Ryosuke didn't say a single extra word to the unfamiliar woman, and straightforwardly summoned the White Snake to read her memory.
The woman in front of him could be anyone.
But she was absolutely not Iwamine.
Zzzt… click!
Two discs popped out.
Ryosuke picked up the memory discs.
This woman's name was Nakagawa Misaki, an actress from a theater troupe who wasn't very famous.
Two months ago, someone approached her, offering a large sum of money to hire her to play the role of Iwamine.
The other party provided her with all of Iwamine's personal background, daily habits, and even arranged her daily teaching content. As long as she followed the script every day, Nakagawa Misaki could receive a high payment.
Nakagawa Misaki didn't know why she had to play the role of a former oiran, but no one turns down money, so she kept on acting until now, until she got smacked by the White Snake.
Ryosuke tossed the memory discs back.
This woman knew nothing.
Even the person who recruited her had always only contacted her through email, never showed their face, never even made a single phone call.
They wanted to use this method to avoid the tracking of the "Hermit."
But… it was useless.
As long as there was a trace of karma, Ryosuke could follow that thread of karma and find the past.
Following the chain of cause and effect all the way down, and Ryosuke would always find the one who gave the final order.
This was the usual method the syndicate used when going against Ryosuke.
Layer after layer of single-line contacts, even if Ryosuke could trace it, it would consume a lot of time. They gambled on the idea that Ryosuke couldn't finish tracing, couldn't kill them all.
But the setup in front of him clearly wasn't the handiwork of those old syndicate veterans.
Too elementary, too low-level.
As he searched through the city, Ryosuke couldn't help but feel, maybe it was an illusion, that Gorin City gave off an extremely oppressive atmosphere.
Obviously blue skies and white clouds, obviously an oasis rare in the desert, yet walking through it, there was always a suffocating feeling.
If even he felt this way, not to mention the ordinary people living here.
Everyone had drooping brows and dull eyes, heads hung low, walking without saying a word. If not for Ryosuke being able to sense their life waves, he might have thought this was a dead city.
Before dusk arrived, Ryosuke found his target.
He walked to the door of a private bar room and kicked it open.
Inside the room sat seven or eight rich playboys, each with a girl in his arms, smoking clouds of smoke. More than a dozen bottles of liquor opened on the table, clearly it wasn't even night yet, but this group was already half drunk.
When the door was kicked open, Arima Yukito, who sat at the head seat, raised a hand and cursed, "F*ck you!"
The bodyguard lackeys sitting on both sides immediately stood up, pulling knives and clubs from their waists, charging forward with fierce momentum.
The one who cursed was the city lord of Gorin City's most favored youngest son. To be able to follow this master was considered the blessing of eight lifetimes for these lackeys.
The six lackeys rushed even faster, afraid that if they were slower, they'd seem less proactive.
With the economy so bad, if they couldn't satisfy their master, where would they find such a good "lackey" job in the future?
Two of them shoved their companions aside and rushed to the very front, raising their clubs, just about to swing six strikes in a second to show their loyalty.
Suddenly, they froze in place.
Two sword tips pressed against their chests.
One sword wasn't sharpened, but its blade was covered with an extremely fine ripple. Wherever the ripple touched, iron was cut like mud.
The other sword was made of thousands of small blades, each emitting a terrifying cold light.
And the ones holding the swords, clearly only half-grown children, yet when the lackeys met their eyes, their legs trembled.
They had never seen such terrifying gazes before, like demons who had killed countless people.
Don't be fooled by Sasuke and Rei showing shy, kind smiles in front of familiar friends, during the chaotic four months in the Land of Water, they had always fought at the very front alongside the Annihilation Army.
The number of strong enemies who died by their hands was countless.
Sasuke and Rei took one step forward, and the lackeys retreated one step back, until they had nowhere left to retreat, collapsing onto the sofa, feeling their limbs turn ice cold, unable to even stand up.
With the riffraff forced back, Sasuke and Rei held their swords and stood left and right at the door.
Only then did the people in the room react.
These two demon-like children were merely bodyguards.
The real master had not yet arrived.
They looked toward the doorway and saw a young man about their own age, with stern features, walking in step by step.
Kakashi guarded outside the door.
Ryosuke walked in and closed the door.
Click!
His gaze didn't look at anyone else. From the first second he entered the room, it fell straight onto Arima Yukito. From his eyes, Ryosuke saw the fear that couldn't be concealed.
"You know me."
