#Amakusa Shogo

[gabriel-gabdiel]

【Draft】 Rurouni Yahiko Chapter 60: The Curtain Falls

We now discuss the aftermath of another assassination attempt by the infamous Brigands Guild.

The Seiryu Clan are now gathering to protect their masters, the hatamoto-class samurai family of the Minakatas, like it's the Tokugawa Era all over again.

As the final daimyo of Shimabara, Tadachika Matsudaira of the Matsudaira Clan pledged his allegiance to Emperor Meiji.

As a show of good will towards the tenets of "Sonno Joi" of the new administration, Matsudaira allowed the new Meiji Government to hunt the Hidden Christians down and eventually crush the new Shimabara Rebellion of Nidaime Amakusa Shiro Tokisada (Shiro Tokisada Amakusa the Second).

Soon afterwards, the Shimabara Domain was abolished in 1871 and it became part of Nagasaki.

To avenge the death of his master (the blind swordsman Hyoue Nishida) at the hands of Hyoue's nephew Shogo Amakusa (at the time known as Shiro Amakusa the Second), Kinta Minakata agreed to infiltrate the ranks of the Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christian) cult to destroy it from within on behalf of the Meiji Government.

With his skill with the sword, the former Mimawarigumi Battousai learned to become Amakusa's Kagemusha (literally "Shadow Warrior" but figuratively "Body Double") and master Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu as they continued their insurrection, treason, assassinations, and terrorism of Japan.  

Only for Minakata to double-cross the Christians and defeat their cult leader Shiro Amakusa (real name Shogo Muto) in mortal combat. He became their literal Judas Iscariot.

Nevertheless, successfully deploying Kinta's Nisshoku (Solar Eclipse) against a formidable supersonic technique like Shogo's Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash)wasn't possible to do with just the Aoitsuki O Tsuki Nari (Blue Moon Slash).

The Blue Moon Slash—actually a Double Full Moon Slash done at the fraction of a fraction of a second—might be able to match the Hirameki in speed, but not in power.

Especially since the Amakakeru's left-footed torque gave it enough centrifugal force to create a vacuum or vortex of empty air, thus doubling the impact of the second strike.

Instead of creating a second Full Moon Slash, Kinta used his great skill and timing to reverse the direction of his circular slash from an upwards slash to a downwards one, moving the flipped blade on the same trajectory as before but backwards.

Reversing his momentum gave his sword the torque it needed to match the strength or even surpass the speed of the Hirameki's second slash, thus enabling him to do the Solar Eclipse counter on Shogo's ultimate technique. 

Like a reverse-direction Blue Moon Slash that slashed at the same empty space he'd already slashed through previously before the air could fill it up again, resulting in a frictionless strike that perfectly transferred its total energy without any wind resistance.

That was the Tsubame Gaeshi (Swallow Return). This was the ultimate hidden skill taught to Kinta by Amakusa's Uncle Hyoue.

The same one that the black sheep of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu discovered when he hesitated to deliver the killing blow to his own master, Seijuro Hiko XII.

A reverse-momentum riposte after missing with initial the battoujutsu or iaijutsu slash that sliced faster than the Blue Moon Slash and struck as hard as the second Hirameki slash.

***

Rurouni Yahiko

A Rurouni Kenshin Continuation Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Take a bow. The night is over. The Brigands Guild latest assassination attempt has been foiled by Yahiko Myojin, the Sanada Ninjas, and Kinta Minakata… for now.

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) are the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 60: The Curtain Falls

***

Back at the front yard of the Minakata moneychanger office…

It was finally over.

"Ugh, NOOOOO! DAMMIT!" cried out Lucas Grant into the darkness, a velvet cloth of his own blood draping over his consciousness like a curtain over a theater stage, the light from his eyes fading.

He had him. Well, he almost had him. But he had him. He was so close. But he tripped at the finish line and underestimated him.

Or maybe Luke gave Kinta too much respect because his estranged brother truly was a saint among sinners when compared to the rest of his… their scumbag family.

Faster than even a Blue Moon Slash, he got sliced open from hip to shoulder. What just happened? What hit him exactly as he strode on the verge of victory?

"What was that technique?" Luke demanded to know, his body shaking like a leaf, his blood pooling below him.

"The Tsubame Gaeshi," answered Kinta while brushing away his matted hair in between belabored breaths, his face as pale as a ghost's.

While the bloody Lucas steamed with rage, high-blood pressure, and disbelief, Kinta exuded cold sweats, alabaster skin, and a dropping blood pressure.

In spite of himself, Luke laughed, blood spurting all over him in a shower. "Well done, Samurai."

The Prodigal Son then heard the self-proclaimed Fuuma Ninja Kai Hidaka scream something about getting over there.

Luke's head snapped into attention and stared to his side, only to see Kai engaged in battle with a tall blonde woman wielding a naginata.

His vision blurring, Luke had a brief dream of himself practicing the art of kenjutsu with his elder brother Kinta and that same European(?) girl he just saw like they were old childhood friends.

As if his delirium had taken over.

Only for the fantasy to shatter with the reality of him living in squalor as one of the forgotten burakumin (untouchables) of Japan, after the Minakata Family forsook him and his mother.

Only to see a vision of the Minakata’s disowned daughter working in the Red Light District of Yoshiwara to make ends meet for them, which roused him from his dead faint.

As he understood it, they quietly sent her away to preserve the dignity of the Minakata name, whatever that meant.

Tetsuo Akahori revealed the truth about him and the traitorous Minakatas who disowned his mother for having an affair with a foreign dignitary during the heightening tensions and growing anti-foreigner sentiment of Japan at the dawn of the Bakumatsu.

The single mother and her son became collateral damage against the hostility between the kowtowed shogunate, the restless samurai, and the gaijin who forced to open Japan's borders by force, revealing how backwards and primitive the country had become thanks to its isolationism.

No, wait. This was far from over.

 ***

Many years ago, before Niitsu Kakunoshin became the disciple of Hiko Seijuro XII…

A young, non-blind Hyoue Nishida faced a dilemma.

The deeply religious man needed to kill his beloved (if strict and no-nonsense) Master Hiko to learn the succession technique of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and become the newest inheritor of the swordsmanship school. However, doing so was at odds with his beliefs.

What was he supposed to do? He really needed to complete his training to protect the Hidden Christians from exposure and persecution from the Shogunate.

He'd heard of the horror stories of how the government tortured anyone they caught practicing this forbidden "foreign" religion, such as nearly drowning them by dunking them upside-down into a well or putting long carpentry nails into their fingertips until they recanted their faith.

Some Christians even had their fingernails plucked right out of their bed. Or they were outright crucified like their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Fearing how Western nations used Christianity to colonize other countries, the Tokugawa Government had a zero-tolerance policy against any citizen converting to Christianity.

This was the reason why the Hidden Christians remained hidden in plain sight, with their churches located inside caves and their statues of Jesus or Mother Mary as well as the cross put under lock and key in secret compartments.

The pacifistic swordsman Nishida wished to have the power to protect these persecuted faithful without spilling any bloodshed. He wanted to practice the Sword of Life the same way he followed the gospel or the Word of Life.

He wished to use Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu as his Sword of Life to wield for the sake of others and to protect people. His people. The Hidden Christians of Shimabara.

He wanted to do so through the same sword that defeated entire armies and saved whole villages during the Sengoku Era.

Those wielding the Sword of Life were absolutely not allowed to kill or to lose. To lose would not only spell their doom but also the doom of the ones they were trying to protect.

If his only options were to kill his master to succeed him or get killed himself, then he'd find a third option to save them both, so that everyone could end up happy. So he wouldn’t break one of the Ten Commandments.

After praying over and over again to God for guidance, the Christian peacemaker found his answer.

'God is great. Praise be to God,' Nishida had taught at the time. 'I leave my fate in your hands, oh Lord Jesus. I trust in You. Thy will be done.'

***

Back at the front yard of the Minakata moneychanger office…

Kai Hidaka couldn't believe his eyes. The damage sponge and unstoppable juggernaut known as Lucas Grant had finally fallen against the hands of the so-called Kagemusha in a single exchange.

At the same time, he heard the righteous indignation from the voice of the blonde bombshell known as Satsuki Sakaguchi (also known as May Brooks) for good measure, with her charging forward with her trusty naginata (polearm blade) in tow.

"Keep your mitts away from Kyoko-chan and Mr. Sakaguchi!" screamed Satsuki at him.

Hidaka, her opponent, also currently looked like a dagger pincushion thanks to the efforts of Zan of the Sanada Demons.

Man, today just wasn't their day, was it? By "them", he meant the Brigands Guild.

Cursing under his breath, Kai charged, ignoring the agony of his body that served as a knife holder to Zan's daggers.

As for May's part, she saw red as soon as she got a look at the state of Kyoko Sakaguchi and her father Satoru. She didn't even have time to register that Kinta Minakata himself faced his own death match just a few yards away.

Like a purebred mare with blinders on, she focused solely on the ninja with the destroyed gas mask. A traitorous Japanese or East Asian man on the side of gaijin assassins.

He'd touch not one hair on either of them. Her Grandpa Sakaguchi's family. No, her family.

Something weird then happened. Kai found himself in the same predicament as before with Zan. Satsuki could reach and slash at him with Old or Young Moon Slashes at will with an insane reach.

Like she had an infinite supply of throwing knives that she used to suppress Hidaka from getting anywhere near Satoru and Kyoko Sakaguchi. Except it was a blade on a stick so she recycled her throwing knives by stabbing the same blade every time.

After struggling against a strange centipede version of the lion dance mascot with reinforced steel carapaces, razor-sharp limbs, and experienced Chinese kung-fu experts serving as its puppeteers earlier, she could finally let off some steam against one of the brigands.

She intended to defeat Kai like she did the gigantic human centipede mascot: By controlling the distance and taking him apart piece-by-piece, like her taking down those martial artist hooligans one-by-one. Thusly, that was what happened.

The already exhausted Fuuma Clan Ninja couldn't even touch the Caucasian martial artist, her naginata's slashing and stabbing range as far as that of a thrown projectile. Or, ironically, one of Hidaka's rope hooks and darts.

She unloaded on him like a Gatling gun onto an advancing army. Or even a Maxim gun. Every time Kai tried to get near her, it felt like he just dove face-first into a cactus patch. Or a shower of flesh-rending broken glass.

***

Many years ago, before Niitsu Kakunoshin became the disciple of Hiko Seijuro XII…

Hyoue Nishida found a way to master Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and learn the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki without murdering his beloved master over it, and it rooted from him hearing about tales of the inimitable Kojiro Sasaki battling against Musashi Miyamoto.

Hyoue had never seen Kojiro's signature technique before, but he heard stories about how the riposte moved so quick it allowed Sasaki to cut apart a sparrow or swallow (hence its name) in mid-flight. 

He had been secretly practicing the Swallow Return over and over ever behind his master's back since he first heard about its legend leading up to his confrontation with his master.

He tried to figure out its mechanics from merely hearing about how it worked. To reverse-engineer a move he'd only heard about from rumors, legends, and folktales.

Hyoue threw caution to the wind and let his fate in the hands of his Christian God, the Almighty Yahweh. If he died in his attempt to spare his master's life, then so be it.

That was the kind of man Hyoue Nishida was.

And so the day of him learning the succession technique arrived. He was able to do the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki but intentionally missed with his first strike.

His master blocked then did the Kuzu Ryu Sen (Nine-Headed Dragon Flash) to force him to do the even stronger second follow-up strike. A surefire killing blow with any normal katana (as opposed to the sakabatou).

However, Hyoue refused to do the second strike that would've finished Seijuro Hiko XII off.

Instead, he did an imperfect version of the Swallow Return, resulting in him getting blown back by Master Hiko's Kuzu Ryu Sen.

A miracle then happened during the fateful duel between master and student.

Hyoue ended up slipping off the cliff he and his master fought on, dropping into the waterfall below after getting lacerated all over by his master's multi-hit move.

However, he avoided death from his refusal to do the succession technique properly because the Tsubame Gaeshi managed to shatter Seijuro's sword in turn, so his cuts ultimately ended up shallow and non-fatal.

Later on, after recovering from his wounds, he'd thank God for helping him learn not one but two new skills—the Hirameki and the Tsubame Gaeshi—while keeping his master from dying by his hands in order to learn them.

***

Back at the front yard of the Minakata moneychanger office…

Kai Hidaka had enough of Satsuki Sakaguchi's "Death by a Thousand Cuts" nonsense and pulled one of the daggers on (or in) his person to throw it at the wobbly and spent Kinta to complete their assassination mission.

Predictably, this made Satsuki charge and attack up close, deflecting the dagger before it could even reach Kinta's back. With her moving right into Kai's range so that he didn't need to close the distance between them.

"That's right. GET OVER HERE!" screamed the Fuuma shinobi.

At such a close range, her long-ranged polearm was rendered moot while Kai Hidaka could move freely with his sword daggers and entangle her with his rope darts.

"Satsuki-neechan, watch out!" cried out Kyoko as she covered her face by reflex yet peeked out of her open fingers to see what happened next.

'Ha. Women are so emotional and predictable,' thought Kai as he withstood May’s flesh-cutting slashes and dodged the stabbing attempt that would've run him through.

May Brooks smirked. For the last few weeks, she'd been sparring with Yahiko Myojin to learn how to dodge and defend herself from close-range, knowing that was her previous weak point.

'What the hell…!?' thought Hidaka as Brooks shortened her grip on her polearm and held it closer to the blade, like a regular sword.

This allowed her to parry his quicker, shorter swords with her blade or even use the freed up space on her pole to deflect his attacks from there, with her gripping it like a sword with an extra-long handle.

"MIKAZUKI O TSUKU NARI (CRESCENT MOON SLASH)!"

She could throw Crescent and Quarter Moon Slashes at that midrange as well. Whether it was from the Waxing or Waning Stance.

And, when Kai attempted to escape from her close-quarter rampage to regroup, she merely gripped her naginata normally by its base to slash at him from mid-range to long-range. He couldn't escape from her at all.

The bloody Kai dodged those slashes regardless and moved in even closer, intending to grapple with the tall woman, grab her from behind, and then slit her throat.

The adopted Sakaguchi daughter merely stepped back and responded with a, "HANGETSU O TSUKU NARI (HALF MOON SLASH)!" that, lucky for Kai, hit him by the blunt pole end instead of the sharp bladed end.

Kai dropped to his side like a bag of hammers. Fortunately, he avoided having the knives in his person stab him any worse than before.

***

After Hyoue Nishida spared himself and his master Hiko Seijuro XII from needing to kill each other to master Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu...

Nishida would later become one of the founding fathers of Musou Madden Ryu, the swordsmanship school Kinta would eventually master.

The Seiryu Clan helped him develop his own swordsmanship skills divorced from Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, which in turn allowed him to protect the Hidden Christians from harm and discovery against the Tokugawa Shogunate.

He became the bane of many an officer of the law, samurai, or local authorities in Shimabara, hiding under the masked identity of Kirisaki of the Hidden Christians. Their divine protector from persecution and death.

Notably, Kirisaki the Christian freed jailed and tortured Christians or helped them find refuge among other Hidden Christians while never taking the life of their enemies.

The ruling shogunate also tolerated Kirisaki’s presence because on top of rescuing rogue Christians, he also helped catch criminals for them.

As though exchanging the lives of the criminals for the Christians he saved.

Kirisaki became an asset to the government it defied, so they turned a blind eye on its treasonous activities of hiding and rescuing essentially fugitives of the law in exchange for his vigilantism.

Like Morihei Ueshiba with the development of Aikido, the Christian swordsman considered Musou Madden Ryu as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs.

It combined everything Nishida learned from Sengoku Era Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and old-school battoujutsu with Hasegawa Eishin Ryu, an iaijutsu koryu from the 16th Century founded by Chikaranosuke Eishin Hasegawa.

By the way, the Sakaguchis previously studied under Hasegawa Eishin Ryu prior to the development of Musou Madden Ryu.

From under this school did Hyoue, the Sakaguchis, and several others derive their take on modern iaijutsu or iaido before and after the Bakumatsu commenced in earnest.

Some students followed Hyoue's pacifistic "Sword of Life" lessons. Nishida and Ueshiba shared the same goal of creating a martial art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attackers from harm.

Others insisted in continuing to go the path of the "Sword of Death" or old-school kenjutsu and iaijutsu because in reality, kenjutsu was the art of killing and katanas were weapons used for murder.

They merely used "Sword of Life" as a safe way to practice and temper their deadly skills. Like doing no-contact sparring and kata drills before engaging in "the real deal".

However, as Japan went to civil war and heads of state rolled in Shimabara, the old officers that tolerated Kirisaki and his protection of Hidden Christians died out.

The "Sonno Joi" movement also led to renewed hatred of everything foreign, including Christians who followed the religion of foreigners. They got hunted down like stray dogs in times of famine soon after.

Years after Hyoue rescued his young nephew and niece from being purged for being Hidden Christians, he'd later get blinded by a teenaged Shogo Amakusa because he wanted revenge against the new government.

Hyoue would later train how to use the "Sword of Life" while blind, using his other sharpened senses to deal with people safely in battle, with him only using violence as a last resort.

All this time, even during the middle of the Bakumatsu, Nishida never took a life. He wasn't a pure pacifist. He was willing to draw swords and do battle when push came to shove. However, like Kenshin as a rurouni, he followed a non-killing vow.

And his nephew Shogo bitterly blamed this vow for the deaths of their people.

In the end, the Swallow Return was also the last technique Nishida used before dying in the hands of his nephew, the self-proclaimed Second Coming of Shiro Amakusa, Shogo Muto.

That was the blind swordsman's last-ditch effort to keep his nephew Shogo from going the dark path of cult leader and domestic terrorist.

Hyoue remained defiant to the end, unwilling to compromise on his Christian beliefs and unwillingness to take a life even at the cost of his own.

***

Like a newborn fawn, Lucas stood and wobbled on shaky legs, his clicky knees knocking together like the Shinsengumi knocking on your door, thinking you were harboring an Ishin Shishi fugitive.

By sheer force of will, he trudged forward.

Despite everything, the wheezing Kinta also sacrificed himself to land that last attack when by the tail end of their protracted battle, no Full Moon Slash or Double Full Moon Slash could land on Lucas.

Doing a Full Moon Slash iaijutsu from the start subjected the swordsman’s body to muscle-tearing or even bone-crushing centrifugal forces, especially one involving a reverse-momentum riposte like the Swallow Return!

It was hard to imagine the damage he was doing to his body, but surely it was enough to push him over his own limits!

Kinta's gasping mouth went agape as his little bastard brother marched towards him. Like an unkillable zombie. Like the Ochimusha the Minakatas were allegedly descended from.

What did it take for Luke to go down? How was he still standing?!

What did he go through all those years after he and his mother were banished from the Minakata Family that pushed him beyond his human limits?

Kinta himself sheathed his sword and hobbled in anticipation of his bastard brother's final attack, his scratchy throat withholding a bloody cough.

The Prodigal Son of the Minakatas had every right to wipe out their sinful clan.

However, it remained Kinta's duty as the grandson, nephew, and son of the family to protect his uncles and grandmother.

"What happened to her? The banished woman. Minakata Aoi. Is she still alive?" Kinta asked.

"…Banished woman? You mean the woman who birthed the both of us? You couldn't even bring yourself to call her 'Mother'…?"

Lucas then leaped towards his unlucky brother as soon as his body gave in and he coughed, blood spraying from his mouth.

"I thought you were different, Brother! YOU'RE THE SAME AS THE REST OF THE MINAKATA SCUM!" Luke screamed at Kinta.

At the side of the entrance, both Yahiko Myojin and Sho Kojima—who accompanied Tatsuya Minakata back to the office to rescue Kinta —ran as fast as they could towards the Prodigal Son as soon as they spotted him attacking a coughing and defenseless Kinta.

Alas, they were too far away to make it.

Ditto with May Brooks, who'd just made short work of the injured Kai Hidaka.

She ran blindly at Lucas Grant, unaware of his connection with Kinta Minakata, but stopped short from running him through in spite of herself.

After years of living in Japan as the only other "gaijin", it was the first time she'd seen someone who was Caucasian like her, which sent a shock to her system for about a second.

A second was all the time Luke needed to finish off the huge wall that kept him from enacting revenge at the evil Minakata Family.

A flying kunai not unlike those wielded by Zan of the Sanada Demons flew in between Grant's eyes.

 "Who…!?" a frothing Lucas demanded as used his sword's handle to deflect the weapon, his one second of opportunity to assassinate Kinta now gone.

Did that damn persistent Zan revive and get in his way again? No, it was the dagger of the other ninja bodyguard who was also from the Sanada Ninja Clan. Their young master, Kaita.

Luke swiped at Kinta regardless, blindly hitting the invisible ninja instead as his crossed short blades broke under the weight of the heavy bastard sword.

The Prodigal Son then turned and blocked a sudden naginata slash with his blade, leaving him open to a number of other incoming attacks. Turning the full-rotation Full Moon Slash into a Half Moon Slash.

"Get the hell away from Kinta-sama…!" screamed Satsuki Sakaguchi, who remembered who she was now.

Or rather, who she became: A devoted student of Musou Madden Ryu and the adopted granddaughter of the Sakaguchis, who in turn loyally served under the Minakata Family since the olden times of the Shogunate.

It was Luke’s turn to wonder where he was and why he was fighting a blue-eyed blonde Caucasian warrior woman in full martial artist garb wielding a Japanese glaive, his brain unable to process what he saw. 

'Wait a minute. This girl…!' he thought. He couldn’t possibly be mistaken.

Unless he met another tall, white (creamy pink, more like) golden-haired woman in Japan, he had seen this girl before. The chances of meeting two foreign blonde girls who spoke fluent Japanese in Japan were next to nil!

Lucas then noticed the incoming attacks of his other hindrances.

The charging Yahiko's temple then got clipped by a hook punch from the struggling Luke, but as he fell to the ground, he pushed forward and did the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu Tsuka no Gedan—Hiza Hijiki knee strike that made the Prodigal Son buckle.

Finally, Sho unsheathed his sword and let its handle fly into Luke's gut, knocking the wind out of him and making him drop his sword in wincing pain, which embedded itself to the ground.

This was another form of the Lunar Eclipse: A half-drawn blade with the handle aimed at the opponent's gut before either could fully draw their blades.

Like a rampaging gorilla, Luke punched, kicked, elbowed, and threw the people nearest him, his eyes solely focused on his half-brother Kinta, who had already recovered from his coughing fit.

Yahiko shook his head in disbelief. What did it take to put this man down? He seemed as strong as Sanosuke, if not stronger…!

Soon, a dogpile occurred. Multiple coppers were called into the Yokohama Chinatown to seize the assassin. They became messy entanglemen of limbs, sai, wooden swords, and rope.

The police finally arrived along with Chizuru Raikouji and Abelia La Cerca.

The dead-tired Yahiko surveyed the carnage. Blood spilled everywhere. Several people were injured. Multiple bodyguards were killed inside and outside the moneychanger building.

Regardless, the Brigands Guild's invasion in Chinatown had ended, at long last.

'It's finally over,' thought the exhausted Kinta as Abelia tended to him and his wounds.

***

The Yokohama Police had quite the busy night, with them arresting criminals working with foreign invader assassins left and right, most of which were Chinese nationals from the local Chinatown criminal syndicate.

However, only Lucas Grant ended up getting arrested. Somehow, someway, while they were all distracted by Luke's last-ditch attempt at taking out his half-brother Kinta, Kai Hidaka disappeared.

The aching Yahiko suspected that The Faceless had something to do with it. He probably fetched his fellow Brigands Guild member in the middle of the chaos.

He almost had him too during their duel, but the strange masked brigand had more tricks up his sleeve like the experienced mercenary that he was. Like he changed personalities and styles depending on the mask he wore.

‘Now who does that remind me of?’ the teenaged samurai thought with a smirk.

However, their boss had now been caught by the authorities. Will they still continue with their mission of taking out the wealthy and influential Minakata Family?

Meanwhile, little Abelia attended to the gasping and wheezing Kinta after applying first-aid on Satoru Sakaguchi and his daughter Kyoko along with the other medics on the scene looking for other survivors.

Bandages and salves were also handed off to Yahiko Myojin and Satsuki Sakaguchi.

The two sparring mates grinned at one another and crossed their weapons together. Their lengthy training sessions at the Sakaguchi Dojo had paid dividends tonight.

"Good work, Joshua-kun!"

"You too, Satsuki!"

Chizuru herself pinched one of Yahiko's ears like an irate mother and chewed him out for not being careful and needlessly involving himself with other people's business to the point of risking his life.

Like she didn't know better by now.

Yahiko rolled his eyes and allowed the lady to scold him as he withheld a wistful smile that sneaked into the corners of his mouth. Again, though she’d hate to hear him say it, Chizuru reminded him so much of Kaoru Kamiya back at the Kamiya Dojo.

Yahiko had actually reunited with Gan and Minoe earlier, in the middle of him, Kojima, and Kinta's uncle returning to the moneychanger office.

The pair of Munenori Minoe and the Great Gan took down the Chinese mercenaries wearing the lion dance costume in typical violent fashion.

Indeed, Minoe ended up helping out with the mission despite viewing Kinta Minakata as the traitor to Shogo Amakusa’s rebellion, but he was unwilling to join Yahiko any further.

The Tokyo Samurai Descendant thanked the wandering terrorist with the eye patch and wig regardless.

Yahiko had no idea how Kinta Minakata betrayed Munenri, Amakusa, and the Hidden Christians, but he thought better than to pry right now.

The Battousai Group was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. He’d have to deal with them eventually, of course.

After all, there were foreign invaders afoot. Someone hired them to finish off the so-called Seiryu Clan.

He also had a gut feeling that Amakusa’s faction and the current turn of events were all interconnected somehow.

It seemed too convenient for a Fake Battousai Group to harangue the Sakaguchis, only for the real one to finish them off.

Perhaps Keisuke used the name of one of the Sakaguchis’ enemies for himself. Or perhaps the Battousai Group was the enemy of the Minakatas, which in turn made them the enemies of the Sakaguchis by proxy.

***

Kinta took a long drag of his asthma cigarettes—not made of tobacco, but instead from the leaves of Datura stramonium (thorn apple) that were widely sold in the 1800s and into the early 1900s—given to him by Abelia La Cerca to relieve his respiratory emergency.

The cigarettes provided a means of delivering an inhaled treatment that would be later known by 20th Century medicine as an antimuscarinic alkaloid.

Other than almost suffocating to a dead faint due to exhaustion, he was none the worse for wear. He barely had any cuts deeper than a laceration on him. Most of the blood on his clothes were from Lucas.

Nevertheless, he was the one who almost died instead of his stamina monster of a brother. That (literal) bastard pushed him to his (present) limits.

His whole body trembled and ached from muscle strain. He felt like going into a deep sleep, afraid it’d turn into a coma he wouldn’t wake up from.

Kinta's adrenalin probably still kept him up and standing like his brother did before he was apprehended.

"Are you okay, Kinta-sama?" said Officer Satoru Sakaguchi, who himself got injured by one of the brigands of the Brigands Guild. "It’s time for you to head home and rest."

'He still calls me, Kinta-sama, eh?' Wistfully, Kinta looked up at the endless blackness of the sky and its infinite stars then marveled:

"It's been 17, almost 18 years since the Meiji Era started. There's no reason for you to be trapped into a master-servant relationship with our family."

After a brief pause, Lieutenant Satoru answered, "Don't be silly. Just because of the administration's edicts, we're going to throw away hundreds of years of gratitude? Don't be a stranger, Kinta-sama."

"It's a stupid old tradition," insisted Kinta. "Your family shouldn’t be shackled to mine. Samurai no longer exist. The hatamoto class died out along with the Shogunate."

"Come on, don't make me say it, Sir Kinta." Satoru grinned. "The bonds between our families run deeper than mere traditions and classes. We Sakaguchis are loyal to you because we choose to! We’re bound by fate at this point."

***

Yahiko poked around and eavesdropped on the Yokohama Police chatting with the "Sword of Life" swordsman and drunkard earlier. His name was Sho Kojima, wasn't it?

Sho seemed to have finally sobered up after using his mix of the Drunken Fist and Musou Madden Ryu swordsmanship at The Faceless.

Myojin overheard something about them apprehending three of five known Brigands Guild members.

One had been jailed already—someone who almost killed a squad of Yokohama Policemen had they not been saved in time by that other foreigner girl the size of a ten year old who knew all about western medicine and drugs.

They also put in chains a swarthy hairy giant of a muscular man who wielded a huge ax like it weighed as much as an ordinary sword. They arrested him back in one of the Minakata Family’s many mansions.

And now they actually caught the mastermind of the mercenaries with a direct link to the Minakatas, Lucas Grant. Right on time too, before he could murder one member of their family.

However, it was at the risk and cost of the lives of many of Yokohama’s Finest and their hired private bodyguards, one of whom Lucas impersonated in order to get close to the family.

Had the Minakata Family drama not have national security consequences when push came to shove, Yahiko would rather not interfere with it.

Also, the Akahoris were also somehow intertwined with Minakata busines. Nepotism ran deep in the Meiji Oligarchy, after all, as evidenced by the likes of Jusanro Tani.

Could it be that the Akahoris were also in league with the Minakatas? Could it be that the shared the same enemy, which was Amakusa’s faction?

If so, then why did it seem like Minoe had nothing to do with these Brigands Guild of mercenaries? He was willing to take them down, even for Kinta’s sake.

Yahiko scratched his chin. Maybe he needed to send a carrier pigeon to the Kyoto Oniwabanshu so that he could glean more info on this Seiryu Clan and Minakata Zaibatsu.

Myojin decided then and there to keep digging deeper. What was the reason behind Amakusa's use of Kenshin's name Battousai? Why did he and Minoe’s other self, Kaede, know how to use Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu?

How was Kinta related to the Battousai Group? Did it go beyond him once being called the Mimawarigumi Battousai? Was he another Battousai wannabe too, by that logic?

Just like how Minoe, without the wig and eyepatch, or his other self, Kaede, if she were another gender, was the spirit and image of Kenshin himself?

Oh wait. That last technique Kinta did. The Swallow Return. That was legendary iaijutsu or battoujutsu invented by the famous Kojiro Sasaki himself! Musashi Miyamoto’s chief rival!

Could such a legendary technique from a historical figure like Kojiro Sasaki match the power of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu’s Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash? Yahiko could only wonder in amazement.

Moreover, was Kinta comparable to Kenshin the same way Soujiro was? The Tokyo Samurai Descendant barely touched the Heaven Sword when they fought. Was Kinta as good, if not better, than Kenshin?

'No way,' Yahiko thought, waving the notion off.

Would there also come a time when he and Kinta Minakata would clash swords themselves?

He wasn't sure. By the looks of things, Kinta and Amakusa left each other in bad terms, judging by Minoe's claims that he was a traitor.

Maybe Minakta wasn't part of the Battousai Group anymore, but Myojin wasn't sure. How loyal were the Minakatas to the Meiji Government despite being one of their favored oligarchs?

As far as Yahiko knew, Kinta and his family were on the side of the oligarchy (of course).

In any case, the Mimawarigumi Battousai was indeed a formidable opponent to be able to dispatch the likes of The Faceless and his own estranged brother like that with techniques like the Swallow Return.

However, to Yahiko, being Kenshin-like wasn’t about techniques and strength. It was more than just being named "Battousai" as well.

It was about moving forward despite all the suffering and crippling depression he faced. It was about being honorable in the face of an imperfect new government filled with corruption.

It was about the strength of defending life after being burdened by the unwashable guilt of taking so many lives. 

It was about viewing the true nature of samurai as to improve, become stronger, and become knowledgeable than you were before. Being a samurai meant self-improvement in every sense of the word.

Rather than the other face of samurai being armed thugs serving the Shogunate who were born with privilege. And when that privilege was taken away from them, the samurai became no better than bandit and criminals.

Most importantly, what was the deal with this so-called Seiryu Clan he kept hearing about?

***

"Ah! I almost forgot ‘bout you! Hold still, Señor Samurai!" said the foreign-looking little girl with rust-brown hair who appeared out of nowhere and began bandaging Yahiko’s wounds.

Yahiko took one look at the kid and then called out to the nearby police, "Hey, there’s a lost child here. Might be a foreign kid from the Yokohama Foreign Settlement or something!”

This earned him a bonk on the head from the violent kid. She was a brat, truly.

"OW! Hey! What was that for?"

"What do you mean, 'What was that for?' You called me a lost child!" the girl pointed out, her cheeks inflating cutely like a squirrel's.

Then, to Yahiko’s utter befuddlement, the taciturn Kinta turned towards him and told him, "She's with us."

This in turn earned the already injured Kinta a bonk on his head, followed by an apology. "AH! I’m sorry, Señor Kinta! But that doesn’t clear things up with him at all!"

Rubbing the bump on his head as he watched the doting child scold the poker-faced Minakata, Myojin remembered where he first met the girl. Well, saw her.

It was at the Sakaguchi Dojo. She was with Kinta and that drunken swordsman dude who helped him take on The Faceless, Kojima.

According to the Yokohama Police, she was some kid that had connections with the Brigands Guild that was after the Minakatas. She helped saved them from one of the members, a poison-based assassin.

She was also a lot older than she looked apparently, like she was more of a little person than a child, but Yahiko wasn’t so sure about that claim. Big if true.

The adorable young/old person then turned towards Yahiko and asked, "What's your name again?"

"Huh? Me? Uh, it’s Yahiko. Myojin Yahiko."

"Charmed. My name is Abelia La Cerca. Como estas? I mean, how do you do?"

"Uh, I’m doing fine. Thanks."

'La Cerca?' thought Yahiko. The police told him that was one of The Faceless' many aliases. So she was related to one of the Brigands, huh? Could they trust her?  What if she was the Brigands’ mole?

