Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 176 Li Yao Makes His Move, One Kick, One Heart

Bang bang bang!

The three hearts wearing monster masks on Kakuzu's back broke free and transformed into three monsters formed from black matter.

Having suffered a loss once, including the precious Wind Release heart, Kakuzu wouldn't repeat the same mistake. He went all out and stopped testing the waters.

"Earth Release - Earth Rising Spear Technique!"

Kakuzu clasped his hands together, and instantly huge, sharp spikes shot out from the ground, shooting towards the small leaves in the air.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh... These huge, sharp spikes were moving very fast.

Little Leaf focused intently, dodging left and right to avoid the attack.

In an instant, a small, reddish-brown hill covered with various sharp spikes appeared on the ground.

"Fire Release: Hardworking Head!"

Having just dodged the attack of the rock spikes, before Xiao Yezi could even react, the red monster approached her along with the protruding rock spikes and spewed out a sea of ​​fire towards her.

"Water Release-Water Formation Wall!"

Little Leaf used Water Release again to block the sea of ​​fire. Fortunately, her chakra reserves were also terrifying. In her hands, the ordinary water barrier was like an inverted Milky Way blocking the sea of ​​fire.

However, her Water Release chakra nature was not strong enough, unlike Kakuzu's Fire Release chakra nature. Kakuzu's flames were very hot, and they quickly evaporated into a large cloud of water vapor that enveloped Koyo.

At this moment, Xiao Yezi was unaware of the impending danger.

"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"

Just as the Fire Release technique was finished, on the other side, a humanoid monster formed from a Lightning Release heart opened its mouth and unleashed a solid blue-white lightning attack.

Little Leaf still lacks combat experience.

Against ordinary Jonin, he could overwhelm them with his massive chakra reserves and dense, explosive paper-based attacks.

However, when facing a Kage-level powerhouse, her lack of combat experience becomes a fatal weakness.

So far, all the attack rhythm has been in accordance with Kakuzu's plan.

Xiao Yezi didn't have time to react. Under the steam, even though she had strong perception and knew the attack was coming, she was still caught in the steam.

However, surrounded by water vapor, she could not withstand the lightning attack of Lightning Release, which was as fast as light.

"Sizzle!"

Xiao Yezi was instantly paralyzed by the electric shock and unable to move.

"I'll take your heart!"

Quietly approaching the tip of a thorn, a right hand, connected by black and gray lines, shot out and grabbed at the heart of the small leaf in the air.

Faced with the full power of a Kage-level expert, Xiao Yezi's strength was still a bit lacking, and Kakuzu had no shortage of chakra, which he was so proud of.

Defeat was inevitable, but Xiao Yezi was still very upset about losing so easily, especially since she had seemed so confident in front of Li Yao.

Is that all?

"What happened?"

Why isn't this little girl afraid?

Just as his hand was about to grab the woman's chest, Kakuzu saw no fear on her face. This unusual scene made him secretly wary, and he subconsciously looked in the direction of Li Yao, but Li Yao had disappeared without a trace.

"Where did you go?"

The moment the thought crossed Kakuzu's mind, a gust of wind suddenly blew in front of him, and an ordinary-looking foot, carrying terrifying force, pierced through the air and swept towards his stomach.

"So fast!"

It was too late to dodge at this point, but fortunately, Kakuzu's Earth Release: Earth Spear Technique, which hardens his skin, can be cast instantly without hand seals.

Earth Release: Earth Spear hardens Kakuzu's skin, granting him terrifying defense that makes him almost immune to all physical attacks.

The previous attack, which was as powerful as 20,000 explosive tags exploding at close range, failed to break through his defenses and injure him.

Therefore, despite the enemy's rapid attack and terrifying force, Kakuzu did not believe he would be injured.

However, when Li Yao's foot landed on Kakuzu's stomach, the terrifying force instantly broke through his hardened earth-style skin defense and penetrated deep into his body.

bump!

puff!

In an instant, Kakuzu's body bent into a "V" shape like a shrimp, his eyes widened and bulged, his mouth opened wide and he spat out a mouthful of blood, his body shot backward and downward like a cannonball.

bump!

bump!

bump!

Boom!

Kakuzu smashed through three huge rock spikes in a row and finally crashed into the earth-style spike he had created, shattering the entire hill and breaking the ground within a hundred-meter radius into pieces like glass before the terrifying force of Li Yao's kick finally ended.

Boom... Rolling rocks scattered all around, the earth was like a small mountain falling from the sky into a calm lake, and a large amount of dust rose up like a mushroom cloud.

