As Danso's first-ever mission for the Dark Mixed Military Squad concluded, it was a disaster to say the least, as he, Haruki, and Emily got played around with by one of the Ronins, Ahsoka. Danso never fought someone that powerful before, knowing that if he were to face Xeno or someone stronger than Ahsoka, he needed to get stronger to keep up with them, and eventually, if the need to reveal his identity as the Red Samurai arrives, he can do it without any hesitation, and fight Chiro. Danso sat near the back of the Dragon as Chiro had already teleported himself to the headquarters mid-flight, stating that dragons were too 'slow' for him and he wanted to reach quicker. Haruki sat in front while Emily sat in front of Danso. Eventually, they reached the headquarters, and they all descended from the dragon and went inside the headquarters. While Emily and Haruki went into their rooms, Danso had other plans. He walked into the room with the sign that read 'Chiro Zanami'
"Chiro, may I come in?" asked Danso politely.
"Yes, yes, Danso," said Chiro, looking at the newspapers on his desk. "What brings you here to my office?"
"I want to grow stronger," said Danso.
"Of course, I mean getting beaten that bad by Ahsoka, no matter his status, must sting, doesn't it?" asked Chiro.
"I know he is going to be one of the weaker people I will deal with later in the future, so I want to grow stronger," said Danso.
"Danso, to be stronger, you need to train your mind and physical body," said Chiro.
"So what should I do?" asked Danso.
"Do a rigorous physical training exercise for physicality and the mind, try expanding your moves and skill set," explained Chiro.
"What do you do, Chiro?" asked Danso.
"Hmm, I just do a hundred pushups to increase arm strength to swing my sword faster and stronger, I do a fifteen minute plank and fifty sit ups to increase my core so I have more stamina, and to boost agility, go to the max level on the treadmill for thirty minutes and do two-hundred jumping jacks!" said Chiro.
"No wonder he looks like a movie star," sighed Danso.
"Did that clarify your doubts?" asked Chiro.
"Yes, sir, thanks," said Danso as he exited the room.
Danso went straight to the gym area on the second floor of the headquarters. In the gym, Tensei was already there working out as Danso began to warm up and to prepare to do Chiro's exercise routine. There was a clear tension in the room as both of them glared at each other regularly during their transition to different exercises and break times. Eventually, both of them wanted to use the treadmill, and there was only one; the other treadmill was not working.
"Why do you need the treadmill, fireboy?" asked Tensei.
"The same reason as you, birdbrain," said Danso as they both stared at each other.
After a few moments awkwardly staring at each other Emily and Natsuki walked into the gym room and they both knew what it meant if these both were locking eyes, so they both pulled both of them away from each other and made Danso go first since he has been in the gym for a less time than Tensei.
Danso completed his workout in three hours and went straight to bed. He slept for seven hours and did Red Samurai duties for the entirety of the night. There was no information regarding Xeno or the Terror Trinity; in fact, the trinity had disappeared, nowhere to be found.
Danso's workout was the worst thing that he could've ever done, but in three weeks, there were noticeable changes. Danso was relatively slim and agile, but now he's more flexible, bulky, and fast. In the three weeks that he was working out, there was no major threat or problem in the DMMS. Chiro worked extra to find the reason behind the Ronin attack at the factory and went to a conference with Natsuki while everyone's lives went about smoothly. Then there was an emergency message sent to the DMMS. In the shut-down underground Akuza train station, there were sightings of 'ghosts', so the DMMS was in charge of figuring out what happened.
Since the remaining members of the DMMS were free, everyone decided to head out for the subway station. They all rode on Haruki's shadow dragon and reached the ground part of the station, which was visible but was closed off by the police, and there were dead bodies with blood and bite marks all over them being investigated by the police.
"Officer, we are here with the DMMS," said Emily
"Oh, thank god you came, look at what those ghosts inside did to these poor people," said the Officer, pointing at the dead bodies.
Haruki wanted to see the dead bodies, but Tensei covered Haruki's eyes and said, "If you want to see blood, wait until we reach the lower part of the train station." To which Haruki stopped whining and went silent.
"Don't worry, officer, we'll take care of this!" said Danso as the officer smiled.
Danso and the rest descended into the depths of the subway station. It was dark with lights flickering on and off, along with the occasional firefly scaring Haruki. The pathway that they were walking on was bumpy and broken, as cracks in the wall beside them were visible, almost hiding something in them. The deeper they went, the harder it was to see, therefore, Danso used his passive sword art to light his nail on fire as a candle. Danso was going first in line while Emily and Haruki were in the middle, and Tensei was in the back.
Suddenly, small drops of 'goo' started falling from the ceiling. A splat sound here and there was heard. Haruki looked up. Eyes stared back at them. Then Haruki jumped on, Haruki with Emily punching it away from him. She had opened the Playbox at the beginning of the investigation in the subway.
"What is that?!" screamed Haruki.
"Haruki stayed behind me," said Emily protectively.
Danso attacked the slime monster with movements that were incredibly fast due to his training. His attacks were also stronger due to the increase in muscle mass on his arms. He was visibly stronger, faster, and overall a better fighter than before. Tensei and everyone were looking at Danso fighting the slime monster in awe, at how one man could get this strong in a small amount of time.
"It's time for you to die," said Danso.
As Danso was about to unleash the finishing move, Emily screamed Stop.
"Look, there's someone in that slime monster," Emily pointed out.
Tensei used his water demon magic to create multiple water rods that attacked the slime, not the person, and effectively pinned it against the wall. Then he used his claws to claw the human out of the slime. When the man got out, he was gasping for air, drenched in slime.
"Who are you? What's up with that slime thing?" asked Tensei.
Danso pulled Tensei aside.
"What he means to say is, are you ok? What happened here?" said Danso.
"I don't know," said the man, gasping and speaking very fast. "I just came down here on my skateboard and I just got swallowed by some green thing on the roof," said the man. "When I was swallowed, I saw some hive mind thing, it was so horrible…" the man continued at a fast pace.
"Look, it's okay! Just go straight from here and reach the exit," said Danso, pointing it out to the man.
"You know what, Tensei, I'm leaving this to you. I'll go get this guy to safety," said Danso.
As Danso took one step, the man's head got chopped off and fell on the floor. He screamed in pain and agony before he went silent in an instant. Danso dodged back, and Emily covered Haruki's eyes yet again.
"Gosh darn it," said Danso.
More slime started appearing as it blocked the entrance of the Subway Station. It was a wall restricting the exit/entry for anyone.
"And now we are trapped here," sighed Haruki.
"I'm proud of you, man, you aren't scared or anything," said Danso to Haruki.
"It's not my first rodeo," responded Haruki.
"The man said there's a hivemind, that means there are more of those things," said Emily.
"The only way we can find out is if we go farther inside," said Tensei as he leaped and clawed through the slime.
There were many twists and turns in the subway station, and there were many dead ends. Eventually, they reached a cross-section where the station divides into two.
"Okay, it splits into two roads, so Tensei and Danso will go to the left road, and Haruki and go into the right road," said Emily.
"Agh, I have to deal with this idiot?" pouted Tensei as he and Danso walked towards the left road.