"But you're just a li'l kid," he almost muttered to himself rather than to Abelia.

"Right back at you, kiddo. You're barely a teenager," said the childlike girl midget before him. Girl midget? Gidget?

"Well, you're barely pubescent!" he said. "…Right?"

"It doesn't matter anyway," she said as she attended to Yahiko's wounds with ointment and bandages.

"Heard from the police you have connections with the Minakata's present enemies, the Brigands Guild. Like you're related to some of them or something."

This made Abelia pause. "What of it, Señor Samurai? Are you accusing me of something? Even though you're more of a rando yourself, snooping into other peoples' business?"

"HEY! I'm a friend of the friend of the samurai family serving under the Minakatas, I'll have you know!" blurted out Yahiko in defense of himself. "Also, the name's Myojin Yahiko, not Senyor Samurai!"

He felt a pang of regret from leaving out the part where he decided to intervene into the Minakata Familiy's affairs because of their Kinta's to Shogo Amakusa's Battousai Group.

That info was on a need-to-know basis, but at the same time, he was ironically becoming a hypocritical interloper on someone else's business himself.

"…Heard from Señor Kojima that you're some vagabond who volunteered to become Señor Kinta's bodyguard. And you didn't do half bad against, uh, The Faceless," Abelia said, changing the subject.

Yahiko rubbed the back of his head, flattered.

"Jeez, I was lucky to get some shots in against The Faceless and his fencing style! He actually kind of reminds me of this kid at my dojo. Cat Eyes, I call him. He said he learned fencing to do better at kendo or something."

The samurai kid then caught himself babbling in time to see the Hispanic gidget sneak away from him. "HEY! Nice try, girlie! Flattery will get you nowhere!"

"You sure it didn’t work? It got you talking all giddy for a second," Yahiko heard Abelia mumble.

"Cut the crap, kiddo! Tell me how you're linked with the Brigands! Why are you helping out the Minakatas in the first place even though you're related to them?" he asked.

He then gulped, taken aback by Abelia's teary-eyed confession of, "Just because they're family, it doesn't mean I'm on their side."

"H-Hey, easy there. Don't cry! I didn't mean to make you cry…!" he started, his hands seemingly fluffing an invisible pillow, motioning her to stop.

Abelia stuck her tongue out at Yahiko while pulling an eyelid with an index finger. "As if, you dummy!" She didn't kick the boy's shin in retaliation, but he still flinched and backed away by reflex.

"Kinta-sama saved me from getting killed by mi hermano mayor," she said, trailing off. To herself, she murmured, "Saved me from my own twin brother who had lost his mind. My allegiance is with Kinta-sama, not with the Brigands."

"Oh. Is that right? Your twin brother tried to kill you?" said Yahiko, taking a mental note of the new info while trying his best not to sound too blasé.

'So she has issues with her family that's on the Brigand’s side, huh?' He rubbed his chin with a dubious pout. 'Big if true.'

Then again, Yahiko was one to speak. He also had family issues himself when he served as the yakuza's gopher and pickpocket.

"Just because he's family, it doesn't mean we're on the same side," she said. "Like Kinta-sama, I too have a complicated history with my family."

"Oh," he said. "So his deal with his long-lost brother is the same deal as your brother, huh?"

Abelia left out the part where she and her brother were born as conjoined twins, with her serving as his parasitic twin. He then lost his mind after they were separated through 18th-century surgery.

That was on a need-to-know basis.

"I'm not just flattering you, y'know? You fought to the end. You never surrendered. Even Señor Sho was impressed with the way you held your ground against The Faceless, who was able to take on Señor Kinta on even terms."

Yahiko couldn't help but beam at that last bit of praise. 'So even the great Mimawarigumi Battousai had trouble with that son of a gun!'

Abelia shook her head in wonderment. This boy. This samurai who looked like he'd be no match against her father was able to hold on and keep fighting. Never giving up. Even if it was for the sake of strangers.

Even if the Minakata Family Feud with the Brigands wasn't really any of his business, he still fought with all he had.

She let out a long exhale. "My father isn't an easy man to deal with. "

"Wait a goddamn minute. The Faceless is your father?!" exclaimed Yahiko. "And we're all supposed to believe you're on our side? I mean, their side? Your whole family are practically part of the Brigands Guild!"

She wasn't listening, though. "What pushes you to fight, Señor Yahiko?"

"Hmmm? What do you mean? I was hired as their bodyguard. I was just doing my job!"

"But they're just strangers to you who you've just met, I heard! You fought like a loved one's life was on the line!"

Yahiko scratched his cheek. "Honestly, even if I just met Chizuru and the Sakaguchis recently, they all remind me of my family back home in Tokyo. Also, I can't leave anyone who's in need alone."

"Really? You’d interfere even if it’s none of your business?"

The teen laughed in spite of himself. "Interfering with someone else’s business is more his thing, to be honest, but…"

"Who?" she asked. "Whose 'thing' was it?"

"Someone I look up to," he answered vaguely. 'Someone who also interfered in something that had nothing to do with him just to save me from the yakuza,' he inwardly thought.

Kenshin Himura. The interloper no one asked for who always came to the rescue.

That too was on a need-to-know basis.

"I couldn't leave them well enough alone either, I guess. While there's someone in need before me, I can't help but act," he said.

"Just like the original Battousai, right?" she said with a grin.

"What? How did you…?" began Yahiko.

"Like I said, Señor Sho told me everything," she replied with a giggle. "No wonder you were so brave. You've studied under the man Kinta-sama was named after by the Mimawarigumi. The Hitokiri Battousai!”

***

As the Yokohama Police secured the perimeter, tagged the bodies, interrogated the witnesses, arrested the perps, and gathered evidence, Yahiko finally left that moneychanger office in Chinatown.

He'd finally told them his eyewitness account of what happened, so he was free to go.

Go home, perhaps? Nope, he was far away from Tokyo now. Well, maybe a train ride away, at least.

However, he was already in too deep. As the inheritor of Kenshin's sakabatou and the kanji of "Evil" behind Sanosuke's back, he had a job to do.

There were people using the Hitokiri Battousai's name in vain, creating a so-called Battousai Group meant to sow discord in the Meiji Era.

He had to take these insurgents down.

Furthermore, a former Mimawarigumi member and his Hatamoto-Class Samurai Family were in peril against literal foreign invaders at that.

This man, Kinta, might be his biggest lead yet in taking down the Battousaigumi before they could reform and wreak havoc in peacetime Japan, undoing all the hard work the Kenshingumi did in defending the country against Makoto Shishio's Ten Swords.

Yahiko's eavesdropping also helped him hear whispers about a certain Seiryu Clan and their… Black Book. A book full of names and secrets that could unravel the very fabric of the Meiji Government.

A literal government conspiracy was afoot in the middle of Yahiko investigating a bunch of terrorists sullying the good name of Kenshin Kamiya (nee Himura).

'I'll cross that bridge when I get there,' he thought while rubbing his temples with his fingers. 'What's important is that I've found another potential member of the Battousai Group while keeping an eye on another.'

Yahiko took a deep breath, remembering his misadventures with the eye-patched Munenori Minoe. Or rather, the volatile Kaede Morinaga.

Nevertheless, the Battousai of Speed had finally met up with the traitor to their cause, the Mimawarigumi Battousai, also known as the Battousai of Skill.

The young man scratched his chin. To whom was Kinta Minakata loyal to? The Meiji Government? His family and the family business, the Minakata Zaibatsu?

Or this so-called Seiryu Clan that both the Minakatas and the Sakaguchis belonged to as spies playing both sides of the Tokugawa Government and the Ishin Shishi royalists back in the Bakumatsu?

What happened between him and Shogo Amakusa’s Hidden Christians in the past? Did he really act as a double agent to their rebellion to destroy their cult from the inside and preserve the peace?

Also, what of the mysterious Latina, Abelia La Cerca? Could they trust her word that she wasn’t just a spy for the invading mercenaries, the Brigands Guild? Her very family was involved with them!

The next thing Myojin knew, a faint presence made itself know before him, the darkness parting before him like curtains from a stage play. Before him, garbed like a stagehand, was Kaita.

The ninja protecting the Minakata Family ended up being the related to the ninja who hunted down Kenshin several months ago.

The old man who took a bullet for him to save him from Hitokiri Gasuke—the late Masahiro Takae.

And before him was Kaita Takae. Son of Masahiro Takae.

The ninja warrior turned towards Yahiko, who almost flinched and turned away, but willed himself to stare at him eye-to-eye.

"…." Yahiko gulped, unable to meet the shinobi's fierce gaze.

"What is your name, Yojimbo?" asked Kaita, his resolve and his unblinking eyes practically piercing through Myojin’s awkwardness and discomfort.

"Myojin Yahiko," said Yahiko Myojin. "Son of Tokyo Samurai."

"Fine. Myojin Yahiko. Son of Tokyo Samurai," Kaita Takae pointed his kunai at the teenaged swordsman. "I am Takae Kaita. Son of Shinobi. Prepare yourself when we cross paths again."

Momentarily at a loss for words, the samurai kid sputtered, "But wait…! I have no feud with you! I don’t wish you harm…!"

And indeed, Yahiko did not wish to fight the son of the man who saved his life in exchange of his own, taking the bullet meant for him instead.

"Harm?" Yahiko could hear the smirk underneath Kaita's mask. "Don't flatter yourself, Yojimbo."

"I had no idea Takae was your father," the young Myojin said to Takae’s son honestly. "He said he was the last ninja of your clan."

"He was," said Kaita. "There is no Takae Clan any longer. We’ve been absorbed into the Sanada Ninja Clan by marriage."

'So that’s what that meant,' thought Yahiko, who then sputtered, "I'm so sorry for your loss. He was an honorable fighter who…!"

Kaita interrupted Yahiko, saying, "I know he's an honorable fighter. Even after his retirement as head of our clan, he continued being a mercenary. He lived as a shinobi and died as a shinobi."

From there, the Son of Tokyo Samurai understood Kaita's implication.

Kaita didn't care about the circumstances behind the death of his father. As far as he knew, he died honorably. Then again, Yahiko was partly responsible for Masahiro's death regardless.

Had he been a touch faster or stronger, Yahiko would've… should've defeated Gasuke without him harming Takae or anyone else.

Their eyes met, then Kaita asked, "Was he able to fulfill his final wish of battling the infamous Battousai?"

Oh yeah. Masahiro Takae took on the mission of aiding Hitokiri Gasuke take his revenge against the weakening Battousai than anything else, spying on him for weeks.

Initially, Yahiko thought Takae was a coward like Gasuke, taking on Kenshin after he retired from using the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu rather than fight him at his strongest.

However, Masahiro actually forced Kenshin to use an actual sword with his skill. Even with Himura's declining health and skill, he wanted a taste of what was left of his abilities.

Perhaps Takae, like Battousai, wanted one last duel. A grand finale. A final fight to the death between two old warriors who were past their primes, showing that they still had one good match left in them.

His closed mouth shrinking into a thin line of consternation, Yahiko nodded at Kaita in earnest.

Kaita Takae laughed. "What luck. So you're also connected to the Battousai himself, huh? Thank you, Father. I get to duel against the Battousai’s student!"

"H-Hey, wait…!" said Yahiko, only for him to backpedal when Kaita asked, "Your sword when used like a normal sword cannot kill. That's Battousai's sword, is it not? My father wondered why he'd hold back like that. Was he so skilled he needed a handicap?"

"Hey! It's not like that! Kenshin…!" Myojin tried to explain, but Takae laughed him off.

"It’s no matter. I'll find out soon. I'll let our blades do the talking. This isn’t over, Yojimbo. Until I kill you, make sure no one else does."

"…."

From there, the son of Masahiro Takae who inherited all of his tricks disappeared in the blink of an eye, his silhouette fading from the light and merging back into the shadows.

***

What a day. What a helluva day.

Yahiko took on a foreign group of mercenaries to protect an influential former hatamoto family that was currently part of the Meiji Oligarchy.

Their ninja bodyguard ended up challenging him to a duel to the death one of these days to avenge the death of his retired ninja father whom Yahiko actually met and fought months ago.

Before this, he also had to save the life of another politician from the terrorist cult of the second coming of Shiro Amakusa, also known as Shogo Amakusa.  Shogo himself had an eye-patched underling who was sometimes a boy, sometimes a girl.

Furthermore, the grandson of the oligarchs is a former member of Shogo’s cult who betrayed them to the Meiji Government before they could do a proper rebellion.

All this happened in between him helping an old pirate friend, the Crimson Captain Shura, who’d become a privateer in order to avenge the death of a crewmember of hers who sank along with her ship, the Kobayashi Maru.

They rode a commercial ship and ambushed the Wokou responsible for sabotaging her before. Yahiko and friends even managed to get her, the Scourge of the Pacific, a new ship from the Wokou while they were at it.

He also almost forgot how, by sheer coincidence, he was able to meet up with his former crush, Mariko Ebisu. They had such a nostalgic time. Too bad their night turned sour in the end.

He considered leaving Yokohama and going straight to Kyoto to complete his Musha Shugyo (Warrior’s Pilgrimage), seeing that most of the members of the Brigands Guild had already been apprehended save for one.

He'd done his part in thwarting the assassination attempts of these mercenaries, even though to be honest, it seemed that the former Mimawarigumi Kinta Minakata could handle things well on his own.

Besides which, he'd already gotten his fill of training care of the Sakaguchi Dojo and the inimitable naginata-wielding blonde beauty Satsuki Sakaguchi, also known as May Brooks.

She actually beat Yahiko in their practice match, but it was a close enough match for the head of Musou Madden Ryu, Genzo Sakaguchi, to insist that they train together.

Satsuki helped Yahiko train in getting in close against long-range fighters who do a lot of thrusts, just like the foreign fencer of the Brigands, The Faceless.

'I can go to Kyoto and meet up with Master Hiko later,' thought Yahiko. 'Right now, I still have some unfinished business here with Yokohama and The Faceless. As long as he hasn't been arrested, the Brigands remain a threat to the Minakatas.'

He might as well. Helping out the Meiji Government, even though it was a hive of scum and villainy itself, was something Kenshin tended to do during his days as a vagabond.

If Yahiko truly was worthy enough to become the inheritor of the sakabatou, then taking on the yoke that Kenshin used to carry was the least he could do.

He'd been staying at the Sakaguchi Dojo for a while now to continue his tutelage under May Brooks, but as of late he'd been gradually transitioning back to roughing it outdoors with his bag of clothes that doubles as his tent.

And, as he prepared to sleep under the stars somewhere in a wooded area in Yokohama, his head full of thoughts of last night's events, he heard someone scream at him the following words:

"KECHO GIRI (MONSTER BIRD KICK)!"

"Huh…? HADOME…! (SWORD HALT…!)"

By instinct, Yahiko parried the oncoming high-flying kick with crossed wrists, with Kenshin's sakabatou in the ready in case he did the follow-up Hawatari counter.

Who just attacked him in the middle of the night in the forest?

"…M-Misao!?"

"Heheh. Long time no see, Yahiko!" declared Misao Makimachi in all her kunoichi (female ninja spy) glory, her normally long braid the size of a short pigtail that reached to the nape of her neck while decked in her full shinobi gear.

***

To Be Continued...

Yes. I combined elements of the Shimabara Arc and the Black Knights arc together for this fanfic's continuity. In light of that, you can consider this fanfic an "Elseworlds" type of story that happens directly after "Yahiko's Sakabatou".

It hinges on the alternative universe premise of "Had the Kenshingumi never met their filler villains (because Kenshin was too busy dealing with Enishi), what would've happened to them?"

It follows portions of the 1996 anime and the manga's Iinchu Arc but skips the filler episode seasons altogether. I do think that characters like Shogo Amakusa were wasted potential, especially since he was supposed to be more skilled than Kenshin and has his own signature move.

Shogo's Uncle Hyoue also fascinated me, particularly his motivation for learning Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu as a Hidden Christian.

Danke, Abdiel

[eternal-echoes]

Lol this just totally caught me off guard reading the Rurouni Kenshin: Hokkaido arc manga. Not sure yet if the girl just came in just because it was sparkly or this is gonna have a relevant plot point in the series. The guy in the suit does talk about the westernization movement a lot though so they might deal with the Christianization of Japan since it’s a historical fiction. A bit disappointed that it’s not Catholic but hey this is pretty close! I’m not eastern-rite Catholic but I feel like they got the church pretty close: the cross and the icons.

They even drew the priest:

I really hope they do deal with the issue of Christianization because the main theme of Rurouni Kenshin is atonement and mercy and I think Kenshin and his family would definitely convert to Christianity lol! And they can salvage the anime from that horrible Christian arc on Shogo Amakusa.

And this place actually does exist, too:

Harisutosu Hakodate Orthodox Church, Hokkaidō, Hokkaido

[kaitenkenburokuren]

Ive just been reminded shogo ama.kusa exists n anyway An au where he is just a v intense jes.us christ superstar fan n jesus is his dream role

[koikaze]

[gabriel-gabdiel]

Rurouni Yahiko Chapter 55: The Swordsmanship Bible

Who can stop The Faceless and his flawless fencing technique? Also, what of the Mimawarigumi Battousai?

The rest of the chapters of my Rurouni Kenshin fan fiction are available here. Enjoy.

First | Previous | Next

Earlier, before Yahiko Myojin went to the Yokohama Chinatown...

Satsuki "May Brooks" Sakaguchi had invited Yahiko Myojin to join the Musou Madden School dojo to help protect Kinta Minakata and his uncle from ne'er-do-wells at an affiliate company's Chinatown office.

Yahiko considered to whether or not he wanted to accept the invitation and become a bodyguard to defend yet another V.I.P. (Very Important Person) or three with connections to the Meiji Government.

Maybe he shouldn't go since it was none of his business, really.

Then again, he reasoned that dealing with things that weren't any of his concern was how his idol, Kenshin Himura (now Kenshin Kamiya) lived his life and truth.

At least that was what he told himself as the spirit-and-image of Kenshin (hidden behind an eye patch and a garish wig) looked back at him with cutely blinking innocence.

"Can you stop staring at me that way, Minoe? You're... weirding me out," Yahiko told Munenori Minoe, who "disguised" herself currently as a man but was actually Kaede Morinaga, the female assassin of the Hidden Christians.

The Battousai of Speed.

Munenori's eyes... well, eye, he was wearing an eye patch on the other eye... darted back and forth between Yahiko and the floor. "You okay, Yahiko-chi? I heard from Chizuru-chi that Marimo-chi dumped you."

"...I DUMPED HER!" yelped Myojin more defensively than he intended. He then realized he sounded more mean-spirited than he intended. He afterwards took a deep breath and revised his statement.

"I mean, no, not exactly. Nothing happened. No one dumped anyone because neither of us was involved with each other that way, okay? I just... cleared a misunderstanding, that's all. Leave Marimo alone."

"Okay," the pouty Minoe said, pouting. "Stop being mad."

"StOp BeInG MaD," mocked Yahiko with crossed arms. "I'm not even mad, stupid Minoe."

"...Anyway, are you going or not, Yahiko-chi?" asked the eye-patched male—who was born a girl but identified as a boy sometimes—with an inquisitive head tilt. "To serve as the Minakatas' extra bodyguard, I mean."

Fascinating how this seeming airhead before Yahiko was the infamous Fake Battousai. One of the strongest members of Shogo Amakusa's Battousai Group who gave even the Juppon Gatana's (Ten Sword's) Soujiro "Heaven Sword" Seta a run for his money.

On one hand, he (or she) perfectly mirrored the ingenuous, naive, and idealistic parts of Kenshin.

On the other hand, this person  (albeit with a different personality) also mass-murdered the Fake Battousai Group formed in Shinshu then almost did the same thing to the kidnapper bandits in Hiroshima.

With that in mind, Yahiko asked the ticking time bomb in turn, "Do you want to go with me to protect the Minakatas from being assassinated, Minoe?"

Taken aback by the question, Munenori went silent for a few seconds before whispering to Myojin, "I don't know. I might have to check with her. And I don't think she wants to."

"Her?" he asked, also whispering, although he already knew the answer to his question.

"Kaede-chi," Minoe answered in kind, referring to his/her/their split personality, Kaede Morinaga.

Kaede and Munenori were the split personalities of the same person before Yahiko. One male, one female. One meek as a sheep the other as aggressive as a wildcat. They were like night and day.

Myojin wondered what happened to Minoe to end up becoming two people in one body. Or more, if the Battousai of Speed could be considered a separate person as well.

"But even I'm not sure if I want to go help out Kagemusha-chi and his family either. I mean, Minakata-chi. I'm still upset he betrayed Amakusa Shogo-sama and the Hidden Christians," continued Munenori.

Oh, right. They—Morinaga and Minoe—called the Mimawarigumi Battousai another name: The Kagemusha (literally Shadow Warrior, but in context it meant Doppelganger).

Back when Kinta Minakata was part of their group, the Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christians), he served as Shogo Amakusa's body double.

Moreover, Kaede had lingering resentment over Kinta Minakata's betrayal. Even more so than Minoe.

Apparently, the Mimawarigumi Battousai had betrayed the Hidden Christians about half a decade ago, while the Kenshingumi were dealing with Enishi Yukishiro and his Jinchu (Earthly Retribution) against Kenshin Himura.

"Hey. Why are y'all whispering?" asked the Clueless Gan.

Ugh. Of course. Gan—the freeloading oaf who'd been following Yahiko throughout his Musha Shugyo (Warrior Pilgrimage) since they first met in Shinshushin— was there with them

***

Rurouni Yahiko

A Rurouni Kenshin Continuation Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Here we have another session of kendo vs. fencing. Japanese kenjutsu vs. European swordsmanship. East vs. West. Also, the Sanada Sanyoukai (Three Demons) make their debut in this chapter.

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) are the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted materials that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 55: The Swordsmanship Bible

***

Meanwhile, back to your regularly scheduled Sanbaka program!

Yahiko Myojin really should ditch the Great (Pain-in-the-Ass) Gan, but they—Yahiko, Gan, and Minoe—were technically a trio through and through.

It felt like they'd been through a decade's worth of adventures in just a little over a month or so. They'd dealt with coppers, domestic terrorists, political assassins, international pirates, ex-samurai ronin, and bandit kidnappers, among many other folks.  

They were the Sanbaka (Three Stooges).

Ugh. Who even came up with that insulting name anyway? He already forgot. Was it Gan or...?

Never mind. Myojin had something more pressing to ask the clownish thug anyway.

"Say, Gan. You want to serve as bodyguard to the Minakatas with me?" Yahiko asked. "Just like we did with the Oyakata (Tetsuo Akahori) back in Shinshu."

"I'm having kishikan (déjà vu)," said the Goofy Gan before waving the feeling off, adding, "Oh wait, no I'm not."

"...O-kay," said Myojin, nonplussed (as in confused, not the other opposite meaning people usually associate with the word). The samurai kid rubbed his right temple as he felt a nerve or vein pulsate underneath his fingers.

"Let's try this again. Do you want to serve as bodyguard to the Minakatas with me, Gan?"

"...Oh! There it is! There's the déjà vu!"

Yahiko struck the Garrulous Gan on the noggin with his sheathed sword in order to truly knock some sense of déjà vu into him. "Be serious for a minute here."

Gan's rubbed his bandanna-sporting head. "Ya gotta admit the whole situation reeks of déjà vu. Instead of one Oyakata-dono (Tetsuo Akahori), we're dealing with a whole family of snotty rich people, Yoshi-boy (Yahiko)!"

"Well, I guess you're right," conceded Yahiko. "But still..."

Gan and Minoe exchanged knowing looks, puzzling Myojin.

The bigger lout then said, "But you can't leave them alone because Kaori-neechan's family friends might get hurt, right? You can't help yourself. You can't keep your nose out of their business."

A petulant Yahiko crossed his arms. "They asked me to help. It's not as if I'm forcing myself into the situation or anything." He then mumbled, "It's what Kenshin would've done if he were in my sandals."

Munenori chuckled and said, "Mochiron (But of course). You're such a Kenshin fanboy."

"I don't want to hear that from the Amakusa fangirl. I mean, fanboy," muttered Yahiko.

Clearing his throat, Myojin turned towards his Sanbaka comrades then asked, "So will you help me out? For ol' time's sake? Well, it's only been a month, but still…!"

Gan gave Yahiko a firm, "No." He then appended, "We've met only a month ago? It felt like 20 years ago."

"Eh? Why not?" asked Myojin. "Helping people out using violent force is literally what we've been doing this entire time!"

Snorting with enlarged nostrils, the Greedy Gan said, "Me and Patches (Minoe) offered our services to the Minakatas for money, and they said 'No thanks, we have more than enough bodyguards to spare!' The nerve of them! I don't work for free, ya know!"

Oh yeah. Akahori actually gave them a reward for saving his life.

"Come on, Gan! We saved Fukuoka City from marauding ronin (masterless samurai) and dealt with kidnappers in Hiroshima for relatively free! Do it to pay your debt to society, if not for your ongoing real-life debts!"

Gan harrumphed. "Nope. No more freebies or public service protection. Pay me in cash or pay me in food and drink. You can take one man's trash to another man's treasure but you can't make it drink."

What? "Ah, Gan. I don't think that's how the saying goes," said a nonplussed Yahiko, who rubbed his temples. Gan's stupidity actually hurt at times.  

"Whatever. We'll burn that bridge when we get there," the Clownish Gan said, which this time made even Minoe's one uncovered eye swirl in confusion.

"Please, Yahiko-chi! Make him stop!" said a teary-eyed Munenori.

With a shrug, Yahiko replied, "Figures. You're not exactly the sharpest egg in the attic." Two could play this game. This stupid, stupid game.

The Hypocritical Gan had the audacity to reply, "What in the blue blazes of hell and high water are you talking about, Yoshi-boy?!"

"You've opened the can of worms. Now lie on it, Gan-chi," To his fellow Sanbaka's surprise, it was a smiling, giggling Minoe who said that.

***

Back to the fight between The Faceless and Yahiko Myojin in Chinatown…

Inside the room next to the office where the Mimawarigumi Battousai and the Prodigal Son of the Minakatas were having their own face-off, Yahiko himself faced off against The Faceless.

A frustrated, sweat-drenched Yahiko blasted the room to smithereens with an explosive Dou Gami (God on Earth) in an attempt to distract his opponent long enough to set him up for a Tsui Gami (God Hammer).

Or he attempted to, but the strongest strike from his Revisal Techniques came on too slow and left him too wide open to counter-thrusts, so he got forced to halve its power with a premature floor hammering smash and retreat under the cover of smoke and sawdust.

Only to come across the annoying fencer yet again, whose quick footwork cut him off the pass.

The Faceless kept his guard up, measuring his opponent with deliberate sword thrusts. He wanted to do a feeling out process on the kid, but they ended up coming at each other strong at the gates.

He wanted to take it easy but the kid forced him to go all out.

The teenaged samurai wannabe actually had the gall to try and break his rapier in two with his inferior blunt sword! Imagine that!

The Faceless—right now in his duelist "John Rathbone" disguise—knew the reverse-edged sword shouldn't be able to break apart his rapier due to its superior high-grade steel construction, but this kid could make the floor explode with a swing of his weapon.

If this impudent child were to hit his rapier in just the right spot—on its flattest, thinnest, and weakest part—then maybe... No. That was hogwash. Nonsense.

But still. A distant possibility to be sure, but a possibility nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Myojin himself grit and ground his teeth together.

The samurai kid thought he could catch the swordsman flatfooted by breaking apart his sword with the God Hammer earlier, only for the rapier to prove resistant to breakage.

Beat. Parry. Thrust. Over and over. Rathbone's simple technique that should've been easy to counter since Yahko saw it coming, but it kept landing on him regardless.

For whatever reason, Yahiko kept falling for the same trio of moves.

A pause to lull the attacker to attack. A parry to the attack. A thrust immediately after the parry.

Rathbone wasn't a blindingly fast swordsman like Soujiro Seta. Or a fearsome attacker from all angles like Kaede Morinaga. He instead practiced all the basics of swordsmanship and honed them to their highest level.

The brigand played around with the young Myojin like they were having a sparring session at the dojo.Like he was a mere sparring partner.

If it weren't for the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu ougi (succession techniques) of Hadome (Sword Halt) and Hawatari (Sword Crossing), Yahiko'd be dead by now, if not in critical condition.

Nevertheless, he could only use the cross-wrist parry for so long before an enemy could figure out how to counter it.

Myojin also looked like he dove into a cactus patch with all the nicks, scratches, and flesh wounds he got from The Faceless's unbreakable steel rapier.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded Myojin. "Are you part of the Brigands Guild?"

The disguise-wearing masked man reminded the Tokyo Samurai Descendant of Aoshi Shinomori's right-hand shinobi—the late, great Hannya. The second-in-command in the Tokyo Oniwabanshu.

"I'm known by many names," said The Faceless. "But right now, I am known as John Rathbone. Delighted to make your acquaintance."

'Right now? What did this weirdo mean by that?' thought the Tokyo Samurai Descendant before responding, "I'm Myojin Yahiko. Remember the name!"

"Terribly sorry, sir. I don't make a habit of remembering the names of future victims."

"...You son of a bitch!"

In the middle of this embarrassing swordsmanship clinic was a steady beat of weak, avoidable thrusts that kept Yahiko at a distance, not unlike the flickering, long-range staff strikes of May Brooks.

So how come Myojin could counter Satsuki's strikes and go beyond her striking range but not this much slower fencer with a shorter-reaching rapier?

No, that wasn't it. That was oversimplifying things.

This assassin had a rhythm to him. Like a dancer, he could time Yahiko's every strike before his upper body swayed, ducked, and went narrow when the boy managed to cut the distance between them.

This made him difficult to hit despite having a height advantage over the shorter young man. Also, his sword thrusts kept the teenager at bay, measuring their distance from each other every time.

Rathbone's feet also circled and pivoted him away from harm before Yahiko's sakabatou (reverse-edged blade) could even touch him, on top of his lead sword hand parrying any other strikes that got past his footwork and bodywork.

The fight made John reminisce on how the Mimawarigumi Battousai countered his fencing with his own pure skill. The boy before him proved too inexperienced to figure out his swordsmanship style.

However, Yahiko had enough skill to avoid getting finished off by the fencer's riposte. That parrying movement from his crossed wrists deflected rapier stabs as much as the reverse-edged sword's own parries.

Furthermore, unlike many of The Faceless' victims in the past, the kid seemed extra skilled at dodging sword thrusts. Like he'd been practicing against this very specific technique.

Rathbone sneered. Yahiko couldn't keep up with his pure blade techniques, so he had to resort to weaponless parrying and riposting to survive.

'My, my. This kid might prove himself as interesting a fellow as the Kagemusha himself.'

Yahiko pushed Rathbone to an impasse, at least.

'What an excellent Parry and Riposte, even though his parrying technique is... unorthodox, to say the least. He's quite the blade catcher. I wonder if he could catch blades with his bare hands. I've heard of Japanese swordsmen doing that before.'

The boy even put a scratch on his mask and a bruise to his abdomen with what would've been a rib-smashing body blow.

Enough fun and games though.

To defeat the Parry and Riposte, one had to do a Compound Attack.

Otherwise known as a series of attacks and counterattacks timed with feints, it opened the defender up to a mistimed parry or riposte that left him vulnerable to follow-up counters.

Those were the mind games afforded by Rathbone's Tactical Wheel that left even the Mimawarigumi Battousai stumped and confused.

Like a game of Rock Paper Scissors wherein each technique defeated the other. However, this time around it was Simple Attack beaten by Parry and Riposte beaten by Compound Attack.

Just as Yahiko feared, his one counter to John's Beat Parry Riposte sequence that let him survive soon became too predictable.

Thusly, Rathbone tricked Yahiko into doing the Hadome too early to pry the kid's clamshell defense wide open, disarming him with the Circular Parry before he could do the another follow-up Hawatari riposte.

The sakabatou clattered uselessly on the floor. Meanwhile, the top of Yahiko's wrist guards gushed with his own blood after all the parries he'd done against John's naked rapier.

'Dammit! He's too good!' thought Myojin.

He didn't really fall for the trap. Rather, he ran out of options and the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu two-part ougi was the only thing that worked against Rathbone.

His Plan B was actually doing his Hadachi (Sword Break) shirahadori (sword catching) technique—where he caught the sword by one hand and snapped it apart in twain or at least snatched it away—but Rathbone retracted the rapier in time before he could grab it.

Did Rathbone read his Plan B too? Had his every movement become predictable to the experienced gaijin duelist even up to that point?

All the same, as John Rathbone prepared to run his rapier through the defenseless Myojin's wide, bugged-out eyes, they both heard a banshee wail echo across all four corners of the room.

Like screeching widows crying at a battlefield filled with their husbands' and sons' corpses.

***

Back outside the affiliate moneychanger building in Chinatown...

A cold air around Kyoko Sakaguchi became colder somehow, her breath fogging in front of her as she took a knee, her legs buckling from underneath her. Her back felt like it burned or set ablaze though.

She looked over her shoulder. There stood—or rather, crawled—the goggled brigand member, looking like a walking bug with his lean arms and gleaming lenses for eyes.

"Ah. An actual challenge," said he. "That was a superb sword slash. An excellent follow-through from a missed iaijutsu slash. That took me by surprise. You Musou Madden Ryu students are something else."

Resisting the urge to cry out, she hissed at him, "Who are you? Why are you after Kinta-sama and the Minakata Family?"

"...Fine then. I'll give you my name, little one. I'm Hidaka Kai of the Fuuma Ninja Clan. Regarding the Minakatas, it's nothing personal, I assure. I'm just here to fulfill a job."

"Wh-Who sent you?"

She barely deflected another rope spear with the Fuyutsuki's blade that would've punctured her eye. The strain from her effort took her breath away, with her back screaming in agony while her actual throat could only gasp for air.

