Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 328 Sealing the Centipede

Why did this guy save Sarah? He said he wasn't one of their people, and then he said he wasn't an enemy, but he was clearly wary of the new guy.

Naruto is not good at handling these complicated matters.

Fortunately, he had a very keen intuition, and compared to the suddenly appearing Li Yao, Minato, who wore a Konoha ninja headband, was more likely to win his trust.

Li Yao glanced around and saw that the Flying Thunder God was hidden in the shadows.

In just a few breaths, Minato left so many Flying Thunder God Kunai around him; he really takes himself seriously.

Li Yao smiled, too lazy to answer Naruto's question, and turned his gaze back to Centipede.

At this moment, Centipede was furious. The gaze of this newcomer was too painful for him, just like the gaze of the so-called high-ranking members of Sunagakure who used to look at him, full of disdain for his puppetry techniques.

"Go to hell!"

"No matter who it is, I am now invincible with the power of the dragon vein. Die!"

The centipede roared and swung its huge pincers at Li Yao.

At this moment, Li Yao had a hundred ways to instantly kill Centipede, but in order to conceal his abilities, he chose a ninjutsu he hadn't used in a long time.

Boom!

Li Yao pretended to make a hand seal and clapped his hands together.

"The art of ink painting!"

Black ink rapidly solidified around him, instantly forming ink waves tens of meters high that surged forward.

The giant scorpion puppet with a hundred legs was swept away by the ink-wash waves as soon as its pincers reached Li Yao, crashing down under a tall building.

"Naruto, escort Princess Sara away."

Taking advantage of the moment when Li Yao and Centipede were fighting, Minato quickly spoke to Naruto.

"Okay," Naruto replied subconsciously, before realizing why he was being so obedient.

But now is not the time to think about these things.

Naruto and Sara led the Loulan survivors toward the tower where the dragon vein chakra was located. Once inside, they could enter a secret chamber of the Loulan queens' tombs, protected by a barrier, where the dragon vein power could not penetrate.

Li Yao sensed Naruto and Sara's movements, and after thinking for a moment, he created a shadow clone to avoid any unexpected events.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Who exactly are you?"

Not far away, Minato, who was watching this scene, saw Li Yao's shadow clone and his expression changed again, becoming even more wary of Li Yao's identity.

The Shadow Clone Technique is a secret technique kept hidden in Konoha.

Now it's happening to this guy he's never seen before.

And that black water-like ninjutsu looks a lot like the ink painting of Super Beast Imitation Art, but it doesn't solidify into a physical form.

Who exactly is this man?

Could he also be from the future like Naruto?

Minato remained suspicious, his eyes still warily fixed on the man in the distance, not making any rash moves. It wasn't until Li Yao's shadow clone turned into a ball of black water and sank into the ground that Minato frowned, then formed hand seals and created a shadow clone to catch up with Naruto and the others.

Minato instantly realized that no matter who this man was, he must have come to Loulan for the power of the dragon vein, so Naruto and Sara might also be this man's targets.

Li Yao saw Minato's little tricks but didn't stop him. He only needed to ensure that the power of the dragon vein wasn't sealed.

Let's deal with the centipede first.

At this moment, the giant scorpion puppet formed from centipedes was swept away by the ink-wash waves, and huge cracks appeared all over its body.

"It's useless, as long as there's... huh???"

"Where is my dragon vein chakra?"

Centipede roared and was preparing to summon the Dragon Vein Chakra to restore his body's regeneration, but no matter how he activated the technique, no Dragon Vein Chakra came. He looked up and was immediately enraged.

"Who is it!"

"Who ruined my spell?!"

The antenna converter at the top of the tower is not a simple device. Even if it is damaged, it can be restored to its original state by gathering dragon vein chakra under a pre-set technique.

But now, the antenna converter is gone.

This indicates that his technique has been disrupted.

Whoever destroyed it was naturally Li Yao.

That ink-wash sword strike not only severed the antenna converter, but also the magic spell left on it by the centipede.

With Li Yao's current knowledge of sealing techniques, he naturally couldn't fail to see the centipede's spell pattern, so when he severed the antenna converter, he also destroyed the spell pattern on it.

Now that there's no time to reset the Dragon Vein Chakra, the cracks on the scorpion puppet formed from centipede can only be repaired by the Dragon Vein Chakra stored within its body.

But it is no longer unlimited.

Centipede panicked and, disregarding Li Yao, the newly appeared enemy, quickly climbed towards the tall building where the dragon vein was located, preparing to absorb the dragon vein's power from its base.

His puppet also has a technique engraved on it to convert dragon vein chakra into time-resetting dragon vein chakra. As long as it reaches the bottom of the dragon vein and absorbs the dragon vein chakra, it will still be invincible.

However... though the mind is on something, the body is unable to move.

"What is this?"

"Water Release... no... what kind of ninjutsu is this?"

"Damn it... let go of me!!"

The black ink-like waves did not disappear; they still firmly enveloped the lower half of the centipede scorpion puppet. Moreover, it was no longer in the form of water; under Li Yao's attribute, it had transformed into a highly viscous, glue-like fluid.

When the puppet encounters this sticky glue-like fluid, it's like meeting its nemesis. No matter how hard the centipede tries, the scorpion puppet can only struggle in the ink-like colloid.

"Damn it, Fire Release: Great Dragon... Ugh!"

Pfft!

Suddenly, a giant ink-wash python shot out from under Li Yao's feet, heading straight for the scorpion puppet's chest where the hundred legs were located. It bit the hundred legs and pulled him out of the scorpion puppet.

The scorpion puppet's Dragon Vein Fire Release technique was thus halted.

"How could that be?"

Centipede was taken aback, wondering why Li Yao had discovered the location of his true form.

"You have nowhere to hide before my soul's perception!"

Li Yao smiled coldly, and his hands pretended to form a hand seal again. The black ink python suddenly opened its mouth and swallowed the centipede. Then the sealing technique was activated, and the ink python shrank into an ink sphere.

The centipede was sealed inside a water-based ink sphere the size of a billiard ball.

Li Yao put the ink-sealed sphere into his pocket; he wasn't ready to kill the centipede yet.

The centipede carries a spacetime sealing technique from Naruto's Naruto world. If it dies, Naruto and Yamato will be rejected by the world and returned to their original world.

Li Yao hasn't left the Flying Thunder God mark on Naruto yet, so he can't let Centipede die.

Moreover, Li Yao was also afraid that once Baizu died, the dragon vein chakra would go berserk and dissipate.

He also wanted to cherish the last month he had to sense the changes in the nature of the dragon vein's chakra.

"who is he?"

"So strong!"

"They actually killed that giant puppet with a single blow."

Beside Minato, Akimichi Choza and the ninja from the Aburame clan also arrived. The two saw Li Yao seal the scorpion puppet that had previously left them helpless with a wave of his hand, and they both knew that this person was extraordinary.

Otherwise... the two looked at Minato, who remained vigilant to the side.

(End of this chapter)