I'm in the Dragon Clan, bound to the Naruto Counterattack System

Chapter 79 Assassination of the King

Back in his hotel suite, Fingel collapsed onto the sofa like an exhausted husky, whimpering softly.

Cheng Sui stood in the entryway, his brows slightly furrowed, still recalling that eye contact with the ramen chef.

Japan truly lives up to its reputation as a den of dragons and tigers; even a ramen vendor on the street possesses unfathomable skill.

Cheng Sui gently gripped the hilt of the Kirikage Maru, but the feeling was completely different from before.

Previously, when Cheng Sui held the knife, he simply held the knife. In his hands, the knife and the stick were no different; he would pick them up and swing them forcefully. The difference was that with a knife, he had to consider whether it was facing forward or backward, while with a stick, he didn't need to consider so much.

But now Cheng Sui feels completely different when he holds the knife. At this moment, Kirie Maru feels like an extension of his own body, as if he can control it as easily as using his own arm.

With a slight thought, Cheng Sui deftly used the tip of his knife to lift the glass on the table. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the dark red blade flashed through the air, leaving several faint streaks of cold light. The glass landed steadily back in its original position, seemingly undamaged.

"Junior, what's wrong with you? Are you still itchy?"

Fingel muttered a complaint and picked up his cup to get some cola.

But the perfectly intact cup shattered into neat cubes the instant Fingel touched it.

Fingel, clutching only a lone cup handle, looked at Cheng Sui with surprise and uncertainty: "Junior, what did you just do?"

Cheng Sui himself was somewhat surprised. His strike just now was entirely driven by a mysterious muscle memory, swift as lightning and exquisitely precise.

If it were before, he was confident that he could also shatter a falling glass, but he would never be able to make the glass appear to fall intact.

This is an absolute difference in skill; one cannot reach this level without decades of immersion in the art of swordsmanship.

Unable to find a cup, Fingel reluctantly grabbed a large bowl and gulped down several mouthfuls of cola. With his burly physique, he resembled a Liangshan hero drinking from a large bowl with a touch of heroic spirit.

"Junior, I find myself increasingly unable to understand you." Fingel wiped his mouth. "What exactly is that thunder, that... what kind of thing is it?"

Cheng Sui glanced at him and made up a story: "Chinese Kung Fu is profound and complex; you wouldn't understand."

Fingel sidled up to Cheng Sui, his face full of flattery: "Junior, do you think I can learn? Am I the martial arts prodigy you guys talk about?"

"This kind of thing needs to be practiced from a young age; we call it 'childhood training'." Cheng Sui moved to the side. "Senior, you're almost thirty, so forget it."

Fingel curled his lip in disdain: "If you don't want to teach, then don't. Why make it so mysterious? So what if you're almost thirty? Shakespeare didn't start to rise to prominence until he was forty."

Cheng Sui ignored him and began to sort out the events of the past few days.

First came the biker gang attack. It's unclear whether this was planned by the Japanese branch itself or an attack by the Oni-gumi targeting them.

Although Genjiro assured him that this matter had nothing to do with the Japanese branch, Cheng Sui felt that Genjiro himself might be caught in a bigger mystery.

They then joined forces with Genjiro to investigate the potion, but it seemed as if they were stepping into a carefully designed trap.

From entering the nightclub to the conflict with the Asahi Group, to the police conveniently surrounding the base during the investigation, and the subsequent car chase on the highway, everything was a surprising coincidence.

The person named Kazama Ruri was clearly the real culprit who killed the Asahi Group members, and judging from the traces on the corpses, the real culprit acted just ten minutes before I arrived at the Asahi Group's base.

However, Cheng checked the map and found that the nearest police station was more than a 20-minute drive from the Asahi Group's headquarters.

In other words, the police cars were also arranged nearby in advance, and this was a conspiracy against them.

Who exactly did all this?

Is it the Demon Clan, or their Japanese branch?

"Junior, come quick!" Fingel's shout interrupted his thoughts.

Cheng Sui walked into the living room and looked at the television screen.

"Yesterday, an extremely bloody gang killing occurred in the streets of Mitaka City—," the news anchor reported solemnly.

Behind her, a large screen continuously played video clips taken by the police and passersby.

The scene in particular, where Cheng Sui stands proudly in the speeding Hummer while wearing a black trench coat, was repeatedly shown in close-up.

The more Cheng Sui watched, the more his brows furrowed, because the video provided by the TV station showed only him from beginning to end, with the other five people not appearing on screen at all.

Even the part where Yuan Zhisheng stood beside him and chanted about royal power was cut, leaving only him.

"This level of smear campaigning is comparable to the newspaper department's," Fingel frowned as he watched. "So, junior, what are you planning to do now? Your face is probably known all over Japan now; you'll be recognized every time you go out. Doesn't the Japanese branch care?"

Cheng Sui, on the contrary, leaned back into the sofa with a relaxed air, appearing completely unconcerned. He explained his reasoning in detail to Fingel.

Fingel, unusually serious, stroked his chin: "So, junior, you suspect that all of this was done by the Japanese branch?"

"Not necessarily. The Ghost Gang also has ample motives," Cheng Sui shrugged. "Both sides are possible."

"Oh?" Fingel sat up straight. "Tell me more about it."

"If the Japanese branch did this, their motive would simply be to use public opinion to restrict us, making us stay obediently in the hotel for the next few days and not go anywhere, so that they can ignore us and continue to be their local tyrants. However, there is one point of doubt."

Cheng Sui took a sip of water to moisten his throat.

"If they already knew about the Asahi Group's headquarters, why didn't Genji, the head of the executive bureau, know? Why did they need to split their forces into two groups to investigate?"

Fingel nodded: "And what about the motives of the Fierce Ghosts?"

"The Demon Clan's motive is simpler: they were worried they couldn't handle both me and Genjiro at the same time. But if it was the Demon Clan who did it, then there are even more suspicious points."

"First, why is the video on TV only showing me? It would be more beneficial for them to smear all of us. Second, if they knew about our actions, why didn't they eliminate me or Genji when we were separated?"

"If eliminating me is out of concern for Principal Angers' return to Japan, then why not eliminate Genjiro? The real culprit who killed the Asahi Group is definitely no less powerful than Genjiro."

Fingel pondered for a long time, then suddenly murmured, "So, if the higher-ups of the Demon Clan and the patriarch of the Snake Clan are actually the same person, does that explain all the contradictions?"

But after saying that, he smiled wryly and denied his guess: "That's ridiculous. If it's all the same person, what's his motive? To fight with his own left and right brains?"

Cheng Sui did not express his opinion. He had actually guessed this possibility before, but as Fingel said, there was no point in doing so.

It's like playing chess against yourself. If you know the purpose of every move you make, then playing chess in that way is completely meaningless.

But if—

"The purpose of playing chess against yourself isn't to win, but to put on a show for others." "Wait, junior," Fingel seemed to realize something, "Whichever side is targeting you, doesn't that mean our whereabouts have been compromised? And the location of our hotel—"

Cheng Sui, who was on the sofa, suddenly turned his head to look in the direction of the kitchen, and his pupils reflected the dazzling flames that were rapidly expanding.

"boom!!!"

A deafening explosion suddenly erupted from the heart of the top-floor suite at the Park Hyatt Tokyo!

A massive shockwave, carrying flames and thick smoke, instantly engulfed the entire space.

The scorching heatwave tore furniture and glass to shreds, and the explosion, accompanied by thick smoke, formed a mushroom cloud that slowly rose into the Tokyo night.