"Ah, the first piece of information was free. The rest you'll have to take from me. Over my dead body." Hidaka's lengthy exhale created billowing clouds of mist that he disappeared into.

'I-If only Seta Soujiro-kun were here...!' she thought, recalling the time when she saw Keisuke and his entire Fake Battousai Group massacred in the forest. She thought, like Yahiko Myojin did, that Soujiro killed those men.

It turned out that Soujiro didn't but the duel he had with Yahiko showed that he was quite capable of such nonetheless.

Wait. No. She had enough of men saving her from these other men. In life, there rarely were any heroes to rescue damsels. Most damsels ended up victims. Dead. Or worse.

She refused to be another victim.

She willed herself to sheathe her sword, knowing her normal swords swings weren't nearly fast or strong enough to even faze the enemy before her.

Still, she had to cut him down somehow.

She wanted to be strong. She wanted to be more like her mother, her big sister, their family friend Chizuru Raikouji, or even Soujiro's girlfriend Rin Akahori.

She felt sick and tired of feeling so powerless all this time. She wanted to act. She wanted to help. This was the perfect opportunity to do so.

The Mikazuki O Tsuku Nari (Crescent Moon Slash) wasn't working against Kai Hidaka of the infamous Fuuma Clan. Or rather, it couldn't hit the acrobatic target before her.

So she tried herding the ninja away from the area with her one sword-drawing slash that was about a quarter the power of a Mangetsu O Tsuku Nari (Full Moon Slash) but was also a quarter of a hairbreadth faster.

The shinobi kept flipping away and throwing around his assortment of rope darts, rope spears, and rope grappling hooks. He also swayed his body in weird contortions that prevented the young lady from landing her signature move

Actually, that was her best move since she still hadn't mastered any advanced iaido or iaijutsu slashes above the Crescent Moon Slash, such as the Hangetsu O Tsuku Nari (Half Moon Slash) or Mangetsu O Tsuku Nari (Full Moon Slash).

Of course, doing the Aoitsuki O Tsuku Nari (Blue Moon Slash or a second Full Moon Slash a fraction of a second after doing the first one) was definitely out of the question. That was a bridge too far for her at this point.

'So this was the power of the Fuuma Clan,' she thought, her slashes unable to land. She couldn't chain her attacks as well as Sho Kojima either, so it left her open to counterattacks every time.

Kai toyed with her. Instead of doing counter slashes, he ripped her clothes apart instead to embarrass her, unwilling to hurt her any harder than the deep slash on her back.

Hidaka wolf-whistled. "You're a pretty little thing, aren't you?"

This only enraged her further, her slashes becoming sloppier as a result.

She missed him again with her quick-draw slash, not having enough time to re-sheathe her grandfather's sword as Kai threw a rope spear to her neck.

She then deflected the follow-up whiplash with her empty scabbard.

However, this time around, it resulted in her getting entangled by the rope because Kai jumped over her head then ran circles around her to lasso his bindings across her small body.

She fell to the ground, practically hog-tied by Hidaka, who pulled the cords tight enough to make her trip onto herself and lose her balance.

Hidaka harrumphed. "Jeez. Even the innocent granddaughter of a Musou Madden Ryu master is troublesome to deal with. What a fearsome iaijutsu school you have there, Missy."

The ninja warrior then shot another rope dart at the roof, with the intention of hiding inside the space between the roof and ceiling to ambush any remaining, surviving bodyguards who'd dare exit the premises.

"P-Please. S-Stop..." she begged, her eyes welling up as she crawled towards Kai like a worm. "Father is...!"

She remembered that her father went inside the building. She didn't want Lieutenant Satoru Sakaguchi to end up stabbed from behind by this nimble, rope-climbing shinobi.

"Stop? No. I'm afraid not. Apologies, milady. I can go wherever I want or do whatever I please. For I am the last of the Fuuma Ninja Clan and I have its name and reputation to live up to!"

As he rappelled upwards into the roof, Kyoko jumped up and attacked him, maneuvering her grandfather's blade in a way that cut through the tight bonds on her arms, hips, and legs.

'What the hell…?!' thought Hidaka, his slack-jawed expression hidden by his goggled mask.

She dashed towards the flatfooted Kai, quick-sheathing her sword with a supersonic "ping" sound like a gunslinger holstering his gun for a showdown.

'Huh. She has the gall to play possum against me, huh?' Right after Kai decided to spare her life and all too!

Hidaka pulled and retracted the rope spear he'd shot into the roof, turned, and threw it at the foolish teenaged girl running towards him with malice in her heart.

***

Back at the main office of the moneychanger building...

Books and ripped-up pages flew from the bookshelf. Papers scattered across the floor. Vases shattered. Tables broke in half. Every inch of the walls and floor got marked up by deep cuts and slashes, as though an ax murderer ran amok in there.

Most importantly, the Minakata bodyguards shed blood. Piles of bodies and limbs littered the landscape. Several of the surviving guards had long ago fled.

The bodyguards who didn't—couldn't—escape just became bodies instead of guards.

What a messy reunion Kinta and Takuto Minakata had. Their sibling rivalry went to another level of violence even though mere minutes ago, they were mere strangers.

However, the Battousai of the Mimawarigumi lived up to his ruthless reputation that earned him the same nickname as the Battousai of the Ishin Shishi by absolutely confounding the invading foreign bastard wielding a bastard sword before him.

A man whom he shared blood with. His half-brother from another father. The Prodigal Son of the Minakatas.

Once upon a time, Lucas Grant was supposed to be Takuto Minakata himself ("Minakata" instead of "Akahori" because Kinta's father, Azuma Akahori, married into the more prestigious Minakata Family).

While Yahiko underwent a western swordsmanship clinic under the "tutelage" of The Faceless at the room next to the office they occupied, so too did Kinta Minakata "school" his estranged younger brother with the ins and outs of Japanese swordsmanship or kenjutsu.

A samurai clinic for kenjutsu and how much faster its techniques moved compared to westernized swordsmanship, if you would.

"Shit," said a bloody Lucas, spitting out blood from his busted lip that got clipped by his big brother Kinta's blinding quickdraw moves.

This was called iaijutsu or iado, if Luke remembered correctly.  The way of the sword-drawing school.

Luke attacked with his hybrid sword at varying speeds, breaking his rhythm and the strength of his sword swings by shifting from wielding his bastard sword one handed to two handed.

He took full advantage of how his bastard sword served as a hybrid between the one-handed sword and the two-handed longsword.

Ordinarily, this would've allowed him to chop apart and run through anyone before him like a butcher would to hanging pig corpses at the slaughterhouse.

Most couldn't predict his wild slashes as they came at varying speeds and strengths.

The two-handed slashes slashed stronger with deeper, bone-cutting impact. The one-handed slashes moved faster with shallower, flesh-rending cuts.

He also learned how to feint for good measure to deal with the likes of his master, The Faceless, whenever they sparred.

On top of his whirling dervish of cold steel death, Luke could also physically assault enemies with punches with his free hand and kicks for good measure. The pommel of his sword's handle also served as a great hammering weapon.

The handle itself could block his brother's katana cold like piece of steel pipe, even.

He used his knowledge of the Tactical Wheel (taught to him by The Faceless) to the utmost in order to keep whatever enemy he faced guessing whether he went for an attack or drew out a counterattack that he'd counter in kind.

However, despite the many dimensions to his swordsmanship that proved good enough to murder most of the bodyguards the Minakatas hired, his big brother read him like an open book.

With his almond eyes wide open, Kinta saw through Grant's sleight of hand that allowed him to slip in quick one-handed slashes in between full-on two-handed slashes.

The Kagemusha also made the Prodigal Son miss the mark at every turn, thusly punishing him with either the Tsunami (Tidal Wave) of Old Moon Slashes or the bone-shuddering power of a single Full Moon Slash.

Figuring out that his brother's thicker, denser sword—also bigger than Rathbone's rapier for good measure—was stronger than even his Japanese blade made of multi-folded high-grade foreign steel, Kinta dispensed with the parries and dealt countless ripostes instead.

Whenever Luke forced Kinta to parry, the Kagemusha parried the heavy longsword by the flat of its blade instead of its edge to prevent its thicker part from hammering and shattering his curved sword, the Akatsuki (Red Moon), apart.

Unlike Lucas's bastard sword swings that varied in rhythm and speed, all of Kinta's supersonic swings varied in strength instead. They all uniformly moved so fast that the naked eye couldn't see them.

Their differences in speed between his weakest slash to his strongest slash were instead a matter of milliseconds instead of seconds.

This gave the Kagemusha plenty of opportunities to punish and slash apart the defenseless Prodigal Son—who only knew how to attack and whose best defense was unrelenting offense—at will with every swing.

Thusly, Kinta's white shirt became as pink as cherry blossoms as his brother bled on him.

Also, Luke couldn't land a significant blow on Kinta at all. At least when he sparred with The Faceless, he landed once or twice. He couldn't catch his long-lost big brother flatfooted all this time.

Thus Kinta also lived up to his other nickname, Kagemusha. Fighting him was like boxing with your own shadow. He was untouchable.

The literal son of a gun looked like he'd been scourged with whips from the amount of cuts, flesh wounds, and outright ugly lacerations he got from the inimitable shadow warrior.

The shorter Minakata manhandled the taller Grant as though their heights were in reverse and Kinta was the bigger, stronger one of the two.

Like an adult would a little kid. Or how a big brother would toy with his younger sibling.

'Dammit. Cain was right. You really are something special,' thought Lucas.

Aloud, Luke told Kinta, "Even though you're literally killing me right now, you're the one Minakata I want to kill the least, Aniki (Big Brother)."

The Mimawarigumi Battousai could only respond with a glare, his body as tense as a tripwire ready to let his sword fly at the slightest movement from the implacable man before him.

Kinta's ototo (little brother) kept on coming at him like a recurring nightmare or waves of the sea, his every wild slash that missed him by inches or centimeters feeling like it could lop off his limbs or chop his body in half. Or even in quarters.

A high-pressure offense that pushed him to the edge even though he had not been hit once.

It was like playing dodge the car in the middle of open traffic or a busy intersection, dodging high-speed carriages and wild horses at every turn. Wherein one mistake could spell the difference between life and death.

Grant spared a glance at his Uncle Tatsuya, wrinkling his nose at him like he would to a cockroach or a dung beetle. "And you, you're the one among the Minakatas that I want to kill the most. Vile scum."

Lucas remembered how Tatsuya actually hid behind one of his bodyguards and pushed him towards the Prodigal Son's bastard sword in order to escape a sword stab.

The cowardly banker truly was toxic sewage water personified. A narcissist who valued his life over others.

Right after the display, Grant merely knocked out the bodyguard thrown towards him to spare his life.

The guard's life proved much more valuable than the pig that used him as a meat shield.

Grant truly regretted all the collateral damage he had to cut through to finish off the family who betrayed him and his mother.

In the background, Tatsuya Minakata allowed himself to relax and put away his pistol. As insufferable as his nephew Kinta was, he nevertheless did short work of his sister's other brat.

So the one who ended up out for revenge and hired the Brigands Guild in order to kill the members of the Minakata Family off was the bastard of some gaijin invader.

It figured that the forbidden—no godforsaken baby who brought shame to their family came back to pull them further into misfortune and despair. This lovechild of his sister was nothing but bad news.

He wished his sister miscarried that devil of a bad seed of hers. Their family should've nipped him in the bud and had a special doctor conduct an abortion for her for good measure.

Tatsuya still had his hand on his pistol regardless. Not only because it was better to be safe than to be sorry. He felt something was very wrong with this picture. Something was quite amiss.

For one thing, his stack of bodyguards within the room had all been killed, forcing his V.I.P. nephew to do bodyguard work for them.

For another thing, the state of his swordsman nephew concerned him.

Even though he didn't get so much as a nick or scratch from all the high-pressure sword swings he narrowly avoided, Kinta himself did more than break a sweat.

He wasn't only covered with his brother's blood but also his own sweat. His breaths became belabored, as though the effort of mauling the black sheep of their family sapped him of energy.

'What the hell are you doing, you stupid brat,' thought Tatsuya, cursing under his breath as he licked his dry, chapped lips. 'Being a professional murderer is the only good thing you've done for the family, dammit! Don't go buckling under the pressure now! Our lives are at stake! My life is on the line!'

Also of note, despite all the blood loss and wounds he received care of his sibling's accurate slashes, Luke looked strangely calm (if a bit annoyed). Like he was used to being in such a sorry, injured state.

Like he was the one who was none the worse for wear. Like the sticky blood all over his body was red paint and his wounds were tiny paper cuts that mostly irritated him.

Tatsuya gulped. The lanky, reed-thin banker who doubled as a ruthless businessman eyed the nearby exit.

The door wasn't all that far away, but while Lucas stood there between him and freedom, it might as well be located in China or America.

So close yet so far.

***

In the shadows lurked Kaita of the Sanada Ninja Clan. The invisible ninja (secret agent).  

He'd thrown several kunai (daggers) at the Prodigal Son to hinder his bloody warpath, which bought Kinta time to rest and saved the lives of several Minakata bodyguards, allowing them to escape.

However, even though he kept the security safe, the two V.I.P.s he should've prioritized protecting remained in the line of fire against this crazed gaijin with his western-style double-edged katana.

Also, the kunai that slashed and stabbed Lucas Grant barely fazed him. Like he'd been pelted with pebbles or pricked with needles. Like he'd been through worse.

He wished he could do more to help, but this Takuto person seemed prepared to catch blades from out of nowhere. Like he was used to the shadowy tricks of ninjutsu (way of the ninja).

This confidence must've been through Grant's training with The Faceless, who seemed like the western version of a shinobi (spy) himself.

Regardless, Kaita had one task at hand. To keep the Minakatas safe from harm by any means necessary.

In light of how worthless the Minakata bodyguards ended up being, the young ninjutsu master ended up relieved in retrospect that he summoned the Sanyoukai (Three Demons) of the Sanada Ninja Clan to help them out.

Sure enough, just as Kinta's Akatsuki clanged hard against the handle of Luke's bastard sword, something rather stress-relieving happened.

Grant's handle block of the second attempt at the Blue Moon Slash (Double Full Moon Slashes a fraction of a second apart from each other) would've finally allowed him to grab hold of his tired brother and stab him to death.

However, fortune smiled upon the Minakatas as one of the Three Demons appeared and blasted the lanky Luke away right into the nearest wall like he was shot out of the cannon.

As though he were Marimo the Human Cannonball.

***

Meanwhile, in the next room where The Faceless and Yahiko Myojin dueled...

A large, 6-foot-something figure barreled through the wall like so much cardboard or tinder. Like a bomb suddenly went off.

This allowed the disarmed Yahiko to roll away from the thrust to his eye, the rapier clipping his eyebrow and temple instead, before he dashed and scrambled towards Kenshin's sakabatou.

Of course, at first, he also had to stare slack-jawed at what happened along with The Faceless (presumably, since he was wearing a mask and his features weren't visible).

He had no time to think about what just happened and what its implications were. He just had to act fast, trusting his instincts would steer him through.

Anyway, what the hell was that? What came crashing down the wall? A bomb? A runaway carriage?

No, it was a body. Another foreigner in a fetal position, covered in rubble, his blond hair matted with red blood.

Yahiko's eyes narrowed. The way the man crashed reminded him of Kenshin Himura's Dou Ryu Sen (Earth Dragon Flash) or his own Dou Gami (God on Earth).

Who was responsible for this?

The smoke cleared, and out came three shinobi also reminiscent of the circus freaks that were the Tokyo Oniwabanshu.

Each wore different masks, just like the walking loony bin with the rapier that defeated all of Yahiko's Kamiya Kasshin Revisal Techniques.

One wore a green snake mask and had a gaudy armor made of snake scales. He held on each hand extra-thick twin whips that were also made of snake hide, their handles adorned with snake heads and their tips adorned with snake tails.

Yes. He had taxidermy snakes for whips.

Another wore a scarlet demonic oni (ogre) mask with small horns on the forehead and spiky hair that might've been part of the mask design. Decked in blood-red clothing and armed to the teeth with various swords, daggers, shuriken (ninja stars), and projectiles, he held with him a two-pronged war fork.

The last one wore a realistic bat mask that looked like taxidermy work but its head was far too large to belong to a real bat. He sported daggers attached to the side of his gloves like fins, a black-and-blue garb that allowed him to blend into the night, and a bat-winged raggedy cape that billowed behind him.

"Yikesss. I think I overdid it with the ssshockwave," said the man underneath the snake mask, who had a lisp to his speech.

"Good," the solemn one of the trio, the one with the bat mask, said tersely. "You're supposed to do that."

The third man of the motley crew, the one with the horned ogre mask, cackled. "Baku is right, Ren. If you've actually managed to kill Lucas Grant, then our mission is complete."

"If that'sss the cassse, then ssstab him to death now, zzz-Zan!" rebutted the ninja snake man named Ren, only to end up face-to-face with The Faceless.

"Oh, so the Minakatas had shinobi backup aside from their usual collection of useless cops and hired guns and swords," said John Rathbone, his rapier at the ready as he fell into the fencing "En Garde" ready stance.

'Who are these freaks?' thought Yahiko. 'Are they more of the brigands from the Brigands Guild? They aren't as tall as the foreign invaders, so maybe they're Japanese traitors like that acrobatic ninja freak with the grappling hook and rope spears!'

However, the thing that happened next made Myojin doubt that all four of these masked men were allies. Otherwise, the Brigands Guild had a real problem with in-fighting among their ranks.

Rathbone ended up dueling all three of the demonic and/or animalistic ninjas before him, with them scattering like cockroaches then swarming him like bees from a disturbed hive.

Myojin couldn't believe his eyes. He didn't know what to be amazed at more—having these three ninjas push The Faceless to the brink or seeing The Faceless still avoid getting skewered or penetrated when faced with a triple team.

After that, Yahiko ended up bumping into another masked ninja in front of him. However, this one wore the traditional ninjutsu cloth mask over the mouth rather than the elaborate costume masks of the other three shinobi.

"Splendid. One of you (Minakata bodyguards) survived," said the white-haired ninja who appeared out of nowhere, seemingly emerging from the shadows like how one would fade or sink in the murky darkness but in reverse. "Help me get evacuate the Minakatas out of this building."

"Uh, okay," said Yahiko, who then saw the sweaty Kinta and, uh, a trembling Uncle(?) Minakata follow behind this new ninja guy.

Huh. There was something mighty familiar to Yahiko with the way this ninja came out of the blue like that.

No, it wasn't like Aoshi Shinomori's Ryusui no Ugoki (Water Flow Movement). Instead, it reminded Yahiko of another ninja he fought recently. Another invisible ninja.

Why was Yahiko feeling strangely nostalgic today? First, it was The Faceless and his stupid Tactical Wheel fencing. Second, it was this teleporting ninja. Then there was Marimo's arrival to town.

Maybe he was missing Tokyo a little too much.

For some reason, the infamous Mimawarigumi Battousai and Shogo Amakusa's doppelganger looked pretty winded. Like he just ran a marathon or something.

"What's your name, bodyguard?" asked the ninja. "You're a bit short for a bodyguard, though."

"Tokyo Shizoku (Tokyo Warrior Class). Myojin Yahiko," answered Yahiko. "Also, I'm taller than you, Shorty." Sure enough, Kaita was indeed half a foot shorter than Myojin.

'Shizoku, huh?' thought Kinta. 'So he belongs to the same warrior class as the Sakaguchis.'

"Okay. Whatever, kid. I'm Kaita from the Sanada Ninja Clan. At your service," said Kaita.

"At my service?" asked Yahiko.

"No, you cheeky bodyguard. The Minakatas."

"Alright."

Kaita shook his head and rolled his eyes. Nevertheless, he tolerated the goofy kid's naiveté. After all, out of all the bodyguards in the next room, the only one left standing was this boy.

Even though he had to face that monster. The man known by many names—The Faceless. The swordsman from another land who dueled Kinta Minakata to a draw.

Kaita then turned and addressed everyone before him. "Kinta-danna (Lord Kinta). Tatsuya-danna. Myojin-da... well, Myojin Yahiko. Follow me."

Kinta and Yahiko exchanged brief glances and curt nods at each other.

'It's that kid again. The one that Brooks-san beat at sparring,' thought the Mimawarigumi Battousai. 'She barely beat him at sparring,' he corrected himself.

"You're from a samurai family, right? Who is your father?" asked Kinta, to Yahiko's surprise.

"He was a member of the Shogi Tai and died for his beliefs," Myojin answered.

"Shogi Tai, huh? He must be a well-respected man," said the Minakata heir, to which Yahiko could only nod and answer, "Yes, he was."

To himself, Myojin thought, 'He's much friendlier than Shinomori Aoshi after all. What a nice guy, that Kinta.'

He was a hell of a swordsman too, merely judging from how untouched he remained against his foreign half-brother and his person-sized sword.

As Yahiko and Kaita escorted the Minakatas towards the exit of the building, the overwhelming stench of death assaulted them as soon as they opened the door outside the main office.

Even before the Prodigal Son had declared his war on the Minakatas in person, he and the rest of the brigands had already made short work of the army of hired guns and swords the Minakata Family got as protection.

The rusty tang of blood permeated in the air like a heavy velvet cloak of red death.

'Oh no,' thought Yahiko, a chill running down his spine. 'What happened to Officer Daddy? I mean, Kyoko's father? Also, what about Kyoko? Or Satsuki? Did any of them make it or...?'

It reminded Myojin of the massacre of the Fake Battousai Group. Or the horror stories he had heard about Makoto Shishio's Ten Swords.

According to Kenshin, they actually put a whole village under siege once just so Shishio could enjoy its hot  springs.

How was the Brigands Guild able to do this from under their noses? How many of them were inside the halls of this office? How many members did they have in the first place?

***

Back outside the affiliate building of Minakata Pharmaceuticals in Chinatown...

'No,' Kyoko Sakaguchi thought with a grimace. It wasn't supposed to end this way. After the countless hours of practice and drills, it couldn't end this way.

Was all the effort she exerted a waste after all? Was she always going to be a victim? Was she forever defined by the moment when the late Keisuke assaulted her then hurt her father?

"NOOOO!" she screamed, attempting to do a Half Moon Slash of her own, but this put severe strain on her arms, hips, and back due to the increase in centrifugal force.

'She's being too impatient,' thought Kai. 'She's rushing in and forcing her attack. Just like a petulant child. Or an emotional woman.'

Identifying the sudden burst of speed, even if it was just slightly faster than before, Hidaka responded by throwing his rope spear right into the direction of the whirling and pivoting girl.

She unsheathed the sword in time, the extra strong pull stretching her arm outward so hard it felt like it almost got ripped off her shoulder from the socket. The rope got sliced cleanly, its sharp end embedding itself into the ground with a dull thunk.

More importantly, because it was a Half Moon Slash, its striking range or area of effectiveness went further than just directly before her.

"S-So fast," the ninja couldn't help but mumble as Kyoko came at him like a streak of greased lightning.

Kai dodged the slash with an upper body sway, a side step, a backwards jump, and a swing away with a rope dart to the roof. Like he always did.

Only for his face to get sprayed with a fountain of his own blood.

"WHAT THE HELL...!?" he screamed before gurgling and choking with the red liquid.

Kyoko didn't fare any better than Hidaka though.

Every nerve of her petite body—as well as she herself with her mouth—then screamed in agony after she failed to do the proper follow-through from the slash.

'I can't breathe. My arms and legs feel so heavy they feel like someone else's limbs. And I can't even think... Father, Grandpa, Kinta-sama, help...!'

She crumpled down on the ground like cloth that fell from the clothesline, with nothing to support it.

However, her effort bore fruit. She had cut right into the vest and goggled mask of Hidaka, drawing blood from chest to neck and chin.

Any deeper, and the blade would've reached his heart and killed him. Sliced his jaw in half. Split apart his Adam's apple. Made him breathe through his neck.

This "mere" girl was a threat to his life after all. He had to finish her off.

Hidaka swung around the trembling girl then tied a noose around her neck, with the intention of hanging her like many of his other victims.

"You want a war? You're gonna get one, bitch. The Fuuma Clan wills it."

***

Back inside the long halls of the affiliate moneychanger building...

Kaita the Sanada Ninja led the Minakatas and Yahiko out of the office, which had become an unfamiliar labyrinth due to all the piled-up bodies and blood splattered all over the walls.

All the lamps were also cut down to size or had their flames put out as well, which necessitated the shadow warrior to take out a glow-in-the-dark rock to light their way.

It was a weeping stone from Okayama that "bled" blue glowing blood.

It reflected against the actual blood splattered across the hallways.

The musty tang spread all over the rooms and hallways, seemingly permeating right into their clothes. It'd take weeks to wash the smell out.

The smell of blood and cut meat. They truly were dealing with butchers, weren't they?

Kaita, Kinta, and Yahiko were used to the smell, for good or for ill. Tatsuya felt like vomiting then and there.

"Hey, Sanada Kaita. Where are we?" asked Myojin.

Ugh. This guy. "My family name isn't Sanada," answered Kaita. "Also, you talk too much."

"But you just said you're from the Sanada Ninja Clan."

"Our ninja clan was established under the Sanada Nobishige. Laymen like you know him as Sanada Yukimura."

"No way. Him? You're pulling my leg!"

"...."

Yahiko cleared his throat then nodded, rubbing his chin. "Huh. You learn a new thing everyday." To himself, he thought, 'Unbelievable. The Minakatas have historical ninja clans serving under them? It pays to be rich, huh?'

Yukimura or Nobushige Sanada was a famous Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku (Warring States) Era. He was especially famous as the leading general on the defending side of the Siege of Osaka.

Sanada was a historical figure like Hajime Saito was, except even more ancient. So the Sanada Ninja Clan had been serving him since the late 1500s, huh? Their clan should therefore be 300 years old!

Something else then occurred to him. All this talk of historical figures reminded him of how Shogo Amakusa himself once embraced the name Amakusa, thusly calling himself the Second Coming of Shiro Amakusa.

The infamous Shiro Tokisada Amakusa led the Shimabara Rebellion, an uprising of Japanese Roman Catholics against the Shogunate from December 17, 1637 to April 15, 1638. They were eventually defeated, and Shiro was executed at the age of 17.

Shogo seemingly became the grown-up reincarnation of that 17-year-old saint. Could there be a connection…?

"There shouldn't be more than three Brigands inside the area," Kaita reported to his master, Kinta. "Two of their members are currently in Yokohama Police custody."

Kinta nodded. "Are you sure there are only five of them?"

Kaita responded, "We've researched all the recent arrivals at the Yokohama Pier and recorded sightings of their criminal activities. There are five of them that we know of. Your half-brother, Lucas Grant. The man with many identities, The Faceless. The poison swordsman Cain Merrick. The acrobatic ninja Hidaka Kai. And the axe murderer Hugo Lentz."

'There are only five of them? And two of them are in jail?' thought Yahiko. 'Three people are responsible for this massacre? It's like we're dealing with hitokiri, the Shinsengumi, or the Juppon Gatana here!'

Kinta's eyebrows furrowed. "Something's wrong."

They then met up with a familiar face before they arrived at the exit.

***

Back outside the office...

The rope dart hooked itself unto Kyoko's shoulder, while the rope wrapped around her neck like a lasso over cattle. 'Oh no...!'

The sprain on her shoulder and the strain on her body kept her from using her grandpa's sword to cut down the rope.

Before she knew it, Kai Hidaka of the Fuuma Clan had already found a nearby tree for which to lynch her, with him using his own strength to raise her body up to hang her by her neck with the noose.

It hurt to breathe. Her life then flashed before her eyes.

She remembered playing around the dojo where Kinta Minakata practiced, admiring his perfect form and perseverance. She also recalled marveling at the golden locks of the foreign young girl that would become her stepsister.

May Brooks was her birth name but she looked ecstatic when Grandpa Genzo had her put in the family registry as "Satsuki Sakaguchi" instead.

"Satsuki", incidentally, was the Japanese translation of the month of "May".

There was also Chizuru Raikouji, who was her stepsister's rich best friend growing up that wasn't at all like the rich snobs that regularly visited the many Minakata special events and various properties across Yokohama and beyond.

She remembered her goofy father Satoru doting over her, which made her mother giggle.

He loved making her mother laugh. She even recalled how he'd call her mother embarrassing names like Princess Kaguya, Izanami, or Tamamo-no-Mae.

She had a soft-spoken yet dependable sort of father in contrast to her headstrong mother that kind of reminded her of an older version of Chizuru.

No wonder their family friend Chizuru and Nonoko got along famously. Like two peas in a pod.

She vaguely remembered her grandfather disapproving her parents' relationship, but her father won her mother over by supporting her dreams of opening her own soba shop instead of inheriting the family trade of blacksmithing and jewelry making.

'Mother. Father. Goodbye. I love you,' she thought as she drifted into the black abyss, tears falling from her eyes.

She then felt precious air to rush back to her lungs as the vise grip unto her neck loosened. Did the rope break? Did this enemy before them decide to spare her?

No, there wasn't a merciful bone in his body.

Unable to brace herself as she fell, she felt like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Afterwards, strong hands caught her in mid-fall.

She opened her eyes. First, her blurry vision saw a flabbergasted Kai scrambling back to his feet.

She blinked back tears then saw her father carrying her. Saving her once again from harm.

She smiled. "Father."

He looked scuffed-up and his disheveled uniform got torn in several places, but he looked otherwise fine.

He came back for her, even after she insisted to do bodyguard duty for the Minakatas when her whole family was against it.

He wasn't looking at her though. He instead stared straight at Hidaka, speaking in a cold voice and timber she rarely heard before.

"Get away from my daughter, you freak."

***

Luke Grant dug himself out of the pile of wood and plaster that he got buried under after something made him crash into the wall.

Dammit, and he was so close to beating his skilled half-brother through a war of attrition too! Who dared interrupt him and his long-lost brother's fateful duel?!

"Yo. I sssee that you're awake, gaijin."

Lucas shook the cobwebs out of his head, his vision finally clearing as he stared at the person who said those disrespectful yet lisped words.

He then saw a grown man wearing a snake mask and leathery body armor made of snakeskin while holding two taxidermy boa constrictor snakes as whips.

"…Who the hell are you?" he asked.

"I am Ren of the SSSanada SSSanyoukai (Three Demons). And now that you know my name, you're asss good asss dead."

What the hell was Lucas looking at? What was going on here? Ah, it didn't matter who this clown was. What mattered was that he was in the way.

Ren was in Luke's way towards revenge against the evil Minakatas and their noble demon of an heir. The Kagemusha who became their chosen one instead of him, the black sheep of their family.  

He then saw Ren whirl his snake whips in such a way that their resulting whipcrack—essentially a miniature sonic boom—burst into a huge shockwave and localized landslide that buried him anew in plaster and wood as well as earth, rock, and tiles.

The whole room shook from the resulting explosion.

Huh. His mission of revenge in Japan was going to be tougher than he thought.

***

Before Lieutenant Satoru Sakaguchi went back outside to save his daughter from being lynched by the Brigands Guild's Kai Hidaka...

The quartet of Yahiko Myojin, Kaita, Kinta Minakata, and Tatsuya Minakata strode in the middle of the lobby inside the moneychanger office when they were ambushed. By the undead. Or rather, the living dead.

As in their living traitorous bodyguard pretending to be dead, lying near the bodies of the unaware bodyguards they had killed.

Hiding behind freshly killed bodies was a classic ambush tactic by the ninjas of Japan.

Fascinating how the Brigands were able to come up with such a tactic. Perhaps it was taught to them by that acrobatic ninja in their ranks? Or maybe The Faceless himself had ninja training.

"Kinta-sama! Yahiko! Watch out! It's a trap!" a scuffed-up and disheveled Lieutenant Satoru Sakaguchi shouted out to the Minakatas and their escorts while doing battle with his saber against one of the guards he was with.

"Watch out, Ojisan (Old Man)!" shouted Myojin, who snatched out the glinting something in the darkness by reflex.

The attempted stab to Tatsuya's side was deflected by Yahiko's Sword Break technique that allowed him to catch blades with his bare hands.

Instead of attempting to break such a short dagger, the boy instead twisted and broke the wrist of the man holding the weapon. He then slammed the handle of the sakabatou into the person's throat.

Kinta himself did a destructive Full Moon Slash  that dropped multiple attackers at once, resulting in multiple sprays of blood that didn't look any different from the rest of the splatters made by the actual bodies of the dead bodyguards.

Yahiko whistled in appreciation. 'And here I thought Satsuki's Full Moon Slash was a thing of beauty! Damn. Look at how fast and smooth he drew out that katana. No wonder he was called the Mimawarigumi Battousai. No wonder he was able to defeat Kawakami Gensai of the Shidai Nikuya (Four Butchers).'

Kinta didn't even break a sweat slashing apart their ambushers.

Weird. Earlier, he looked like he ran a marathon. So he already recovered from earlier?

From what little he'd seen of him so far, Yahiko surmised that Kinta's iaijutsu style was so perfect that he used minimal effort.

Wait. What was it about his half-brother alone that tired him out compared to him easily dispatching multiple attackers?

"You bastards! I paid good money for you! Traitors!" screamed a sweaty Tatsuya, who took out his pistol and started shooting at everything that moved, which made both Yahiko and Kinta jump away from him.

As for Kaita, he was nowhere to be seen suddenly. Did he abandon them in their time of need?

Nope. Instead, unseen from the darkness, he threw his kunai at various hidden bodyguards in between panels, sliding doors, walls, and ceilings as they moved in for the kill.

These glow-in-the-dark blades served as tags or markers for both Yahiko and Kinta to take the remaining turncoats out with sword slashes, scabbard strikes, and handle pummels.

The camouflaged ninja with the cloth mask and white hair was a pretty dependable person himself. Like a male Misao Makimachi or something.