A simple sentence shattered Arima Yukito's mental defenses.
With a "plop," he fell to his knees, tears and snot running down his face, "Spare me! I really didn't do… no, I did make a move, but…"
Ryosuke had no intention of listening to his explanation.
The White Snake appeared again.
This stand-in who usually loved to be talkative was, for once, silent today.
The White Snake grabbed Arima Yukito's collar and smashed a fist into his face.
A memory disc popped out. The White Snake retrieved it and handed it to Ryosuke.
After reading Arima Yukito's memory, all the threads finally connected.
After Iwamine arrived at Sunagakure, she began teaching. Her outstanding lessons, coupled with her beautiful appearance, attracted the attention of many.
Among them was Arima Yukito.
After hearing that she was Ryosuke's friend, and knowing her past identity as an oiran, he grew wicked thoughts.
He wanted to capture her as his plaything, to brag in front of his friends, "I'm sleeping with Ryosuke's friend, isn't that badass?"
To achieve this, Arima Yukito sent letters to invite Iwamine to Gorin City to teach, setting up an ambush in advance, planning to swap her midway.
No one expected that this woman actually… escaped.
From that day on, Arima Yukito used his authority to launch a city-wide manhunt, even secretly contacting city communication officers, demanding surveillance on all letters and phone calls.
What he feared most was Ryosuke coming after him.
But as long as he held Iwamine, at least he could use her as a hostage. Now that she wasn't caught, he feared being hunted down.
"This bastard searched for two months and still didn't find Sister Iwamine."
The White Snake finally spoke, "Judging by how unlucky this fool looks, he probably hasn't slept a single full night these two months, living in constant fear, pah! Serves him right!"
Ryosuke nodded.
Before she set off, Ryosuke had given Iwamine several ninjutsu discs. With proper use, she indeed could have escaped the calamity.
Ryosuke tossed the disc aside.
Arima Yukito woke up, kneeling on the ground, not daring to make a sound.
Ryosuke opened the door and waved. The dozen or so hostess girls trembled as they walked out. After they all left, Ryosuke gave one last look at Arima Yukito, then closed the door.
Arima Yukito looked left and right, swallowed, stood up with the support of his lackeys, picked up a liquor bottle, and gulped down a large mouthful, 'I Need to tell my dad that Ryosuke's here."
"Damn, I thought Ryosuke was so terrifying, but in the end, he didn't dare touch me, he's nothing more than that… what's that sound?'
He asked the lackeys, "Did you guys hear something?"
The lackeys all shook their heads.
Arima Yukito recalled the intel about Ryosuke, and gathered his meager chakra into his eyes and ears.
This time, he heard it clearly.
A tiny, palm-sized car with a skull head was crawling at his feet, and the voice came from it.
BOOM!
A fierce explosion erupted.
All seven people in the room died.
Ryosuke killed them not only because of Iwamine. These spoiled sons of the rich, relying on their fathers' power, had slaughtered countless innocents. Arima Yukito's memories were filled with it in black and white.
If Ryosuke hadn't known, that would be one thing. But now that he knew, of course he couldn't let them live.
The Withering Heart-Piercing Car returned to the back of Killer Queen's hand.
Rei plucked a piece of foxtail grass to tease Killer Queen with, like a cat toy.
Killer Queen glanced at Rei with a gaze full of "compassion for the simpleminded," seemed to think of the other's tragic past, but still kept a straight face, halfheartedly batting at the foxtail grass.
Ryosuke stood on a bridge, watching the last ray of sunset sink into the small river.
Kakashi asked, "The information trail's broken."
"Yeah."
Ryosuke pulled out a Polaroid camera. After waiting a few seconds, another pitch-black photo came out.
"Where is she, exactly?"
———
As the last glimmer of dusk faded, in the pitch black, a pair of bright eyes opened.
Moments later, a second, third, fourth…
More than fifty pairs of black-and-white bright eyes appeared in the darkness.
Whoosh~
A match struck alight.
Iwamine shielded the flame, lit a candle, and the glow of candlelight illuminated the underground warehouse.
She turned around, holding the candlestick.
More than fifty pairs of eyes fell on her, filled with trust and devotion.
After a few months apart, Iwamine's fair skin had darkened to a wheat color. A faint scar crossed her left cheek. She had grown much thinner, but not weak, her body was firmer, stronger.
"Everyone."
Iwamine raised the candlestick high.
"Tonight, is the time to act."
"To save Gorin City."
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