Chapter 596: Retreating to Advance, Are You Willing to Accept My Strengthening Training

The sun set in the west, the orange-red light of dusk spread across the street, and the Black Shadow Ninja arrived near the Isayama Family's duplex villa with light steps, looking somewhat lively; the White Shadow Ninja emerged, patted its shoulder, and made it enter its role.

"Slap~"

The Black Shadow Ninja slapped its hand away, its original bouncing manner of an elementary schooler returning home from school gradually transformed into an extremely gloomy introvert.

Malice and resentment burst forth from its body, and the darkness beneath its feet swallowed the orange sunset light on the street at this moment.

The originally steaming street instantly became somewhat bleak and cold.

The Isayama Family's barrier was triggered and activated, and the other Jubando people in the courtyard immediately noticed this surging malice and resentment.

"HENSHIN!"

The Black Shadow Ninja used black flames to disguise armor, and on the street plunged into darkness, one by one, black shadow grunts appeared behind it at some unknown time.

As the Black Shadow Ninja raised its hand and waved toward the Isayama Family's direction, the black shadow grunts silently charged over; the barrier appeared and was quickly shattered.

Nearly Type B-level black shadow grunts, carrying a tide of malice and resentment, surged over; a burly Jubando man covered in talismans attempted to resist but was quickly knocked down by the black shadow grunts.

"Bang~"

Spirit-power-imbued bullets were fired out from inside the house.

*Clang*—with a sound, mere grunt ninjas actually performed the feat of slicing bullets with ninja swords.

"Mizutora, lead people to form a formation, distribute the weapons, delay as much time as possible, defend this place!"

Jino Setsuna's complexion was not good; upon realizing the opponent did not match the simple quest her father described, she had already realized her rebellious behavior had likely been discovered by her father, and although her father did not move against her, he dispatched her and her faction's people to execute this super high-danger escort quest.

But, things having come to this, there was nothing more to say; she had to lead her people to survive, and since this was ultimately within the urban area, erupting such terrifying malice and resentment was impossible not to be discovered; now it was just a matter of whether they could hold out until reinforcements arrived.

Bullets were chambered, Jubando's special talismans were thrown out, and the trap barriers preset around the Isayama Family yesterday began to activate.

The black shadow grunts' offensive was halted for a moment, but only a short while; as the Black Shadow Ninja, this main antagonist, approached and swung a black flame slash toward the direction of greatest resistance, the resistance put up by the Jubando guards collapsed like so much clay chickens and tile dogs.

Although no one died, the barrier formation they had temporarily formed had already shattered, and these people were also entangled by the black shadow grunts, unable to attend to anything else for the time being.

The Black Shadow Ninja stood in place, its scarlet gaze falling upon Isayama Huangquan, who was manipulating Ran Guren to attack the black shadow grunts.

Suddenly, it turned its body sideways, a blade light smashed into the ground where it had just been standing; Isayama Meifu's ambush attack from the side-rear missed, and as she prepared to continue pursuit, she was kicked in the abdomen by the Black Shadow Ninja.

"Bang~"

The Black Shadow Ninja's posturing counterattack motion was stopped by a bullet fired with extreme cooperation by Jino Setsuna.

The bullet struck the Black Flame Sword, producing sparks of spirit power and resentment mutually annihilating; the Black Shadow Ninja looked at the Jubando girl, then crouched down.

The next moment, it was like a pitch-black cheetah, crossing a distance of over twenty meters, directly closing in before Jino Setsuna.

"Ran Guren, Roar Wave!"

Isayama Huangquan realized things were bad and immediately gave the order to the red lion beside her.

"Roar~"

A huge roar formed a substantial sonic attack, attempting to intercept the Black Shadow Ninja's charge route toward the Jubando girl.

Just as the Roar Wave was about to bombard the Black Shadow Ninja's body, the Black Shadow Ninja abruptly used an earth-escape technique, turning into a shadow to let the Roar Wave miss entirely, only destroying the surrounding walls in the Isayama Family courtyard.

The Black Shadow Ninja then reappeared behind Jino Setsuna, its black flame sword with maxed-out special effects slashing toward the Jubando girl's back.

But compared to the speed it had charged with, this was excessively slow.

Of course, in outsiders' eyes it was still fast, and Jino Setsuna was not without ability.

So...

She twisted her body, crossed the special dual pistols in her hands, and made a blocking motion.

Then, there was no then.

This Jubando girl's body, like a broken cloth doll, was slashed flying by the Black Shadow Ninja whose stats were above normal humans.

It was only because Broly didn't let the Black Shadow Ninja kill her, using real lost lives to enhance the authenticity of this training drama.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been slashed flying to roll on the ground and smash into Isayama Meifu who was preparing to climb up over there, but would have been directly sliced in two along with her guns, blood splattering on the spot.

Isayama Meifu took a kick, had not yet fully recovered, and was then smashed into by Jino Setsuna; abdominal pain and roiling breath gave her a feeling of nausea.