It was then that Kinta noticed the strange blade of Yahiko. A reverse-edged sword. He heard tales and rumors of his namesake, the Hitokiri Battousai, carrying such a sword.

So Munenori Minoe was telling the truth. The kid that tagged along with him did know who the real Battousai was.

Fascinating.

The Yokohama Lieutenant finally reached the quartet after dispatching the last nearby bodyguard traitor. "We were setup! Every other bodyguard in this building is working for the Brigands Guild."

"'Is'?" repeated Tatsuya before reloading his pistol, moving towards a groaning ambusher who was still alive, and shot him in the head. "Not 'is'. 'Was'. 'Were'."

Kinta then asked Satoru, "Where's Kyoko-san?"

Satoru answered, "I left her outside with the perimeter security guards." The color from his bruised face then drained, his mouth hanging open as he mouthed, 'Oh no,' but no sound came out of his mouth.

A chill traveled the back of Yahiko's head, his heart sinking. "I'm going to save her, Satoru-san!" but then he got grabbed by the shoulder. By Kinta. "Wha...?"

"Please," said the Mimawarigumi Battousai. "Take care of my uncle. I'm going after Kyoko."

Yahiko gulped and absently nodded at Kinta. He then looked over beside him, expecting to see their ninja guide, but he couldn't locate him.

The Tokyo Samurai Descendant then yelped out when Kaita chimed in from behind him, "Understood, Kinta-danna. Myojin Yahiko and I will escort Tatsuya-danna out of Chinatown."

And so it was decided that they split up, with Yahiko and Kaita protecting Tatsuya while Kinta and Satoru went straight for Kyoko.

However, even after exiting the moneychanger office, they weren't exactly home-free yet.

***

To Be Continued...

Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm also using minor Rurouni Kenshin filler episode characters along with Original Characters (Do Not Steal) to fill out the lore of this series.

However, Marimo Ebisu the Cannonball Girl did so well a couple of chapters ago that I couldn't help myself. Besides which, the Sanada Ninja Clan has been lurking around the block since the earlier chapters anyway.

The déjà vu joke from Gan is from an episode of "Friends". Phoebe says it. I also included some malaphors (the blending of idioms or clichés until they don't make sense) I've read in some meme in their dialog for good measure.

Danke, Abdiel

[eternal-echoes]

I honestly didn’t mind the filler episodes from season 1 of RuroKen, though I’d say the worst one from that season is the episode 17 about the cannon girl one. I think the pirates arc in season 1 handled pretty well the recurring theme of having different layers and nuances in the story that is very evident in the Legend of Kyoto arc but when they tried to do that again in season 3 with the Shogo Amakusa arc, it just fell apart. I honestly think some of the filler episodes in the season 1 was good to help flesh out some of the supporting characters like Megumi and Yahiko in episodes 14 and 18 respectively.

So I’m honestly really curious on what they have in store for the new anime project for RuroKen. And also the new opening songs they’re gonna choose especially when they animate Tomoe into the screen!

[gabriel-gabdiel]

【Draft】Rurouni Yahiko Chapter 51: A Casket of Secrets

Kinta Minakata has uncovered a casket of secrets from his family, much to his chagrin.

Rurouni Yahiko Chapter 51: A Casket of Secrets

Back in Shimabara, six years ago...

Kinta Minakata (the Shogo Amakusa doppelganger) had finished another sparring session with Kaede Morinaga (the Kenshin Himura doppelganger) with the fight ending with the Mimawarigumi Battousai narrowly winning.

This was so because "Shiro Amakusa the Second" was busy with morning mass and the healing of the sick Kakure Kirishitans (Hidden Christians) with western medicine, so he didn't have time to spar with the warrior woman.

"STOP RUNNING AWAY AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!" demanded the tempestuous Kaede. "COWARD!"

"....But you're a girl," said Kinta, which resulted in him backpedaling from a screaming Morinaga's Scorpion Nest (multiple sword swipes from two swords).

Ah, so he was right. This time around, Kaede was a girl. Because sometimes, she instead claimed she was a boy. Like a woman possessed by different spirits.

Morinaga was a curious lady. Sometimes she fought like a ferocious tigress. Other times, she was as frustrating to battle as a snapping turtle hiding inside a thick shell.

Once in a "blue moon", when she was consumed with bloodlust and bad memories, she became a mix of both.

He even heard that when she tied her hair like a topknot, she even looked like the Legendary Hitokiri Battousai himself, but he personally had no idea. He never met his Battousai namesake.

Blocking every strike and countering sharply. She was a yin and yang of patient defense and inimitable offense.

She didn't only fight with a different style every time but also with a different attitude. It was like fighting three different people altogether.

"DAMMIT!" she screamed and threw her shinai (bamboo blade) at Kinta, who parried it almost automatically with his own weapon. "I want a rematch! Round two! Next time, I'll break every bone in your body, you sullen Shogo-sama wannabe!"

"Go ahead," Minakata dared with a half-smile (or half-frown). "A broken bone becomes stronger once healed."

Morinaga harrumphed. "Admitting defeat already, Kagemusha?"

"...I believe in kintsukuroi (gold repair)," he stated matter-of-factly. "Whatever that's broken can be fixed. Made even better than before."

"How naive. Spoken like a privileged, spoiled samurai." Kaede laughed then grimaced. "There are some broken things that can never be fixed, no matter how hard you try."

Rurouni Yahiko

A Rurouni Kenshin Continuation Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Not-so-fabulous secrets are about to be revealed. A skeleton or two might even pop out.

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) are the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

Chapter 51: A Casket of Secrets

Somewhere in Yokohama, back at the Minakata safe house, Kinta Minakata reminisced about his time with Shogo and the Hidden Christians.

Kinta also wondered how a fight between Kaede and Soujiro would go.

He'd fought both, after all. Which one was better?

From his experience, unless something changed between the six years he last fought Morinaga, then Seta would probably win.

Especially the Soujiro whose feelings and bad intentions Minakata couldn't read at all: His "Heaven Sword" self.

So what made the Mimawarigumi Battousai think about Shogo's apprentice now of all times? Nostalgia, perhaps.

Or something to distract him from the depressing news he got about his dear ol' grandfather. Of happier times with Shogo, Sayo, Kaede, and the Hidden Christians that he called family once upon a time.

Before Kinta betrayed them to the Meiji Government.

Like grandfather like grandchild, apparently.

Although the fight with Tetsuo Akahori's latest pawn, Soujiro Seta, was one that Kinta Minakata almost lost, he was still able to retrieve documents of the utmost importance.

So in the end, he won. Kind of.

They were samples of the decoded papers that should help the Sanada Ninja Clan in unraveling the mysteries behind the Seiryu Clan's volume of the Black Book.

"...."

The decoders of the clan (since secret messages were among the specialties of these shadow warriors) came up first with the messages and correspondences from the bakufu to the Minakatas and back along with plans of wiping off the rebellious Ishin Shishi rebels.

The families involved in the creation of the Black Book, the Four Clans, were government spies that were tasked to preserve Japanese culture but ended up becoming embroiled in Bakumatsu politics themselves.

They covered all bases from both sides of the conflict... the Shogunate and the Patriots... while at the same time having no dog in the fight. They had loyalty to neither faction or to themselves but pretended that they did.

The Seiryu Clan represented the Bakufu or the Shogunate.

The Byakko Clan represented the Japanese Imperial Army and the Shinsengumi.

The Suzaku Clan represented the Ishin Shishi Patriots.

And the Genbu Clan represented the Rebel Samurai and the Hitokiri or Manslayers of the Ishin Shishi.

Whoever they represented, they had an extensive catalog of their info and members. The Four Clans were supposed to be objective observers outside the conflict looking in, gathering information out of all sides and exchanging them among each other for the sake of gaining favor of the government when the war was over, regardless of which side wins.

As typical of such setups, the Four Clans started to backstab each other, throwing objectivity under the horse carriage and vying for supremacy by taking a gamble and backing what they viewed were the ultimate victors of the war.

Because of this, some clans were wiped out completely. The Suzaku Clan, for example, was discovered by the Ishin Shishi as traitors and killed by their best hitokiri.

However, the Sanada Ninjas and the Mimawarigumi Battousai soon realized that relaying government secrets weren't the only things that the Black Book's secret codes were used for.

Back in the hideout of the kidnappers in the middle of the Hiroshima woods...

The rider from before arrived in time to attack Yahiko Myojin and Kaede Morinaga with his bullwhip, saying, "...I see you came too late ta save 'er, ya bitch! Da boss already got 'er, didn't he? Serves ya right!"

Yahiko Myojin, still miffed from before, grabbed hold of the whip before it cracked, let it loop around his wrist, then pulled the hooligan towards him in order to hogtie him with his own weapon.

"I got to your cowardly boss before he could touch her. We got here just in time," Myojin countered.

The bullwhip rider still wouldn't shut up, though. "Dun matter. I've seen the same look in her eyes from many a horse with a broken spirit! There's no fight in her left! She's dead inside! Soiled fer life! HAHAHAmmph!"

Yahiko had to tie a gag on the criminal just to keep him quiet.

Meanwhile, the one girl Kaede Morinaga wanted to save the most on that day... Mariko... broke down right before her eyes.

Her spirit was shattered into pieces like Kaede's. Realizing what had almost happened to her.

The pale Mariko looked back at the redhead with cloudy eyes, her quivering lips opening as though to say something.

Morinaga grabbed hold of the girl by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes to help her treat the wounds of her past.

Saying things that another special someone in her life had said to her before. Shogo Amakusa's words.

"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her," she quoted Shogo, who in turn quoted Jesus Christ from the Christian Bible's New Testament.

"Minoe-san..." Mariko trailed off, unaware of Kaede's multiple personalities, thus calling her by the name she knew her first.

"I'm not saying that because you've done anything wrong, Mariko. You're obviously not at fault here. These... criminals have no right to judge you. Listen to me. You are not soiled. You are not somehow 'less' of a person than any of us. Any of them, especially. They're scum. Don't let anyone ever say otherwise, y'hear?"

"...."

The clouds in Mariko's eyes lifted before, with a quibbling mouth and sobs that wracked her body, she hugged Morinaga tightly. She said, "...I was so scared!"

As for Yahiko, he grabbed hold of Takae's straw kabuto and placed it over his head to the point of covering his eyes, as though tipping it at the girls. He then walked away to let them have their moment.

"...Thank you for saving me. Good thing you got here on time," Mariko said after her sobs had finally subsided.

Kaede scratched her head. "N-No. The one who rescued you was my good friend, Yahiko."

Mariko smiled wanly. "Well, he saved me too. You both did."

"Oh." Morinaga looked away and smiled herself, nodding once and borrowing her other self's catchphrase. "Mochiron (But of course)."

As for Yahiko, he realized that he still had much to learn. He still needed more training if Kaede of all people had to stop him from murdering that bandit.

He merely wanted to be as strong as Soujiro and Kaede but not to the point of becoming as crazy as them.

Or was sanity the price of strength? To fight monsters, you had to become one?

No, you didn't have to. Kenshin proved that it wasn't the case.

A couple of hours later, the police arrived on the scene along with Chizuru Raikouji (who helped deliver the other kidnapped girls back to their homes in Hiroshima) in order to arrest the hooligans.

Kinta Minakata had heard all sorts of stories about his late grandfather from his mother's side: The Late Great Toshiro Minakata. The former head of the Minakata Clan and Seiryu Clan. A legendary samurai in his own right.

He was a swashbuckling, seafaring samurai... a Japanese buccaneer of the seas... who safeguarded trade and battled against Chinese smugglers and European invaders of the South China Sea during the period when Japan isolated itself from the rest of the world (also known as Sakoku), thus trade was restricted only in certain ports in the country.

Toshiro was among the samurais responsible for controlling Dejima and Nagasaki trade on behalf of the Bakufu while at the same time being part of the secret alliance of the Four Clans as the head of the Seiryu Clan.

It was under his watch that the Portuguese were expelled from the country while at the same time, the Shogunate engaged with discussions with Korean and Dutch representatives so that the overall volume of trade didn't suffer.

Kinta took a look at his inherited sword, the Akatsuki. Unlike ordinary samurai blades using "pig metal" or Japanese steel with low carbon content, it instead used steel melted straight from the swords of the fallen Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch smugglers. High-carbon European steel.

The katana, despite its popularity as a collector item among westerners or its beauty and style, was actually a comparatively fragile sword designed to be manufactured on a budget.

Japan didn't have very good access to good quality metals like European countries did. The majority of katanas were made out of low-class steel to save resources.

Furthermore, only the front part was made of good metal and even that was merely coated with a small, thin sheet of it (and sprinkled with carbon powder as they were forged). The back end or spine of the average Japanese sword was incredibly frail.

It also wasn't the defining weapon of the samurai. That would be the spear or the naginata that the Sakaguchi's adopted daughter "Satsuki" used. At certain time periods, the bow was instead the military's primary armament.

Additionally, according to some of the more disdainful European merchants and blacksmiths that his grandfather traded steel with, nothing about the "overrated" katana was completely unique to Japan.

Similarly shaped curves in blades existed in European and Indian sword creation in one form or another. The process of folding steel multiple times was also used by Vikings hundreds of years earlier.

The standards of the world was eye opening to any Japanese in Sakoku Era Japan who believed that Japan was number one at everything, especially in light of the superior military technology that the world's superpowers of the 18th Century possessed.

All the same, this knowledge Toshiro gained resulted in him getting a Japanese sword forged with European steel. The best of both worlds in design and toughness.

The former Minakata head's military exploits and iron fist when it came to upholding the Sakoku Edict of the Bakufu was legendary. Indeed, Kinta's proud Minakata and Akahori lineages were what allowed him into the Mimawarigumi Army in the first place.

It was also during this time that Toshiro made use of naval codes to better facilitate the exchange of secrets between the Four Clans before they ultimately split up and chose sides during the Bakumatsu Era.

On top of all that, Kinta's grandpa used his influence as the head of the Minakata Clan to form what was known in modern times as their zaibatsu (Financial Group)... the Minakata Zaibatsu... with its riches taken from the importation and development of new drugs using western medicine, leading to the development of their Minakata Pharmaceuticals subsidiary.

His grandfather was ahead of the curve and hedged his bets accordingly. He knew that the writing was on the wall when it came to samurai privileges due to changing times. In the Meiji Era, if you wanted to remain in power, then you should get it through money instead of blood and prestige.

However, there were also rumors of Toshiro taking advantage of his high government position back in the Sakoku Era to run his own opium cartel on the down low.

This was just a baseless accusation and pure speculation, of course. Rumors and conjectures that the envious enemies of the Minakatas would use to drag their good name to the mud.

These same critics went on a feeding frenzy like sharks against their family when Kinta's mother had an affair with a foreign dignitary, leading to the murder of the same gaijin in the hands of Kinta's livid father, who then committed seppukku (ritual suicide) afterwards to protect his honor.

The slander that resulted from the incident made Kinta quite skeptical in regards to the assumptions people made about his father selling out his dignity and samurai blood for illegal drug money.

These accusations were never proven, at least. They were just conspiracy theories from idle minds at best.

At least, that was what Kinta hoped they were.

Right?  

However, the recently discovered naval codes he got from the errand boy of his uncle from his father's side... Tetsuo Akahori... ultimately revealed the truth behind the elusive Seiryu Chapter of the Black Book. And his family.

An inconvenient truth.

By the time everything was sorted out at the police station and everybody from their group had a good night's sleep, the Sanbaka (Three Stooges) soon rejoined May Brooks/Satsuki Sakaguchi and her best friend, Chizuru Raikouji at a cafe near the Hiroshima train station.

The Great Gan, Yahiko Myojin, and Munenori Minoe arrived in time to bid their wistful goodbyes to the departing young teacher.

Reading the mood, Yahiko didn't mention anything about yesterday's storming at the camp of bandit kidnappers to Minoe. The Tokyo Samurai Descendant hoped that the eye-patched spy could figure out on his own the exploits of his female self, Kaede.

The three arrived just in time to overhear the conversation between the two best friends'... love life, of all things.

"...Oh my! You're such a damp squib, Chizuru-san! Especially with how you'd dare compare Kinta-sama to your crush, the vagabond. They are not alike at all!" said Satsuki.

They were apparently in the middle of some sort of conversation about Kenshin Kamiya (nee Himura) and Kinta Minakata (the man whom May had a crush on).

After Chizuru and May exchanged pleasantries, bows, and hellos with each other and the Sanbaka, the buxom blonde teacher then asked, "You're not making this vagabond guy up, are you? He's no make-believe boyfriend of yours, right?"

As Minoe mouthed, 'Damp squib? What's that?' the Raikouji heiress insisted, "HE EXISTS! But he's not my boyfriend, damn you! Anyway, Yahiko knows him! Tell her, Yahiko! Tell her about Homura Kenshi!"

'...Who the hell is that?' thought Myojin. 'Has she been infected by Gan's nicknaming sickness too? Get it together, Chizuru!'

Unwilling to bring up Kenshin Himura in Minoe's presence (lest his other personality, Kaede, was summoned by the name she hated the most), Yahiko decided to change the subject.

Ignoring Chizuru, the samurai boy told May, "I didn't know you practiced martial arts! You were amazing back at that kidnapper's hideout!"

He then remembered that, oh yeah, even Satsuki's stepsister Kyoko Sakaguchi from back in Shinshu practiced swordsmanship. Duh.

"HEY!" The Kaoru look-alike then stomped on Yahiko's foot with her booted foot, which he also didn't react to despite the pain. "I was talking to you, you rude boy!"

"...Do you pratice battoujutsu too?" Yahiko inquired further, recalling how close Kyoko was to fighting Soujiro and wondering how she would've fared. "Sorry, I meant iaijutsu," he corrected himself, remembering that battoujutsu was the old term for the Japanese sword-drawing style.

"Oh, good heavens no! I only use the naginata. I've never drawn a sword out of a sheathe in my entire life!" May tilted her head to the side. "Wait a tick, how did you know Musou Madden Ryu is an iaijutsu swordsmanship school, Joshua-kun?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Raikouji answered for Myojin. "I met Yahiko back when I was staying with the Sakaguchis in Shinshu. He knows Kyoko-chan! He even saw her wield her grandfather's sword that one time!"

"Oh, you've met my baby sister?" asked the adopted gaijin daughter of the Sakaguchis. "I haven't seen her in a while! Isn't she the cutest?"

Yahiko scratched the back of his head and admitted, "Y-Yeah, I guess she's kinda cute," while eyeing a smirking Chizuru from behind May. "...Don't start with me, Tanuki-chan (Miss Raccoon Dog)."

"I didn't say anything!" Chizuru feigned ignorance. "Also, that ain't my name, Yoshi-boy! Who are you calling a raccoon dog?"

All the same, Satsuki winked at Yahiko and invited, "If you want, spar with me sometime."

The grinning Chizuru then teased the adopted Sakaguchi child, asking, "What would Mister Frowny-Faced Samurai Guy say if he saw you flirting with another guy, Satsuki-chan?"

The Enlightened Gan then hit his palm in his fist, taking note to remember the "Frowny-Faced Samurai Guy" nickname that "Kaori-neechan"  came up with. Because he had his priorities straight.

With squinted eyes and a cherry pink blush, Satsuki grabbed Chizuru by the shoulders and shook her around.

"WAH! That's a load of cobblers and codswallop, Chizuru-san! And you know it! I'm not flirting with anyone! You Japanese are so shy that simply being friendly with someone seems like flirting to you people!"

Chizuru's sneering smile widened even while being shaken. Meanwhile, Yahiko looked away and Gan outright stared at the... jiggling girls. One of them jiggling more than the other.

"Oho, I thought you were Japanese too, Satsuki-chan," teased the Kaoru look-alike further, staring at Satsuki's not-so-Japanese chest. "Don't you mean 'us' Japanese instead of 'you' Japanese?"

"You're a meanie, y'know that?" said May with a pout and crossed arms. "I don't even think Kinta-sama and I ever shared a chin wag outside of 'Hi, how do you do!'"

"Well, Honey, it's because he's not the 'chin wag' kind of guy," Chizuru answered, primly straightening up her ruffled kimono and ribbon. "Don't take it personally."

In the background, Minoe himself reminisced about the silent Minakata, nodding in agreement with Chizuru.

Yes, the man certainly didn't wag his chin much indeed.

From there, the Morinaga within him awakened, seething in memory of how frustrating it was to spar with the high-ranking samurai turned Shogo Amakusa body double.

The Judas Iscariot of the Hidden Christians.

Satsuki's happy expression then changed altogether as she concluded with a lower lip quibble, "So I reckon this really is farewell, huh? Cheerio, I guess?"

Chizuru kicked the snow underneath her booted feet. "Aw. And we just got back together again after so long, Satsuki-chan." The rich girl sighed.

"Huh? But aren't you coming with me, Chizuru-san?" asked Miss Brooks.

"Eh? I was?" asked Miss Raikouji in turn. "B-But...!"

"Well, of course you are! I don't see why not! You're our family friend and this is a Sakaguchi Family Reunion!" May then put her hands on her waist. "You'll do great and Bob's your uncle!"

"Who the heck's Bob?" asked Chizuru, who bit her lip, her eyes wide and darting between Yahiko and Satsuki.

Myojin sighed, shoulders slumped, then shrugged and bowed at the Raikouji heiress. "I thought I'd still see your ugly face all the way to Kyoto, but if duty calls and family friends beckon, then I guess we'll just have to say our goodbyes here and now."

"N-Now hold on a minute...!" Chizuru stuttered some more.

"Aw, come on, Yoshi-boy! You still have me!" reassured the Gregarious Gan, who leaned on top of Yahiko's spiky hair like he were a countertop and picked his nose with his sausage-sized index finger.

"...Could you take Gan with you too? He's house trained, I swear," retorted the Tokyo Samurai Descendant while pointing at the thug with his thumb.

"I-I..." stuttered Chizuru, not knowing which path to choose. Should she go with Yahiko, who knew the vagabond, or her best friend, who was about to reunite with her childhood crush?

Yahiko, Gan, and Minoe looked at each other before bursting out laughing at Chizuru.

"Wait, what's going on?" asked Chizuru. "What am I missing here? Why are you laughing at me, you Three Stooges?!"

Myojin slung his arm over Raikouji's shoulders and said, "I was just kidding. We're all going. I've changed my mind. You don't have to go with me to Kyoto or Osaka because we're coming with you and Chizuru to Yokohama."

"W-What? Hey leggo, you perv," the heiress said before shrugging off the younger boy's arm over her shoulders. "But what about your Mushi-whatever? You were supposed to go on a pilgrimage for training, right?"

"Musha Shugyo (Warrior's Pilgrimage)," Yahiko corrected without a second thought before reassuring, "Don't worry about me. This is just a li'l detour before I head on out to Kyoto. Also, I want to spar with the students of Musou Madden Ryu for good measure. I want to see Kyoko and Satsuki in action, pitting their iaijutsu with my kendo."

'...Besides, the way I am right now, with both Minoe and Soujiro able to make short work of me at my current skill level, I don't think I'm quite prepared to face Kenshin's master of all people,' he told himself, remembering how much more mature Kaede was about the bandit situation than he was.

"ALL RIGHT! I mean, you know. Whatever. That's cool," came the petered-out exclamation of Chizuru, who brushed her silken "rich girl" hair back and squirmed in her boots after her best friend and the Three Stooges saw her sudden fist pump into the air.

"Oh my! That's indeed wonderful news! You're all coming with me?" asked Miss Brooks. "You've made so many new friends, Chizuru!" she added before whispering to her best friend, "Chizuru-san, why are they coming with us again? They're not staying over at the Minakatas' like freeloaders, are they? Kinta-sama's mother isn't going to like that!"

Raikouji herself shrugged. "But that's what they are. Freeloaders. Interlopers. People who don't know how and when to mind their own business. But seriously though, they'll be staying in their own tents and inns. I guarantee they won't be a bother."

Satsuki saw the glow in Chizuru's face and cheeks then relented, "Since you're all chuffed up about it, why not? The more the merrier, I say!"

To Yahiko, Chizuru said, "I guess it can't be helped. We'll still be seeing each other again real soon. You stupid dumbasses."

"Right back at you, Raccoon Face," mumbled Myojin to Raikouji.

The Son of Tokyo Samurai then offered his hand to Satsuki for a handshake. "This is how westerners greet each other, correcct? I look forward to challenging your Musou Madden School for a spar or two. Tell 'em Myojin Yahiko from Tokyo's Kamiya Kasshin School sends his regards."

May grabbed hold of Yahiko's hand but then curtsied with her dress and bowed in traditional Japanese fashion. "I'm kind of looking forward to it myself, Joshua-kun. I know my onions when it comes to wielding long poles."

Gan guffawed in the background at that suggestive comment, which prompted Myojin to kick his shin.

"OW! It's settled then! Yoshi-boy's Musashi Gundoh continues in Yokohama, training with Miss Melon, Soba Lady's daughter, and the Stone-Faced Samurai!" declared the Boisterous Gan with a wave of his giant metal bat.

"...Soba Lady's Daughter?" Satsuki asked Chizuru.

"He means Kyoko-chan. Soba Lady is his name for Nonoko-obaasan. Because, you know, he really likes soba," explained Chizuru. "The big oaf met the Sakaguchis back in Shinshu too, along with Yahiko and Minoe."

"Ah. How... quaint. What riveting wit he has."

"Hey, at least he doesn't call her Kaori. Or Miss Melons."

"That's Miss Melon, Kaori-neechan!" corrected the Clueless Gan, which earned him swift shin kicks on each leg care of both Kaori and Miss Melon.

"YEEEOOWCH!"

"BAKA!"

After recovering from the pain, the Gabby Gan added, "Of course, we'll keep tagging along with Yoshi-boy for shits and giggles. The Sanbaka rides again. Right, Patches?"

"Mochiron!" responded Munenori.

Yahiko spared Minoe a glance, which made the wigged and eye-patched "man" smile and give him a thumb's up (because a wink was out of the question).

How could he surpass Kenshin when he couldn't defeat his two Kagemusha, the Ten Ken and the Battousai of Speed?

Also, he was more than a little curious about this Shogo doppelganger who also took on Kenshin's name, the Mimawarigumi Battousai.

Yet another Fake Battousai for him to meet. 'The plot thickens.'

Back at the kidnappers' hideout, after the local police force finally arrived along with Chizuru...

As the coppers rounded up the bandit kidnappers in shackles and handcuffs, Morinaga told Myojin, "I've made my decision. I'm going to Yokohama. I need to face off with the man who betrayed Amakusa Shogo-sama. His Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior)."

"K-Kagemusha...?" trailed of Yahiko. "What do you...?"

"It's Minakata Kinta. He served as a body double for Amakusa-sama six years ago. The Mimawarigumi Battousai. The one who betrayed the Hidden Christians to the devil himself, Akahori Tetsuo."

She turned her back on him and walked away. "Someday, when we meet again, maybe you can tell me all about Himura Kenshin. The Hitokiri Battousai."

"W-Wait, M-Morinaga...!"

He grabbed hold of Kaede and turned her around, only to end up facing the winking, gentler face of Munenori Minoe.

"Oh. I mean, Minoe. Hi."

Dammit, the Battousai of Speed ran away from him again.

Even without the wig and the eye patch, Myojin could sense the change in Kaede's demeanor after traveling with the weirdo for so long.

"AH! Yahiko-chi! What is it...?"

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Yahiko told Minoe, "I'm coming with you and May Brooks to Yokohama. We all are."

"Ah. Okay. Mochiron, Yahiko-chi!" said Munenori without thinking before blinking and realizing what the Tokyoite just told him. "Um, come again? We're going where now?"

Chasing Minoe... Kaede... and the rest of the Battousai Group was the right decision. Maybe by taking them down, Myojin would find the strength to surpass the real Battousai and bear the full weight of his heavy sakabatou.

It was silly, but his actions were spurred from seeing another chance at getting extra training to make himself stronger.

He just wanted to be stronger. He had no complex motivations of conquering Japan or avenging the death of a loved one.

He simply wished to be worthy of carrying the Battousai's... no Kenshin's... sword.

His most important inheritance.

What an idiot he was, he realized. No wonder he and Sanosuke Sagara got along so famously.

Toshiro Minakata was crazy. Crazy as a fox.

That was why he went from nobleman to merchant in order to keep his wealth and privilege regardless of which side won the Bakumatsu. This was also why he had his daughter, Kinta's mother, marry into the similarly wealthy and influential Akahoris.

He was a samurai who was ahead of the curve in regards to changing times, even though not all of his schemes went according to plan.

Like his daughter's affair with a gaijin. Or his own untimely death.

A prolific gambler in the prime of his life (like his fat lawyer son Kaneda), he knew how to hedge his bets and take calculated risks every time. Even if he lost, he'd somehow find a way to win.

According to his critics and enemies, Toshiro Minakata (allegedly) got his extra funding for his pharmaceutical business from illicit drug running. They said he was in fact a corrupt government official to the core.

The legit business that imported and made western medicine for distribution into Japanese households was the perfect front and money laundering scheme for all his illegitimate smuggling, complete with labs he could use to make both legal and illegal drugs.

The Elder Minakata got filthy rich from being a drug kingpin that no policeman could pin down until his legitimate pharmaceutical business (that he initially used as a front while using its very labs for opium processing) eventually became financially solvent itself.

It was the same bait and switch scheme done by the wealthiest families of the United States of America. Drug barons who made so much money, it lasted their family for generations to come.

However, there was no proof of such wrongdoing except rumors.

As far as the Bakufu and later the Meiji Government was concerned, Toshiro Minakata was an honest, honorable samurai turned head of a major conglomerate.

However, the naval codes unlocked info that suggested otherwise.

The naval codes used to hide info that the Seiryu Clan gathered from and on behalf of the Shogunate revealed more than just top secret documents from the past government hidden within piles of redundant paperwork.

The more messages that the family ninja Kaita delivered to him (which Kaita's sister Misanagi compiled and summarized for Kinta's convenience), the more the uncomfortable truths about Toshiro Minakata and the Minakata Family was exposed.

Toshiro's critics and their speculations didn't even scratch the surface of how much of a wily fox the old man was. He pulled the wool over everyone's eyes.

According to the puzzle pieces of hidden correspondences dating back decades and records hidden in code within what appeared to be mundane receipts and past contracts, Toshiro had been quite the busy man.

Working on both Dutch and China trade in Nagasaki as a trade regulator and enforcer that was answerable only to the Shogunate, Toshiro was the watchman whom no one else watched over. Betrayed by the very guardian who was supposed to protect them.

He realized that the writing was on the wall in regards to Japan and samurai after seeing the growing sentiment of dissatisfaction over the Bakufu by many of its soldiers and warriors.

The entirety of Japan had lost face thanks to the disaster that was the arrival of the Black Ships of Commodore Matthew C. Perry back in 1853.

The Shogunate was seen as weak and it soon became desperate to save face and crush the growing Ishin Shishi mutiny against it. The chain of events led not only to Toshiro becoming a covert drug runner but also the formation of the Four Clans spy group under the behest of the Shogun himself.

A government intelligence group tasked to protect the Japanese way of life in light of changing times.

Conveniently, Toshiro also took advantage of the resulting reopening of trade to the West after the Black Ships Incident in his plan to safeguard his personal wealth, assets, and influence in the future along with the Four Clans.

Taking inspiration to how the Sassoon, Rothschild, Lincoln, and Forbes families built their own riches in the 1830s to 1840s (the deciphered documents outright referenced them), Toshiro covertly engaged in opium trafficking at night (just like Robert Bennet Forbes) while overseeing the changing trading policies of Post-Sakoku Japan during the day.

He then married into a merchant family who had a pharmaceutical business in order to further help process the opium he imported from Hong Kong then resold back to China using his secret yakuza connections.

Yes. Rather than damn the Japanese, Toshiro had enough national pride to instead damn the already damned by also indulging in opium trade on their behalf along with the rich elite like the Delanos and the Forbes.

He even personally oversaw the safe delivery of his goods under the noses of policemen and his own samurai underlings even as he got rid of his black market competition of Wokou Pirates and the Three Harmonies Society.

He laundered his ill-gotten wealth and opium fortune to fund his actual legitimate businesses like real estate and his existing pharmaceutical company in order to get away with being a criminal mastermind that destroyed the lives of countless addicts for a couple of decades.

By the time the smoke cleared and the Opium Wars had passed, he was already a multimillionaire with a business empire that could rival the Mitsubishis.

All this time. All that wealth. All that privilege. They were all from the money his grandfather made off of the degradation and suffering of the Chinese people.

A cold sweat ran through Kinta's spine as more and more information surfaced from the Seiryu Clan's declassified copy of the Black Book. Names of past and current ministers kept popping up.

Men complicit with his grandfather's crimes... and benefited from them, so they allowed him to remain a powerful man in politics who was effectively above the law.

Such info from the Black Book was probably present in Tetsuo Akahori's own volume. The volume of the Genbu Clan. And two other volumes covering the secrets and sins of the various warring factions and other information of national importance all compiled in one voluminous book.

Every name, crime, and sin was listed along with the crimes and sins of the (grand)father. The measures they took and the bets they made during such a chaotic, uncertain time.

It was as much a history book as it was a "black book" that contained the list of secret contacts and people liable for punishment. Or blackmail.

Like with the rich families of the U.S. and Britain, Japan's elites and multiple political dynasties had an awful lot of drug money in their hands, making the Meiji Government more of an oligarchy than anything else.

This sobering reminder showed the unsurprising truth that if one dug deep enough under the family trees of the one percent, skeletons would be unearthed down below.

Inside a train going in a five hour trip straight to Yokohama in the Kanagawa Prefecture...

"Throughout my travels as a food connoisseur..." began Gan.

"...You mean food bandit," drawled Yahiko.

