Heavenly Flying Immortal

Aside from the kung fu version of Buddha Palm, there was another powerful move that could unleash its full strength only when used to attack from above. It was called Heavenly Flying Immortal.

Strike from on high—Heavenly Flying Immortal!

It was the ultimate technique of Ye Gucheng, the first template Jiang Feng had acquired. It was also the move he had developed and mastered to the greatest extent so far.

For years, Jiang Feng had poured his heart and soul into perfecting the move, doing everything he could to make it more powerful and impressive. He had refined it until, with his current strength and martial arts mastery, there was nothing left to improve.

This "sword" far surpassed Ye Gucheng's original Heavenly Flying Immortal in sheer power.

After all, Ye Gucheng's martial arts mastery was inferior to Jiang Feng's, and he was nowhere near as strong.

This "sword" was so dazzling and magnificent that even if Cao Zhi returned to life and Li Bai rose from the dead, neither could have found words to describe it.

For any language, any vocabulary, any verse would seem pale and feeble before that peerless, swift, and brilliant sword light.

The sword light was aimed straight at Young Bro's chest.

Many people assumed Jiang Feng had a bloodthirsty nature because he was skilled at killing. That wasn't true. Jiang Feng had never thought of himself as bloodthirsty.

Quite the opposite: he loved life deeply.

He loved and respected his own life, and he loved and respected the lives of others.

He killed only when he had to, when he was able to, and when his opponent deserved to die and could be killed.

At that moment, Young Bro was the sort of person Jiang Feng couldn't afford to kill. Young Bro was so powerful that Jiang Feng didn't dare risk aiming for his forehead or throat.

Jiang Feng had painstakingly laid his plans and bided his time. After countless rounds of mental maneuvering, he had finally won an opportunity that would vanish in an instant. If he let it slip by underestimating Young Bro, all his efforts would come to nothing.

The chest and torso were clearly the safer targets, and offered better odds.

The dazzling sword light, formed from Extreme Cold True Qi and Chakra, descended toward a spot just left of Young Bro's chest. At the last possible moment, Young Bro struggled to shift his body slightly in midair, making the sword light strike the right side of his chest instead.

Jiang Feng remained expressionless. Everything had gone as he'd expected.

If the sword had been aimed at Young Bro's throat, he would have had a good chance of dodging it. But it had been aimed at a spot just left of his chest.

If Young Bro didn't dodge, the sword light would pierce the right side of his heart. If he dodged to the right, he might evade it completely—but the sword might also pierce the left side of his heart.

So he could only dodge left, letting the sword light strike the right side of his chest.

Even with victory decided, one side on the verge of triumph and the other on the verge of defeat, the two were still engaged in a battle of wits, each choosing the safer option.

The brilliant sword light pierced Young Bro's chest. The strange energy formed from Extreme Cold True Qi and Chakra rampaged through his body, freezing his limbs and locking up his internal organs.

Golden lotuses sprang from the earth beneath a shower of flowers. Congratulations, host, on defeating a peerless expert of the current age. As a reward, you have received the peerless expert [Nangong Wentian · Divine Weapon...

Jiang Feng had no mind to listen to the lowbrow system's notification.

"Man, what are you looking at?"

"Mamba out."

Like a shooting star trailing frost, Young Bro crashed back to the ground. He'd been grounded.

"Captain!"

"Commander!"

"Lord A!"

The encirclement had shown only one opening from start to finish. Now, with Young Bro's crash, another gap finally appeared, and all the Cloud Shinobi panicked.

No matter how they looked at it, they couldn't understand why Uchiha Jiang Feng had clearly seemed on the verge of defeat, with Young Bro all but assured of victory, only for the battle to suddenly turn around in an instant.

Twenty-Four Solar Terms Shocking Spirit Finger—Heavy Snow!

Jiang Feng jabbed out several fingers in rapid succession. Extreme Cold True Qi and Chakra became countless icy spikes, which shot toward the disorganized Kumogakure shinobi like a hail of bullets, tearing the newly opened gap wider.

There was always a way out.

Jiang Feng had finally carved a path to survival out of a seemingly hopeless situation.

Using the final direction change of his thirteen consecutive Moon-Treading Fragrance feints, Jiang Feng scooped Tsunade into his arms and raced out through the encirclement while the Kumogakure shinobi were in disarray. In an instant, he had put hundreds of meters between them.

Time to get out of here!

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Go after Tsunade and Jiang Feng!"

Young Bro sprang to his feet, suppressing the injuries to his internal organs and the Extreme Cold True Qi wreaking havoc inside him. He seemed to have fully recovered, and without changing expression, activated Lightning God Armor mode once more. He led the charge after the fleeing Jiang Feng.

Thank goodness Lord A was all right—at least, he hadn't been gravely injured.

The Cloud Shinobi paused in surprise, then followed Young Bro with relief. They spread out while keeping in contact with one another, expanding their search area as they pursued Jiang Feng.

But was Young Bro really all right?

After taking a devastating blow from the Heavenly Flying Immortal Jiang Feng had carefully planned and prepared, and with Extreme Cold True Qi having injured his internal organs, how could Young Bro possibly be fine?

He was only pretending to be unharmed to steady his men and keep pursuing Jiang Feng and Tsunade, while enduring his injuries.

Hundreds of meters...

Several kilometers...

Dozens of kilometers...

Young Bro pursued them relentlessly, watching helplessly as the distance between them continued to grow. At last, he could no longer sense Jiang Feng's presence, and stopped with a stony expression.

Only then did Young Bro finally understand what Jiang Feng was best at: running away.

Whether over short distances or long ones, Jiang Feng ranked among the top five in the Ninja World, perhaps even the top three. He was on par with Young Bro and the Third Raikage; even if he fell short, the difference was negligible.

After retracing the battle, Young Bro finally understood where he had lost—and what Jiang Feng had been planning all along.

Judging by the Body Technique and speed Jiang Feng had just displayed, he could have forced his way out of the encirclement from the start. But there would still have been a risk that Young Bro might catch him.

And if he had fled too soon, Kumogakure might have abandoned the pursuit altogether and sent even more men after Kurenai Yuhi and the others.

So he had stayed behind, using himself and Tsunade as bait to buy Kurenai Yuhi and the others time to escape.

At the same time, he had laid his plans during the fight, waiting for a chance to wound Young Bro badly. Only once there was no longer any chance of being caught had he finally dashed out of the encirclement.

Once he understood everything, Young Bro closed his eyes and sighed toward the sky. "After today, everyone will understand why Jiang Feng, despite being only a Chunin, earned my respect."

Was running away a failure?

No. Jiang Feng was the one who had succeeded—and he had won a decisive victory!

Though forced into a trap Kumogakure had plotted for a long time, and burdened with Tsunade, he had still escaped unscathed from an encirclement led by a Kage Level fighter, with twenty or thirty Jonin and nearly a hundred other fighters. He had rendered Kumogakure's plans worthless.

If that wasn't a decisive victory, what was?