Owl was Wolf's adoptive father.
He was also the mastermind behind the plot to destroy the Hirata clan three years ago. When his scheme was exposed, he chose to flee and had been hiding in the shadows ever since, assisting the Interior Ministry's forces as a collaborator, attempting to completely destroy Ashina.
Now that the Interior Ministry had chosen to surrender, years of his hard work had gone down the drain. This towering shinobi—possessing the cunning of a fox trapped in the body of a bear—had no choice but to play his final card.
"Owl, you shouldn't have gone this far. You were always the smartest among us."
The old Sword Saint, Isshin Ashina, had returned from the battlefield. Today he wasn't wearing his Tengu mask and tattered robes. Instead, the old man wore a three-pronged helmet shaped like a spear, fine armor beneath, and a purple jinbaori with red trim draped over it—the standard attire of a samurai lord.
The old man usually preferred his ragged clothes, running around barefoot, ready to cut down anyone who crossed his path. He seemed to care nothing for propriety. But in truth, in this era, only nobility could afford to study swordsmanship.
Isshin Ashina was different from the other members of the Rebellion. Among them were shinobi, thieves, and monks, but not him—he was a proper samurai through and through, raised with a warrior's education from childhood. After they seized the country, why was he able to suppress the dissenters and assume the role of lord? Because he had the right to rule. The three-hundred-pound shinobi, Owl, standing before him, despite his boundless ambition, did not.
Owl could only ever be a shinobi. In his youth, he'd even been mocked by all sides for his massive frame.
He'd proven them all wrong. Even without ninjutsu or illusion techniques, even with his unwieldy bulk, he could still become an outstanding shinobi.
He'd achieved his first goal in life. But what came after? A shinobi's ceiling was still just a shinobi. He wanted more.
Now Owl's voice rang out, high and defiant. He seemed completely unconcerned by the encirclement around him, bellowing at the top of his lungs:
"Isshin! I didn't lose to you—I lost to this world! To this damned caste system! I am Usui Ukonzaemon! Not some 'Shinobi Owl,' not your 'Great Shinobi Owl!' I will make my name known throughout the land!"
As an ambitious man, Owl was too old. He'd wanted to obtain the power of immortality, but his plan had failed utterly. Now he could only seek another kind of power.
He tore open his shirt, revealing the crimson tattoo etched across his chest.
Hm? Bella, who had been standing to the side watching, froze. This tattoo looked extremely powerful—composed entirely of blood, and exceptionally pure at that. What was this thing?
Before she could identify the power within it, over a dozen men and women filed out of the ruined temple in orderly fashion.
They all wore red shinobi garb, masks covering their faces, leaving only their eyes visible.
Bella glanced at them twice and looked away. A dozen or so shinobi wouldn't make much difference in a battle like this.
After all, she had a whole lineup of bosses on her side, plus an "army" of over five hundred behind them. Did these people think a handful of shinobi could take down everyone here? Dream on.
"They're not Ashina shinobi," Emma said quietly.
Bella paused. What did that mean?
The next moment, one of the red-clad shinobi suddenly reversed his blade and plunged it into his own abdomen. Then, with a roar, he cut horizontally.
Blood and intestines spilled across the ground. The red-clad shinobi died on the spot, but his soul—carrying something that looked like a glimmer of blood-light—merged into the seal on Owl's chest.
"The Teai-kai!" Bella's realization hit like a thunderbolt. She raised her hand toward the enemy and unleashed a Mind Blast, but she was two seconds too late.
The Teai-kai shinobi who arrived with her had all been killed, but those from the previous two arrivals were still alive. She'd overlooked them.
These red-clad shinobi before her were crew members who had entered Ashina with the survivors during the first two arrivals. They'd been lurking in this world, making various preparations in secret—all to bring the demon that Ashina called "Shura" and the Teai-kai called "Black Void" back to the material world.
They'd found Owl. The two parties had hit it off immediately, planning to turn all of Ashina into a land of death, allowing the Shura to absorb enough hatred and resentment to return to the physical realm. Unfortunately, Bella had ruined everything.
Now they had no choice but to use their final trump card—their own flesh, souls, and resentment as fuel to forcibly resurrect the Shura.
BOOM. An explosion rang out in the mental realm. The Mind Blast knocked down three shinobi within its cone-shaped range, sending them into a dazed state. But Bella couldn't stop the rest. Mind Blast didn't have that kind of range, and they were standing too far apart. She only had time to throw her knife and sever one person's arm. The remaining six shinobi completed their suicides before she could intervene.
Seven shinobi in total. Their souls combined with the Teai-kai's secret technique inscribed on Owl's chest, merging completely. The special energy carried within their souls activated the Shura.
"I am... am... am... Usui Ukonzaemon! I am Usui Ukon—" Owl tried to control the Shura's will, but he had severely underestimated this demon born from hatred. His body was rapidly overtaken. His eyes turned blood-red, curved horns sprouted from his forehead, and his entire form became wreathed in crimson flames—what Hell called karmic fire.
"Shura?! Let me cut him down!" The old Sword Saint Isshin Ashina moved with blinding speed, crossing the distance in two swift steps. He assumed an iai stance, then adjusted his breathing, gathering his spirit and strength to their peak before drawing his blade in a flash. A silver-white arc of sword energy sliced toward the now-Shura-possessed Owl.
His strike was more like a fusion of martial skill and spirit, containing the old Sword Saint's conviction and resolve.
The Shura, itself born from emotion, was deeply wary of such techniques. It had no choice but to raise an arm wreathed in black mist to block.
On the other side, Bella moved just as quickly. She'd already thrown her knife, and using summoning techniques in front of everyone wasn't appropriate, so she could only continue bombarding with Mind Blast.
While she hung back casting from range, Ashina's warriors watched their lord charge forward and naturally refused to cower.
By now, the Shura's form had swelled to over five meters tall (16 ft), but they still roared battle cries and rushed forward to engage.
Emma had sworn an oath never to use her blade against a living person. Despite her considerable martial skill, she rarely fought. But this Shura clearly fell outside that oath's boundaries. She too was trained in Ashina-style swordsmanship, and her skill was far from lacking. With a sharp cry, her swift blade danced around the Shura in a flurry of strikes.
Isshin Ashina's adopted grandson, Genichiro Ashina, was equally determined not to be outdone. After dodging the Shura's stomp, he drew the longbow from his back while still airborne and loosed four arrows in rapid succession, like shooting stars chasing the moon.
Then he drew his katana, unleashed an iai slash without a word, and joined the battle.