Chapter 129: Defeated in a Single Move

“What does ‘I-Style Ninja’ mean?” Luo Jiajia asked, apparently unable to understand the phrase.

Huo Ye kept his eyes fixed on the screen as he replied, “I-Style is written with Japanese kanji. Roughly speaking, it means creating one’s own school. There are two kinds. The first consists of samurai and ninjas who explore on their own and develop a style best suited to themselves. Such people are usually self-taught, with no systematic training. What they create is also difficult for anyone else to inherit, so after shining briefly for one generation, their style quickly fades into obscurity. The second is someone like Ruri: born into a distinguished family, she studied a systematic body of knowledge and then changed what she learned and understood, transforming it into something of her own. It differs greatly from the original techniques, yet on her, it often displays far greater power than anything she learned before.”

“So Senior Kazama altered the ninjutsu passed down through her family for generations and turned it into her own school?” Luo Jiajia asked.

“Exactly. But when all is said and done, it’s still the Kazama Style—the ‘Kazama Style’ of Kazama Ruri,” Huo Ye answered.

The map on which Kazama Ruri and Muto Mayumi were fighting was called “Midsummer Night’s Cradle.” It was a silent forest beneath the moon’s shadow, with countless hammocks strung between the trees. Delicious fruits grew everywhere on the branches.

“I hear those fruits are really just packaging. Once opened, they contain the signature snacks of various colonies, all in their original flavors. Apparently, Ruri paid a huge sum to a computer expert to create this exclusive map,” Jiang Feng explained.

Everyone smiled wryly. It really was exactly the sort of thing Kazama Ruri would do.

Then Rayleigh suddenly raised his hand. “Um… I was actually the one who designed this map.”

Everyone stared at him in astonishment. What were the odds?

Rayleigh scratched his head awkwardly. “The previous year was a little rough, so I did some work online to earn extra money. This map was so unusual that I remember it very clearly.”

Lu Dingyuan suddenly spoke. “This map… wasn’t it meant for sleeping and eating? Why are they using it for a battle?”

Huo Ye kept both hands in his pockets and said calmly, “Just watch. Ruri may be lazy and greedy most of the time, but when it matters, she’s extremely reliable. If she’s doing this, she naturally has her reasons.”

Muto Mayumi’s tachi whirled like a gale, every slash aimed at Kazama Ruri’s vital points. Yet Ruri evaded them all with effortless grace. When she could not dodge, she simply raised the back of her ninja blade to block, then twisted her wrist and dispelled the force of the tachi’s blow. So far, neither of them had used an esper technique.

Perhaps Muto Mayumi was still searching for an opening. After all, esper techniques consumed an enormous amount of energy and could not be used repeatedly at will.

Muto Mayumi kept declaring that she would prove the Muto family to be the number-one ninja family in the colony. In truth, the Muto family was not even considered the second-ranked ninja family in Sunrise Colony, because it was a clan that practiced both ninjutsu and swordsmanship. Its members included both ninjas and samurai. It was not a particularly famous family. One might reluctantly call it first-rate, but even then, it would only be ranked at the very bottom.

The Muto family could not possibly be compared with the colossal Kazama family. Yet Muto Mayumi harbored a deep hostility toward Kazama Ruri. The origins of their grudge were complicated and could not be explained in a few words, so they would remain unexamined for now.

Kazama Ruri seemed to be retreating step by step, yet she showed no sign of panic. At last, she backed up against a large tree, raised her head to glance at the fruit hanging above her, and curled one corner of her mouth.

Muto Mayumi swept her blade toward Ruri’s legs, intending to sever them. Unexpectedly, Ruri made a light leap and then stopped in midair.

What was happening? Could Kazama Ruri fly? Impossible. Flight should be an individual esper ability, and Ruri had never mentioned possessing one.

But after looking carefully, everyone realized that Ruri was not floating in the air. She was standing on something—a kunai driven into the tree.

A kunai was a small weapon commonly used by ninjas. Shaped like a short sword or an Emei piercing dagger, it was usually made of iron, small in size, and easy to carry or conceal. The reason ninjas often chose it as a personal weapon was that the kunai had originally been a tool. In the markets of that era, it was the equivalent of a modern multipurpose knife or multitool. Even if someone was discovered carrying one, no one would find it suspicious.

Kunai could also be used for climbing. In the past, when ninjas needed to infiltrate a location, they would drive a long series of kunai into a wall one after another, using them as footholds. Now Kazama Ruri was likewise using kunai to seize the high ground, displaying the true spirit of a ninja.

But when had those kunai been driven into the tree?

Rayleigh suddenly pointed toward another large tree nearby. “Look at the tree on the other side of the hammock. You should understand.”

A hammock was tied to the tree beneath Ruri’s feet. On the other side, however, the hammock strap was not fastened to a branch. It was attached to a kunai.

So that was it.

Rayleigh was, after all, the designer of the map. He knew every request Ruri had made when commissioning it. All the hammocks in the map were secured with kunai. And that was not all. Countless mysterious ninja tools were hidden throughout the forest. Rayleigh had no idea what purpose they served; he had merely followed instructions and placed their models where they were supposed to go.

