Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 237 is complete.

"That's ruthless!"

Li Yao's lightning-style clone made an assessment, then manipulated his chakra within Chiba Megumi's body to dissipate naturally without damaging Chiba Megumi's brain cells.

Without the influence of Li Yao's chakra.

Yamanaka Kai saw the truth from six months ago in the brain of the deceased Chiba Megumi.

"How is it?" the Third Generation asked nervously.

"I saw it." Yamanaka Kou's expression shifted slightly, a strange excitement rising within him. He had finally seen the guy who had cuckolded the Third Generation.

"Who is it?" the Third Generation asked coldly.

That bastard not only cheated on him, but also killed Huimei. He will never let that bastard get away with it.

The Third Hokage never believed he had any responsibility for Emi's death; he only cared about the safety of Konoha, and everything was the enemy's fault.

Yamanaka Kou shook his head and said, "I don't know him. He's a man who looks to be about twenty-five or twenty-six. His clothes aren't the style of those worn by ninjas from other hidden villages. His appearance... is quite ordinary."

"It's most likely not its original appearance; it's probably a transformation technique used to create this look."

"Yamano Kaoyu said."

"Did their conversation reveal any important information?" the Third Generation continued to ask.

"We haven't heard any useful information yet," Yamanaka Kou replied.

In Chiba Emi's memory, the man she interacted with was of average appearance, and every time he came over at night, they would have a deep conversation in less than a minute.

He also doesn't talk much, and every time he speaks, he does so from the perspective of a third-generation heir.

This is why Yamanaka Kou didn't notice anything unusual when he first saw the images and actions of the third generation from his memories.

The other party may have already foreseen that the memories of Chiba Emi's brain cells would be seen after her death, so they did not leave any flaws in their verbal communication.

Even the people in the photos look like they did after the transformation, so they have no reference value whatsoever.

"Did you see how Hye-mi's memories were altered?"

The third generation followed up with a question: it doesn't matter if we can't find out who the enemy is, but we must find out how the enemy altered Huimei's memories.

Only by knowing how the enemy did it can they make the necessary preparations and take appropriate countermeasures.

Otherwise, the core issue of memory manipulation remains unresolved, and the threat from the enemy will persist.

Six months ago, Li Yao and Chiba Megumi did not spend much time together; it only lasted eight nights in total.

During those eight nights, the two were connected for 99% of the time, even when they were asleep.

Yamanaka Kaiu had no idea that the enemy had done anything to Chiba Megumi.

Or rather, the enemy's methods were too sophisticated. Judging only from the information he saw and heard in his memory, he couldn't figure out what methods or abilities the enemy used to tamper with Chiba Emi's memories.

Yamanaka Kaiyu examined Chiba Megumi's memories from six months prior, but failed to find any information about how the enemy had attacked her.

"Nothing unusual... no, I can't recall what methods the enemy used," Yamanaka Kou said, finally shaking his head as he withdrew his hand.

Trouble!

Upon hearing this, the Third Generation's expression turned grave. Yamanaka Kou possessed an extraordinary talent for memory probing. While others could only selectively view the memories of a single day before being overwhelmed, he could view a month's worth of memories from another person's brain in a short period of time.

If even he couldn't find the enemy's methods in Huimei's brain memories, then it's safe to say that they couldn't get any useful information from Huimei's brain.

"I see."

The Third Hokage looked at Chiba Emi on the long table, remained silent for a moment, and then said to Yamanaka Kaiu, "Report Emi's death as the enemy activating the restriction left in her body."

"Understood." Yamanaka Kōu.

Unable to find a way for the enemy to tamper with memories, the Third Generation had no choice but to secretly strengthen surveillance of the village and pay attention to people behaving abnormally.

In the blink of an eye.

Another six months have passed.

August of Konoha 38.

The Land of Wind.

night.

Whoosh... Sand and dust filled the sky, obscuring the snow-white full moon.

Inside the cave, two male Sand Village ninjas leaned against the rock wall, glancing occasionally at the boy sitting cross-legged with his back to them at the cave entrance.

