Chapter 553

Chapter 553 Saving a Life, Just Within a Hair’s Breadth!

The twin blades flew out, slashing sideways toward Higashino Yasumoto. Since he was already in the middle of a spin, he had no way to turn back and defend himself!

　　Even with several meters still between them, Higashino Yasumoto could already feel the piercing chill radiating from the surface of those twin blades!

　　Unfortunately, having overextended his move, he had no way to dodge!

　　Even a slight twist of his body wouldn’t be enough to escape the pursuit of those twin blades!

　　”Ah!”

　　With a loud roar, Higashino Yasumoto tried to meet them with his long blade, but his body’s coordination simply couldn’t complete such a difficult maneuver!

　　Swish! Swish!

　　A flash of cold light swept across Higashino Yasumoto’s arm — almost like slicing through tofu, with zero resistance — and effortlessly severed his wrist!

　　The blade was so razor-sharp that he barely felt any pain before he realized his left hand had fallen to the ground along with the rest of his body!

　　How could a body of flesh and blood withstand one of the top ten supreme weapons ranked on the Huaxia Arms Registry?

　　The other blade went straight for his throat. Because Higashino Yasumoto had twisted his head, the blade missed the vital point and instead grazed past his ear as it flew by!

　　Higashino Yasumoto only felt a cool breeze brush across his face before he realized his ear had completely vanished!

　　The razor-sharp blade had also shaved off nearly half of his left cheek!

　　In an instant, his entire face was drenched in blood — a grotesque and terrifying sight!

　　After severely wounding Higashino Yasumoto, the Dragon and Phoenix twin blades arced through the air in a wide circle before reversing course and flying back, landing in the hands of a slender, tall figure dressed in black!

　　If Su Rui had been there, he would have recognized at once that this person in black was Nightingale!

　　But wasn’t she supposed to be by Bai Qinchuan’s side? How did she end up here?

　　Nightingale gripped the twin blades without overthinking things, coldly watching Higashino Yasumoto.

　　In a one-on-one fight, Nightingale might not necessarily be Higashino Yasumoto’s match. The reason she had been able to heavily injure him was entirely thanks to that little rabbit spirit!

　　The rabbit spirit climbed up from the ground and stood shoulder to shoulder with Nightingale, watching as Higashino Yasumoto quickly scrambled to his feet.

　　”I don’t know who you are, but I still have to thank you for saving my life,” the rabbit spirit said.

　　She had already figured out from Nightingale’s curvaceous figure that this was a woman — and one with quite an impressive build in certain areas.

　　Nightingale said nothing, coldly staring at Higashino Yasumoto.

　　”With one hand gone and one ear missing, we should be able to beat him easily now,” the rabbit spirit said.

　　”We?” Nightingale gave a cold laugh.

　　It was clear she took issue with that word and didn’t seem particularly interested in joining forces with the rabbit spirit.

　　The rabbit spirit couldn’t help but feel a little exasperated. What was this woman’s deal — trying to act all cool?

　　Higashino Yasumoto’s left wrist had been severed, blood gushing wildly, and the left side of his face was only half there — it was horrifying, like something out of a nightmare!

　　Looking at the sight before them, perhaps due to feminine instinct, both Nightingale and the rabbit spirit felt a faint chill run down their spines!

　　The two of them had been about to press their attack, but he suddenly tore the thin cord from around his neck, popped the cap off with one hand, and poured the powder straight into his mouth!

　　Again, that so-called Eastern “miracle healing medicine”!

　　Carrying this stuff on their person was essentially the same as playing a game with cheats enabled! A super hack!

　　This medicinal powder was extremely costly to produce. Even with the Yamamoto Group’s vast wealth, it was impossible to equip every member with it — only chunin and jonin were entitled to carry it!

　　Moreover, taking this powder was essentially suicidal. Even if it allowed one to survive an enemy’s assault, once the effects wore off, it would cause a severe decline in bodily functions, with a real possibility of being left in a vegetative state.

