Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 63 Departure from the Water Gate

Li Yao looked towards the backyard, then turned and left.

"Pfft!"

A black iron chain extended from behind Li Yao and pierced the head of the Konoha ninja who thought he had survived by sheer luck.

Li Yao went to the kitchen in the backyard, and sure enough, there was food inside, freshly cooked oden.

"The lives of the nobility are indeed extravagant!"

In the kitchen, Li Yao sat on a decapitated corpse that was still sizzling blood, enjoying a large bowl of oden with relish, his eyes filled with admiration for the aristocratic lifestyle.

Before dawn, some people were already preparing delicious food, waiting for the morning to arrive.

But now it's Li Yao who benefits.

His appetite was unexpectedly large; he ate several large bowls of oden before feeling a sense of fullness.

Afterwards, I drank a large bowl of soup and felt completely refreshed.

Li Yao then walked out of the kitchen. At this moment, the surroundings were quiet, and a strong smell of blood filled the air.

After finding a set of clothes that fit him fairly well and putting them on, Li Yao went to the Konoha ninja again.

Then he crouched down and began looting the corpse.

"Ten explosive tags."

"Six kunai."

"Twenty shuriken."

"Their strength isn't that great, but their equipment is very complete."

While complaining, Li Yao put away the explosive tags and placed them into the ninja tool bag he had taken from the ninja.

He didn't want or need the other kunai and shuriken.

He was very interested in the principle of detonation tags and wanted to study it.

"Hmm...finally, a good product!"

Li Yao's face lit up with joy. He took out a small bag from the inside pocket of his Konoha ninja coat. It looked a bit like a storage bag from a cultivation novel. Inside were twelve round dumplings.

Li Yao picked one up and sniffed it. The smell was faint and not very strong. It was definitely a soldier's ration pill.

"That's good, things are much more convenient now that we have the soldier's ration pills."

Li Yao smiled.

With the soldier's ration pills, a highly compressed and high-energy food that can keep him full for a whole day, he no longer needs to go out into town to find food like he did tonight. He can stay in the wild and rarely be seen by people.

This would reduce the risk of him being exposed and give him more time to travel and leave the Land of Fire as soon as possible.

The Land of Fire is Konoha's territory. Staying here makes Li Yao feel uneasy. It's not good. It's better to go to another small country.

After putting away the bags of rations, Li Yao stood up and reached out his hand.

"puff!"

A flame appeared above his palm. This was the fire-style chakra he had copied from the Third Hokage. After a simple manipulation of its shape, it became the flame in his hand.

"Hmm... he does look somewhat like the third generation. Could he be the third generation's son?"

Looking at the Konoha ninja lying on the ground who bore a resemblance to the Third Hokage, a thought flashed through Li Yao's mind.

Then, with a wave of his hand, the flames on his hand ignited on the corpses of the Konoha ninjas, and they immediately burst into flames.

The Third Hokage's Fire Release chakra was of very high quality; Li Yao could feel its high temperature and flammability, even a recently deceased corpse could be set ablaze.

"I wonder how powerful Lightning Release and Water Release are?"

While channeling Fire Release chakra to make the flames burn fiercely, Li Yao also thought about the Water Release chakra and Lightning Release chakra within his body.

In addition to Fire Release, he also copied Lightning Release and Water Release chakra from the Third Hokage.

At that time, the three generations used three different escape techniques on him: fire, water, and lightning.

Li Yao's chakra perception ability was already very strong at that time. Apart from sealing techniques, which have complex chakra nature changes, he could instantly sense the changes in chakra nature and form of other fire, water, wind, lightning, and earth-attribute chakra as long as they came into contact with his skin.

Therefore, as soon as the Third Hokage's Fire Release, Lightning Release, and Water Release chakra came into contact with Li Yao's skin, he sensed the changes in the nature of the chakra and condensed it.

Heh... Now he's a genius ninja with all three chakra natures.

Suddenly remembering the theory in Naruto that the more chakra natures one possesses, the more talented one is, Li Yao smiled.

Genius seems a bit cheap.

In no time, the young Konoha ninja turned to ashes.

Now, even if the Konoha ninjas chase after them, they won't be able to obtain much information.

On the other side, Li Yao treated the Konoha ninja in the same way. He used a fire jutsu to watch the corpse burn to ashes before leaving.

In the ninja world, intelligence is crucial.

Li Yao was very clear about this.

Although there were various unexpected events that allowed him to escape Konoha this time, the core reason was undoubtedly that the Third Hokage and Danzo were unaware that he possessed the terrifying and abnormal ability to replicate chakra nature transformations.

Otherwise, Li Yao would never have had the chance to leave Danzo's underground base.

Therefore, it is important not to expose too much of your abilities.

In particular, the Vajra Lockdown ability can save Li Yao's life in critical moments, and the later it is revealed, the better.

……

The sun rises.

Konoha welcomes a new day.

In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage rubbed his aching forehead; he hadn't slept a wink all night.

After returning last night, the news of Kushina Uzumaki's abduction broke out, leaving the Third Hokage, who was still reeling from Li Yao's escape, feeling dizzy and disoriented.

