Minutes ter, Mikoto got up–head spinning. She rummaged the room in search of a sharp object and sighed. Without luck, she went over to Dai–still unconscious and found a dagger hidden inside his leg bandages. She held the handle with her feet and rubbed the twine against the bde. Come on… Her heart raced. Come on you fricking rope!

  Dai’s hands twitched and he blinked.

  Crap... he’s awake!

  “Damn, Mikoto-chan!” Dai wiped his nose. “You’re strong!” he said, rubbing his chest. He got up and pulled out two nunchaku. “Please... don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

  Mikoto gave one st tug and freed herself from the binds. Finally! She jumped to her feet and raised both hands. “Bring it on!” she said, taking a defensive stance.

  “I like where this is going...” He grinned and charged towards her. “Let’s dance!” Dai attacked, using both nunchaku in succession.

  However, Mikoto blocked his strikes before countering with the dagger. The yakuza veered backwards and avoided being stabbed in the gut.

  Dai realised she was no ordinary ninja and charged–this time on high alert. As he rampaged, he nded three vicious strikes on Mikoto’s waist and arms.

  Mikoto dropped the dagger–feeling sharp pangs. In an effort to ignore the pain, she continued fighting. The space between them became her disadvantage. He could strike her with the nunchaku from mid-range but she had close the gap in order to counterattack.

  “Don’t you think we should end this, Mikoto-chan?” asked Dai as he puffed to catch his breath. “You look tired.”

  Mikoto remained silent and calm as she noted Dai panting. A nunchaku came rushing towards her and she grabbed the end of the stick before tugging it. As the yakuza got pulled closer, she connected her forehead to his nose once more.

  Dai had no chance to react.

  She followed up with a series of knockout punches. The final punch to his cheek sent a tooth flying from his mouth. Dai plummeted to the floor–unconscious.

  “And that’s that…” Mikoto panted, grabbing her sore arms. She picked the dagger and turned to leave. Now, I’ve gotta check on the others.

  Noting Dai would be out of action for a long while, she sneaked out of the room and hoped she would not encounter anymore yakuza members.

  ?

  The air had grown accustomed to the loud cngs of the fight between Daichi and Kazuo.

  “What happened to all that vigor you had from before?” Daichi asked. “Come on, the descendant of the Legendary Sage can do better than that.” He ughed and charged with an overhead swing.

  Kazuo panted, shoulders slumped–looking as if he could faint at any moment. He dragged Dōjin’s longer bde on the ground. His clothes were ripped with his upper body drenched in sweat and blood.

  Daichi had taken his fair share of sshes, however, he looked far better than Kazuo. He rushed towards the Inazuma–ready to finish him.

  I guess this is it. Kazuo accepted his fate in that moment. He still had the will to fight in him but his body was fatigued beyond anything he had felt before.

  My boy. He heard Kazuro’s voice in his mind. When you want to awaken each bde, you have to call out the god’s name. Suddenly, a memory of the Legendary Sage using Dōjin fshed in Kazuo’s mind. “Dōjin... Funsai (Shatter)!”

  An immense power surged through Kazuo. His mind and body became one. He raised Dōjin in front of him and blocked the attack.

  As the swords cshed, Daichi’s katana shattered–breaking into several pieces. “What the…?” he said, holding only the hilt of what was once his strongest bde. Eyebrows raised, he turned pale and fell on his knees.

  Kazuo raised the Earth bde and readied to exact his judgement. “Any st words?”

  “N–no way…” Daichi muttered to himself, with a sudden hysteria looming. “My bde… easily broken like that?” He dropped the hilt.

  Kazuo had an intensity in his eyes. He gred at Daichi’s neck and got engulfed by a deep, red aura. “Dōjin... tsubuse (crush him)–”

  Daichi closed his eyes and awaited execution.

  “Kazuo! Wait!” Keisuke’s voice sounded.

  Huh? Kazuo halted, and the violent air about him dissipated. Kaito’s brother… He fell, overwhelmed by the fight as well as the sudden power surge.

  “Yamamoto!” said Keisuke, tossing chain cuffs to his comrade. He rushed towards Kazuo and pulled him up. “Take Daichi to Iwa, I will look after the boy.”

  “He won’t be breaking free out of these,” said Yamamoto in a mutter. “Alright, senpai... we’ll be off.”

  “Before you go,” said Keisuke, eyeing Yamamoto with a nod. “It’s begun.”

  Yamamoto nodded and left with a broken Daichi.

  Meanwhile, Keisuke waited for the boy to regain consciousness. This kid though… he was right all along. He stared at Dōjin–the sword thought to be unmovable lying next Kazuo.

  “What are you doing?” said Kazuo, waking up to see Keisuke struggle to lift the Earth bde. “Haha… you can’t lift it, huh?”

