Yukio went back to the pool area, and saw the Hanzo girls by the pool.

Yukio called out to them, and they all turned and greeted back.

"How are you all?" Yukio asked. "It's been a while since I've actually chatted with you guys."

"Sorry, but we don't really have time to chat, Yukio. Don't worry, we can talk later." Asuka said, as the rest of the girls took off.

"Huh? But why-" Yukio tried to stop them, but they had already left.

Yukio then saw Homura, as she walked towards the beach. He called out to her.

"Hey Homura?" Yukio said. "How's it going?"

"Damn it...sorry, can't talk right now. I can't let Asuka get ahead of me." Homura said before quickly leaving.

"Huh?" Yukio stood there, confused.

Are they avoiding me? Why are they avoiding me? Did I do something wrong?

"Yukio, good morning." A voice called out to him. He turned around towards the entrance of the hotel and saw Yumi.

"Hey, Yumi. How's it-" Yukio greeted her, but then got interrupted.

"Sorry, I've got to start searching for those platforms. I'll talk with you later, ok?" Yumi said before she left.

"Oh...ok..." Yukio was left alone again.

He then saw Miyabi leave the hotel, he waved towards her to greet her.

"Good mornin-" Yukio stopped after Miyabi ran right past him with incredible speed.

What the hell?! Why is everyone ignoring me?!

"Do they want the festival to end that badly?" Yukio thought to himself.

I can get answers, but Sayuri is pretty set on keeping me out of it.

"There's gotta be a way to reason with her..." Yukio was set on getting Sayuri to tell him everything. He left the hotel area, and searched for Sayuri until he found her and Ryoki near the festival grounds.

"There you are! Finally!" Yukio called out, and got Sayuri's attention.

Sayuri and Ryoki turned towards to Yukio, and he saw the Mikagura sisters behind them.

"Uh...sorry, am I interrupting something?" Yukio then turned around to walk the other way, but Sayuri stopped him.

"Hold it, young man. You three go along, we wouldn't want you to be overworked." Sayuri looked back at the shrine maiden trio. She took a puff of her pipe.

"R-Right. Thank you, master Sayuri!" Renka said before the three sisters left.

Ryoki stared at the sisters leaving while Sayuri looked to Yukio.

"Now then, what do you need?" Sayuri asked in a polite tone, but it made Yukio feel uneasy.

After hesitating, Yukio finally asked her. "Tell me everything. What the purpose of this festival is, why did you bring us here, what will happen after this?"

"Hohoho, that's a good one. The answer's no."

"Come on! I'm a good Shinobi, haven't I shown that to you yet?! I know you are hiding something from me specifically, so tell me!" Yukio demanded.

Sayuri's face and voice changed to a serious tone as she took another puff of her pipe. "Yukio, even if you have the strength, you don't have the experience to take down what I plan to hunt."

"I took down Orochi, one of the strongest Yoma in the world. What am I not ready for?"

"Enough, this conversation is over." Sayuri turned her back on Yukio.

"Erg...let me prove myself then!" Yukio said, both Ryoki and Sayuri turned towards him.

"How so?"

"I challenge you, Sayuri!" Yukio shouted.

I don't stand a chance, but I've got to try to prove her using direct evidence.

"Hohoho, you know that this is a losing match, right?"

"I've got to try."

Sayuri glared at Yukio, and took another puff of her pipe.

Yukio then got blown back by an unknown force, crashing into the festival tower.

Ugh! W-What the-

Sayuri stabbed her walking cane into the ground, and Yukio got blown through the festival tower and into a festival stand.

"You're not ready, boy." Sayuri said, as she started to walk away.

"Erg...ugh! Tim...er." Yukio froze time, and tried to recover from the attacks.

Erg...I really don't stand a chance, but I'm not giving up!

Yukio ran towards Sayuri, and as soon as Timer ended, he tapped her shoulder.

Sayuri suddenly noticed Yukio, and fell back.

"W-Whoa! Y-You're not dead? Huh..."

Yukio felt the pain of multiple wounds all over his body from the debris.

"Ugh! I'm still standing..."

Sayuri sighed before fully facing towards Yukio.

"Very well, let's see how long you last. If you last one minute, I'll answer any of your questions." Sayuri declared.

"Deal!" Yukio quickly accepted.

"Very well, let's get started."

Yukio got blown back again, flying into another stand.

"Ugh! Don't think, just go." Yukio tried to guess where the next attack would be from.

Yukio then jumped up and felt a strong breeze of wind gust past his feet, flipping him as he fell to the ground.

Ugh! Crap, wind ninja arts?! What am I supposed to do against wind powers?!

Yukio did get a chance to think, as another gust of wind blew him back towards Sayuri.

"Oh, that's right. My granddaughter likes you, I should go easy on you then." Sayuri said to Yukio's face.

"Huh? You damn-" Yukio felt humiliated. Sayuri blew him back again.

Yukio struggled to get up, as he tried to think of a way to survive the windy onslaught.

What am I supposed to do? What can I do? She's not even giving me a chance to talk. Is there a way to me to use my foresight against these wind attacks?

Yukio concentrated and tried for any indication of wind. However, he got blown to the left without noticing anything.

"Ugh!"

I'm screwed, how is this fair?! I can't do anything! I don't even get the chance to do something...wait, I do get a chance between each attack. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it, but maybe I can do something instead of doing nothing and taking the attacks.

Yukio then rushed towards Sayuri. She noticed his sudden offensive strategy, but planned to blast him backward. Yukio moved closer to Sayuri, and she sent a gust of wind towards him.

However, Yukio moved to the side, and circled around her while he was getting closer.

"Timer!" Yukio stopped time as he continued to run in circles. "Now resume!" Time started back up again.

He repeated the process a couple of times to mess with Sayuri as she kept track of Yukio's movements.

"Huh?" Sayuri had trouble keeping up with Yukio.

Sayuri then surrounded herself in strong gusts of wind, and quickly expanded the area.

"Ugh! Timer!" Yukio stopped time, and managed to pass through the wall of wind. "Ok, now resume."

"Hohoho...you really are a tricky one, boy. You almost had me there." Sayuri took a puff of her pipe.

"Hate to disappoint...but I'm pretty sure I won here." Yukio was out of breath, as he placed his hand on Sayuri's shoulder.

"Gah! W-What?!" Sayuri's pipe fell out of her mouth in shock. "H-How?!"

"I'm much stronger than you think."

Sayuri chuckled at Yukio's words, and she smiled at him.

"Well I'll be damned. Not only did you survive, but you also caught me off-guard."

"I just wanted answers, that's all I wanted since coming here."

"Alright, I get it. What questions do you have?"

"W-Wh...why? Why did you make this festival, the legitimate reason?"

"Ugh...no use in twisting the truth. Very well, I'll tell you everything."

To be continued...