The five companions of Yahiko Myojin, the Great Gan, Munenori Minoe, Chizuru Raikouji, and Satsuki "May Brooks" Sakaguchi had collectively bought tickets straight to Yokohama from Hiroshima.

They were currently seated on couches facing each other, with Chizuru and May sitting on one couch then Yahiko and Gan sitting on another couch. Just behind his fellow men was Minoe.

Yahiko originally wanted to travel there by foot and rough it out on the woods (mosquitoes be damned) like he did when he traveled from the Kamiya Dojo to Shinshu in Nagano.

Then he went straight to Shura's crew at the docks of Naoetsu. Then he pushed further from Hakata Bay to Fukuoka, where he fought ronin who were terrorizing the town. Then to Hiroshima where he met the English teacher known as May "Satsuki Sakaguchi" Brooks, who helped the Sanbaka bring down a den of creepy kidnappers.

He'd been all over the map, so to speak. His Musha Shugyo had been... fruitful. He'd been perfecting his Revisal Techniques he developed on his own to harness the hardness and heaviness of the sakabatou (reverse-edged sword).

"Quiet, Yoshi-boy. Anyway, I've eaten all sorts of ramen. Okinawa soba. Kumamoto ramen. Hakata ramen. Tokushima ramen. Wakayama ramen. Onomichi ramen. Tokyo ramen. Kitakata ramen. Sapporo ramen. Ashikawa ramen. I even tasted Sakaguchi soba at Shinshu, which was one of the best I've ever eaten! Wait, where am I going with this?" said the Gluttonous Gan.

"If I have to hazard a guess, you're going to Yokohama City to try out the cuisine there," deadpanned Chizuru, murmuring, "Better not stiff the bill on us again, you fat pig. No more freebies from me for sure."

"Damn straight, Kaori-neechan!" said the Scatterbrained Gan, who ignored Chizuru's side comment, too focused on the dishes he felt entitled to partake in. "Can't wait to get a hold of those Yokohama goodies! What are they, anyway? What do I have to look forward to?"

Miss Brooks unironically answered the Ghastly Gan's inquiry with, "Uh, well we have Sanma-Men ramen in Yokohama. Oh, aaand also Shoronpo dumplings, Gomadango sesame balls, and the Gyunabe beef hotpot. Most of those are specialties of the Yokohama Chinatown though, so I'm not sure they count."

"Actually, that's perfect! All ramen comes from China, right? Didn't they invent the wheat noodle? So it's both Chinese and Japanese!" reasoned the Starving Gan, licking and smacking his lips. "Sanma-Men ramen, huh? But what about Soba for the Soba King?"

"We're not going on a food trip! While we're at it, you should've stayed in Hiroshima, Shinshu, or wherever you came from!" said Chizuru. The rich girl then nudged Satsuki's side, saying, "Don't humor him! It's not as if he pays for his own meals!"

"Oh my, let him be, Chizuru-san! No need to be chuffed about him," said the beatific teacher as though Gan were one of her misunderstood "bad boy" students. "Just think of him as a hungry bodyguard! Or a big, cuddly doggy."

"Ah, Megami-sama! You are such an angel, Miss Melon! A goddess from heaven!" said the Grateful Gan. "And quite the looker too! Woof!"

"Aw, shucks," said May. "You're beautiful too, Galileo-san! Uh, in your own way. You're a knees up kind of bloke!"

"Huh? You do nicknames too? We're going to get along famously, Miss Melon!" said the Japanese Galileo. "Oh, and speaking of melons, do you have some special Yokohama fruit desserts or sweets over there? Like melon bread or taiyaki?"

"Fruits? Desserts? Melon?" repeated the adopted Sakaguchi with an innocent bounce. "Well, yeah, I guess we have melons in Yokohama too. But they're not exactly Yokohama specialty."

The Grinning Gan was about to quip about something crass when Yahiko raised his wrapped-up sakabatou and aimed it at the bandanna-wearing man's head. "...What? The melons are coming back to Yokohama."

And so Myojin conked the goon's thick head with his sword scabbard. The Unfeeling Gan barely even winced.

Located south of Tokyo in the Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama was Japan's second largest city. The Minakatas settled there (or so Satsuki informed them) because of their influence in trade back in the Sakoku Era.

Around 1859, the government opened up the Port of Yokohama. It was one of the first places in Japan that allowed open foreign trade from a multitude of nations, spelling the end of the closed-off and controlled Sakoku Era Trade.

Knowing this, one of the premier hatamoto officials of the previous era packed his bags and moved his family to Yokohama along with the samurai family serving under him (the Sakaguchis).

That was how eccentric "Grandpa" Toshiro was, claimed Satsuki. He was a game-changing, forward-thinking maniac cut from the same entrepreneurial cloth as the patriarchs of the Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Mitsui, and Yasuda Clans. But this time with samurai blood and influence involved.

At any rate, Yokohama soon became a progressive city right after the Black Ships of Commodore Perry forced Japan to open trade with the rest of the world, making it one of Japan's most internationally minded cities.

It served as a gateway to items like jazz music, baseball, beer, and beef; products that would eventually play a role in shaping modern Japan and, in turn, Yokohama cuisine.

In fact, Asia's biggest Chinatown area (outside of actual Chinese towns) was in Yokohama. It was filled with traditional landmarks, restaurants, and shops that occupied several city blocks.

Speaking of Yokohama, Kinta Minakata learned even more about his grandfather in the context of the city's transformation as an international merchant town.

Reams and reams more of hidden codes started getting deciphered by the Sanada Ninja Clan. Other names and families came up with their own questionable histories during the Bakumatsu and their connection with the dying Shogunate.

Some of whom were still in high positions in government. Many others had died in the war, leaving their families in poverty. Their children and grandchildren suffering from the sins or karma of their fathers and forefathers.

Some even had their family line wiped out entirely.

But none of those puzzle pieces fascinated the Mimawarigumi Battousai more than his hatamoto grandfather and his shenanigans for obvious reasons.

His case was personal, after all.

The Chinatown in Yokohama boasted countless stores, making it the largest Chinatown in the world by the time the 20th and 21st Centuries rolled along.

The Yokohama Chinatown was established in 1859 along with the opening of the ports of the city. The shores of Yokohama were where all the Chinese merchants went and gathered after being forced to do restricted trade in Nagasaki for centuries under the watchful eye of samurais like Toshiro.

Yokohama became the new center of trade with western countries, and Toshiro Minakata grabbed the opportunity to himself indulge in western medicine importation and, on the down low, making and distributing his own brand of opium to China to fund his burgeoning pharmaceutical empire.

Kinta expected to unlock the sins of the forefathers of the current Japanese administration by decoding the Seiryu Clan's volume of the Black Book, not uncover that his grandfather was among those criminals.

The shards from his shattered glass house cut deep.

The opium that brought China to its knees in order to give Britain a more favorable tea trade agreement also pushed his grandfather and their family up to hatamoto-class.

"So what? Queen Victoria herself is history's largest drug dealer," was one of the smug coded messages that Toshiro left to justify his own sins.

Even as Japan suffered from Unfair Treaties by countries that bullied it into submission so that it could open its shores for trade once again, the Minakatas were among the elites who plundered and took advantage of the suffering of their own nations and other nations that were also headed towards the same fate as China.

As food for the new superpowers of the world. Manifest Destiny.

The saddest part was none of this disturbing info really shocked Kinta in any way. He suspected it from the start. Or rather, he wouldn't put such actions past his family.

It almost seemed typical for a Minakata to act this way, especially the oh-so-great Toshiro. Every one of the children of Toshiro and Mieko (his grandmother) were groomed for success.

Tatsuya overcame his lack of talent in swordsmanship and physical strength to grow up into a banker that handled the entire family's significant fortune stemming from its multinational financial group named after it.

Kaneda overcame his own inferiority complex of living under his assertive elder brother's shadow (and his own body image issues) by completing his studies and becoming a lawyer himself.

Even Daddy's Millionaire Princess did her part for the family by having an arranged marriage with the Akahori Family's eldest son to strengthen political bonds and secret ties as well as merge their accumulated wealth.

Although according to Grandmother Mieko, Kinta's mother was spoiled rotten by his Grandfather Toshiro.

Even Kinta served as a pawn to the Minakatas. Or the Seiryu Clan itself.

He had to become another Battousai to counteract the Ishin Shishi Battousai that murdered many fellow Mimawarigumi samurai (even though their paths and blades never crossed through a twist of fate) and earn back his grandfather's trust that was lost from him when his mother had her affair.

As though he were the fruit of that union rather than the biological son of Azuma Akahori and Aoi Minakata.

Even Kinta had to curry favor of his own high-standard hatamoto-class samurai family (and relatives) in order to not be treated like their black sheep or a redheaded bastard.

This was all understandable... even characteristic... of the Minakata Bloodline.  

The Mimawarigumi Battousai had heard stories on the dinner table from his bragging grandpa about how their Sengoku ancestors were defeated and became Ochimusha (disgraced samurai who'd lost standing and became low-ranked citizens; could also mean the remnants or corpse of a defeated warrior).

Legend had it that instead of becoming Burakumin (outcasts) hiding in the boondocks, the surviving members of their family stole the land under the control of another family of samurais known as the Minakatas by killing them, taking their identities, and defending their uncaptured land before allying themselves with the Tokugawas.

Known for the shaved top of their heads and disheveled chonmage (topknot) after being disgraced by defeat, the new shogun allowed these ochimusha to grow their hair back along with their dignity and standing as reward for their help.

The False Minakatas became the True Minakatas.

They henceforth became known as the Minakatas (their original clan name had been lost in time), replacing the family they massacred. Through their cunning, they managed to save face and cease from being Ochimusha. Allegedly.

"What are you going to do now, Kinta-sama?" asked Misanagi in reference to these discoveries they'd unearthed regarding his grandfather.

"...." said Kinta.

Back in the train to Yokohama where the Sanbaka (and friends) were riding...

Unable to take more of the Gluttonous Gan's inane food talk, Yahiko switched seats (it was a half-empty train) to sit with Munenori Minoe (or Kaede Morinaga) from behind them.

The Son of Tokyo Samurai sat beside Shogo Amakusa's own prodigy, who had her Minoe "disguise" on and was snoring softly with her head nestled on the closed window.

Or his head. Whatever.

Munenori (or Kaede) was, after all, the reason why Yahiko decided to do his Musha Shugyo training pilgrimage in Yokohama along with him (or her).

The samurai kid couldn't risk Morinaga separating from him and doing any political assassinations and whatnot under his watch, specifically on this Minakata fellow whom she described as a traitor to Amakusa and the Kakure Kirishitans.

After all, Kinta was Satsuki's crush and all.

Regardless, Kaede was the person who almost defeated Soujiro Seta the Ten Ken (Heaven Sword), who in turn almost defeated Kenshin Himura.

According to the former Juppon Gatana member, his Shun Ten Satsu (Instant Heaven Kill) was as fast although not as strong as the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash).

Yahiko remembered how Enishi Yukishiro countered Kenshin's ultimate technique with his own ultimate technique, the Kofoku Zetsu Tou Sei (Absolute Trap Blade Wave) or Kofuku Zettousei.

He then learned the mechanics of Zettousei from when Shura, the Scourge of the Pacific, used the same technique to get her revenge against Captain Masakichi Hananuma Inoue for sinking her ship and killing her first mate.

As the Pirate Queen turned Privateer Queen slowly but surely found a way to counter Captain Inoue's Wanmei Fengbao (Eye of the Storm) with the Kofuku Zettousei, Yahiko also put two and two together and realized that the Hirameki was susceptible to attacks from below the vortex it created, allowing a chance to counterstrike between the gap of the initial strike and the second counterstrike.

Myojin even began getting faster and stronger from sparring with both the Great Gan and the Battousai of Speed. Gan helped him work on his stamina. Minoe helped him work on his reflexes and dexterity.

They were the best training partners a growing teenage boy could ask for.

If the Tokyo Samurai Descendant could get on the level of the Nisemono Battousai (Fake Battousai) and the also-similar-to-Kenshin Ten Ken, then perhaps he could someday finally wield the heavy sakabatou and the accompanying burden of responsibility that came with it.

So that the injured Kenshin who could barely practice the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu wouldn't have to bear that burden himself.

Unbidden, Minoe began to stir and moan.

"Minoe?" whispered Yahiko. "Are you awake?"

"Amakusa Shogo-sama... is amazing. I'm sure that even the Hitokiri Battousai would fall against him. They use the same sword style, am I correct?" Yahiko heard Minoe murmur in his sleep, his one exposed eye closed and his other eye covered by an eye patch.

Ah, so he was talking in his sleep.

Yahiko smirked and harrumphed. "I've seen Kenshin in action. He's amazing. He helped the Ishin Shishi win against the Bakufu. What feats has your Shogo-sama accomplished?"

He then bit his lip, remembering how much of a touchy subject the mass murder of the Hidden Christians rebels were to Amakusa and Morinaga.

Thankfully, the half-asleep Munenori didn't interpret his words in such a malicious manner.

With his eyes (or eye) still closed, he rebutted, "Amakusa-chi is a gifted swordsman from birth, taking out young men his age in kendo tournaments then taking on older, more experienced swordsmen as well when none of the kids could match his kenjutsu prowess."

Huh. The Tokyoite didn't know that. Of course, most any sword style should succumb to the superman's sword style known as Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. "So he learned Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu at a young age, huh?"

Munenori shook his head. "He used Nikaido Heiho when he was younger. That was his father's swordsmanship school. His Uncle Hyoue taught him Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu later on, after... escaping from Japan when the Bakufu first rounded off, tortured, and murdered the Kakure Kirishitan, including his parents."

"Oh. I... I see." Yahiko didn't know what else to say.

"...Besides, he's also a one-man army that took down whole squads of policemen and whole platoons of soldiers. Or have you already forgotten what happened in Shinshu? How you can barely keep up with Shogo-sama?"

Or maybe Minoe did find Yahiko's rebuttal earlier malicious after all. That was... harsh of him to point out, to say the least. Munenori just reminded Myojin of his failure to save the lives of many a copper.

On the other hand, if the Tokyo boy remembered correctly, weren't some of the policemen at Akahori's Mansion involved in an incident with Amakusa six years ago? From another government-sanctioned massacre of sorts?

Shogo, as Shiro Amakusa the Second, assassinated the murderers of his parents (some of whom were still in power), only for the current Meiji Administration to retaliate against his growing rebellion.

The two went silent as the sound of the rumbling train and the murmur of the passengers drowned out their thoughts.

The samurai kid turned his head, only to see someone else other than Minoe stare back at him. The person beside him removed his eye patch, revealing a new character.

Kaede Morinaga had just woken up. He'd been talking to her all this time, not the gentle Minoe.

Kaede rubbed her eyes and recounted to Yahiko the things Lady Magdalia told her about Shogo and his exploits.

Magdalia had specifically told her the story of how she and her brother escaped the Bakufu's clutches.

Even though Shogo himself didn't seem to remember how he manhandled the samurais who were after him, his sister, and his mother at the time, Lady Magdalia filled in the details.

Shogo took out the initial wave with only his shinai before that broke and he was forced to steal a katana that turned him into a bloodstained whirling dervish.

Amakusa might've remembered things differently due to the trauma of the situation. However, had his master Hyoue Nishida not intervened, Shogo might've outright murdered the samurais that stabbed his mother to death.

In fact, Kaede had compartmentalized her skill set into two categories... Cancer Stance for defensive moves and Scorpion Stance for offensive moves... based on the dual styles Shogo used (the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and the Nikaido Heiho).

"Oh yeah? Well, Kenshin himself trained hard with his master for years. And when he was 14 years old, he also took down grown swordsmen himself as a hitokiri assassin! Grown experienced noblemen samurai, even," boasted Yahiko.

The boy blinked. As much of a bad guy he painted Amakusa as in his mind, the Hidden Christian was similar to Kenshin in many ways.

Except for one important thing, but he held his tongue in regards to that in order to not incur the wrath of the emotionally unstable Nisemono Battousai.

"That's nothing! Shogo-sama defeated his master when he was the same age! Using a technique of his own making, the Rai Ryu Sen!" Kaede countered.

"Okay? Kenshin defeated his master to acquire the ougi (succession technique)."

"Ha! I knew it. Shogo-sama is better."

"What? No! Kenshin's master is a god who walks among men. A superman in his own right. Also, last I checked, he's the official bearer of the Hiko Seijuro name. Shogo's uncle isn't, so he must be the weaker of the two!"

"No, he's not! He was the swordsman Kirisaki, who protected the Hidden Christians for the longest time single-handedly until that fateful massacre. I heard he also spared his master, Hiko Seijuro, from death by countering the Kuzu Ryu Sen with something other than the ougi!"

"...A likely story!" said Yahiko with a shake of his head. "Kenshin has a better, stronger master who actually inherited the Hiko Seijuro mantle, so of course he'd whup Amakusa's ass real easy."

"HA! I bet Amakusa's twice as fast as the Hitokiri Battousai! He'd have Super Godspeed compared to the slower Battousai!"

"Yeah right! Kenshin defeated Psycho-Kid when he was still part of the Juppon Gatana... in his prime, mind you... and Amakusa can't! He got completely defeated by Psycho-Kid back in Shinshu!"

"T-That's... unfair! He fought multiple policemen at Akahori's Shinshu Mansion before facing the Ten Ken! He was already spent! Besides, he showed that emotionless bodyguard of Akahori who's boss when he used the Rai Ryu Sen on him!"

"More excuses, huh? Well Kenshin faced off against an Oniwabanshu Okashira (Garden Guard Boss) before facing Psycho-Kid back in Mount Hiei, and he defeated both of them while holding back on killing them, which made taking them down twice as difficult!"

"Shogo-sama's master Kirisaki avoided killing the people he fought all the time, including Kenshin Himura's master, whom he also faced off against. He was a pacifist, so he became skilled enough in swordsmanship to defeat everyone without killing them. That's the kind of master Shogo-sama had!"

"Yeah, well, Mr. One-Man Army didn't help win a civil war against the Bakufu to install the Ishin Shishi into power!" Yahiko blurted out even though he didn't mean to. He couldn't help himself. His emotions got the better of him.

He wasn't even particularly proud of Kenshin helping the Meiji Government rise to power, especially in light of his experience with its corrupt officials.

However, instead of threatening to cut his loose tongue or castrate him, the Fake Battousai pledged to him, "Shogo-sama's own revolution is near. Once he gets the Black Book from Akahori, he'll have all the ammunition he needs to topple this government."

Kaede herself then slapped her hand over her mouth, realizing that she had said too much as well.

Reading the mood, Myojin changed the subject. "In full health, who's faster? Psycho-Kid or Amakusa?"

Morinaga turned her head away, placing the eye patch back on her eye as though to "summon" back her alter ego Minoe before muttering, "The Ten Ken is a little faster than Shogo-sama. But Shogo-sama can still beat him. Stupid Urchin-Head."

The Son of Tokyo Samurai heaved a sigh and confessed, "It's fine. Kenshin told me that Psycho-Kid is faster than him too. Seta Soujiro might even be faster than the whole Hiten Mitsurugi School itself. Maybe."

"...But I bet the Hitokiri Battouai is waaaay slower than the Ten Ken compared to Shogo-sama, who's only a little slower."

"Hey! Don't get ahead of yourself!" said the inheritor of the sakabatou. "I give you an inch and you take a mile. Honestly."

Much later still...

"You wanted to speak to me?" Tatsuya Minakata said. The banker son of Toshiro Minakata. Kinta's uncle from his mother's side.

"Yes," said Kinta.

"What the hell do you want, you brat?"

...And Tatsuya was every bit as intimidating, menacing, and cunning as his uncle from his father's side, Tetsuo Akahori. The complete opposite of his other uncle and Tatsuya's younger brother, Kaneda.

But that was in the past. Kinta was no longer a small child or gangly teenager that the alcoholic could push around and abuse whenever he was drunk.

Uncle Tatsuya might've not inherited any of Grandpa Toshiro's immense talent in swordsmanship, but he certainly had his father's business acumen as the person in charge (by proxy and with Grandma Mieko's blessing) of the Minakata Family's vast wealth.

As expected of a ruthless banker who was as thin as Uncle Kaneda was fat.

From behind Tatsuya was their newly hired manservant bodyguard who towered over the two like an outright foreigner despite being Japanese. Meanwhile, Kinta's uncle sat on his chair behind his desk, his arms folded and his mouth a scowl.

His eyes staring straight into Kinta's eyes.

Toshiro's grandchild could hear the insistent taps from the shoes of Toshiro's eldest son.

Hiding behind Kinta's shadow though was Kaita of the Sanada Ninja Clan.

Not that the Mimawarigumi Battousai who faced off against Hitokiri Gensai Kawakami needed help defending himself or anything.

The ninja Kaita was also there to remind him of anything he missed regarding the intelligence they'd decoded in their search for the Seiryu Clan's Black Book.

Kinta didn't want to make a single mistake about the uncovered intel before asking about them straight from one of their primary sources.

Conversing with his grandfather's son about past crimes was the ex-Kagemusha's way of giving Toshiro the benefit of the doubt. Even though Tatsuya himself could very well be an accomplice to those crimes.

"...Well? What is it? I'm a busy man," said Tatsuya with a dismissive snort, breaking contact with Kinta's gaze. "I have no time to play with you. We have goddamn assassins after us, if you haven't noticed!"

Kinta went straight to the point. "What do you know about the Seiryu Clan's Volume of the Black Book?"

There was a pregnant pause.

"Seiryu Clan? I have no idea what you're talking about," denied Tatsuya. Like Jesus Christ's disciple Thomas, as Amakusa would say.

The younger Minakata then placed his copy of the decoded papers on the Elder Minakata's desk.

"What is this nonsense? I have no time..."

"There are declassified documents about Grandfather Toshiro's drug dealings in China using Minakata Pharmaceuticals as a front."

Tatsuya's scowl turned into a snarl. "Drug dealings? Are you saying your grandfather is a drug lord? Is that it? Those are some grave accusations you're hurling, kiddo. Be careful what you say."

However, Kinta always was careful. He spoke the way he fought. Methodically. With no wasted movement or words.

The nephew presented a different document from Kaita. This time full of names, addresses, and quantities of delivered goods. Contact persons, if you would. More like accessories to his grandfather's crimes.

The names listed meant nothing to the Mimawarigumi Battousai, but he summarized and said them aloud nonetheless. They were Toshiro's contacts from the warehouses he stored his opium. The names of his chemists who processed the drug.

The list of ports under his control that allowed him to ship to China his own brand of premium-grade, potent opium that was easier to access than the ones being sold by the Indians, the British, and the Americans in Hong Kong and the Pearl River outside Canton.

Although his uncle would not divulge one piece of information about the Black Book, the reactions he gave to the uncovered information spoke volumes.

Kinta had all the puzzle pieces of the Black Book right at the palm of his hand.

Through seemingly redundant and suspicious documents, bogus employee contracts in triplicate, and receipts for business expenditures that were nonexistent, his grandfather had weaved a web of lies he used to communicate with the underworld in order to go about his opium trade in ways that would've made the likes of Takeda Kanryu jealous.

The sheer amount of opium Toshiro sold and money he made was many magnitudes larger than Kanry's lifetime wealth. It involved millions of yen's worth of drugs sold by the ton. The same way the Rothschild and Forbes families built their fortunes.

Tatsuya stood up from his seat and slammed his hands on his desk, with both bodyguards... the tall nameless one beside the uncle and the ninja hidden in the darkness behind the grandchild... stirring in reaction.

For Kinta's part, he stood his ground. In his younger years, he would've flinched or cowered away from Tatsuya. Not anymore. Not after everything he'd been through.

Tatsuya got in Kinta's face before smirking and attempting to feint a punch, but the swordsman wouldn't buy it.

The ruthless businessman had half the mind to punch his nephew. Show him who was boss. His little sister's forgotten piece of excess baggage.

Like the good ol' days.

"As if Father would leave a paper trail behind," Tatsuya rebuked, calling his nephew's bluff. "What piece of fiction have you written up here? Decode? There's nothing to decode here! Spare me your conspiracy theories and nonsensical speculation!"

"If this is all false, then you won't mind the police investigating all this evidence, correct?"

Tatsuya grabbed Kinta by the collar. The younger Minakata still wouldn't flinch. Defiant to the end.

"Call the police? We own the police!"

"The Minakatas haven't been influential in politics since grandfather's death," Kinta called Tatsuya's own bluff.

"Ever since you became one of those Mimawarigumi goons from back in the day, you've been full of yourself. You've changed. But I know better. You're still the same scared little snot I've whipped with my belt time and time again. How many times do I have to teach you that lesson, boy?"

Tough talk from a drunkard who never held a sword or killed a man his entire life.

Kinta didn't say those words, but Tatsuya must've heard his unsaid sentiment through his eyes because the banker soon swung at his face immediately after.

A swing and a miss.

To Be Continued...

Miss me? It's been a while, huh?

Salamat, Abdiel

[eternal-echoes]

As a Christian, what do you think about the Christian arc in the Rurouni Kenshin anime?

I hated it!!!

--

When I first learned that there was a Christian samurai who was training in the Hiten Mitsurugi style, I was thinking, "No real Christian would take up this training. Not because of the often mistaken pacifist nature of Christianity since Jesus did say "... and one who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one" (Luke 22:36), but because the dragon is actually considered evil in Catholic theology. It's the enemy of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Book of Revelations. And the Hiten Mitsurugi style is depicted as the dragon. But I was like, I'll let it slide because the dragon is used as a metaphor or analogy for the fighting style, not an actual creature.

The way the Christians in the show crossed themselves struck me as weird. I'm not sure why the anime creators made them cross like that, maybe the anime creators were worried that actual depiction of the sign of the cross would be considered blasphemous. Or maybe their lack of knowledge of Christianity just made them think they can kinda add their own artistic style into it.

I hated Shogo Amakusa. If he was an actual Catholic Christian he would have been condemned as a heretic and excommunicated. And idk how he's able to learn the final attack of Hiten Mitsurugi style if he has no negative emotions in his heart because it's pretty manipulative to take the medicinal information you've learned from the West to cure people and pose as a god when they don't know any better. That's prideful and egotistical.

I hated how they portrayed Christianity as if it's a cult, with people blindly following Shogo Amakusa. I hate how they were still following him even after it was revealed that he's not god and have been just lying to people.

I do think Sayo Amakusa could have passed as an authentic Christian. I thought that her and her brother's difference in personalities and goals would make them clash but I don't think it was dealt with deep enough.

And I think the way the writers tried to resolved the conflict was really lazy: have Kenshin talk to Shogo because his kindness changes people's heart and the solution is to just relocate the Christians out of Japan. I mean, the Christians blindly following Shogo were victims, too. I guess this is all the results of the lack of knowledge of Christianity among the anime creators and living in an age in Japan when Christians aren't persecuted anymore so they didn't want to be mean-spirited towards Christians. Like they don't hate Christianity (as evidence by the fact that created goodhearted character like Sayo) but they don't really know anything about Christians so I think the best solution they can come up with is to just move them out of the country lol.

At first when I first learned there was a Christian samurai in the series, I was open-minded about it. I was like, Christianity's main theme is repentance, and Kenshin is always preaching about repenting of his crimes as a manslayer so I figured maybe they'll play around with those as major plot points. But silly me, Christianity is not a major religion in Japan; the anime creators wouldn't understand the basic tenets of Christianity to accurately depict it even if they mean well and don't intentionally want to make fun of it.

[gabriel-gabdiel]

【Draft】Rurouni Yahiko Chapter 55: The Swordsmanship Bible

The Faceless shows off the best of world-class swordsmanship against Yahiko’s kendo. How will the Tokyo Samurai Descendant get out of this predicament?

The rest of the chapters of my Rurouni Kenshin fan fiction are available here. Enjoy.

Earlier, before Yahiko Myojin went to the Yokohama Chinatown...

To be more specific, Yahiko Myojin was invited by Satsuki "May Brooks" Sakaguchi and others to join the Musou Madden School to help protect Kinta Minakata and his uncle from ne'er-do-wells at an affiliate company's Chinatown office.

Yahiko considered to whether or not he should fulfill the role of bodyguard in order to defend yet another V.I.P. (Very Important Person) with connections to the Meiji Government.

Maybe he shouldn't go since it was none of his business really, but then again he reasoned that dealing with things that wasn't any of his concern was how his idol, Kenshin Himura (now Kenshin Kamiya) lived his life.

At least that was what he told himself as the spirit-and-image of Kenshin (hidden behind an eye patch and a garish wig) looked back at him with cutely blinking innocence.

"Can you stop staring at me that way, Minoe? You're... weirding me out," Yahiko told Munenori Minoe, who was "disguised" currently as a man but was actually the female assassin of the Hidden Christians, Kaede Morinaga.

Munenori's eyes... well, eye, he was wearing an eye patch on the other eye... darted back and forth between Yahiko and the floor. "You okay, Yahiko-chi? I heard from Chizuru-chi that Marimo-chi dumped you."

"...I DUMPED HER!" yelped Myojin more defensively than he intended. He then realized he sounded more mean-spirited than he intended. He afterwards took a deep breath and revised his statement.

"I mean, no, not exactly. Nothing happened. No one dumped anyone because neither of us was involved with each other that way, okay? I just... cleared a misunderstanding, that's all. Leave Marimo alone."

"Okay," the pouty Minoe said, pouting. "Stop being mad."

"StOp BeInG MaD," mocked Yahiko with crossed arms. "I'm not even mad, stupid Minoe."

"...Anyway, are you going or not, Yahiko-chi?" asked the eye-patched male—who was born a girl but he identified as a boy—with an inquisitive head tilt. "To serve as the Minakatas' extra bodyguard, I mean."

Fascinating how this seeming airhead before Yahiko was the infamous Fake Battousai. Or the Battousai of Speed. One of the strongest members of Shogo Amakusa's Battousai Group who gave even the Juppon Gatana's (Ten Sword's) Soujiro "Heaven Sword" Seta a run for his money.

On one hand, he (or she) perfectly mirrored the ingenuous, naive, and idealistic part of Kenshin.

On the other hand, this was the same person (albeit with a different personality) who mass-murdered the Fake Battousai Group formed in Shinshu then almost did the same thing to the kidnapper bandits in Hiroshima.

With that in mind, Yahiko asked in turn, "Do you want to go with me to protect the Minakatas from being assassinated, Minoe?"

Taken aback by the question, Munenori went silent for a few long seconds before whispering to Myojin, "I don't know. I might have to check with her. And I don't think she wants to."

"Her?" he asked, also whispering, although he already knew the answer.

"Kaede-chi," Minoe answered in kind, referring to his split personality Kaede Morinaga. "But even I'm not sure if I want to go help out Kagemusha-chi and his family either. I mean, Minakata-chi. I'm also upset he betrayed Amakusa Shogo-sama and the Hidden Christians."

Oh, that was right. They—Kaede and Minoe—also called the Mimawarigumi Battousai and the Kagemusha (literally Shadow Warrior, but in context it meant Doppelganger) because back when he was with the Hidden Christians, he served as Shogo Amakusa's body double.

They were the split personalities of the person before him. One male, one female. One meek as a sheep the other as aggressive as a wildcat. They were like night and day.

What happened to Minoe or Kaede for him or her to end up becoming two people in one body? Or more, if the Battousai of Speed could be considered a separate person as well.

Moreover, Kaede had lingering resentment over Kinta Minakata.

Apparently, the Mimawarigumi Battousai (yes, she and him were both Battousai clones) had betrayed the Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christians) about more than half a decade ago, while the Kenshingumi were dealing with Enishi Yukishiro and his Jinchu (Earthly Retribution) against Kenshin.

"Hey. Why are we whispering?" asked the Clueless Gan.

Ugh. Oh right. Gan was there with them. The freeloading oaf who'd been following Yahiko throughout his Musha Shugyo (Warrior Pilgrimage) since they first met in Shinshushin.

***

Rurouni Yahiko

A Rurouni Kenshin Continuation Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Here we have another session of kendo vs. fencing. Japanese kenjutsu vs. European swordsmanship. East vs. West. Also, the Sanada Sanyoukai (Three Demons) make their debut in this chapter.

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) are the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 55: The Swordsmanship Bible

***

Back to your regularly scheduled Sanbaka program...

Yahiko Myojin really should ditch the Great (Pain-in-the-Ass) Gan, but they—Yahiko, Gan, and Minoe—were technically a trio through and through.

They'd been through a decade's worth of adventures in just a little over a month or so, if felt like. They dealt with pirates, ronin, and bandit kidnappers, among many other incidents.  

They were the Sanbaka (Three Stooges). Who even came up with that insulting name anyway? He already forgot. Was it Gan or...?

Never mind. He had something to ask the clownish thug anyway.

"Say, Gan. You want to serve as bodyguard to the Minakatas with me?" Yahiko asked. Just like we did with the Oyakata (Tetsuo Akahori) back in Shinshu."

"I'm having kishikan (déjà vu)," said the Goofy Gan before waving the feeling off, adding, "Oh wait, no I'm not."

"...O-kay," said Myojin, nonplussed (as in confused, not the other opposite meaning people associate with the word). The samurai kid rubbed his right temple as he felt a nerve or vein pulsate underneath his fingers.

"Let's try this again. Do you want to serve as bodyguard to the Minakatas with me, Gan?"

"...Oh! There it is! There's the déjà vu!"

Yahiko struck the Garrulous Gan on the noggin with his sheathed sword in order to truly knock some sense of déjà vu into him. Yeah, that old running gag. "Be serious for a minute here."

It was Gan's turn to rub his bandanna-sporting head. "You gotta admit the whole situation reeks of déjà vu. Instead of one Oyakata-dono (Tetsuo Akahori), we're dealing with a whole family of snotty rich people."

"Well, I guess you're right," conceded Yahiko. "But still..."

