Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 54 Escaping Konoha

"Water Release: Water Dragon Technique"

"Lightning Release: Lightning Movement Technique".

"Ninja Art: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet"

The Third Hokage connected two ninjutsu hand seals in almost a second, instantly releasing a combined ninjutsu of lightning and water release – Lightning Water Dragon Bullet.

A water dragon, as thick and long as a high-speed train, crackling with lightning, condensed above the Third Generation's head and flew rapidly toward Li Yao.

Rumble!

The thunder and water dragon snaked forward at high speed, turning the trees and soil along the way as if it were being plowed.

boom!

Lei Shuilong arrived in front of Li Yao in the blink of an eye.

Faced with this terrifying attack, Li Yao did not dodge.

In fact, not hiding is the best way to deal with it.

With the Third Hokage's chakra control, if Li Yao tried to dodge, he would be hit directly by the turning Lightning Water Dragon Bullet in an instant.

"Sealing Technique: Black Iron Chain Rasengan."

Li Yao stretched out his arms to the left and right, and in an instant, countless black iron chains the size of hairs rotated and compressed around him into a black sphere, just like a spiral formed by the high-speed rotation of the black iron chain lines.

"bump!"

"Boom!"

The third generation's Thunder Water Dragon Bullet collided with Li Yao's Black Iron Chain Rasengan, and the terrifying impact was immediately dissipated on both sides by the high-speed rotating lines of the black iron chain.

In an instant, two long trenches, four or five meters deep, were carved out on either side of Li Yao by the scattered lightning and water flow, and they only stopped when they crashed into the barrier wall of the Four Purple Flame Array.

The smoke and dust cleared.

A huge, rapidly spinning black chakra sphere appeared, startling the Third Hokage. This absolute defense formed by rapidly spinning chakra was very similar to the Hyuga clan's taijutsu, Rotation.

However, upon considering the nature of Li Yao's black chakra, the Third Hokage immediately shook his head. This was not the Reversal of Heaven, but merely a ninjutsu-like technique.

However, it cannot be denied that its defensive capabilities are also very strong.

"Its resistance to ninjutsu is also very high."

The Third Hokage's gaze narrowed slightly. He had noticed earlier when Li Yao used Fire Release to attack that the black Vajra Lock on Li Yao's body had a high resistance to ninjutsu and he hadn't suffered any damage.

Even his most powerful composite ninjutsu, Lightning Water Dragon Bullet, couldn't break through Li Yao's black Vajra blockade defense.

It is now confirmed that ninjutsu attacks are not very effective against Li Yao.

Conversely, physical attacks are more effective.

Just thinking that his use of superhuman strength and the ape demon's indestructible body had only caused Li Yao to vomit blood and suffer minor injuries, he was shocked.

The third generation's brows furrowed even more deeply.

It must be said that Li Yao's black iron chains made even the Third Generation feel troubled.

It has high resistance to ninjutsu and strong physical defense, with almost no weaknesses, and can be called an "absolute defense".

But who were the people of the third generation?

With his extensive combat experience, he immediately devised a way to counter Li Yao's turtle shell-like defenses.

"Water escape, water rush wave!"

The Third Hokage once again formed hand seals. This time, the water jutsu was not exhaled from his mouth, but rather condensed and rotated around his body, instantly transforming into a towering wave that surged towards Li Yao.

Li Yao's black iron chain Rasengan still managed to deflect the water flow.

However, this is not an infinitely extending land, but rather a barrier sealed off by the Four Purple Flame Array Barrier Technique.

The towering waves quickly engulfed Li Yao and his black iron chain Rasengan.

Inside the barrier, the water level quickly rose twenty meters.

Even underwater, Li Yao maintained the state of the Black Iron Chain Rasengan, deflecting all approaching water currents.

The Third Hokage stood on the water's surface, watching the black chakra sphere spinning continuously within it, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Let's see how long you can hold out."

Without oxygen, maintaining high-speed rotation while continuously outputting chakra would consume a great deal of chakra.

The Third Generation was well aware of Kimura Yo's physical gifts.

No matter how talented Li Yao is, he cannot change the fact that Kimura Yao's body cannot condense much chakra.

There's no need for a direct attack; he just needs to wait for Li Yao to run out of chakra.

Faced with the current situation, Li Yao, inside the Black Iron Chain Rasengan, shook his head; he really didn't have any solutions.

Ultimately, it comes down to his lack of skill and ability.

All he has to offer are the Black Iron Chains and the Dark Travel Technique, but these two skills are of little use against the Third Hokage, who is experienced in combat and skilled in physical techniques.

However, the third generation was able to exploit his weaknesses and attack him.

