Chapter 3338

Hattori Hanzo suddenly knelt before Ye Chen to pledge his loyalty, leaving everyone astonished.

Even Mitsui Yoshitaka and his daughter Mitsui Kokomi did not know Hattori Hanzo's true identity.

This was mainly because, although the Iga ninjas and Hattori Hanzo were famous in Japan, many people did not know their true faces.

Japanese ninjas, if spoken of kindly, are cautious warriors; if spoken of harshly, they are actually lecherous athletes. Among the several core skills they train daily, one important skill is to avoid being seen as much as possible. They often conceal many tools in their waistbands when going out—half for shooting hidden arrows to harm people, half for hiding and concealing themselves. Not showing their true faces is also a form of self-protection for them.

Mitsui Yoshitaka truly did not expect that, as the largest ninja family in Japan, the Iga ninjas would rush to the dome at a critical moment to report to Ye Chen, and he could not understand why such esteemed Japanese ninjas would bow and submit to a Huaxia person.

However, Mitsui Yoshitaka's worried heart finally relaxed completely at this moment.

Seeing the Iga ninjas' formation, combined with Ye Chen's almost divine strength, tonight this life seemed likely to be saved.

At this moment, Ye Chen asked Hattori Hanzo: "When you came in, what was the situation outside?"

Hattori Hanzo respectfully replied: "Reporting to Mr. Ye, when I led my men rushing in, outside there were already many dead—roughly a dozen or so corpses. They all wore black suits; they should be bodyguards."

Ye Chen turned to Mitsui Yoshitaka and asked: "How come your men are so useless? Wasn't it you who said they could block ten thousand troops?"

"This..." Mitsui Yoshitaka also felt puzzled, speaking awkwardly: "My bodyguards are all retired elite soldiers from the Japan Self-Defense Forces special forces. Theoretically, even facing samurai, they should not fall into a disadvantage. I don't know what happened today..."

Ye Chen asked again: "Did your bodyguards have no guns?"

Mitsui Yoshitaka replied: "They did..."

Ye Chen then asked: "Then why didn't we hear any gunfire?"

Mitsui Yoshitaka embarrassedly said: "This... this I also don't know... but Mr. Ye, rest assured, I will definitely investigate this clearly."

Ye Chen coldly said: "Have you considered that not long ago, the An Hua struck in America, we are in a bustling urban area, and outside tens of thousands of spectators are exiting. If outsiders received the news, gathered warriors, and rushed over, it would not take too little time. You just had your men take helicopters to rush over for support—those in helicopters haven't even arrived yet, so how did these people get here?"

Mitsui Yoshitaka furrowed his brows and asked: "Mr. Ye, do you mean these people should have already been lying in ambush nearby?"

Ye Chen nodded and said: "Your reaction this time was quick, but these people came too fast—it's absolutely impossible they came after receiving the An Hua's news."

Saying this, Ye Chen paused slightly, looked at him, then looked at Tawana, and said: "Since these people did not come after receiving the news, then their target for killing should not be Tawana."

Mitsui Yoshitaka's face tightened, and he instinctively asked: "Mr. Ye, by your implication, are these warriors here to kill me?!"

Ye Chen countered: "Otherwise? Do you think they came to kill me?"

Mitsui Yoshitaka hastily shook his head: "No no... I just couldn't figure it out..."

Ye Chen waved his hand: "Your mind is too slow—you don't have time to figure it out."

Ye Chen immediately said to Hattori Hanzo: "Have your men guard both sides of the passage. If anyone approaches, shout at them to leave before seeing them. If they ignore warnings and insist on approaching, kill them directly!"

"Hai!" Hattori Hanzo immediately told his ninjas: "All Iga ninjas, obey orders! Guard the passage strictly—no one allowed through! To prevent enemies from carrying heavy firepower, everyone prepare your swords and other hidden weapons. If anyone dares to show their head, kill them directly!"

The ninjas immediately obeyed, taking up stern positions to guard the two passages.

At this time, Ye Chen walked up to the kneeling warriors, directly lifted the one with both eyes blinded with one hand, and coldly asked: "Speak—who exactly sent you here? If you tell the truth, I'll spare your dog's life. But if you lie or simply stay silent, I will take your life."

Although the man was fearful in his heart, he still forced himself to say: "I still have family and children. If I die, my family can receive a generous resettlement fee. If I inform, my family will all die!"

As he spoke, he opened his pierced eyes and shouted hoarsely at those around: "Brothers, don't forget we are a unit! Whoever leaks secrets, our families will all be doomed!"

Ye Chen furrowed his brows, mocked: "This is so simple—you don't need to say it, I already know what's going on. I'm asking you just to give you a chance to live. Too bad—you were given a chance and you wasted it."

After saying that, Ye Chen asked him: "Was it Mitsui Mr.'s younger brother who ordered you to kill?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the warrior instantly stared with his mouth wide open. Though his eyes could not see Ye Chen, he fixed his gaze straight in the direction of Ye Chen's voice, his face full of disbelief.

Mitsui Yoshitaka and Mitsui Kokomi were similarly stunned, not understanding why Ye Chen suddenly said such things.

Although the warrior was shocked, he dared not show it, and in his heart he also feared Ye Chen was deliberately tricking him.

Ye Chen, however, at this moment wore a calm expression and said: "As long as you use your brain a little, you'll know you could come this fast not because you received the An Hua news earliest, nor because you happened to be very close here, but because someone had already hidden you nearby beforehand. With tens of thousands of people here, hiding dozens is easy as pie."

"Moreover, since someone had already hidden so many of you warriors here in advance, it proves the person who wants to kill is targeting someone among us who was certain to appear here today. Looking at it this way, it cannot be me and Miss Fee—only Tawana, Mitsui Mr., and Mitsui Miss remain."

