Chapter 123: Ryujin Kazama, A Bastard With No Moral Compass

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Ryujin Kazama.

From what Riven had carefully investigated about this man, he had always been described as "a mountain of a man." He was always impeccably tailored in a traditional dark-patterned silk kimono layered over modern ballistic fabrics that could stop bullets without issue.

He was known as an incredibly bold, boisterous, and fiercely charismatic figure. He possessed a booming laugh that could instantly put an entire room at ease... or terrify it with equal ease.

A man who treated his underlings like family, drinking and feasting with them late into the night. Yet beneath the warm, larger-than-life patriarch persona, he remained a calculating and pragmatic bastard through and through.

He possessed absolutely zero moral compass.

To Ryujin, everything — loyalty, honor, and even the divine ninja lineage of the Hattori clan — was nothing more than a commodity to be bought, sold, or broken until it fully served his growing empire.

He had tricked young Kagehisa and his three retainers into drinking a specially prepared ritual sake when he first welcomed them so warmly, showing them they had nothing to worry about under his roof.

Their job was supposed to be easy: simply guarding him. Yet he was the type of bastard who still could not completely trust them, even when Kagehisa was literally part of his extended family through distant ties.

Thus, he had bound their loyalty under a powerful curse, a manifestation of his unique skill known as the [Sakazuki Covenant], or "The Blood Binding Oath."

This was the absolute System-enforced authority Ryujin used to lock down his entire syndicate. When someone drank ritual sake with him, a magical blueprint bound their very souls.

For Kagehisa and his retainers, this contract ensured total and permanent obedience. If any of them ever harbored thoughts of true betrayal or refused a direct command, the covenant would violently burn their internal mana channels, causing excruciating pain that few could endure.

The destruction of their Meridians and Dantian would soon follow, completely crippling them before killing them in the process.

After they showed they had come here to take him down while obeying their new leader, Ryujin did not hesitate for a single second to try killing them all in cold blood.

As the monstrous man he truly was, leading such a large gang as the American Yakuza and deciding to expand their criminal syndicate all the way to this continent, he had not hesitated even for a moment to take down the genius child of the Hattori clan, even if that decision might have earned him their eternal hatred and resentment.

After all, the young bastard had come to do a paid job for him. He had received his money and everything else that was promised. So why would Ryujin be even slightly forgiving of someone so two-faced as to betray him the moment he was spared?

He would have simply let Kagehisa run away if that was all the boy had done. Ryujin was not that strict when it came to simple desertion. But this open rebellion? It went far beyond any acceptable limit!

As the youngest son of the Kazama Family, one of the Five Families under the Great Yokai Guild — a massive criminal organization that had already taken over Japan and a large part of Asia — he truly believed he deserved the entire world.

He had come to America specifically to take advantage of the "stupid westerners," as he often called them while mocking their way of living and their supposed lack of honor... as if his own life had ever contained any real honor to begin with.

What was more, he had been colluding with several powerful rich families in secret. Although Riven could never find any direct ties to Claymore or Frostbane in his previous life, he still held strong suspicions that Ryujin was working with one of his own siblings.

However, in the future where Riven had originally come from, he was never able to catch the man or meet him in person. Ryujin had completely vanished from the public eye.

Or rather, he had never truly left. He simply stayed hidden inside the comfortable depths of his personal Spiritual Realm, waiting patiently until everyone else gave up and left, so he could resume his criminal business once more as if nothing had ever happened.

He had likely sold out some of his weakest members and allowed them to be imprisoned, so the police would believe they had finally dismantled the American Yakuza.

But to think they had maintained a full Spiritual Realm all along... no wonder nobody could ever find their true headquarters!

However, things were completely different now. Yes, far more different than they had ever been before.

Riven finally possessed the strength to change things.

And the power to beat the absolute hell out of this bastard.

And what was more...

His little curse? Riven had already made it completely ineffective.

"I have already detected the cursed runes inside of their bloodstream," he spoke while taking a confident step forward. His sword suddenly moved on its own and cleaved apart three Yokaified Oni-like Yakuza in a single bloody slash. "It wasn’t hard to create a special magic poison imbued with ki, capable of slowly tearing the curse apart from the inside. If anything, activating the curse only made the poison’s ability to consume it even faster."

"?!"

Ryujin’s eyes widened in shock. His spectral avatar took an involuntary step back as he felt the full weight of Riven’s massive aura pressing down on him.

"You bastard..." he spoke with rising anger and demonic wrath. "You truly believe a nobody like you can come here, storm into my property, kill my men, brainwash my ninja, and attempt to threaten me?!"

"I do," Riven sneered coldly. "We’re all... going to kill you, Ryujin Kazama."

"...!!!"

Ryujin felt a sudden surge of utter fear. He was completely overwhelmed by Riven’s words as he noticed that the people standing behind the young man were no longer cowering or screaming in pain.

It was true!

He was not lying.

The specially prepared poison had completely consumed his carefully crafted curse, and he could feel that he no longer held any power over them.

Hinata, Goki, and Ren were now overflowing with newfound strength as they turned to face their former master without fear.

"To think you would trick us like this!"

"Then betraying you is all the more justified, you damn son of a bitch!"

"The venom we once believed was only insurance ended up saving our lives. Riven Claymore — no, Master — we deeply apologize for our earlier distrust."

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