Chapter 41: Masamune Tachibana Is Not Dead?

This was undoubtedly the most chaotic period in the history of the Snake and Eight Families. The Oyashigata had suddenly died a violent death, the head of the Uesugi family from the Upper Three Families had defected, there was infighting for the position of Oyashigata, and the fierce ghosts of the Gaki-shu were eyeing them like tigers eyeing their prey, with all sorts of riots erupting everywhere.

The last time things were this chaotic could be traced back several decades, when the previous Oyashigata had secretly fled and even burned down the family shrine. However, that incident was not as severe as the present one; it would be no exaggeration to say that the Snake and Eight Families were now on the brink of total collapse.

The most critical issue was that at such a fatal moment, Kassel College had actually dispatched commissioners. It must be known that what these Japanese wanted to hide most right now was Kassel College, fearing above all else that their identity as descendants of the White King would be exposed.

Yet the people had already been sent out. Kassel College was not negotiating with them at all, but merely issuing a notice.

With no other choice, the remaining family heads held an all-night meeting and ultimately decided to leave the position of Oyashigata vacant for the time being, with the Young Master, Gen Chisaki, serving temporarily as acting head. At the same time, he would deal with the commissioners sent by Kassel College, while the other family heads went out to suppress the riots and deal with the Gaki-shu, striving to make everything appear normal from the college's perspective.

The task assigned to Inuyama贺 was to suppress the various gangs in the Shinjuku district, which had recently become very restless and engaged in turf wars.

Hearing about the internal turmoil within the family, these fellows had tried to take advantage of the chaos to expand their spheres of influence. As it turned out, more than one or two people harbored this idea, and conflicts immediately broke out, showing a tendency to escalate further and further.

The Shinjuku district could be said to be the stronghold of the Snake and Eight Families. The turf wars among these fellows had already caused a massive impact, so they had to be suppressed at the fastest possible speed, which required a large number of men.

Inuyama's own industrial chains were mainly concentrated in the nightlife and adult entertainment industries, meaning there was certainly no shortage of pretty girls, but the number of enforcers was somewhat stretched.

Consequently, the family heads decided to transfer the Kanto Branch to his command. At this moment, Inuyama was standing at a neon-lit street corner in the Shinjuku district, with a convoy of Inuyama family Mercedes-Benz cars parked behind him. Around twenty men in black suits stood quietly by his side.

Inuyama was smoking a cigarette, the crimson glow in the darkness particularly conspicuous, and the faint sounds of young men fighting and roaring could be heard in the distance.

The core members of these gangs were mostly young people with very low educational backgrounds. They believed in a code of loyalty and chivalry—simply put, they cared about saving face rather than their lives. This was precisely why the family needed to intervene, because once people like this really started a turf war, they wouldn't care about how severe the consequences might be.

His cell phone rang. The incoming call was from Akechi Asuya, the head of the Kanto Branch.

The Executive Bureau and the two major branches, Kanto and Kansai, both took orders directly from the Oyashigata and constituted the primary forces of the Snake and Eight Families. Akechi Asuya had even studied abroad at Kassel College.

"Family Head Inuyama, the Kassel College commissioners will arrive tomorrow. The Kanto Branch will rendezvous with you in five minutes to assist in suppressing the riots," Akechi Asuya spoke with his customary brevity.

Even before the phone call ended, Inuyama could already hear the roaring of modified muscle cars. The first to appear was a red Alfa Romeo sports car, speeding recklessly through the city like a maddened beast, followed by countless cars laying heavily on their horns.

The men standing beside Inuyama raised their weapons in unison. The bright headlights of the sports car resembled snake eyes, and they naturally felt a sense of vigilance, but Inuyama merely frowned; he did not particularly like the people from the Kanto Branch.

To be precise, no one in the Snake and Eight Families liked the people from the Kanto Branch. Rather than calling them human beings, it was more appropriate to call them lunatics.

The squad leaders were all geniuses—very crazy geniuses. Aside from a fondness for street racing, some of them were addicted to drugs, some enjoyed sadistic killings, and others loved gambling with their own fingers as stakes.

Tachibana Masamune had been deeply troubled by them during his lifetime, but could not bear to give up on them. After all, someone without eccentricities was not qualified to be called a genius, and geniuses were, in a sense, freaks.

Had it not been for Tachibana Masamune's staunch protection, these freaks would have been expelled from the family long ago.

The sports car came to a screeching halt in front of Inuyama, bright sparks flying from the brake rotors. The door opened, and a cold-looking young man stepped out—none other than the head of the Kanto Branch, Akechi Asuya.

Compared to the other members, Akechi Asuya's eccentricity was the cleanest, at least in the sense that it did not disturb others. He was obsessed with dissecting corpses, purchasing cadavers through various illegal channels and then meticulously dissecting bones and muscles down to the finest thread in his own "operating room."

Perhaps because of his eccentricity, Inuyama seemed to catch a faint whiff of the smell of blood. He frowned even deeper, watching as Akechi Asuya bowed deeply to him without uttering a word.

Another roar of engines approached, and car after car came to abrupt halts—all high-horsepower sports cars of the same make. The owners were young men and women in their twenties, and soon, all twelve squad leaders of the Kanto Branch had arrived.

"The plan is to completely suppress the riots across the entire Shinjuku district tonight. Any problems?" Inuyama asked.

"None."

Akechi Asuya bowed slightly. The Snake and Eight Families maintained a strict patriarchal system; a family head was a family head, and even the Inuyama family, belonging to the Lower Five Families, held a status superior to that of Akechi Asuya.

Inuyama looked at the group of young people before him, and whether it was his imagination or not, he felt that the smell of blood was even heavier now, mingled with a strange, foul stench.

"What are you carrying in your trunks?" Inuyama asked in a cold voice, the odor seeming to emanate directly from the rear compartments.

"Just some of my personal collection," Akechi Asuya replied indifferently, his hand resting on the trunk. "Would the Family Head care to take a look?"

Before Inuyama could respond, the man forcefully popped open the trunk. A nauseating stench rushed forth, and a serpentine black shadow lunged out from the trunk, uncoiling its body in mid-air like a straight arrow, shooting directly toward Inuyama.

Inuyama's pupils abruptly contracted. He activated his Spiritual Word in an instant, his figure mysteriously vanishing from the spot, but the next moment, a scream still rang out—it was one of his subordinates.

The young people watched this scene with great interest. One after another, they opened their own trunks, and terrifying serpentine monsters rushed out, quickly annihilating all of Inuyama's attendants before they even had time to pull the triggers of their pistols.

When Inuyama's figure reappeared, he had already put some distance between them. Glaring at Akechi Asuya with eyes splitting from rage, he roared, "Akechi Asuya, has your Kanto Branch lost its mind?! Are you planning to betray the Snake and Eight Families?!"

Almost as he roared these words, he had already fished his cell phone out of his pocket, preparing to notify the Snake and Eight Families of the Kanto Branch's betrayal.

Yet at that exact moment, an aged and familiar voice suddenly sounded, causing Inuyama's movements to freeze abruptly.

"Betrayal? What betrayal?"

Someone was actually sitting in the passenger seat of the last dark blue Porsche. Because that person had been silent until now and the car was positioned toward the rear, shielded by other vehicles, Inuyama had not noticed him.

At this moment, he looked over in astonishment, laying eyes on a figure he never could have believed possible.

The old man slowly stepped out of the car, revealing a face that Inuyama found utterly unmistakable. He said, "贺, are you planning to betray me?"

It was none other than Tachibana Masamune, who should have long since been beheaded!