22: Chapter 22 [Masanori Fukushima]

However, using the Forbidden Move on the wrong spirit, and doing so while essentially being played for a fool, was something the arrogant Saku Kenichi could not accept.

"I never expected that one day, I, Saku Kenichi, would be played for a fool by a Dragon Country [Strategist]! A country like the Dragon Country, which has always relied on the breath of other nations to survive—I, representing Sakura Country, have actually fallen into the trap of a [Strategist] from such a country. I cannot afford to lose face like this, and Sakura Country certainly cannot afford to lose face even more!"

On the Starlight Chessboard, Saku Kenichi slowly condensed a chess piece at his fingertip. Sakura Country's Construction Power was abundant; not only could he condense one spirit, but he could even condense ten or twenty.

"It is a pity that the spirit limit stipulated by the rules restricts the number of spirits that can appear. Otherwise, with the Construction Power Sakura Country currently possesses, I could drown you just by sheer volume alone!"

There was a limit to the number of spirits, and furthermore, Saku Kenichi only had one item capable of projecting a spirit into the Dragon Country's region. Therefore, after Saku Kenichi placed his piece, only one spirit appeared in the 'scene' where [Zhao Yun] was located!

"It is Sakura Country's spirit, [Fukushima Masanori]!"

One square on the chessboard was one region, one scene. Within the region controlled by the Dragon Country, in the chess square in front of Chen Aoyun, a piece was suddenly placed by the [Strategist] of Sakura Country. The placed spirit was none other than—[Fukushima Masanori]!

[Fukushima Masanori] appeared at the edge of the scene. In the distance was the clone of Chen Aoyun, who was being pursued by a sea of demons and a High-level Demon, and above the clone was the Dharma Image of [Zhao Yun]!

"Found you!" Saku Kenichi sneered.

Forcibly descending into the Dragon Country's region without a [Roleplayer] from Sakura Country, Saku Kenichi was also using a clone to carry [Fukushima Masanori].

Chen Aoyun's clone and his original body were both stunned for a moment. The original body saw Saku Kenichi's move, while the clone felt the arrival of the spirit in the distance!

"Sakura Country is actually causing trouble for the Dragon Country in this way; this is going to be entertaining!"

Seeing the [Strategist] of Sakura Country cross the 'Tianyuan', as if charging across the 'Chu River and Han Border', and place a piece in the Dragon Country's chessboard region, everyone knew that a good show was about to begin!

However, the audience also had doubts: "Although the Sakura Country [Strategist] used an item to place the spirit in this region, the spirit appeared at the edge of the 'scene' after being placed. Isn't the distance too far? At this distance, by the time Sakura Country's [Fukushima Masanori] kills his way over, the Dragon Country person will have already slipped behind the wonder or been killed by the High-level Demon."

"That's right, with such a distance, Sakura Country can only watch the show from afar."

"You guys are really stupid! What 'watching from afar'! If the Dragon Country person can adapt a unique skill for a [Spirit], why can't the Sakura Country people? I remember that this [Fukushima Masanori] has a pursuit skill similar to [Seven In, Seven Out]! Although it's not as flexible as [Seven In, Seven Out], [Fukushima Masanori]'s unique skill has its own specific trait, which is that the skill's effective range is exaggerated!"

Chen Aoyun's clone sensed the piece placement from Sakura Country and sensed the location of Saku Kenichi; his eyes held deep confusion and a trace of unease. "Here to make trouble?"

"The Sakura people have the tree of eternity in their hands, so the top ten is secure. Therefore, the Sakura Country [Strategist] doesn't need to worry about being killed in battle, as they can be resurrected after death. My situation is different; I need to bring it back to the tree of morning light to squeeze into the top ten. If I can't bring it back, at best, it's a mid-tier ranking, and mid-tier rankings won't resurrect people who died after the Game of National Destiny ends. Therefore, as long as I am held up by the Sakura people, even if my clone and the Sakura Country [Strategist] are both killed by the High-level Demon, in the end, the only person who will truly die is me! As expected, I am not the only one who knows how to reasonably utilize the rules!"