The boy clasped his hands together, leaving a finger's width of space between them.

The boy sat with his eyes closed, his expression focused, as if he were practicing some important ninjutsu, and he had been doing so for a long time.

The two Sand Village ninjas behind them exchanged a glance. The ninja on the left stood up and slowly walked towards the boy.

Approaching the boy from a meter away, the man glanced at the boy's hands clasped together, but saw nothing in the space between them.

"Captain Windwalker, it's my turn to keep watch. You can go and rest," the man said softly, as if not wanting to disturb the young man's cultivation.

"No need," Li Yaofeng said, his clone remaining motionless with his eyes still closed.

When the man heard Li Yaofeng's clone speak, he froze for a moment before quickly recovering and saying with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Captain."

After sitting down against the rock wall behind them, the two Sand Village ninjas exchanged a glance and shook their heads slightly.

The two then stopped making any further movements.

soon.

One night passed.

The sandstorm outside had stopped, and a thick layer of sand had accumulated at the cave entrance.

The two Sand Village ninjas had already woken up, but Li Yao's Wind Release clone remained seated cross-legged, his hands clasped together in the air, his focus even more intense.

To the two Sand Village ninjas, their genius captain was like a stubborn rock, devoid of any life force.

"Captain..." the two called softly.

This time, Li Yaofeng's clone did not respond, as if it had fallen asleep.

The two exchanged a glance, and one of them slowly stepped forward, quickly coming within a meter of Li Yaofeng's clone.

Li Yaofeng's clone still showed no signs of waking up.

The two exchanged another glance, and the one who was closer to Li Yao's wind-escape clone called out "Captain Windwalker" softly once more.

Seeing that Li Yaofeng's clone still did not respond, the man finally revealed a ferocious expression, stretched out his right hand, and a long needle fell from his sleeve into his hand and was held tightly.

The needle tip was a deep purplish-black, clearly coated with a highly poisonous substance.

The man raised a long needle and swiftly thrust it into Li Yaofeng's neck after he had vanished.

"Haha, die!"

The man subconsciously let out a hearty laugh, watching as the long needle in his hand pierced the back of the neck of Feng Xing, the so-called genius ninja of this village, without any resistance. He thought that Li Yaofeng's clone was doomed to die.

But he soon realized something was wrong.

There should be no resistance when inserting a long needle. Even if the needle is very sharp, you should feel some resistance when inserting it into your neck.

Moreover... seeing that the long needle in his hand was still inserted into the neck of Li Yaofeng's clone, Li Yaofeng's clone did not react at all, and remained in the posture of sitting cross-legged with his hands clasped in the air without moving.

Whoosh... In an instant, the man stabbed dozens more times, but to no avail. Li Yaofeng's clone still didn't react at all.

"impossible!"

The person behind him arrived as well, and his short knife slashed directly at the neck of Li Yaofeng's clone, but it passed right through as if it were air.

The two men's expressions changed drastically instantly, realizing that something was wrong.

bump!

The two instinctively stepped back, then looked at Li Yaofeng's clone, who still showed no reaction, and said in a deep voice, "Who are you? You are not Fengxing."

The Fengxing they knew did not possess this strange ability.

Li Yaofeng's clone did not respond. The two exchanged a glance, and then simultaneously formed hand seals.

"Wind Release - Great Breakthrough".

"Fire Release: Flame Dance Technique".

Gale and flames were exhaled from the two people's mouths and then mixed together. The wind fueled the fire, turning it into an even hotter flame. The gale attacked Li Yao's wind-escape clone.

"It's done!"

Just as the attack was about to touch Li Yaofeng's clone, the clone suddenly opened its eyes, a smile of excitement appearing on its lips.

Teng!

The two Sand Village ninjas seemed to hear the sound of a slash, and then felt their vision suddenly rise and rotate.

When their peripheral vision caught sight of the flames, sliced ​​open like tofu, and the two headless corpses, they realized that they were already dead.

(End of this chapter)