Three-Way Game

Long Yunzhi snapped his neck at a 90-degree angle, the short blade grazing his forehead and severing a few strands of hair.

He abruptly detonated the chakra within his body, trading it for a momentary burst of speed.

Breaking free from the constraints of the Water Dragon Technique, he slammed his right foot into Mo Jingxian's chest.

This kick missed as well.

Though the person was clearly right there, it felt as if he had kicked into thin air.

Mo Jingxian dodged the attack, leaned back, and delivered an upward kick to his opponent's chin.

Long Yunzhi was briefly suspended in mid-air.

Mo Jingxian seized the opportunity to flash behind his opponent, mimicking the Gentle Fist to strike rapidly at the major acupoints on his back.

In the silent space, a continuous series of "thud-thud" sounds rang out.

Mo Jingxian condensed needle-like chakra at his fingertips, driving it into the enemy's body with each strike.

Suddenly!

The scales on Long Yunzhi's back shot out like arrows.

The attack was launched without warning, and given the proximity, Mo Jingxian had no time to react.

He instinctively shielded his head with his arms while retreating at high speed.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft."

The feathers on his arms performed admirably, blocking the majority of the attack.

However, a small number of scales still broke through the defense, leaving two holes in his shoulder and lower abdomen.

As blood flowed from the wounds, Mo Jingxian channeled water elements toward the injuries, stopping them from worsening.

Another round of confrontation, and neither side had gained the upper hand.

At this moment, Long Yunzhi's back was covered in dense, tiny wounds—the marks left by the scales falling off.

The foreign chakra injected into his body made it impossible for him to maintain his transformed state any longer.

The scales on his body slowly retracted, revealing his original form.

"It seems I underestimated you. I didn't expect..."

Long Yunzhi finally regarded Mo Jingxian as an equal opponent; the hint of disdain in his tone had vanished.

But before Long Yunzhi could finish his sentence, he swallowed the rest of his words, his face visibly twisting.

Mo Jingxian had no interest in listening to his prattle; he had just retreated to the vicinity of the jade pendant.

He controlled the Water Dragon to retrieve the pendant, and without even checking it, he tucked it into his robes right in front of his opponent.

He did it as naturally as if he were grabbing a bag of instant noodles on his way home.

Long Yunzhi's chest heaved violently, and only after several breaths did he manage to suppress his rage.

Both sides entered a cooling-off period, seizing the time to recover and prepare for the life-and-death struggle to come.

Less than two minutes later, Long Yunzhi suddenly laughed.

"Your technique uses the refraction of water to mislead attacks, am I right?"

Sigh—I didn't expect to be seen through so quickly.

Mo Jingxian had indeed condensed a layer of water elements around his body; this was an application technique of the Water Style chakra nature transformation.

That Long Yunzhi could discover this during such a brief exchange was somewhat unexpected.

It seemed he had still underestimated this man's talent.

Of course, Mo Jingxian wasn't foolish enough to admit it immediately; he countered with his own verbal jab.

"You aren't used to those feet, are you? Don't force yourself to use things that aren't your own!"

At his mockery, Long Yunzhi instinctively frowned, though he quickly masked it.

Mo Jingxian caught the fleeting, subtle change in the other's expression; it seemed his guess was correct.

Both sides stopped talking, focusing on recovering as quickly as possible.

A look was all it took to confirm they were both seasoned schemers, so they stopped wasting their breath.

The final battle arrived even faster than expected.

Long Yunzhi launched a sneak attack from behind with a mouthful of... no, it was the "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."

The scorching, high-temperature fireball smashed toward him, but Mo Jingxian seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, dodging away before the technique even arrived.

Two identical Long Yunzhis closed in on him from both sides.

It was Long Yunzhi using the Shadow Clone to launch a sneak attack, banking on Mo Jingxian's preconceived notion that he couldn't use ninjutsu.

The result was less than ideal.

Mo Jingxian had long been guarding against his sneak attacks, dodging while analyzing the opponent's intelligence.

The enemy could not use ninjutsu after transforming, but once he reverted to human form, his physical attributes dropped significantly.

Or perhaps, this was Long Yunzhi's true strength, his mode shifting to the combat habits of a conventional ninja.

The battle returned to the rhythm Mo Jingxian preferred.

When the two Long Yunzhis were still some distance away, their speed suddenly slowed.

"Water Garment Binding Technique!"

The ninjutsu he had secretly laid out in advance consisted of a layer of water so thin it was nearly impossible to detect.

Once the enemies were caught, the water garment recoiled, wrapping the two Long Yunzhis tightly.

Immediately following, two shuriken were fired, and the enemies vanished into white smoke.

A corpse on the ground climbed up, the Transformation Technique dispelled to reveal Long Yunzhi.

With the sneak attack broken and concealment rendered meaningless, what followed would be a fight to the death for both men.

Body Flicker Technique activated simultaneously.

Words had lost their purpose; only one of the two could survive.

As both sides closed in rapidly, Mo Jingxian's spirit and energy reached their peak.

Very abruptly, a blurred figure appeared between them.

Coincidentally, his timing was precise, inserting himself into the middle of the battle at the exact moment before both sides struck.

Without hesitation—and with no need for it—both men chose to attack him almost simultaneously.

Mo Jingxian's short blade slashed horizontally, while Long Yunzhi's flaming palm-blade thrust directly at the heart.

Regardless of who this person was or where he came from, he would be dead in the next instant.

Tilting his head and shifting his body, the newcomer pulled his palms into afterimages, imprinting them onto both men's chests in an instant.