　　In other words, the true purpose of this “miracle healing medicine” was purely to fuel one last desperate surge.

　　After taking the medicine, Higashino Yasumoto’s eyes took on the expression of a man who had made peace with death.

　　He felt his vitality gradually returning, and the killing intent in his eyes began to slowly build once more!

　　”Both of you — you’re going to die!”

　　His right hand gripped the long blade as he charged toward the rabbit spirit and Nightingale!

　　His speed was even greater than before!

　　Both women let out a sharp cry and moved to engage him simultaneously!

　　But they were women after all, and in terms of raw physical strength, they were naturally at a disadvantage compared to a man.

　　Perhaps Nightingale’s combat ability wasn’t far behind Higashino Yasumoto’s, but her opponent knew he was already a dead man. His every move was reckless and without reason — he even showed signs of going berserk — and that began to push both women onto the back foot!

　　The rabbit spirit’s fighting ability was somewhat weaker by comparison. Having already exhausted most of her stamina before, and now with one arm fractured on top of her previous injuries, she was struggling to keep up!

　　Thud!

　　Higashino Yasumoto showed not the slightest inclination toward mercy, driving a kick into the rabbit spirit’s back that sent her flying, leaving her sprawled on the ground coughing up blood!

　　At the same time, Nightingale’s Dragon and Phoenix twin blades struck simultaneously — one slashing open Higashino Yasumoto’s thigh, the other thrusting into his side beneath the ribs!

　　Had Nightingale’s blade gone just a fraction further, it would have pierced his spleen!

　　Higashino Yasumoto let out a roar, explosively retreating a step to pull himself out of range of the short blades. His right arm swung in a wide horizontal arc, sending his long blade sweeping straight for Nightingale’s throat!

　　The strike was blindingly fast, carrying the force of thunder!

　　Reach has its advantages — Higashino Yasumoto’s long blade was nowhere near as sharp as the Dragon and Phoenix twin blades, but it was more than twice their length!

　　Due to her earlier attack, Nightingale had committed too far forward, and facing this ferocious counterattack, she had no room to retreat!

　　She had no choice but to lean her body back as hard as she could while pulling her blades in to parry!

　　Steel met steel. The long blade knocked one of Nightingale’s blades off course, and it was precisely this parry that prevented Higashino Yasumoto’s long blade from slitting Nightingale’s throat — it grazed past her, just barely, an inch below her collarbone!

　　The strike not only sliced open the front of Nightingale’s clothing but left a wound across the white expanse of her chest!

　　Though the wound wasn’t particularly deep, it was long enough — running all the way from left to right!

　　The injury itself wasn’t severe, but it had landed in such an awkward place!

　　As a woman, any scar on the body was absolutely unacceptable — let alone one in such a critical location!

　　Of course, sometimes having more in certain areas isn’t exactly something to be proud of either — at the very least, it could easily increase your exposed surface area in a fight!

　　Looking at the wound on her chest and the skin now exposed to the air, Nightingale’s eyes were filled with cold fury!

　　She swung her twin blades and charged at Higashino Yasumoto again!

　　He didn’t spare a second glance at the sight. His eyes remained as lifeless as ash.

　　He was maimed. He was dying. Even if he somehow survived, he would be a cripple for the rest of his life!

　　He had to make sure all these Huaxia people died!

　　The combat power Higashino Yasumoto was unleashing at this moment was nothing short of terrifying. Even though Nightingale attacked with fury, she was still being suppressed!

　　”Damn Huaxia woman — die!”

　　Higashino Yasumoto swung his long blade, and it was about to come down on Nightingale’s head. Faced with the drug-enhanced surge in attack speed, she had no time to pull her blades back to defend — all she could do was watch helplessly as the gleaming blade grew larger and larger before her eyes!

　　”Can’t even beat a half-dead ninja — is this really how I’m going to die?” The thought flashed through Nightingale’s mind.

