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Chapter 143: Teaching Jade Rokushiki
"Uncle Jackie, you're so lame!"
Jade poked her head out from under Jackie's arm, grumbling with dissatisfaction.
"Girls these days need to learn how to protect themselves!"
"You can use pepper spray to protect yourself! You don't need... that kind of dangerous weapon!"
Jackie refused to budge, shielding his niece tightly behind him.
"I am absolutely certain your parents do not want to see you turn into a female assassin running around the streets with a katana! Absolutely not!"
Gion watched the two of them bickering like a comedy duo, then lightly flicked her finger.
Clang.
Konpira returned to its scabbard.
The oppressive sharpness in the air instantly dissipated.
"Fine."
Gion shrugged and leaned back against the cabin wall.
"Since your guardian objects, forget about swordsmanship."
Jade's face instantly fell, looking like a deflated balloon.
"Don't look so down."
Seeing Jade's disappointed look, the corners of Gion's mouth curved up slightly—a rare sight.
"Since you can't learn the sword..."
Gion's voice suddenly cut through the silence.
Jade's ears perked up instantly. She snapped her head up, the little flame of hope reigniting in her large eyes.
"Do you want to learn Taijutsu?"
"Taijutsu?"
Jade blinked, a bit confused.
"You mean Kung Fu!" Jackie hurriedly interjected. "Just like what I taught you—to strengthen the body, focusing on defense..."
"No."
Gion interrupted Jackie, her tone calm but carrying a lethal undertone.
"The Taijutsu I speak of is called Rokushiki—The Six Powers. These are techniques used to kill enemies. Although I specialize in Kendo, this set of skills is the foundation of the Marines, so I know a thing or two."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over the narrow space of the cabin.
Jackie swallowed hard. Looking at Gion's slender legs, which clearly concealed explosive power, he instinctively felt a sense of danger.
"Rokushiki?"
Jackie furrowed his brow. As a Kung Fu master, he had dabbled in various schools of martial arts. "Is it a special kind of Karate? Or a variant of Muay Thai?"
"Neither."
Gion shook her head. She stood up straight; even in the turbulent cabin, her lower body remained as stable as a boulder.
"These are martial arts that surpass the limits of human physical ability. One can only master them after undergoing hellish training and tempering the body into a weapon of steel."
She looked down at the expectant Jade.
"And when cultivated to the extreme, Taijutsu is no inferior to swordsmanship."
Gion raised her right hand and extended her index finger.
That finger was fair and slender, with a nail trimmed round and neat. Aside from being pretty, it didn't look like it possessed any lethality.
"Watch closely."
Gion's voice was soft.
The next second, her arm blurred.
Thwack!
A dull, muffled sound.
Jackie blinked. He hadn't seen Gion's movement at all; he only felt a blur before his eyes.
Immediately after, a cold draft suddenly blew against his neck.
"Wh... What?"
Jackie turned his head stiffly.
On the metal bulkhead behind him—less than two centimeters from where his head had just been resting—a small, perfectly round hole had appeared.
The edges of the hole were smooth and flush, as if it had been instantly penetrated by a high-precision laser cutter.
Through that small hole, one could even see the pitch-black night sky outside and hear the howling wind.
Hiss—
A faint sound of leaking air began to hiss.
"Finger Pistol (Shigan)."
Gion retracted her finger, lightly blowing away non-existent dust from her fingertip, her tone flat. "Concentrate the body's entire strength into the fingertip and release it in an instant. The hardness rivals steel, and the power rivals a bullet."
Jade's jaw dropped. In that instant, her worldview suffered a massive impact.
She looked at the hole, then at Gion's finger, and finally at the dumbfounded Uncle Jackie.
"That is... so... COOL!!!"
Jade jumped up, hugging Gion's thigh, her eyes full of stars. "Teach me! I want to learn this! If anyone tries to steal my comic books in the future, I'll poke a hole in them!"
"No, you won't!"
Jackie finally snapped back to reality, letting out a miserable scream.
He threw himself at the bulkhead, frantically fishing chewing gum out of his pocket in an attempt to plug the leaking hole.
In the cockpit, Captain Black's voice came over the intercom, trembling noticeably.
"The instrument panel shows cabin pressure is dropping! It's minor, but please, don't dismantle my plane!"
"Relax, Captain. I'll be careful."
"Is there more? Since it's 'The Six Powers,' there must be other moves, right?"
Gion looked down at the energetic little girl, the corners of her lips rising slightly.
This child's hunger for power... it suited her tastes.
"Of course."
"Finger Pistol is a piercing technique that focuses all power into a single point. Leg techniques, on the other hand, focus more on slashing."
Gion's voice was calm, but in the cramped cabin, it carried an aura of slaughter.
"By kicking at super-high speeds, you generate a vacuum in the airflow, creating a sharp slashing wave."
"This move is called... Storm Leg (Rankyaku)."
Jade opened her mouth wide, her brain visualizing the scene.
"You mean... kicking out wind blades with your legs? Like in cartoons?"
"Sharper than that," Gion said indifferently.
"When trained to a high level, forget about rocks—even a fortress of steel can be sliced in half with a single kick."
Gion prepared to take a stance.
"STOP!!!"
Captain Black's heart-rending roar suddenly exploded from the cockpit speakers.
The massive wave of sound made Jackie cover his ears.
"Ma'am! I don't care if you want to slice rocks or steel!"
"We are currently at thirty thousand feet over the Pacific Ocean! If you kick the fuselage in half, we are all going to be sharks food! I beg you, put away your superpowers!"
Gion paused, then leaned back against the bulkhead.
"What a pity."
Jade hung her head in disappointment.
"Jade!"
Jackie glared at his niece, exasperated.
Uncle, who had been sitting in the corner pounding medicine the whole time, finally looked up.
He held up the bowl of green, paste-like substance that emitted a pungent smell of garlic.
"Alright!"
Uncle adjusted his glasses, looking serious.
"Stop arguing! One more thing—we are arriving."
As soon as the words fell.
The plane suddenly lurched downward, beginning a rapid dive.
The intense feeling of weightlessness made both Jackie and Jade cry out in surprise.
Gion, however, didn't move a muscle. Her feet seemed nailed to the deck, perfectly stable.
.....
The scene below came into view.
Hong Kong.
This modern metropolis, which should have been shining like a pearl, was now shrouded in a layer of eerie red light.
There were no brilliant city lights as imagined.
Massive swathes of the city had plunged into darkness.
And at the highest point of Victoria Harbour—atop Victoria Peak.
A towering, hideous, dark red palace in an ancient architectural style was floating in mid-air, defying the laws of physics.
Black mist swirled around the palace—pure, evil energy.
"My God..."
Captain Black looked at the radar screen, his voice dry.
"It's Shendu's palace."
Uncle hugged his jars and bottles, his expression terrifyingly grave.
"He has already begun summoning his Dragon Army. If we do not stop him, this palace will continue to expand until it swallows all of Asia."
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