"Dammit, I can't believe we're experiencing a blackout tonight of all nights. What the hell is going on?!"

The tension was high as Naoya had a look of annoyance plastered upon his face. A blackout on the night he heard news of an executioner coming was the last thing he needed in his situation. As he tried to contact Nobuaki and the rest of the Kukuru Unit, he was met with only silence. Angered by this, the Zenin head threw his phone at the wall. Seeing the temper of their clan head, both Ogi and Chojuro stepped towards the door leading outside of Naoya's study.

"Chojuro and I will handle the executioner. Jinichi and Ranta will stay here to be your guards!"

"Haha, been a while since these old bones were able to be put to use. Let's see who they brought here to end our bloodline."

As the two old men walked out of the study, they instantly were on high alert. The executioner was nowhere nearby, they didn't even sense any bloodlust. They couldn't even sense a single ounce of cursed energy or a hint of mana. The blackout made it even worse for them since it hindered their vision. Nothing to sense to trace back to the executioner, no vision to make it easier to locate them. It was as if their executioner wasn't even in the same realm as them.

"So Ogi, what do you think? Who is the executioner sent out to kill us?"

"I can only think of two men considering Naoya already had contact with the third one to aid us. Lack of cursed energy, lack of magic. Despite these flaws, our numbers are dropping rapidly and while we fall helpless in their trap. I hope I am wrong about this, but if it's him.....if it's Nanaya Takamura....."

"Then we'll all just be slaughtered. But we both know he wouldn't do this. That creature is a force of nature, once he's in action there is no stopping him. He doesn't need planning or anything of the sort. This isn't the work of a force of nature, Ogi. This the work of a puppeteer and so far he's pulling all our strings."

The moment Chojuro said this, both himself and Ogi heard a loud noise echoing through their headquarters. It was the sound of their fellow brethren screaming out before suddenly being cut off mid-way. The two Hei unit members quickly nodded at each other as Ogi drew his katana. The scream was extremely close, meaning that the executioner was nearby.

"Chojuro! You cover me from the rear!"

Blazing Courage. This was the cursed technique of Ogi Zenin, allowing him to eject flames from the weapon he was wielding. As flames were erupting from his katana, Ogi finally had a light source as he looked forward. However, he wasn't prepared for what he saw. Just a few inches from his feet, was a decapitated head. Upon closer inspection, he finally realized who's head it was. It was the head of one of the Kukuru members. Soon the old man looked forward as he witnessed something truly out of a nightmare.

Left and right, he saw various bodies of his fellow Zenin clan members sliced apart as their blood stained the wooden floors of the estate. In the pitch-black darkness, numerous members of the clan were slaughtered right in front of him and he didn't even notice.

"Chojuro! We need to regroup with Naoya and the rest of the Hei unit immediately."

".........."

"Chojuro!"

Drip...drip.....drip.....

Ogi stopped in his tracks as the sound of something dripping onto the floor rung in his ears. Chojuro's silence was also unnerving as the old man was well known for his self-assured attitude and constant cackling. Yet this was the quietest that Chojuro has ever been. Ogi slowly turned his head around only to meet the gaze of Chojuro's lifeless eyes as his head was cleanly cut off. The katana wielding Zenin suddenly jumped backwards as he noticed a hand holding onto the decapitated head of Chojuro. The person responsible simply threw the head at Ogi's feet as the old man heard the sound of a hand touching the hilt of a blade

"I see. Now it all makes sense. Takamura isn't the kind to do something so elaborate, the black sheep of the Zenin doesn't care enough to do all of this towards the clan that exiled him. To think, someone from a fallen clan could do something like this on his own."

Just as Ogi said this, he suddenly leapt forward in an attempt to slash at the assailant. However, he didn't feel his katana slashing any flesh. No sound of someone in pain entered his ears as the flames on his katana intensified. With the halls illuminated by the fire burning fiercely, Ogi finally met the eyes of the man slaughtering his fellow clan members.

Beautiful.

That was the only word that came to Ogi's mind, but he felt several emotions despite describing those eyes in one word. As Shiki swung the katana in his hand at the line of death on Ogi's neck, the man was too slow to react. The speed was unlike anything he had witnessed before, the precision of the swing was akin to putting a single thread through a opening in a needle made for sewing. In just that one moment, Ogi Zenin experienced two things. Swordsmanship that surpassed his own and a death brought by said swordsmanship. The moment that he saw Ogi's head on the ground, Shiki sheathed his own katana as he picked up the head.

"The darkness made it hard for them to see which caused their anxiety to heighten a bit. As for me, I was able to slaughter them despite me also being in the darkness. Good thing I have these eyes. Even in the dark I can see them:the lines of death. All I had to do was go after the lines of death on objects that were capable of movement and that was it. Let's see, with these guys dead....that makes 300 Zenin clan members dead. Now then, I think I kept you waiting long enough."

~With Naoya~
As Ranta and Jinichi stood beside him, Naoya was at his study waiting for Chojuro and Ogi. The situation was tense as he didn't receive any word from them. Suddenly, he noticed his study becoming more visible as the lights were flickering before shortly coming back on. Seeing this, the head of the Zenin clan looked at his two guards.

"Jinichi, Ranta, you go out there and regroup with Ogi and Chojuro."

"Will do."

"Yes sir!"

Knock knock

The sound of someone knocking on the door could be heard as all three Zenin's looked at the entrance of Naoya's study. A feeling of high alertness was slowly creeping up on them. Slowly, the door was opening up as they saw something rolling onto the floor. Ranta, Jinichi, and Naoya soon turned their gaze towards the rolling object. As soon as their eyes were fixed upon the object, they couldn't hide the expression of disgust on their faces as they viewed the repulsive item. The object rolling on the floor was the decapitated head of Ogi Zenin.

"Through the authorization of Shiranui Ouma, the Zenin Clan has been sentenced to execution due to acts of treason against the organization."

Suddenly Naoya could be seen scowling as veins began to on his face due to how angry he was getting. He remembered that voice all too well. The moment he looked towards the entrance of the door, he felt his blood boiling. Black hair as dark as a shadow being cast upon the floor, eyes with a hue of blue as an ominous power were held behind them, and finally, a body with no ounce of magic or cursed energy to be sensed. He recognized this young man almost instantly as he wanted nothing more than to rip the young man's tongue out. This didn't bother the young executioner as he simply looked at Naoya with a look devoid of interest.

"Current executioner of the Zenin Clan:Koritsu Shiki. 300 Zenin clan members confirmed dead. 3 members remain."

"Only 3? The lights were out for 25 minutes. You expect me to believe you killed 12 clan members per minute during that time. Don't make me laugh, you damn brat."

"I don't need your belief. All I need you to do is to draw your last breath, you damn roach."

The Zenin clan is unknowingly in the palm of their executioner's hands. The result of Shiki's training is about to be revealed.