Because of what had just happened, Bulma no longer dared to cling to Ryuji's arm. As she walked, she kept thinking about things while observing the mercenaries and soldiers withdrawing. Then her expression suddenly changed, and she quickly moved closer to Athena before quietly asking,
"Say, could this be some kind of conspiracy?"
Athena froze for a moment, then looked at Bulma with uncertainty before suddenly realizing something.
This had happened right at Ryuji's doorstep, yet Ryuji hadn't noticed?
If Ryuji simply hadn't noticed the people pursuing Momiji, then that could still be explained. But with such a huge disturbance, it was far too strange that Ryuji hadn't noticed anything!
After all, those had been actual military forces. How could Ryuji of the Shiranui School possibly not know about them?
The Shiranui clan was still a local power, after all.
"Maybe he was training? If you're completely focused while meditating, you won't notice what's happening around you. Besides, with Ryuji's strength, if he wanted to harm us, there wouldn't be any need for him to go through all this."
Athena felt that Ryuji had no reason to do such a thing. With Ryuji's strength, if he wanted to do something to them, would they really have any meaningfully way of resisting?
"That's true..."
Bulma nodded, but then cautiously looked around before continuing.
"But don't you think this is all too much of a coincidence? Even though I feel like I've fallen for him now, everything about this is just too strange."
Hearing their conversation, the corner of Ryuji's mouth twitched.
When he was mediating, all of his perception had been concentrated within a hundred meters around himself. He had been fully occupied with controlling his Satsui no Hado so that it wouldn't leak out; otherwise, everyone within one or two hundred meters of the Shiranui-ryu dojo would have turned into lunatics who knew nothing but killing.
That was why he hadn't extended his perception outward. He only discovered what was happening because he heard the gunfire.
As for the matter of the Shiranui School being a local power, setting aside whether Douglas could have received the information, Ryuji estimated that he probably had his own intention of testing him as well.
Douglas probably wanted to find out exactly how much combat power he possessed, too. So, it was perfectly normal that he hadn't informed Ryuji. Ryuji could simply wait for Douglas to come knocking himself and offer compensation.
After all, Ryuji had absolutely no intention of extending Douglas's life. He completely regarded him as a useful tool. Could someone who had built an international corporation really be willing to accept such a fate?
Would Douglas really be willing to let his fortune and daughter fall into the hands of someone who had only met his daughter once after his death?
Douglas was also a capitalist who could devour people without leaving even their bones behind.
The difference was that he knew where the line was. Ryuji estimated that Douglas was probably using this opportunity to test more things about him.
To see what kind of moral standards he had, whether he would keep his promises, and so on.
"Seriously, what a dishonest guy..."
Ryuji muttered inwardly. At first, he really had intended to let Douglas live a little longer. But now, forget it.
Of course, it was also possible that Douglas had nothing to do with this. But when it came to human nature, anything was possible.
And his guess wasn't wrong. Just as he finished thinking about this, Douglas called him.
"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Ryuji! I didn't discover those people's actions in time. You weren't injured, were you?"
Douglas was practically numb. He really hadn't expected that bastard Rugal would actually join forces with the U.S. government to set him up, teaming up with Bison at this moment to test Ryuji.
If only one of the three forces had acted independently, he would still have been able to receive some information. But this time, all three forces had acted together, and with his organization already severely weakened, there was simply no way for him to obtain any information.
So, the moment he received the news, he immediately called Ryuji while simultaneously thinking about how he could compensate him.
"Well, they weren't targeting me. so it's normal that you overlooked something."
Ryuji didn't blame Douglas, nor did he care whether Douglas had genuinely been trying to test him. He simply stated the facts in a calm tone.
Hearing Ryuji's calm tone, Douglas finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"...This was indeed my oversight. I will compensate you for this matter. Please wait a little while, and the compensation will be delivered to your residence. I'll also contact the other parties involved. Also, Mr. Ryuji, please be careful. The United States has always wanted to capture Japanese people with superpowers. There may be more to this matter than meets the eye."
"Alright."
Ryuji hung up after saying that. He was somewhat interested in Douglas's compensation, but he truly had very little interest in the power and influence of this world.
As for Douglas's warning that there might be more to this matter, he didn't care either.
He had enough strength to deal with those things. Once everything here was settled, he could simply take his sword and pay them a visit to have a little discussion with them.
For now, the most important thing was what was happening here.
"Mai! And Kasumi Shiranui! Come out. We have guests again!"
Ryuji called toward the house. At that moment, Mai quickly ran out, but when she saw Momiji and the large group of children behind her, she froze for a moment. The happy expression on her face quickly turned serious, and she looked toward Momiji.
"Momiji, what's going on?"
Momiji had also overheard the conversation between Athena and Bulma. Some of the things they had discussed were exactly the concerns she herself had. But just as Athena had said, regardless of what happened, things had already reached this point. If Ryuji really wanted to do something to them, they had no way to resist anyway, so Momiji decided not to dwell on those thoughts.
"The Mugen Tenshin clan was attacked, so we've come here to take refuge."
~~~~~~~~~~
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