Chapter 251: Three Minutes
Chiyo had great trust in her younger brother's judgment.
Just as she was about to agree with him and order everyone to retreat to the shelter—
Whoosh!
A clone of Li Yao in his Flowing Wind Armor arrived in a flash, traversing the hundred-meter distance to land atop the Kazekage Building in an instant.
Li Yao's Wind Clone spoke quickly, "Lady Chiyo, I have a ninjutsu that can defeat that airborne enemy, but I need time to prepare it."
"Really?" Chiyo's eyes lit up. While intercepting the clay birds in the air, she questioned Li Yao's clone.
"Yes." Li Yao's clone nodded solemnly.
"How much time?" Chiyo asked directly. If this technique could truly defeat that mysterious airborne clay detonation user, then retreating to the shelter was out of the question.
Otherwise, if everyone in Sunagakure could only cower in the shelters to escape the attacks of one enemy, how would they face the villagers?
That would be no different from outright surrender!
So, if there was a chance, they absolutely could not let such a shameful scene occur under their watch.
"Three minutes," Li Yao's clone replied with a heavy tone.
Chiyo, Ebizō, and all the surviving jonin felt their hearts sink at the mention of three minutes.
They were already at their limits after five minutes of defending. Now another three?
"Fine, three minutes it is. Focus on your preparation—leave the rest to me."
In the silence that followed, Chiyo, though a woman, possessed a resolve that many men lacked. Her words were resolute.
Once she spoke, the others gritted their teeth and shouted, "Windwalker, just focus on your ninjutsu. We won't let a single clay bird through in three minutes!"
"Alright." Li Yao's clone said no more. He spread his legs, crouched slightly, pressed his palms together with index and middle fingers extended, and closed his eyes.
He began to concentrate his Bloodline Limit-level Wind Release: Slash Chakra at his fingertips, continuously compressing it.
Buzz!
In that moment, Chiyo and the others felt as if they heard the sound of compressed steel. An involuntary shiver ran down their spines.
A newfound sense of confidence surged in everyone's hearts.
For a Wind Release chakra of this magnitude to require three minutes of compression—
Li Yao's Wind Release ninjutsu had to be terrifyingly powerful.
Perhaps... it really could defeat that monster in the sky.
At that moment, Chiyo and the others felt hope. They gave their all intercepting the clay birds in the air.
Meanwhile, Li Yao above seemed to notice something amiss and sent even more clay birds their way.
Only by pushing Chiyo and the others to utter despair would Li Yao's Wind Clone's intervention be seen as truly miraculous.
Boom boom boom... Violent explosions rocked the village of Sunagakure.
At the northeastern corner of the village, there was a special prison.
It held only one person.
And that person wasn't even a criminal.
His name was Bunpuku, the One-Tails' jinchūriki of Sunagakure.
Because of the villagers' fear and the risk of Shukaku rampaging, Bunpuku had willingly imprisoned himself and remained there for years.
In a blink, he had spent over a decade in that prison.
But today, the noise in the village was unusually loud.
Even during the Second Great Ninja War, the village had not suffered such a violent assault.
Unfortunately... he couldn't help at all.
At this moment, in Bunpuku's mindscape, Shukaku was screaming.
"Die, die, all of them should die!"
"Bunpuku, can you hear it? The sound of humans dying is music to my ears."
"Let me out, Bunpuku! I'll kill everyone, even the ones attacking your village!"
Despite Shukaku's raging, Bunpuku calmly suppressed the tailed beast's chakra. Emotionless, he said, "I trust my comrades. They will drive the enemy away."
No matter how much Shukaku taunted him, Bunpuku remained unmoved, seated calmly in his prison, suppressing the rampaging power within.
Outside—
The explosions were concentrated above the Kazekage Building. The resulting black smoke had blanketed the skies like a thick layer of dark clouds, flickering with flames and lightning from within.
Chiyo, Ebizō, and even the reluctant elder advisor Watanabe gave their all to protect Li Yao's clone from the incoming clay birds.
Watanabe was terrified.
He feared that if he let the clay birds hit Li Yao's clone, the clone might retaliate and "accidentally" direct his wind technique at him.
