Young Bro

As the boss neared Tsunade, he could no longer keep up the act in the face of Jiang Feng's fierce attack. He raised a fist and slammed it into the bolt of lightning streaking toward him.

The moment his fist landed, the lightning burst apart. His Transformation Jutsu dissolved in a puff of smoke with a "poof," revealing a broad-shouldered, muscular man with dark skin.

A, Son of the Third Raikage and the Future Fourth Raikage.

Lao Da.

Young Bro!

Jiang Feng flicked his fingers in succession: Beginning of Spring, Rain Water, Awakening of Insects, Grain Rain...

His finger strikes brimmed with vitality and the lushness of spring. Like the first drizzle of Beginning of Spring, they fell in a steady, unending shower, threaded through with thunder that shook the heavens and earth.

As the strikes shot through the air, they brought with them all manner of illusions and sounds—some sweet and pleasant, others earthshaking—shifting unpredictably and impossible to pin down.

Young Bro simply kept throwing punch after punch. Lightning flashed around his iron fists as they swung. He met endless changes with an unchanging response, broke a thousand techniques with sheer force, and battered every incoming finger strike to pieces.

The two fought at such incredible speed that Kurenai Yuhi and the others could only watch in a daze, unable to intervene. By the time they came to their senses, the pair had already exchanged dozens of blows.

Unable to break through after a prolonged assault, Jiang Feng had no choice but to stop. He frowned and surveyed his surroundings.

At some point, the noisy, bustling street had been cleared out. Everyone loved watching a spectacle, but only if they were still alive to watch it. People in the Ninja World just weren't as bloodthirsty as the magnetic-field spectators.

The crowds of tourists had scattered like startled birds and beasts. In their place stood nearly a hundred Kumogakure shinobi, their disguises cast off, closing in from all sides and surrounding Jiang Feng and the others.

Young Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi's minds were still spinning. They still couldn't figure out why a simple trip to bring Tsunade back to the village had led them to run into assassins from the Land of Rain and shinobi from Kumogakure in succession.

Their Jonin leader, Kurenai Yuhi, had gone pale with fright. Of the nearly one hundred Kumogakure shinobi, she could identify more than ten Jonin alone. There were probably even more she didn't recognize.

And that wasn't even counting their leader: the Son of the Third Raikage, the current "A" of Kumogakure, who had just fought Minato Namikaze at the border.

A formidable master on the level of a Village Leader, leading twenty or thirty Jonin and dozens of other experts, had appeared in Tanzaku Town. He couldn't possibly have come just for a team-building outing, good food, and romance.

The only person who could have drawn them all here was Tsunade.

Surrounded on all sides.

Caught in a deadly ambush.

Jiang Feng looked up at the sky and sighed. "Your respect for Tsunade is something I, a Konoha shinobi, could never hope to match."

Young Bro had brought along a team with twenty or thirty Jonin. The rest were also among the best of the Chunin. This force had come just to kill Tsunade—it far surpassed the one Danzo had sent to assassinate Hiruzen Sarutobi in the original story.

"She's worth it." Young Bro made no secret of how highly he valued Tsunade.

In terms of strength, Tsunade was one of the famed Sannin, renowned throughout the Ninja World. In terms of skill, she was the finest medical ninja in the world. And in terms of influence, the medical-ninja system she had created was being copied throughout the Ninja World.

Tsunade had played a major role in Konoha's ability to stand against several great ninja villages on its own. The medical-ninja system she had established had greatly improved the village's ability to recover and keep fighting.

A battle was about to begin, and Tsunade—the team's healer—had been left on her own. There was no reason not to seize the opportunity.

After a pause, Young Bro looked at Jiang Feng and praised him. "It's been two years, and the speed at which your strength has improved is truly beyond my imagination."

Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi both turned to look at Jiang Feng. Even Tsunade glanced over. Young Bro's words made it clear that he and Jiang Feng went way back.

How did this kid manage to get on friendly terms with everyone?

Kurenai Yuhi kept her expression blank, merely staying alert as she scanned the hundred or so Kumogakure shinobi around them. Even if someone told her that Jiang Feng was on friendly terms with Uchiha Madara and the Sage of Six Paths, she wouldn't be surprised anymore.

"We've shared a meal or two. I'm closer to his younger bro, Killer B..."

Jiang Feng explained how they knew each other. A few years ago, while he was carrying out a mission alone near the border, he had met Killer B. They had hit it off immediately, and Killer B had later introduced him to Young Bro. The three of them had shared a few meals.

Tsunade, one of the famed Sannin, seemed to have developed Hemophobia and become a complete invalid, nothing but a burden to the other side. Uchiha Jiang Feng had improved rapidly, but Young Bro was confident he could handle him. As for Kurenai Yuhi and the two young men, they were no threat at all.

With an overwhelming advantage, Young Bro didn't rush to claim victory. Instead, he tried to maximize his gains.

"Do you remember the offer I made you two years ago, at the border of the Land of Fire?"

"I remember it all too well. You made such a generous offer that I doubt anyone could forget it."

"You'd receive a basic income of one hundred million yen a year for doing nothing. If you got a woman pregnant and had a child, you'd receive even more. And whichever girl you set your sights on—however many girls you wanted—the Raikage would personally help arrange a match..."

Wealth, power, and women—Young Bro repeated the promise he had made Jiang Feng back then.

Tsunade and the others hadn't expected Jiang Feng and Young Bro to have this kind of history between them.

At last, Young Bro finished restating his offer. "What I promised you back then still stands. Come to Kumogakure, and it'll all be yours."

"Jiang Feng..."

Kurenai Yuhi and the others looked at Jiang Feng anxiously. Tsunade, too, gave a faint sigh. Young Bro's offer was so tempting that even she would have been moved.

From the sound of it, Kumogakure wanted Jiang Feng to be a stud. But he'd be a happy stud, living in luxury.

Jiang Feng shook his head. "You've said the same thing you said two years ago. So I'll give you the same answer I gave you back then."

"You're turning me down?" Young Bro sounded a little surprised.

"I am."

"Why?"

"You offered me such generous terms because you want my Uchiha bloodline. But you must also admire my character to some extent."

"That's right."

Young Bro nodded. "From the moment I first met you, I knew you and Kumogakure would get along. And I was right. It's not just me—everyone in the village admires your character."

Loyal and generous, always ready to help a friend, with the spirit of a wandering knight... He was practically a Kumogakure shinobi born and bred. That was the kind of hero they admired!

Jiang Feng sighed. "But if I accepted your offer, I doubt you'd admire me anymore. And once you stopped admiring me, how much of your promise would you actually keep?"

Why did Young Bro admire him?

Because he was a good person.

So here was the question: if Konoha had done nothing to wrong Jiang Feng, and he still defected for Kumogakure's generous offer, could he really still be considered a good person?

Even if Young Bro kept his promise, he probably wouldn't look at Jiang Feng the same way. He might even consider him a petty man who betrayed his principles for profit—a hypocrite.

Then Jiang Feng, having defected to Kumogakure, would be unwelcome on both sides. He'd receive the same treatment as the future Seventh Hokage: scorn and contempt.