　　In truth, Higashino Yasumoto was already among the very top tier of Eastern chunin. That Nightingale and the rabbit spirit together had pushed him to this point was already a remarkable feat!

　　Just as Nightingale had closed her eyes and accepted defeat, she realized that Higashino Yasumoto’s blade had not come down!

　　Indeed, the long blade had stopped one foot above her face, intercepted by a military bayonet that gleamed with a dark light!

　　The hand gripping that bayonet was so steady — not a tremor to be seen!

　　The moment she saw the four-edged military spike, Nightingale knew who had arrived!

　　Su Rui!

　　Without a second thought, she fell backward — creating an opening for Su Rui’s next move!

　　Su Rui held the military spike in one hand to block Higashino Yasumoto’s attack, then his body suddenly spun — a fierce side kick that slammed hard into Higashino Yasumoto’s shoulder!

　　The sheer force of the blow sent Higashino Yasumoto flying, and he sailed through the air for several meters!

　　But Su Rui didn’t even wait for Higashino Yasumoto to hit the ground before going after him!

　　Grabbing the man’s feet, Su Rui dropped his center of gravity and exploded with force!

　　Higashino Yasumoto lost all balance completely. Su Rui’s hands were like iron vises clamped around his ankles — there was no breaking free!

　　Su Rui spun continuously across the ground, swinging Higashino Yasumoto around and slamming his head into every tree trunk in the vicinity, one after another!

　　Each dull thud that rang out was enough to make one’s heart lurch!

　　After several rotations and roughly a dozen trees worth of skull-to-bark contact, Su Rui finally stopped and casually tossed Higashino Yasumoto’s body to the side.

　　The man’s skull was shattered, blood pouring from all seven orifices. He couldn’t have been more dead.

　　Only then did Su Rui notice Nightingale — and the Dragon and Phoenix twin blades in her hands!

　　”What are you doing here?” Su Rui said.

　　Nightingale said nothing.

　　Su Rui said, “Wait here a moment.”

　　He went to check on the rabbit spirit’s injuries, waved his hand, and Holman came running over, handing Su Rui a small medical kit, then hoisted the rabbit spirit onto his back and headed outside!

　　When Su Rui turned around, he found Nightingale was already preparing to stand up and leave.

　　”Nightingale!”

　　Su Rui stepped forward quickly and handed her the medical kit, saying, “You’re injured — deal with that wound right away.”

　　Only then did Nightingale realize that both her clothing and skin across her chest had been slashed open in a long line by Higashino Yasumoto’s long blade. The pale expanse of her chest was now quite exposed, and blood was seeping steadily from the knife wound!

　　A faint flush rose across her face — though fortunately, since she still wore her signature black mask, Su Rui couldn’t see the change in her expression.

　　”I’ll handle it myself. Get away from me,” Nightingale said coldly.

　　”Alright, you handle it yourself. I won’t get involved.”

　　Su Rui understood that it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to treat her wound. Even if she was a tough and aggressive woman, at the end of the day she was still a woman — there was no way she’d be willing to let a man casually touch that kind of area.

　　At this point, gunfire continued to ring out across the battlefield. Li Yang and Zhang Ziwei had already led a large contingent of Zhantang forces pouring into the mountain pass, strictly following Su Rui’s instructions to sweep out all the ninjas and samurai in a thorough search — not one was to be left behind.

　　This battle had essentially been declared over. Su Rui had finally freed himself up to go back and help the rabbit spirit, only to unexpectedly run into Nightingale.

　　If he had arrived ten seconds later, Nightingale would have been gone forever.

　　Nightingale walked behind a large tree, removed the shirt that was no longer wearable, and exposed her snow-white back and black form-fitting undergarment.

　　Su Rui stood guard not far away. When he turned his head, he happened to catch a glimpse of Nightingale’s back visible through the gap in the tree, and he immediately looked away.

　　From that perspective, he was still a gentleman.

　　But just then, Nightingale suddenly let out a scream!