back stood a middle-aged Kumogakure shinobi with thick white hair. His hands formed seals as his sharp hawk eyes scanned the area.
This was none other than a member of the Third Raikage's team, sent to capture Li Yao.
The Daruma Clan's ninja were in charge of aerial reconnaissance.
The Third Raikage and his three elite bodyguard jōnin were stationed on the ground.
In the shallow sea around Viper Island, one Kumo shinobi used a Water Release concealment technique to hide underwater.
Around the mountaintop cabin, the Third Raikage and two other elite guards hid inside rocks using Earth Release techniques.
All four were ready to ambush Li Yao the moment he returned.
They had found Viper Island the night before, but Li Yao wasn't on the island.
Still, from the cabin and the bed and furniture inside, they guessed Li Yao likely used the island as a long-term residence.
He was probably out gathering supplies and would return sooner or later.
Meanwhile, the Third Raikage made another exciting deduction from observing the cabin's wood.
Li Yao not only knew powerful sealing techniques, but also Wood Release.
The island was small and rocky, making it impossible for trees large enough to build a cabin to grow.
Li Yao couldn't have transported lumber from elsewhere just to build one.
So there was only one answer.
The cabin was made using Wood Release.
More importantly, the Third Raikage could sense a familiar vitality from the cabin—the life force unique to Wood Release.
He had witnessed the First Hokage, Hashirama, rampage across the ninja world, and had seen the final battle in the Valley of the End from afar.
He remembered the power of Wood Release and the aura of the trees it created vividly.
Now, seeing the wooden cabin Li Yao had built, others might not have made the connection, but the Third Raikage immediately linked it to Hashirama's Wood Release.
As the village most obsessed with replicating kekkei genkai, the Third Raikage had long dreamed of possessing Wood Release.
He also believed that Konoha yearned just as much to recreate the power of the First Hokage and his ability to bring peace through Wood Release.
Seeing Li Yao's wooden cabin now, the Third Raikage was certain that Konoha had conducted Wood Release revival experiments.
And Li Yao was the lucky one who had successfully inherited the First Hokage's Wood Release.
But clearly, Li Yao's Wood Release wasn't yet powerful enough.
Otherwise, Konoha wouldn't have relentlessly hunted him.
Still, just because it wasn't strong now didn't mean it wouldn't become strong later.
"We must capture Li Yao before he matures."
"Otherwise..."
The Third Raikage felt both excitement and deep unease.
The fact that Li Yao had Wood Release thrilled him—capturing Li Yao could mean Kumogakure might also replicate Hashirama's power.
But it also meant Konoha had succeeded in their Wood Release experiment.
No one could predict how many future "Li Yao"s Konoha would have.
Just imagining a war where a group of Konoha's Wood Release users restrained their tailed beasts while Konoha's own Nine-Tails rampaged and launched Tailed Beast Bombs made the Third Raikage's scalp tingle.
That scenario—he could not allow it to happen.
Therefore... Li Yao must be captured quickly, so that Kumogakure could develop their own Wood Release and dominate the ninja world.
(END CHAPTER)
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