Chapter 408

Chapter 408 Son of a Giant!

Before coming here, Su Rui had absolutely no idea that the severity of the situation had completely exceeded his expectations!

This was not some remote border region of Huaxia, but the outskirts of Ninghai, the economic heart of the entire country! In such a strategically vital location, the Yamamoto Group from the East had actually dared to mobilize this many armed forces to carry out such a large-scale assassination! They had some serious nerve!

After the Twelve Divine Guards entered the battlefield, Su Rui did not make his move immediately. Instead, he quickly pushed forward, searching for Wanyan Zhengyong and Tian Bingyi!

If those two died first, it would be nothing short of a devastating blow to the entire Yuanwei Gang!

During his search, Su Rui showed no mercy, reaching out to snap the necks of three Eastern warriors!

Fortunately, he had arrived just in time. A few more seconds and Wanyan Zhengyong, the dominant overlord of the northern underground world, would have lost his head!

Seeing Su Rui appear out of nowhere before him, Yamamoto Kyokusen’s eyes flashed with extreme wariness!

Years of combat experience told him that this young Huaxia man who had appeared so abruptly was likely to bring him serious danger!

“Who are you?”

Yamamoto Kyokusen believed that any man capable of giving him this feeling was definitely no nobody!

“You don’t need to know who I am.”

Su Rui glanced at the battle raging around them and said coldly.

“Big words.”

Yamamoto Kyokusen flashed a mocking smile, but his hands gripped his long katana tightly. By the look of him, he could launch an attack at any moment!

This young Huaxia man was simply standing there, yet he seemed to radiate endless menace. Though his presence was restrained, there was an unmistakable aura about him — the kind that said one man could hold a pass against ten thousand!

“Because dead men don’t need to know that much!”

As soon as Su Rui finished speaking, he flicked the four-edged military spike in his hand and blocked Yamamoto Kyokusen’s slashing katana right in midair!

While they had been talking just moments ago, Yamamoto Kyokusen had already launched a sneak attack! He pushed his nearly unrivaled lightness skill to its absolute limit, appearing before Su Rui almost as if he had teleported!

Tian Bingyi caught Yamamoto Kyokusen’s movement, while Wanyan Zhengyong only saw a phantom — fast as lightning!

The Yuanwei Gang leader finally understood the vast gap between himself and this Eastern jonin. The gap was like an unbridgeable chasm, something no amount of acquired effort could ever close. If Yamamoto Kyokusen had directed that attack at him just now, he would already have been cut in two!

After blocking the strike, Su Rui sidestepped a few paces, shook out his numbing right hand, and felt a flicker of surprise in his heart.

It seemed this Eastern jonin’s skills surpassed even his own expectations. That lightness technique and sneak attack had pushed the essence of an assassin’s art to its absolute limit! If not for the danger instincts he had honed through years of combat, he might have actually been caught off guard!

Yet while Su Rui was merely surprised, the shock inside Yamamoto Kyokusen’s heart was like a raging sea!

That strike just now may have looked casual, but it was absolutely his most lethal killing move. In ninjutsu, this technique was called “Phantom Thunder” — which, taken literally, meant footwork like a phantom and an attack like a thunderbolt!

It was an extraordinarily advanced assassination technique. Even among all jonin, very few could master it. Yamamoto Kyokusen had trained for years, and it had never failed him — this was the first time in his life it had missed!

“Was that… Phantom Thunder?”

Su Rui recalled the move Yamamoto Kyokusen had just used, as if something had come to mind, and said with a meaningful tone: “Didn’t expect it — looks like I’ve caught a big fish today!”

Hearing Su Rui’s words, Yamamoto could no longer put into words the shock he felt inside!

This was a pinnacle technique from Eastern ninjutsu. How could this person recognize it? It was completely impossible!

Yet regardless, Su Rui had not only identified the move, but through it had also figured out Yamamoto Kyokusen’s identity!

Fixing his gaze on the cold-faced Eastern man, Su Rui’s eyes blazed with an icy light: “I was planning to kill you, but I’ve changed my mind!”

Seeing an Easterner acting this brazenly on Huaxia soil, Su Rui had long since resolved to kill him. But the moment he realized the identity this man might hold, he suddenly felt that keeping him alive might leave room for something far more interesting!

“Don’t flatter yourself — just die!” Yamamoto Kyokusen knew that the longer this dragged on, the worse it would be for the entire battle. He had to end it quickly, to deal with this man in the shortest time possible!

If he couldn’t get past this obstacle, all five hundred-plus Eastern warriors here today would be finished. Not only would he fail to complete the mission, he might even go down in history as the greatest sinner the Yamamoto Group had ever known!

With that, Yamamoto Kyokusen’s body dissolved into a streak of light and slammed toward Su Rui’s position!

Phantom Thunder again!

“Watch out!” Tian Bingyi cried out involuntarily!

Clang!

The clash of metal rang out as the four-edged military spike and the long katana collided hard once more!

“One strike couldn’t kill me, and repeating it won’t do you any good either. Let me see if that’s all you’ve got!” Su Rui let out a shout, and the spike in his hand transformed into a dark blur, sweeping toward every vital point on Yamamoto’s body!

