Chapter 103: Black Lightning
"Did they find my real body? Or…"
In the southwest direction, Li Yao sat inside the belly of the Black Iron Giant Eagle, sensing that the pursuers were veering toward his location at high speed. His heart tensed slightly.
After thinking it over, Li Yao still couldn't be sure whether the enemy had truly located his real body.
So he immediately had the shadow clones in the southwest and northwest directions change the flight paths of their Black Iron Eagles to directions perpendicular to the middle clone's path.
This way, the three would spread out as much as possible, and it would soon be clear which direction the enemy would pursue.
"Li Yao in the southwest and northwest has changed course, heading north and south respectively."
Behind, Damaokelisi watched everything unfold and quickly reported Li Yao's change in direction.
"Maintain our course," the Third Raikage ordered.
Soon, the speeding giant eagle closed the gap to just two kilometers from the Li Yao flying west and the one flying north.
"Can you sense it?" the Third Raikage asked quickly.
This distance was within Kafu's chakra sensory range.
But in Kafu's perception, both Li Yao signatures in those directions had chakra and appeared to be the real body—he couldn't tell which was a clone.
There was only one explanation for this.
Looking grim, Kafu replied, "Boss, Li Yao is using Shadow Clones."
"Shadow Clones!"
Upon hearing this, the Third Raikage instantly understood. All sensory efforts were now meaningless—he knew how tricky Shadow Clones were.
"Looks like we'll have to test them!"
The Third Raikage thought to himself. This distance was just within his attack range.
"Lightning Style: Black Spotted Thunder Serpent!"
He silently roared in his heart, then quickly formed a triangular seal with both hands. Metallic black lightning gathered in his palms.
Then he brought his hands together, shaped them into a blade, and pointed fiercely at the Li Yao flying west and south.
Zzzap!
In an instant, two black lightning serpents shot out like lightning toward the two Li Yaos.
With such near-light-speed attacks, dodging was impossible. One could only take it head-on.
But Li Yao, having sensed the Third Raikage's movements via chakra, was already prepared. The Shadow Clones had long since donned the Black Iron Feather Cloak and infused it with Lightning Style to increase resistance to enemy lightning attacks.
BOOM...ZZZZ!
The black serpents struck the Black Iron Feather Cloak worn by the Shadow Clone, releasing a massive burst of black lightning energy.
The power was so immense that it not only struck the Shadow Clone, but also affected the Black Iron Giant Eagle and even reached Li Yao hiding in its belly.
"So strong... such penetrating power!"
Inside the eagle, Li Yao's expression changed drastically. Protected by the eagle, his hair still stood on end from the shock, and steam rose from his skin—burns caused by the intense heat of the electric current.
The chakra within the black lightning was of extremely high quality and possessed powerful penetration.
Even the strong resistance of the Black Iron Chains was ineffective—it had been bypassed.
If not for the Wood Release chakra rapidly healing his body, and for using Vajra Chains inside to absorb the black lightning, he would've been severely injured or even killed.
As it was… his wounds had already healed.
He had to admit, Wood Release chakra's regenerative ability was absurd.
Li Yao was fine. The only casualty was the beautiful Ash Earth inside the eagle—who had now become truly "ash," scorched and charred.
Still, thanks to the Vajra Chains, much of the black lightning had been absorbed for her.
The injuries looked severe, but weren't fatal.
Once safe, healing with Wood Release chakra would quickly restore her.
"He actually blocked it?!"
In the rear, Damaokelisi saw through his hawk eyes that Li Yao on the eagle's back had blocked the black lightning. His jaw dropped.
That was Black Lightning—at least ten times more powerful than standard Lightning Style!
A terrifying jutsu the Third Raikage had refined over many years.
And yet, it was blocked—easily at that.
The Shadow Clone, upon sensing the immense force of the black lightning, had used the chakra-absorbing ability of the Vajra Chains to absorb most of it. While the attack did paralyze the clone, it didn't stop it from controlling the eagle.
This gave Damaokelisi and the others the illusion that Li Yao had effortlessly blocked the Third Raikage's Black Lightning unharmed.
They were shaken.
Even the Third Raikage was surprised Li Yao could block his attack.
But in the world of ninjutsu, elemental matchups were common.
Especially for specialized Lightning Style techniques like this one.
He didn't take it too personally. After all, his true ultimate attack was still the One-Finger Spear in Lightning Chakra Mode.
That ultra-compressed form of pure chakra had no weaknesses to element matchups, and he was confident no one could withstand it.
"Boss, what now?"
Damaokelisi looked to the Raikage. "Which one do we chase?"
Black Lightning had failed. The two Li Yaos were now flying farther apart in opposite directions. They had to choose. With only one summoning eagle, they could only pursue one target.
"South. The Li Yao there should be the real body."
The Third Raikage's eyes flashed, black lightning crackling across his form. He spoke with full confidence.
Even though the attack had failed, Black Lightning wasn't just an offensive jutsu—it also had a sensory function.
From the last attack, the Raikage sensed two people inside the southern eagle.
The one flying west carried only a single Li Yao on its back.
No doubt—the two inside the southern eagle meant one of them had to be the real Li Yao.
"Yes, boss."
Damaokelisi didn't hesitate. He immediately directed the summoning eagle to change course and pursue the Li Yao flying south.
Boom!
Boom!
At that exact moment, as the Raikage's team changed direction toward the real Li Yao—
Li Yao reacted immediately, ordering the clones in the other two directions to retract all chakra from the Black Iron Chains and disperse.
Once the real body was found, the clones no longer served a purpose.
"Looks like the real body is the one the Raikage is chasing."
As the northern clone vanished, the Sarutobi couple instantly realized that the Li Yao being chased by the Raikage must be the real one.
"Should we follow?" Sarutobi Ayase asked hesitantly.
She was in poor shape, her chakra nearing critical levels. If they pursued and attracted the Raikage's attention, they wouldn't survive.
That summoning eagle was far faster than her ink bird.
"We'll just watch from afar," Sarutobi Tenchu said.
With the Raikage personally attacking, this was a rare chance. He didn't want to miss the opportunity to seal Li Yao.
As long as they kept a safe distance, he believed the Raikage would understand—they had the same enemy.
At least until Li Yao was dealt with, they weren't enemies.
"Got it."
Ayase obeyed and steered the ink bird to follow from a distance.
Meanwhile—
After reclaiming the chakra from the clones, Li Yao didn't hesitate. He repeated the trick, creating two new shadow clones and Black Iron Eagles, splitting off again in three directions.
"Lightning Style: Black Spotted Thunder Serpent!"
In a flash, the Third Raikage did the same—three black lightning serpents fired toward all three Li Yaos.
Boom... ZZZZ!
Terrifying black lightning exploded once again. This time, the real Li Yao inside the leftward eagle was prepared. The Vajra Chains were ready and absorbed the incoming black lightning rapidly.
The nearby Ash Earth, wrapped in the chains, was barely affected this time.
However…
"So they're sensing me through the black lightning?"
Feeling the enemy change direction again toward his real body, Li Yao realized they might be using the Black Lightning to identify him.
(END CHAPTER)
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