As for the refuge he had mentioned, he was certain that the Mugen Tenshin Clan would suffer a devastating blow. They would probably even have to abandon their ancestral home.
"Has it really come to this?"
Momiji asked in surprise. She didn't know what had led Ryu to reach such a conclusion, but one thing was certain, he was never the type to make reckless claims about matters like this.
"Yes, it has. What DOATEC has done has essentially exposed the existence of the Mugen Tenshin Clan to the world. Every ambitious person will become curious about what kind of power those who betrayed DOATEC were after, enough to make them try to kill their own company's president. And under these circumstances, the existence of the clones won't stay hidden either. When that happens, things will become very troublesome. So, we have to prepare in advance."
Ryu had a very clear understanding of the situation. He read books and newspapers, watched the news, and even had access to certain confidential information. Unlike the almost completely isolated Mugen Tenshin Clan, he genuinely lived in the modern world, so he clearly understood how precarious the Mugen Tenshin clan's position had become.
"Prepare to wipe out every fiend(demon) sealed within the Mugen Tenshin clan. And, Momiji... don't you think the Mugen Tenshin Clan is outdated?"
Looking at his friend, Ryu asked the question seriously.
"Outdated... Is it?"
Momiji didn't quite understand. Although she wasn't a ninja, she was also a shrine maiden who had lived in seclusion for most of her life and was responsible for exorcising demons.
So the confusion on her face after hearing Ryu's words was genuine.
"..."
Ryu Hayabusa fell silent.
In his opinion, what had happened to the Mugen Tenshin Clan would not be an isolated incident. In the future, they would inevitably face even greater upheaval.
So, he decided to explain to Momiji exactly what DOATEC had done.
"You know that while DOATEC was dealing with those traitors, they also announced the World Martial Arts Tournament. But do you know how much the prize money is?"
Momiji shook her head. Having lived deep in the mountains, she had no real concept of the value of U.S. dollars.
"In terms of Japanese yen, the prize money for this tournament is already worth tens of billions of yen. Momiji, do you understand what that means? And they've even said they'll keep increasing the prize pool."
Ryu looked down at Kasumi below as he continued speaking.
"Rugal even added another one hundred million US dollars to the prize himself. Then there's Bison, along with all the advertisers and sponsors joining in. The prize money will probably increase again... This is very likely no longer just a simple tournament. It's very likely an operation by the United States to learn more about the supernatural powers that exist in this world."
Behind his mask, Ryu's expression was extremely serious. He had already sensed that something was very unusual.
The first sign was the unprecedented support from the U.S. government.
The matter of Orochi wasn't exactly a secret. Ordinary people at the bottom might not know about it, but to think the government hadn't known what had happened back then would be ridiculous.
If a ninja like him knew this information, there was no reason the Americans wouldn't.
So, the conclusion was obvious.
They would inevitably become interested. After all, it was the power of immortality.
Ryu himself didn't care about such things. His life was devoted to slaying demons and evil spirits. Even in the worst case, after death he would simply go to the Asura Realm, which wasn't an unacceptable destination to him.
But for those in powerful and wealthy individuals...
The ability to escape death was simply too important. There was no way they would give up pursuing it.
"And even if the U.S. government isn't involved behind the scenes, do you really think people would ignore something that a company is willing to spend tens of billions of yen on, or something important enough that it needs to spend tens of billions just to divert attention from it? In everyone else's eyes, the World Martial Arts Tournament is merely a distraction to draw attention away from the conflict within DOATEC. What's truly important is the reason DOATEC split apart. Once people begin investigating that, the Mugen Tenshin Clan won't be able to stay hidden. That's why the most important thing right now is helping our allies find a place to take refuge. As for everything else... whether it's Hayate or Kasumi, although they're our close friends, if we can't rescue them for the time being, then all we can do is temporarily set them aside."
Ryu rarely spoke at such length. But under the current circumstances, it was necessary.
"How could this..."
Momiji still found it hard to believe.
Their village was almost entirely self-sufficient, producing nearly everything it needed. They rarely used money. She only spent a little when buying things like sugar and salt, and she had practically no savings.
But she still understood what tens of billions of yen represented.
A few hundred thousand yen was enough to buy everything their village couldn't produce in a city.
Tens of billions of yen...
...was enough to make countless people trample their village into the ground.
And the most troublesome part wasn't investigators from other organizations.
It was ordinary people.
If members of another faction came, killing them wouldn't matter much. In the underworld, that sort of thing was commonplace.
But ordinary people were different. If ordinary civilians were killed, then they would be breaking an unspoken rule that everyone followed.
When that happened, the Mugen Tenshin Clan would become enemies of the entire nation.
It can be said that DOATEC's actions had placed the entire Mugen Tenshin Clan on the executioner's block.
"Hurry and make the preparations. As for me, I'll draw some attention away and investigate a few other matters. The rest will depend on you."
Ryu's gaze was deep and thoughtful.
Kasumi had already been completely drawn into the situation, and for the moment he couldn't think of any way to save her. After all, the strength of one man wasn't enough to stand against the entire world.
Besides, he had no desire to use the Dragon Sword, the weapon meant for slaying demon gods, against human beings.
And if he didn't use it...
His gaze shifted toward the place where Ryuji was staying.
Making a rough estimate, he judged that when fighting humans with his strength, he was probably around the same level as the two users of the Satsui no Hado he had encountered that day.
Nor did he wish to fight against human society.
His duty was to protect humanity, not to kill more people for the sake of saving a single person.
All he could do was try his best.
After all, this wasn't truly his affair. It was the Mugen Tenshin Clan's affair.
~~~~~~~~~~
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