Agency Headquarters – Tokyo
Hiragi watched the screen in silence. A citywide grid flickered across the monitors, each feed tracking a different point in the manhunt. Satellite pings, drone footage, thermal scans—all narrowing in on one target.
Takeshi Ryoji.
The operator turned. "They vanished into the underground. No digital footprint. No anomalies on the scanners."
Hiragi didn't blink. "You're wrong."
A technician hesitated. "Sir?"
Hiragi leaned forward. "A ghost doesn't vanish. He misleads."
The room went silent.
"Division 9 is already moving in. This time, we don't bring them back. We erase them."
Tokyo Underground – 40 Meters Below
Ryoji and Aiko moved fast. The tunnel stretched in endless directions—an abandoned sector of the old Tokyo subway, gutted and forgotten beneath the city. Pipes dripped. The air was thick with dust and rusted metal.
Aiko pressed against the wall, catching her breath. "Where does this lead?"
Ryoji scanned the darkness. "Somewhere they don't want us to be."
A distant hum. Not mechanical. A drone's signature pulse.
Then—movement.
A single red dot flickered on the tunnel wall.
Laser sight.
Ryoji shoved Aiko sideways as a silenced bullet snapped past. It embedded into the concrete, sending chips flying.
They weren't alone.
Agency Kill Squad – Codename: Division 9
A silent, six-man team advanced. No footsteps. No wasted movement. Their visors displayed biometric scans, reading temperature fluctuations in the air. They didn't speak. They didn't need to.
Their orders were clear.
Terminate with extreme precision.
The Fight
Ryoji didn't wait. He moved first.
One fluid motion—he grabbed a loose pipe, hurled it into the darkness. A distraction. A decoy.
A suppressed shot fired at the metal.
A mistake.
Ryoji was already moving, closing the distance. The first agent barely turned before Ryoji's blade found his neck. A quiet gasp. A body slumped.
Aiko's pulse hammered. This wasn't a fight. It was an execution.
But the others had recalibrated.
More lasers flickered through the dark. The team spread out, switching tactics. They were adapting.
So was Ryoji.
He pulled Aiko against the wall. "Tunnel ahead. The pipes run parallel. Get inside. Move fast."
She hesitated. "What about you?"
Ryoji's grip tightened on his stolen pistol. "Lesson six. Sometimes, you have to be the monster they fear."
She understood.
Aiko crawled into the pipe just as the gunfire erupted.
Back at the Agency
A new figure entered the command room. She was older, sharper, draped in a suit tailored for control, not comfort.
Director Arakawa.
Hiragi straightened. "Ma'am. We've sealed the exits. They have nowhere to go."
Arakawa tilted her head. "Is that what you think?"
Hiragi hesitated.
She stepped closer to the screen. "You misunderstand Takeshi Ryoji. He doesn't escape. He infiltrates. And right now, you should be asking yourself—who's really trapped?"
Silence.
Then, the security grid flickered.
The lights in the command room dimmed.
The monitors scrambled.
Then a voice—low, distorted, hijacking their comms.
Ryoji's voice.
"Lesson seven. Never hunt something that hunts you back."
Then—
Blackout.
And the war truly began.
To be continued in Chapter 8....