Chapter 406 - A Special Training Method?

Wood and Akame, who were originally preparing to save Tatsumi, watched as the young man, who seemed ready to face his demise, suddenly erupted with vigor. He charged at Ogre with nothing but a broken sword, launching a furious attack. Both of them were stunned by what they saw.

But if there was anyone more surprised than them, it had to be Ogre himself, who was now Tatsumi's opponent. He couldn't understand why, just moments before, the young assassin seemed on the brink of death, only to recover completely like someone injected with adrenaline and suddenly fighting at superhuman strength.

"Clang!"

Tatsumi's cracked sword clashed with Ogre's massive blade, the resulting collision producing a deafening, thunderous sound. The force of the strike even left Ogre's arm numb, and the crazed expression on Tatsumi's face evoked a flicker of fear within him.

Tatsumi had abandoned all thought of defense—his only goal was to attack, attack, attack! He was prepared to die, but before that happened, he was determined to drag Ogre down with him.

This way, Ogre wouldn't be able to harm the relatives of those he had wronged any longer.

Driven by sheer desperation and powered by the physical surge brought on by his "awakening," Tatsumi's strikes began landing more frequently on Ogre. The repeated injuries were starting to take their toll on the captain, and his stamina and awareness were quickly fading due to excessive blood loss.

"You brat, I am the captain of the Imperial Guard. If you kill me—"

Before Ogre could finish his sentence, a bright arc of light sliced across his throat. Blood spurted from the deep wound like a fountain, and the body of Ogre crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

Seeing his fallen foe, Tatsumi could feel an overwhelming exhaustion suddenly wash over him. His vision blurred, and soon his consciousness faded entirely as he collapsed in the narrow alleyway.

Almost the moment Tatsumi hit the ground, Wood and Akame leaped into action, rushing to the scene. Akame hurried over to Tatsumi, checking his condition. After confirming he had no life-threatening injuries, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Wood approached Ogre's body, shaking his head as he muttered to himself, "Haven't you heard the saying, villains die from talking too much? If you're going to boast and give the protagonist time to recover, you can't complain about dying."

Not long after Wood and Akame arrived, Leone followed Ogre's scent and found the alleyway. She took in the scene of Ogre's body lying in a pool of blood and Tatsumi unconscious on the ground. "I knew Boss would have a backup plan in place, but I didn't think it would be you two," Leone said.

"You misunderstand. We were here, yes, but we never actually intervened. Ogre was taken down entirely by Tatsumi. Although, it was a very close call and he still took quite a beating," Wood explained.

Leone was clearly taken aback. Although she had left Ogre for Tatsumi to handle, she wasn't fully confident that Tatsumi could actually defeat him. That was why she had taken down her own target, oil merchant Gamal, as quickly as possible before rushing to provide backup.

The next time Tatsumi opened his eyes, it was already morning. He was wrapped in bandages and found himself back at the Night Raid base. Tatsumi couldn't remember how he got back, but he did remember defeating his mission target, Ogre the Demon.

When Tatsumi emerged from his room, still covered in bandages, the other members of Night Raid were busy with their usual activities. But when they noticed Tatsumi, their reactions varied.

Bulat and Leone greeted him warmly with approving smiles. Sheele and Lubbock nodded in acknowledgment, while even Mine, the most standoffish, glanced at Tatsumi before turning away with a sharp "hmph."

In that moment, Tatsumi finally felt a sense of recognition from his comrades—he was finally a part of Night Raid.

"Tatsumi, you did a good job last night. For the next few days, take it easy and recover here at the base. With the death of the captain of the Imperial Guard, the capital is in chaos right now. We won't be taking any missions for a while," Najenda, the leader of Night Raid, told him.

Hearing the report from Akame and Wood, Najenda was quite pleased with Tatsumi's performance. He had a strong sense of justice and showed impressive potential. While his combat experience was lacking, that was something that could be learned over time—his determination, however, was invaluable.

With the current turmoil in the capital, the Night Raid members had a few days of rare respite. Even during their downtime, Bulat continued his relentless training regimen. Tatsumi, wanting to join him, was rejected by Bulat due to his injuries.

"Training is good," Bulat said, "but you also need to understand your limits. Your body isn't fully recovered yet, and pushing it now could end up doing more harm than good."

Denied the opportunity to train, Tatsumi was left with nothing to do. Staying in bed bored him, so he decided to find the two remaining male members of Night Raid—Wood and Lubbock.

Bulat had told him before that Wood was the strongest member of Night Raid. After everything that had happened, Tatsumi was more determined than ever to grow stronger. He was eager to learn anything that would help him from someone like Wood.

