Near Shuchi'in Academy, countless police officers and Self Defense Force personnel had completely surrounded the entire school.
Helicopters hovered in the sky, trying to capture images of the inside of the campus.
Onlookers and reporters from around the world crowded the outer perimeter, forming a dense sea of people, all hoping to obtain firsthand information.
At this moment, the eyes of the entire world were focused here, closely watching how the situation would unfold.
A full day had already passed.
Yesterday, at the request of the armed men, Japan had sent a large supply of food into the school for the teachers and students.
These armed men seemed to truly be after money. They even recorded a short video showing the hostages safe and sound, with food and water.
That video clip became one of the few ways for the outside world to understand the situation inside Shuchi'in Academy.
At this moment, Rei no longer cared whether his identity would be exposed.
Using his special status as a subordinate of the National Security Committee, he directly joined the assault and rescue operation.
There, he also encountered his lifelong rival, Shuichi.
However, Rei had no intention of bringing personal grievances into his work.
If saving innocent teachers and students required it, he was willing to temporarily set aside his personal hatred.
Suppressing his disgust for Shuichi, Rei walked over and asked, "What's the situation inside?"
At this moment, he sincerely hoped the FBI from America had more intelligence.
"Still unclear," Shuichi replied.
"There are many armed men inside Shuchi'in Academy. Based on estimates, their number is close to a company."
"The only confirmed information is that the captured hostages are being held in the Auditorium."
"But we don't know how many terrorists are guarding them."
"Witnesses also reported that the terrorists might possess explosive weapons. We don't know how many or how powerful they are."
"Special forces have conducted multiple rescue simulations, but none were effective."
"Even if a large assault force enters, it will likely result in heavy casualties."
Rei already knew the situation was terrible, but he still asked, "Doesn't America have any solution?"
Shuichi shook his head.
"These conclusions were made using America's military satellites."
"In this situation, no country can claim they have a perfect solution."
"Instead, your Japanese departments should explain how such a large quantity of weapons entered the country."
"Those terrorists have new body armor and powerful firepower."
"Even in a direct confrontation, our side would likely suffer significant losses."
At that moment, Rei wanted to punch Shuichi.
But he also knew Shuichi was right.
The reason these terrorists were so difficult to deal with was their complete and advanced equipment.
Once this incident ended, he would absolutely investigate how those weapons entered Japan.
"Yesterday there was a large scale shootout inside Shuchi'in Academy," Shuichi added.
Rei's expression immediately became serious.
"Were there any hostage casualties?"
"Unknown."
"According to preliminary investigation, there were no hostage deaths."
"It looked more like those armed men were fighting someone."
Fighting?
Rei immediately thought of Toru.
Toru was also inside Shuchi'in Academy.
Could it be Toru fighting them?
But why hadn't Toru contacted him? His phone could not be reached.
Was Toru injured? Or had something happened to him?
After all, there were hundreds of fully armed men. Even the strongest soldier could not defeat them alone if the enemy controlled the terrain.
Shuichi spoke with a serious expression.
"The situation is extremely bad."
"Even I have no solution."
"There are too many enemies."
"Even if I snipe one or two of them, it won't change the situation."
"Instead, it might anger them and cause them to harm the hostages."
Even the proud Shuichi felt frustrated now.
He realized that even he was powerless in this situation.
Perhaps only a real superhuman could resolve this conflict perfectly.
Officials from various departments began pressuring the Japanese government to meet the terrorists' demands.
Even Shiro, the usually gentle head of the Suzuki Zaibatsu, was angrily cursing government officials on television.
His daughter Sonoko was also inside Shuchi'in Academy.
The Fujiwara family also began applying pressure.
After all, Toru, Chika, and Moeha were all members of the Fujiwara family's third generation.
As for the Shinomiya family, their situation was miserable.
Shuchi'in Academy currently belonged to the Shinomiya family.
Although the incident had little to do with them, many Zaibatsu and elites from different social circles still blamed them.
We sent our children to your school, and this is what happened?
Within just one day, the stocks of major Shinomiya enterprises dropped sharply.
Oko felt like he was losing all his hair in a single day.
Back then, the Shinomiya family had paid a huge price to obtain control of Shuchi'in Academy.
Their goal was to use the academy as a bridge to connect with elites across Japan.
Now the entire country was beginning to target the Shinomiya family.
Oko even feared that he might be beaten to death tomorrow.
No matter how powerful the Shinomiya family was, they could not fight against the entire nation.
...
