Hirohito, Die!

Ninja Momochi Seiko slashed with her sword, but hit empty air. A needle-like pain suddenly erupted from behind her. She instinctively relaxed her muscles, and sure enough, a terrifying force stabbed in from the front.

Pfft!

Momochi Seiko twisted aside, but that kick still swept past like a great spear, tearing open a gash across her waist and abdomen.

As a descendant of Momochi Tanba-no-kami, one of Iga’s three legendary jonin, and a remnant of the Momochi Clan’s ninja forces, Momochi Seiko bore the resolve to follow Prince Hirohito and devote herself to restoring the fallen ninja clan.

As though she could not feel pain, she spread her hands, shifted her sword stance, and thrust at her opponent’s leg.

Pfft!

The sword sank three inches into the ground. Momochi Seiko instantly pulled back and leaped out of the smoke, tossing another smoke bomb.

She knew that the man before her was likely a monster no weaker than the Twelve Demon Moons under that lord’s command. He was no ordinary foe. As long as she held him back for a moment and waited for His Highness to reach safety, she would have succeeded.

As her thoughts raced, Momochi Seiko caught sight of Prince Hirohito nearly reaching that wooden house. As long as he got there…

But in the next instant, Momochi Seiko froze. She had not heard the smoke bomb explode.

The moment Momochi Seiko landed, she held her blade across her body. Her stance was not as open as that of an ordinary swordsman, as if she were ready to burst away at any moment.

Bai Cangshu emerged from the smoke, several black smoke bombs pinched between his fingers.

These impact-triggered smoke bombs seemed not to have suffered any impact at all in his hands. He had caught them perfectly, and none had exploded.

"Miss Ninja, you’ve disappointed me."

Bai Cangshu suddenly twisted around, moving so fast the eye could barely follow. In the next moment, several smoke bombs shot forward and smashed down in front of Hirohito.

Bai Cangshu himself pounced toward the female ninja like a cheetah.

Seeing this, the ninja wrapped head to toe in black night garb drew a heavy breath. She was no fledgling who had never seen blood. On the contrary, over the years, she had long grown used to taking lives and having lives taken amid assassinations.

The only difference was that now, it was her turn.

Momochi Seiko shouted in fury, her hands flying as a mass of shuriken shot forth.

Bai Cangshu’s pupils contracted. With his hawk-like dynamic vision, paired with the terrifying reaction speed granted by his boosted agility stat of seventeen, he grasped every movement of the shuriken filling the sky.

Bai Cangshu twisted his body, his neck flickering like a phantom, and in an instant stepped through the barrage of flying shuriken.

At the same time, he exhaled with a shout, his right hand flattening into a blade as terrifying force tensed within it in an instant.

Whoosh!

Amid the air’s mournful howl, that dreadful swinging hand stabbed forward.

Momochi Seiko felt as though her heart had sunk to its depths. Her movements seemed unbearably slow. His entire body radiated blazing killing intent, and that hand blade thrusting toward her was more terrifying than any sword technique.

Death!

She suddenly felt the terror of death descending upon her. She only had time to turn her blade sideways and shift it before herself, trying to block the strike.

But she was too slow. Her blade had only just moved when the gale stirred up by his attack slammed into her nose and mouth.

Pfft!

At the last moment, Bai Cangshu changed his hand blade into a fist and drove it into her chest. The crack of shattering bones was crisp, while the sound of her internal organs bursting like balloons was utterly dull.

You killed Ninja Momochi Seiko and gained 300 Dimensional Points.

Side Quest: Bloody Purge. Additional reward obtained. Every participant received an additional 500 Dimensional Points.

Hidden Quest: Fading Divinity progress updated. Shintoism faction reputation increased. Current: Friendly (65/100).

Even in death, the female ninja did not remove her mask. Perhaps she truly possessed some ability, but her battlefield should have been the dark, treacherous night—disguises and assassinations.

Not this utterly exposed square, where she had tried to fight someone like Bai Cangshu with nothing but a few smoke bombs.

So she died.

Hirohito heard the distinct sound of a heavy body hitting the ground. His already trembling legs gave out even more severely.

But thankfully, the wooden house with the flag bearing a red moon symbol was the safe house in his mind.

As long as he reached it, he could live!