At the edge of the Night Raid base, deep within a secluded bamboo forest, two figures—Wood and Lubbock—were engaged in what seemed to be some secretive plotting.

"Are you sure about this spot, Lubbock?" Wood asked with some doubt. "Other members aside, Akame and Mine have incredibly sharp senses. Akame, because she's an elite assassin, and Mine because her skills as a sniper have made her highly perceptive."

The green-haired young man, Lubbock, looked quite unhappy with Wood's doubts, quickly defending himself. "Are you kidding me? My Teigu, Cross Tail, can support the weight of all the Night Raid members—we're only two people, there's no way it'll be an issue. Besides, this is the best spot. I've scouted it out many times. There's no way either Mine or Akame would detect us here."

Hearing Lubbock's confident reply, Wood finally nodded in relief. "Alright, I think it's about time then."

They synchronized their watches and then both jumped, landing on a thin steel wire created by Cross Tail. From their vantage point, they crawled forward, peering over the wall shrouded in steam.

There were faint female voices and the sound of water splashing below them. Just as Wood and Lubbock were about to use their titanium-grade eyes to pierce through the steam and take in the "view," a third figure appeared out of nowhere.

"Wood! Lubbock! I've been looking everywhere for you guys! What are you—"

Seeing Wood and Lubbock suspended in the air, Tatsumi thought they might be engaged in some unique form of training. He called out to them just as a blur moved at lightning speed and clamped a hand over his mouth. Before Tatsumi could react, he found himself dragged off into the bamboo forest.

The person dragging him moved so quickly and with such force that Tatsumi had no chance to resist. When he finally gathered his senses, he realized that he was already hundreds of meters away from where he had started.

Wood released Tatsumi's mouth and turned, his face flushed with a mix of panic and irritation. "Tatsumi, do you have any idea how close you came to getting us killed? What we were doing back there—it's life or death, you understand? One slip-up, and we'd be beyond saving!"

Wood's words, spoken with such seriousness, made Tatsumi gulp hard. He stammered out an apology. "I—I'm really sorry. I just wanted to talk to you two..." He scratched his head awkwardly. "Were you guys doing some kind of special training?"

Hearing Tatsumi's innocent question, a look of admiration crossed his face. Tatsumi thought to himself that Bulat had been right—Wood might look like someone who didn't take things seriously, but in reality, he never stopped training, never relaxed.

Seeing the look of pure admiration in Tatsumi's eyes, Wood couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Still, he had to maintain his image, so he decided to double down. "Well, now that you've seen it, there's no helping it. Yes, Lubbock and I were doing a very special kind of training."

Wood put on his best serious face. "We were training our ability to hide our presence and improve our vision. You understand how important these skills are for an assassin, right?"

Tatsumi nodded fervently. He remembered very well how crucial concealing his presence was during his attempt to assassinate Ogre. If he had been able to properly hide his presence, he could've dealt a lethal blow during the initial ambush, and it wouldn't have turned into such a drawn-out fight.

Wood's explanation caused even Lubbock to blush slightly. Though Lubbock prided himself on having a thick skin, even he had his limits. He couldn't believe that Wood was managing to make their peeping escapade sound like some holy mission—and worse still, Tatsumi was buying every word.

"Wood, can I join you guys for this training?" Tatsumi's eyes were full of determination. "I want to get stronger, to stop being a burden, and to become a real assassin."

Wood was left momentarily speechless. He realized he might have gone too far with his bluff. He had managed to talk himself into a corner.

"Wood, we're running out of time," Lubbock warned, looking up at the sky. "If we delay any longer, they'll be gone. Tomorrow Leone and Akame will be heading into the capital, and Mine and Sheele are going out on a mission. It might be a while before we have this chance again."

Hearing Lubbock's reminder, Wood started to panic. However, Tatsumi remained stubborn, insisting on joining them for what he believed to be "death training."

"Fine, fine! You can join us, but there's a condition. You must promise me that no matter what you see or hear, you'll remain completely calm and absolutely silent, got it? If you make a sound, you'll put all our lives at risk. And remember, no matter what happens, you can't sell out your comrades."

Tatsumi's eyes widened, and he quickly nodded. He could see from Wood's expression that this was serious. Although he didn't know what exactly the training entailed, it was clear that it involved real danger.

"Wood, are you really going to let Tatsumi join in? What if he cracks under pressure and gives us away?" Lubbock whispered, still unsure.

"I promise, no matter what happens, I'll never betray you two!" Tatsumi said, puffing his chest out. He might not be the strongest, but he wasn't someone who would betray his comrades. He swore on his very soul that he would keep their secrets.