【This is a simple escort quest? A spirit body of this level is something we can handle? Father, you really want to kill your own biological daughter me?!】

Her father's ruthlessness in deliberately assigning an extremely dangerous quest made Jino Setsuna feel more despair and heart-chill than the pain of fractured finger bones.

She planned to rebel against Jubando, but had never thought of killing her father's life; yet her father wanted to kill her.

If one were to say the other party didn't know whether this quest was dangerous, Jino Setsuna absolutely didn't believe it; it was precisely because he knew it was dangerous that he dispatched her and her people over.

"We're probably going to die here..."

After exchanging blows with the Black Shadow Ninja, the huge gap brought by strength made Jino Setsuna give up resistance.

"Do Jubando people have no backbone to fight to the end?"

The equally battered Isayama Meifu leaned on her naginata and stood up; the Black Shadow Ninja's strength instead gave rise to a courage that viewed death as returning home.

And over there, Ran Guren had already been defeated; the boys and girls wielding bamboo swords who attacked the Black Shadow Ninja were swept flying by the other side as if swatting flies.

Isayama Huangquan held the Lion King, blocking before the Black Shadow Ninja; she wanted to protect the two children behind her, yet was easily trampled by the Black Shadow Ninja.

The armored figure emitting malice and resentment was like a big cat teasing a mouse; the black flame sword chopped onto Isayama Huangquan's sword, using brute force to bit by bit force the girl to kneel.

Isayama Huangquan couldn't dodge, because behind her were the people she had to protect; she could only grip the sword with both hands and use her shoulder to desperately brace against the ninja sword burning with black flames.

"Hah—"

Isayama Meifu charged again; the black shadow grunts were originally going to block this kind of supporting character's interference, but the Black Shadow Ninja, seeing the astonishingly good acting owner give a signal, immediately recalled its summoned grunts and dodged her slash in a perfunctory manner.

"Huangquan, let's coordinate!"

The two Isayama Family girls, knowing each other's bottom lines from sparring, actually displayed extremely tacit coordination at this moment of first collaboration in the face of the desperate situation brought by the Black Shadow Ninja, and for a time, the offense and defense reversed, counterattacking the Black Shadow Ninja.

Of course, if it weren't for the need to hold back, with the operating funds Broly gave, the Black Shadow Ninja could have directly relied on stats to violently break through the two's counteroffensive.

But now, this is called giving the female lead Huangquan the experience of a breakthrough reversal; the Red Demon Clan's script also has its satisfying moments.

Broly timed it, and as the Jubando people gradually fell, he again gave the Black Shadow Ninja a signal.

The Black Shadow Ninja understood, black qi rising from its body as it retracted the externalized resentment used to create scene special effects.

Then came the classic Boss second-phase transformation — its pitch-black mask armor gradually sprouted what looked like ferocious blades but were actually pure visual effects, making the whole thing far more aggressive, and immediately afterward it ramped up its power.

The Isayama sisters, who had seemed to be turning the tide, were defeated in the blink of an eye; their counterattack's horn was cut short, and the girl fell into despair once more.

And just as the plot reached today's finale, with the White Shadow ninja preparing to save the day, the rat-a-tat of gunfire rang out a step ahead.

Broly turned his head and saw Jino Setsuna, who had at some point run back into the house, pulling the trigger of that machine gun with her bare feet.

Black Shadow Ninja: "..."

It didn't understand why this Supporting Character who should have exited could still use her feet to keep launching attacks after her hand bones were broken, but now it knew what it had to do.

The Black Shadow Ninja shifted its execution target (Isayama Meifu) and went instead for Jino Setsuna inside the house; seeing she had drawn its attention, Jino Setsuna immediately got up and ran deeper into the house.

"Boom—"

The Black Shadow Ninja caught up; a string of grenades connected by wire, kicked loose by the Jubando girl with one kick to the line and the pull rings, suddenly detonated.

Special shrapnel pierced the Black Shadow Ninja's body; as a spirit body that had only this morning received its master's funding (buffs), some penetrating wounds quickly healed in burning black flames — just that the master's current residence seemed to have partially collapsed from the blast.

The Black Shadow Ninja looked back, saw its master didn't look particularly angry, and continued pursuing the Jubando girl.

Jino Setsuna sprinted barefoot out of the house, intending to lure the Black Shadow Ninja away from the Isayama Family; just as she reached the Isayama Family courtyard gate, she was caught up to.

The Black Shadow Ninja kicked her face-down into the dirt; just as Isayama Huangquan, dragging her injured body, watched the Black Shadow Ninja raise its butcher's knife at the Jubando girl and angrily shouted "Stop," a white figure — after the Jubando girl's interference bought a stretch of time — finally made its entrance.

Jino Setsuna didn't know how others saw it, but looking at the white-armored figure now before her, she unmistakably felt the sensation of seeing a great savior.

And after a spectacular display of swordsmanship, the Black Shadow Ninja back-jumped, putting distance between itself and the White Shadow Ninja.

It glanced at the Countermeasures Bureau vehicles approaching from not far away, and just as the sunset fully set and night descended, it left the words "The prey I've marked, you cannot protect them for a lifetime" in black flames in midair, then vanished into the darkness and retreated.

