"Now that's more like it. Tell us." Chen Yu removed the silver needles, then smiled at Miwa.
By the time Miwa finally finished her story, night had fallen.
Kohaku and the other primitive villagers listened with rapt attention, while Reiko sobbed her eyes out.
"Sounds like... an assassin?" Chen Yu mused.
"An assassin?" Ginro asked.
"Someone who operates out of sight. Basically, people pay someone to kill their enemies. An assassin is someone whose job is to accept a client's request, kill the target, and collect the payment," Senku explained.
"I was wondering. She looked pretty young, but something felt off. So that's what it was." Chen Yu stared at Miwa.
Miwa didn't dare speak. Or rather, she didn't want to speak at all.
"Then what do we do? Kill her?" Kohaku asked Senku.
"Hey, hey, you shouldn't jump straight to killing. If you try to kill her, I'll stop you. Besides, she's my assistant. If Tsukasa notices someone's missing when I get back, how am I supposed to explain it? Oh dear, a wild beast suddenly appeared and ate her! But what kind of beast? Where did it eat her? I could bluff my way through, but the others might not. After all, the Tsukasa Empire was founded because a group of people shared certain goals," Chen Yu explained.
"Oh, speaking of which, that Hyoga seemed pretty calculating." Gen recalled the Hyoga he had seen at the base.
His eyes were narrowed, but the way he spoke felt frightening. Gen kept feeling as though Hyoga might thrust his spear out and kill him at any moment.
"Hyoga?" Senku asked, puzzled.
"Yes. He's a famous spear master Tsukasa revived earlier," Gen explained.
"He does have a weakness, though. Without his spear, he's just a somewhat stronger man, nothing to worry about. But as you are now, you'd still better be careful," Chen Yu said, analyzing him.
"What does he look like?" Ginro asked.
After spending the past few days with them, he had learned about Kohaku, Senku, Chen Yu, and the others. He needed to ask so he could run away if he encountered Hyoga later.
"Narrow eyes, a cloth covering his mouth. I think that's because he has cracks around his mouth. He's good with a spear, too. But no matter how I look at it, his spear reminds me of the ones back home." Chen Yu thought about the history he remembered and the spear Hyoga used. Although Hyoga's attacks differed from those back home, he still felt there were similarities.
"Ginro, give me your spear," Chen Yu said, looking at Ginro beside him.
"Ah. Okay." Ginro jumped in surprise, then handed over his spear.
"Hyoga uses the Tube Spear Style. It's roughly like this."
With that, Chen Yu loosened his left-hand grip on the shaft a little, then began rotating the butt with his right hand. He thrust, withdrew, and thrust again. The tassel kept spinning, and the spearhead spun as well.
"Something like that. His technique seems to keep people from seeing where the spearhead is or when it'll strike."
Watching Chen Yu's demonstration, everyone understood.
"Kinro, you're good with a spear. What do you think of this move?" Chen Yu asked Kinro, who stood nearby looking thoughtful.
"If I faced it, I probably wouldn't be able to see the tip..." Kinro said after some thought.
He had watched Chen Yu's thrusts closely, but he couldn't see them clearly. He had only caught the general movements.
"Of course you couldn't. But Senku will wait for you to tell him. Even if you don't, I'll have him help you... If I had enough silver needles, I could cure you myself." Chen Yu thought for a moment, then spoke regretfully.
Cure him? The others were baffled.
"Kohaku, come give it a try. I've only just picked up a little of it myself, so let's get a feel for it." Chen Yu called Kohaku forward.
For now, he wanted to give Kohaku more combat experience so she would have a better chance in the battles ahead.
"Okay." Kohaku agreed.
The two took their positions, with Kinro between them. Chen Yu had instructed him to watch his spear movements to gain experience.
Once they began fighting, Kohaku discovered that Chen Yu's Tube Spear Style was making her vision swim.
Little did she know that Chen Yu was much faster than Hyoga. But speed was all he had; he had yet to reach that Saiyan-like quality Hyoga possessed.
"He's that strong?" Ginro said as he watched Kohaku being overwhelmed.
"So that's how it works. A tube spear." Senku watched Chen Yu's movements and considered them for a moment.
Then he continued watching Chen Yu and Kohaku's duel.
Finally, Chen Yu couldn't bear to watch any longer. He drew back his spear and turned away.
Seeing Chen Yu turn, Kohaku sensed an opening and immediately charged.
However, Chen Yu grabbed the butt of the spear and pulled backward, sliding the entire shaft behind him until his hand reached the spearhead. The shaft came up squarely beside Kohaku's left cheek.
Kohaku froze at the spear butt that had suddenly appeared. Then Chen Yu flicked it, striking her on the left side and sending her flying.
Kohaku fell to the ground and rubbed her left cheek. It hurt a little, but it was about as bad as the blows she had taken in her previous fights.
"What was that just now?" Gen asked in surprise.
"The Return Horse Spear," Chen Yu explained.
"Return Horse Spear?" Kinro murmured.
"You catch them off guard with a surprise attack they never see coming," Chen Yu explained briefly.
"The shaft's too stiff, though. It'd be nice if it were a little more flexible." Chen Yu gave it a few swings as he spoke.
"What on earth have you been learning?" Senku asked Chen Yu dryly.
"Mostly medicine. Martial arts came second," Chen Yu replied.
"All right, all right, time for bed, everyone. It's getting late," Ginro said, preparing to head back to sleep.
Although the guards protected the village, they didn't stand watch twenty-four hours a day, every day. They took turns resting, too.
Hearing Ginro, the others also prepared to go back and rest. Before leaving, Kohaku told Chen Yu she wanted to spar with him again the next day.
Chen Yu said that was fine, and Kohaku left as well.
Chen Yu then walked over to Miwa, who had almost been forgotten, and asked, "Do you want revenge?"
Miwa looked at Chen Yu and sighed...
The next day, Chen Yu sparred with Kohaku, Reiko and Miwa went out to gather medicinal herbs, and Senku and Chrome continued their research. Kinro and Ginro did their daily training, while Kaseki worked on the sword case Chen Yu had described to him.
He was very interested in this piece of equipment.
For some reason, whenever Kinro sparred with Ginro, he would sometimes imitate the Tube Spear Style and Return Horse Spear Chen Yu had demonstrated.
Ginro noticed it too. He left Kinro to work on them at his own pace and went off to cool down in the shade nearby.
Beside them, Chen Yu knocked Kohaku to the ground once again.
Kohaku landed hard and rubbed her backside.
She had lost count of how many times she had fallen. Now her whole body was covered in injuries, all from Chen Yu's stick.
"Chen Yu, just how many weapons can you use?" Kohaku asked.
She had noticed that Chen Yu seemed to know everything. Sometimes he thrust, sometimes he swung, and sometimes he chopped.
After paying close attention, she could clearly tell the differences.
"Hmm, too many to count. You'll find out eventually." Chen Yu thought for a moment, then waved a hand as he spoke.
Before you continue