Compulsory Education Plan

"Tōga, hurry up!"

Now that he no longer intended to seek out a fight, Tōga was in no hurry to leave.

Ringetsu, on the other hand, excitedly urged Tōga to set off as soon as she heard the mission, eager to kill a Panther Cat Elder to christen their campaign.

Ringetsu knew perfectly well that her man never boasted or lied in front of her. If he said he could do something, he would do it.

Damn it, I'm acting like a traitor to my own tribe.

His dawdling would undoubtedly give any Panther Cat Elders who might still be alive in Wind-Thunder Gorge a slightly better chance of survival.

It also increased the chances that the two of them would miss the Panther Cat Elders entirely.

Between killing enemies and protecting his wife, Tōga knew which mattered more.

At worst, the Panther Cat Elders would live a little longer. Besides, the Dog King had told him that, given the power of that phenomenon, it was uncertain whether any Panther Cat Elder struck by it could even take part in this Cat-Dog war.

If they could not overpower the Dog Tribe at the elder level, whether the Leopard Cat would continue to camp outside the Dog Tribe Fortress was equally uncertain.

Without an advantage, fighting this war would cost the Leopard Cat both their pride and their strength, with nothing to gain.

So this trip to Wind-Thunder Gorge with Ringetsu would most likely be the prelude to the young couple's honeymoon.

"I know, I know."

After checking that none of the seasonings in his pack were missing, Tōga called back to Ringetsu at the entrance. Then he stepped outside in high spirits, the Great Elder's Fang Sword at his waist, wearing fine silver robes beneath black armor.

Ringetsu stood at the entrance with her hands on her hips. Since receiving the Dog King's tacit approval of her relationship with Tōga, she had become increasingly girlish.

She wore fine purple robes beneath silver armor, with the Dog King's Fang Sword at her waist. Her waist-length hair was tied into a high ponytail, giving her a strikingly valiant air, elegant and beautiful.

"Tōga, if we run into any Panther Cat Elders this time, let's give them a taste of our combined ultimate technique. We'll cut them down for sure!"

Seeing the fighting spirit written all over Ringetsu's face, Tōga paused. A thoughtful look appeared in his eyes before he smiled and said,

"No problem."

Had Ringetsu not mentioned it, his somewhat macho streak would have made him forget all about their combined ultimate technique.

Tōga considered it for a moment and decided it really did have potential. With husband and wife joining their swords, could they possibly be worse than his second son and daughter-in-law?

Absolutely not!

"Still, we'll see how things go when we get there."

Tōga followed the eager Ringetsu out of their home. They had only gone a few steps when he suddenly caught many familiar scents near the edge of the barrier.

Red Evil Ogre and the others are back at just the right time.

In his original plan, he had intended to take Red Evil Ogre and the others along to Wind-Thunder Gorge.

He could teach them to cultivate along the way and test the Compulsory Education Plan he had spent these past years putting down on paper-the things every Dog Yokai had to learn and master.

I might as well bring them along.

After devouring the essence of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Leopard Cats' demonic power, I can keep getting stronger. A little delay won't matter.

Lightning-aspected demonic power should let me recreate the older pup's Azure Dragon Strike. I can use Uchiha Sasuke's Chidori Stream too, and try forming a Rasengan.

With that thought, Tōga took Ringetsu's hand and headed toward Red Evil Ogre.

On the bustling street, the almost universally recognized Lady Ringetsu followed behind Tōga with flushed cheeks and her head lowered.

A few good-natured howls of teasing made Tōga puff out his chest even more, prompting the embarrassed girl to thump him several times with her fist.

"Lord Tōga! Lady Ringetsu!"

At the sight of the captain she idolized, Red Evil Ogre's dog tail spun merrily behind her.

Her excitement and joy were plain to see. Beside her, Qitian, who had barely managed to exchange a few words with the Red Evil Ogre throughout the journey, looked glum and moved away dejectedly.

Don't lose heart. Lord Tōga and Lady Ringetsu are a couple. If I keep trying, sooner or later I'll marry Red Evil Ogre.

While Qitian silently encouraged himself, Red Evil Ogre presented Tōga with the heart crystals that held the finest essence of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Leopard Cats, wrapped in black cloth, as though offering a treasure.

"Lord Tōga, these are what you wanted. Captain Qitian has the remaining one from the Leopard Cat Fifth Elder."

"I'll take just one for now. Keep the rest with you."

Tōga sensed their properties and took the lightning-aspected crystal. Smiling, he patted Red Evil Ogre on the head, then addressed them all.

"You're all coming with me to Wind-Thunder Gorge now, to visit the Karasu Tengu Tribe."

Ringetsu narrowed her eyes and glared at Tōga-his little scheme could not have been more obvious to her.

With a whole bunch of stragglers in tow, how could they possibly move fast? By the time they reached Wind-Thunder Gorge, there probably wouldn't be so much as a cat hair left!

Don't get angry. Don't get angry.

As his woman, I have to uphold my man's dignity in public.

I can bring it up once we're alone!

Tōga shivered. When he turned to look at Ringetsu, all he received was an elegant smile befitting the ideal Japanese woman.

Blue-violet lightning still crawled over the ruins of Thunderclap Hall.

Scattered across the scorched earth were broken Karasu Tengu feathers and severed Leopard Cat limbs.

Nuregarasu knelt on one knee, her Thunder Spear plunged deep into a crack in the rock. The blood-red patterns along its shaft seemed alive, flickering with her faint breaths.

Blood spattered her pale face, but she stared fixedly ahead—the charred half-corpse of the Panther Cat Sixth Elder was wedged in the shattered rock wall, his unwillingness to accept death frozen on his hideous feline face.

"Cough..."

Nuregarasu violently coughed up a mouthful of black blood. The Thunder Spear's powerful backlash had almost drained her demonic power dry.

Her body swayed on the verge of collapse, yet she forced herself to hold on.

A muffled roar of collapsing rock rose from deep beneath the cliffs. Howling winds carried a thunderstorm skyward, tearing the dark clouds above the gorge into ragged wisps.

She staggered to her feet, her crow wings as tattered as worn-out rags, yet she still clutched the Thunder Spear tightly. It had exhausted decades' worth of thunder power and was nearly half destroyed.

She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her bloodshot eyes fixed on a spot nearby.

Amid mountains of her tribespeople's corpses and seas of blood, the stubbornly surviving Panther Cat Third Elder roared as he tore apart the lesser Karasu Tengu driven mad with bloodlust.

He could no longer even fly. His three remaining legs supported his battered body as he stumbled toward the gorge's exit, leaving a crooked trail of bloody prints behind him.

Anhamaru, chief of the Karasu Tengu Tribe, lay beneath the shattered cliff, barely breathing.

His single eye blankly reflected the blue sky that Wind-Thunder Gorge had not seen in centuries.

Golden sunlight streamed down, but all it illuminated was the devastation of the Karasu Tengu ancestral grounds.