As Kurosaki Rei spoke, he slightly tilted his head, glancing toward the upper side where a certain woman believed her presence was perfectly concealed.
The instant Wu Fengshui met the gaze of the man below from the rooftop, a chill shot up her spine. Her danger instincts went completely berserk, screaming alarms in her mind, making her want nothing more than to flee.
She had never felt this way toward anyone before. Not even her brother, Wu Raian—hailed as a genius of the Wu Clan—had ever given her such overwhelming pressure.
The man below—
Extremely dangerous.
An assassin's training kept her grip on the sniper rifle steady, yet her palms were drenched in sweat. She had a perfect bead on the man's head, but under the relentless warning bells in her mind, she simply couldn't pull the trigger.
Just who exactly was this wanted criminal called Kurosaki Rei?
Ding—
At that moment, Kurosaki Rei flicked his finger lightly.
The dagger braced in front of him shattered. Half of the blade, driven by that force, spun at high speed toward another elevated position. The broken blade jammed precisely into the trigger of a sniper rifle.
On that rooftop, a Wu Clan sniper who had nearly cracked under the pressure stared at the jammed trigger, cold sweat pouring down his face.
The other party hadn't even cut his finger.
Kurosaki Rei didn't look up at the rooftop. With a gentle smile, he said,
"Don't let your hand shake. If it goes off accidentally, quite a few of you will die."
An eerie silence fell over the scene for several seconds.
Only then did the young man standing in front of Kurosaki Rei raise his hand. At his signal, the people around him retreated, and the three snipers on the rooftops all put away their rifles.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead and adjusting his expression, he spoke,
"Mr. Kurosaki Rei, we were discourteous."
As expected—strength was truth.
If Kurosaki Rei had merely been an ordinary wanted criminal, he would have already been seized and sent to prison today. But he had proven his strength, and only the strong were worthy of respect.
He could have killed someone just now, but instead he chose the far more difficult method of jamming the shooter's trigger, silently defusing the conflict.
The Wu Clan patrol leader wasn't an idiot. Continuing to fight would only be courting humiliation.
"You are indeed a powerful martial artist. The Wu Clan welcomes you for martial exchange. We still have patrol duties to attend to, so she will take you to the main house."
As he spoke, a woman in her twenties walked out from the building—one of the rooftop snipers from earlier.
She was tall and slender, wearing a black tactical vest that revealed her toned abs, paired with hot pants and black thigh-high stockings, perfectly showcasing her fit and graceful figure.
"Hello, Mr. Rei. I'm Wu Fengshui. Just call me Fengshui."
Wu Fengshui introduced herself. Observing Kurosaki Rei up close, that sense of extreme danger she'd felt earlier seemed to have vanished.
But she didn't believe her instincts had been mistaken. The only explanation was that the man before her had mastered his aura and killing intent to the point of perfect control.
In that brief moment earlier, Kurosaki Rei had likely already prepared himself to become their enemy—that was why he had made her heart tremble with fear.
"Miss Fengshui, nice to meet you. I'm glad the misunderstanding was resolved. I've actually visited the Wu Family before. I'd always heard that things were more ritual-focused here—I almost thought I'd come to the wrong place."
Kurosaki Rei smiled as he spoke. He wasn't making things up. The identity assigned to him by the Terminal Space held up well under scrutiny. Aside from having a chance to directly obtain the status of a Kengan fighter at the start, his background was also traceable.
He had indeed smuggled into Japan from a small country, but he was originally born in that great eastern nation. According to his identity records, he had even interacted with the Wu Family there when he was younger.
"How embarrassing. Mr. Rei, please follow me. As for martial exchange, we'll need to consult the clan head first."
Wu Fengshui felt a bit ashamed after hearing Kurosaki Rei's words. Their clan were assassins, after all, and they paid close attention to intelligence on dangerous individuals. After Kurosaki Rei became wanted, they had looked into his profile and classified him as a "thrill killer."
According to the files, Kurosaki Rei's initial conflict had merely been with a snakehead over unpaid fees. After killing the snakehead, he could have left—but instead, he wiped out the entire organization, using extremely brutal methods.
People like that were simply too dangerous in their eyes. They couldn't allow someone like him to roam freely within Wu Village.
