Thump! Thump! Thump!
Light yet hurried footsteps echoed along the forest path.
Teiichi, carrying the unconscious village chief, was running wildly towards Shoura Bridge.
Not far behind him, White Feather flapped his wings wildly, creating gusts of wind, trying to shorten the distance between himself and Teiichi.
"Caw--! Caw--!" White Feather's cries echoed through the forest, filled with urgency and discontent. " Kato Teiichi! Kato Teiichi! You stop right there!"
However, Teiichi ignored him and continued running forward.
Seeing this, White Feather had no choice but to increase his flight speed and keep up the chase.
When a small slope appeared ahead, White Feather's eyes lit up, and he quickly increased his flight altitude, successfully catching up with Teiichi.
White Feather glared at Teiichi and demanded sharply, " Kato Teiichi! Speak! Did you kill the person who died at the village chief's house?"
Teiichi slowing down, he merely glanced at White Feather and replied calmly, "I killed him!"
His tone was devoid of any hesitation or fear, as if he were simply stating a fact.
"Why would you do such a thing?" White Feather's voice was filled with incomprehension and anger.
Teiichi replied indifferently, "That father and son deserve to die! Besides helping ghosts kill people, they also keep several women imprisoned in their home."
"Then you shouldn't have dealt with them on your own! Why didn't you just knock them out and hand them over to the police? Murder is against team rules. Do you know how much trouble that will cause you?" White Feather urged urgently.
"It's alright, don't worry about it. I'll report to headquarters later!"
"You..." White Feather was so angry that he couldn't speak, and could only turn his anger into an even fiercer question, "What do you mean I don't need to care? I still have to report your mission performance to headquarters! How am I supposed to explain to my superiors how you kill people so wantonly?"
"Just report the truth," Teiichi interrupted White Feather calmly. "I don't need you to hide anything for me."
"You!" White Feather was speechless, and could only turn his gaze to the Teiichi Yi's hand, "What exactly do you want to do with him?"
Upon hearing White Feather's question, Teiichi replied, "This ghost is a bit of a coward. I need someone to act as bait to lure it out!"
"???" Seagull asked in bewilderment, "You're planning to use him as bait?"
Teiichi nodded. "Yes, I plan to throw him into the sea, and when the ghost comes to snatch him, I'll jump in and kill it!"
White Feather asked, "What if he dies?"
Teiichi looked at White Feather with suspicion. "Why do you think I would let him go?"
"What???" White Feather shouted, "You mean you'll kill him even if he survives?"
Teiichi shook his head after hearing White Feather's words.
White Feather breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
Before White Feather could even relax, Teiichi followed made her heart leap into her throat.
"If he has the ability to survive falling into the sea while unconscious... I have no objection."
"What? What are you saying? Can't you save him?" White Feather shouted anxiously.
With the Shoura Bridge in sight, Teiichi quickened his pace before replying to White Feather's question.
"This kind of person has no reason to live. Whether he gets eaten by a ghost or drowns today, it's his own fate. Of course, if he survives, then I'll accept it."
White Feather felt a surge of madness upon hearing Teiichi's words. "Do you know that this is even more troublesome than killing him outright? What's the difference between this and helping a ghost kill someone?"
"Is there a difference?" Teiichi repeated, then replied, "The difference is probably that this guy can hardly be considered human!"
In the blink of an eye, Teiichi was already standing in the middle of the bridge, the sea breeze caressing his face. He carried the village chief and walked step by step toward the edge of the bridge.
White Feather to the front of Teiichi, stopped flapping her wings, and made a gesture of prohibition.
As its wings stopped flapping, White Feather's figure fell downwards, then fluttered back up, continuing to strike the forbidden pose.
While demonstrating, he said, "No! Absolutely not! This behavior is a serious violation of team rules! You will be punished!"
Teiichi's pupils dilated as the White Feather fell and rose, falling and rising. "It's alright, as long as I don't die, everything else is negotiable!"
Having said that, Teiichi reached out and pushed White Feather aside.
"Now, I'm on my mission, so please don't block my way!"
"Hey! Don't..."
After pushing the White Feather aside, Ding Teiichi quickly threw the village chief into the sea.
At the same time, a thin rope emerged, one end tightly tied to the village chief's ankle, while the other end was Teiichi stepped on by Ding Yi.
Upon seeing this, White Feather was first taken aback, then breathed a sigh of relief, mistakenly believing that Teiichi still had room for maneuver.
"At least you used a rope..." it muttered to itself, but was quickly dampened by Teiichi's reply.
"You're mistaken," Teiichi said, glancing at White Feather indifferently.
"This rope isn't for saving him, but to ensure I can sense the ghost's movements in time."
The rope is taut now, and once this rope...
As Teiichi explained, the rope suddenly relaxed from its taut state.
They arrived so quickly this time?
The thought flashed through Ding Teiichi quickly realized what was going on, not bothering to explain further to White Feather.
His figure suddenly tilted downwards, his calves instantly gathering power.
"Bang!"
Cracks instantly appeared on the side of the bridge.
Teiichi's figure shot out like an arrow, rushing towards the sea surface where the rope had just been connected.
The Nichirin Blade was drawn from the air, and as the sea drew ever closer, the Breathing Style was activated at full power.
Eighth Form: Primary Gale Slash!
The cyan Wind Blade, like lightning tearing through the night sky, slashed fiercely at the sea surface, instantly splitting the seawater into a crack several meters wide, which continued to extend into the depths of the seabed.
There are two main reasons for activating the sword form before entering the sea.
Firstly, a high-speed impact on a calm sea surface is not significantly different from a direct impact on land.
Therefore, it is necessary to stir the water surface first to reduce the impact and uncertainty caused by direct collision.
Secondly, once terrestrial creatures enter the water, their speed, strength, and even their sensory abilities are greatly limited. Even bullets made with modern technology cannot penetrate for long distances due to water resistance.
Therefore, it is necessary to use Wind Blade to cut through the sea surface in order to quickly approach the target below.
The Wind Blade descended swiftly like dragons entering the sea, with Teiichi closely behind, while the enveloping ocean currents followed in their wake.
As the Wind Blade penetrated deeper, the cracks they created rapidly diminished, eventually disappearing completely in less than ten meters.
With a "splash," Teiichi's figure was completely submerged in the seabed.
The coldness and darkness, which I had experienced not long ago, quickly swept over me.