The White Shadow Ninja did not follow; instead it turned its head toward the Countermeasures Bureau vehicle that had drifted around the corner and stopped at the Isayama Family courtyard gate.

The car door opened; a bespectacled youth stepped out, saw the White Shadow Ninja standing before Isayama Huangquan and the others with a ninja sword in hand, and shouted: "Evil spirit, don't even think about harming anyone — begone!"

He dove down, treating the tachi in his hand as a throwing weapon.

The man hadn't arrived yet, but the flying knife came first.

Then, there was no then.

The flying knife was easily caught by the White Shadow Ninja, and the diving youth was kicked back by it.

"Ah, that's not..."

Shen Gongji Shobu's words cut off; her legs already healed, she watched Mine Fushiko fly back upside-down, unsure what to say.

Upon seeing the White Shadow Ninja, she knew it might be the other party coming to save the day again, but wanting to test its depth, she didn't speak up in time to stop Mine Fushiko before she charged in.

The result: the reinforcement from the Onmyodo Main Family, before even clashing with the true villain Boss Black Shadow Ninja, recklessly attacked a friendly NPC big shot, was countered by the White Shadow Ninja, had two ribs kicked broken, and now faced the reality of having just arrived only to be carried off by the Countermeasures Bureau stretcher team.

"Truly sorry, Mine Fushiko was too impulsive; she didn't figure out who the enemy was before attacking you."

Shen Gongji Shobu bowed and apologized before the White Shadow Ninja; a guy who could one-shot Mine Fushiko, as long as he showed no malice, had to be respected.

The White Shadow Ninja glanced at her, didn't pay her much mind, and instead bypassed her, walking straight to Isayama Huangquan.

"White Shadow-sama, many thanks; we have been saved by you once again."

Isayama Huangquan offered thanks.

【I did not save you; on the contrary, you were dragged into this by me, targeted by my evil side.

As the other party said before leaving, I cannot protect you for a lifetime.

So I have a proposal — I wonder if you will accept?】

"Eh, what proposal?"

【I want to temper you, teach you techniques, raise your strength; giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him to fish — as long as your strength becomes no lesser than my evil side, you naturally won't need to worry about its possible sneak attacks anymore.】

The script wasn't written this way, but plans can't keep up with changes.

At least, Broly was very satisfied with the two ninja spirits' improvisation, and didn't mind having no lines himself.

"Ah, there's actually such a good thing?!"

Isayama Meifu and Jino Setsuna widened their eyes; the White Shadow Ninja's power was undeniable — clear from its ability to drive off the Black Shadow Ninja.

And yet such a powerful existence was willing to temper Isayama Huangquan and raise her strength — wasn't that practically pie falling from the sky?

The ignored Shen Gongji Shobu frowned; Black Shadow strikes again, White Shadow saves the day again, then proposes teaching the girl techniques to grow stronger — giving her the feeling the other party was setting a trap.

But Isayama Huangquan — she wasn't without vigilance; it was just that being cornered into a desperate situation again had ignited a craving for power in her heart.

"White Shadow-sama, are you really willing to teach me to become stronger?"

【Not teach you to become stronger, but teach you two to become stronger.】

The White Shadow Ninja pointed at her, then at Tsuchimiya Kagura.

【Of course, this is premised on both of you agreeing; I never force anyone.】

"Handing out benefits too eagerly invites suspicion of ulterior motives and isn't smooth plot-wise, but pull a 'retreat to advance' move and you can dispel many doubts and avoid suspicion — of course, this is just one scenario..."

The White Shadow Ninja's scripted role was a savior who also delivers benefits to Isayama Huangquan and Tsuchimiya Kagura — a tool person — but how to deliver those benefits naturally and reasonably, the script provided some directorial guidance.

As for the specific performance, it'd depend on improvisation.

"I want to become stronger; I don't want to experience the despair of possibly losing my family again — White Shadow-sama, please!"

Isayama Huangquan bowed deeply to the White Shadow Ninja; Shen Gongji Shobu watched from the side but couldn't bring herself to make the girl more wary of this White Shadow spirit that reeked of a setup.

【You're injured now; use talismans to treat yourselves first; I'll come back tomorrow and properly guide and train you.】

Leaving those words, the White Shadow Ninja turned and left, not giving Shen Gongji Shobu any chance to keep probing.

The Countermeasures Bureau people wanted to stop it, but didn't know whether they should — or even if they could.

After all, when their spiritual power field detection devices pointed at the other party, the needles pegged to the maximum.

The White Shadow ninja spirit before them — never mind good or bad — its strength was real, a genuine A-rank spirit, and not even an ordinary A-rank; the detector just wasn't good enough to measure its ceiling.

Fortunately, Shen Gongji Shobu waved in time, telling them not to block the White Shadow Ninja's departure.

Brief contact — the White Shadow Ninja gave her a sense of extreme self-centeredness.

As if the other party only cared about what it cared about, while for things it didn't care about...

Those golden pupils, yet they held a gaze that looked down on everything.