Crossover Anime: Starting with Destroying Kengan

Page 138

Hayasaka Ai seemed to have discovered something and went closer to take a look, then exclaimed in surprise.

"You recognize them?"

Yato raised an eyebrow.

"There can't be any mistake... The current head of the Funakoshi family, and... the eldest son of the Honma family who just succeeded to the throne, the chairman of Mitsuhashi Industries... and even Mr. Komiyama from the advisory group...!?"

Hayasaka Ai looked at each cage one by one, and the more she looked, the more horrified she became, a strong chill rising in her heart.

"Since you know them, it means these people have deep ties with the Shinomiya family. It seems I guessed right."

Even so, Yato's expression was not very good.

"...They are all cadres in Shinomiya Kōkō's camp."

Hayasaka Ai took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

But her voice still trembled almost imperceptibly.

"Time of death no more than three days ago." Yato stood in front of a cage, carefully examining a corpse. "No obvious fatal wounds, and it doesn't look like he starved to death... Was it poisoned?"

"Ok?"

Suddenly, Yato frowned.

Turning my head, I looked at the cage at the very back.

The person in the cage was lying face down on the ground, with their back to the sky, so their face was not clearly visible.

It looked exactly like the other corpses.

However, he heard a faint heartbeat.

Yato approached the cage, easily bent the bars, pulled the person inside out, and threw him to the ground.

"cough……!"

The stomach collided violently with the ground.

The sudden pain brought the dying man back to some semblance of consciousness.

"Hayasaka, who is this person?"

Yato called the maid over to identify her.

After seeing the other person's face clearly, Hayasaka Ai's expression became extremely stiff, and she said in a strained tone:

"...He is the person we are looking for."

"Oh?"

Looking at the bald, middle-aged man on the ground who looked suspicious and clearly wasn't a good person, I saw...

Yato's eyes gleamed.

He crouched down, grabbed the other person's collar, and forcibly pulled them up.

Then, place your finger on their chest to stimulate their heart with 'qi'.

The principle is very similar to [possession by a god], both of which forcibly revive the heart and strengthen bodily functions in a short period of time. Although it is not good for the body, what he needs now is not a healthy Shinomiya Hiroko, but someone who can answer his questions.

"Cough cough cough..."

Huang Guang coughed desperately, blood seeping from his mouth and nose.

It looks like it could die at any moment.

But just as Yato had predicted, he woke up without incident.

Tell me, what happened here?

Yato asked the question directly.

"Quick, take me to the hospital."

Huang Guang managed to utter a sound with great difficulty.

"Answer my question first, or you'll die here."

The moment I hear the word 'death'...

The man, who had already tasted the pain of near death, suddenly began to breathe rapidly.

"...I was locked up here and interrogated by a group of people, along with others...They were summoned in my name and used poison to coerce them into revealing their secrets and experiences...Then, after they achieved their goal, they never came back, nor did they provide us with an antidote."

Huang Guang of the Fourth Palace was strong but weak, and spoke in fits and starts, but it was not difficult to deduce the whole story from his words.

Who were those people?

Yato squinted and asked.

"I don't know... it was Lü Tian... he's the one who brought this here. Quick, take me, take me to the hospital..."

Shinomiya Hikari tremblingly grabbed Yato's sleeve.

"Is that all you know? You're surprisingly useless."

Yato shook his head with some regret.

Shaking off the other person's hand, he said to the silent Hayasaka Ai:

"Let's go."

"...What do we do with this guy?"

Hayasaka Ai stared at the man still struggling and groaning on the ground, and suddenly spoke up.

"If we leave him alone, no one can save him."

Yato shrugged.

Right now, Shinomiya Hirokawa is probably not as awake as someone who has just woken up.

This is a clear indication that toxins are eroding the brain.

At this point, there's no way to save them; even if they were to be brought back to life, they would only be an idiot.

"I can rest assured that."

Hayasaka Ai pulled out a military dagger.

He went up and stabbed her.

He died instantly.

"No matter what, killing a living person will still leave you with some guilt, and I don't want my life to be tainted by that kind of thing."

The girl tossed her ponytail, sheathed her sword, and left.

"..."

Yato glanced at the corpse on the ground and couldn't help but chuckle.

……

After leaving the mansion, the two sat in the car.

Looking at the young man's profile as he fell into deep thought, Hayasaka Ai suddenly asked, "Is it really okay to just leave it like this?"

“I’ve already notified the Kengan Association. The Katahara Metsudo Association will clean up our mess, and those people won’t suspect us, so there’s nothing to worry about… More than that, I want to know who else has been affected besides those who have already been killed.”

Yato frowned and pondered.

"...Do you know someone named 'Lu Tian'?"