It sounded strange coming from assassins, but the Wu Clan actually had very few people who truly enjoyed killing. Murder was work—business. And who genuinely loved their job?
Outside of contracted missions, the Wu Clan rarely killed at all. Instead, they valued order highly.
Of course, when the forest was large enough, all kinds of birds existed. There were always exceptions—like her brother Wu Raian. He was a blatant psychopath. Killing gave him pleasure. Though a genius within the Wu Clan, he was also a famously problematic "child."
"Mr. Rei… could we take a side route?"
As they walked, Wu Fengshui hesitated before asking.
"Oh? Would there be a problem with the main road?"
Kurosaki Rei asked curiously. From her demeanor, she didn't seem like she was leading him into an ambush. Why detour?
"I have a brother. He's usually up ahead, and his temper isn't very good. I'm afraid you'll start fighting as soon as you meet."
Wu Fengshui explained. It was only while walking that she remembered this. In her view, a dangerous powerhouse like Kurosaki Rei absolutely could not encounter her brother—
At least not without the clan head present to restrain him. Otherwise, a bloodbath was guaranteed.
News of a powerful outsider entering Wu Village had already spread. With their clan's intelligence network, every Wu Clan member in the city probably knew by now. Her brother might already be looking for Kurosaki Rei.
If Raian found out that Kurosaki Rei had publicly intimidated a patrol unit, he'd likely try to find an excuse to kill him, calling it "boosting the Wu Clan's prestige."
Wu Fengshui believed Kurosaki Rei was very strong—but her brother was strong to an insane degree. If they fought, the consequences would be impossible to predict.
"Oh? That sounds interesting. I came precisely to exchange techniques with your clan. If your brother is strong, sparring with him would suit me just fine."
Kurosaki Rei said with a smile.
Of course he knew exactly who Wu Fengshui's brother was—Wu Raian, the Wu Clan's prodigy who could achieve 100% Release, a hot-blooded maniac who reveled in slaughter. Setting his character aside, his strength was unquestionably top-tier in this world.
In the original story, Wu Raian faced Tokita Ohma in the second match of the Kengan Annihilation Tournament and ultimately lost to the protagonist. But that didn't mean Raian was weaker than Ohma.
Raian was simply too arrogant. He insisted on crushing Ohma with pure stats. But Ohma also possessed a technique similar to Release—Possessing Spirit. Ohma seized an opening and overturned the match with skill.
In reality, Raian still had a whole arsenal of Wu Clan techniques he never even used. He had practically thrown the fight himself.
Because the side effects of the Wu Clan's Release were far lighter than Possessing Spirit, a talent like Raian could use it freely. Ohma, on the other hand, had to burn his life to barely force Possessing Spirit. In a true life-and-death battle, the outcome would be far from certain.
"N-no… Mr. Rei, please hurry and come with me. The clan grounds are just ahead."
Wu Fengshui's face turned pale. She genuinely didn't want to see her brother fight Kurosaki Rei. As much as she thought her brother was a bastard, her intuition told her that if Raian fought Kurosaki Rei—
Raian would very likely die.
Ignoring whether Kurosaki Rei agreed or not, Wu Fengshui grabbed his hand and ran forward. Before long, they arrived at the clan grounds.
Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief—thinking that the clan head would likely arrange for the steady and powerful "Demon-Crying Child," Wu Kureishi, to spar with Kurosaki Rei—
A voice made her nerves snap taut once again.
"Yo. You sure made me work to find you."
The voice came from atop the torii gate.
A short-haired, light-blond, powerfully built young man squatted casually above it, showing not the slightest reverence for the gods.
His black eyes locked onto Kurosaki Rei like a feral beast spotting prey, his killing intent completely undisguised.
"Raian! You haven't even met the clan head yet—don't act recklessly!"
Wu Fengshui shouted, fine beads of sweat covering her forehead.
Wu Raian slipped his hands into his pockets and jumped down from the five- to six-meter-high torii gate, landing in front of Kurosaki Rei and Wu Fengshui.
The muscles of his upper body stretched his white tank top taut. His exposed arms bulged with knotted muscle, leaving no doubt about the terrifying strength contained within.
This was the Wu Clan's demon—
A man so fearsome that even many within the clan were afraid of him.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 60 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/VoidInk08