Rohan collapsed on the floor, his vision blurred as blood pooled beneath him. Memories surged from his first sparring match as a young recruit until he became General Ryu's protégé. A recurring one of Kazuo calling him 'sensei' for the first time made him smile. If only I had one more chance to see him grow.
"Rohan-san! NOOO!" said Natsuhi, crying out loud as she stretched a hand towards him. Before moving any further, Kazuma embraced her.
"Kobayashi Rohan, huh? Interesting." Kagero picked the samurai's katana and admired it. Was he named after that daimyo? An image of an orange-haired warrior lord flashed in his mind. "Either way..." he said, chuckling. "I will not forget it."
Dead silence filled the air as Rohan took his final breaths. The audience's faces turned pale–having fallen into despair at the tragic loss of their General.
Moments later, Kazuma wiped his face and glared Kagero, eyes cold. "Y–You bastard! What did we ever do to deserve this?"
"You already know the answer to that, daimyo-kun..." said Kagero, dragging the bloody katana as he approached them. "I'm just here to exact vengeance for what your clan did to mine."
Kazuma widened his jaw, speechless.
"However, there's been too much bloodshed for one night..." Kagero continued, looking at the blade. "If you give me what I want, I will be on my way and no one else has to die."
"A–And… what is that?" asked Kazuma, trying to muster some courage.
"Hand over the boy and my men and I will leave."
Does he mean Kazuo? Kazuma turned around and saw Keiji looking at him. He surmised his brother thought about Kenzo. Luckily for them, both sons happened to be absent. "W–What boy?" he asked, stammering.
Kagero sighed and said, "It seems my words have fallen on deaf ears. Very well." He killed the remaining servants and left the royals. "Have I made myself clear, daimyo-kun?"
A loud silence echoed once more, and the royal family trembled, unable to utter a word.
"Where is the boy?" said Kagero, pausing before pointing at Natsuhi. "Yes, the one with hair like hers–Inazuma Kazuo..."
The royals turned to each other, remaining silent.
Kazuma mustered some courage and faced Kagero. "I banished the boy..." he said and paused. He can't find out about Kaminari. "What do you want from him?"
The room became quiet.
Kagero cackled, breaking the brief silence. "That doesn't concern you, daimyo-kun. Since you dare lie to me..." he said, sighing. "I'll have to make another demonstration." He emerged next to Kaori and grabbed her in a tight chokehold.
Keiji tried punching Kagero, got kicked in the belly and was sent flying. He landed against a wall–the resounding crack muffling his scream.
Kazuma and Natsuhi stared as Kaori was asphyxiated, and she shook her head.
"Let... her... GO!" said Keiji, who lay on the ground trying to get up. His back felt like it had been stabbed with a thousand needles.
"You can still talk after that?" asked Kagero, turning to Keiji as he loosened his grip on Kaori. "Not bad at all." He dashed towards Keiji and sliced off his head.
"K–Kei…" said Kaori, weeping in bouts of coughs. She had handprints on her neck due to the strangulation. As she tried catching her breath, she turned to the wakizashi on Rohan's body and rushed over to it. You'll pay for this! She plucked the sword, her face crimson and charged towards Kagero.
"They never learn, I see…" said Kagero, moving his upper body to dodge Kaori's thrust. He raised the katana in his hand and shoved it into her back. He plucked the blade and blood pooled as she fell on top of Keiji. "There… now you can be together."
"P–please… Natsu-ne," said Kaori, facing Natsuhi. She drew her last breaths–eyes watery. "L–Look after Kenzo-kun…"
Natsuhi nodded, tears trickling down her cheeks as she saw Kaori's blank stare.
"And then there were two," said Kagero, wiping the katana with Kaori's kimono. "If you had done what I asked, this wouldn't have happened."
Natsuhi clung to Kazuma, her hands trembling as tears soaked his haori. "How can we go on, dear? We have failed all of them," she muttered.
Kazuma's jaw tightened, his voice breaking. "We must... for Kazuo and Kenzo. They're the only ones remaining now," he said, maintaining her tone.
"Dear…" Natsuhi turned pale. "He's coming…"
"What are you going to do now, daimyo-kun?" Kagero walked towards them, cackling.
Kazuma got in front of Natsuhi and raised his fists. He tried to fight Kagero but got knocked with a side arm to his neck. Everything happened so fast and all he saw was black. When he awoke moments later, he found his hands and feet bound with a tight cloth. His neck ached as he turned around to see Kagero feeling up Natsuhi.
