Volume 4: Hidden Battles – Chapter 115: Free Fighting

The two men beside him had grim expressions, wearing form-fitting outfits with bulging muscles, exuding a sense of power. Their imposing aura stood in sharp contrast to that of the graceful woman.
Yet Chu Tianyu knew the real threat wasn’t them but the beautiful woman who seemed like an office worker and was standing right in front of him. Based on his past experience and the murderous aura surrounding her, Chu Tianyu was certain she must have gone through life-and-death trials to maintain such calmness and combat readiness.
“It should be me who asks that! Why are you following me? Do you want to commit some petty robbery?” Chu Tianyu asked calmly.
“Damn it…” The two men shouted in unison, preparing to attack. At that critical moment, the woman also snapped, her expression fierce, causing the two men to immediately halt their advance, though their expressions remained hostile.
Chu Tianyu frowned and said, “You’re Japanese!”
“Give us the item, and we’ll let you go!” The woman didn’t waste words and got straight to the point.
Chu Tianyu lifted the storage device in his hand and said disdainfully, “Is it this?”
“That’s right! Give it to me…” The woman rushed to say as soon as she saw it.
“Why should I?” Chu Tianyu’s expression suddenly turned cold.
The woman hadn’t expected him to ask that question and was momentarily stunned. But she quickly regained her composure, her expression complex—seemingly ready to attack yet hesitant. Eventually, she gave up the idea of acting immediately and said, “How much do you want? Make an offer!”
Chu Tianyu remained silent.
“One million!” The woman, unable to wait, offered the first price.
“…”
“Ten million!”
“…”
“Thirty million, in dollars!” The woman kept raising the stakes. Her anxiety and worry grew increasingly intense. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to kill, silence witnesses, and seize the item, but she instinctively sensed extreme danger from this mysterious masked man, realizing his strength might be beyond their reach.

What kept her believing, however, was a creed of their ninjas: victory or defeat wasn’t determined solely by individual strength, as there were many uncertain factors, such as surprise assassinations! That’s why she kept provoking Chu Tianyu into talking, aiming to strike at the moment he was distracted—ensuring a one-hit kill!
To her disappointment, she found no weakness or opportunity to act; not even the last mention of “dollars” disturbed her opponent the slightest. This made her grip on the poisoned blade tighten slightly, to her own surprise. Since she debuted at fifteen, she had faced countless challenges, but never before had she felt such tension.
“Money isn’t an issue, but I want to ask you a question first,” Chu Tianyu suddenly said.
The woman was confused by his words and retorted, “What question?”
“Tell me, is boxing better, or is taekwondo better? How about free fighting instead? What do you think?” Chu Tianyu asked abruptly.
“What did you say?” Though she understood the words, she still didn’t grasp his meaning and asked instinctively.
“Nothing much. Though you all look tough, the symbols of Japanese Iga ninjas on your sleeves speak for themselves. It’s easy enough to beat you—no need to use our Chinese martial arts. Otherwise, it’s like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly!”
As he spoke, Chu Tianyu tilted his head back and muttered, “Boxing? Ah, no gloves. Taekwondo? Ah, no uniform. Never mind—just stretch my arms and lift my hands; that counts as free fighting…”
His contemptuous tone and indifferent expression enraged the three people around him, including the woman who had remained calm until then.
The woman was the first to attack. A cold glint appeared in her hand as she lunged at Chu Tianyu’s face. The other two Japanese ninjas simultaneously drew short swords from their bodies and slashed at him. The light from both sides completely blocked Chu Tianyu’s escape routes—a perfectly coordinated killing move.
Without even using his internal energy, Chu Tianyu moved swiftly, rushing headfirst into the sword strike from the left ninja. Relying on his body, enhanced by the Black Dragon energy, he punched through the blade’s edge and skillfully struck the surface of the sword with a fighting technique from the side.

