------------
Staring at the gruesome deaths of the 'Siberian Wolf Brothers' impaled by the spike trap, Shawn Young couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine. The sheer brutality of this cage match was on full display, and he snapped to attention—he knew this was only the first round.
Down in the crowd, Yara Zen felt her stomach turn at the sight of the 'Siberian Wolf Brothers' dying so horribly. She'd seen a lot in her life, but this level of blood and cruelty made her shiver and clutch her mouth in shock. Beside her, May Gu coolly remarked, 'Yara, you'd better pace yourself—this is just the beginning!'
Sure enough, Damian Shen stood up, glanced at Yara Zen and May Gu, then looked toward Shawn Young in the ring. His eyes burned with a wild light as he snorted and raised his hand, barking another order: 'Excellent—the next round, begin!'
As soon as Damian Shen finished speaking, the lights flickered and dimmed. Suddenly, two dark figures leapt from the shadows onto the ring. Shawn Young had just pulled the 'Tiger Blade' from the corpse with a pierced throat when he sensed a familiar, dangerous vibe. He turned and froze—the new opponents were two masked ninjas!
Damian Shen grinned from below the ring, proudly announcing, 'Heh—Shawn, these are the Iga Reapers, elite ninja masters from Japan’s legendary Iga Clan!'
Shawn blinked, but relaxed a little—he’d tangled with ninjas before, even a 'Special Ninja' like Kanda Komai, and the powerhouse Hayato, who was probably the strongest ninja Shawn had ever faced. Could these Iga Reapers be even tougher than them? He doubted it. After all, Kanda Komai once told him Hayato was second only to the Iga Clan’s grandmaster!
So, no matter how fierce these two Iga Reapers were, Shawn figured they couldn’t be stronger than Hayato. He wasn’t too worried about facing them!
Damian Shen continued with a sly smile, 'Heh—Shawn, the Iga Reapers are trained by the Iga Clan for the most dangerous, suicidal missions. Only the toughest, fastest, and most ruthless ninjas get chosen for their special methods—totally different from ordinary ninja training and even outside the classic ninja manual, the Bansenshukai. The Koga Clan used to have similar assassins, but now only the powerful Iga Clan can field these suicide specialists. I paid a fortune to get them from the Iga Shinobi Clan, so don’t say I didn’t warn you—their fighting style is to the death!'
"Whoa, ninja trained for suicide missions? That sounds seriously hardcore!" Shawn hadn’t expected Damian Shen could actually get the Iga Clan’s Iga Reapers. That was no small feat—he couldn’t help but look at Damian with new respect.
By now, the two Iga Reapers had drawn their razor-sharp ninja swords and started circling Shawn in the ring. They seemed to sense something dangerous about him, too. Shawn had never fought Iga Reapers before, so he focused all his attention on these terrifying opponents. Their dark blue ninja outfits and masked faces looked almost normal—except for their eyes, which glowed faint red. The moment Shawn caught their gaze, his heart skipped a beat. Kanda Komai once told him about a terrifying special Iga technique—the Venomous Spider Arts!
As Shawn raced to figure out a plan, the two Iga Reapers suddenly attacked. In the split second Shawn was distracted, one of them flashed right up to him—moving so fast he didn’t even stir the air. A barely visible glint shot at Shawn’s throat! He dodged back in a blur, twisting to the side and swinging his blade—clang, clang!
A spark flashed and vanished—a weird, needle-like shuriken clattered to the floor, gleaming with a chilly blue light. Shawn’s scalp tingled; he knew it was coated in some deadly poison.
Before Shawn could recover, the other ninja lunged—bam, bam!—flicking out a hail of poisoned eight-point shuriken. There must’ve been dozens, all flying in a deadly chain at point-blank range. The move was vicious, and even the spectators, May Gu and Yara Zen, were so shaken they jumped to their feet, clutching their pounding hearts!
'Break—!' Shawn shouted, quickly forming a strange hand sign. He hurled the 'Tiger Blade' at the incoming shuriken, then spread his fingers—his body vanished, multiplying into several identical shadow clones! Shawn’s true self controlled the clones to slash and stab, cold light swirling around the ring as weapons clashed. The fight was so fast, most people only saw layers of flashing blades!
Damian Shen shot to his feet, stunned, muttering, 'Holy crap! Is that... is Shawn using the legendary Light-Splitting Shadow Arts, thought to be lost for ages?!'
Bang! Bang! The line between life and death was drawn!
Twin sprays of blood erupted from the ring, splattering the crowd. Two heads tumbled from the sky, landing right at Damian Shen’s feet. One head, its red eyes still burning, glared at Damian before finally closing. Even the ruthless Damian was shaken—those Iga Reapers were his secret weapons, sent by the Iga Clan to be his shadow bodyguards in Hong Kong. He almost never used them unless things got desperate!
Now, his trusted 'shadow warriors,' the two Iga Reapers, lay dead at Shawn’s hands. Damian felt a chill at the back of his neck—how was he supposed to explain this to the Iga Clan’s grandmaster? Only now did he realize he’d totally underestimated Shawn’s strength! But there was no turning back—the die was cast. Still, Damian wasn’t one to lose his nerve for long. After a brief daze, he snapped back to reality, waved his hand, and shouted, 'Impressive! The final round—begin!'