He gasped for breath, and for no reason began to resent the Oiran who had accompanied him last night. If her skills had not been so exceptional, how could he have ended up in such a wretched state?

Tap, tap, tap.

Hirohito froze. An icy sensation suddenly rose behind him, and his entire body stiffened. The little house Muzan had left for his retreat was only a few meters away.

But that man…

Hirohito slowly turned around, and his pupils abruptly shrank.

The tall man was standing less than a meter behind Hirohito.

They were so close that Hirohito could practically smell the bloody aura on the man’s hands.

This man had killed his personal guards, and had even slain the powerful ninja of the Momochi Clan in moments.

"Y-you… who are you…?"

Hirohito was frightened by Bai Cangshu’s silent approach and staggered backward, but in truth, he had moved even closer to the wooden house.

The corners of Bai Cangshu’s mouth curled up. Pretending not to notice, he instead went along with Hirohito’s wishes, continuing to step forward and force him back.

"What do you want?"

"Money, power? Or beautiful women?"

"I can give you all of it!"

Hirohito babbled nonsense to stall for time as he anxiously backed away.

At this moment, he felt that his legs had become more nimble instead.

Bai Cangshu watched him, his amusement deepening.

Finally, Hirohito felt his back press against the wooden door.

His heart began pounding violently.

Maybe I can live?!

The thought seemed to ignite Hirohito’s heart, bringing color back to his face.

Looking at this emperor who would one day launch a brutal war, Bai Cangshu felt that such a person was just as naïve and weak at this moment.

No matter how many lives he might take in the future, when his own life was about to be taken, he still groveled for survival in the mud like a stray dog.

Creak.

The wooden door opened. The sound of a biwa rose from the darkness, and Hirohito’s heart leaped with joy, color immediately flooding his face.

But in the next instant, immense force struck from the front. He was lifted into the air in an instant, pulled away from the wooden door.

Bai Cangshu gripped Hirohito by the neck with one hand and looked at the woman seated in the darkness, holding a biwa with black hair covering her face. No, she should have been called a Man-eating Demon.

Hirohito and Bai Cangshu stood fully beneath the sunlight. Though Nakime’s biwa sounded, nothing happened.

Hirohito struggled to turn his head, only to see the teasing smile on the tall man’s face.

"Hirohito, you tried hard to survive. Unfortunately… heh, it was all futile."

Crack!

Bai Cangshu casually squeezed, shattering his throat in an instant.

Thud.

Hirohito collapsed limply onto the ground. The agony of being unable to breathe and the terror of death’s approach made him lose control of his bladder at once.

Bai Cangshu kicked him away in disgust, then looked at Nakime inside the house and said,

"Can you arrange for me to meet Kibutsuji Muzan?"

A flash of light appeared in his hand, and the Blue Spider Lily appeared within it.

Nakime froze. She had been prepared to teleport away, but now she hesitated.

She knew that thing was likely what Lord Muzan had sought for a thousand years without obtaining.

In the next moment, Muzan’s voice sounded in Nakime’s mind.

Nakime struck the biwa. In an instant, female-presenting Muzan, dressed in a black kimono, appeared within the dark house. Her red eyes fixed on Bai Cangshu, and she nodded.

"You must be the Martial Artist those two mentioned. You do have some skill."

"How about it? Do you want immortality?"

Although she was trying her best to remain calm, Bai Cangshu could still tell that her gaze was practically glued to the Blue Spider Lily in his hand.

You killed Prince Hirohito and gained 500 Dimensional Points.

Side Quest: Bloody Purge additional reward obtained. Each participating member received 1 D-rank Anomaly Point. XX53562211 (Mercenary Tao) received 1 C-rank Anomaly Point (disguise ID may be customized).

Hidden Quest: Fading Divinity progress updated. Shintoism faction reputation greatly increased. Current: Respected (90/100).

Hidden Faction: Shintoism. Reputation Shop unlocked.

Main Mission progress updated...

At this moment, the trembling, writhing Hirohito finally fell completely silent.

Bai Cangshu suddenly burst into laughter. The Shrine Master of Fushimi Inari Taisha had pretended not to want Hirohito dead, yet the reputation increase he gained from killing Hirohito was far greater than from killing ordinary Man-eating Demons or those ministers.

Humans and Man-eating Demons really were no different sometimes.