052, Shinobi Murakami!

Queens

In front of the Fisk Building, along the charity donation street named after Wilson, cars riddled with bullet holes lay scattered about—some overturned, others crashed into trees and ablaze. Thick, acrid smoke billowed skyward, filling the air with an ominous haze.

As Zaire approached the main entrance of the building and the parking lot, he found more dismembered bodies strewn across the ground, with rivers of blood pooling beneath them. Meanwhile, the exterior walls of the building below the fifth floor were completely covered in heavy metal armor, making it impossible to see inside. The only indication of the ongoing conflict was the sporadic sounds of explosions echoing from within, a testament to the brutal gang war still raging on.

Inside the Building

At the junction of the second and third floors, the sound of gunfire rang out.

Madame Gao, dressed in a tight black outfit, expressionless, squeezed the trigger, unleashing a barrage of bullets at the relentless stream of enemies pouring in from above. The flames erupting from her weapon illuminated the streaks of blood on her face, while her once-tidy white hair had become a wild tangle.

The situation was dire; her forces had suffered heavy casualties. Originally in command, Madame Gao was now forced to fight alongside her men. Despite their efforts, only about fifty remained of her initial three hundred, and their momentum had been thoroughly stifled. They were now trapped, unable to move.

Suddenly, a cold, gleaming shuriken shot out from the back of the group!

The sharp blade sliced through the throats of several unfortunate henchmen, continuing unabated toward the back of Madame Gao's head. However, she seemed to sense the danger. In an instant, she dropped her gun, pulling back to take cover while dodging to the side.

Then, her hand shot up, and two slender fingers expertly caught the shuriken mid-air!

Bang—

At that moment, a tall figure clad in a blood-red cloak and dark red ninja garb materialized from the shadows at Madame Gao's feet, launching into the air!

In a flash, a sharp katana cut through the air, aimed straight for Madame Gao's neck.

"Hmph!"

With a cold gaze that seemed to transcend life and death, Madame Gao appeared unfazed by the approaching blade. Her other hand reached out, fingers slightly splayed, as if grasping at thin air. An invisible force seemed to swirl and then erupted toward the ninja's chest.

Boom—

In an instant, the tremendous force sent the would-be assassin crashing back five meters, embedding him against the corridor wall!

"Ha—"

Madame Gao took a slow breath, retracting her hand as she discarded the shuriken. Her voice was icy as she said, "Murakami, if you want to assassinate me, your skills are still far too juvenile!"

As soon as she finished speaking, her henchmen's expressions changed drastically, and they aimed their weapons at Murakami.

"Is he immortal, or should we save our bullets?"

Madame Gao raised a hand, stopping her men from firing.

"Madame Gao... after a century of acquaintance, who would have thought we'd end up at odds?"

Murakami placed a hand over his heart, the dark red mask rising and falling as he spoke.

"Yield, and I assure you your life will be spared in the name of The Hand's 'Index.'"

"Absolutely not!"

With a cold expression, Madame Gao took the gun offered by her henchman and turned it toward Murakami. However, just as she was about to pull the trigger—

Bang—

Murakami shook his head with a sigh. Instantly, he transformed into a cloud of gray smoke and vanished from sight!

Faced with this bizarre phenomenon, Madame Gao's men exchanged silent glances, then gathered closer. One of the leaders, his head wrapped in bandages, turned to Madame Gao and urged,

"Madame, the attack has failed, and The Hand has betrayed us... Please, temporarily withdraw! The brothers will swear to escort you to safety!"

Madame Gao's eyes glimmered with a hint of green. Just as she was about to respond, she glanced at the screen strapped to her arm.

Then, she issued another command,

"Reinforcements have arrived! Hold off the enemies; victory is within reach!"

Meanwhile...

With a wisp of gray smoke rising, Murakami's slender figure materialized in a corner of the building's first floor. He took a slow breath, the crimson cloak flowing in the wind.

"Hm?"

At that moment, sensing something amiss, Murakami suddenly turned. His icy gaze landed on a tall figure standing five meters away, clad in a black helmet and a gas mask, wearing a brown military coat, and holding an oddly designed weapon.

In one hand, he clutched a serrated heavy weapon, while the other held the upper half of a black-clad ninja's corpse!

Suddenly on high alert, Murakami's chest tightened as he realized that the area around this mysterious figure was littered with the mangled bodies of black-clad ninjas—at least twenty of them!

Feeling a chill run down his spine, Murakami raised his katana, demanding,

"Who are you?!"

However, the imposing figure remained silent.

Thud!

Without a word, he tossed the corpse aside, then crouched low, launching forward with the force of a rampaging rhinoceros! At the same time, the heavy weapon in his hands swung with lethal intent, sweeping horizontally!

The distance between them was too short for Murakami to perform any ninjutsu. He could only attempt to leap back while launching a series of shuriken and using the momentum of his katana to block the oncoming assault!

Boom! Boom! Boom—

But just as their weapons were about to clash, the mysterious figure's heavy weapon emitted a terrifying roar. Countless blood-soaked serrated edges whirred to life, deflecting each of Murakami's shuriken as if they had hit an invisible barrier, sending them clattering to the ground!

In an instant, Murakami was paralyzed with shock. He had no time to recalibrate his battle strategy.

Bang—

In the blink of an eye, not only was Murakami's katana effortlessly shattered, but the terrifying heavy weapon was also embedded deep into his midsection!

Sizzle—

Before the cloaked ninja could even react, the roaring chainsaw sword swept through his flesh!

Zaire swiftly reached out, gripping the ninja's neck and yanking hard! The once-whole body was split in two!

Now, Zaire's brown gloves were drenched in the warm blood streaming from the dark red mask.

"Guh..."

The ninja's throat convulsed, gasping for air as if trying to say something.

But with no interest in listening, Zaire casually tossed the ninja's upper half away, colliding it with the lower half on the ground!

Without a word, Zaire drew his plasma pistol again and aimed at the two halves of the corpse, pulling the trigger!

As the plasma surged forth, the silent Zaire let out a breath, muttering,

"Damn ninjas... sneaky little bastards, you startled me!

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