Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 85 Fierce Battle at the Water Gate

"Long time no see, Minato."

Above the tall tree, on the back of the giant black iron eagle, Li Yao looked at the water gate a dozen meters below.

The boy's golden hair was still as dazzling and sunny as ever, but the gentle smile that used to grace his face was gone, replaced by an expression of anger and hatred.

This kind of expression is hard to find on Minato's face.

Seeing the angry expression on Minato's face, Li Yao's thoughts were somewhat complicated.

He thought that when he saw Minato again, his face would have the same angry expression as Minato's.

After all, everything he's going through now started with the Watergate report.

He has reason to be angry, and he should be even more angry.

However, now that he has actually met Minato, he is surprisingly calm and doesn't seem to hate Minato as much as he had imagined.

Upon closer reflection, Minato didn't do anything wrong.

As one of the characters Li Yao admires most in the Naruto anime, Minato Namikaze's life can be described as upright and honorable.

As Hokage, he lived up to the expectations of the villagers.

As a ninja, I have lived up to my comrades' expectations.

As a father, I have lived up to Naruto's expectations.

As an enemy, they are worthy of Konoha.

From beginning to end, Minato was practicing his ninja way.

During the later stages of the Fourth Shinobi World War, after realizing that the masked man was Obito, he decisively intervened when Obito was being controlled and about to use the Rinne Rebirth Technique to revive Madara Uchiha. He teleported to his former disciple and mercilessly struck him down, preventing Madara Uchiha's plan to be reborn.

If it weren't for the powerful vitality of the Wood Release cells, Obito would have died at that moment.

As an enemy, Minato truly embodied the attitude of showing no mercy when faced with opposing stances.

Li Yao is not Kimura Yao, but an evil enemy who killed Kimura Yao and took over his body. Reporting Li Yao is only natural; if you don't report him, you're not Minato Namikaze.

Li Yao understands Minato's choice and also appreciates Minato's character.

Unfortunately, whether he understood or admired, it didn't affect Li Yao's desire to kill Minato Namikaze, his enemy.

On this point, Li Yao agreed with Minato. If their positions were different, then there was only life or death to decide; there was no other possibility.

"call out!"

Without hesitation, Li Yao leaped off the back of the Black Iron Giant Eagle.

When he jumped down, even Li Yao himself was stunned, seemingly not expecting that he would personally risk his life to fight in his true form.

The moment Li Yao saw Minato appear here with Kushina, he realized that this was the scene from the original story where Minato instantly killed three Cloud Village Jonin to save Kushina.

Minato was able to instantly kill three Cloud Village Jonin, so whatever the reason, his strength must have been considerable, especially considering he had Kushina with an enormous amount of chakra.

Li Yao's best option was actually to send his shadow clones into battle to probe the approximate abilities of the two before unleashing a decisive blow.

But for some reason, his body made a choice before his consciousness could at that moment.

Perhaps... he didn't want to lose to Minato Namikaze.

Therefore... he wanted to face Minato with all his might.

"Chengcheng..."

The moment he landed, Li Yao released the shadow clone inside the Black Iron Giant Eagle's belly, retrieved the Black Iron Giant Eagle back into his body, and simultaneously put on the long-lost Black Iron Feather Robe.

"Whoosh..."

Before Li Yao could even land, six shuriken had already anticipated his landing position and shot towards him, striking him precisely at the moment of his landing.

If Li Yao really does land in as he claims.

"Bang bang!"

Li Yao naturally wouldn't land to meet the attack directly. His reaction was quick. Four black iron chains shot out from behind him. Two of them landed on the ground to support him in the air, dodging six shuriken. At the same time, two more shot towards Minato, who was attacking from both sides with kunai.

It has to be said that Minato's fighting talent is truly terrifying.

Just a moment ago he was glaring angrily at Li Yao.

The next moment, they can instantly enter a state of calm for battle and make rational combat choices.

The moment Li Yao jumped off the Black Iron Giant Eagle and his view was obscured by the dense foliage, the shadow clones immediately created two shadow clones and quickly ran through the bushes to the left and right of where Li Yao had landed.

