"What!"
Ghost Dance's eyes widened upon hearing the news.
If the remnants of the Heavenly Net escaped, it would be practically impossible to eliminate them.
All the plans the Ninja Clan had just made would be meaningless.
Thinking this, she glared at Ye Cangtian and said grimly, "Xuan Qi, what do you mean? Didn't we form an alliance? Why didn't you inform us of this news in advance!"
"You can't blame me for this."
"I just found out myself."
Ye Cangtian glanced at Ghost Dance and explained, "As you know, the situation in China is very tense right now. Even for the Dark Association, obtaining certain information is extremely difficult."
"You..."
His words instantly rendered Ghost Dance speechless.
During this tense period, all factions' intelligence networks had to be extremely cautious. Otherwise, if they were exposed, China would definitely deliver a fatal blow.
Thus, a delay in information was understandable, and she couldn't find any fault with his explanation.
"Then what should we do now?"
"Shouldn't we discuss how to eliminate Ye Cangtian?"
Ghost Dance remained silent for a moment before finally calming down.
Since the Heavenly Net's trouble had come to an end, and before the Chinese forces discovered them, they should join forces to eliminate Ye Cangtian first.
Otherwise, once discovered by the Chinese forces, they would have to constantly hide, making it extremely difficult to eliminate Ye Cangtian later.
Still want to kill me?
I shouldn't have let you go back then!
Listening to Ghost Dance's words, Ye Cangtian muttered to himself.
He looked at Ghost Dance and said with a faint smile, "Actually, I think it would be better to repel the Light Hall first."
"Why?"
Ghost Dance immediately frowned. Although the relationship between the Ninja Clan and the Light Hall had broken down, the Ninja Clan did not want to become enemies with the Light Hall.
They had to admit that the Light Hall was a behemoth compared to the Ninja Clan.
Moreover, strictly speaking, the Ninja Clan and the Light Hall did not have significant animosity.
Initiating conflict and inviting retaliation from the Light Hall would not be beneficial for the Ninja Clan.
"It's very simple, the Light Hall is too insidious,"
Ye Cangtian said indifferently.
Ghost Dance's expression changed, and she suddenly understood Ye Cangtian's meaning.
The Light Hall had always acted in a treacherous manner, saying one thing and doing another, manipulating various factions at their whim.
If the Ninja Clan and the Dark Association were to join forces and eliminate Ye Cangtian first, they would likely be cunningly exploited by the Light Hall while being severely weakened.
Upon thinking this, Ghost Dance's gaze swept towards Ye Cangtian, and she asked, "Xuan Qi, I understand what you mean, but how can you guarantee that the Chinese forces won't become the螳螂捕蝉,黄雀在后?"
"Sister, shouldn't you be asking me that question? How can I guarantee anything for you!"
"It's just that compared to the Hidden Group, I find the Light Hall more dangerous!"
Ye Cangtian said somewhat irritably.
Ghost Dance frowned again. She found Xuan Qi's reasoning quite convincing.
Furthermore, the Light Hall currently controlled the Ninja Clan's strongholds, whereas the Hidden Group did not. From this perspective, the Light Hall was indeed more dangerous than the Hidden Group.
However, for such a significant matter, she could not make the decision herself!
If the plan succeeded, and the Light Hall did not retaliate, it would be a great achievement for her.
But if it failed, she would likely become a sinner for eternity within the Ninja Clan.
Thinking this, Ghost Dance spoke, "I cannot make this decision. I need to discuss it with my teacher!"
Hearing her say this, Ye Cangtian nodded and said, "Alright, you go discuss it, and I'll wait for your news."
After communicating with Ghost Dance, Ye Cangtian went directly to the family compound.
Upon seeing Ye Cangtian, Old Master Xu's relaxed smile vanished, and his expression turned serious.
With one incident after another happening recently, he was truly worried that Ye Cangtian would bring bad news.
"You brat, what's the news?" Old Master Xu asked.
Ye Cangtian walked over, sat down opposite Old Master Xu, took a few sips of tea, and then looked at him.
"Old Master, currently, the small and medium-sized factions have either been wiped out or forced to withdraw from China. They have been basically cleared out."