"Such a fine woman you've got," said Kagero, seeing the daimyo had awakened. He fondled Natsuhi's breasts in front of Kazuma and chuckled. "You know what I am going to do if you don't tell me where the boy is."
"Please, leave her out of this!" said Kazuma, his voice breaking as he pleaded. "If it's money that you want, I can give it to you… whatever the amount."
"Do I need to repeat myself?" asked Kagero, raising his tone. "I don't want your fucking money!"
"H–He's in Kaminari!" said Kazuma, his voice breaking. "You've got what you wanted now leave my wife out of this!"
Natsuhi's stared at Kazuma, jaw widened. Why?
"That wasn't so hard was it, daimyo-kun?" Kagero tore Natsuhi's yukata and bent her over.
Natsuhi cried, shutting her eyes to dissociate from the scene. She felt betrayed and tried not to think about the situation. A few minutes later, her horror was over but the shame and disgust lingered. She got tossed aside and lay motionless on the floor, broken.
"That was to teach you a lesson," said Kagero, walking towards the daimyo whose spirit had been shattered into a million pieces. "I will have to put you out of your misery." He broke Kazuma's neck and strode towards Natsuhi. Before reaching her, six ninjas led by his son entered. "Did you find the boy?"
"We questioned a servant," said Kagemaru, his gaze shifting around the room. "The daimyo exiled him to Kaminari village."
"K–Kazuo-kun?" Natsuhi muttered as she got up on her knees. "Please do not harm him…" she said, in tears. "I will do anything… please… do not harm my son!"
"Anything, hmm…" said Kagero, facing his men. "You hear that my Shadows? Spoils of war."
The ninjas laughed.
Kagemaru kept quiet, his blood boiling with rage.
Natsuhi's eyes widened, trembling in fear as she saw the ninjas walking towards her. She turned to Rohan's katana and crawled to it before being sullied any further.
Kagemaru, reading her mind, made the prana mudra and black rods formed from the ninjas' shadows. He propelled the short spears, stabbing the six ninjas in one swoop. "I'm sorry," he said, facing Natsuhi as she grasped the katana.
Natsuhi knelt on the floor and held the sword with both hands. She turned the blade to her chest and faced Kagemaru. "Ari... gatō..." she said, shoving it deep into her heart.
Dead stillness filled the air as two men remained.
"What the fuck, Kagemaru?" said Kagero, clenching his fists.
"She didn't deserve any of this!" Kagemaru raised a hand. We already knew Kazuo's location!"
"If I hadn't been weakened from my fight..." Kagero paused and pointed a finger at Kagemaru. "I would've beat the shit out of you!" I should have brought Rina instead. She is more ruthless and you... are fucking soft!"
"You, beat me?" said Kagemaru, raising his voice. "You can't even project… how the f–?" A tight slap echoed, cracking one side of his mask. In retaliation, he knocked Kagero out with a single blow to the forehead. "No, you're the weak one…"
Kagemaru piggybacked Kagero who was still unconscious and carried him. Once outside, he led the surviving assassins through the burning streets littered with dozens of corpses.
☯
"There is the valley right up ahead," said Natsumi, slowing to a trot.
The two ninjas got off their horses and followed the river to the waterfall.
Ken lit the path through a dense forest with a lighter. "So, we're jumping, huh?" he asked as they stared down at the crushing water.
"Of course," said Natsumi, plucking an arrow from her quiver. She tied the tail to a long rope on her waist and lit its head with Ken's flame. "Are you scared?"
"Oh… no–no–no." Ken chuckled, a sweat trickling down his face. "I was just asking."
Natsumi took aim and fired. The projectile struck a tree trunk below the waterfall.
Ken tied the rope to a nearby tree and said, "Right, it's now tight."
The kunoichi used her bow to slide down the rope and Ken followed right behind.
"This was way faster, great thinking!" he said, breaking a branch in two and lighting the ends. "Here you go…"
Natsumi took one branch and they walked until she came to a sudden halt. "Wait, Kenny… what's that right there?" she said, pointing to an object on a tall pine.
"Let's check it out."
As they approached the tree, a rotting stench hit them and Natsumi covered her nose. There, suspended like a grotesque offering, hung a naked woman, her limbs contorted and pinned with jagged iron nails. Blood streaked the bark, a grim testament to her sheer agony.