Chapter 408: Ten-Tails Jinchūriki
"These are all my clones. Keep them safe for me—I'll be back soon."
The Fire Release clone, Fugaku, spoke to Koyoko, who was just about to attack from atop a paper bird. Without waiting for a response, the Fire, Earth, Lightning, and Wind clones simultaneously used ink-style sealing jutsu to preserve their bodies and souls from degradation.
Li Yao wasn't planning to permanently abandon these four clones. Once the Obito clone became the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki and fully grasped Truth-Seeking Balls, the clones would be dismissed automatically.
Li Yao had no interest in the Ten-Tails' chakra. Only the power he cultivated himself mattered.
Once the clones were sealed, Li Yao's consciousness within them dissipated.
Freed from the soul pressure brought on by the four clones, his will felt drastically lighter. The soul pressure from the Ten-Tails dropped from a mountain's weight to something more bearable.
Although the Ten-Tails' soul still applied pressure, it no longer overwhelmed the Obito clone's spirit.
"Uncle…?"
Koyoko flew over on her paper wings, gently holding the four black ink-sealed spheres. After sensing them carefully, she confirmed—it was indeed her uncle's ink-style jutsu.
"It really is Uncle!"
"Waaaah… I thought you didn't want me anymore… waaah…"
Realizing that the person who just appeared had been a clone of Li Yao, Koyoko burst into tears of joy.
Ever since Li Yao had entered the Rōran ruins years ago, she had been waiting here.
Even though the clone had told her back then that Li Yao would return in a few years, he had never shown any signs.
She had feared he would never come back—or that he would forget her when he did.
Now that fear could finally rest.
Gently cradling the four spheres, she carefully stored them away. Her uncle had clearly said they were his clones, and his voice sounded urgent—it meant things in the other world had reached a critical point. She had to protect the clones and not disappoint him.
Having stored the orbs safely, Koyoko flew a thousand meters into the air and sat quietly atop her giant paper bird, smiling like a fool.
"Hehe… Uncle said he'll be back soon. He probably meant a few days. Hehe…"
Reconnected with her uncle, she felt like someone returning home after years away. Her heart was filled with energy, and the world suddenly felt brighter.
In the Fourth Great Ninja War timeline—
With Li Yao's soul freed from pressure, his control over the Obito clone's body and soul increased. The Ten-Tails' chakra was once again sealed back into the clone.
The swelling body began to contract, merging back into the clone's form.
The Ten-Tails' chakra fused with the clone's own chakra.
Crack, crack… The Obito clone's mask shattered, revealing pale white skin. His black hair instantly turned white.
From both sides of his forehead, two blood-colored horns emerged, while a white chakra cloak formed around him, floating weightlessly.
Li Yao's Obito clone had officially become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki.
"So this is… Kekkei Mōra!"
After feeling the power within him for a moment, the clone focused, drawing out chakra that was a fusion of the Ten-Tails and his own.
One orb, two, three… twelve black Truth-Seeking Balls formed and hovered around him.
With their appearance, the clone could now fly without the need for the Super Heavy Rock Technique—completely freed from gravity, soaring through the sky at will.
"This power… intoxicating!"
Li Yao's Obito clone spread his arms. Right now, he felt like the entire earth beneath him was made of tofu—one stomp would cause it to collapse.
The immense chakra within him was like a miniature sun—its endless supply gave him the overwhelming sense of divine might.
"But in the end… it's not truly my own power."
He shook his head with a sigh, then flew up into the sky—ten thousand meters high—and silently began to sense the nature of the Truth-Seeking Balls.
Li Yao's main body emerged from the interspatial layer and stood beside the Obito clone, reaching out to touch a Truth-Seeking Ball, trying to analyze its chakra properties.
Kekkei Mōra was far more powerful and complex than he had imagined.
Originally, Li Yao thought that once his Obito clone became the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki and gained control over the Truth-Seeking Balls, he would immediately be able to produce his own Kekkei Mōra chakra.
But that was overly optimistic.
The clone's Truth-Seeking Balls hadn't formed from his own chakra—they were a fusion of the Ten-Tails' and the clone's chakra. Most importantly, it was primarily Ten-Tails chakra.
The clone had the right to control the Truth-Seeking Balls—but not to create them. That power still belonged to the Ten-Tails.
If he lost the Ten-Tails' chakra—just like in the original story—the clone wouldn't be able to form new Truth-Seeking Balls.
The same situation applied now.
Because they weren't created by the clone himself.
So Li Yao couldn't immediately replicate the chakra's full property set. He needed to personally sense and understand all the variations within Truth-Seeking Ball chakra before he could replicate and form his own.
"At least… it won't take long."
This was Li Yao's only relief. Thanks to his Obito clone becoming a jinchūriki, the nature of the chakra was much clearer to him.
And since all his base chakra properties had already reached Kekkei Tōta level, that would help shorten the time needed to recreate the Truth-Seeking Ball chakra.
In short, by Li Yao's estimate, it would take no more than a single day for him to fully replicate and form his own set of Truth-Seeking Balls—and become a true Sage-level powerhouse.
However… would the Sage of Six Paths allow that to happen?
Li Yao didn't focus entirely on analyzing the chakra. He kept half of his attention scanning the surroundings.
Since the Sage of Six Paths had intervened to bring Naruto's soul into the Pure Land, he clearly wasn't doing it just to save his son's reincarnation.
The fact that he could remove Naruto's soul right under Li Yao's nose meant the Sage had some level of surveillance over the ninja world. He was aware of its major events.
Li Yao suspected the Sage already knew many of the things that had happened since his arrival in this world.
And even if he didn't know everything, the moment the Obito clone became the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, the Sage would surely have taken notice.
If events were following the original plot—
With the Ten-Tails reborn, the Sage should now be empowering Naruto and Sasuke to fight back and seal the Obito clone to stop the world from being destroyed.
But the Obito clone wasn't Obito.
Li Yao had no interest in destroying the world.
After mastering Kekkei Mōra, he actually considered the Ten-Tails a burden—and had no plans to retain it.
In the end, the Ten-Tails would still be separated into nine individual tailed beasts.
Let the world go on however it liked.
Konoha was the only one devastated. The other villages remained unaffected.
But that was just Li Yao's thought. The Sage of Six Paths didn't know that.
(END CHAPTER)
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