"what……"

Xiao Yezi, who had regained control of her body, stared wide-eyed at the billowing dust below.

"This is... way too strong!!"

Xiao Yezi was shocked. Just one kick from Li Yao could create such terrifying destructive power.

The earth was like a fragile biscuit, easily broken with a single step.

"I never imagined that Uncle's physical skills were so terrifying!" Xiao Yezi looked at Li Yao, her eyes filled with admiration.

In mid-air, a large clay bird materialized beneath Li Yao and stood upright.

Below, as the dust settled, in the large crater, Kakuzu lay with his back against the rocks and soil piled up from the impact, blood still gushing from his mouth.

The three black monsters formed from the chakra masks of the three elements had landed beside Kakuzu. Two of them stared intently at Li Yao in mid-air, while the other quickly burrowed into Kakuzu's body to take over the heart that Li Yao had kicked and destroyed.

"The power is pretty good!"

Li Yao was fairly satisfied with the attack just now. Although it couldn't compare to Might Guy's kick with all eight gates open, it was still pretty good to be able to destroy one of Kakuzu's hearts with one kick.

Feeling the violent power surging within his body, Li Yao suddenly shook his head and sighed.

"Indeed, this is a world that values ​​bloodlines!"

After fusing with White Zetsu's Wood Release cells, the limitations restricting Li Yao's physical growth were removed. With all his acupoint spaces destroyed, his physical body naturally grew to its current level over the past three years.

Without even using Tsunade's monstrous chakra bursts, a single kick using only the power of his own body could easily shatter a small mountain and crush the earth.

At this moment, Li Yaocai can be considered an all-around ninja who has no weaknesses even in illusion techniques.

"Kid, state your name."

Kakuzu stood up again, activating his strongest mode - Earth Grudge Fear. Two fire and lightning attribute masks landed on either side of his shoulders, connecting to his body with dense black lines. His joints cracked, revealing the dense black lines inside.

He had realized that he had encountered a formidable enemy once again, since the First Hokage.

"He's just a nobody, don't bother with him."

Li Yao smiled casually, waved his hands, cracked his neck, and said, "To be honest, I've never had a proper fight with a Shadow-level expert. I hope you can let me feel the thrill of battle."

Throughout his career, Li Yao has either annihilated his enemies instantly or been too afraid to deal with them, so he has had to use shadow clones to fight them. He has never personally engaged in a real battle with his main body.

Although the battle between Xiao Yezi and Kakuzu was brief, it piqued Li Yao's interest.

Now that he's in good health, he's not afraid of ordinary injuries anymore, so he can have some fun with Kakuzu.

"You wretched brat, you'll regret this!"

Li Yao's nonchalant, dismissive attitude, as if he were casually toying with him, thoroughly enraged Kakuzu. He said, "Even the First Hokage, who once fought me, wouldn't dare to be so arrogant and conceited in front of me, brat!!!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"

Without saying a word, the enraged Kakuzu instantly unleashed a combination ninjutsu from the mouth of the chakra attribute mask on his shoulder.

"Water and Thunder Dragon Technique"

The lightning-streaked water dragon, as large as a train, flew towards Li Yao in the air with violent force.

Faced with this attack, Li Yao responded by clapping his hands together.

"Water and Thunder Dragon Technique"

Water converged, lightning flashed, and in an instant, a water dragon even larger than the water dragon released by Kakuzu opened its huge mouth and bit downwards.

Boom!

Water droplets the size of buckets splashed everywhere, and violent blue-white lightning flashed across the sky. Two water dragons, one large and one small, collided, and naturally, the smaller one was defeated.

bump!

Kakuzu widened his eyes and jumped backward, dodging the attack of the water dragon that fell from the sky.

"How is that possible?"

Kakuzu found it hard to believe that someone with such powerful taijutsu also possessed such terrifying ninjutsu talent, and whose combination ninjutsu was even more powerful than his own.

"Who...is he?"

Kakuzu had subconsciously stopped calling Li Yao "kid." Li Yao's power made him feel the same sense of powerlessness he had felt when facing the First Hokage for the first time.

"No, there was only one First Hokage!"

Kakuzu quickly shook his head, regrouping his fighting spirit; now was not the time to be powerless.

"Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!"

Kakuzu clasped his hands together, and a large amount of fog instantly rose up, covering an area of ​​five kilometers in radius.

It has to be said that Kakuzu's chakra reserves are also terrifying; the chakra reserves from his three hearts are not much less than those of Koyo.

(End of this chapter)