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 jaw dropped as she stared at Kazuma. How could you? "No!" she said, facing Kagero and grabbing his haori. "He's not th–"
"That wasn't so hard now was it, daimyo-kun?" Kagero locked eyes with Kazuma with a grin. He tore Natsuhi's yukata and bent her over. Moments later, he tossed her onto the floor–broken.
Silence.
Kagero walked towards a speechless and pale-faced Kazuma. "I hope you've learnt our lesson."
It was all for naught... Kazuma furrowed his brows with clenched fists. "After I told you where he is! You still assaulted my wife!" He got up and charged.
Kagero easily intercepted Kazuma's attack with a chokehold. "I guess..." he said, noticing the daimyo struggle to break free. "I'll put you out of your misery." He tightened his grip and bones cracked.
The daimyo was dead.
Kagero strode to Natsuhi who was still lying on the floor. Before reaching her, six Shadow ninjas led by Kagemaru entered. "What were your findings?"
"I questioned a servant," said Kagemaru, shifting his gaze around. "Kazuo was exiled to Kaminari."
"K–Kazuo-kun?" Natsuhi muttered, trying to get on her knees. "Please do not harm him…" she sobbed. "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 turned pale. Goose bumps appeared on her arms as she saw the ninjas approaching. She summed the last of her strength, crawling towards Rohan's katana before being sullied any further.
Reading the Lady's mind, Kagemaru made the prana mudra. Black rods shot from the ninjas' shadows and stabbed them to death in a single swoop. "I'm sorry..." he said, facing Natsuhi who knelt while holding Rohan's katana with both hands.
Natsuhi turned the blade towards her chest and faced Kagemaru. "Arigatō..." she said, shoving it deep into her heart. As blood pooled with each second, she took her last breath.
Dead stillness filled the air and only two men remained. The Shadow King and his heir.
Kagero clenched his fists. "What the fuck?"
"She didn't deserve any of this!" Kagemaru raised a hand in protest. "We knew Kazuo's location!"
"If I hadn't been weakened from my fight... I would've beat the shit out of you!" Kagero pointed a finger at Kagemaru. "I should've brought Rina instead. She's more ruthless. You're fucking soft!"
"You? Beat me?" Kagemaru raised 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 nose. "No, you bastard... you're the weak one."
Afterwards, Kagemaru piggybacked Kagero who was still unconscious and carried him outside. When he rendezvoused with the surviving Shadow assassins and led them, they left the streets that were littered with dozens of corpses.
☯
"There's the valley right up ahead," said Natsumi, slowing to a trot. She got off her horse and Ken followed suit. The two ninjas walked along the river and made their way to the waterfall.
Ken lit the path through a dense forest with a lantern. He approached the edge and stared down at the crushing water. "So, we're jumping, huh?"
"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 flew and struck a thick tree trunk below the waterfall.
Ken tied the rope to a nearby trunk. "Right..."
She nodded and used her bow to slide down.
Ken did the same, gliding with a piece of bamboo. After reaching the ground, he handed her a lantern. "Here you go…"
Natsumi took the lantern 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. Suspended like a grotesque offering, hung a nude woman–her limbs pinned with jagged iron nails. Blood streaked the bark, a grim testament to her sheer torture.