As Luke spoke, he tilted his head slightly and looked toward the woman positioned above and to the side, who thought she had concealed her presence perfectly.
The instant Fusui Kure, on the rooftop, met the gaze of the man below, a chill ran down her spine. Every danger alarm in her head went wild, making her want to turn and run.
She had never felt this way around anyone before. Not even her brother Raian Kure, hailed as the Kure Clan’s genius, had ever exerted such crushing pressure on others.
The man below was extremely dangerous!
Her assassin’s training kept the hand holding her sniper rifle steady, but her palm was already soaked with sweat. She had a clear bead on the man’s head, yet with every warning bell in her mind blaring, she simply could not pull the trigger.
Just who was this wanted criminal named Luke?
Ding—
At that moment, Luke flicked a finger. The dagger held before him snapped in half, and one half of the blade spun through the air at incredible speed toward another elevated position. It lodged precisely in the trigger mechanism of a sniper rifle.
On that rooftop, a young Kure Clan sniper who had nearly succumbed to the pressure and fired stared at the jammed trigger, cold sweat pouring down his face.
His finger had not even been cut!
Luke did not look toward the rooftop. He merely smiled kindly. "Keep your hands steady. If that gun goes off by accident, quite a few of you will die."
After several seconds of eerie silence, the young man standing before Luke finally raised his hand. At his signal, the people beside him withdrew, and the three snipers on the rooftops put away their rifles as well.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, composed himself, and spoke. "Mr. Luke, we were discourteous."
Sure enough, strength was the only truth.
If Luke had merely been an ordinary wanted criminal, the Kure Clan would have captured him and sent him to prison today. But he had demonstrated his strength, and only the strong earned respect.
He could have killed someone just now, but instead he had used an even more difficult method to jam the trigger of the person about to fire, defusing the conflict without anyone realizing it.
The young man from the Kure Clan patrol was no fool. Continuing this confrontation would only be asking for trouble.
"You are indeed a powerful martial artist. The Kure Clan welcomes you for a martial arts exchange. We still have patrol duties, so she will take you to the main household."
As the young man spoke, a woman in her twenties emerged from the building. She was one of the snipers from above.
She was tall and lean, wearing a black tactical vest that exposed the defined lines of her abdomen, along with hot pants and black thigh-high stockings. Her outfit fully displayed her slender, athletic figure.
"Hello, Mr. Luke. I’m Fusui Kure. Just call me Fusui."
Fusui introduced herself as she studied the man named Luke from up close. Yet that overwhelming sense of danger from earlier seemed to have vanished.
But she would never believe that her danger instincts had made a mistake. That could only mean the man before her had reached the level where he could freely restrain and release his killing intent and aura.
For that brief instant earlier, this man named Luke had probably been prepared to become their enemy. That was why he had made her heart tremble.
"Hello, Miss Fusui. It’s for the best that we cleared up this misunderstanding. I’ve visited the Wu Clan before, and I’d always heard that your branch places greater importance on courtesy. For a moment, I thought I had come to the wrong place."
Luke smiled. He was not making it up. The identity Endspace had arranged for him was quite solid if anyone dug into it. Aside from giving him a chance to directly obtain the status of a Kengan fighter at the beginning, its backstory was also worth examining.
His identity really was that of someone smuggled into Japan from a small country. But he had been born in the great eastern nation, and according to his background information, he had dealt with the Wu Clan there when he was younger.
"That is truly embarrassing. Please follow me, Mr. Luke. As for the martial arts exchange, we must first ask the clan head."
Fusui felt somewhat ashamed at Luke’s words. The main reason was that her clan consisted of assassins, and they routinely kept tabs on dangerous people. After Luke became wanted, they had looked into his records and concluded that he was a thrill killer.
The records showed that Luke had initially clashed with human smugglers because he could not pay them. After killing the smugglers, he could clearly have left. Yet he had stayed behind and slaughtered every member of that organization, using exceptionally brutal methods.
Someone like that was far too dangerous in their eyes. They could not let him wander freely around Kure Village.