"Now that the Heavenly Net has also withdrawn from China, the only remaining forces in Kyoto are the Dark Association, the Ninja Clan, and the Light Hall!"
"And with my own strength, provoking conflicts between them will be very difficult, so I need some support..."
Ye Cangtian did not hide anything. He directly explained his analysis and the conversation he had with Ghost Dance.
Hearing this, Old Master Xu nodded. Among the remaining factions, excluding the Dark Association, both the Ninja Clan and the Light Hall were cunning adversaries.
It was indeed not easy to instigate discord between the two sides.
Moreover, the Light Hall was trying to mend its relationship with the Ninja Clan, and the Ninja Clan did not want to completely offend the Light Hall.
Thinking this, Old Master Xu said, "Tell me, what kind of support do you need?"
"It's simple, the Hidden Group and the Dragon Group should directly pressure the Light Hall..."
Ye Cangtian said directly.
From Rose, he already knew the specific locations of the Light Hall. China had the capability to eliminate them.
However, in his opinion, directly eliminating the Light Hall was not a good idea. After all, the Light Hall had Bedra as its leader, and controlling casualties might be difficult.
Therefore, simply applying pressure was more prudent.
This way, the Light Hall would only have two options.
The first would be to flee in disarray. They were well aware that confronting the Hidden Group head-on would be self-destructive, so if they didn't want to die, they would have to retreat.
In that case, the Ninja Clan would definitely seize the opportunity to attack them while they were down, and then blame everything on China while the Ninja Clan would disengage.
The second option would be for the Light Hall to realize they had been exposed and potentially withdraw from China, thus reducing unnecessary casualties.
If this happened, with only the Dark Association and the Ninja Clan remaining, China could directly engage the Ninja Clan in conflict, and the Ninja Clan would naturally retreat.
This would resolve the crisis in Kyoto.
Listening to Ye Cangtian's plan, Old Master Xu fell into contemplation, his mind analyzing and calculating.
After a long silence, Old Master Xu glanced at Ye Cangtian and said, "Boy, if the former happens, wouldn't that be equivalent to declaring war on the Light Hall? What if they form another alliance?"
"Impossible."
Ye Cangtian immediately rejected this hypothesis.
The reason was simple: after this operation, according to the agreement between the Light Hall and the small and medium-sized factions, the Light Hall should fulfill its promises.
But could the Light Hall fulfill them?
If they didn't, the small and medium-sized factions wouldn't be fooled a second time.
Besides, even if those small and medium-sized factions were willing to be exploited by the Light Hall again, they lacked the strength to do so!
After all, the Reaper Squad, in conjunction with the Pandora Mercenary Group, had attacked their headquarters.
The Pandora Mercenary Group had annexed some small and medium-sized factions. Even if there were some survivors, their strength would not be significant, and coming to China would be tantamount to seeking death.
Finally, the Light Hall's primary concern was likely not to retaliate against the Hidden Group first, but to reclaim those small and medium-sized factions.
After all, they also knew that the Hidden Group's strength was comparable to the Light Hall's, and it would be a tough nut to crack, with the conflict unlikely to end anytime soon.
Hearing Ye Cangtian's explanation, Old Master Xu finally nodded slowly.
He said, "Alright, we'll proceed according to your plan."
Having obtained the desired response, Ye Cangtian left the family compound.
...
Over the next two days, news spread that the Light Hall had been exposed, and Chinese forces were relentlessly pursuing them.
Receiving this news, Ye Cangtian was not in a hurry. As the saying goes, one does not go door-to-door to buy things; he would patiently wait for the Ninja Clan to come to him.
He was quite confident about this. The Ninja Clan, as a faction surviving in the cracks, needed to create sparks between major powers to grow.
And this time, it was an absolutely rare opportunity.
As expected, Ye Cangtian received a call from Ghost Dance on the third day.
When Ghost Dance proposed a meeting, Ye Cangtian laid down only one condition: Sasaki must be present.
Firstly, there were certain matters that Ghost Dance could not decide on her own.
Secondly, the Light Hall they were about to face had a Celestial-rank expert, and this most difficult obstacle should be handled by Sasaki.
Upon seeing Ye Cangtian's firm stance, Ghost Dance had no choice but to agree.