Chapter 271: Multiple Water Mirror Technique
"You wait here."
Li Yao's Wind Clone activated his Wind Armor and descended.
"Got it."
Pakura nodded and remained in place, protected by his wind stream.
Her expression was calm. She no longer worried about Li Yao's safety—
Even if he was about to face the Fourth Mizukage, the perfect jinchūriki of the Three-Tails.
"He's here!"
All the shinobi beside Yagura immediately formed up, drawing kunai and weapons, their eyes locked on Li Yao as he descended.
Even knowing they couldn't win, they weren't going down without a fight.
They still had the courage to resist.
Li Yao landed across the river channel split open by his own Wind Slash. Looking at Yagura, he smiled faintly.
"Come then. Let me see who gave you the courage to invade the Land of Wind."
Whoosh!
Before he finished speaking, Yagura, still in partial Tailed Beast transformation, darted forward and appeared right in front of him, claws slashing toward Li Yao's chest.
Cling!
Li Yao flicked a finger—an invisible slash cleaved through the air.
Yagura's extended arm was severed at the shoulder.
"Ah—!"
Bang!
Crying out in pain, Yagura's scream was cut off mid-breath by a side kick to his chest that sent him flying, his body arching like a bow before crashing backward like a cannonball.
Shing shing shing!
Kiri ninja retaliated with a barrage of kunai and shuriken.
Cling cling...
Li Yao didn't bother countering—he simply released another Wind Slash.
"Ah!"
"Ah...!"
Screams echoed. Yagura, just regaining his footing, saw all his comrades simultaneously lose both arms—severed cleanly at the shoulders. Fury erupted in his chest.
"Unforgivable!!!"
Chakra surged skyward as he entered further into Tailed Beast transformation. Standing upright, he quickly formed hand seals.
"Water Release – Multiple Water Mirror Technique!"
In an instant, twenty-eight massive water mirrors formed, surrounding the entire island.
Boom!
Two Tailed Beast claws erupted from underground—not to attack, but to grab the wounded Kiri shinobi and pull them outside the island's perimeter.
Li Yao simply watched, not interfering.
This battle was theater—a demonstration. The goal wasn't to kill, but to subdue Yagura and make him abandon hostilities toward Sunagakure.
He had no intention of killing Yagura.
The Three-Tails sealed inside him was vital to Uchiha Madara's plan to corrupt Obito. Killing Yagura now would cause the Three-Tails to reincarnate elsewhere, potentially derailing that timeline.
So this fight had one purpose: show Kirigakure that resisting the Fourth Kazekage was futile.
Buzz!
"Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Once his comrades were safe, Yagura fired a miniature Tailed Beast Bomb.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
Each of the twenty-eight water mirrors reflected and launched one as well. A total of twenty-nine Tailed Beast Bombs flew from all directions toward Li Yao's position.
"Incredible. Water Release used like this?"
Li Yao was impressed. He hadn't expected the Water Mirror Technique to reflect his Tailed Beast Bombs, and the tactic cleverly exploited Wind Slash's weakness.
Facing attacks from every direction, he couldn't just slash through them like before. Even if he cut them, the scattered projectiles would still detonate around him.
So he made a different choice—
Whoosh!
His Wind Armor flared, and he shot straight upward, out of range.
But then—
"You think you can escape now?" Yagura sneered.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...!
From each mirror, a copy of Li Yao's Wind Clone leapt out—twenty-eight in total, Wind Armor and all, each identical in speed and appearance.
They all lunged at him simultaneously with mirrored punches.
Li Yao had no time to react. His own speed was matched—too many fists to block.
He was pinned within the blast zone.
BOOM! BOOM!
All twenty-nine Tailed Beast Bombs exploded simultaneously, wiping out the entire island in a massive shockwave.
From the sky, a blinding sphere of light bloomed over the sea, then unleashed a scorching wave of destruction in every direction.
WHAM!
Tidal waves rolled and reversed.
Outside the blast radius, Yagura's Tailed Beast clone emerged from the water, shielding the others with its chakra cloak.
"Brother-in-law!!!"
High above, Pakura screamed in panic. For the first time, she was truly shaken.
She hadn't expected her brother-in-law—the man who had subdued Shukaku—to be caught off guard.
Soon—
The fire faded. The island was gone, replaced by a cloud of scalding white steam, billowing across the ocean surface.
"Brother-in-law… huh?"
Pakura instinctively tried to rush downward—but realized she couldn't move.
The wind stream around her was still active—still holding her in place.
"That bastard…"
Her pale face flushed with relief. He was alive. If the wind stream was still maintained, it meant he was still conscious and in control.
"Finally dead!!"
"That bastard!!"
Down below, the armless Kiri shinobi cursed through gritted teeth.
"No one could survive that many Tailed Beast Bombs point-blank."
"He finally paid the price for killing our comrades!"
To them, Tailed Beast Bombs meant absolute destruction.
No one could survive being hit by twenty-nine of them at once.
Only Yagura's Tailed Beast clone remained vigilant, eyes fixed on the center of the steam cloud.
Soon, the steam began to disperse.
A shadow emerged from within.
The clone's expression changed.
"Retreat!"
The Kiri shinobi paled. Realizing Li Yao had survived, they turned and fled without hesitation.
From the moment they had lost both arms without seeing how it happened, they knew—
This battle was far beyond them.
If they stayed, they'd only be a burden to Yagura.
Soon—
As the white mist cleared, the island had vanished, leaving behind a vast whirlpool.
Suspended above its center—Li Yao's figure reappeared.
"He's still alive!!!"
"That monster!"
Yagura's eyes widened, trembling slightly with something he hadn't felt in years—fear.
There he floated, completely unharmed, wrapped in a transparent spherical barrier.
"Amazing."
Li Yao looked down and praised him. "No wonder you ended Kirigakure's civil war. Your Water Release talent rivals the Third Mizukage."
In the original timeline, Yagura had used the Water Mirror Technique to reflect Nine-Tails Chakra Mode Naruto and Killer Bee.
Reflecting Li Yao's power didn't surprise him.
But to also reflect Tailed Beast Bombs—that, he hadn't anticipated.
Yagura's talent was exceptional.
Had Li Yao not secretly activated a high-level barrier, this "performance" might have ended in disaster.
(END CHAPTER)
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