At this moment, Tang Zhong stood atop a high mountain, squinting his eyes as he gazed at the night scenery of Bei Country in the distance.
He was no longer in a hurry to assassinate Inoue Kazuo.
The entire Martial Arts community of Bei Country was responsible for the death of his grandfather, Tang Zongyao, and Inoue Kazuo was merely a representative figure.
Inoue Kazuo must be killed, but not now. To kill him, there needed to be a justifiable reason.
Previously, Caozhi Zhenyan had already mentioned that Inoue Kazuo had killed his grandfather, Tang Zongyao, in front of the entire Martial Arts community of Bei Country, causing his grandfather to be vilified and bringing shame upon the whole Martial Arts community of Xuan Country.
Therefore, he must defeat Inoue Kazuo under the public’s eye—only then would he be able to vindicate his grandfather, Tang Zongyao, and restore the honor of Xuan Country’s Martial Arts.
Having stood here, he represented Xuan Country.
Tang Zhong then looked down at the Tang Sword in his hand, caressing it. Although the sword had remained in the hands of Bei Country’s people for so long, Tang Zhong could still feel the aura flowing within it.
It was as if his grandfather stood by his side.
As a child, the image of his grandfather had filled Tang Zhong’s mind the most.
He continued to dwell in these past memories, but at that moment, his brow suddenly furrowed.
Without warning, he turned around, gripping the Tang Sword in his hand, and struck downward toward the ground.
The sword light flashed, slashing a ravine into the ground with a boom. A person dressed in black was forcibly exploded out from underground, appearing rather small, almost the size of a child, and screamed wretchedly.
"A child?" Tang Zhong frowned.
But upon closer inspection, he saw the large mustache and the pockmarked face.
This was not a child; it was likely a practitioner of Bei Country’s Ninjutsu.
Bei Country had its Martial Arts, and naturally its Ninjutsu as well. Various forms of Ninjutsu were endless, and certain peculiar techniques required specific individuals to perform them.
This person with a mustache must have used a kind of Ninjutsu called Earth Escape Technique.
He hadn’t expected that ninjas were now targeting him.
He watched as the man with the mustache was blasted from underground, soaring skyward, shrieking, and then plummeted down fiercely from the high altitude, smashing a huge pit into the ground.
Immediate screams of agony followed.
Tang Zhong sheathed his sword and stood tall, looking down at the man with the mustache, his voice icy, "Speak, why are you following me?"
Seeing that he had been discovered, the man with the mustache panicked, hastily saying, "I.... I wasn’t following you, I was just passing by!"
"Are you certain?" Tang Zhong said icily.
"I..." The man with the mustache, scared by Tang Zhong’s words, began to tremble, "I’ll tell you everything!"
"Who are you?" Tang Zhong asked.
"I... I am from the Earth Ninja Clan!" the man with the mustache quickly replied.
The Earth Ninja Clan was a family of dwarfs, where the members were all short in stature and were the most skilled at burrowing.
"Besides you, who else is following me right now?" Tang Zhong demanded.
"No one else... no one else!" the man with the mustache’s voice shook.
Tang Zhong glared at him.
"I’ll say it, I’ll tell you everything!" The man with the mustache faced Tang Zhong as if he had been struck by lightning, "Members of our Earth Ninja Clan are tracking you!"
"How many people?" Tang Zhong asked.
"Just me!" the man with the mustache said.
"Good, let everyone come out now!" Tang Zhong said coldly.
"This..." The face of the man with the mustache instantly turned ugly, "I’m the only one, and I’ve already come out."
"Don’t worry, I won’t kill you!" Tang Zhong said.
He now needed these ninjas to help him with his mission.
The big bearded man didn’t say a word.
"You won’t let them come out, huh?" Tang Zhong scoffed.
In fact, he had long known how many people were following him—his ears could hear them clearly. It’s just that these people had a line they wouldn’t cross; they weren’t too close. But now, they were really too close, and perhaps, very soon, these ninjas would appear and try to kill him.
The big bearded man didn’t dare to speak, but he felt a foreboding premonition.
Just then, Tang Zhong continued to grip the Tang Sword tightly, then swung it around him.
At this moment, the blade was coated with numerous bloody blades, directly striking the ground around him.
The sounds of explosions rose continuously.
From below, dwarfs were blasted out of the ground, some with limbs torn off and others exploded into blood and gore beneath the earth.
There were dozens of Earth Ninja Clan members watching Tang Zhong here, and now, with some dead and some injured, the scene was too horrible to endure.
The big bearded ninja was stunned by this sight.
They had always thought that Tang Zhong hadn’t noticed them at all!
Looking at Tang Zhong’s method now, it was even more astonishing.
At this moment, Tang Zhong once again sheathed the Tang Sword, then looked at the bearded Earth Ninja with a smile, his face wearing a grin, "Now, do you think you have room for negotiation? I’m asking you again, will you let your people come out or not? I believe if I make another cut, it will paint a different picture!"
After hearing Tang Zhong’s words and recalling the methods he had released before, the big bearded man trembled even more, "I’ll say...I’ll say it all!"
They were pursuing Tang Zhong for the Martial Arts of Bei Country. It was only at this mountain top that they dared to approach Tang Zhong, planning to get close and then strike with a lethal blow.
But now, seeing Tang Zhong , he was so scared he couldn’t even speak, hurriedly taking out a small whistle from his bosom and blowing into it.
In an instant, within a ten-meter radius, figures like dwarfs surged from the ground, looking up at Tang Zhong in the distance.
The big bearded man looked at Tang Zhong: "Milord, all of our Earth Ninja Clan people are here!"
Tang Zhong’s gaze swept over the dwarfs in front of him, then he looked at the big bearded man, "That’s more like it!"
The other members of the Earth Ninja Clan also didn’t dare say much, believing their ninja clansmen were surely no match for the man before them.
"What does Milord command us to do?" the big beard said.
"Do you know where Inoue Kazuo is?" Tang Zhong asked with a smile.
Inoue Kazuo, the foremost figure in the Martial Arts of Bei Country.
The expressions of the group of Earth Ninja Clan people turned ugly, especially the big bearded man, who quickly said, "Milord, if you want us to kill Master Inoue, this... this is absolutely impossible for us to do!"
"Did I say that I wanted you to go kill Inoue Kazuo?" Tang Zhong said.
"Then...what do you want us to do?" The big bearded man’s voice trembled.
He really couldn’t imagine what the man before him could have them do.
"Deliver something!" Tang Zhong said.
"A challenge!" Tang Zhong said.
"What?" The big bearded man thought he must have heard wrong.
"A challenge to Inoue Kazuo. I’m challenging him to a duel above the Winter Capital!" Tang Zhong said, then looked towards the night view of the Winter Capital.
To regain his grandfather’s honor, he would need to defeat Inoue Kazuo in front of everyone, and the Winter Capital was the best place for it.