As for using Wood Release chakra to unleash some simple Wood Release attacks, it's useless.

Besides revealing more of his abilities, Li Yao's Wood Release was completely inadequate for the Third Hokage, who had witnessed the power of Hashirama Senju's Wood Release.

Ultimately, it's because he doesn't have enough chakra.

If he possessed the amount of chakra that Hashirama Senju possessed, and could release countless dense black iron chains within a kilometer radius around him, making it impossible for the Third Hokage to dodge, just like the Wood Release: Advent of the World of Trees, he could easily crush the Third Hokage.

Unfortunately, chakra quantity is Li Yao's weakness.

This is why he prioritized developing the black iron chains rather than the wood chakra from the beginning.

One advantage of the black iron chains is that they can be retrieved into his chakra channels.

In addition to his absolute control over chakra, even the black iron chains exposed to the outside of his body suffer very little wear and tear from the natural environment, which is almost negligible.

As long as Li Yao has enough physical strength and mental focus, he can continue fighting using the black iron chains.

This greatly ensured Li Yao's continuous fighting time and made up for his lack of chakra.

The Third Hokage's plan to continuously deplete Li Yao's chakra by throwing him into the water was destined to fail.

However, Li Yao also needed time to stall the third generation.

So he continued to keep the Black Iron Chain Rasengan spinning at high speed to confuse the Third Hokage.

……

"very good."

"Now we can take action."

At this moment, inside the base, Li Yao swung his hands, causing the black iron chains connecting his palms to clang and shake off the blood remaining on the chains.

To his right, the Root ninja Kazetaka lay dead in a pool of blood, his head still glaring angrily at Li Yao.

"That's the importance of intelligence!"

"I never expected that he would also have the Shadow Clone Technique."

Li Yao chuckled softly. The thrill of intellectual superiority brought about by information asymmetry made him feel quite pleased.

I've already learned my lesson from being careless once.

Li Yao will not make the same mistake again.

He knew that once he went out, he would definitely face the Third Hokage and an unknown number of ninjas chasing him, and with his current abilities, the chances of escaping were very low.

The best way is to disperse the ninjas chasing him.

Therefore, after Li Yao broke through the ground, his shadow clone went out first, while his main body hid in a secret room. He used the sealing technique in the secret room to shield his chakra senses, so that the Third Hokage did not sense any of Li Yao's presence when he passed through the entrance of the headquarters base.

In this way, the Third Hokage, who was unaware that Li Yao could create shadow clones, would naturally assume that Li Yao's shadow clones were his original body.

Originally, Li Yao intended to lead the third generation further before his true form emerged.

As a result, he underestimated the strength of the third generation.

Or perhaps he has a misconception about the difference in strength between himself and the third generation.

This prevented him from luring the third generation away very far, and his main body couldn't easily leave either, otherwise there was a possibility of being detected.

But staying indoors all the time isn't an option either.

The commotion has already been made. The longer time passes, the more ninjas will arrive, and the less hope Li Yao has of escaping.

Fortunately, Li Yao seems to have had good luck.

The Four Purple Flame Array's ability to shield perception meant that Li Yao didn't have to worry about being sensed by the Third Generation after he went out.

As for the other ANBU ninjas... we'll talk about that later.

This is already the best possible outcome.

"It's time to go out."

Swoosh.

Two black iron chains shot out from his hands and fixed on either side of the cave entrance. With a burst of strength, Li Yao's body flew out of the base using the pull of the black iron chains and landed steadily on the ground outside.

Looking at the tall purple barrier standing in the woods to the side of the Hokage Rock, Li Yao smiled, then put the black iron chain feather robe back into his chakra space. Completely naked, he suppressed his chakra fluctuations and ran in a direction opposite to the Hokage Rock.

With Li Yao's absolute control over chakra, and having sensed from the ANBU squad that guarded him back then how they concealed their aura by suppressing chakra fluctuations, he was far more adept at suppressing his chakra fluctuations than the ANBU.

He can control his chakra so that it doesn't naturally leak out of his body, and he can also minimize chakra fluctuations.

Unless it's a special chakra-sensing ninja like Minato Namikaze.

Other ordinary ninjas would have a hard time noticing Li Yao's presence unless they were at close range.

In addition, no one lives in the area where the roots are located.

It was late at night, and even though the villagers had already noticed the fighting between the Third Generation and Li Yaoying's clone, there wasn't enough time for them to get here.

So Li Yao silently passed through the forest and arrived at the edge of the perception barrier that covered the entire Leaf Village, without anyone noticing.

Once he passes through the perception barrier, he will have escaped Konoha.

As for whether they can ultimately escape Konoha's pursuit alive, that's something to worry about after they get out of there.

(End of this chapter)