He could not be held up. Chen Aoyun saw through the scheme of the Sakura Country [Strategist], but Chen Aoyun also had the same question as the audience in front of the live broadcast: with such a long distance, how could that Sakura Country [Strategist] Saku Kenichi slow down his retreat?

Just as Chen Aoyun's clone was puzzled, Chen Aoyun on the Starlight Chessboard narrowed his eyes into slits, and at the same time, his brows furrowed deeply, because the original body of Chen Aoyun saw Saku Kenichi place another piece!

This time, the piece placement did not require any items, because what was placed this time was not a spirit, but a spirit's unique skill. To place a unique skill, one only needed to 'click' the constructed skill onto the already placed [Fukushima Masanori] chess piece.

With the original Saku Kenichi's second move, [Fukushima Masanori] within the chess game scene acquired the unique skill [Seven Spears of Shizugatake: Pursuit]!

[Fukushima Masanori], "Head of the Seven Spears of Shizugatake", derives from: the "Battle of Shizugatake" in the 11th year of Tensho in Sakura Country's Warring States period. Fukushima Masanori was the head of the seven samurai in this famous battle.

The "Pursuit" ability was constructed based on this historical allusion!

After [Seven Spears of Shizugatake: Pursuit] was activated, Saku Kenichi's clone just stood still. However, as the Dharma Image of the spirit [Fukushima Masanori] behind him flickered and Chen Aoyun's clone moved, the stationary clone of Saku Kenichi actually began to ignore the terrain and rapidly closed the distance with Chen Aoyun!

Chen Aoyun was startled. "Not good! This [Fukushima Masanori]'s unique skill is actually approaching me by a percentage based on time and my own movement!" He glanced at the mountain pass in the distance; the pass was still some distance away. "If this continues, I will be caught by the Sakura person very soon!"

It still comes back to that saying: in the Game of National Destiny, there is no strongest spirit, no strongest unique skill, only the three words 'most suitable' that consistently run through everything from beginning to end!

Using the percentage to close the distance, [Fukushima Masanori] is not the strongest spirit of Sakura Country, but he is definitely the most suitable spirit to pursue Chen Aoyun at this moment!

It was almost impossible to avoid! Chen Aoyun gritted his teeth, and the unease in his heart was instantly discarded.

"Since it is impossible to avoid, then… fight!"

Behind him were endless demons, and in front of him, the interception by the Sakura Country [Strategist] would soon appear. Seemingly having fallen into a state of absolute passivity, Chen Aoyun suddenly had a flash of realization in his heart:

"There is no strongest spirit, only the most suitable spirit?"

"Then if the spirit of my Huaxia is both the strongest spirit and fits the word 'suitable', what will you do!"

What did Chen Aoyun mean? It couldn't be simpler:

Most countries have to give up strength when pursuing the word 'suitable'. Just like right now, Sakura Country clearly has stronger spirits such as [Oda Nobunaga], [Sanada Yukimura], [Shimazu Yoshihiro]... and so on, but why did the Sakura Country [Strategist] specifically choose to place [Fukushima Masanori]?

Isn't it just because the likes of [Oda Nobunaga], [Sanada Yukimura], [Shimazu Yoshihiro]... do not have the corresponding "unique pursuit skill"!

Powerful spirits do not have a "unique pursuit skill", and spirits with a "unique pursuit skill" are not powerful enough.

On the other hand, looking at Chen Aoyun, who are the spirits he placed? [General Zhang Fei] and [Zhao Yun]!

[General Zhang Fei] shouted and stopped the Dangyang Bridge while the strength of the spirit itself remained high. [Zhao Yun], possessing the [Seven In, Seven Out] unique skill, also remained high in strength!

With that signature smile again, Chen Aoyun grinned and said indifferently: "Your Sakura Country uses [Fukushima Masanori] to pursue [Zhao Yun]? So what if you catch up? Are [Fukushima Masanori] and [Zhao Yun] spirits of the same level!!!"