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. He saw Kazuo as a youth, calling him sensei for the first time and smiled. 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 breath. 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.
Frozen with shock, Kazuma and Natsuhi stared as Kagero asphyxiated Kaori. She looked back at them and shook her head.
"Let... her... GO!" said Keiji, who lay on the ground trying to get up. His back felt as though it had 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. 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 breath, 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 tore through his restraints and got up quickly. He seized a lantern from the wall and ran towards the Shadow King, seething.
Kagero intercepted the daimyo's swing with ease and grabbed him in a chokehold. "I guess..." he said, noting Kazuma wriggle to break himself free. "I'll put you out of your misery." Kagero tightened his hold on Kazuma's neck and bones cracked.
The daimyo was no more.
Kagero put out the lantern's flame before it could spread. He then strode to Natsuhi who lay 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.
Anything but that... Natsuhi turned pale as she saw the ninjas approaching her. She summoned the last of her strength and crawled towards Rohan's katana.
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.
Several childhood memories up to that moment flashed in Natsuhi's mind. She saw herself holding a baby Kazuo and started crying. Hesitation. Live on, my son. She sniffled and glared at Kagero, eyebrows furrowed. "Women are not property you can just use and disregard!"
The Shadow King and his heir froze.
"No!" Kagemaru rushed towards her.
Natsuhi spat on the ground and shoved the blade deep into her heart. Before dropping to the floor, Kagemaru grabbed her but it was too late. "Thank you..." she smiled, taking her last breath.
Dead stillness filled the air. Two men remained.
Kagero clenched his fists and walked to his son. "Why the fuck?–Why the fuck did you kill my men?"
"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 beaten 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, placing Natsuhi's body down. He got up to face Kagero. "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.