ACSP: Chapter 174: [Kagutsuchi] Blocks the Path of Close-Quarters Combat!
"So, you are that Jiang Chen?"
Shimura Kenta slowly raised his head, his piercing gaze narrowing as he meticulously sized up the newcomer.
"Yes, that's him, Excellency!" Before Jiang Chen could even open his mouth, the lapdog Ling Kai eagerly chimed in. "This kid is incredibly cunning. You must not underestimate him."
A grim, mocking smile curved the corner of Shimura Kenta's mouth. Keeping his eyes locked on Jiang Chen, who stood calmly at the edge of the ruins, he spoke. "To achieve such renown at such a young age, you are indeed a rare specimen. I have always had a deep appreciation for true talent. If you choose to submit to the Great Dongdao Empire, I will personally petition His Majesty the Emperor to grant you entry into the prestigious Nanga Shrine. You will receive land, an elite title, and your friends will enjoy endless wealth and glory."
Just as the final words left Shimura's mouth, a heavy scraping sound echoed from behind. Several Dongdao Contractors emerged from a half-collapsed structure in the rear, aggressively escorting five heavily bound, bloodied prisoners.
It was Li Yanran, Lin Ye, Yuan Danqing, Wang Shanshan, and Xiao Tu.
"Jiang Chen, get out of here!" The moment Li Yanran spotted him, she screamed a desperate warning, ignoring her own safety. "They brought you here on purpose! Your subordinate has already—"
She never got to finish.
The East Island Contractor holding her chain snarled, driving a brutal punch straight into her lower abdomen. The sheer kinetic impact of the blow cut off her breath entirely. Her eyes rolled back as intense, agonizing pain flooded her system, forcing her to her knees, dry heaving violently onto the concrete.
"If she speaks out of turn again," the guard barked, resting a cold blade against the neck of the hostage next to her, "kill the one beside her."
Shimura Kenta turned his head and gave the order to his subordinates.
Then he continued looking at Jiang Chen and said, "The fact that you came to save them so quickly shows that these people are very important to you. Rest assured, I haven't made things difficult for them during this time, and I haven't let anyone touch those women. But if you refuse my proposal from earlier, their fate might be very miserable..."
"I must say, your taste in women is quite good. The beauty of these women is top-tier even in our East Island. But you should know, the more beautiful a woman is, the worse her fate can sometimes be."
When Shimura Kenta spoke those final words.
The group of East Island Contractors standing around the ruins all broke into lecherous smiles.
Their eyes began to scan Li Yanran and Wang Shanshan repeatedly.
Those terrifying gazes were like a pack of wild wolves staring at their prey.
Filled with the most primitive animalistic nature!
Although Li Yanran and Wang Shanshan were both Contractors, they had never experienced war and had never seen such a scene before.
After hearing Shimura Kenta's words, both were instantly terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat.
A deep sense of despair welled up within them.
"You can try..."
At that moment, Jiang Chen slowly raised his head.
His blood-red pupils locked squarely onto the East Island Contractor who had just laid a hand on Li Yanran.
In an instant, the air grew violently heavy. The contractor froze, his entire body trembling uncontrollably as if seized by an invisible, suffocating vice. A split second later, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed lifelessly onto the concrete.
Seeing their comrade drop dead without a single physical touch, the remaining guards holding the hostages visibly recoiled, their faces contorting with sheer terror.
"Impressive ocular power," Shimura Kenta murmured, his eyes narrowing to slits. For the first time, a heavy, solemn gravity settled over his wrinkled, weathered face. "It seems your Sharingan has already matured into the MangekyoSharingan."
Shimura knew the score. Though the Mangekyo placed a devastating burden on the user's body and could not be sustained indefinitely, it remained an apocalyptic weapon before the inevitable blindness took hold. Anyone harboring those eyes was an absolute monster on the battlefield.
He could no longer afford to be careless.
—Clang!
Jiang Chen offered no verbal reply. Instead, the cold ring of steel echoed through the ruins as he silently drew the KusanagiSword from his waist, its edge gleaming under the smoke-filled sky.
"It seems you have no intention of bowing to the Great East Island Empire," Shimura Kenta said, the faux warmth completely vanishing from his voice. He stopped wasting his breath and abruptly snapped his wrist forward.
"Kill them."
Those East Island Contractors immediately drew their Tachis and moved them toward the necks of Li Yanran and the others.
—Amaterasu!
Almost at the same time.
A line of bloody tears flowed from Jiang Chen's left eye.
He activated his [Mangekyo Sharingan] without hesitation and released [Amaterasu]!
Before the East Island Contractors could bring their blades down on Li Yanran and the others, they were burned to ashes by black flames, leaving no bones behind.
"Now!"
"Die!"
—Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Clematis!
—Daytime Tiger!
Just as Jiang Chen made his move.
Two figures rapidly approached from two different directions, launching an attack on him simultaneously.
It was Asakura, whom he had kicked away earlier, and Ling Kai, who had been watching like a hawk nearby.
Although the timing of their attack was precise.
They were still one step too late.
The moment the [Daytime Tiger]'s air bullet and the [Shikotsumyaku] bone spear struck simultaneously.
Jiang Chen's body was already covered by a layer of black armor.
Although the combined attack from Asakura and Ling Kai knocked Jiang Chen back.
They themselves were burned by the [Kagutsuchi] on the outside of the Karasu Tengu armor.
The inexhaustible black flames of Amaterasu began to spread aggressively along Ling Kai's palm and Asakura's bone spear.
"Quick! Cut away the parts burning with the black flames!" Ling Kai shrieked. Having witnessed the absolute terror of Amaterasu before, he didn't hesitate for a single second. Seeing the dark fire catch his left palm, he whipped out a kunai and ruthlessly severed his own hand at the wrist.
Asakura was just as decisive. With a sharp snap, he broke off the entire section of the bone spear touched by the black flames and flung it into the dirt.
"So... so strong..."
"My god, how did Jiang Chen become this powerful?"
"Good heavens, is this still the same Jiang Chen we knew?"
"No wonder he dared to break in here alone. He was entirely prepared for this."
Li Yanran and the others had been standing on the absolute precipice of despair. But watching the overwhelming dominance Jiang Chen was displaying now, a spark of hope was violently rekindled in their chests.
Neither Ling Kai nor Asakura were weaklings; their raw power was easily comparable to high-level, Kage-tier Contractors. Yet, their coordinated, full-force assault had not only failed to scratch Jiang Chen, but had ended with both of them mutilating themselves just to survive the backlash.
"Damn it! What kind of monstrous ability is this?!" Ling Kai hissed, his frustration boiling over as he clutched his bleeding wrist. "The flames can attack from a distance, change shape, and wrap around him like armor? It completely locks out anyone who relies on Taijutsu!"
Ling Kai had originally planned to use Asakura's bone spear as a distraction to get in close, planning to detonate a point-blank Daytime Tiger to obliterate Jiang Chen on the spot. He had never anticipated that the black flames coating the Susanoo ribcage could passively defend and counterattack simultaneously.
If he had known his opponent possessed such an absolute, close-quarters counter, he never would have attempted a zero-distance strike.
...
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