Just before Li Yao was about to land, the main body quickly fired six shuriken, anticipating Li Yao's position to attack. At the same time, wielding a sharp kunai, it quickly ran towards Li Yao, coordinating with the shadow clones positioned on both sides to attack Li Yao.

It can be said that Li Yao faced four waves of attacks from three directions as soon as he landed.

If it were an ordinary ninja, they wouldn't even be able to unleash a ninjutsu in that short time; they would have to rely on taijutsu to deal with it.

However, relying solely on taijutsu, unless one is a bloodline limit ninja like Kimimaro, it is impossible to simultaneously withstand Minato's tactic of attacking four waves from three directions with three shadow clones.

The moment they land, Minato's kunai will pierce at least one vital spot, killing them instantly.

Li Yao's ability is unique; he can unleash the four black iron chains simultaneously with a thought, without needing to form hand seals.

Two of them braced themselves against the ground to dodge the kunai attack, while the other two shot to either side, targeting the front and back of Minato's shadow clones.

"Ding!"

Two metallic clanging sounds rang out simultaneously.

Li Yao's expression changed slightly.

"Such a quick reaction!"

Faced with Li Yao's sudden attack on the black iron chains, Minato's shadow clone reacted in an instant, inserting a kunai into the gap between the chains, then using the momentum to flip over and kick Li Yao in the head.

This reaction requires very fast neural and physical reflexes. Li Yao simply couldn't react and move so quickly, but Minato did it with ease.

In this respect, Li Yao lost.

However, Li Yao was no ordinary person. The ability of the black iron chains to shoot out from various parts of his body was very valuable here, somewhat compensating for his weakness of slow nerve reaction.

"Whoosh!"

So it doesn't matter if your body can't react in time to dodge, just take it head-on. Two black iron chains shot out from Li Yao's temples and struck the feet of Minato's shadow clone.

"Bang bang!"

Two plumes of smoke erupted from either side of Li Yao. In terms of attack power, his black iron chains were superior, and Minato's shadow clone was destroyed in this collision.

"Bang bang!"

At the same time, Minato's body suddenly jumped backward, and two black iron chains burst out of the ground. The ends of these chains were the same two black iron chains that Li Yao had shot into the ground to support his body in mid-air. While supporting his body, they passed through the ground to attack Minato's body.

Unfortunately, Minato also possessed a very keen sense of chakra.

Even with ground barriers, Minato could still sense and react instantly to this kind of underground sneak attack when it got close.

"Whoosh!"

Li Yao manipulated the two black iron chains that burst from the ground to continue shooting towards the water gate.

Minato used both his hands and feet, shifting left and right, and flipping backward. The black iron chains controlled by Li Yao couldn't keep up with Minato's movements and were nimbly dodged by him time and time again, failing to catch up.

This made Li Yao realize instantly that while he could control the black iron chains quickly, he lacked dexterity.

To put it bluntly, his reflexes weren't as fast as Minato's.

"What a terrible reaction!"

Li Yao couldn't help but sigh.

After his acupoints were destroyed, his nerve responses were greatly enhanced, as if his physical limitations had been released, placing him among the strongest ninjas.

However, it is clear that Minato's nervous system reactions are even more abnormal.

Only with such abnormal neural reflexes could one use the Flying Thunder God Technique to kill dozens of enemies in an instant.

Only such abnormal neural reflexes could, despite not being as fast as Li Yao's black iron chains, use a disguised change in rhythm to make Li Yao's black iron chain attacks seem to be slowed down as if time had been slowed down.

In this way, the reason why the shadow clones that were able to destroy the two Minatos earlier were simply because they were too close and in the air, with no leverage, was that they were overpowered by the black iron chains.

But... isn't this also Minato testing Li Yao's strategy?

Thinking of this, Li Yao withdrew the ineffective black iron chains and changed his battle stance to avoid giving Minato a possible opportunity.

(End of this chapter)