This map was not only a place where Kazama Ruri could relax when tired. It was also a playground where she could amuse herself to her heart’s content.

Seeing Ruri standing above her with her back against the tree, Muto Mayumi gritted her teeth and brought her blade down in a vertical strike.

But she never expected Kazama Ruri to pluck a coconut-like fruit from the tree and use the force of Mayumi’s descending blade to split it in two.

Ruri’s eyes lit up. She caught both halves in her hands, catching the broth that nearly spilled back inside the coconut shell. She casually tossed one half to Muto Mayumi, kept the other for herself, and took a small sip.

Her face immediately filled with bliss.

When Muto Mayumi saw that Ruri had thrown her the fruit she had cut open—and had even drunk some of its contents herself—it seemed there was no danger or poison. She reached out and caught it, wanting to see what Ruri was scheming.

But as the coconut shell landed in her palm, warmth seeped into her hand. She gave it a casual shake to make sure none of the liquid spilled, then looked down.

Miso soup.

Muto Mayumi felt utterly defeated. Was this supposed to be a duel? Ruri had used her tachi to split open a fruit just so she could have a sip of miso soup. Was she being serious?

“That’s enough, Kazama Ruri! What exactly are you doing? I can’t feel any passion from you at all in this battle. You have no respect whatsoever for me as your opponent. You’ve gone too far!”

Kazama Ruri only stared at her blankly. “I just wanted to offer you some miso soup. Once you leave home, you can’t drink the authentic kind anymore. Isn’t hot, steaming miso soup wonderfully comforting?”

It was not only Muto Mayumi who was speechless. Even the spectators from the All-Stars were staring in stunned silence.

This manner of acting… Why did it seem so familiar?

“Boss, is Ruri picking up bad habits from you?”

“Get lost!”

Furious beyond measure, Muto Mayumi threw the bowl of miso soup onto the ground. Tofu and seaweed scattered across the earth as the broth slowly soaked into the soil.

Kazama Ruri glanced regretfully at the spreading puddle, then casually poured out the bowl in her own hand.

“Never mind. It’s only data, after all. Muto Mayumi, then—I’ll fight you seriously. But let me make one thing clear first: you were never my original target, and you aren’t really my opponent. So if you lose too quickly, don’t say I bullied you.”

Kazama Ruri’s figure suddenly vanished, and the coconut shell fell from the air.

The next second, Muto Mayumi heard Ruri’s voice from above.

“Phantom Form: Dancing Petals.”

In an instant, it was as though ten thousand crimson petals had surged from the void. There was no floral fragrance, only a rain of petals filling the sky. At some unknown moment, Kazama Ruri’s figure shot through the storm of petals and brushed past Muto Mayumi.

Then she slowly descended, landing without a sound.

“When the so-called ‘ninja’ first appeared, their purpose was to gather intelligence or carry out assassinations. Ninjas trained by powerful figures would even disguise themselves in daily life as servants such as gardeners, hiding within their masters’ estates. Whenever a suspicious person appeared, they could use an ordinary tool at hand—something that seemed completely unremarkable—to eliminate them.

“After the Edo period, the world changed dramatically, and ninjas gradually withdrew from the stage of history. It is no small thing that families like ours have managed to preserve the inheritance of ninjutsu all this time. Whether they belong to a declining family or a distinguished clan, I am willing to show them respect.

“But your understanding of what a ninja is has gone astray. A true ninja is not someone who takes up a tachi and fights openly. Do you understand?”

Kazama Ruri stood with her back to Muto Mayumi as she delivered this long speech.

Meanwhile, crimson blood flowed from numerous wounds across Muto Mayumi’s body. Without her realizing it, Kazama Ruri’s ninja blade had struck nearly every vital point she possessed.

One move had decided the battle.

Huo Ye smiled at Kim Puhyun and said nothing. Yet that expression—three parts teasing, three parts mockery, and four parts contempt—made words unnecessary. There was no need to kick someone when they were already down.

Jiang Feng suddenly spoke. “Actually, as far as I can tell, Ruri hasn’t used her full strength—not during our training, and not during the examinations. It isn’t because she was hiding her abilities from us or anything like that. She’s simply lazy. If she can get by with half her strength, she’ll never use sixty percent. As for exams, scraping by with the lowest passing score is enough.

“I heard she once overslept and missed an examination, so she had to leave the academy and complete a mission to make up the points.”

Alice could only smile bitterly. “That really does sound like something she would do.”

“And after she returned, a nickname of hers began circulating quietly throughout the academy: ‘Moonlit Enchantress.’ No one knows what she actually did on that mission, because nearly everyone who went with her belonged to the Society of Between Truths, and they sealed the information afterward.

“I’m not wrong, am I, President Kim Puhyun—the man who has pursued Ruri ever since, hoping to recruit her into your society?”

Jiang Feng turned toward Kim Puhyun.