It sounded strange coming from assassins, but the Kure Clan rarely had psychopaths who genuinely enjoyed killing. Killing was just their work—their business. And who truly enjoyed their job?
Other than assignments arranged by clients, the Kure Clan normally did not kill people. If anything, they cared greatly about order.
Of course, any large group had its exceptions. There would always be oddballs. Her brother Raian Kure was an obvious example. Killing gave him pleasure. He was a genius within the Kure Clan, but he was also a famously troublesome child.
"Mr. Luke, could we take a side street?"
As she led the way, Fusui asked hesitantly.
"Oh? Would there be a problem with taking the main road?"
Luke asked curiously. Fusui did not look as though she were leading him into an ambush, so why take a detour?
"I have a brother who is usually up ahead. He has a bad temper, and I’m afraid the two of you might start fighting immediately."
Fusui explained. She had only remembered it while walking. In her view, a dangerous powerhouse like Luke absolutely could not meet her brother.
At the very least, they could not meet without the clan head there to restrain them. Otherwise, there would definitely be bloodshed.
Word had already spread that a powerful martial artist had arrived in Kure Village. With the speed at which her clan passed information, every Kure Clan member in the city probably knew by now. Her brother might even be searching for Luke at this very moment.
If that hothead Raian learned that Luke had intimidated the patrol in broad daylight, he would probably find an excuse to kill Luke in the name of bolstering the Kure Clan’s prestige.
Fusui believed Luke was strong, but her brother was strong in a monstrous way as well. If they fought, the consequences would be impossible to predict.
"Oh, that sounds interesting. I came specifically to exchange martial arts with your clan. If your brother is strong, then sparring with him would suit me perfectly."
Luke said with a smile. Of course, he knew who Fusui’s brother was. Raian Kure, the Kure Clan prodigy capable of one hundred percent Removal, was a violent man who enjoyed slaughter. Setting aside his character, his strength truly ranked among the top tier in this world.
In the original story, Raian Kure faced Ohma Tokita in the second round of the Kengan Annihilation Tournament. He ultimately lost to Ohma, the protagonist, but that did not mean he was weaker than Ohma.
Raian had been too arrogant. He insisted on crushing Ohma through raw stats, but Ohma possessed [Possessing Spirit], a technique similar to Removal. Ohma eventually seized an opening and turned the fight around with skill.
But in truth, Raian had not even used the many techniques of the Kure Clan. He had completely thrown the match away through his own recklessness.
Removal had fewer side effects than [Possessing Spirit], and a talent like Raian could practically use it at will. Ohma, on the other hand, could only barely activate [Possessing Spirit] by burning through his life force. If the two truly fought to the death, the outcome would be difficult to predict.
"N-no... Mr. Luke, please just come with me. The clan grounds are right ahead."
Fusui’s expression was grim. She truly did not want to see her brother fight Luke. Although she also thought her brother was an asshole, her instincts told her that if Raian faced Luke, he might very well die.
Without waiting to see whether Luke agreed, Fusui grabbed his hand and ran forward. Before long, they arrived at the clan grounds.
Just as she was about to sigh in relief, thinking that the clan head would probably send the steady and immensely powerful "Ogre Weeping Child," Hollis Kure, to fight Luke, a voice made her nerves tense again.
"Yo. You were hard to find."
The voice came from the torii gate above them. A heavily built young man with short pale blond hair crouched atop it, showing not the slightest reverence for the gods.
His black eyes stared at Luke like a beast that had encountered prey, his killing intent utterly undisguised.
"Raian! Don’t do anything reckless before we meet the clan head!"
Fine beads of sweat covered Fusui’s forehead as she shouted.
Raian Kure shoved both hands into his pockets and jumped down from the torii gate, five or six meters high, landing before Luke and Fusui.
The muscles of his upper body stretched his white tank top taut. The exposed muscles on his arms were knotted and powerful, leaving no doubt about the strength they contained. This was the Kure Clan’s demon, a man feared even by many within his own family.
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