Inside the attic of the Student Council office building, Kaguya, Chika, Hayasaka, and the others quietly ate snacks.
They had no idea what was happening outside.
They did not know whether their captured classmates were safe.
At first, they tried contacting the outside world with their phones.
But the signal was blocked, preventing them from connecting.
This showed the professionalism of the armed group.
Yesterday, the sound of dozens of weapons firing echoed outside the office building.
Gunfire sounded like festival firecrackers.
The entire building echoed with the sound of shattering glass.
It was obvious the armed men had been crazily shooting at the building.
Their target was clearly Toru.
This made Kaguya and the others even more worried.
They had no idea how Toru was doing.
However, they did not dare leave their hiding place.
With the abilities of these young girls, the only thing they could do was wait for rescue.
...
Inside the Auditorium, all the hostages silently ate the compressed biscuits and mineral water sent in from outside.
Yesterday, some students had tried to protest.
But they were publicly whipped by the brutal armed men.
Each of them was beaten until they were nearly unconscious.
After witnessing that scene, the hostages became obedient.
Soyo and Mutsumi huddled together.
Both lowered their heads and slowly ate the hard to swallow food.
Their relationship, which had gradually drifted apart, came closer again during this crisis.
Soyo thought to herself that perhaps she had never truly cared about Mutsumi before.
Perhaps she had never treated her as a true friend.
Perhaps she had only been using her.
In difficult situations, people sometimes suddenly understand things they never realized before.
...
Inside Toru's residence, Sakiko looked tense.
She silently prayed for Soyo.
She prayed for Mutsumi.
And she prayed for Toru.
Although she did not like Soyo and believed Soyo was too calculating, she still did not want anything to happen to her.
Sakiko thought that if Soyo survived this crisis, she would personally apologize to her.
Haibara's expression was serious.
Her fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard.
Gradually, her expression became anxious.
She could no longer contact Toru either.
...
Inside the café, the girls from the band had no mood to drink coffee or eat.
Even Anon, who had just been rejected by Soyo, now hoped a miracle would happen.
The hot tempered Shiina was also silent, quietly praying.
...
In Chiba, the Yukinoshita sisters learned that Toru was also involved in the Shuchi'in Academy incident.
Their vision darkened.
They anxiously checked their phones again and again, hoping to see good news.
Without realizing it, this major crisis brought subtle changes to many people's hearts.
...
Inside the Student Council office building, Toru's condition was actually quite good.
The exterior of the building was covered with bullet holes.
Every window had shattered.
Toru hid in a corner, quietly eating an energy bar.
He held his phone while observing the surroundings through the drones.
"After observing these armed men for a full day, I can reach some conclusions."
"Except for the few guarding the hostages in the Auditorium, everyone else has gathered near this building."
"They formed a full 360 degree encirclement."
"Theoretically, no matter how strong I am, breaking through this encirclement is impossible."
"They are tactically trained and well hidden."
"Even perfect marksmanship would not be enough."
"They haven't launched a direct attack."
"Instead they harass the building with small teams from time to time."
"The goal is to prevent me from resting and slowly exhaust my physical and mental strength."
"This commander has real skill."
Toru swallowed the energy bar and took a sip of water.
"According to observation, these armed men contact the group guarding the Auditorium every ten minutes."
"If contact fails, the people in the Auditorium will start shooting hostages."
More than eighty armed men surrounded Toru.
In theory, it was impossible for him to eliminate them instantly and then rescue the hostages within ten minutes.
No matter how capable he was, he could not kill eighty people in an instant.
However, Toru himself could not do it.
The drones could.
After a full day of observation, the drones had already identified the signal signatures of every armed man.
"Energy restored."
"The plan begins."
Toru took a deep breath.
Then he pressed the AI intelligent attack button in the app.
...
At that moment, the leader of the armed group was hiding inside a room, observing the Student Council office building where Toru was located.
He spoke into the walkie talkie.
"Keep wearing Adam down."
"Then find a chance to place explosives inside the building and blow it up."
"Remember."
"Do not engage Adam in close combat."
"Even with eighty people, we might not be his match."
The one eyed leader was extremely cautious.
At the same time, he showed deep respect for Toru's combat ability.
Suddenly, crackling noise came from the walkie talkie.
"What's going on?"
"Did the people outside start electromagnetic interference?"
"Aren't they afraid we'll kill the hostages?"
"Wait... what is that sound?"
He suddenly heard a faint vibration coming from all directions.
It sounded like aircraft engines.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)