The appearance of Expendable=san was completely outside their expectations. Under the command of The Lord, Zaibatsu Cinema had hidden themselves exceptionally well, blaming all the destruction in the city entirely on the Soukaiya.
Inside a Japanese-style garden, the elderly The Lord, sitting in a wheelchair, was pushed by Paragon to the 'Water Basin'. This was a very special formation, and also the reliance for achieving his objectives.
The massive slaughter had provided The Lord's 'Water Basin' with a large quantity of souls. Of course, these were only mortals; all Ninja Souls had returned to Kinkaku.
"The gathered souls are just about enough, my lord. It is time to initiate the plan."
Paragon inspected the formation for the mobility-impaired The Lord. Flowing within it were the souls of mortals, as well as their unfulfilled desires.
Such bloody power, yet it was a pity that it was merely the fresh blood of mortals. To a ninja, this was no different from chicken blood in a vegetable market; naturally, they could not care less.
And The Lord, who had mastered the Virtual-to-Real Conversion Jutsu, cared even less about his subordinate ninjas. They were merely pawns who could be brainwashed and accepted using jutsu. The Master of Zaibatsu was, in reality, empty inside.
"Since that is the case, let us begin."
Using the souls of mortals as fuel, the slowly opening formation connected to the Underworld.
That was the world of 'Death', another world connected to reality yet not existing within it, and also the true location of Kinkaku.
A golden cube hung suspended in the Underworld, containing eight million Ninja Souls and the soul of the ninja ancestor, Katsu Wan Soh.
The Lord's goal was to liberate Kinkaku, causing the Ninja Souls within to descend upon the mortal world. Then, utilizing the super-wide-range Virtual-to-Real Conversion Jutsu—empowered to the extreme by the 'Water Basin'—he would influence the entire world and rule over all ninjas.
Nine heavy gates manifested in the sky above the garden, and the golden cube could be faintly seen behind them. Making Kinkaku descend to the mortal world would not be easy.
"Opening the Nine Gates requires a certain amount of time. Recall all subordinates to prevent anyone from destroying the formation."
"As for Ninja Slayer... try to stall for time. Avoid direct combat with him."
The scenes from the dream still touched a nerve with The Lord. He chose to delay rather than fight Ninja Slayer head-on.
The death of Laomoto Khan had almost confirmed the existence of fate, so the precognitive dream was likely true as well. He did not want to go up against Ninja Slayer.
However, the anomaly shrouding the entire city could not be concealed. That was why he had dispatched Expendable=san, and transferred his fate of death onto Laomoto Khan.
Dying by having his chest pierced by a bullet—this was originally the fate upon Expendable. After coming into contact with the power of fate, The Lord used the Virtual-to-Real Conversion to influence fate for the first time, and the effect was unexpectedly good.
This also put him slightly at ease. Fate was not immutable, and he had mastered the method to manipulate it!
...
Expendable was completely unaware that he had already walked a lap through the gates of hell. Not only because his fate had been changed, but also because the Ninja Slayer at this moment was in his prime state!
Attacking Takemura the moment he appeared and snatching his weapon, Expendable was clearly an enemy.
Ninja Slayer readied himself for battle once again, but the opponent's words quickly dispelled his desire to fight.
"The Ninja Soul I possess is Mazda Ninja. The Horsepower · Jutsu I use can inject Karate power into the bodies of others, turning them into bombs."
Ninja vision allowed Ninja Slayer to see the large crowd surrounding the base of Arasaka Tower. All of their bodies had been injected with a small amount of Karate by Expendable.
He did not kill them all; instead, he turned them into bombs that could be triggered. Because the amount of injected Karate was small, the power after the explosion would not pose much of a threat, but the people detonated would definitely die.
Expendable did not intend to fight Ninja Slayer; instead, he chose to threaten him with the lives of mortals. Theoretically, it is impossible for a ninja to care about mortals, but this was The Lord's instruction, and he merely followed it.
"To possess such a vile jutsu? Are you trying to threaten me with the lives of mortals? Do you think that is possible?"
Showing no openings, Ninja Slayer appeared completely indifferent to the deaths of so-called mortals.
Expendable could not discern his true thoughts, but judging others by himself, he did not believe Ninja Slayer would give up combat for such a thing.
So, he brought out his true trump card—
"Your true identity... is David Martinez, right?"
Holy shit! Doxed!
Although his true body was discovered, David did not show any fluctuation. At a time like this, he could not show weakness.
"Who is that?"
He pretended not to care. Even with a ninja's kinetic vision, no opening was observed. What powerful mental fortitude and control!
But being called by his real name affected him somewhat. He only thought about controlling his body language, yet ignored a fact—Expendable had caught this fatal opening!
"Oh? Of course I am speaking of that newly risen legend. How could you possibly not know him?"
"Or could it be that you are deliberately covering it up? David=san?"
Almost completely confirming his identity, Expendable did not use a tone of suspicion.
David also realized his own mistake. The events at Arasaka Tower were already known to every household; it was impossible for anyone not to know.
"However, it doesn't matter if you don't admit it. I will play a 'game' with you here."
"Do you still remember... Gloria Martinez?"
Hearing this name, Ninja Slayer could no longer remain calm. Red light flashed in his eyes, and that killing intent sent a chill down Expendable's spine.
The state of being one mind and body with Naraku—this was a super-strong form that could face Laomoto Khan head-on. It was not something his mere Master Rank strength could compare to.
"You had better speak clearly. What are you going to do?"
David did his utmost to suppress his rage. Since the car accident a month ago, his mother had been in a coma and receiving treatment at the Trauma Team hospital.
Even when ninjas fought each other, or even slaughtered mortals, they did not go to the hospital to cause trouble. After all, that was too inefficient, or rather, detrimental to their rule.
"Don't be hasty, Ninja Slayer=san. It is merely a hypothesis."
"Hypothetically, if you are 'David', then it would be best not to interfere for these next two days."
Expendable did not provoke David excessively. After leaving his harsh words, he hurriedly left, leaping down from the rooftop and vanishing into the city.
The opponent's meaning was clear: they had hijacked Gloria Martinez and demanded that Ninja Slayer not interfere with them.
Takemura's weapon, 'Beppin', had also been taken. Without the cursed blade, his strength was just that of an ordinary jōnin. The outcome between him and Expendable was unpredictable, let alone against an entire ninja organization.
Clearly, Laomoto Khan had been dealt with, yet things had developed in an even more serious direction. David felt a sense of being lost...
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