Chapter 330: Finally Fell for It
Just as Minato had anticipated, Li Yao instinctively used his ink to wrap himself into a spherical shield, blocking the insects outside.
"They can't bite through!" Aburame Shibi said with a slight shift in tone.
Hearing this, Minato's eyes lit up. As expected, when the ink gel was in its familiar soft state, its defense was weak. To withstand Shibi's insects, it had to transform into a harder, metallic form.
But that meant the ink's control speed would decrease.
After all, soft substances were easier to manipulate, while hardened metal was slower and less flexible.
That gave Minato the opening he needed.
Without wasting a moment, Minato created three shadow clones and charged forward as Shibi's insects covered Li Yao.
"Rasengan!"
The three shadow clones stepped onto the now-hardened, non-adhesive metallic ink surface. Each one formed a blue Rasengan in their right hand, striking the outer metal shell of Li Yao's ink barrier from the front, left, and right.
Clang!
As expected of an A-rank jutsu modeled after a Tailed Beast Bomb, the Rasengan had tremendous penetration power—especially in Minato's hands, whose chakra control was nearly flawless.
His Rasengan's rotational speed and chakra density were at their limits, and its power exceeded the norm.
Li Yao's ink-metal barrier shattered into fragments, exposing him inside.
Though the defense was broken, Li Yao's expression didn't show panic. Instead, he looked at Minato's shadow clones with a faint, mocking smile.
That look made Minato's heart skip a beat.
Still, the three shadow clones didn't hesitate. After breaking the outer barrier, their Rasengan attacks continued straight toward Li Yao.
Just as the Rasengan were about to hit, the shattered pieces of ink-metal in the air suddenly shot out like sharp shuriken toward the three clones.
The sudden shift caught them off guard—but at that exact moment, Minato's real body, watching from a distance, had a flash of brilliance in his eyes. A Rasengan had already formed in his hand.
Boom, boom, boom!
Whoosh!
As the ink-metal shards pierced and destroyed the three shadow clones, a brief window of open space appeared around Li Yao—no ink-metal fragments, no obstacles.
This was the moment Minato had been waiting for.
Whoosh!
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he teleported via a kunai buried beneath Li Yao and appeared in front of him, low to the ground, and drove a Rasengan straight into Li Yao's abdomen.
"Flying Thunder God: Second Stage!"
A gleam flashed in Minato's eyes. This technique—teleporting along with the Rasengan—was something he had only recently mastered.
And now, it was finally proving useful in real combat.
Crack!
Suddenly, the sound of breaking metal rang out. Minato's expression changed—he realized that Li Yao's skin was still covered in another layer of ink-metal.
Though this layer didn't block the Rasengan completely, it did absorb some of its power, preventing the attack from delivering a fatal blow immediately and buying Li Yao a crucial moment to react.
That slight delay, though brief, was enough for someone with Li Yao's reflexes.
Minato hadn't forgotten how fast Li Yao was—fast enough to rival or even surpass him.
With that speed, Li Yao could pull away just in time and counterattack with the ink-metal shards.
"Damn… the Rasengan won't kill him!"
In an instant, Minato understood the situation.
And just as he thought, Li Yao reflexively backed away while launching the ink-metal shards at Minato.
Now Minato faced a choice:
Either continue attacking, risking a double knockout—or possibly death for both of them.
Or abandon the attack and use Flying Thunder God to retreat.
But if he retreated now, Li Yao would be prepared. There'd be no second chance like this.
Worse, if Li Yao went into hiding, there'd be no way to stop him.
Minato hadn't forgotten how well Li Yao could conceal his chakra. If he went into assassination mode, Minato might survive—but Naruto and Chōza surely wouldn't.
"I have to take this man down here!"
Minato's expression hardened. As his brain raced, he made his decision. In the split second before the ink-metal shards reached him, he canceled the Rasengan and pressed his hand to Li Yao's stomach.
He chose neither to attack nor escape—but instead, to place a Flying Thunder God mark on Li Yao just before getting hit.
With that mark, no matter how well Li Yao concealed his chakra, Minato would always be able to track him—and possibly catch him off guard later.
But the moment Minato's hand touched Li Yao's stomach, a surge of sealing chakra activated on his hand—like it had been waiting for this exact moment.
At that instant, Li Yao finally revealed a victorious smile.
"Finally fell for it!!!"
"Hahaha… That wasn't easy!"
Li Yao laughed loudly. Minato's expression changed, and he instinctively tried to teleport away with the Flying Thunder God Technique—but for the first time ever, it failed.
Whoosh!
Minato reacted quickly. Realizing his teleportation had been disabled, he tried to leap back.
But his feet were already caught in the ink—now returned to its adhesive gel form. He was stuck.
"Fire Style—"
Minato instantly tried to use Fire Style to force Li Yao to change the ink back to its metal form to escape.
But Li Yao wasn't like ordinary enemies. His reaction speed was just as monstrous and he wasn't going to give Minato another opportunity to counterattack.
Without Flying Thunder God's teleportation, even Minato's incredible reflexes weren't enough to physically escape.
Li Yao gave a mental command, and thick black iron chains formed beneath the ink, piercing through Minato's feet, running through his entire body, and sealing his chakra completely.
The Fire Style jutsu died before it could even form.
At last, Minato looked at Li Yao with a dark expression, realizing that this time—he had truly lost.
"You… you know how to use Contract Sealing!"
"Who the hell are you?!"
Minato was struggling to accept it. He had lost due to a lack of intel, while his opponent was no ordinary man.
Just as he had felt the first time they met—if he wasn't careful, he really would die.
But… Contract Sealing was a secret sealing technique of the Uzumaki clan, developed specifically to counter summoning contracts.
Why would this man know it?
(END CHAPTER)
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