  “I can’t…” Keisuke chuckled, a hint of perspiration dropping from his face. “That was very reckless of you guys. When I entered Ishigami, there were no guards at the gate so I assumed most of the keisatsu would rush to the explosion. That’s where I heard about your arrest…”

  “Did you meet the others?”

  “No, they were captured by yakuza before I got there. I know this is suicide but come, let’s go and rescue them,” he said, offering a hand and paused. “Wait a minute, can you walk?”

  “Yes…” said Kazuo, forcing a smile. “That was nothing.” The facial expression could not hide the cuts on his torso and limbs.

  “Okay, but don’t overexert yourself.”

  With Keisuke’s help, Kazuo got up and grabbed Dōjin. He used the sword’s chain to carry it on his back as they walked to the pace. Upon arrival, the structure was swarming with armed yakuza and keisatsu.

  “We can’t take them on…” said Keisuke, noting the firearms carried by the yakuza. “They are just too many.”

  “I can.”

  “Absolutely not!” Keisuke stopped himself from raising voice louder. “Are you out of your mind?” he asked in an angry whisper. “You may have been lucky with Daichi but no one can dodge a pellet. Not even you, Kazuo.”

  “Okay, so what’s the pn?” asked Kazuo, realising that was not his strong suit. “We can’t just wait here–doing nothing.”

  “I always thought Daichi was not the true daimyo,” said Keisuke, rubbing his chin. “And today just proved it with all these guards here instead of around him.” He paused for a while and continued. “I have a pn.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We surrender.”

  “Ehhh!”

  “Just follow my lead,” said Keisuke, turning to Dōjin. “Oh and... you will have to leave it behind.” He led the way as he dragged Kazuo like a prisoner.

  “Stop right there, officer!” said one of the yakuza at the front entrance. “Who’s that?” he asked, pointing a pistol at Kazuo.

  “This is one of the delinquents responsible for the explosion, sir. Permission to bring him before Lord Daisuke.”

  “Okay, but we have to check him for any weapons.”

  After the thorough bodily search, they were allowed to proceed to the daimyo.

  ?

  On the shōgi battleground, the daimyo was left with two gold generals, a nce, dragon (promoted rook) and three pawns. The Artisan had two gold generals, a horse (promoted bishop) and two tokins (promoted pawns).

  “So, my dear Takumi, you mean to tell me you are here with the son of the former Fire daimyo and you want to take our country’s treasure.” Daisuke repeated the information he had gathered from his opponent’s losses. “That is why you blew up my warehouse?”

  Takumi nodded with his gaze remaining solely on the board, this was the most focused he had ever been on a shōgi match. He had never been defeated back at the ninja school and this had been his longest match ever. He had met a formidable opponent here in the Earth Country.

  “I could have the Inazuma boy sent to Kurai vilge and get myself a hefty bounty to recover my losses. Seeing that I have more pieces on the board, your hopes of winning this battle are dwindling.”

  I wouldn’t count my chickens before they hatched, Takumi thought as he moved horse to take out Daisuke’s nce. “Check.”

  Daisuke fled his king to safety, “Nice counter.”

  Just then their game was interrupted by two guests.

  “Lord Daisuke, there’s an officer requesting an audience with you…” the guard said. “He says he has one of the culprits responsible for today’s mishaps.”

  “Oh, is that so? You may let them in,” said Daisuke. “Speak of the devil, if it isn’t the Inazuma prince. He arrived just in time to see your defeat, Takumi.”

  Takumi turned his head and was relieved to see Kazuo together with Keisuke. He read the tter’s mind and resumed his focus on his match. The game continued for a few more minutes before Daisuke’s face went pale.

  “You have just realised it, haven’t you?” Takumi asked while trying to hide his grin. “My endgame, and there’s no escaping it.”

  Daisuke’s king was cornered, with a single move left and an inevitable defeat. He moved his dragon to take out a gold general but it was meaningless at that point.

  Takumi dragged his tokin a step forward to a spot where it was protected by his horse.

  “Checkmate.”

  The daimyo stood up and recklessly tossed the board aside. The pieces were sent flying all over the floor. He was fuming. “No way, it can’t be!”

  “I hope you stay true to your word and free my companions and I...”

  “As if I would do anything like th–”

  Daisuke had been so focused on the board to realise Keisuke behind him with a pocket knife to his throat.

  “Don’t even think about moving an inch… where is my little brother?”

  “The peasant boy?” Daisuke sniggered. “Guuuaaaard!”

  Keisuke brought his bde tip even closer, and a bit of blood trickled down the daimyo’s neck. “Stop right there!” he ordered the outdoor guard who had just entered the room. “If you move any further, your fake daimyo here gets it.”

  The guard stood still, trying to figure out what to do.

  “And you…” Keisuke brought his eyes to Daisuke. “If you say one more word, I will slit your throat.”