Hayasaka Ai hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I wouldn't say I know him, but I've heard of him. He and his master are from the same secret organization, and I have some connection with him, but this time he did something unnecessary."

Yato's tone was playful.

"If he hadn't asked you to tell me not to attack Shinomiya Hiromitsu, I wouldn't have thought of this. Saying things like 'he'll handle things here' makes it seem like I owe him a favor, it's just to lull me into a false sense of security."

"In reality, he colluded with others to take control of Shinomiya Hikari, and used Shinomiya Hikari's name to target others, intending to seize control of the entire camp and then quietly expand outwards."

"That's why you said that even if you kill the real thing, a fake will still appear..." Hayasaka Ai completely understood, but she also felt increasingly terrified.

They imprisoned the person and then found someone else to impersonate and replace him.

Besides their identical appearance, they can also perfectly imitate the information they know, their behavior, and their personality. Even acquaintances would find it difficult to tell the difference because it's hard to think in that direction.

If you sense something is wrong, you'll just assume you're overthinking it.

Moreover, these people who were replaced were not ordinary people. If they wanted to, they would not need to step into the limelight at all; it would be safer for them to issue orders from behind the scenes.

“You don’t need to think too badly about the situation.” Seeing Hayasaka Ai’s face turn pale, Yato smiled and said, “This kind of infiltration method is terrifying, but it’s not so easy to do.”

"The organization to which Lü Tian belongs is from overseas. With Katahara Mitsudo and the four major financial groups blocking their way, it's difficult for them to infiltrate. The reason why Shinomiya Huang Guang suffered is probably because he used any means to achieve his goals, which resulted in him letting the wolf into the house."

"My main worry is my parents..."

Hayasaka Ai was feeling down.

It's important to know that the Hayasaka family were also executives in Shinomiya Kiko's camp. Although not many people knew this, the fact that they had already abandoned Shinomiya Kiko meant that they knew all the necessary information.

In this situation, the Hayasaka family, acting as a covert agent, becomes even more valuable.

"I think it's necessary to explain this to Kaguya."

Yato glanced at her and said calmly:

"Shinomiya Kōkō has fallen, which is an opportunity for her. Even if it's just for your sake, she will protect the Hayasaka family."

"...For my sake?" Hayasaka Ai gave a self-deprecating laugh. "No matter what I thought later, from the beginning I stood on Kaguya-sama's side as a traitor. I have no right to ask Kaguya-sama to do anything for me."

“You’re right. But one thing at a time, you’ve done a great job this time. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to discover that organization’s little tricks in advance.”

Yato spoke very sincerely.

Although he and Lü Tian both belong to the [Insect] faction, which is also one of the Ten Demon Snakes and Two Tigers, he already considers this country to be his for the taking. Once Kaguya succeeds as the president of the Kengan Association, he can start running for the position of Far East Branch Minister and build his own power base.

Lü Tian's infiltration at this time, regardless of his reasons, is undoubtedly an act of plundering.

Therefore, after discovering this, Yato did not hesitate to use the channels of the Kure clan to directly contact Katahara Metsudo to carry out a murder by proxy, and also to clear himself of suspicion of 'sabotaging his colleagues' operations'.

This would make the targeted individuals, such as [Mushi], believe from the outset that it was Katahara Metsudo's doing.

"...Even if you say that, I don't feel a sense of accomplishment at all."

Hayasaka Ai looked at Yato coldly with a slightly disdainful gaze.

Yes, she did consider sacrificing herself to incite a conflict between Yato and Shinomiya Hikari, and even further, involve more people who would become Kaguya-sama's enemies, thus completely eliminating the possibility of Yato defecting.

However, she never imagined that the plan would deviate from this direction.

Although the outcome was good, the process...

"Now that things are settled here, shouldn't we find somewhere to eat? Speaking of which, we came out without having dinner yet. You might be full, but I'm quite exhausted. Aren't you going to treat me?"

Yato wore a mocking smile.

"...?!"

Hayasaka Ai's hand, which was gripping the steering wheel, trembled slightly, but she said calmly:

"I'm sorry, Miss Kaguya must be getting impatient at home. I need to get back quickly. Perhaps you could come back with me? There are some things I need to explain to Miss Kaguya, aren't there?"

"That's true."

Yato nodded.

Upon hearing this, Hayasaka Ai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But the next moment——

"But we've been out for so long, there's no need to rush. Let's rest for a while before going back."

"...?!"

Hayasaka Ai opened the car door and got out with lightning speed.

Although she moved quickly, she was still no match for Yato.

If someone were nearby at this moment, they would likely witness this scene: a person is about to get out of the car when suddenly something pulls them back inside, slamming the open door shut. All that can be seen is a hand pounding on the car window... but soon, that hand falls limply, as if it has been deprived of the strength to resist.

……

Two hours later.