Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 214 The First Clash with Uchiha Madara

On the way, Li Yao first made clones of the captured Amegakure Jonin for later use, and then took out the Uzumaki clan's sealing technique inheritance scroll from the Blackwater space and handed it to Xiao Yezi.

"Uncle, what does this mean?" Xiao Yezi's face turned pale as she realized that something life-threatening was about to happen. Otherwise, why would the uncle have given her the scroll of the sealing technique?

"Don't worry, it's just a precaution."

Li Yao smiled, then patted Xiao Yezi's head and reminded her, "Remember, no matter what happens later, even if you see my body die, don't come down."

Xiao Yezi hugged Li Yao tightly and said urgently, "No, Uncle, I'll go down with you. I'm already very strong."

She guessed that the strange white man who had forced the old man to infiltrate Yahiko's group back then was going to harm him.

The strange man who forced the old man back then must have had the ability to threaten his life. Xiao Yezi didn't want her uncle to take the risk.

Li Yao frowned, pressed his hands on Xiao Yezi's shoulders, and said seriously, "I'm not joking with you. As long as you stay high in the air, I won't die. But once you fall to the ground and get caught, I'll really be in danger."

The clone was Li Yao's soul that had separated from his physical body and possessed another body.

Although he doesn't have a backup clone, he can use the Spirit Transformation Technique to fly to a very far place and possess other people's bodies.

However, in a hasty decision, there are too many unexpected events. Who knows if he might encounter some pervert during the possession process, causing him to fail?

Therefore, it is best to prepare a clone in advance to avoid any mishaps.

At this moment, Xiao Yezi must stay in the air to ensure the safety of his clone, so that when Ban activates the forbidden spell on his heart, he can escape immediately and successfully possess the clone.

"You must listen to me and not get down, can you do that?" Li Yao's expression was more serious than ever before.

"I..." Xiao Yezi looked at Li Yao's serious eyes and finally could only nod and say, "I understand. No matter what happens, I won't go down."

Li Yao then smiled and patted Xiao Yezi's head: "Good boy, wait here, I won't die."

After saying that, Li Yao jumped down and quickly landed on a rocky ground.

This time, Li Yao didn't need to stomp his foot; Bai Jue appeared quickly.

"What happened between you and Nagato?" White Zetsu questioned.

"You don't know?" Li Yao was slightly taken aback, but then he understood after a moment's thought.

At the time, they were standing at the top of the tower. The White Zetsu hidden underground probably didn't hear their conversation, but it could sense their movements and knew that Li Yao and Yahiko had a conflict.

Thinking of this, Li Yao smiled, realizing he was quite lucky to have been given time to prepare.

"I've left the Akatsuki..." Li Yao explained his reasons for leaving, then smiled and asked, "So, do I continue to secretly protect Nagato, or am I free to act as I please?"

If possible, Li Yao still wants to keep Kimura Yao's body.

"You..." Bai Jue's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty upon hearing this. After giving Li Yao a deep look, he said, "Wait here, I'll ask Lord Ban."

With a thought, White Zetsu contacted White Zetsu in the distance to inform Madara about Li Yao's withdrawal from the Akatsuki organization.

In a secret chamber beneath a cave somewhere in the Land of Grass.

White Zetsu popped his head out and woke up Madara, who was in a deep sleep.

Because his physical lifespan was coming to an end, Madara could only slow down the rate of his life's passing by falling into a deep sleep, waiting until the day Obito took shape, handing everything over to Obito before dying.

His waking time is precious, and Madara is in a bad mood because White Zetsu didn't wake him up before the designated time.

However, he still patiently listened to what White Zetsu had conveyed.

"What should we do with Li Yao?"

"Madara-sama!"

Bai Jue asked, if possible, he actually didn't want Li Yao to die. If that guy were alive, he could really help them better carry out their plan to capture the tailed beasts.

"Heh..." Madara chuckled softly, then asked in return, "Do you remember the task I gave that brat?"

Bai Jue replied, "Remember, have Li Yao sneak into Nagato's side to protect him secretly. He is not allowed to leave without your orders, Lord Madara."

Madara chuckled, "So, does that mean that brat's mission has failed?"

White Zetsu replied, "It failed."

Heh... Madara raised his hands and slowly began to form hand seals. As he did so, he sneered, "A piece of trash who can't even fail a simple infiltration mission, who gave him the courage to provoke what I said?"

Upon hearing this, or rather, upon seeing Madara's hand seals, White Zetsu understood Madara's decision.