Gan and Minoe exchanged knowing looks. The bigger lout then said, "But you can't leave them alone because Kaori-neechan's family friends might get hurt, right? You just can't leave well enough alone. You can't keep your nose out of their business."

A petulant Yahiko crossed his arms. "They asked me to help. It's not as if I'm forcing myself into the situation or anything." He then mumbled, "It's what Kenshin would've done if he were in my sandals."

Munenori chuckled and said, "Mochiron (But of course). You're such a Kenshin fanboy."

"I don't want to hear that from the Amakusa fangirl. I mean, fanboy," muttered Yahiko.

Clearing his throat, Myojin turned towards his Sanbaka comrades then asked, "So will you help me out? Like ol' time's sake. Okay, not exactly, since the Shinshu debacle happened literally just a month ago. But still...!"

Gan gave Yahiko a firm, "No." He then appended, "Wait, that was a month ago? It felt like 18 years ago."

"Eh? Why not?" asked Myojin. "Helping people out with violence is literally what we've been doing all this time!"

Snorting with enlarged bullish nostrils, the Greedy Gan said, "Me and Patches (Minoe) offered our services to the Minakatas for money, and they said 'No thanks, we have more than enough bodyguards to spare!' The nerve of those guys! I don't work for free, ya know!"

Oh. That was right. Akahori actually gave them a reward for saving his life. "Come on, Gan! We saved Fukuoka City from marauding ronin (masterless samurai) and dealt with kidnappers in Hiroshima for relatively free! Do it to pay your debt to society, if not your ongoing real-life debts!"

Gan harrumphed. "Nope. No more freebies or public service protection. Pay me in cash or pay me in food and drink. You can take one man's trash to another man's treasure but you can't make it drink."

Yahiko almost felt his brain leak out of his ear canal from hearing that haphazard mixture of metaphors together. "Ah, Gan. I don't think that's how the saying goes."

"Whatever. We'll burn that bridge when we get there," the Clownish Gan said, which this time made even Minoe's one uncovered eye swirl in confusion.

"Please, Yahiko-chi! Make him stop!" said a teary-eyed Munenori.

With a shrug, Yahiko replied, "Figures. You're not exactly the sharpest egg in the attic."

Two could play this game. This stupid, stupid game.

The Hypocritical Gan had the audacity to reply, "What in the blue blazes of hell and high water are you talking about, Yoshi-boy (Yahiko)?!"

"You've opened this can of worms. Now lie in it, Gan-chi."

To his fellow Sanbaka's surprise, it was a smiling, giggling Minoe who said that.

***

Back at the fight between The Faceless and Yahiko Myojin inside the room just next to the office where the Mimawarigumi Battousai and the Prodigal Son were having their own face-off...

A frustrated, sweat-drenched Yahiko blasted the room to smithereens with an explosive Dou Gami (God on Earth) in an attempt to distract his opponent enough to set him up for a Tsui Gami (God Hammer).

Or he attempted to, but the strongest strike from his Revisal Techniques came on too slow and left him too wide open to counter-thrusts, so he was forced to halve its power with a premature floor hammering and retreat using the cover of smoke and sawdust.

Only to come across the annoying fencer yet again, whose quick footwork cut him off the pass.

The Faceless kept his guard up, measuring his opponent with careful sword thrusts. He wanted to do a feeling out process on the kid, but they ended up coming at each other strong at the gates.

He wanted to take it easy but the kid forced him to go all out from the get go.

This teenaged samurai wannabe actually had the gall to try and break his rapier in two with his  inferior blunt sword! Imagine that!

He knew the reverse-edged sword shouldn't be able to break apart his rapier due to its superior high-grade steel, but this kid could make the floor explode with a swing of his weapon.

If this impudent kid were to hit his rapier just right with his blunt sword just right at its flattest, thinnest part, then maybe... No. That was hogwash. Nonsense. But still.

A distant possibility to be sure, but a possibility nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Myojin himself grit and ground his teeth together. He thought he could catch the swordsman flatfooted by breaking apart his sword with the God Hammer earlier, only for the rapier to prove resistant to breakage.

As though it were made of higher-grade western steel from the iron-rich countries of Europe or something.

Beat. Parry. Thrust. Over and over. It was a simple technique that should've been easy to counter since you saw it coming.

However, for whatever reason, Yahiko kept falling for the same trio of moves. A pause to lull the attacker to attack. A parry to the attack. A thrust immediately after the parry.

He wasn't a blindingly fast swordsman like Soujiro Seta. Or a fearsome attacker from all angles like Kaede Morinaga.

He instead practiced all the basics of swordsmanship and honed them to their highest level. He played around with Yahiko like they were having a sparring session.

Like he was a mere sparring partner. Like he were studying a swordsmanship clinic under this gaijin who did the most basic forms of swordsmanship yet could land on him at will.

If it weren't for the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu ougi (succession techniques) of Hadome (Sword Halt) and Hawatari (Sword Crossing), he'd be dead by now, if not in critical condition.

Nevertheless, je could only use the cross-wrist parry for so many times before an enemy could figure out a counter to it.

He also looked like he dove into a cactus patch with all the nicks, scratches, and flesh wounds he got from The Faceless's unbreakable steel rapier.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded Myojin. "Are you part of the Brigands Guild?"

The disguise-wearing, mask-wearing man reminded the Tokyo Samurai Descendant of Aoshi Shinomori's right-hand masked man—the late, great Hannya. The second-in-command in the Tokyo Oniwabanshu.

"I'm known by many names," said The Faceless. "But right now, I am known as John Rathbone. Delighted to make your acquaintance."

'Right now? What did this weirdo mean by that?' thought the samurai kid before responding, "Myojin Yahiko. Remember the name!"

"Terribly sorry. I don't make a habit of remembering the names of future victims."

"...You son of a bitch!"

In the middle of this embarrassing swordsmanship lesson was a steady beat of weak, avoidable thrusts that kept Yahiko at a distance, not unlike the flickering, long-range staff strikes of May Brooks.

So how come Myojin could counter his sparring partner and get within her striking range but not this much slower fencer with a shorter-reaching rapier?

No, that wasn't it. That was oversimplifying things.

This assassin had rhythm in him. Like a dancer, he could time Yahiko's every strike then his upper body swayed, ducked, and went narrow when the boy managed to cut the distance between them.

This made him difficult to hit despite having a height advantage over the shorter young man. Also, his sword thrusts kept the samurai kid at bay, measuring their distance from each other every time.

His legs also circled and pivoted away from harm before the sakabatou could even touch him, on top of his lead sword hand parrying any other strikes that got past his legwork and bodywork.

This fight made John Rathbone—the duelist fencer personality of The Faceless—reminisce on how the Mimawarigumi Battousai countered his fencing with his own pure skill.

This boy was too inexperienced to figure out Rathbone's swordsmanship style.

However, he was skilled enough to avoid getting finished off by John's riposte. That parrying movement from his crossed wrists deflected his rapier stabs as much as the reverse-edged sword's own parries.

Furthermore, unlike many of his victims in the past, the kid seemed extra skilled at dodging sword thrusts. Like he'd been practicing against this very specific technique.

John marveled at how the kid's tenacity and his best technique—this cross-wrist martial arts block followed by a riposte—kept him from getting skewered when push came to shove.

Rathbone sneered. Yahiko couldn't keep up with the fencer's pure blade techniques, so he had to resort to parrying and riposting himself to survive.

My, my. This kid might prove himself as interesting a fellow as the Kagemusha himself. He was able to push him to an impasse.

'What an excellent Parry Riposte, even though his parrying technique is... unorthodox, to say the least. He's quite the blade catcher. Hmmm. I wonder if he could catch blades with his bare hands. I've heard Japanese swordsmen doing that before.'

The boy was even able to put a scratch on his mask and clip him to the abdomen with what could've been a rib-smashing body blow.

Enough fun and games though. The Faceless had a job to do.

To defeat the Parry and Riposte, one had to do a Compound Attack, otherwise known as a series of Simple Attacks timed with feints to open the defender up to a mistimed parry or riposte that left him vulnerable to the follow-up attacks.

Those were the mind games afforded by the Tactical Wheel that left even the Mimawarigumi Battousai stumped and confused.

It was like a game of Rock Paper Scissors wherein each item defeated the other. However, this time around it was Simple Attack beaten by Parry and Riposte beaten by Counterattack beaten by Simple Attack.

Just as Yahiko feared, his one counter to John's Beat Parry Riposte sequence that let him survive that long soon became too predictable.

Thusly, Rathbone tricked Yahiko into doing the Hadome too early in order to pry the kid's clamshell defense wide open, disarming him with the Circular Parry before he could do the another follow-up Hawatari riposte.

The sakabatou clattered uselessly on the floor. Meanwhile, the top of Yahiko's wrists gushed with his own blood after all the parries he done against John's naked blade with his uncovered hands and arms.

'...Dammit! This masked man is too good!' thought Myojin. He didn't really fall for the trap. Rather, he ran out of options and the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu two-part ougi was the only thing that worked against Rathbone.

His Plan B was actually doing his Hadachi (Sword Break) shirahadori (sword catching) technique—where he caught the sword by one hand and snapped it apart in twain or at least snatched it away—but Rathbone retracted the rapier in time before he could grab it.

Did Rathbone read his Plan B too? Had his every movement been predictable to the gaijin swordsman up to that point.

Nevertheless, as John Rathbone was about run his rapier through in the defenseless Myojin's wide, bugged-out eyes, they then both heard a banshee wail echo across the room from all four corners of it.

Like screeching widows crying at a battlefield filled with their husbands' and sons' corpses.

***

Back outside the affiliate offices of Minakata Pharmaceuticals in Chinatown...

A cold air around Kyoko Sakaguchi became colder somehow, her breath fogging in front of her as she took a knee, her legs buckling from underneath her. Her back felt like it was on fire though.

She looked over her shoulder. There stood—or rather, crawled—the goggled brigand member, looking like a walking bug with his gleaming lenses for eyes.

"Ah. An actual challenge," said he. "That was a superb sword slash. An excellent follow-through from a missed iaijutsu slash. That took me by surprise. You Musou Madden Ryu students are something else."

Resisting the urge to cry, she hissed athim, "Who are you? Why are you after Kinta-sama and the Minakata Family?"

"...Fine then. I'll give you my name, little one. I'm Hidaka Kai of the Fuuma Ninja Clan. Regarding the Minakatas, it's nothing personal, I assure. I'm just here to fulfill a job."

"Wh-Who sent you?"

She barely deflected another rope spear with the Fuyutsuki's naked blade that would've punctured her eye. The strain from her effort took her breath away, with her back screaming in agony for her while her actual throat could only gasp for air.

"Ah, the first piece of information was free. The rest you'll have to take from me. Over my dead body." Hidaka's lengthy exhale created billowing clouds of mist that he disappeared into.

'I-If only Seta Soujiro-kun were here...!' she thought, recalling the time when she saw Keisuke and his Fake Battousai Group murdered in the forest. She thought, like Yahiko Myojin did, that Soujiro killed those men.

It turned out that Soujiro didn't but the duel he had with Yahiko showed that he was quite capable of mass murder.

Wait. No. She had enough of men saving her from other men.

She should've been the one to confront Keisuke and his fellow criminals by herself.

She willed herself to sheathe her sword, knowing her normal swords swings weren't nearly fast or strong enough to even faze the enemy before her. She had to cut him down.

She wanted to be strong. She wanted to be more like her mother, her big sister, their family friend Chizuru Raikouji, or even Soujiro's girlfriend Rin Akahori.

She felt sick and tired of feeling so powerless all this time. She wanted to act. She wanted to help. This was the perfect opportunity to do so.

The Mikazuki O Tsuku Nari (Crescent Moon Slash) wasn't working against Kai Hidaka of the infamous Fuuma Clan.

Or rather, it couldn't hit the acrobatic target before Kyoko.

She tried pushing the ninja away from the compound with her one sword-drawing slash that was about a quarter the power of a Mangetsu O Tsuku Nari (Full Moon Slash) but was also a quarter of a hairbreadth faster.

The shinobi kept flipping away, swinging around with his rope darts, rope spears, and rope grappling hooks. He also swayed his body in weird contortions that prevented the young lady from landing her "signature move".

Actually, it was her best move, since she still hadn't mastered any advanced iaido or iaijutsu slashes above the Crescent Moon Slash, such as the Hangetsu O Tsuku Nari (Half Moon Slash) or Mangetsu O Tsuku Nari (Full Moon Slash).

Of course, the Aoitsuki O Tsuku Nari (Blue Moon Slash) was definitely out of the question. That was a bridge too far for her at this point.

'So this was the power of the Fuuma Clan Ninjas,' she thought, her slashes unable to land. She couldn't chain her attacks as well as Sho Kojima either, so it left her open to counterattacks every time.

Kai toyed with her. Instead of doing counter slashes, he ripped her clothes apart instead to embarrass her, unwilling to hurt her any harder than the deep slash on her back.

How dare he.

Hidaka wolf-whistled. "You're a pretty little thing, aren't you?"

This only enraged her further, her slashes becoming sloppier as a result.

She missed him again with her quick-draw slash, not having enough time to sheathe her grandfather's sword as Kai threw a rope spear to her neck.

She then deflected the follow-up projector with her empty scabbard. However, this time around, it resulted in her getting entangled by the rope because Kai jumped over her head then ran circles around her to lasso his rope across her small body.

She fell to the ground, practically hog-tied by Hidaka, who pulled the cords tight enough to make her trip on herself and lose her balance.

Hidaka harrumphed. "Jeez. Even the innocent granddaughter of a Musou Madden Ryu master is troublesome to deal with. What a fearsome iaijutsu school you have there, Missy."

The ninja warrior then shot another rope dart to the roof, with the intention to hide inside the ceiling in order to ambush any remaining, surviving bodyguards who'd dare exit the premises.

"P-Please. S-Stop..." she begged, her eyes welling up as she crawled towards Kai like a worm. "Father is...!"

She remembered that her father was still inside the building. She didn't want Lieutenant Satoru Sakaguchi ending up stabbed from behind by this nimble, rope-climbing shinobi.

"Stop? No. I'm sorry, young lady. I can go wherever I want or do whatever I please. For I am the last of the Fuuma Ninja Clan and I have its name and reputation to live up to."

As he rappelled upwards into the roof, that was when Kyoko attacked him, maneuvering her grandfather's blade in a way to cut through the tight bonds on her arms, hips, and legs.

She dashed towards the flatfooted Kai, quick-sheathing her sword with a supersonic ping sound like a gunslinger holstering his gun for a showdown.

Huh. She had the gall to play possum against him, huh? Right after he decided to spare her life and all too!

Hidaka pulled and retracted the rope spear he shot into the roof, turned, and aimed it at the foolish teenaged girl running towards him with malice in her heart.

***

Back at the main office of the moneychanger building...

Books flew from the bookshelf. Papers scattered across the floor. Vases shattered. Tables were broken in half. Every inch of the walls and floor got marked up by deep cuts and slashes, as though an ax murderer was on the loose there.

Most importantly, blood was spilled. Piles of bodies and limbs were strewn about for good measure. The several of the surviving bodyguards had long ago fled.

What a messy reunion Kinta and Takuto Minakata were having. Their sibling rivalry went to another level of violence even though mere minutes ago, they were mere strangers.

The Battousai of the Mimawarigumi lived up to his ruthless reputation that earned him the same nickname as the Battousai of the Ishin Shishi then and there by absolutely confounding the invading foreigner bastard wielding a bastard sword before him.

A man whom he shared blood with. His half-brother from another father. The Prodigal Son of the Minakatas.

While Yahiko underwent a western swordsmanship clinic under the "tutelage" of The Faceless at the room next to the office they were occupying, so too did Kinta Minakata "school" his estranged younger brother about the ins and outs of Japanese swordsmanship or kenjutsu.

A samurai clinic for kenjutsu and how much faster it was than westernized swordsmanship, if you would.

"Shit," said a bloody Lucas Grant as he spat out blood from his busted lip that was clipped by his big brother Kinta's blinding quickdraw moves with his sword. It was called "Iaijutsu", if Lucas remembered correctly.  

Once upon a time, Lucas was supposed to be named Takuto Minakata himself ("Minakata" instead of "Akahori" because Kinta's father, Azuma Akahori, married into the more prestigious Minakata Family).

Lucas attacked with his hybrid sword at varying speeds, breaking his rhythm and the strength of his sword swings by shifting from wielding his bastard sword one handed or two handed.

He took full advantage at how his bastard sword was a hybrid between the one-handed sword and the two-handed longsword.

Ordinarily, this would've allowed him to chop apart and through anyone before him like a butcher would to hanging pigs at the slaughterhouse. They weren't able to predict his wild slashes as they came at varying speeds and strengths.

The two-handed slashes were stronger and bone cutting. The one-handed slashes were faster and flesh cutting. He also did feints for good measure in order to deal with the likes of his master, The Faceless, whenever they sparred.

On top of his whirling dervish of cold steel death, Lucas could also physically assault enemies with punches with his free hand and kicks for good measure. The pommel of his sword's handle also served as a hammering weapon.

The handle itself could block his brother's katana cold like piece of steel pipe.

He used his knowledge of the Tactical Wheel (taught to him by The Faceless) to the utmost in order to keep whatever enemy he faced guessing whether he was going to attack or draw out a counterattack that he'd counter in kind.

However, despite the many dimensions to his swordsmanship that was good enough to murder most of the bodyguards the Minakatas hired, his big brother read him like an open book.

With his almond eyes wide open, Kinta saw through Grant's sleight of hand that allowed him to slip in quick one-handed slashes in between full-on two-handed slashes.

The Kagemusha also made the Prodigal Son miss the mark at every turn, thusly punishing him with either the Tsunami (Tidal Wave) of Old Moon Slashes or the bone-shuddering power of a single Full Moon Slash.

Figuring out that his brother's thicker, denser sword (which was even bigger than Rathbone's rapier) was stronger than even his Japanese blade made of high-grade foreign steel, Kinta dispensed with parries and dealt countless ripostes instead.

If he had to parry, he parried the heavy longsword by the flat of the blade instead of its edge to prevent its thicker part from hammering and shattering his sword the Akatsuki (Red Moon).

Unlike Lucas's bastard sword swings that varied in rhythm and speed, all of Kinta's supersonic swings varied in strength instead. They were all so fast the naked eye couldn't see them.

Their differences in speed between his weakest slash to his strongest slash were instead a matter of milliseconds instead of whole seconds.

This gave the Kagemusha plenty of opportunities to slash apart the defenseless Prodigal Son—who only knew how to attack and whose best defense was unrelenting offense—at will with every swing.

Thusly, Kinta's white shirt became as pink as cherry blossoms because his brother bled on him.

Also, Lucas couldn't land a significant blow on Kinta at all. At least when he sparred with The Faceless, he was able to land once or twice. He couldn't catch his big brother all this time.

Thus Kinta also lived up to his other nickname, Kagemusha. Fighting him was like boxing with your own shadow. He was untouchable.

The literal son of a gun looked like he'd been scourged with whips from the amount of cuts, flesh wounds, and outright ugly lacerations he got from the inimitable Kagemusha.

The shorter Minakata manhandled the taller Grant as though their heights were in reverse and Kinta was the bigger, stronger one of the two.

Like an adult would a little kid. Or how a big brother would toy with his younger sibling.

'Dammit. Cain was right. You really are something special,' thought Lucas.

Aloud, Lucas told Kinta, "Even though you're literally killing me right now, you're the one Minakata I want to kill the least. Aniki (Big brother)."

The Mimawarigumi Battousai could only respond with a glare, his body as tense as a tripwire ready to let his sword fly at the slightest movement from the implacable man before him.

Kinta's ototo (little brother) kept on coming at him like a recurring nightmare, his every wild slash that missed him by inches or centimeters felt like it could lop off his limbs or chop his body in half. Or even in quarters.

A high-pressure offense that pushed him to the edge even though he had not been hit once.

It was like playing dodge the car in the middle of traffic of a busy highway, dodging carriages and wild horses at every turn. Wherein one mistake could spell the difference between life and death.

Grant spared a glance at his Uncle Tatsuya, wrinkling his nose at him like he was a cockroach or a dung beetle. "And you, you're the one among the Minakatas that I want to kill the most. You vile scum."

Lucas remembered how Tatsuya actually hid behind one of his bodyguards and pushed him towards the Prodigal Son's bastard sword in order to escape a sword stab.

The banker truly was toxic sewage water personified. Pure garbage. A narcissist who valued his life over others.

Lucas was so disgusted by the display that he knocked out the bodyguard thrown towards him to spare his life. His life was much more valuable than the pig that used him as a meat shield to save his own hide.

Grant's one regret was all the collateral damage he had to go through in order to finish off the family who betrayed him and his mother.

In the background, Tatsuya Minakata—the uncle to both of the half-brothers—allowed himself to relax and put away his pistol. As insufferable as his nephew Kinta was, he was nevertheless doing short work of his sister's other brat.

However, he kept his grip on the gun regardless because he definitely felt that something was amiss.

The one who ended up out for revenge and hired the Brigands Guild in order to kill the members of the Minakata Family off. As if the fact that he was born at all as a bastard of some gaijin invader wasn't troublesome enough to the Minakatas on its own.

It figured that the forbidden... no godforsaken baby who brought shame to their family was back to pull them further into misfortune and despair. This lovechild of his sister was nothing but bad news.

His sister should've miscarried that devil of a bad seed of hers if he was going to be this much trouble in the future. They should've nipped it in the bud and had a special doctor conduct an abortion for her for good measure.

Tatsuya still had his hand on his pistol regardless. Not only because it was better to be safe than to be sorry.

He felt something was very wrong with this picture. Something was quite amiss.

For one thing, his stack of bodyguards within the room had all been killed, forcing his V.I.P. nephew to do bodyguard work for them.

For another thing, the state of his swordsman nephew concerned him.

Even though he didn't get so much as a nick or scratch from all the high-pressure sword swings he narrowly avoided, Kinta himself did more than break more than a sweat.

He wasn't only covered with his brother's blood but also his own sweat. His breaths became belabored, as though the effort of mauling the black sheep of their family sapped him of energy.

'What the hell are you doing, you stupid brat,' thought Tatsuya, cursing under his breath as he licked his dry, chapped lips. 'Being a professional murderer is the only good thing you've done for this family, dammit! Don't go buckling under the pressure now! Our lives are at stake! My life is on the line!'

Also of note, despite all the blood loss and wounds he received care of his sibling's accurate slashes, Lucas looked strangely calm (if a bit annoyed). Like he was used to being in such a sorry, injured state.

Like he was none the worse for wear. Like the sticky blood all over his body was red paint and his wounds were tiny paper cuts that mostly irritated him.

Tatsuya gulped. The lanky, reed-thin banker and ruthless businessman eyed the nearby exit. It wasn't all that far away, but while Lucas was there, that door might as well be located in China or America.

So close yet so far.

***

In the shadows lurked Kaita of the Sanada Ninja Clan. The invisible ninja (secret agent).  

He'd thrown several kunai (daggers) at the Prodigal Son to hinder his bloody warpath, which bought Kinta time to prepare himself and saved the lives of several Minakata bodyguards, allowing them to escape.

However, even though he kept the security safe, the two V.I.P.s he should've prioritized protecting remained in the line of fire against this crazed gaijin with his western-style double-edged katana.

Also, the kunai that stabbed Lucas Grant barely fazed him. Like he'd been pelted with pebbles or pricked with needles.

He wished he could do more to help, but this Takuto person seemed used to catching blades from out of nowhere. Like he was used to the shadowy tricks of ninjutsu (way of the ninja).

It must've been through Grant's training with The Faceless, who seemed like the western version of a Japanese shinobi (spy) himself.

Regardless, Kaita had one task at hand. To keep the Minakatas safe from harm by any means necessary.

In light of how worthless the Minakata bodyguards ended up being, the young ninjutsu master ended up relieved in retrospect that he summoned the Sanyoukai (Three Demons) of the Sanada Ninja Clan to help them out.

Sure enough, just as Kinta's Akatsuki clanged hard against the handle of Lucas's bastard sword, something rather stress-relieving happened.

Grant's handle block of the second attempt at the Blue Moon Slash (a double Full Moon Slash a fraction of a second apart from each other) would've finally allowed him to just grab hold of his tired brother and stab him to death.

However, fortune smiled on the Minakatas once more as one of the Three Demons appeared out of nowhere and blasted the lanky Lucas away right into the nearest wall like he was shot out of the cannon.

As though he were Marimo the Human Cannonball.

***

Meanwhile, in the next room where The Faceless and Yahiko Myojin were having their own duel...

A large, 6-foot-something barreled through the wall like it was made of cardboard with a crash worthy of a full-powered Dou Gami.

This allowed Yahiko to roll away from the thrust to his eye, the rapier clipping his eyebrow and temple, before he made a mad dash and scramble towards Kenshin's sakabatou.

Of course, he also had to stare slack-jawed at what happened first, along with The Faceless (presumably, since he was wearing a mask and his features weren't visible).

He had no time to think about what just happened and what its implications were. He just had to act fast, trusting his instincts would steer him through.

Anyway, what the hell was that? What came crashing down the wall? A bomb? A carriage?

No, it was a body. Another foreigner in a fetal position, covered in rubble, his blond hair matted with red blood.

Yahiko's eyes narrowed. The way the man crashed reminded him of Kenshin Himura's Dou Ryu Sen (Earth Dragon Flash) or his own Dou Gami (God on Earth).

Who was responsible for this?

The smoke cleared, and out came three shinobi also reminiscent of the circus freaks that were the Tokyo Oniwabanshu.

Each wore different masks, just like the loony with the rapier defeated all of Yahiko's Kamiya Kasshin Revisal Techniques.

One wore a green snake mask and had a gaudy armor made of snake scales. He held on both hands extra-thick twin whips that were also made of snake hide, their handles adorned with snake heads and their tips adorned with snake tails. Yes. He had taxidermy snakes for whips.

Another wore a scarlet demonic oni (ogre) mask with small horns on the forehead and spiky hair that might've been part of the mask design. He was decked in blood-red clothing and armed to the teeth with various swords, daggers, shuriken (ninja stars), and various projectiles. He held with him a two-pronged war fork.

The last one wore a realistic bat mask that looked like taxidermy work but its head was far too large to belong to a real bat. He had daggers attached to the side of his gloves like fins,  a black-and-blue garb that allowed him to blend into the night, and a bat-winged raggedy cape that billowed behind him.

"Yikesss. I think I overdid it with the ssshockwave," said the man underneath the snake mask, who had a bit of a lisp to his speech.

"Good," the solemn one of the trio, the one with the bat mask, tersely said. "You're supposed to do that."

The third man, the one with the horned ogre mask, cackled. "Baku is right, Ren. If you've actually managed to kill Lucas Grant, then our mission is complete."

"If that'sss the cassse, then ssstab him to death now, sss-Zan!" rebutted the ninja snake man named Ren, only to end up face-to-face with The Faceless.

"Oh, so the Minakatas had ninja backup aside from their usual collection of useless cops and hired guns and swords," said John Rathbone, his rapier at the ready as he did the fencing "En Garde" ready stance.  

'Who are these freaks?' thought Yahiko. 'Are they more of the brigands from the Brigands Guild? They aren't as tall as the foreign invaders, so maybe they're Japanese traitors like that one ninja guy they described in the briefing that swung around with a grappling hook and rope spears!'

However, the thing that happened next made Myojin doubt that all four of these masked men were allies. Otherwise, the Brigands Guild had a real problem with in-fighting among their ranks.

Rathbone ended up dueling all three of the demonic and animalistic ninjas before him, with them scattering like cockroaches then swarming him like bees from a disturbed hive.

Myojin couldn't believe his eyes. He didn't know what to be amazed at more—having these three ninjas push The Faceless to the brink or seeing The Faceless still avoid getting skewered or penetrated when faced with a triple team.

After that, Yahiko ended up seeing yet another masked ninja in front of him. However, this one wore the traditional ninjutsu cloth mask over the mouth rather than the elaborate costume mask of the other three shinobi.

"Oh good! One of you (the Minakatas' bodyguards) survived!" said the white-haired ninja who appeared out of nowhere, seemingly emerging from the shadows like how one would slowly fade out of existence in the darkness but in reverse. "Help me get evacuate the Minakatas out of these office!"

Huh. There was something mighty familiar with the way this ninja came out of the blue like that.

No, it wasn't like Aoshi Shinomori's Ryusui no Ugoki (Water Flow Movement). Instead, it reminded Yahiko of another ninja he fought recently.

Another invisible ninja.

Why was Yahiko feeling strangely nostalgic today? First, it was The Faceless and his stupid Tactical Wheel fencing. Second, it was this teleporting ninja. Maybe he was missing Tokyo a little too much.

"Uh, okay," said Yahiko, who then saw a sweaty Kinta and, uh, a trembling Uncle(?) Minakata follow behind this new ninja guy.

For some reason, the infamous Mimawarigumi Battousai and Shogo Amakusa's doppelganger looked pretty winded. Like he just ran a marathon.

"What's your name, bodyguard?" asked the ninja. "You're a bit short for a bodyguard, though."

"Tokyo Shizoku (Tokyo Warrior Class). Myojin Yahiko," answered Yahiko. "Also, I'm taller than you, Shorty." Sure enough, Kaita was indeed half a foot shorter than Myojin.

'Shizoku, huh?' thought Kinta. 'So he belongs to the same warrior class as the Sakaguchis.'

"Okay. Whatever, kid. I'm Kaita from the Sanada Ninja Clan. At your service," said Kaita.

"At my service?" asked Yahiko.

"No, you cheeky bodyguard. The Minakatas."

"Oohh."

Kaita shook his head. He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. Out of all the bodyguards in the next room, the only one left standing was this boy.

Even though he had to face that monster. The man known by many names—The Faceless.

The swordsman from another land who dueled Kinta Minakata to a draw.

Kaita then turned and addressed everyone before him. "Kinta-danna (Master Kinta). Tatsuya-danna. Myojin-da... well, Myojin Yahiko. Follow me."

Kinta and Yahiko exchanged brief glances and curt nods at each other.

'It's that kid again. The one that Satsuki beat at sparring,' thought the Mimawarigumi Battousai. 'She barely beat him at sparring,' he corrected himself.

"You're from a samurai family, right? Who is your father?" asked Kinta, to Yahiko's surprise.

"He was a member of the Shogi Tai and died for his beliefs," Myojin answered.

"Shogi Tai, huh? He must be a well-respected man," said the Minakata heir, to which Yahiko could only nod and answer, "Yes, he was."

To himself, Myojin thought, 'He's much friendlier than Shinomori Aoshi after all.' What a nice guy, that Kinta.

He was a hell of a swordsman too, merely judging from how untouched he was against his foreign half-brother.

As Yahiko escorted the Minakatas along with Kaita towards the exit of the building, the overwhelming stench of death assaulted them as soon as they opened the door outside the main office.

Even before the Prodigal Son had declared his war on the Minakatas in person, he and the rest of the Brigands had already made short work of the army of hired guns and swords the Minakata Family got to protect them from assassination.

The rusty tang of blood permeated in the air like a heavy velvet cloak of red death.

'Oh no,' thought Yahiko, a chill running down his spine. 'What happened to Officer Daddy? I mean, Kyoko's father? Also, what about Kyoko? Or Satsuki? Did any of them make it or...?'

It reminded Myojin of the massacre of the Fake Battousai Group. Or the horror stories he heard about Makoto Shishio's Ten Swords.

According to Kenshin, they actually put a whole village under siege once just so Shishio could enjoy its nearby hot springs.

How was the Brigands Guild able to do this from under their noses? How many of them were inside the halls of this office? How many members did they have in the first place.

***

Back outside the affiliate offices of Minakata Pharmaceuticals in Chinatown...

'No,' Kyoko Sakaguchi thought with a grimace. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. After the countless hours of practice and drills, it couldn't end this way.

Was all the effort she exerted a waste after all? Could she never catch up against the more talented students of Musou Madden Ryu like Satsuki Sakaguchi or Kinta Minakata?

Was she always going to be a victim? Was she forever defined by the moment when the late Keisuke assaulted her and hurt her father?

'She's being too impatient,' thought Kai. 'She's rushing in and forcing her attack when quick-draw strikes are all about patience and timing. Just like an impatient child. Or an emotional woman.'

"NOOOO!" she screamed, attempting to do a Half Moon Slash of her own, but this put severe strain on her arms, hips, and back due to the increase in centrifugal force.

Identifying the sudden burst of speed, even if it was just slightly faster, Hidaka responded by throwing his rope spear right into the direction of the whirling and pivoting  girl.

She unsheathed the sword in time, the extra strong pull stretching her arm outward so hard it felt like it was going to get ripped off of her shoulder from the socket. The rope got sliced cleanly, its sharp end embedding itself into the ground with a dull thunk.

More importantly, because it was a Half Moon Slash, its striking range or area of effectiveness went further than just directly before her.

"S-So fast," the ninja couldn't help but mumble as Kyoko came at him like a streak of greased lightning.

Kai dodged the slash with an upper body sway, sidestep, jump back, and swing away with a rope dart to the roof. Like he always did.

Only for his face to get sprayed with a fountain of his own blood.

"WHAT THE HELL...!?" he screamed before gurgling and choking with the red liquid.

Kyoko didn't fare any better than Hidaka though.

Every nerve of her petite body—as well as she herself with her mouth—then screamed in agony after she failed to do the proper follow-through from the slash.

'I'm short of breath. My arms and legs feel so heavy they feel like someone else's. My thoughts are muddled. And I can't even think... Father, Grandpa, Kinta-sama, help...!'

She crumpled down on the ground like cloth that fell from the clothesline, with nothing to support it.

However, her effort bore fruit. She cut right into the vest and goggled mask of Hidaka, drawing blood from chest to neck and chin.

Any deeper, and the blade would've reached his heart and killed him. Sliced his jaw in half. Split apart his Adam's apple. Made him breathe through his neck.