Having just appeared, his consciousness had not yet fully returned, but his body had acted a step ahead.

With this single strike, the newcomer displayed formidable strength.

A double-palm strike not only sent both men flying but also branded the "Fire Style: Heavenly Prison" onto their chests.

Mo Jingxian flipped through the air, landing on one knee and sliding backward for a distance before looking up at the person who had suddenly appeared.

Mui!

His armor was tattered, a testament to the cruelty of the battle he had endured.

The previous sneak attack had not been without effect.

At this moment, Mui's condition was poor; a gash had opened on his left chest, the exposed flesh charred black.

He was missing an ear on his right side—that had been his masterpiece.

Mui hunched his body, as if protecting something.

A small boy crawled out from beneath him, anxiously helping his father check his injuries.

"Father!"

The son of the Hozuki Castle warden, Wugou.

Well, this was perfect; everyone who needed to be here had finally arrived.

Mo Jingxian took advantage of the lull to quickly check his own status.

His chakra was sealed, the logic of the formula identical to the "Fire Style: Heavenly Prison" he had dismantled and analyzed in the room.

He raised his right hand, gathering clusters of water elements at his five fingertips.

Fortunately, the seal was only effective against chakra.

The water element runes arranged themselves along a special path, appearing externally like five burning flames.

Mo Jingxian flipped his wrist, pressing his fingers—now tipped with the burning water elements—against the chest where he had just been struck.

As the water-element flames touched the Fire Style: Heavenly Prison formula, blue streams of flame followed the path of the seal inward.

Within a few breaths.

Mo Jingxian felt as if he were pulling a heavy weight with his five fingers, forcibly extracting the Fire Style: Heavenly Prison sealing formula from within his body.

The scene was bizarre, like pulling a radish from the earth.

"Roar!"

With a howl that sounded inhuman, Long Yunzhi's body visibly thinned.

His flesh withered before their eyes, as if a Taotie monster were hidden within his body.

In a matter of seconds.

Long Yunzhi's upper body was once again covered in scales, the sealing rune on his chest gradually fading as he, too, broke free from the "Fire Style: Heavenly Prison" seal.

The duel between two had turned into a three-way melee, and the situation was becoming increasingly complex.

"Fire Release: Fire Prison Technique!"

Blazing flames surged from the ground; in this confined space, the lethality of this technique was fully unleashed.

Whether it was ninjutsu or taijutsu, Mui displayed the dominance of an elite Jonin.

Mo Jingxian dodged repeatedly, looking somewhat disheveled for a moment; with less than twenty percent of his chakra remaining, he dared not cast ninjutsu recklessly.

Long Yunzhi approached Mui while braving the intense flames, the scales on his body insulating him from most of the high-temperature damage.

Unfortunately, it lasted less than a single round.

Long Yunzhi's retreating figure flew back faster than he had charged, suffering secondary damage upon hitting the ground.

The water elements surrounding Mo Jingxian were being consumed rapidly and were on the verge of shattering.

Ignoring everything else, he swiftly formed hand seals.

"Water Style: Fire-State Seal," a ninjutsu he had developed himself that had yet to be integrated into his comprehension of water elements, requiring hand seals to cast.

At the same time, he had already made a decision in his heart.

If this still could not secure victory, he would have no choice but to trigger the hidden contingency he had prepared in advance.

Just as Long Yunzhi was sent flying, his six seals were completed.

He pressed his palms to the ground, and black runes spread out like flowing water, causing the flames to retreat wherever they touched.

The sealing formula activated successfully, and six pillars of water rose from the ground, encircling Mui in the center.

It worked.

This technique drained all of Mo Jingxian's chakra, and he felt his body hollowed out and severely weakened.

Fortunately, Mui had been caught.

"A truly impressive technique."

Although his chakra was sealed, Mui's demeanor caused Mo Jingxian's heart to sink to the bottom.

He did not panic in the slightest, instead tearing off his tattered armor.

Beneath his chiseled, muscular physique lay an explosive power as surging as magma.

The wound on his chest was healing, and a pair of black wings unfurled from his back.

The moment he saw the wings, Mo Jingxian instinctively narrowed his eyes.

Those were the wings of a Satori.

He had to admit that Long Yunzhi's theory of the "uniqueness" of the Satori had misled him.

"Mui, you had better stand right there and don't move."

Long Yunzhi held Wugou in his arms, his gaze also fixed upon those wings.

It turned out that under the cover of Mo Jingxian's sealing technique, he had secretly captured Mui's son.

The three parties were wary of one another, and the scene fell into an eerie silence.

Long Yunzhi's eyes flashed with deep confusion as he asked urgently:

"How could you undergo 'Satori' transformation? It's impossible..."

"The Box of Ultimate Bliss has always been in our family's hands; what makes you think you understand it better than I do?"

Long Yunzhi's scale-covered face betrayed no expression, but his slightly trembling hands indicated that his emotions were on the verge of spiraling out of control.

Mui did not provoke him further, but he also ceased his attacks.

In the space, only the sound of Long Yunzhi's hysterical voice remained.

"You're lying to me! No... the Satori is the one and only King of the World; don't you dare try to deceive me!"

Long Yunzhi's behavior became increasingly frantic, and the arm he used to restrain Wugou tightened gradually.

The child's struggles were feeble, and Mui tried to rush over to rescue him several times, only to be stopped by the other's threatening glare.

Long Yunzhi quieted down, as if he had regained his reason, and cast a hateful glance at Mo Jingxian.

Then, he commanded Mui in a tone of authority:

"Go and kill this ninja from the other village."