However, before he could react, the Cloud Village delegation came knocking, saying that three of their people had gone missing and demanding that Konoha return them as soon as possible, as if they were convinced that Konoha was responsible for their disappearance.

At first, the Third Hokage didn't realize the connection between the disappearance of the three Cloud Village members and the abduction of Kushina.

It wasn't until the Uchiha clan members responsible for monitoring the Cloud Village Alliance delegation were summoned that the Uchiha brat turned around and accused them of causing a disturbance at his and Danzo's secret base, which drew most of their attention and made them relax their surveillance of the Cloud Village Alliance delegation.

Ultimately, this led to the abduction of Shinjiro and the disappearance of the three members of the Cloud Village delegation.

It was only at this moment that the Third Hokage suddenly realized that Kushina's abduction was related to Kumogakure.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have disappeared earlier; he just happened to disappear when Shinji was kidnapped.

As the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina was always protected by the Anbu. The Anbu would only withdraw at night when she was at the Senju clan's territory.

Considering that last night was the time when Lady Mito entered the secret chamber to reinforce the seal on the Nine-Tails.

It's impossible to figure out this intelligence without a certain amount of time spent gathering it.

As ninjas of the Uchiha clan monitoring the Cloud Village alliance delegation, it was impossible for them to have missed anything.

The Third Hokage, who had originally planned to send four ninja teams to find Kushina, was reduced to sending only one team due to the possibility that the Uchiha clan might have lost their minds.

He needs to retain more power in Konoha.

At this time, the power within Konoha cannot be too weak.

Otherwise, if the Uchiha were to launch an attack, it would be devastating.

The Third Hokage only hoped that the ANBU squad he sent out could bring Kushina back. Otherwise, it wouldn't be as simple as losing the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki; losing Lady Mito's trust would be the most fatal blow.

However, a night passed and the dark squad still hadn't sent any news, indicating that Shinji Nai was still missing.

The third generation is getting a little anxious.

And then, of all times, someone tries to sabotage him.

"Damn Cloud Village!"

"The Evil Uchiha!"

Looking at the protest letter sent by the Cloud Village delegation that morning, the Third Hokage couldn't help but momentarily collapse his persona.

"It seems the plan to hunt down the Uchiha clan needs to continue!"

Considering that the Uchiha clan's actions regarding Kushina had clearly crossed the line, the Third Hokage's initial intention to wait until the war was over before implementing the hunting plan began to waver.

"Bang! Bang!"

Just then, there was a knock on the office door, and the third generation frowned slightly.

At this time, the sun has just risen, and his secretary, Chiba Megumi, hasn't arrived yet. Who would come looking for him?

The Third Hokage had some doubts, but his face instantly reverted to that of a wise and kind Hokage, and he said gently, "Come in."

The door opened, and a blond, sunny boy walked in.

"Lord Hokage."

"Oh, it's Minato. What brings you here so early?"

Upon seeing that it was Minato, the Third Hokage's mood improved.

Minato graduated a year early and is now a Konoha genin, but only the Third Hokage knows that Minato's strength has reached the level of a jonin.

However, the third generation did not send Minato to the battlefield.

In Konoha, no child under the age of fifteen was sent to the battlefield for three generations.

These are the future of Konoha. Going to war too early will only cause Konoha to lose its future, which is not worth it.

As the third Hokage's chosen future of Konoha, he wouldn't let Minato take any risks.

After all, anything can happen on the battlefield.

Let's wait until Minato is more mature and has more mission experience before sending him to the battlefield.

If the war hadn't ended by then.

Just as the Third Generation was lost in thought, Minato, who had just entered, showed an unusual expression of anxiety.

This anxious look is very similar to the expression on Minato's face six years ago when he came to the Third Hokage to tell him about his friend Kimura Yō.

However, things have changed, and now the person who makes Minato so anxious and nervous is Shinjiro.

"Lord Hokage, I request permission to go out and search for Kushina."

This morning, before the sun had fully risen, Minato arrived at the Shichidan Riverbank, where he had arranged to meet Kushina yesterday, ready to have a ninjutsu exchange with her.

As a result, Shinjina did not appear until the sun had fully risen.

So he went directly to the Senju clan's territory and learned that Shinji Nai had been kidnapped.

Now, Minato just wants to apply as soon as possible and go find Shinjiro.

"No, a secret service team has gone." The Third Hokage instinctively refused Minato, not wanting him to take the risk.

The Hidden Cloud Village is not so easy to deal with; Minato still needs more experience.

"Lord Hokage, I often go on missions with Kushina and we often exchange ninjutsu techniques. If she leaves some marks along the way, the ANBU squad might not be able to recognize them."

"If I go, I'm sure I'll be able to recognize the mark left by Shinjiro."

Minato's words made some sense, and the Third Hokage hesitated.

Seeing this, Minato looked at the Third Hokage with a determined gaze and said firmly, "I will definitely find Kushina and bring her back."

Seeing the determination in Minato's eyes, the Third Hokage's expression changed several times before he finally nodded and agreed.

However, he also instructed Minato that if the person who kidnapped Shinobu crossed the border of the Land of Fire and entered another country, his mission must be terminated immediately.

"clear."

Minato said, "Leave immediately."

(End of this chapter)