Ka-boom!

The explosion shook the skies and ground, tearing the container truck apart mercilessly. The fighters within were shredded into pieces from the shockwave. They were robbed by the Grim Reaper before they could even taste death.

The twenty-tonne vehicle was overturned. The armed FA man who was pretending to change his tyres was lucky enough to dodge the aftershocks of the explosion. However, his fate was sealed when the tumbling vehicle landed on him. His body was smashed flat under the weight of the truck.

Thud thud thud…

The Sweeper infantry fighting vehicle opened fire with its machine guns, aiming specifically at the patch of forest where the Hattori fighters were hiding. It came like the tide, pushing away all of its obstacles!

Trees were littered with bullet holes, causing it to fall to the ground. The fighters of the Hattori clan hiding at the very edge of the forest had faced the same fate. Their bodies were torn in an instant, artillery shells bringing their thighs, arms, heads, internal organs flying everywhere.

Those who were fast enough to duck and sprawl flat on the ground survived Sweeper’s aimless fire. Despite that, the Goddess of Luck had decided to not bless them today. The people on the road, who happened to be elite special forces from the military, had gotten ahold of weapons and were starting to attack them.

In that split second, the Gust assault rifle tore through the forest. Paired with the blasts of the Hell-bound One Soldier Cannon and the precision of the XL2500 sniper rifle, the surviving Hattori clan fighters were forced into the afterlife. They were already a pile of minced meat before they had the chance to use their crossbows.

What was supposed to be an ambush had turned into a massacre.

And this battle had just started minutes ago.

Within that short span of time, Sirita and Hattori Hyakusai had already distanced themselves from the scene.

Minutes ago, they were confident that they could defeat Xia Lei. Hattori Hyakusai even had plans to slaughter Sirita and her subordinates after the end of this operation. Sadly, the older man was now forced to become a guerilla team with Sirita.

The dynamics between humans were weird sometimes.

“Fucking hell!” Sirita ran for her life as she roared, “What the fuck is going on?!”

“The CIA’s intel is faulty!” Hattori Hyakusai berated. “Xia Lei knew of our operation long ago. He was just luring us out with the wedding and then-”

He continued to run with Sirita like wild dogs in the forest. As the protector of the Hattori clan and the leader of all the ninjas serving under the clan, the incident today robbed him of his pride and dignity.

“That night was our best shot at killing him but you gave up!”

“Now is not the time to talk about responsibilities! If you wish to leave this place alive, we need to work together!” Hattori Hyakusai yelled in response.

A cold smirk appeared at the edge of Sirita’s lips. Honestly, if it wasn’t for this reason, she would’ve already shot Hattori Hyakusai.

The FA’s ace assassin and the protector of the Hattori clan dashed with all their might to escape the onslaught. This was China and they were in Jingdu territory. As soon as the Chinese military issued a full search in the area, they would be stuck! They needed to escape from danger before it manifested!

Chirp chirp chirp…

The sound of wings flapping resonated from the forest ahead. A flock of birds abruptly flying out of the trees.

Hattori Hyakusai halted urgently, unsheathing his katana and producing a shuriken in another palm. His grip was careful, avoiding the poison-laced tips of the shuriken.

Sirita stopped, looking into the direction of the commotion cautiously. As an experienced assassin, her alertness and sensitivity to danger were as sharp as Hyakusai.

The flock flew further, disappearing from earshot gradually. An eerie silence enveloped the forest. Not even the faint whistling of the wind. In their field of vision was a span of wilting yellow, only a handful of trees retained its lush green. This patch of the forest looked dead, voided of life. Everything about this place reeked of death.

But there was no one around.

Hattori Hyakusai and Sirita locked eyes, nodding in unison over an unsaid agreement.

Sirita placed her sniper rifle down and pulled out her pistol, crouching over slowly with care. She was using the same model as Dark Mona, both of their pistols customized with a larger barrel. One could describe it as a hand-held cannon.

Hattori Hyakusai did the same with practised caution, his movements a tad bit more deliberate than Sirita. He would close a short distance fast to hide behind a tree. From the protection of the bark, he would assess the situation with his eyes and ears before leaving his cover to dash forward once again.

He had gone through decades of ninja training. Every single movement of his was laced with his gruelling training.

The two approached the tree where the birds had flown away from. Weirdly, they couldn’t spot anyone in its vicinity but there was an A4 paper stuck to its trunk with a military dagger.

A simple line graced the paper. You have one minute to surrender. Your one minute starts now.

This was blatant mockery!

With a whip of his arm, the katana in Hattori Hyakusai’s grip created a line of silver. It sliced the A4 paper through, causing the note to fall off the tree. The cut he created was ridiculously straight. It was terrifying that Hyakusai had only sliced through the paper without inflicting any damage to the tree bark!

“Xia Lei!” Sirita screamed abruptly. “Show yourself!”

No one answered her. The forest was silent, allowing Sirita’s maddened voice to echo.

“Are you a turtle? Come on out!” Sirita continued to taunt. “Fight like a man!”

