Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 69 Ink Permeation

Meanwhile, the three people below, including Sarutobi Tenjuro, were not letting their guard down when rescuing the civilian hostages, but they also remained vigilant about Li Yao.

The instant Li Yao flung the civilians away, two black iron chains behind him instantly pierced the ground, carrying Li Yao rapidly towards Sarutobi Ayase.

The three of them also took their own actions.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh...!"

Of the three, Sarutobi Tenjuro and the other person each instantly threw out four kunai with explosive tags attached to their ends, aiming at Li Yao in mid-air.

The remaining person, from a branch family of the Hyuga clan, unleashed a powerful Bagua palm strike at the two black iron chains that were supporting Li Yao as he flew into the sky.

A powerful chakra air cannon created ripples in the air as it struck the two black iron chains supporting Li Yao's back.

In a short moment, just twenty meters away from Sarutobi Ayase in mid-air, before Li Yao could launch an attack, he was met with a counterattack from four ninjas.

This was a split-second reaction; Li Yao didn't have time to think ahead and prepare a proper response.

"Clang clang clang...!"

Almost instinctively, Li Yao had a thought, and more than a dozen black iron chains shot out from his body, quickly surrounding him and enveloping him in an iron ball.

"Bang bang bang..."

"Boom!"

All attacks landed the instant Li Yao's black iron chains surrounded him, forming a ball around him.

The explosion from the detonator below propelled Li Yao a short distance into the air, but he was quickly knocked down by two large ink-wash birds and brought to a stop in mid-air.

Upon impact, the ink-wash bird suddenly became as brittle as ink itself, spreading out into a large blob of black ink that splashed onto Li Yao's black iron chain ball.

At the same time, below, the Eight Trigrams Palm technique released by a ninja from the Hyuga clan struck Li Yao's two black iron chains.

"It seems my black iron chain defense technique is still superior."

After the attack, Li Yao remained unharmed, encased in black iron chains. The two black iron chains supporting him remained sturdy and undamaged.

He won this round.

Li Yao smiled slightly.

However, Li Yao's smile quickly faded.

"This is……"

Just as Li Yao had a thought and was about to shoot out the black iron chain to grab the female ninja who was now on the large bird in mid-air...

The black ink poured onto the black iron chain sphere acted like super glue, sticking the chain to itself.

The black iron chains controlled by Li Yao seemed to be stuck in a quagmire. No matter how hard he tried, they were like a stretched spring being pulled back by a huge adhesive force.

Moreover, the water-like ink-glue seeped into Li Yao through the gaps in the black iron chains.

"not good!"

Li Yao's expression changed. Once the ink glue wrapped around his body, he would be bound and powerless to fight back.

Li Yao immediately had a thought, and a fine black iron chain chakra cloak appeared on his body for protection. At the same time, fire-style chakra instantly condensed into flames around his body.

"Boom!"

The scorching flames burned inside the black iron chain ball, forming a huge fireball.

"Fire Release without a seal... Looks like he's skilled in Fire Release!"

Sensing the intense heat of the Fire Release technique unleashed by Li Yao without using any seals, Sarutobi Tenjuro had an idea and memorized the Release technique that Li Yao was good at.

"But... you want to use Fire Release to evaporate Ayase's ink?"

"hehe!"

"How naive!"

Sarutobi Tenjuro sneered. The ink used in Ayase's Super Beast Imitation Painting Ninjutsu was not just water, but flowing graphite. Fire would not evaporate the ink; instead, it would make Ayase's ink even more resilient.

"Oh no, it won't burn."

"Try using Lightning Release."

"Well……"

Just as Li Yao realized that Fire Release was ineffective against Shui Mo and was about to use Lightning Release, Shui Mo had already seeped in through the gaps in the chains of the Black Iron Chain Chakra Hagoromo.

In an instant, Li Yao was enveloped by all the ink paintings.

"Explode!" Sarutobi Ayase shouted softly.

"bump!"

Just like the Konoha ninjas he had crushed with black iron chains before, Li Yao was also enveloped in ink and squeezed to burst.

"Hmph, I thought they were something special!"

Hearing the cracking sound coming from the black iron chains, Sarutobi Tenjuro's eyes were filled with contempt. He still had many tricks up his sleeve, and Li Yao was already dead. It was clear that this man's abilities were limited.

"I really don't understand why Father is so wary of Li Yao?"

A hint of confusion flashed in Sarutobi Tenjuro's eyes, but he soon found the answer to that confusion.

After the black iron chains disappeared, the imagined bloody pulp did not appear; the ink dissipated, revealing nothing inside.

"Shadow clones, huh!"

Sarutobi Tenjuro's face was grim, and the others weren't much better off.

At this point, they were well aware that the one they had just fought was merely a shadow clone of Li Yao.

Although they killed Li Yao's shadow clone in a very short time.

However, it also revealed a tactic to counter Li Yao's Black Iron Chain Sealing Technique.

If they encounter Li Yao again, the other party will definitely be prepared, making it difficult to kill Li Yao using the same method.

And what they found most unacceptable was...

They are all experts in tracking.

One is a ninja from the Hyuga clan who uses various small animals provided by the Super Beast Imitation Drawing to examine the traces on the ground, and the other is a ninja from the Hyuga clan who has the Byakugan to see through all obstructions.

Despite such tracking and investigation capabilities, Li Yao still managed to escape their pursuit.

This is so embarrassing.

This made Sarutobi Tenjuro, the dignified captain of the Dark Guard, extremely unpleasant to look at, as it severely damaged his reputation.

"Tap tap tap!"

Sarutobi Ayase and two other team members approached Sarutobi Tensuke.

Sarutobi Ayase asked, "What do we do now?"

They had no idea when Li Yao separated from his shadow clone, or whether Li Yao's main body was still heading east, leaving behind a shadow clone, or whether he had changed direction earlier.

Sarutobi Tenjuro frowned and pondered for a few seconds before saying, "Ayase, you'll be in charge of the large-scale search around the town."

Sarutobi Ayase nodded: "Okay."

Sarutobi Tenjuro turned to Sika and said, "You're in charge of keeping an eye on whether Li Yao is hiding in the town."

Hinata Jessica nodded and said, "Understood."

Sarutobi Tenjuro looked at the last person and said, "Ryoma, come with me to see the people in town who have seen Li Yao."

Ryoma Echizen, who was proficient in memory probing techniques, nodded and said, "Understood."

The four quickly set to work in the town.

Half an hour later, the four of them reunited.

Sarutobi Tenjuro asked, "How is it?"

Sarutobi Ayase and Hinata Jessica shook their heads and said, "We didn't find any trace of Li Yao."

There was no trace of Li Yao in the town, and after expanding the search area, there was still no trace of Li Yao leaving around the town.

"It seems that what came here was just a shadow clone."

Sarutobi Tenjuro said, and the other three nodded, agreeing that this was the only explanation that made sense.

"Return the way you came, expand the search area, and find the location where Li Yao and his shadow clone separated," Sarutobi Tenjuro immediately ordered.

Since only a shadow clone came here, Li Yao must have separated from his main body along the way.

Once they find the point of separation, they can find Li Yao again.

This time, they would never let Li Yao play them for fools again.

(End of this chapter)