This "mere" girl was a threat to his life after all. He had to finish her off.

He swung around the trembling girl then tired a noose around her neck, with the intention of hanging her like many of his other victims.

"You want a war? You're gonna get one, bitch. The Fuuma Clan wills it."

***

Back inside the long halls of the affiliate offices of Minakata Pharmaceuticals in Chinatown...

Kaita the Sanada Ninja led the Minakatas and Yahiko out of the office, which had become an unfamiliar labyrinth due to all the piled-up bodies and blood splattered all over the walls.

All the lamps were also cut down to size or had their flames put out as well, which necessitated the shadow warrior to take out a small lantern to light their way.

"Hey, Sanada Kaita. Where are we?" asked Myojin.

This guy. "My family name isn't Sanada," answered Kaita. "Also, you talk too much."

"But you just said you're from the Sanada Ninja Clan."

"Our ninja clan was established under the Sanada Nobishige. Laymen like you know him as Sanada Yukimura. Historically, we got the name of our clan from him in honor of him."

"No way. You're pulling my leg!"

"...."

Yukimura or Nobushige Sanada was a famous Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku (Warring States) Era. He was especially known as the leading general on the defending side of the Siege of Osaka.

He was a historical figure like Hajime Saito was, except even more ancient. So the Sanada Ninja Clan had been serving him since the late 1500s, huh? Their clan should therefore be 300 years old!

Yahiko blinked then nodded, rubbing his chin. "Huh. You learn a new thing everyday." To himself, he thought, 'Unbelievable. The Minakatas have historical ninja clans serving under them? It pays to be rich, huh?'

Something else then occurred to him. All this talk of historical figures reminded him of how Shogo Amakusa himself once embraced the name Amakusa, thusly calling himself the Second Coming of Shiro Amakusa.

The infamous Shiro Tokisada Amakusa led the Shimabara Rebellion, an uprising of Japanese Roman Catholics against the Shogunate from December 17, 1637 to April 15, 1638. They were defeated, and Shiro was executed at the age of 17.

As though Shogo was the grown-up version of that 17-year-old saint.

Could there be a connection?

The musty tang spread all over the rooms and hallways, seemingly permeating right into their clothes. It'd take weeks to wash the smell out.

Kaita, Kinta, and Yahiko were used to the smell, for good or for ill. Tatsuya felt like puking then and there.

The smell of blood and cut meat. They truly were dealing with butchers, weren't they?

"There shouldn't be more than three Brigands in this building," Kaita reported to his master, Kinta. "Two of their members are currently in Yokohama Police custody."

Kinta nodded. "Are you sure there are only five of them?"

Kaita responded, "We've researched all the recent arrivals at the Yokohama pier and recorded sightings of their criminal activities. There are five of them that we know of. Your half-brother, Lucas Grant. The man with many identities, The Faceless. The poison swordsman Cain Merrick. The acrobatic ninja Hidaka Kai. And the axe murderer Hugo Lentz."

'There are only five of them? And two of them are in jail?' thought Yahiko. 'Three people are responsible for this massacre? It's like we're dealing with hitokiri or the Juppon Gatana here!'

Kinta's eyebrows furrowed. "Something is amiss."

They then met up with a familiar face before they arrived at the exit.

***

Back outside the office...

The rope dart hooked itself unto Kyoko's shoulder, while the rope wrapped around her neck like a lasso over cattle. 'Oh no...!'

The sprain on her shoulder and the strain on her body kept her from using her grandpa's sword to cut down the rope.

Before she knew it, Kai Hidaka of the Fuuma Clan had already found a nearby tree for which to lynch her, with him using his own strength to raise her body up to hang her by her neck with the noose.

It hurt to breathe. Her life then flashed before her eyes.

She remembered playing around the dojo where Kinta Minakata practiced, admiring his perfect form and perseverance. She also recalled marveling at the golden locks of the foreign girl that would become her sister.

May Brooks was her birth name but she looked ecstatic when Grandpa Genzo had her put in the family registry as Satsuki Sakaguchi instead.  

There was also Chizuru Raikouji, who was her big sister's rich best friend that wasn't at all like the rich kids and adults that regularly visited the many Minakata special events and various properties across Yokohama and beyond.

She remembered her goofy father Satoru doting over her, which made her mother giggle. He was a soft-spoken yet dependable sort of man in contrast to her headstrong mother that kind of reminded her of Chizuru.

No wonder their family friend Chizuru and Nonoko got along famously. Like two peas in a pod.

She vaguely remembered her grandfather not approving of her parents' relationship, but her father won her mother over by supporting her dreams of opening her own soba shop instead of inheriting the family trade of blacksmithing and jewelry making.

'Mother. Father. Goodbye. I love you,' she thought as she drifted into the black abyss, tears falling from her eyes.

She then felt precious air to rush back to her lungs as the vise grip unto her neck loosened. Did the rope break? Did this enemy before them decide to spare her?

No, there wasn't a merciful bone in his body.

Unable to brace herself as she fell, she felt like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Afterwards, strong hands caught her in mid-fall.

She opened her eyes. First, her blurry eyes saw a flabbergasted Kai scrambling back to his feet. "What was that slash...!?"

She blinked back tears then saw her father carrying her. Saving her once again from harm.

She smiled. "Father."

He looked scuffed-up and his disheveled uniform was torn in several places, but he was otherwise all right.

He came back for her, even after she insisted to do bodyguard duty for the Minakatas when her whole family was against it.

He wasn't looking at her though. He instead stared straight at Hidaka, speaking in a cold voice and timber she rarely heard before.

"Get away from my daughter, you freak."

***

Lucas Grant dug himself out of the pile of wood and plaster that he got buried under after something made him crash into the wall.

Dammit, and he was so close to beating his skilled half-brother at their sword battle too! Who dared interrupt him and his long-lost brother's fateful duel?

"Yo. I sssee that you're awake, gaijin."

Lucas shook the cobwebs out of his head, his vision finally clearing as he stared at the person who said those disrespectful yet lisped words.

It was a grown man wearing a snake mask and leathery body armor made of snakeskin while holding two taxidermy boa constrictor snakes as whips.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I am Ren of the SSSanada SSSanyoukai (Three Demons). And now that you know my name, you're asss good asss dead."

What the hell was he looking at? What was going on here? Ah, it didn't matter who this clown was. Or that he talked with a strange lisp. What mattered was that he was in the way.

He was in the way of his revenge against the evil Minakatas and like the noble demon of an heir. The Kagemusha who became their chosen one instead of him, the black sheep of their family.  

He then saw Ren whirl his snake whips in such a way that their resulting whipcrack—essentially a miniature sonic boom—burst into a huge shockwave of a landslide that buried him anew in plaster and wood as well as earth, rock, and tiles.

Huh. His mission of revenge in Japan was going to be tougher than he thought.

The whole room shook from the resulting explosion that Lucas jumped and rolled away from.

He grinned. 'Interesting.'

***

Before Lieutenant Satoru Sakaguchi went back outside to save his daughter from being lynched by the Brigands Guild's Kai Hidaka...

"Kinta-sama! Yahiko! Watch out! It's a trap!" a scuffed-up and disheveled Lieutenant Satoru Sakaguchi shouted out to the Minakatas and their escorts while doing battle with his saber on one of the guards he was with.

The quartet of Yahiko Myojin, Kaita, Kinta Minakata, and Tatsuya Minakata were in the middle of the lobby inside the moneychanger office when they were ambushed.

By the undead. Or rather, the living dead. As in their living traitorous bodyguard pretending to be dead, lying near the bodies of the unaware bodyguards they had killed.

Hiding behind freshly killed bodies was a classic ambush tactic by the ninjas of Japan.

Fascinating how the Brigands were able to come up with it. Perhaps it was taught to them by that acrobatic ninja in their ranks? Or maybe The Faceless himself had a ninja disguise and training.

"Watch out, Ojisan (Old Man)!" shouted Myojin, who snatched out the glinting something in the darkness by reflex.

The attempted stab to Tatsuya's side was deflected by Yahiko's Sword Break technique that allowed him to catch blades with his bare hands.

Instead of attempting to break such a short dagger, the boy instead twisted and broke the wrist of the man holding the weapon. This was before he slammed the handle of the sakabatou into the person's throat.

Kinta himself did a destructive Full Moon Slash  that dropped multiple attackers at once, resulting in multiple sprays of blood that didn't look any different from the rest of the splatters made by the actual bodies of dead bodyguards.

Yahiko whistled in appreciation. 'And here I thought Satsuki's Full Moon Slash was a thing of beauty! Damn. Look at how fast and smooth he drew out that katana. No wonder he's called the Mimawarigumi Battousai.'

Kinta didn't even break a sweat slashing apart their ambushers.

Weird. Earlier, he looked like he ran a marathon. So he already recovered from earlier?

From what little he'd seen of him so far, Yahiko surmised that Kinta's iaijutsu style was so perfect that he used minimal effort.

Wait. What was it about his half-brother alone that tired him out compared to him easily dispatching multiple attackers?

"You bastards! I paid good money for you! Traitors!" screamed a sweaty Tatsuya, who took out his pistol and started shooting at everything that moved, which made both Yahiko and Kinta jump away from him.

As for Kaita, he was nowhere to be seen suddenly. Did he abandon them in their time of need?

Nope. Instead, unseen from the darkness, he threw his kunai at various hidden bodyguards in between panels, sliding doors, walls, and ceilings as they moved in for the kill.

These blades served as tags or markers for both Yahiko and Kinta to take the remaining turncoats out with sword slashes, scabbard strikes, and pummeling handle strikes.

This ninja with the cloth mask and white hair was a pretty dependable person himself. Like a male Misao Makimachi or something.

It was here that Kinta noticed the strange blade of the young man. A reverse-edged sword. He heard tales and rumors of his namesake, the Hitokiri Battousai, carrying such a sword.

So Munenori Minoe was telling the truth. The kid that tagged along with him did know who the real Battousai was.

Fascinating.

The Yokohama Lieutenant finally reached the quartet after dispatching the last nearby bodyguard traitor. "We were setup! Every other bodyguard in this building is working for the Brigands."

"'Is'?" repeated Tatsuya before reloading his pistol, moving towards a groaning ambusher who was still alive, and shot him in the head. "Not 'is'. 'Was'."

Kinta then asked Satoru, "Where's Kyoko?"

Satoru answered, "I left her outside with the perimeter security guards." The color from his sweaty, bruised face then drained, his mouth hanging open as he mouthed, 'Oh no,' but no sound came out of his mouth.

A chill traveled the back of Yahiko's head, his heart sinking. "I'm going to save her, Satoru-san!" but then he got grabbed by the shoulder. By Kinta. "Wha...?"

"Please," said the Mimawarigumi Battousai. "Take care of my uncle. I'm going to Kyoko."

Yahiko gulped and absently nodded at Kinta. He then looked over beside him, expecting to see their ninja guide, but he couldn't locate him.

The Tokyo Samurai Descendant then yelped out when Kaita chimed in from behind him, "Understood, Kinta-danna. Myojin Yahiko and I will escort Tatsuya-danna out of Chinatown."

And so it was decided that they split up, with Yahiko and Kaita protecting Tatsuya while Kinta and Satoru went straight for Kyoko.

However, even after exiting the moneychanger office, they weren't exactly home-free yet.

***

To Be Continued...

Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm also using minor Rurouni Kenshin filler episode characters along with Original Characters (Do Not Steal) to fill out the lore of this series.

However, Marimo Ebisu the Cannonball Girl did so well a couple of chapters ago that I couldn't help myself. Besides which, the Sanada Ninja Clan has been lurking around the block since the earlier chapters anyway.

The déjà vu joke from Gan is from an episode of "Friends". Phoebe says it. I also included some malaphors (the blending of idioms or clichés until they don't make sense) I've read in some meme in their dialog for good measure.

Danke, Abdiel

[gabriel-gabdiel]

Rurouni Yahiko Chapter 51: A Casket of Secrets

The skeletons of the Minakata Clan are found in closets while their secrets are hidden in caskets.

The rest of the chapters of my Rurouni Kenshin fan fiction are available here. Enjoy.

First | Previous | Next

Back in Shimabara, six years ago...

Kinta Minakata (the Shogo Amakusa doppelganger) had finished another sparring session with Kaede Morinaga (the Kenshin Himura doppelganger) with the fight ending with the Mimawarigumi Battousai narrowly winning.

This was so because "Shiro Amakusa the Second" was busy with morning mass and the healing of the sick Kakure Kirishitans (Hidden Christians) with western medicine, so he didn't have time to spar with the warrior woman.

"STOP RUNNING AWAY AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!" demanded the tempestuous Kaede. "COWARD!"

"....But you're a girl," said Kinta, which resulted in him backpedaling from a screaming Morinaga's Scorpion Nest (multiple sword swipes from two swords).

Ah, so he was right. This time around, Kaede was a girl. Because sometimes, she instead claimed she was a boy. Like a woman possessed by different spirits.

Morinaga was a curious lady. Sometimes she fought like a ferocious tigress. Other times, she was as frustrating to battle as a snapping turtle hiding inside a thick shell.

Once in a "blue moon", when she was consumed with bloodlust and bad memories, she became a mix of both.

He even heard that when she tied her hair like a topknot, she even looked like the Legendary Hitokiri Battousai himself, but he personally had no idea. He never met his Battousai namesake.

Blocking every strike and countering sharply. She was a yin and yang of patient defense and inimitable offense.

She didn't only fight with a different style every time but also with a different attitude. It was like fighting three different people altogether.

"DAMMIT!" she screamed and threw her shinai (bamboo blade) at Kinta, who parried it almost automatically with his own weapon. "I want a rematch! Round two! Next time, I'll break every bone in your body, you sullen Shogo-sama wannabe!"

"Go ahead," Minakata dared with a half-smile (or half-frown). "A broken bone becomes stronger once healed."

Morinaga harrumphed. "Admitting defeat already, Kagemusha?"

"...I believe in kintsukuroi (gold repair)," he stated matter-of-factly. "Whatever that's broken can be fixed. Made even better than before."

"How naive. Spoken like a privileged, spoiled samurai." Kaede laughed then grimaced. "There are some broken things that can never be fixed, no matter how hard you try."

***

Rurouni Yahiko

A Rurouni Kenshin Continuation Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Not-so-fabulous secrets are about to be revealed. A skeleton or two might even pop out. 

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) are the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted materials that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 51: A Casket of Secrets

***

Somewhere in Yokohama, back at the Minakata safe house, Kinta Minakata reminisced about his time with Shogo and the Hidden Christians.

Kinta also wondered how a fight between Kaede and Soujiro would go.

He'd fought both, after all. Which one was better?

From his experience, unless something changed between the six years he last fought Morinaga, then Seta would probably win.

Especially the Soujiro whose feelings and bad intentions Minakata couldn't read at all: His "Heaven Sword" self.

So what made the Mimawarigumi Battousai think about Shogo's apprentice now of all times? Nostalgia, perhaps.

Or something to distract him from the depressing news he got about his dear ol' grandfather. Of happier times with Shogo, Sayo, Kaede, and the Hidden Christians that he called family once upon a time.

Before Kinta betrayed them to the Meiji Government.

Like grandfather like grandchild, apparently.

Although the fight with Tetsuo Akahori's latest pawn, Soujiro Seta, was one that Kinta Minakata almost lost, he was still able to retrieve documents of the utmost importance.

So in the end, he won. Kind of.

They were samples of the decoded papers that should help the Sanada Ninja Clan in unraveling the mysteries behind the Seiryu Clan's volume of the Black Book.

"...."

The decoders of the clan (since secret messages were among the specialties of these shadow warriors) came up first with the messages and correspondences from the bakufu to the Minakatas and back along with plans of wiping off the rebellious Ishin Shishi rebels.

The families involved in the creation of the Black Book, the Four Clans, were government spies that were tasked to preserve Japanese culture but ended up becoming embroiled in Bakumatsu politics themselves.

They covered all bases from both sides of the conflict... the Shogunate and the Patriots... while at the same time having no dog in the fight. They had loyalty to neither faction or to themselves but pretended that they did.

The Seiryu Clan represented the Bakufu or the Shogunate.

The Byakko Clan represented the Japanese Imperial Army and the Shinsengumi.

The Suzaku Clan represented the Ishin Shishi Patriots.

And the Genbu Clan represented the Rebel Samurai and the Hitokiri or Manslayers of the Ishin Shishi.

Whoever they represented, they had an extensive catalog of their info and members. The Four Clans were supposed to be objective observers outside the conflict looking in, gathering information out of all sides and exchanging them among each other for the sake of gaining favor of the government when the war was over, regardless of which side wins.

As typical of such setups, the Four Clans started to backstab each other, throwing objectivity under the horse carriage and vying for supremacy by taking a gamble and backing what they viewed were the ultimate victors of the war.

Because of this, some clans were wiped out completely. The Suzaku Clan, for example, was discovered by the Ishin Shishi as traitors and killed by their best hitokiri.

However, the Sanada Ninjas and the Mimawarigumi Battousai soon realized that relaying government secrets weren't the only things that the Black Book's secret codes were used for.

***

Back in the hideout of the kidnappers in the middle of the Hiroshima woods...

The rider from before arrived in time to attack Yahiko Myojin and Kaede Morinaga with his bullwhip, saying, "...I see you came too late ta save 'er, ya bitch! Da boss already got 'er, didn't he? Serves ya right!"

Yahiko Myojin, still miffed from before, grabbed hold of the whip before it cracked, let it loop around his wrist, then pulled the hooligan towards him in order to hogtie him with his own weapon.

"I got to your cowardly boss before he could touch her. We got here just in time," Myojin countered.

The bullwhip rider still wouldn't shut up, though. "Dun matter. I've seen the same look in her eyes from many a horse with a broken spirit! There's no fight in her left! She's dead inside! Soiled fer life! HAHAHAmmph!"

Yahiko had to tie a gag on the criminal just to keep him quiet.

Meanwhile, the one girl Kaede Morinaga wanted to save the most on that day... Mariko... broke down right before her eyes.

Her spirit was shattered into pieces like Kaede's. Realizing what had almost happened to her.

The pale Mariko looked back at the redhead with cloudy eyes, her quivering lips opening as though to say something.

Morinaga grabbed hold of the girl by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes to help her treat the wounds of her past.

Saying things that another special someone in her life had said to her before. Shogo Amakusa's words.

"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her," she quoted Shogo, who in turn quoted Jesus Christ from the Christian Bible's New Testament.

"Minoe-san..." Mariko trailed off, unaware of Kaede's multiple personalities, thus calling her by the name she knew her first.

"I'm not saying that because you've done anything wrong, Mariko. You're obviously not at fault here. These... criminals have no right to judge you. Listen to me. You are not soiled. You are not somehow 'less' of a person than any of us. Any of them, especially. They're scum. Don't let anyone ever say otherwise, y'hear?"

"...."

The clouds in Mariko's eyes lifted before, with a quibbling mouth and sobs that wracked her body, she hugged Morinaga tightly. She said, "...I was so scared!"

As for Yahiko, he grabbed hold of Takae's straw kabuto and placed it over his head to the point of covering his eyes, as though tipping it at the girls. He then walked away to let them have their moment.

"...Thank you for saving me. Good thing you got here on time," Mariko said after her sobs had finally subsided.

Kaede scratched her head. "N-No. The one who rescued you was my good friend, Yahiko."

Mariko smiled wanly. "Well, he saved me too. You both did."

"Oh." Morinaga looked away and smiled herself, nodding once and borrowing her other self's catchphrase. "Mochiron (But of course)."

As for Yahiko, he realized that he still had much to learn. He still needed more training if Kaede of all people had to stop him from murdering that bandit.

He merely wanted to be as strong as Soujiro and Kaede but not to the point of becoming as crazy as them.

Or was sanity the price of strength? To fight monsters, you had to become one?

No, you didn't have to. Kenshin proved that it wasn't the case.

A couple of hours later, the police arrived on the scene along with Chizuru Raikouji (who helped deliver the other kidnapped girls back to their homes in Hiroshima) in order to arrest the hooligans.

***

Kinta Minakata had heard all sorts of stories about his late grandfather from his mother's side: The Late Great Toshiro Minakata. The former head of the Minakata Clan and Seiryu Clan. A legendary samurai in his own right.

He was a swashbuckling, seafaring samurai... a Japanese buccaneer of the seas... who safeguarded trade and battled against Chinese smugglers and European invaders of the South China Sea during the period when Japan isolated itself from the rest of the world (also known as Sakoku), thus trade was restricted only in certain ports in the country.

Toshiro was among the samurais responsible for controlling Dejima and Nagasaki trade on behalf of the Bakufu while at the same time being part of the secret alliance of the Four Clans as the head of the Seiryu Clan.

It was under his watch that the Portuguese were expelled from the country while at the same time, the Shogunate engaged with discussions with Korean and Dutch representatives so that the overall volume of trade didn't suffer.

Kinta took a look at his inherited sword, the Akatsuki. Unlike ordinary samurai blades using "pig metal" or Japanese steel with low carbon content, it instead used steel melted straight from the swords of the fallen Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch smugglers. High-carbon European steel.

The katana, despite its popularity as a collector item among westerners or its beauty and style, was actually a comparatively fragile sword designed to be manufactured on a budget.

Japan didn't have very good access to good quality metals like European countries did. The majority of katanas were made out of low-class steel to save resources.

Furthermore, only the front part was made of good metal and even that was merely coated with a small, thin sheet of it (and sprinkled with carbon powder as they were forged). The back end or spine of the average Japanese sword was incredibly frail.

It also wasn't the defining weapon of the samurai. That would be the spear or the naginata that the Sakaguchi's adopted daughter "Satsuki" used. At certain time periods, the bow was instead the military's primary armament.

Additionally, according to some of the more disdainful European merchants and blacksmiths that his grandfather traded steel with, nothing about the "overrated" katana was completely unique to Japan.

Similarly shaped curves in blades existed in European and Indian sword creation in one form or another. The process of folding steel multiple times was also used by Vikings hundreds of years earlier.

The standards of the world was eye opening to any Japanese in Sakoku Era Japan who believed that Japan was number one at everything, especially in light of the superior military technology that the world's superpowers of the 18th Century possessed.

All the same, this knowledge Toshiro gained resulted in him getting a Japanese sword forged with European steel. The best of both worlds in design and toughness.

The former Minakata head's military exploits and iron fist when it came to upholding the Sakoku Edict of the Bakufu was legendary. Indeed, Kinta's proud Minakata and Akahori lineages were what allowed him into the Mimawarigumi Army in the first place.

It was also during this time that Toshiro made use of naval codes to better facilitate the exchange of secrets between the Four Clans before they ultimately split up and chose sides during the Bakumatsu Era.

On top of all that, Kinta's grandpa used his influence as the head of the

Minakata Clan to form what was known in modern times as their zaibatsu (Financial Group)... the Minakata Zaibatsu... with its riches taken from the importation and development of new drugs using western medicine, leading to the development of their Minakata Pharmaceuticals subsidiary.

His grandfather was ahead of the curve and hedged his bets accordingly. He knew that the writing was on the wall when it came to samurai privileges due to changing times. In the Meiji Era, if you wanted to remain in power, then you should get it through money instead of blood and prestige.

However, there were also rumors of Toshiro taking advantage of his high government position back in the Sakoku Era to run his own opium cartel on the down low.

This was just a baseless accusation and pure speculation, of course. Rumors and conjectures that the envious enemies of the Minakatas would use to drag their good name to the mud.

These same critics went on a feeding frenzy like sharks against their family when Kinta's mother had an affair with a foreign dignitary, leading to the murder of the same gaijin in the hands of Kinta's livid father, who then committed seppukku (ritual suicide) afterwards to protect his honor.

The slander that resulted from the incident made Kinta quite skeptical in regards to the assumptions people made about his father selling out his dignity and samurai blood for illegal drug money.

These accusations were never proven, at least. They were just conspiracy theories from idle minds at best.

At least, that was what Kinta hoped they were.

Right?  

However, the recently discovered naval codes he got from the errand boy of his uncle from his father's side... Tetsuo Akahori... ultimately revealed the truth behind the elusive Seiryu Chapter of the Black Book. And his family.

An inconvenient truth.

***

By the time everything was sorted out at the police station and everybody from their group had a good night's sleep, the Sanbaka (Three Stooges) soon rejoined May Brooks/Satsuki Sakaguchi and her best friend, Chizuru Raikouji at a cafe near the Hiroshima train station.

The Great Gan, Yahiko Myojin, and Munenori Minoe arrived in time to bid their wistful goodbyes to the departing young teacher.

Reading the mood, Yahiko didn't mention anything about yesterday's storming at the camp of bandit kidnappers to Minoe. The Tokyo Samurai Descendant hoped that the eye-patched spy could figure out on his own the exploits of his female self, Kaede.

The three arrived just in time to overhear the conversation between the two best friends'... love life, of all things.

"...Oh my! You're such a damp squib, Chizuru-san! Especially with how you'd dare compare Kinta-sama to your crush, the vagabond. They are not alike at all!" said Satsuki.

They were apparently in the middle of some sort of conversation about Kenshin Kamiya (nee Himura) and Kinta Minakata (the man whom May had a crush on).

After Chizuru and May exchanged pleasantries, bows, and hellos with each other and the Sanbaka, the buxom blonde teacher then asked, "You're not making this vagabond guy up, are you? He's no make-believe boyfriend of yours, right?"

As Minoe mouthed, 'Damp squib? What's that?' the Raikouji heiress insisted, "HE EXISTS! But he's not my boyfriend, damn you! Anyway, Yahiko knows him! Tell her, Yahiko! Tell her about Homura Kenshi!"

'...Who the hell is that?' thought Myojin. 'Has she been infected by Gan's nicknaming sickness too? Get it together, Chizuru!'

Unwilling to bring up Kenshin Himura in Minoe's presence (lest his other personality, Kaede, was summoned by the name she hated the most), Yahiko decided to change the subject.

Ignoring Chizuru, the samurai boy told May, "I didn't know you practiced martial arts! You were amazing back at that kidnapper's hideout!"

He then remembered that, oh yeah, even Satsuki's stepsister Kyoko Sakaguchi from back in Shinshu practiced swordsmanship. Duh.

"HEY!" The Kaoru look-alike then stomped on Yahiko's foot with her booted foot, which he also didn't react to despite the pain. "I was talking to you, you rude boy!"

"...Do you pratice battoujutsu too?" Yahiko inquired further, recalling how close Kyoko was to fighting Soujiro and wondering how she would've fared. "Sorry, I meant iaijutsu," he corrected himself, remembering that battoujutsu was the old term for the Japanese sword-drawing style.

"Oh, good heavens no! I only use the naginata. I've never drawn a sword out of a sheathe in my entire life!" May tilted her head to the side. "Wait a tick, how did you know Musou Madden Ryu is an iaijutsu swordsmanship school, Joshua-kun?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Raikouji answered for Myojin. "I met Yahiko back when I was staying with the Sakaguchis in Shinshu. He knows Kyoko-chan! He even saw her wield her grandfather's sword that one time!"

"Oh, you've met my baby sister?" asked the adopted gaijin daughter of the Sakaguchis. "I haven't seen her in a while! Isn't she the cutest?"

Yahiko scratched the back of his head and admitted, "Y-Yeah, I guess she's kinda cute," while eyeing a smirking Chizuru from behind May. "...Don't start with me, Tanuki-chan (Miss Raccoon Dog)."

"I didn't say anything!" Chizuru feigned ignorance. "Also, that ain't my name, Yoshi-boy! Who are you calling a raccoon dog?"

All the same, Satsuki winked at Yahiko and invited, "If you want, spar with me sometime."

The grinning Chizuru then teased the adopted Sakaguchi child, asking, "What would Mister Frowny-Faced Samurai Guy say if he saw you flirting with another guy, Satsuki-chan?"

The Enlightened Gan then hit his palm in his fist, taking note to remember the "Frowny-Faced Samurai Guy" nickname that "Kaori-neechan"  came up with. Because he had his priorities straight.

With squinted eyes and a cherry pink blush, Satsuki grabbed Chizuru by the shoulders and shook her around.

"WAH! That's a load of cobblers and codswallop, Chizuru-san! And you know it! I'm not flirting with anyone! You Japanese are so shy that simply being friendly with someone seems like flirting to you people!"

Chizuru's sneering smile widened even while being shaken. Meanwhile, Yahiko looked away and Gan outright stared at the... jiggling girls. One of them jiggling more than the other.

"Oho, I thought you were Japanese too, Satsuki-chan," teased the Kaoru look-alike further, staring at Satsuki's not-so-Japanese chest. "Don't you mean 'us' Japanese instead of 'you' Japanese?"

"You're a meanie, y'know that?" said May with a pout and crossed arms. "I don't even think Kinta-sama and I ever shared a chin wag outside of 'Hi, how do you do!'"

"Well, Honey, it's because he's not the 'chin wag' kind of guy," Chizuru answered, primly straightening up her ruffled kimono and ribbon. "Don't take it personally."

In the background, Minoe himself reminisced about the silent Minakata, nodding in agreement with Chizuru.

Yes, the man certainly didn't wag his chin much indeed.

From there, the Morinaga within him awakened, seething in memory of how frustrating it was to spar with the high-ranking samurai turned Shogo Amakusa body double.

The Judas Iscariot of the Hidden Christians.

Satsuki's happy expression then changed altogether as she concluded with a lower lip quibble, "So I reckon this really is farewell, huh? Cheerio, I guess?"

Chizuru kicked the snow underneath her booted feet. "Aw. And we just got back together again after so long, Satsuki-chan." The rich girl sighed.

"Huh? But aren't you coming with me, Chizuru-san?" asked Miss Brooks.

"Eh? I was?" asked Miss Raikouji in turn. "B-But...!"

"Well, of course you are! I don't see why not! You're our family friend and this is a Sakaguchi Family Reunion!" May then put her hands on her waist. "You'll do great and Bob's your uncle!"

"Who the heck's Bob?" asked Chizuru, who bit her lip, her eyes wide and darting between Yahiko and Satsuki.

Myojin sighed, shoulders slumped, then shrugged and bowed at the Raikouji heiress. "I thought I'd still see your ugly face all the way to Kyoto, but if duty calls and family friends beckon, then I guess we'll just have to say our goodbyes here and now."

"N-Now hold on a minute...!" Chizuru stuttered some more.

"Aw, come on, Yoshi-boy! You still have me!" reassured the Gregarious Gan, who leaned on top of Yahiko's spiky hair like he were a countertop and picked his nose with his sausage-sized index finger.

"...Could you take Gan with you too? He's house trained, I swear," retorted the Tokyo Samurai Descendant while pointing at the thug with his thumb.

"I-I..." stuttered Chizuru, not knowing which path to choose. Should she go with Yahiko, who knew the vagabond, or her best friend, who was about to reunite with her childhood crush?

Yahiko, Gan, and Minoe looked at each other before bursting out laughing at Chizuru.

"Wait, what's going on?" asked Chizuru. "What am I missing here? Why are you laughing at me, you Three Stooges?!"

Myojin slung his arm over Raikouji's shoulders and said, "I was just kidding. We're all going. I've changed my mind. You don't have to go with me to Kyoto or Osaka because we're coming with you and Chizuru to Yokohama."

"W-What? Hey leggo, you perv," the heiress said before shrugging off the younger boy's arm over her shoulders. "But what about your Mushi-whatever? You were supposed to go on a pilgrimage for training, right?"

"Musha Shugyo (Warrior's Pilgrimage)," Yahiko corrected without a second thought before reassuring, "Don't worry about me. This is just a li'l detour before I head on out to Kyoto. Also, I want to spar with the students of Musou Madden Ryu for good measure. I want to see Kyoko and Satsuki in action, pitting their iaijutsu with my kendo."

'...Besides, the way I am right now, with both Minoe and Soujiro able to make short work of me at my current skill level, I don't think I'm quite prepared to face Kenshin's master of all people,' he told himself, remembering how much more mature Kaede was about the bandit situation than he was.

"ALL RIGHT! I mean, you know. Whatever. That's cool," came the petered-out exclamation of Chizuru, who brushed her silken "rich girl" hair back and squirmed in her boots after her best friend and the Three Stooges saw her sudden fist pump into the air.

"Oh my! That's indeed wonderful news! You're all coming with me?" asked Miss

Brooks. "You've made so many new friends, Chizuru!" she added before whispering to her best friend, "Chizuru-san, why are they coming with us again? They're not staying over at the Minakatas' like freeloaders, are they? Kinta-sama's mother isn't going to like that!"

Raikouji herself shrugged. "But that's what they are. Freeloaders. Interlopers. People who don't know how and when to mind their own business. But seriously though, they'll be staying in their own tents and inns. I guarantee they won't be a bother."

Satsuki saw the glow in Chizuru's face and cheeks then relented, "Since you're all chuffed up about it, why not? The more the merrier, I say!"

To Yahiko, Chizuru said, "I guess it can't be helped. We'll still be seeing each other again real soon. You stupid dumbasses."

"Right back at you, Raccoon Face," mumbled Myojin to Raikouji.

The Son of Tokyo Samurai then offered his hand to Satsuki for a handshake. "This is how westerners greet each other, correcct? I look forward to challenging your Musou Madden School for a spar or two. Tell 'em Myojin Yahiko from Tokyo's Kamiya Kasshin School sends his regards."

May grabbed hold of Yahiko's hand but then curtsied with her dress and bowed in traditional Japanese fashion. "I'm kind of looking forward to it myself, Joshua-kun. I know my onions when it comes to wielding long poles."

Gan guffawed in the background at that suggestive comment, which prompted Myojin to kick his shin.

"OW! It's settled then! Yoshi-boy's Musashi Gundoh continues in Yokohama, training with Miss Melon, Soba Lady's daughter, and the Stone-Faced Samurai!" declared the Boisterous Gan with a wave of his giant metal bat.