"Furthermore, this afternoon someone already attacked Tawana, and the An Hua was only released after that failed action. You appeared after the An Hua was released, which also means your intended target could not possibly be Tawana."

"After eliminating these people, only Mitsui Mr. and his daughter remain. Mitsui Miss is young and does not bear great interests, so your employer would not go to such trouble to kill her. Therefore, the only possibility is Mitsui Mr."

Mitsui Yoshitaka exclaimed: "Mr. Ye, are you saying these warriors were all arranged by Liang Kang?!"

Ye Chen did not answer his question but instead ordered him: "Call now and ask—I told you to mobilize personnel—have they all arrived yet?"

Mitsui Yoshitaka hastily took out his phone and called one of his confidants.

As soon as the call connected, the other end transmitted the sound of helicopters whistling and a man loudly shouting: "Hello, sir! I am Honda Shinichi! May I ask what your orders are?"

Mitsui Yoshitaka deliberately turned on speakerphone and said to Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, listen—it's the sound of helicopter rotors. They are definitely on their way! They might arrive any moment!"

Ye Chen wore a face of disbelief, waved his hand, and said: "Don't jump to conclusions so early—first clarify things!"

Mitsui Yoshitaka helplessly could only ask: "Honda! How far are you from the dome?"

"Dome?" Honda Shinichi on the other end asked, somewhat puzzled: "Sir, weren't you the one who told me to bring people to protect the old master at Nishino Hakkei?"

"Nishino Hakkei?" Mitsui Yoshitaka exploded in anger: "I told you to come to the dome to protect me! Listen clearly—protect me! Who told you to go to Nishino Hakkei to protect my father?!"

The Mitsui family's estate in Tokyo is located in the southwest of the city center, while the dome is in the north-central part of Tokyo. As for Nishino Hakkei mentioned by Honda Shinichi on the phone, it is the retirement and nursing home of the Mitsui family patriarch, located near Mount Fuji, at least eighty kilometers southwest of the Mitsui estate!

In other words, he took off from the Mitsui estate and flew in the exact opposite direction from the dome!

Honda Shinichi hastily said: "Sir, it was your younger brother Liang Kang who called me, saying your father encountered danger at the Nishino Hakkei estate, and told me to immediately bring people there—so we rushed to take off toward Nishino..."

Mitsui Yoshitaka suddenly came to his senses, his face turned cold, and he blurted out: "Eight gag! You immediately turn around and come to the dome—I was ambushed at the dome, must hurry! The faster the better!"

After hanging up, Mitsui Yoshitaka's face was extremely grim, his hand gripping the phone trembling constantly. He furiously said: "I never expected that my younger brother, who has long been by my side, laboring and resenting nothing while serving me for years, actually wants my life!"

Ye Chen let out a cold laugh and said: "There should still be many things you haven't thought of."

After saying that, he helplessly shook his head and sighed: "Sometimes I really can't understand how someone like you could manage a huge financial empire, but then I think of Liu Shan, who also ruled as emperor for forty years—about the same, so I let it go."

Mitsui Yoshitaka asked in surprise: "Who is Liu Shan?"

Ye Chen looked dazed, waved his hand, and said: "Nothing, not important."

Beside him, Mitsui Kokomi felt her face was somewhat embarrassed, and hastily reminded: "Oduosan, Liu Shan is Liu Bei's son in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You used to like the Three Kingdoms, didn't you?"

Mitsui Yoshitaka instantly widened his eyes: "Liu Bei's son? That idiot?!"

Mitsui Kokomi hurriedly said: "Liu Shan may not necessarily be an idiot—just... somewhat mediocre in ability..."

"Mediocre ability..." Mitsui Yoshitaka did not feel comforted at all, his whole body filled with resentment and gloom, yet he dared not argue with Ye Chen. So he changed the topic to save some face for himself, and thus he poured all his anger onto his younger brother, cursing loudly: "Mitsui Liang Kang, you damn bastard! He must have worried that I'd let Honda support me, so he sent Honda to Nishino Hakkei to buy time for his warriors! It seems he had long planned to kill me today!"

Ye Chen said lightly: "He probably never even dreamed that today he'd be this lucky, running into someone who posted a ten-billion-dollar dark flower bounty on Tawana's life—under these circumstances, killing you and Tawana together would make everyone think the assassin was after the dark flower, and killing you was just an afterthought."

Mitsui Yoshitaka didn't know whether he was cursing his brother Mitsui Yoshiyasu or Ye Chen in front of him, his whole person furious and defeated as he stood there swearing: "Baka! Baka! Baka ya ro!"

Ye Chen ignored him further, instead looking at the blind warrior before him and said lightly: "You're just as foolish—have you considered that if your operation failed tonight, it foretells Mitsui Yoshiyasu's plan has also failed? Mitsui Yoshiyasu can barely protect himself, so how could he threaten your families? If I had asked you something just now and you answered honestly, you wouldn't only survive but could redeem yourself through merit—too bad I gave you the chance, and you failed to seize it."

Upon hearing this, the other party quickly grasped the reasoning, and he immediately begged for mercy, regretting deeply: "Mr., please spare my life—I'll tell you everything I know without reservation!"

"Too late." Ye Chen said lightly: "Opportunity comes only once—you chose wrong, so don't blame me."

Having said that, he directly threw the man in front of Hattori Hanzo and said coldly: "Hattori Hanzo, you send him on his way."

Hattori Hanzo immediately bowed and said: "Hai!"

Having said that, a short blade suddenly slid out from the sleeve of his black robe, which he then gripped in his hand and plunged directly into the warrior's heart!