At that moment, Hattori Hyakusai dodged to the side to avoid an incoming shuriken. The weapon lodged itself snugly into a tree trunk where Hyakusai was milliseconds ago.

Their opponent had finally attacked and it was a ninja!

Hattori Hyakusai finally gave in to his emotions. Hiding behind a tree, he questioned in Japanese, “Who are you? Why are you working for a Chinese? What a disgrace!”

It took one attack from his opponent to know that he was met with someone from the same field.

Thud thud thud…

Gunshots were heard, rifle bullets began to fly from every direction like a storm. The tree trunk quivered from the impact. While safe from the bullets, the wood debris acted as its proxy, tearing Sirita and Hyakusai’s clothes and lacerating their skin!

Bang!

Sirita shot at a direction. The trunk of an old tree pitifully losing half of its mass from her custom bullet!

Poof! Another bullet ambushed Sirita from behind, hitting her gun-holding right wrist. Shot from the Gust assault rifle, the bullet destroyed Sirita’s wrist. It rendered her unable to keep her grip on her weapon. The pistol slid from her hands to the ground.

But Sirita was fast. She used the momentum of her injury and tossed herself onto the ground, immediately reaching out her left arm.

Poof! The back of her left palm was shot, breaking the phalanges of her middle finger and index finger. There was no way she could pull the trigger with a hand like this.

A young man emerged from behind a tree. He was none other than the person they were desperate to kill off. He was Xia Lei.

In this forest, Xia Lei had returned to his original state. His smile was bright. There was a faint smirk at the curled edges of his lips, confident and lofty but undeniably charming. His entire vibe was like that of a satisfied explorer and not a gun-wielding killer.

Hattori Hyakusai waved his left arm at the sight of Xia Lei. The shuriken that left his fingers whistled towards Xia Lei.

Ping! Another shuriken came from the side and deflected Hyakusai’s shuriken from its intended path. The metal weapon clashed together mid-air before landing on the same tree in unison.

A female ninja showed herself. Crimson red uniform with a katana in her grip.

It was Tsukino Kyoko from the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team.

Following Tsukino Kyoko’s reveal, a few people emerged from three different directions. It was Yelena, E’er Demutu, Alessio, Anjum Khan, Sa’im and the four female knights, Giovanna, Stella, Rosa and Theresa. This would mark the first time the knights had joined them on an operation.

Other than Liang Siyao, the pig, and the upcoming commander of the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team that would replace Xia Lei, Long Bing, along with the mysterious snake, everyone else was present.

The Chinese Zodiac Battle Team was almost complete. With the addition of Xia Lei, they could perish all the armed fighters and ninjas who might’ve survived the earlier assaults, let alone two big fishes who escaped the net!

Hattori Hyakusai and Sirita’s predicament was deliberate. Xia Lei had allowed them a slight opening to find themselves stuck in this ambush ring. If the two had died or gotten captured by the military, Xia Lei would have unanswered questions left.

Xia Lei took slow steps towards Sirita and Hattori Hyakusai.

Tsukino Kyoko trailed behind him closely, her sharp gaze never leaving Hattori Hyakusai. A silent warning to him.

“Who are you?” questioned Hattori Hyakusai coldly. “Why are you serving Xia Lei? Are you not aware that he’s an enemy of Japan?”

“I’ve always resented right-wing bastards like you. Quit talking about Japan to my face. My katana will only serve people who I deem worthy,” replied Tsukino Kyoko coolly.

“You disgrace!” Hattori Hyakusai lunged forward with his katana.

Bang bang bang!

Yelena shot thrice to the ground before Hattori Hyakusai.

It effectively stopped the man. He may be strong but he was human. If Yelena wished to do so, she could easily create a few holes in his body.

“Allow him to entertain me.” Tsukino Kyoko said, “I’d like to see how great the protector of the Hattori clan is.”

Hattori Hyakusai stood silently with his katana. The situation was clear, he had no way to escape this. However, he would rather die trying than to die a cowardly death. It certainly didn’t help that the person Hyakusai was about to face was a disgrace to the country and its people!

Tsukino Kyoko inched closer, katana in her strong grip. Her steps were designed and calculated, there was room for attack and room to defend herself.

Xia Lei relented, “Kyoko, can you not play at a time like this? Just subdue him with a shot and drag him away.”

Tsukino Kyoko insisted, “Give me one minute. I’ll handle this all in one minute.”

They were both experts of the art. It was such a rare occasion to come across someone worthy of an opponent and Tsukino Kyoko was adamant to challenge Hattori Hyakusai to a duel. This was a great chance to prove the fruit of her labour.

Xia Lei shrugged helplessly. “Very well. One minute it is. Your time starts now.”

Hattori Hyakusai scoffed. “One minute? I’ll kill you in less than ten seconds!”

His sentence fell and he lunged forward.

Tsukino Kyoko held up her katana in defence, clashing their swords together.

Xia Lei went towards Sirita instead.