Chapter 440: September — Two Tsunades Gathered
September.
The deserts of the Land of Wind were still scorching, golden sand swirling endlessly. Above the ruins of Loran's phantom remains, Yuzu held four ink-sealed chakra spheres in her hands, anxiously waiting.
"Didn't he say he'd be back soon?"
"It's already been a month!"
"Did something happen to him…? No no, Uncle's so strong, there's no way anything could've happened."
"But… it's been a whole month!"
Thinking about the words Li Yao's clone had said a month ago before leaving, Yuzu couldn't calm her heart. Ominous images kept surfacing in her mind, leaving her restless and uneasy.
But faced with Li Yao's cross-world departure, she had no choice but to wait.
Whoosh!
Three figures suddenly appeared beside Yuzu . Her first reaction wasn't panic, but to leap forward directly.
The moment Li Yao reappeared, Yuzu felt his familiar chakra. This time, she wouldn't let Uncle leave her again.
"Eh… who are you…?"
Little Yuzu's open arms froze in place just before reaching Li Yao. Seeing the two identical women beside him, clinging tightly to his sides, tears welled up in her eyes, and a deep sense of grievance swelled in her chest—like a devoted wife realizing her husband had returned with two other women.
"It's been a while!"
"Yuzu !"
Li Yao took the initiative and embraced the stunned Yuzu . Inhaling her familiar scent and feeling the warmth of her tears against his chest, he suddenly felt like he'd come home. A rare complexity welled up in his heart.
Unknowingly, Yuzu —who had been wholeheartedly devoted to him—had begun to occupy a different place in Li Yao's heart.
She was no longer just an NPC from a manga, but a living, breathing person.
A pity he hadn't been able to save her mother all those years ago.
But now, at least Yuzu could live freely as she pleased.
Li Yao's strength was now enough to freely dictate the fate of the entire shinobi world.
"Uncle… sob sob!"
"I thought you didn't want me anymore!"
Once again feeling the warmth of Li Yao's embrace, Yuzu couldn't hold back any longer. She burst into tears, hugging him tightly, afraid he would vanish again.
"So… he has someone he loves too."
The Edo Tensei Tsunade looked at the tender reunion with a flash of coldness in her eyes. If she could, she would've killed this girl named Yuzu , just to let Li Yao feel the pain of loss.
But it was useless. Her reanimated body had already been placed under a forbidden jutsu by Li Yao—she couldn't harm him or anyone close to him.
"What am I even thinking at this point?"
"I'm just Li Yao's servant."
The reanimated Tsunade forced herself to suppress the thought, continuing her self-hypnosis.
"Uncle… I…"
After a while in his arms, Little Yuzu's face turned bright red. Her legs began to twitch restlessly, as a damp scent spread faintly through the air.
After several years apart, the longing and repression in Little Yuzu's heart had reached their limit. Her body cried out for release.
"Wait, let me deal with something first."
Li Yao gently released Yuzu and smiled, then raised his hand toward the ground.
Boom!
The desert below suddenly erupted like a volcano, sending sand soaring skyward.
"Ah!"
A miserable scream came from the rising sand. Looking closely, it was a creature with one half of its body white and the other black.
Naturally, this was Black Zetsu inhabiting the body of a White Zetsu.
With a thought, Li Yao summoned a Wind Release binding technique that tightly restrained Black Zetsu and dragged him into the air.
"This is the one who attacked Konoha, Master!"
The Sannin Tsunade, whose will had been altered by Kotoamatsukami, instantly recognized the figure—one of the three who had attacked Konoha using Wood Style three days prior.
"What is that thing?" Yuzu asked curiously, staring at Black Zetsu's bizarre body.
"A remnant of a dead will and an ancient monster," Li Yao said.
There was no need to explain much about Black Zetsu. White Zetsus weren't created from nothing—each one was made from a deceased individual via the God Tree and retained independent thought. But due to the influence of the God Tree, their mental logic was unified.
However, this one was different—because it was partially possessed by a clone of Black Zetsu.
"No way… you can't possibly have found me!"
Struggling in vain, Black Zetsu stared at Li Yao in disbelief. He had been hiding dozens of meters underground, fused with the earth. Not even someone like Uzumaki Mito, who could sense malicious intent, would've been able to detect him from such depth.
Let alone someone floating hundreds of meters above.
By all logic, Li Yao shouldn't have been able to sense him.
And yet, here he was—dragged out from beneath the earth. There was no denying it.
The man before him had sensed him from that deep underground.
"Heh… I already sensed you long ago. Especially now."
Li Yao chuckled. Back when he developed the Water Style: Permeation Technique, he had already infiltrated the ground in a liquid state and sensed Black Zetsu's presence. He had even stealthily observed Black and White Zetsu and Madara from close range—and none of them noticed him.
Now that Li Yao's chakra, body, and soul had all reached Six Paths level, sensing Black Zetsu—a being born of Yin-Yang Release—was a simple task.
"Y-Your chakra…"
"How is this possible???"
"No… it can't be…"
"No Rinnegan, no Ten Tails chakra… how can you possibly possess Six Paths chakra?!"
Black Zetsu roared. He suddenly recognized the chakra fluctuations coming from Li Yao. That Six Paths-level chakra—he knew it well.
But… how?
His mother had only barely achieved Six Paths power after consuming the not-yet-matured God Tree fruit and cultivating for centuries.
Even the Sage of Six Paths had only attained Six Paths-level chakra after becoming the Ten Tails jinchūriki.
Li Yao… an outsider… okay, Black Zetsu admitted that Li Yao's talent was absurd.
But even with ridiculous talent, without the Rinnegan, without the bloodline of Indra or Asura, without the Ten Tails' chakra—how had Li Yao mastered Six Paths chakra?
Black Zetsu was dumbfounded. His eyeballs almost fell out.
In the inherited memories from his mother—
Even the Ōtsutsuki clan's direct descendants needed to consume mature God Tree chakra fruits to attain Six Paths-level power.
In all her memories, not a single Ōtsutsuki had achieved that level through their own training alone.
Yet… what the entire Ōtsutsuki clan had failed to do, this ordinary human with no kekkei genkai bloodline had accomplished.
It didn't make sense.
Black Zetsu simply could not understand it.
But no one cared whether he understood.
And Li Yao had no intention of explaining anything to him.
"Don't come within 50 kilometers of me again. Otherwise, forget about reviving Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
Li Yao smiled.
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Kira1997