The latter’s katana had become a curtain of light enveloping his entire body, yet he had no idea when or where the four-edged spike would appear next! Because Su Rui’s attack speed was simply too fast — so fast that even Yamamoto himself could not read the angles of the incoming strikes!

Even Tian Bingyi standing nearby could not tell how many times the two weapons had clashed in those brief few dozen seconds!

Countless collisions — like a meteor shower pouring down!

Finally, the katana and the spike separated once more. Su Rui stepped back a large pace, shaking out his numbing hand and breathing hard!

In that exchange just now, he had undoubtedly given everything he had. Yamamoto Kyokusen’s offense was ferocious, and his defense was equally flawless!

Yamamoto Kyokusen also stepped back a large pace, the tiger’s mouth of his right hand already bleeding from the impact!

He looked down at his katana, and the shock in his eyes was impossible to conceal!

This katana of his was known as “Flowing Light” — said to be one of the ten great treasures of the Eastern martial world, a top-tier blade coveted by countless warriors and ninjas, passed down for over a hundred years, capable of cutting through anything!

Yet now, this Flowing Light katana had lost its brilliant, blinding gleam and had become slightly dull and lifeless!

Because along the four-foot length of the blade, there were hundreds of tiny pitted marks. It was these marks — the kind that would make anyone with trypophobia shudder — that had stripped the entire katana of its proper luster!

“Damn it, how is this possible?” Yamamoto Kyokusen’s gaze dropped lower, and the shock in his eyes deepened even further!

Because along the cutting edge of the blade, there were countless tiny serrated notches. The notches were extremely small — not easy to see without close inspection — yet to Yamamoto Kyokusen’s eyes, this sight was practically the end of the world!

The Flowing Light katana, which had been invincible and unstoppable, had been almost completely destroyed!

A blade edge like this could no longer cut anyone, and there was absolutely no way to repair it!

Even Yamamoto Kyokusen, who could keep his composure with a mountain crumbling before him, was nearly falling apart. He couldn’t help but blurt out: “You… what kind of weapon is that… how can it destroy my katana…”

“What kind of weapon is this?” Su Rui’s tone was dripping with contempt: “This is a military spike handcrafted by Zenilykov, the world’s number one weapons master. Using his unique smelting method, the rare metals he incorporated give the entire weapon a hardness that exceeds diamond! Your broken blade has been passed down for over a hundred years — don’t tell me you’re dumb enough to think modern craftsmanship can’t surpass a few blacksmiths from centuries ago?”

At the words “blacksmiths,” Yamamoto Kyokusen nearly spat blood in rage!

This was the Flowing Light katana — was it something a blacksmith could just hammer out?

Yet the reality of the difference was right there in plain sight. The top-tier military spike handcrafted by Zenilykov, after this entire exchange, had not a single dent on its body — and its razor-sharp tip showed not the slightest sign of dulling!

By comparison, the superiority of one weapon over the other was plain as day!

“For destroying the Flowing Light katana, the Eastern warriors will never let you go!” Yamamoto Kyokusen snarled in fury!

“Even if they won’t let me go, I have no intention of letting them go either. Do you think I care about that?”

Su Rui let out a cold snort: “Yamamoto Kyokusen, do you really think you can still escape from here? Do you think just because you’re Yamamoto Taiichiro’s son, you can run wild and do as you please in Huaxia?”

That single sentence from Su Rui revealed an extremely important piece of information!

Yamamoto Taiichiro!

That name was thunderously renowned, whether among Eastern martial artists or throughout the underground world of the East!

Because he was the current head of the Yamamoto Group — a supremely ambitious man, old but still endlessly scheming!

If not for his decades of tireless effort, the Yamamoto Group could never have achieved the formidable influence it held today!

The Yamamoto Group’s reach now extended across virtually all of Asia outside of Huaxia. It could effortlessly manipulate Eastern government elections and easily influence the foreign policy of the Eastern cabinet. Calling Yamamoto Taiichiro the underground emperor of the East would not be an exaggeration!

And this Yamamoto Kyokusen — he was actually Yamamoto Taiichiro’s son?

How could that be?

Wanyan Zhengyong and Tian Bingyi exchanged a glance, each seeing the shock in the other’s eyes! In their view, anyone in the Yamamoto Group who bore the Yamamoto name was without exception a high-ranking figure. Yet they never imagined that this jonin with his supreme lightness skill would turn out to be the son of Yamamoto Taiichiro, the titan of the Eastern underworld!

As far as they knew, Yamamoto Taiichiro had five sons and two daughters, all of whom held important positions within the Yamamoto Group — yet none of them was called Yamamoto Kyokusen, and none had devoted themselves to ninjutsu to the point of becoming a top-tier jonin, a rarity even across the entire Eastern nation!

But in Wanyan Zhengyong and Tian Bingyi’s eyes, Su Rui had absolutely no reason to lie!

Looking at the visibly shaken Yamamoto Kyokusen, the corner of Su Rui’s mouth curved into a cold arc: “So, if I can take you alive, that would be very interesting indeed.”