Chapter 252: Wind Release – Void Flash
Li Yao's Wind Clone looked up at the sky, his gaze seemingly piercing through the black smoke, locking onto the enemy's position.
In the next instant, Li Yao's Wind Clone pressed his palms together and pointed his fingers toward where Li Yao was located.
"Wind Release – Void Flash!"
Boom!
In a flash, the white transparent orb at Li Yao's fingertips exploded, unleashing a white beam of light two meters in diameter.
The thick black smoke created by the explosions was instantly pierced through, as if a massive hole had been torn in the heavens.
The white beam shot so quickly that by the time Chiyo and the others reacted, it had already struck the airborne enemy.
There was no explosion!
No chance to resist!
The beam simply pierced through the enemy and continued into the sky, far beyond visibility.
A few breaths later—
The white beam vanished, but Chiyo and the others still hadn't recovered from the tremor in their hearts.
In that brief moment when the white beam had erupted, they had all felt that terrifying chakra wave.
They sensed an absolute destructive force within it.
"We… won, right?"
After a long pause, Chiyo and the others snapped back to reality. Ebizō's normally calm face was frozen in shock, his mouth wide open as he watched the clay birds fall from the sky.
The enemy's figure had disappeared from the skies.
The clay birds were still falling—but they now plummeted like lifeless objects, no longer flying with speed or purpose.
Clearly, these clay birds had lost their master's control.
Thud, thud… all across the village, only the sound of clay birds hitting the ground could be heard, but they no longer exploded.
This scene could only mean one thing—the enemy was dead.
"We won!"
"Lord Windwalker won!"
"The enemy was killed by Lord Windwalker!!"
"Lord Windwalker is victorious!"
"Lord Windwalker killed the enemy!"
As the Suna-nin atop the Kazekage Building, who had seen with their own eyes how Li Yao's Wind Clone killed the enemy, shouted with joy, all the remaining ninja around the village realized that the terrifying foe had been defeated by the white beam from Li Yao's Wind Clone—and joined in the celebration.
Just when they had fallen into despair, Li Yao's clone turned the tide and saved the village.
In this moment, the prestige of Li Yao's Wind Clone in Sunagakure reached its peak.
At this point, his claim to the title of Fourth Kazekage was almost uncontested.
"That bastard… really is strong!"
Hearing the cheers around her, Pakura 's face blushed slightly, her heart filled with emotion, tempted to shout with them.
But thinking about how that bastard Windwalker held a special place in her sister's heart, she just couldn't bring herself to celebrate. Instead, she felt helpless—like someone who had lost their beloved sister to someone else and could do nothing about it.
"Damn it, I'll develop an even stronger Wind Release than that bastard's!"
Pakura clenched her fists in her heart. She wouldn't let her sister be taken so easily. She would become stronger—strong enough to earn her sister's admiration and pride for herself.
"Sigh…"
In one corner of the village, Uncle Rasa looked up at the falling clay birds and listened to the cheering. He let out a long sigh and patted the shoulder of his gasping nephew.
"Having him is Sunagakure's fortune—but not yours. Don't dwell on it. There's still a long road ahead," Uncle Rasa said softly.
"I'm fine. As long as the village is safe, that's enough," Rasa replied quietly, his tone seemingly calm, though his heart was far from it.
In this battle, he had done his best—and saved the most people.
But it had been Windwalker who killed the enemy.
If Windwalker hadn't been there, this victory would've cemented his own candidacy for the Fourth Kazekage, especially with his mastery of Magnet Release.
But now, he basically had no chance.
Unless… Shukaku rampaged now… but never mind.
Rasa shook his head. His chakra was nearly depleted. If Shukaku did rampage, he wouldn't be able to stop it anyway.
The Fourth Kazekage was clearly going to be Windwalker.
Rasa no longer entertained other thoughts.
He wasn't like that reckless Watanabe who left himself no escape route.
The position of Kazekage was important, yes, but not worth gambling everything against Windwalker.
And even if he wanted to fight, who could possibly contend with that white beam?
Even from hundreds of meters away, the chakra wave it released had filled Rasa with dread.
That feeling—Rasa had experienced it once before as a child.
It was when Shukaku went berserk and released a Tailed Beast Ball.
That terrifying chakra wave had the power to ignore all defenses.
His uncle's sigh wasn't about losing the Kazekage title—it was about realizing that from now on, no one in Sunagakure could rival Windwalker.
Even if the ten great clans joined forces, Windwalker alone could defeat them.
That white beam had lasted several breaths before vanishing.
If it hadn't been a straight beam, but something like a Tailed Beast Ball that exploded—how massive would the damage have been?
Calling it a Tailed Beast Ball wouldn't be an exaggeration.
And against that kind of explosion, numbers meant nothing.
Moreover, Windwalker wasn't even a tailed beast. His combat intelligence was high, and his speed unmatched in Sunagakure.
To face someone like him, who could match the destructive force of a Tailed Beast Ball and outpace anyone in the village—who would dare to fight him?
At this point, Windwalker was equivalent to the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure—someone whose power eclipsed even that of the major clans.
Opposing him would be pure folly.
Uncle Rasa understood well—this would be Windwalker's era in Sunagakure. His words to Rasa were meant to help him let go and avoid making rash decisions.
Rasa understood too. He was mature enough to accept it.
As Sunagakure celebrated its victory, outside the prison where Bunpuku was held, Li Yao suddenly appeared using the Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge past the battlefield. He raised a foot and kicked the reinforced steel gate sealed with a binding seal.
A terrifying burst of physical power exploded forth.
The gate, reinforced with sealing techniques, couldn't withstand the force.
Bang!
Clang…!
The steel bars shattered and flew across the rock floor, rolling several times before stopping.
"Who are you?"
Bunpuku sprang to his feet, staring intently at the slowly approaching Li Yao. He couldn't sense any chakra—but that only made him more afraid.
"Suna… urgh!"
Bunpuku was just about to summon sand to restrain Li Yao—but before the sand could even move, Li Yao had already vanished and reappeared right in front of him, grabbing his abdomen as if twisting a key.
In that instant, the seal imprisoning Shukaku inside Bunpuku was broken.
"How is this possible?"
Before Bunpuku could even process the shock that someone had undone his seal so quickly, Li Yao yanked his right hand outward—and Shukaku's chakra was forcefully extracted.
"You… who are—"
Before he could finish, Bunpuku's eyes widened as he died from the extraction.
Not everyone was like Kushina Uzumaki, whose immense vitality allowed her to survive even after having a Tailed Beast ripped out.
A jinchūriki's soul was partly fused with their beast. Once the beast was extracted, it was like having a portion of one's soul ripped out—the body couldn't survive long.
The chakra extracted from Bunpuku expanded rapidly. After absorbing the remnants of Bunpuku's soul, Li Yao vanished using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Boom!
The moment Li Yao disappeared, Shukaku's chakra solidified into form. His massive body instantly burst through the prison roof, entering the view of the still-celebrating Suna-nin.
In a single instant—
The entire village fell silent. Every cheer came to an abrupt halt.
They had just defeated one enemy—
And now Shukaku was rampaging.
At this moment, everyone's chakra was nearly depleted. Even if Shukaku just stood still, they wouldn't be able to do anything.
"To become Kazekage, one must not only have fame and power—being able to suppress a rampaging Shukaku is a key factor."
"If the clone defeats and suppresses Shukaku, then his claim to the Kazekage title will be indisputable."
High above, Li Yao looked at Shukaku and smiled faintly before turning to leave.
This trip to Sunagakure had fulfilled his mission. Now, it was time for his Wind Clone to take the stage.
(END CHAPTER)
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