A tremendous force rushed over instantly. As the knife was flung away, the ninja’s hand was also shattered, forcing him to retreat several steps. Chu Tianyu didn’t pause at all; instead, he rushed forward with each of his steps backward, using his arms to block the ninja’s hands, then slamming his elbow hard into his chest. Before any blood could spray out, Chu Tianyu’s fists struck again in quick succession, trapping the blood in his throat—unable to spit it out or swallow it back. His face turned completely red. It wasn’t until Chu Tianyu delivered his final blow that he stabilized himself and stood upright. With the breeze caused by Chu Tianyu’s turn as he walked away, the ninja lay motionless, having been knocked so hard he couldn’t spit out blood and died of suffocation on the spot! When the remaining two ninjas saw their companion fall, Chu Tianyu had already flashed to the other knife-wielding ninja. Taking advantage of the moment when his attack missed, he stepped forward, feinting with his fists to make the ninja instinctively block, then twisted his foot 90 degrees to deliver a side kick to the ninja’s abdomen. At the same time, he spun away from the female ninja’s three icy attacks and her follow-up strike, using the momentum to lift his right elbow slightly and swiftly strike the ninja he had just kicked. The ninja, with both hands clutching his abdomen, was bending backward from the kick. Unprepared for Chu Tianyu’s speed, he was hit squarely in the temple as Chu Tianyu’s elbow traced a perfect half-circle from the side! With a scream of “Ah~~,” the ninja was knocked to the ground by the immense force, remaining motionless—his fate unknown. As Chu Tianyu turned again, a wisp of smoke appeared, and the female ninja who had been leading the attack was gone. “Boring ninjutsu, idiotic ninjas…” Chu Tianyu showed no surprise, only shaking his head and murmuring to himself. In truth, such escape and invisibility techniques were nothing but distractions. For anyone with some training, sensing their presence would prevent them from being deceived by such tricks—let alone Chu Tianyu. Chu Tianyu calmly removed his mask, searched the two dead ninjas, and found two passports before setting out to track down the one who had escaped. He followed the ninja’s trail around almost the entire city of Beijing before arriving at his destination at 11 p.m.

The destination was a building that housed a five-star hotel. When Chu Tianyu saw the name, he couldn’t help but sigh bitterly, thinking to himself, “Wow, isn’t this too coincidental? Heaven, you should have told me earlier!” The reason for Chu Tianyu’s reaction was simple: the building’s name was “Chu Ye Building”! As the female ninja slowly approached the elevator, Chu Tianyu also appeared in the lobby. He wasn’t in a hurry and ordered a soda and some snacks from the lounge, deciding to eat something first. He still hadn’t had dinner yet. Who would have thought that after all this detour, she would end up at his own company’s property? If he had known, he would have come here first to book a room, have dinner, and wait while watching TV! As he ate, Chu Tianyu thought to himself, “She seems really cautious! I’m sure she didn’t discover my whereabouts. In other words, she went through all this trouble just to avoid being followed. I’ve heard these Japanese ninja groups are extremely bizarre—today, it seems true! What exactly did Wu Susu discover that could draw the Japanese ninjas?” At that moment, Chu Tianyu slapped his head and said, “Oh no, I completely forgot about the followers!” He then took out the storage device, fiddled with it, and silently connected the pieces together in his mind. Once he had a rough idea, he finally smiled and said to himself, “Heh, since you’ve come to me willingly, it seems even heaven disapproves of you. Since fate has arranged these coincidences to hand you over to me, I’ll reluctantly help out! Hehe, these past couple of days have been a good time to get familiar with Chu Ye’s business. The boss here must be surnamed Zhao…” Chu Tianyu took out his phone, dialed a number, and said, “Mr. Zhao? Hello, it’s Chu Tianyu…” Within thirty seconds, the lobby manager rushed over; within three minutes, the building’s deputy manager also arrived… Soon, Chu Tianyu checked into a luxury suite on the 22nd floor, with several rooms reserved by Japanese people right next to it! The building’s staff installed a temporary audio-visual system in his suite, one that could play the storage device he had. After the staff finished setting everything up and left, Chu Tianyu connected the device to the audio-visual system, pressed play, and settled comfortably on the sofa to enjoy it.