Mado Tadamori

Uchiha Zhuang continued questioning Mado Shizuka about the guards and the divine artifact, but she only knew a little. She had never been to Mado Tadamori's quarters, so she didn't know the details. He went on to ask about the political situation in the Land of Rain. As befitted the daughter of a pillar of state, Mado Shizuka spoke at length about government affairs and strategy. Looking at the fascinating Mado Shizuka, Uchiha Zhuang felt a sudden urge to kidnap her and take her back to his base. He needed high-caliber talent like her; staying here would only bury her potential. Uchiha Zhuang suppressed the thought. He slowly guided Mado Shizuka to sleep, tucked her in, and then retraced his steps. Following her directions, he headed straight for the largest, brightly lit, five-story building in the north: the Tenshu Pavilion.

Mado Tadamori's quarters were guarded extremely heavily. Several patrols of soldiers covered the walls on every side, and there were even many ninjas lurking on the eaves and in the corners of the courtyard. The ninja on the roof was no weakling. Uchiha Zhuang sensed him from afar and judged that he might be at the level of a jonin. After thinking for a long time without coming up with a plan, Uchiha Zhuang grew anxious. Tonight's assassination depended on speed and surprise; he couldn't waste any more time here. Gritting his teeth, Uchiha Zhuang had no choice but to take a risky move.

Uchiha Zhuang immediately created two clones. One took a large number of smoke bombs and charged the front, making a feint to draw away the guards patrolling the courtyard and its surroundings. While his clone made a noisy spectacle to confuse and distract the enemy, Uchiha Zhuang kept his senses firmly fixed on the jonin on the roof. Shouts rang out across the vast courtyard as smoke billowed and everyone rushed about, chasing the intruder. At that moment, Uchiha Zhuang nodded to his other clone. The clone leaped several times to the palace and, with everyone drawn away, pushed open the door and entered. The jonin on the roof shot downward with a whoosh, gripping an iron staff and bringing it down with a vicious blow. The clone was ready and dodged the lethal strike. Without wasting a word, he unleashed a barrage of Water Style: Water Bullets at the jonin. The jonin was incredibly agile, dodging them one by one before firing back with a Fire Style: Fire Bullet. Seeing this, Uchiha Zhuang's clone knew the diversion had done its job. He immediately turned and fled, racing out of the courtyard. The jonin hesitated, thought it over, then used the Body Flicker Technique to pursue him at top speed.

Uchiha Zhuang once again made sure there were no ninjas nearby, then leaped onto the second-floor balcony. He glanced around to check for danger, quietly slid open the door, and slipped inside. As soon as he entered the second floor, he saw a huge round pink bed. Truly, it was a scene of gauzy curtains and a springtime bedchamber, smooth skin and red lips flushed with desire; what a pity the pleasures of the night were so brief, though the beauty's embrace was all the sweeter. The entire second floor was one enormous bedroom, lavishly decorated with carved dragons and painted phoenixes. Gold, silver, and jade ornaments were everywhere; silk and satin were draped carelessly about; there were soft carpets, fragrant writing desks, rare beast-head ornaments, and strange gems and jewels. It was extravagance without end. Fighting the urge to grab whatever he could carry, Uchiha Zhuang summoned all his willpower to suppress his greed. He left the empty room and headed up to the third floor.

As soon as he reached the stairwell, he heard a rhythmic pounding. Uchiha Zhuang paused at the landing to listen closely. It wasn't that he liked eavesdropping; it was simply that the closer one got to the target, the more likely things were to go wrong. Danger could be hiding anywhere near the target, waiting for the slightest opening to unleash a deadly attack. Uchiha Zhuang could clearly sense six women and one man, as well as a woman with a high energy level hiding in a corner. Yet the woman in the corner was unusually calm, as if she were still training her chakra! Never disturb someone when they're deeply focused—that was basic courtesy, and Uchiha Zhuang kept it in mind as he silently waited for the mighty general charging across the battlefield to fall. Sure enough, after waiting a while, he heard heavy panting again, and then the group stopped moving.

Uchiha Zhuang knew it was time to make his entrance. He took off his waterproof cloak, revealing his samurai outfit, and climbed the stairs step by step with the Streamer Red Dragon greatsword on his back. The instant Uchiha Zhuang appeared at the top of the stairs, the woman in the corner snapped her eyes open and fixed her gaze on him. Her hand slowly reached for the short sword at her feet.

The middle-aged man lay on his back in bed, exposed among several women. Limp and weak, he looked just like a dehydrated toad. The women saw that Uchiha Zhuang meant them harm and huddled together in terror, wisely keeping quiet. Only then did the man come to his senses. He tilted his head and looked sidelong at Uchiha Zhuang. After a moment, he said, "You'll be chopped into minced meat." His tone was casual, his attitude unquestionable. Hearing him, Uchiha Zhuang couldn't help lifting the corners of his mouth into a smile. "You're Mado Tadamori, right? Had enough of living? I'm going to cut off your dog's head now." "Teme, baka yarō! Ibuki, kill him!" Mado Tadamori roared furiously, his face flushed red. The instant his words fell, the woman called Ibuki vanished. Uchiha Zhuang froze for a moment and glanced around. A chill crept over him. He slowly looked down and saw half a blade protruding from his body. What incredible speed, Uchiha Zhuang thought, silently stunned.

After landing her first strike, the woman let her guard down just a little. Then a whoosh sounded beside her ear. With a bang, the impaled man turned into smoke, and a powerful sweeping kick was already right in front of her. The woman bent backward nimbly to dodge it, switching the short sword to her other hand as she stabbed diagonally toward Uchiha Zhuang's upper thigh. Using the force of his own sweeping kick, Uchiha Zhuang pushed off with his left foot, spun in midair, and launched a second sweeping kick at her arm. The woman reacted incredibly fast. She let go of the short sword and dropped down with one hand to avoid the powerful kick. The sword was knocked onto the floor, where it quivered upright. The woman backflipped several times out of Uchiha Zhuang's range, then drew another short sword and held it in a reverse grip against her chest, watching him. To be honest, Uchiha Zhuang had never faced a ninja this quick and agile. If he hadn't had his Two-Tomoe Sharingan active, he wouldn't have dodged her attack. The middle-aged man clenched his fist and shouted angrily, but his body told the truth as he squeezed in behind the women.

In the blink of an eye, the woman flung several senbon at him. As Uchiha Zhuang dodged them, she pulled out a blowgun and began shooting black poison darts. Uchiha Zhuang sensed trouble the moment she took out the blowgun. Sure enough, the poisoned senbon she fired came from incredibly tricky angles. Uchiha Zhuang twisted and darted aside, seeing the needles sink halfway into the floor and stain the surrounding boards a bluish black. His heart turned cold. He gritted his teeth. No choice! He had wanted to fight her as a samurai, but she'd gone too far. Fine, he'd drop the act and show her the truth. He used Water Style: Water Formation Wall to block every poisoned senbon aimed at him. The woman wasn't surprised when Uchiha Zhuang used a ninjutsu; what shocked her was that he had done it without hand seals. That meant he could unleash ninjutsu whenever he wanted, without leaving an opening. What a terrifying man! He had to die by her hand tonight. Her thoughts churned, but her body remained precise and balanced.