Dragon Raja: History Simulator

Page 138

The man in the black trench coat standing to the side looked on incredulously, "They're just very lucky!"

Sakura glanced at him, then looked at Genjiro and added, "Fortunately, the bullet went straight through his chest cavity and didn't stay inside his body. The biggest injury Ryoma is currently excessive bleeding."

Crow looked at the large pool of blood on the ground and smiled. "Anyone can see that Patriarch Longma has suffered a great loss this time."

Genjiro looked at his three retainers, Sakura, Crow, and Yasha. Of these, only Sakura could give him some peace of mind, while the other two were of questionable cultural level, even among the Snake Clan, who were involved in the underworld.

Of the three, Crow, a high school graduate, is the strategist; Yaksha, with his tall stature and villainous appearance, becomes a formidable underling; and Sakura is his secretary.

On the surface, they were his retainers, but in reality, only Genjiro could guard them...

At this moment, the crow casually touched the edge of the bloodstain with the tip of its shoe, exhaled a smoke ring, and solemnly analyzed the situation from the side:

"It looks like the head of the Longma family climbed out from the driver's side; the car door shows signs of being kicked open from the inside. He just climbed out and hasn't even gotten his footing yet..."

He mimicked the action of firing a gun, pointing to the location of the bloodstains, "Bang! The other person was right here, very close, a single shot to the chest. Clean and swift."

“Nonsense,” Yaksha replied gruffly, arms crossed, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere. “This is definitely not something an ordinary person could do, and after the sniper shot the vehicle, someone else would definitely come to finish it off.”

He scoffed, "Otherwise, how did they manage to take the head of the Uesugi family away?"

Sakura appeared silently behind Genji and added:

"Not many traces of the attacker were found at the scene. The bullet that shot the head of the Ryoma family was from an ordinary handgun, and the spent cartridge case was picked up. The vehicle went out of control because the fuel tank was hit first. The marksman was very accurate, as if he had received professional training."

At this point, Genjiro already knew that Ryoma Genichiro had the accident on the way to pick up Uesugi Erii and bring her back to the Genji Building.

It is obvious that the enemy's target is Erii.

But, how is this possible?

Genjiro had witnessed Erii's anger; the entire city of Tokyo trembled, and the Genji Building, hundreds of meters high, swayed visibly.

It can be said that Erii's lineage ranks among the top of all the emperors throughout history...

This is why Minamoto no Chinobu was not tolerated by the Snake-Headed Eight Families, while Erii was the head of one of the top three families of the Snake-Headed Eight Families.

Genjiro is too weak. Even after he awakens, he only becomes a demon that hunts "beautiful women" everywhere. Erii, on the other hand, is an ultimate weapon comparable to a hydrogen bomb, enough to serve as the foundation for the Snake Clan to deal with the Secret Party.

The thought of his younger brother caused Genji a pang of pain in his heart, but he suppressed it and continued to ask:

"Has Princess Kaguya discovered anything?"

Princess Kaguya is an artificial intelligence created solely by the Snake Clan. Even though its performance cannot yet rival Norma of the Secret Party headquarters, the Snake Clan needs to keep a low profile and does not fully utilize Princess Kaguya's computing power.

However, as far as Genjiro knows, this is still a technology that is thirty years ahead of the world.

Within the existing system of human civilization, apart from the Secret Service and the Orthodox Church, no other organization can possess such a "foundation".

However, after such a long time, Princess Kaguya still couldn't find a trace of the "culprit," which made Genji's heart sink even further.

Sure enough, Sakura shook her head. "Princess Kaguya knows nothing about this, and she can't even access the video footage from the scene of the incident."

"Where's the original video?" Yuan Zhisheng asked, suppressing his anger.

“They were all destroyed.” Sakura softly uttered an answer that no one could have imagined.

The crow threw the cigarette butt it was carrying on its beak to the ground, stomped on it twice, and looked at the fire in front of it, muttering to itself:

"There's a mole inside!"

Sakura snapped, "Within the family, only the eight family heads possess the authority over Princess Kaguya. Crow, are you out of your mind? Who do you think you're suspecting?"

The crow shrugged nonchalantly, like an old rogue. "It's not that I suspect anyone, but..."

He pointed to the devastated battlefield before him and sneered, "Who could take the Uesugi family head away without any disturbance while she was conscious, without provoking any resistance from her?"

He revealed a sinister smile: "It's obvious that the head of the Uesugi family knows that human trafficker, and the people the head of the Uesugi family has met..."

The crow gave a cold laugh and fell silent.

However, Genjiro understood what he meant. Erii had hardly ever met anyone in the Snake Clan, let alone anyone who could take her away, not to mention Kaguya-hime's authority...

Genjiro thought of the other six heads of the Snake-Headed Eight Families. The head of the Ryoma family was still lying in a hospital bed, having almost lost his life. The head of the Fuma family was in charge of the family's ninjas and was, in theory, the most suspicious. The head of the Miyamoto family controlled the Ganryu Research Institute. The head of the Inuyama family had an unclear relationship with the Secret Party. The head of the Sakurajima family had married into the Sakurajima family and her position was unstable.

And then there's his "father," Tachibana Masamune, the patriarch of the Snake-Headed Eight Families.

Logically speaking, he shouldn't have doubted him, but the "greater good" he upheld in his heart forced Genji to abandon his narrow-minded feelings and examine each of these names one by one.

At that moment, Sakura suddenly said:

"Young Master, the head of the family wishes to see you."

Chapter 218 Something Extraordinarily Strange Must Be Ghostly

Suburbs of Tokyo.

The back garden of the Hebi-Hachika Shrine.

Yuan Zhisheng stepped through the gate and went inside, pondering why his father had come to summon him this time.