"...Soba Lady's Daughter?" Satsuki asked Chizuru.

"He means Kyoko-chan. Soba Lady is his name for Nonoko-obaasan. Because, you know, he really likes soba," explained Chizuru. "The big oaf met the Sakaguchis back in Shinshu too, along with Yahiko and Minoe."

"Ah. How... quaint. What riveting wit he has."

"Hey, at least he doesn't call her Kaori. Or Miss Melons."

"That's Miss Melon, Kaori-neechan!" corrected the Clueless Gan, which earned him swift shin kicks on each leg care of both Kaori and Miss Melon.

"YEEEOOWCH!"

"BAKA!"

After recovering from the pain, the Gabby Gan added, "Of course, we'll keep tagging along with Yoshi-boy for shits and giggles. The Sanbaka rides again. Right, Patches?"

"Mochiron!" responded Munenori.

Yahiko spared Minoe a glance, which made the wigged and eye-patched "man" smile and give him a thumb's up (because a wink was out of the question).

How could he surpass Kenshin when he couldn't defeat his two Kagemusha, the Ten Ken and the Battousai of Speed?

Also, he was more than a little curious about this Shogo doppelganger who also took on Kenshin's name, the Mimawarigumi Battousai.

Yet another Fake Battousai for him to meet. 'The plot thickens.'

***

Back at the kidnappers' hideout, after the local police force finally arrived along with Chizuru...

As the coppers rounded up the bandit kidnappers in shackles and handcuffs, Morinaga told Myojin, "I've made my decision. I'm going to Yokohama. I need to face off with the man who betrayed Amakusa Shogo-sama. His Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior)."

"K-Kagemusha...?" trailed of Yahiko. "What do you...?"

"It's Minakata Kinta. He served as a body double for Amakusa-sama six years ago. The Mimawarigumi Battousai. The one who betrayed the Hidden Christians to the devil himself, Akahori Tetsuo."

She turned her back on him and walked away. "Someday, when we meet again, maybe you can tell me all about Himura Kenshin. The Hitokiri Battousai."

"W-Wait, M-Morinaga...!"

He grabbed hold of Kaede and turned her around, only to end up facing the winking, gentler face of Munenori Minoe.

"Oh. I mean, Minoe. Hi."

Dammit, the Battousai of Speed ran away from him again.

Even without the wig and the eye patch, Myojin could sense the change in Kaede's demeanor after traveling with the weirdo for so long.

"AH! Yahiko-chi! What is it...?"

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Yahiko told Minoe, "I'm coming with you and May Brooks to Yokohama. We all are."

"Ah. Okay. Mochiron, Yahiko-chi!" said Munenori without thinking before blinking and realizing what the Tokyoite just told him. "Um, come again? We're going where now?"

Chasing Minoe... Kaede... and the rest of the Battousai Group was the right decision. Maybe by taking them down, Myojin would find the strength to surpass the real Battousai and bear the full weight of his heavy sakabatou.

It was silly, but his actions were spurred from seeing another chance at getting extra training to make himself stronger.

He just wanted to be stronger. He had no complex motivations of conquering Japan or avenging the death of a loved one.

He simply wished to be worthy of carrying the Battousai's... no Kenshin's... sword.

His most important inheritance.

What an idiot he was, he realized. No wonder he and Sanosuke Sagara got along so famously.

***

Toshiro Minakata was crazy. Crazy as a fox.

That was why he went from nobleman to merchant in order to keep his wealth and privilege regardless of which side won the Bakumatsu. This was also why he had his daughter, Kinta's mother, marry into the similarly wealthy and influential Akahoris.

He was a samurai who was ahead of the curve in regards to changing times, even though not all of his schemes went according to plan.

Like his daughter's affair with a gaijin. Or his own untimely death.

A prolific gambler in the prime of his life (like his fat lawyer son Kaneda), he knew how to hedge his bets and take calculated risks every time. Even if he lost, he'd somehow find a way to win.

According to his critics and enemies, Toshiro Minakata (allegedly) got his extra funding for his pharmaceutical business from illicit drug running. They said he was in fact a corrupt government official to the core.

The legit business that imported and made western medicine for distribution into Japanese households was the perfect front and money laundering scheme for all his illegitimate smuggling, complete with labs he could use to make both legal and illegal drugs.

The Elder Minakata got filthy rich from being a drug kingpin that no policeman could pin down until his legitimate pharmaceutical business (that he initially used as a front while using its very labs for opium processing) eventually became financially solvent itself.

It was the same bait and switch scheme done by the wealthiest families of the United States of America. Drug barons who made so much money, it lasted their family for generations to come.

However, there was no proof of such wrongdoing except rumors.

As far as the Bakufu and later the Meiji Government was concerned, Toshiro Minakata was an honest, honorable samurai turned head of a major conglomerate.

However, the naval codes unlocked info that suggested otherwise.

The naval codes used to hide info that the Seiryu Clan gathered from and on behalf of the Shogunate revealed more than just top secret documents from the past government hidden within piles of redundant paperwork.

The more messages that the family ninja Kaita delivered to him (which Kaita's sister Misanagi compiled and summarized for Kinta's convenience), the more the uncomfortable truths about Toshiro Minakata and the Minakata Family was exposed.

Toshiro's critics and their speculations didn't even scratch the surface of how much of a wily fox the old man was. He pulled the wool over everyone's eyes.

According to the puzzle pieces of hidden correspondences dating back decades and records hidden in code within what appeared to be mundane receipts and past contracts, Toshiro had been quite the busy man.

Working on both Dutch and China trade in Nagasaki as a trade regulator and enforcer that was answerable only to the Shogunate, Toshiro was the watchman whom no one else watched over. Betrayed by the very guardian who was supposed to protect them.

He realized that the writing was on the wall in regards to Japan and samurai after seeing the growing sentiment of dissatisfaction over the Bakufu by many of its soldiers and warriors.

The entirety of Japan had lost face thanks to the disaster that was the arrival of the Black Ships of Commodore Matthew C. Perry back in 1853.

The Shogunate was seen as weak and it soon became desperate to save face and crush the growing Ishin Shishi mutiny against it. The chain of events led not only to Toshiro becoming a covert drug runner but also the formation of the Four Clans spy group under the behest of the Shogun himself.

A government intelligence group tasked to protect the Japanese way of life in light of changing times.

Conveniently, Toshiro also took advantage of the resulting reopening of trade to the West after the Black Ships Incident in his plan to safeguard his personal wealth, assets, and influence in the future along with the Four Clans.

Taking inspiration to how the Sassoon, Rothschild, Lincoln, and Forbes families built their own riches in the 1830s to 1840s (the deciphered documents outright referenced them), Toshiro covertly engaged in opium trafficking at night (just like Robert Bennet Forbes) while overseeing the changing trading policies of Post-Sakoku Japan during the day.

He then married into a merchant family who had a pharmaceutical business in order to further help process the opium he imported from Hong Kong then resold back to China using his secret yakuza connections.

Yes. Rather than damn the Japanese, Toshiro had enough national pride to instead damn the already damned by also indulging in opium trade on their behalf along with the rich elite like the Delanos and the Forbes.

He even personally oversaw the safe delivery of his goods under the noses of policemen and his own samurai underlings even as he got rid of his black market competition of Wokou Pirates and the Three Harmonies Society.

He laundered his ill-gotten wealth and opium fortune to fund his actual legitimate businesses like real estate and his existing pharmaceutical company in order to get away with being a criminal mastermind that destroyed the lives of countless addicts for a couple of decades.

By the time the smoke cleared and the Opium Wars had passed, he was already a multimillionaire with a business empire that could rival the Mitsubishis.

All this time. All that wealth. All that privilege. They were all from the money his grandfather made off of the degradation and suffering of the Chinese people.

A cold sweat ran through Kinta's spine as more and more information surfaced from the Seiryu Clan's declassified copy of the Black Book. Names of past and current ministers kept popping up.

Men complicit with his grandfather's crimes... and benefited from them, so they allowed him to remain a powerful man in politics who was effectively above the law.

Such info from the Black Book was probably present in Tetsuo Akahori's own volume. The volume of the Genbu Clan. And two other volumes covering the secrets and sins of the various warring factions and other information of national importance all compiled in one voluminous book.

Every name, crime, and sin was listed along with the crimes and sins of the (grand)father. The measures they took and the bets they made during such a chaotic, uncertain time.

It was as much a history book as it was a "black book" that contained the list of secret contacts and people liable for punishment. Or blackmail.

Like with the rich families of the U.S. and Britain, Japan's elites and multiple political dynasties had an awful lot of drug money in their hands, making the Meiji Government more of an oligarchy than anything else.

This sobering reminder showed the unsurprising truth that if one dug deep enough under the family trees of the one percent, skeletons would be unearthed down below.

***

Inside a train going in a five hour trip straight to Yokohama in the Kanagawa Prefecture...

"Throughout my travels as a food connoisseur..." began Gan.

"...You mean food bandit," drawled Yahiko.

The five companions of Yahiko Myojin, the Great Gan, Munenori Minoe, Chizuru Raikouji, and Satsuki "May Brooks" Sakaguchi had collectively bought tickets straight to Yokohama from Hiroshima.

They were currently seated on couches facing each other, with Chizuru and May sitting on one couch then Yahiko and Gan sitting on another couch. Just behind his fellow men was Minoe.

Yahiko originally wanted to travel there by foot and rough it out on the woods (mosquitoes be damned) like he did when he traveled from the Kamiya Dojo to Shinshu in Nagano.

Then he went straight to Shura's crew at the docks of Naoetsu. Then he pushed further from Hakata Bay to Fukuoka, where he fought ronin who were terrorizing the town. Then to Hiroshima where he met the English teacher known as May "Satsuki Sakaguchi" Brooks, who helped the Sanbaka bring down a den of creepy kidnappers.

He'd been all over the map, so to speak. His Musha Shugyo had been... fruitful. He'd been perfecting his Revisal Techniques he developed on his own to harness the hardness and heaviness of the sakabatou (reverse-edged sword).

"Quiet, Yoshi-boy. Anyway, I've eaten all sorts of ramen. Okinawa soba. Kumamoto ramen. Hakata ramen. Tokushima ramen. Wakayama ramen. Onomichi ramen. Tokyo ramen. Kitakata ramen. Sapporo ramen. Ashikawa ramen. I even tasted Sakaguchi soba at Shinshu, which was one of the best I've ever eaten! Wait, where am I going with this?" said the Gluttonous Gan.

"If I have to hazard a guess, you're going to Yokohama City to try out the cuisine there," deadpanned Chizuru, murmuring, "Better not stiff the bill on us again, you fat pig. No more freebies from me for sure."

"Damn straight, Kaori-neechan!" said the Scatterbrained Gan, who ignored Chizuru's side comment, too focused on the dishes he felt entitled to partake in. "Can't wait to get a hold of those Yokohama goodies! What are they, anyway? What do I have to look forward to?"

Miss Brooks unironically answered the Ghastly Gan's inquiry with, "Uh, well we have Sanma-Men ramen in Yokohama. Oh, aaand also Shoronpo dumplings, Gomadango sesame balls, and the Gyunabe beef hotpot. Most of those are specialties of the Yokohama Chinatown though, so I'm not sure they count."

"Actually, that's perfect! All ramen comes from China, right? Didn't they invent the wheat noodle? So it's both Chinese and Japanese!" reasoned the Starving Gan, licking and smacking his lips. "Sanma-Men ramen, huh? But what about Soba for the Soba King?"

"We're not going on a food trip! While we're at it, you should've stayed in Hiroshima, Shinshu, or wherever you came from!" said Chizuru. The rich girl then nudged Satsuki's side, saying, "Don't humor him! It's not as if he pays for his own meals!"

"Oh my, let him be, Chizuru-san! No need to be chuffed about him," said the beatific teacher as though Gan were one of her misunderstood "bad boy" students. "Just think of him as a hungry bodyguard! Or a big, cuddly doggy."

"Ah, Megami-sama! You are such an angel, Miss Melon! A goddess from heaven!" said the Grateful Gan. "And quite the looker too! Woof!"

"Aw, shucks," said May. "You're beautiful too, Galileo-san! Uh, in your own way. You're a knees up kind of bloke!"

"Huh? You do nicknames too? We're going to get along famously, Miss Melon!" said the Japanese Galileo. "Oh, and speaking of melons, do you have some special Yokohama fruit desserts or sweets over there? Like melon bread or taiyaki?"

"Fruits? Desserts? Melon?" repeated the adopted Sakaguchi with an innocent bounce. "Well, yeah, I guess we have melons in Yokohama too. But they're not exactly Yokohama specialty."

The Grinning Gan was about to quip about something crass when Yahiko raised his wrapped-up sakabatou and aimed it at the bandanna-wearing man's head. "...What? The melons are coming back to Yokohama."

And so Myojin conked the goon's thick head with his sword scabbard. The Unfeeling Gan barely even winced.

***

Located south of Tokyo in the Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama was Japan's second largest city. The Minakatas settled there (or so Satsuki informed them) because of their influence in trade back in the Sakoku Era.

Around 1859, the government opened up the Port of Yokohama. It was one of the first places in Japan that allowed open foreign trade from a multitude of nations, spelling the end of the closed-off and controlled Sakoku Era Trade.

Knowing this, one of the premier hatamoto officials of the previous era packed his bags and moved his family to Yokohama along with the samurai family serving under him (the Sakaguchis).

That was how eccentric "Grandpa" Toshiro was, claimed Satsuki. He was a game-changing, forward-thinking maniac cut from the same entrepreneurial cloth as the patriarchs of the Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Mitsui, and Yasuda Clans. But this time with samurai blood and influence involved.

At any rate, Yokohama soon became a progressive city right after the Black Ships of Commodore Perry forced Japan to open trade with the rest of the world, making it one of Japan's most internationally minded cities.

It served as a gateway to items like jazz music, baseball, beer, and beef; products that would eventually play a role in shaping modern Japan and, in turn, Yokohama cuisine.

In fact, Asia's biggest Chinatown area (outside of actual Chinese towns) was in Yokohama. It was filled with traditional landmarks, restaurants, and shops that occupied several city blocks.

Speaking of Yokohama, Kinta Minakata learned even more about his grandfather in the context of the city's transformation as an international merchant town.

Reams and reams more of hidden codes started getting deciphered by the Sanada Ninja Clan. Other names and families came up with their own questionable histories during the Bakumatsu and their connection with the dying Shogunate.

Some of whom were still in high positions in government. Many others had died in the war, leaving their families in poverty. Their children and grandchildren suffering from the sins or karma of their fathers and forefathers.

Some even had their family line wiped out entirely.

But none of those puzzle pieces fascinated the Mimawarigumi Battousai more than his hatamoto grandfather and his shenanigans for obvious reasons.

His case was personal, after all.

The Chinatown in Yokohama boasted countless stores, making it the largest Chinatown in the world by the time the 20th and 21st Centuries rolled along.

The Yokohama Chinatown was established in 1859 along with the opening of the ports of the city. The shores of Yokohama were where all the Chinese merchants went and gathered after being forced to do restricted trade in Nagasaki for centuries under the watchful eye of samurais like Toshiro.

Yokohama became the new center of trade with western countries, and Toshiro Minakata grabbed the opportunity to himself indulge in western medicine importation and, on the down low, making and distributing his own brand of opium to China to fund his burgeoning pharmaceutical empire.

Kinta expected to unlock the sins of the forefathers of the current Japanese administration by decoding the Seiryu Clan's volume of the Black Book, not uncover that his grandfather was among those criminals.

The shards from his shattered glass house cut deep.

The opium that brought China to its knees in order to give Britain a more favorable tea trade agreement also pushed his grandfather and their family up to hatamoto-class.

"So what? Queen Victoria herself is history's largest drug dealer," was one of the smug coded messages that Toshiro left to justify his own sins.

Even as Japan suffered from Unfair Treaties by countries that bullied it into submission so that it could open its shores for trade once again, the Minakatas were among the elites who plundered and took advantage of the suffering of their own nations and other nations that were also headed towards the same fate as China.

As food for the new superpowers of the world. Manifest Destiny.

The saddest part was none of this disturbing info really shocked Kinta in any way. He suspected it from the start. Or rather, he wouldn't put such actions past his family.

It almost seemed typical for a Minakata to act this way, especially the oh-so-great Toshiro. Every one of the children of Toshiro and Mieko (his grandmother) were groomed for success.

Tatsuya overcame his lack of talent in swordsmanship and physical strength to grow up into a banker that handled the entire family's significant fortune stemming from its multinational financial group named after it.

Kaneda overcame his own inferiority complex of living under his assertive elder brother's shadow (and his own body image issues) by completing his studies and becoming a lawyer himself.

Even Daddy's Millionaire Princess did her part for the family by having an arranged marriage with the Akahori Family's eldest son to strengthen political bonds and secret ties as well as merge their accumulated wealth.

Although according to Grandmother Mieko, Kinta's mother was spoiled rotten by his Grandfather Toshiro.

Even Kinta served as a pawn to the Minakatas. Or the Seiryu Clan itself.

He had to become another Battousai to counteract the Ishin Shishi Battousai that murdered many fellow Mimawarigumi samurai (even though their paths and blades never crossed through a twist of fate) and earn back his grandfather's trust that was lost from him when his mother had her affair.

As though he were the fruit of that union rather than the biological son of Azuma Akahori and Aoi Minakata.

Even Kinta had to curry favor of his own high-standard hatamoto-class samurai family (and relatives) in order to not be treated like their black sheep or a redheaded bastard.

This was all understandable... even characteristic... of the Minakata Bloodline.  

The Mimawarigumi Battousai had heard stories on the dinner table from his bragging grandpa about how their Sengoku ancestors were defeated and became Ochimusha (disgraced samurai who'd lost standing and became low-ranked citizens; could also mean the remnants or corpse of a defeated warrior).

Legend had it that instead of becoming Burakumin (outcasts) hiding in the boondocks, the surviving members of their family stole the land under the control of another family of samurais known as the Minakatas by killing them, taking their identities, and defending their uncaptured land before allying themselves with the Tokugawas.

Known for the shaved top of their heads and disheveled chonmage (topknot) after being disgraced by defeat, the new shogun allowed these ochimusha to grow their hair back along with their dignity and standing as reward for their help.

The False Minakatas became the True Minakatas.

They henceforth became known as the Minakatas (their original clan name had been lost in time), replacing the family they massacred. Through their cunning, they managed to save face and cease from being Ochimusha. Allegedly.

"What are you going to do now, Kinta-sama?" asked Misanagi in reference to these discoveries they'd unearthed regarding his grandfather.

"...." said Kinta.

***

Back in the train to Yokohama where the Sanbaka (and friends) were riding...

Unable to take more of the Gluttonous Gan's inane food talk, Yahiko switched seats (it was a half-empty train) to sit with Munenori Minoe (or Kaede Morinaga) from behind them.

The Son of Tokyo Samurai sat beside Shogo Amakusa's own prodigy, who had her Minoe "disguise" on and was snoring softly with her head nestled on the closed window.

Or his head. Whatever.

Munenori (or Kaede) was, after all, the reason why Yahiko decided to do his Musha Shugyo training pilgrimage in Yokohama along with him (or her).

The samurai kid couldn't risk Morinaga separating from him and doing any political assassinations and whatnot under his watch, specifically on this Minakata fellow whom she described as a traitor to Amakusa and the Kakure Kirishitans.

After all, Kinta was Satsuki's crush and all.

Regardless, Kaede was the person who almost defeated Soujiro Seta the Ten Ken (Heaven Sword), who in turn almost defeated Kenshin Himura.

According to the former Juppon Gatana member, his Shun Ten Satsu (Instant Heaven Kill) was as fast although not as strong as the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash).

Yahiko remembered how Enishi Yukishiro countered Kenshin's ultimate technique with his own ultimate technique, the Kofoku Zetsu Tou Sei (Absolute Trap Blade Wave) or Kofuku Zettousei.

He then learned the mechanics of Zettousei from when Shura, the Scourge of the Pacific, used the same technique to get her revenge against Captain Masakichi Hananuma Inoue for sinking her ship and killing her first mate.

As the Pirate Queen turned Privateer Queen slowly but surely found a way to counter Captain Inoue's Wanmei Fengbao (Eye of the Storm) with the Kofuku Zettousei, Yahiko also put two and two together and realized that the Hirameki was susceptible to attacks from below the vortex it created, allowing a chance to counterstrike between the gap of the initial strike and the second counterstrike.

Myojin even began getting faster and stronger from sparring with both the Great Gan and the Battousai of Speed. Gan helped him work on his stamina. Minoe helped him work on his reflexes and dexterity.

They were the best training partners a growing teenage boy could ask for.

If the Tokyo Samurai Descendant could get on the level of the Nisemono Battousai (Fake Battousai) and the also-similar-to-Kenshin Ten Ken, then perhaps he could someday finally wield the heavy sakabatou and the accompanying burden of responsibility that came with it.

So that the injured Kenshin who could barely practice the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu wouldn't have to bear that burden himself.

Unbidden, Minoe began to stir and moan.

"Minoe?" whispered Yahiko. "Are you awake?"

"Amakusa Shogo-sama... is amazing. I'm sure that even the Hitokiri Battousai would fall against him. They use the same sword style, am I correct?" Yahiko heard Minoe murmur in his sleep, his one exposed eye closed and his other eye covered by an eye patch.

Ah, so he was talking in his sleep.

Yahiko smirked and harrumphed. "I've seen Kenshin in action. He's amazing. He helped the Ishin Shishi win against the Bakufu. What feats has your Shogo-sama accomplished?"

He then bit his lip, remembering how much of a touchy subject the mass murder of the Hidden Christians rebels were to Amakusa and Morinaga.

Thankfully, the half-asleep Munenori didn't interpret his words in such a malicious manner.

With his eyes (or eye) still closed, he rebutted, "Amakusa-chi is a gifted swordsman from birth, taking out young men his age in kendo tournaments then taking on older, more experienced swordsmen as well when none of the kids could match his kenjutsu prowess."

Huh. The Tokyoite didn't know that. Of course, most any sword style should succumb to the superman's sword style known as Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. "So he learned Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu at a young age, huh?"

Munenori shook his head. "He used Nikaido Heiho when he was younger. That was his father's swordsmanship school. His Uncle Hyoue taught him Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu later on, after... escaping from Japan when the Bakufu first rounded off, tortured, and murdered the Kakure Kirishitan, including his parents."

"Oh. I... I see." Yahiko didn't know what else to say.

"...Besides, he's also a one-man army that took down whole squads of policemen and whole platoons of soldiers. Or have you already forgotten what happened in Shinshu? How you can barely keep up with Shogo-sama?"

Or maybe Minoe did find Yahiko's rebuttal earlier malicious after all. That was... harsh of him to point out, to say the least. Munenori just reminded Myojin of his failure to save the lives of many a copper.

On the other hand, if the Tokyo boy remembered correctly, weren't some of the policemen at Akahori's Mansion involved in an incident with Amakusa six years ago? From another government-sanctioned massacre of sorts?

Shogo, as Shiro Amakusa the Second, assassinated the murderers of his parents (some of whom were still in power), only for the current Meiji Administration to retaliate against his growing rebellion.

The two went silent as the sound of the rumbling train and the murmur of the passengers drowned out their thoughts.

The samurai kid turned his head, only to see someone else other than Minoe stare back at him. The person beside him removed his eye patch, revealing a new character.

Kaede Morinaga had just woken up. He'd been talking to her all this time, not the gentle Minoe.

Kaede rubbed her eyes and recounted to Yahiko the things Lady Magdalia told her about Shogo and his exploits.

Magdalia had specifically told her the story of how she and her brother escaped the Bakufu's clutches.

Even though Shogo himself didn't seem to remember how he manhandled the samurais who were after him, his sister, and his mother at the time, Lady Magdalia filled in the details.

Shogo took out the initial wave with only his shinai before that broke and he was forced to steal a katana that turned him into a bloodstained whirling dervish.

Amakusa might've remembered things differently due to the trauma of the situation. However, had his master Hyoue Nishida not intervened, Shogo might've outright murdered the samurais that stabbed his mother to death.

In fact, Kaede had compartmentalized her skill set into two categories... Cancer Stance for defensive moves and Scorpion Stance for offensive moves... based on the dual styles Shogo used (the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and the Nikaido Heiho).

"Oh yeah? Well, Kenshin himself trained hard with his master for years. And when he was 14 years old, he also took down grown swordsmen himself as a hitokiri assassin! Grown experienced noblemen samurai, even," boasted Yahiko.

The boy blinked. As much of a bad guy he painted Amakusa as in his mind, the Hidden Christian was similar to Kenshin in many ways.

Except for one important thing, but he held his tongue in regards to that in order to not incur the wrath of the emotionally unstable Nisemono Battousai.

"That's nothing! Shogo-sama defeated his master when he was the same age! Using a technique of his own making, the Rai Ryu Sen!" Kaede countered.

"Okay? Kenshin defeated his master to acquire the ougi (succession technique)."

"Ha! I knew it. Shogo-sama is better."

"What? No! Kenshin's master is a god who walks among men. A superman in his own right. Also, last I checked, he's the official bearer of the Hiko Seijuro name. Shogo's uncle isn't, so he must be the weaker of the two!"

"No, he's not! He was the swordsman Kirisaki, who protected the Hidden Christians for the longest time single-handedly until that fateful massacre. I heard he also spared his master, Hiko Seijuro, from death by countering the Kuzu Ryu Sen with something other than the ougi!"

"...A likely story!" said Yahiko with a shake of his head. "Kenshin has a better, stronger master who actually inherited the Hiko Seijuro mantle, so of course he'd whup Amakusa's ass real easy."

"HA! I bet Amakusa's twice as fast as the Hitokiri Battousai! He'd have Super Godspeed compared to the slower Battousai!"

"Yeah right! Kenshin defeated Psycho-Kid when he was still part of the Juppon Gatana... in his prime, mind you... and Amakusa can't! He got completely defeated by Psycho-Kid back in Shinshu!"

"T-That's... unfair! He fought multiple policemen at Akahori's Shinshu Mansion before facing the Ten Ken! He was already spent! Besides, he showed that emotionless bodyguard of Akahori who's boss when he used the Rai Ryu Sen on him!"

"More excuses, huh? Well Kenshin faced off against an Oniwabanshu Okashira (Garden Guard Boss) before facing Psycho-Kid back in Mount Hiei, and he defeated both of them while holding back on killing them, which made taking them down twice as difficult!"

"Shogo-sama's master Kirisaki avoided killing the people he fought all the time, including Kenshin Himura's master, whom he also faced off against. He was a pacifist, so he became skilled enough in swordsmanship to defeat everyone without killing them. That's the kind of master Shogo-sama had!"

"Yeah, well, Mr. One-Man Army didn't help win a civil war against the Bakufu to install the Ishin Shishi into power!" Yahiko blurted out even though he didn't mean to. He couldn't help himself. His emotions got the better of him.

He wasn't even particularly proud of Kenshin helping the Meiji Government rise to power, especially in light of his experience with its corrupt officials.

However, instead of threatening to cut his loose tongue or castrate him, the Fake Battousai pledged to him, "Shogo-sama's own revolution is near. Once he gets the Black Book from Akahori, he'll have all the ammunition he needs to topple this government."

Kaede herself then slapped her hand over her mouth, realizing that she had said too much as well.

Reading the mood, Myojin changed the subject. "In full health, who's faster? Psycho-Kid or Amakusa?"

Morinaga turned her head away, placing the eye patch back on her eye as though to "summon" back her alter ego Minoe before muttering, "The Ten Ken is a little faster than Shogo-sama. But Shogo-sama can still beat him. Stupid Urchin-Head."

The Son of Tokyo Samurai heaved a sigh and confessed, "It's fine. Kenshin told me that Psycho-Kid is faster than him too. Seta Soujiro might even be faster than the whole Hiten Mitsurugi School itself. Maybe."

"...But I bet the Hitokiri Battouai is waaaay slower than the Ten Ken compared to Shogo-sama, who's only a little slower."

"Hey! Don't get ahead of yourself!" said the inheritor of the sakabatou. "I give you an inch and you take a mile. Honestly."

***

Much later still...

"You wanted to speak to me?" Tatsuya Minakata said. The banker son of Toshiro Minakata. Kinta's uncle from his mother's side.

"Yes," said Kinta.

"What the hell do you want, you brat?"

...And Tatsuya was every bit as intimidating, menacing, and cunning as his uncle from his father's side, Tetsuo Akahori. The complete opposite of his other uncle and Tatsuya's younger brother, Kaneda.

But that was in the past. Kinta was no longer a small child or gangly teenager that the alcoholic could push around and abuse whenever he was drunk.

Uncle Tatsuya might've not inherited any of Grandpa Toshiro's immense talent in swordsmanship, but he certainly had his father's business acumen as the person in charge (by proxy and with Grandma Mieko's blessing) of the Minakata Family's vast wealth.

As expected of a ruthless banker who was as thin as Uncle Kaneda was fat.

From behind Tatsuya was their newly hired manservant bodyguard who towered over the two like an outright foreigner despite being Japanese. Meanwhile, Kinta's uncle sat on his chair behind his desk, his arms folded and his mouth a scowl.

His eyes staring straight into Kinta's eyes.

Toshiro's grandchild could hear the insistent taps from the shoes of Toshiro's eldest son.

Hiding behind Kinta's shadow though was Kaita of the Sanada Ninja Clan.

Not that the Mimawarigumi Battousai who faced off against Hitokiri Gensai Kawakami needed help defending himself or anything.

The ninja Kaita was also there to remind him of anything he missed regarding the intelligence they'd decoded in their search for the Seiryu Clan's Black Book.

Kinta didn't want to make a single mistake about the uncovered intel before asking about them straight from one of their primary sources.

Conversing with his grandfather's son about past crimes was the ex-Kagemusha's way of giving Toshiro the benefit of the doubt. Even though Tatsuya himself could very well be an accomplice to those crimes.

"...Well? What is it? I'm a busy man," said Tatsuya with a dismissive snort, breaking contact with Kinta's gaze. "I have no time to play with you. We have goddamn assassins after us, if you haven't noticed!"

Kinta went straight to the point. "What do you know about the Seiryu Clan's Volume of the Black Book?"

There was a pregnant pause.

"Seiryu Clan? I have no idea what you're talking about," denied Tatsuya.

Like Jesus Christ's disciple Thomas, as Amakusa would say.

The younger Minakata then placed his copy of the decoded papers on the Elder Minakata's desk.

"What is this nonsense? I have no time..."

"There are declassified documents about Grandfather Toshiro's drug dealings in China using Minakata Pharmaceuticals as a front."

Tatsuya's scowl turned into a snarl. "Drug dealings? Are you saying your grandfather is a drug lord? Is that it? Those are some grave accusations you're hurling, kiddo. Be careful what you say."

However, Kinta always was careful. He spoke the way he fought. Methodically.

With no wasted movement or words.

The nephew presented a different document from Kaita. This time full of names, addresses, and quantities of delivered goods. Contact persons, if you would. More like accessories to his grandfather's crimes.

The names listed meant nothing to the Mimawarigumi Battousai, but he summarized and said them aloud nonetheless. They were Toshiro's contacts from the warehouses he stored his opium. The names of his chemists who processed the drug.

The list of ports under his control that allowed him to ship to China his own brand of premium-grade, potent opium that was easier to access than the ones being sold by the Indians, the British, and the Americans in Hong Kong and the Pearl River outside Canton.

Although his uncle would not divulge one piece of information about the Black Book, the reactions he gave to the uncovered information spoke volumes.

Kinta had all the puzzle pieces of the Black Book right at the palm of his hand.

Through seemingly redundant and suspicious documents, bogus employee contracts in triplicate, and receipts for business expenditures that were nonexistent, his grandfather had weaved a web of lies he used to communicate with the underworld in order to go about his opium trade in ways that would've made the likes of Takeda Kanryu jealous.

The sheer amount of opium Toshiro sold and money he made was many magnitudes larger than Kanry's lifetime wealth. It involved millions of yen's worth of drugs sold by the ton. The same way the Rothschild and Forbes families built their fortunes.

Tatsuya stood up from his seat and slammed his hands on his desk, with both bodyguards... the tall nameless one beside the uncle and the ninja hidden in the darkness behind the grandchild... stirring in reaction.

For Kinta's part, he stood his ground. In his younger years, he would've flinched or cowered away from Tatsuya. Not anymore. Not after everything he'd been through.

Tatsuya got in Kinta's face before smirking and attempting to feint a punch, but the swordsman wouldn't buy it.

The ruthless businessman had half the mind to punch his nephew. Show him who was boss. His little sister's forgotten piece of excess baggage.

Like the good ol' days.

"As if Father would leave a paper trail behind," Tatsuya rebuked, calling his nephew's bluff. "What piece of fiction have you written up here? Decode? There's nothing to decode here! Spare me your conspiracy theories and nonsensical speculation!"

"If this is all false, then you won't mind the police investigating all this evidence, correct?"

Tatsuya grabbed Kinta by the collar. The younger Minakata still wouldn't flinch. Defiant to the end.

"Call the police? We own the police!"

"The Minakatas haven't been influential in politics since grandfather's death," Kinta called Tatsuya's own bluff.

"Ever since you became one of those Mimawarigumi goons from back in the day, you've been full of yourself. You've changed. But I know better. You're still the same scared little snot I've whipped with my belt time and time again. How many times do I have to teach you that lesson, boy?"

Tough talk from a drunkard who never held a sword or killed a man his entire life.

Kinta didn't say those words, but Tatsuya must've heard his unsaid sentiment through his eyes because the banker soon swung at his face immediately after.

A swing and a miss.

***

To Be Continued...

Miss me? It's been a while, huh?

Salamat, Abdiel