After Obito's situation was confirmed, Madara no longer considered Li Yao as a backup option.

Madara Uchiha was a man of his word; anyone who dared to disobey his orders would die.

Li Yao failed his mission, so he might as well die.

On the land of rain.

After Bai Jue fell silent, Li Yao kept his mind focused on his heart.

The forbidden chakra at the Six Paths level—this was his only chance recently to potentially sense a change in its nature, and even if the time was short, it was worth Li Yao's attention.

As Ban completed the last seal in his hand, a quantum entanglement-like connection suddenly descended upon Li Yao's heart.

In an instant, a surge of extremely high-quality chakra appeared in Li Yao's chakra perception. Previously, this Six Paths level chakra had been dormant and he could not sense it, but now that it had been activated, Li Yao finally sensed it.

Unfortunately, the time was too short, and the perception was not clear enough to be replicated.

As Madara activated his technique, distinctive black patterned markings instantly appeared on Li Yao's heart, flowing rapidly through the blood vessels connected to his heart to his entire body. At the same time, Madara's will within his soul vied for control of Li Yao's chakra.

"Disappear!"

Li Yao smiled inwardly. The will he had already gathered purified his chakra, instantly erasing the will fluctuations of Madara and Black Zetsu in his soul. At the same time, he activated the Spirit Transformation Technique, turning his soul into a spirit body and escaping.

Just as Li Yao erased the fluctuations of Madara and Black Zetsu's will from his soul...

"Um!!"

Ban, who was thousands of miles away, suddenly focused his gaze and was shocked. Then his expression changed and he immediately accelerated the erosion of Li Yao's body by the curse seal.

As long as Li Yao's physical body is killed quickly, the spirit body created by the Spirit Transformation Technique won't last long.

At the same time, Madara had a thought and instructed White Zetsu beside Li Yao to immediately attack Li Yao's spirit.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

"How is that possible!"

At this moment, White Zetsu, or rather Black Zetsu, was shocked, his pupils dilating in disbelief.

How could Li Yao possibly erase the fluctuations of his will that he left in his soul?

You should know that you were born from your mother using a sixth-level Yin-Yang technique. His will... well, that was just a fluctuation of his will, not his true will.

Bai Jue's expression quickly turned grim as he realized what was happening.

If it was his will possessing him, Li Yao could not erase his will.

If it's just a fluctuation in will, it's possible that it could be erased.

But the fact that it was erased so easily was still unacceptable to White Zetsu.

"kill!"

Once the White Zetsu realized what was happening, it immediately used Wood Release to attack Li Yao's physical body. His spirit body was too fast and had already flown away.

But just as the Wood Release spikes struck Li Yao's body, a large amount of black ink suddenly splattered from Li Yao's body.

"Oh no, it's the Inner Four Symbols Sealing Technique!"

Li Yao used his own physical body as an anchor point to perform the Inner Four Symbols Sealing Technique.

Bai Jue's expression changed. He hadn't expected Li Yao to abandon his physical body so decisively. He quickly sank into the ground to hide.

Tear!

The splashed black ink expanded like a black hole to the size of a sphere with a radius of fifty meters, and then suddenly contracted, compressing all matter within its range into a single node space.

Snapped!

A large circular crater appeared on the ground, and Li Yao's physical body, along with the ground, completely disappeared.

White Zetsu quickly emerged from the ground beside the crater, looked up at the sky, where there was still a portion of Li Yao's chakra, which he could still sense. However, without the fluctuations of will in Li Yao's soul, he could no longer control the chakra within Li Yao's body.

This is also why Madara couldn't control the chakra in Li Yao's body and allow him to use the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique.

At this moment, in the sky.

Before Xiao Yezi could recover from the scene of Li Yao's body being sealed by the Inner Four Symbols Sealing Technique, Li Yao's spirit suddenly appeared and entered the body of the Amegakure Jonin on the back of the paper bird.

"Uncle?"

Xiao Yezi looked at the Amegakure Jonin that the uncle had captured, and a realization flashed through her mind: the uncle was preparing to possess this Jonin's body.

The clone and Li Yao are from the same source.

Li Yao's spirit possessed the clone, quickly purifying and absorbing its soul, and then his own soul entered the clone's body.

The moment he possessed the body, Li Yao felt a rejection between the physical body and his soul. However, after he changed his mental energy fluctuations to match those of the clone's original soul, the rejection disappeared.

From then on, Li Yao successfully possessed and was reborn, changing his body and breaking free from Ban's control.

(End of this chapter)