This is not surprising. The reason is actually quite simple: one of the eight heads of the Snake Clan was seriously injured and another went missing within a single day. This is a major event that is enough to shake the entire country of Japan.

As the head of the Snake-Headed Eight Families, Tachibana Masamune naturally bore the brunt of the blame, which he could not shirk.

Whatever the conspiracy behind this series of plots, it can only point to him, the patriarch.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration for Tachibana Masamune to call him that.

As far as Genjiro knew, "Old Man" had not served as the head of the Snake-Headed Eight Families for long. He was only confirmed as a descendant of the Tachibana family ten years ago, becoming the head of the upper three families of the Snake-Headed Eight Families, and thus becoming the head of the family.

For the previous eight years, Tachibana Masamune had been working at the bottom of the Snake Clan, and his status was not much different from that of a certain group leader.

He was considered a leader among a group of thugs, but he was insignificant within the entire Snake Clan.

Most importantly, as a nominal descendant of the Tachibana family and the head of the Tachibana family, Tachibana Masamune did not own any property.

This is not unique to Tachibana Masamune; Genjiro and Uesugi Erii, who are also heads of the Upper Three Families, are the same.

The Inuyama family's entertainment business, the Ryoma family's shipbuilding business, the Miyamoto family's semiconductor industry...

None of these were available at the top three companies.

After all, the Upper Three families had been absent from the Eight Serpent Families for a long time. Even if the hybrids of the Eight Serpent Families recognized their status through inertia, it was impossible for the Lower Five families to get back the assets that the Upper Three families had divided up back then.

This is precisely why the power of patriarchs has declined.

In ancient times, the head of the Snake-Headed Eight Families held the position of "Shogun" in Japan, and now, Genjiro thought of the current Emperor Akihito.

Speaking of which, the Imperial Family was once one of the top three families of the Snake Clan, but as time went by, after a dramatic change, the Imperial Family lost the ability to activate the dragon blood within them.

That period also happened to be the time when the surname "Minamoto" truly became independent of the Emperor, which was the time when Minamoto no Yoshitsune was the head of the Hebi-hisa family during the Heian period.

Thinking of Yoshitsune, Genji couldn't help but purse his lips.

In the records of the Snake Clan, the patriarch of this clan was said to be able to cut down a mountain peak with a single stroke, making him seem pitifully weak in comparison.

As Genjiro opened the shoji door of the kendo dojo, he heard the long, drawn-out sound of metal scraping against metal.

Tachibana Masamune knelt on the prayer mat with his back to him.

When he saw him, Genji couldn't help but think that he had aged a lot.

The old man was dressed in a plain white kendo uniform, his figure as upright as a distant mountain.

In his hand was an ancient katana, which he was slowly polishing along the curve of the blade with a piece of paper dipped in clove oil. The movements were slow and Zen-like, each stroke carrying a certain ancient rhythm.

The grinding stone rested beside the paulownia wood box, its edges worn smooth and rounded.

"You've arrived?" Tachibana Masamune did not turn around.

Yuan Zhisheng stood quietly at the threshold for a moment before going inside.

The temple was filled with the smell of oil and rust, as well as the faint aroma of tea emanating from the old man.

He walked three steps away from Masamune, knelt down, and said softly:

"Here you are, Dad."

Tea ceremony, swordsmanship, Zen...

Genjiro could sense that Tachibana Masamune was gradually turning him into the Japanese people that everyone expected. Tachibana Masamune was proficient in all these seemingly elegant skills.

“Chisei, do you know? Just now, after Ryoma and Erii had their accident, Inuyama called me.”

Tachibana Masamune sat upright facing Genjiro, and Genjiro knew that this was not a conversation between a child and his "father," but a conversation between the head of the Genji family and the head of the Snake-Headed Eight Families.

This is a conversation between men.

"Head of the Inuyama family, what did he say?"

"The Inuyama family head said that there was a third person in the car on the way back to the Ryoma family head and Erii, and that this person was very familiar with the Ryoma family head."

"It was Tachibana Masamune who said slowly."

"What?" Genji suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

He hadn't expected that there was anything related to the head of the Ryoma family involved; he had always thought that the head of the Ryoma family was simply a victim in this incident.

"What is the source of this information?" Genji asked seriously.

“The Inuyama family head won’t say,” Tachibana Masamune replied, still slowly wiping the swords in front of him with the paper in his hand, as if he had merged into the so-called “sword Zen.”

"That's very suspicious."

After thinking for a moment, Yuan Zhisheng replied that since his father was asking for his opinion, he would give it:

"Everyone in the family knows about the relationship between the Inuyama family head and the Secret Party, while the Ryoma family head is an asset in helping you, Father, to control the family."

Tachibana Masamune became the patriarch and overturned the system established by the secret party over the past fifty years, namely the head of the Japanese branch, which was inseparable from the cooperation of Ryoma Genichiro, the second head of the Japanese branch.

In contrast, Inuyama He had a terrible reputation; he was considered a lackey of the Secret Party.

A loyal minister and a lackey—who do we need to suspect, or hesitate about?

Tachibana Masamune stopped what he was doing, his expression still calm. "Let's wait for the head of the Ryoma family to wake up and let him explain that person! I think only he knows what the third person the head of the Inuyama family is talking about really is."

Tachibana Masamune asked, "Is he dead? Or did he disappear like Erii?"

Tachibana Masamune emphasized the word "missing" and couldn't help but smile.

"If he's dead, where is his body? If he's missing, what was the reason? Why does he deserve the same treatment as Erii?"

Mentioning Erii, Genji couldn't help but lower his eyes. "Dad, what do you think is the reason behind this mastermind's operation?"

Tachibana Masamune's expression remained unchanged.