Chapter 116: Ink Mimicry
"Time to leave. That battle just now made too much noise."
Li Yao created a shadow clone, summoned his Black Iron Giant Eagle, and carried the unconscious Sarutobi couple into its belly. The eagle flapped its wings and soared into the sky, heading toward Viper Island.
Inside the eagle's belly, Li Yao's black hair had returned, and his condition had stabilized as the Gate of Death was now sealed.
Only his face still looked a bit too mature, but at least he no longer had to worry about dropping dead at any moment.
The chakra that Mito Uzumaki had sealed inside the scroll had been enormous.
After sealing the Gate of Death, Li Yao still had enough chakra left to convert into Wood Release chakra, which nourished his cells and helped restore lost life force.
Li Yao opened several small hatches in the eagle's belly to let in light.
He began rifling through the Sarutobi couple's belongings, hoping to find written intel.
But no—intelligence in the shinobi world wasn't transmitted that simply.
The only item that caught his eye was a blank scroll and a peculiar brush carried by the female ninja.
What made the brush unusual was that its bristles were dry—and the woman wasn't carrying an ink bottle.
So how did she draw the Ink Bird?
Li Yao infused the brush with the copied Super Beast Imitating Drawing chakra. When the chakra passed through the seals engraved on the brush, black ink formed on the tip.
"So that's how the ink's generated?"
Intrigued, Li Yao examined the brush closely. The handle was etched with sealing formulae that the chakra flowed through.
"Could it work like the hand seal system—some kind of sealing conversion array?"
He tested it again, sensing how the chakra converted into ink as it passed through the etched formulae.
"I see now."
Just as Water Release chakra could become water, Super Beast Imitation chakra also needed to be transformed—via the formulas on the brush—into ink.
Now understanding the conversion process, Li Yao repeated it several times. Thanks to his perfect chakra control, he skipped the brush entirely and created a pool of ink in his palm.
Now that he had the ink, it was time to draw a bird.
He unrolled a blank scroll and, without using the brush, used chakra to shape the ink into a flat eagle silhouette in midair. Then he stamped the shape onto the scroll, like a copier, creating a lifelike image.
"Not bad," Li Yao nodded with a satisfied smile. His illustration skills had improved from when he used Black Iron Chains to craft eagle shapes.
With this, the Super Beast Imitating Drawing jutsu was basically mastered.
From now on, the eagle's size and speed would depend entirely on how much chakra he infused into the scroll's drawing.
He injected a small amount of chakra into the eagle illustration—
And just like that, the ink bird sprang to life, transitioning from 2D to 3D and flying off the scroll.
A rooster-sized eagle hovered in front of him, gently flapping its wings.
"Go. Stay here and keep watch."
Li Yao opened a hatch, and the ink eagle flew out, hovering in place and watching the rear.
Inside the eagle, Li Yao closed his eyes, and the ink eagle's vision instantly appeared in his mind.
"No wonder that Konoha woman could keep an eye on me from beyond my sensing range."
"These things can see way too far!"
The ink eagle had vision on par with—or superior to—natural eagles. It could spot individual eyebrows on a face eight to ten kilometers away.
"Very good. It's mine now."
Having acquired another useful jutsu, Li Yao was quietly delighted.
The ink eagle would keep watch, and if any ninja approached, it would alert him.
Since Li Yao's awareness was fused with the eagle, he could instantly share its vision regardless of distance.
"I wonder if that Konoha woman could do that too…"
He dismissed the thought with a shake of his head.
He continued drawing eagles on the scroll and infusing them with chakra.
After several tries, Li Yao realized why the process needed to be done on a blank scroll.
It was to stabilize the shape and provide a reference frame to infuse natural eagle properties.
In truth, those properties were mostly guided by the caster's intent—but intent was abstract.
The physical drawing anchored the user's will, allowing for more stable attribute infusion.
In short, it was a limitation of chakra control—insufficient precision in shaping the ink form and infusing intent at the exact moment chakra was applied.
Thus, the brush and scroll acted as a stabilization system—temporarily holding the image so it could be properly imbued with properties.
For most shinobi, this was extremely difficult. But for Li Yao, who had perfect chakra control, it was easy.
With a thought, he formed an ink eagle midair and directly injected chakra into it.
Pop—
The flat image swelled and pulsed into a fully-formed 3D eagle.
And just like that, Li Yao had completed his own version of Super Beast Imitating Drawing.
This was the terrifying talent that came with total chakra mastery—learning and improving jutsu with ease.
"Let's try something that's not an animal."
Li Yao suddenly got an idea. He shaped the ink into a spear, then focused his thoughts:
This is a hard, metallic spear.
He infused that intent into the ink along with the chakra.
The ink didn't visibly change—because it already resembled a spear.
But he wanted to see if the process could infuse it with real metallic properties.
He reached out and grabbed the floating spear—
A weighty sensation filled his hand. He raised his brows.
It felt heavy.
He took a kunai and tapped the spear.
Clang—
A crisp metallic ring echoed. Li Yao flipped the spear in his hand and grinned.
Just as he suspected.
The reason few used Super Beast Imitating Drawing was that its core mechanism was hard to master: you had to imbue the drawing with your will—giving it self-awareness like a real creature.
That step was difficult. Without talent, you could never learn it.
Most shinobi who used the technique had a few preset forms they trained with over time.
You couldn't just draw anything and bring it to life.
The problem was always in the intent infusion.
If the will didn't match the drawing, the ink creation had no spirit—it was just a lump of ink.
In the original series, even Sai couldn't draw a sealing tiger because his will didn't match the image.
But what was hard for others was simple for Li Yao.
His consciousness was already fused with his chakra.
He could inject his thoughts directly into the ink via chakra.
So when he wanted to create a spear—
The sensations of weight, sharpness, and hardness were clearly transmitted.
The ink spear truly became a metal spear.
Only someone like Li Yao, whose chakra was fused with his will, could do this with Super Beast Imitating Drawing.
"In that case... if the ink spear works, then I can create ink shuriken, kunai, shields—anything."
This revelation filled Li Yao with excitement.
He had greatly expanded the use case of this jutsu.
"This isn't just Super Beast Imitating Drawing anymore. This is Ink Mimicry—capable of creating not only animals but also ink-based weapons and tools."
With a small grin, Li Yao gave his upgraded jutsu a new name:
Ink Mimicry Technique.
(END CHAPTER)
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