And there was no doubt—if Watanabe tried to sabotage Li Yao's clone, the clone absolutely would not hesitate to kill him.
Because the Wind Release: Slash building in Li Yao's hands was too terrifying.
Clang, clang, clang... It was as if countless slashes had converged at the tips of Li Yao's fingers.
The terrifying chakra waves, the cutting force that seemed able to slice through anything, gave even Chiyo and the others nearby the sensation of being torn apart.
"What a powerful Wind Release technique!!!"
Chiyo glanced at the transparent wind chakra sphere flickering with sharp white threads at Li Yao's fingertips and was deeply shaken.
She had only ever felt such terrifying chakra waves when Ōnoki released Dust Release.
"Has Windwalker actually elevated his unique Wind Release: Slash to the level of Kekkei Tōta?!"
"If that's true, then... it's a blessing for Sunagakure!"
Controlling her puppet, Chiyo couldn't help but smile.
As a Kage-level figure who had fought in the First and Second Great Ninja Wars, she knew how incredibly difficult it was to elevate a single-element chakra to the Kekkei Tōta level.
In fact, such a feat was far more difficult than creating a regular Kekkei Tōta technique.
Throughout the history of the ninja world, Kekkei Genkai techniques were many, but single-element techniques at that level were exceedingly rare.
Until now, there had only been the Black Lightning of the Third Raikage and the Super Weighted Boulder Jutsu of the Third Tsuchikage.
Later came the White Lightning of Konoha's Sakumo .
And finally, Windwalker's Wind Release: Slash.
It showed just how impossibly hard it was to push single-element chakra to rival Kekkei Genkai levels.
And to then elevate it further to Kekkei Tōta was practically unheard of.
In all of ninja history, Chiyo had only ever known of one Kekkei Tōta—Dust Release.
Now, Windwalker had created a Wind Release technique on that level!
Besides calling it luck, Chiyo had no other words.
She fully believed now—Windwalker's technique could defeat the terrifying airborne foe.
In the blink of an eye—
Three minutes had passed.
"It's ready."
Li Yao's clone stood up, a triumphant smile on his face. At his fingertips was a small, ping-pong-ball-sized, white transparent sphere. It no longer radiated any terrifying chakra waves. It looked... ordinary.
But that ordinary appearance was what truly frightened Chiyo and the others.
Staring at the white orb on Li Yao's fingertips, a strange panic overtook them. It felt as if their hearts were gripped by an invisible hand—life and death no longer in their control.
In that instant, they understood—
If that white orb exploded now, all of them would vanish without a trace. No ninjutsu could stop it.
Only Dust Release had ever evoked such a feeling in Chiyo.
"As expected... a Wind Release technique on par with Kekkei Tōta!"
Chiyo's heart surged with excitement. With this, Sunagakure now had a legacy-level technique, something worthy of passing down through generations.
Anyone who mastered Windwalker's technique would undoubtedly be a top-tier Kage-level powerhouse.
Such a technique could ensure Sunagakure's continued place atop the ninja world.
How could Chiyo not be elated?
Tap tap... Her joy was short-lived. She noticed her clan's junior, Watanabe, unconsciously retreating several steps, pale-faced and staring at the orb.
Clearly, with death hanging over him, Watanabe's guilty conscience betrayed him.
This quickly soured Chiyo's mood.
There was no helping such a foolish junior.
Such was the nature of political struggles—compromise and exchange, not life-and-death confrontation without room for maneuver.
"Thank goodness that mysterious clay explosion enemy appeared. At least their assassination attempt didn't happen. There's still hope."
Chiyo thought to herself, shooting a glare at Watanabe, then sent a puppet forward to Li Yao's clone.
"Get on. I'll control the puppet and take you as close to the enemy in the sky as possible."
"No need. I can sense the enemy's position now. The attack range is not an issue."
Li Yao's clone shook his head, his expression turning sharp. "Lady Chiyo, stay out of my line of fire and out of the air. This disaster ends now."
"Understood," Chiyo replied.
Everyone cleared out from in front of Li Yao's clone, taking positions to his sides, using their last reserves of chakra to shield him.
(END CHAPTER)
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