Wind chimes clang against each other, creating a soft serene sound as the wind blew. The scent of rain riddled the fresh air. Drops of rain tapped gently against the glass-paned windows, leaving down a long trail of water. Light illuminated the inn as lamps were lit. The innkeepers lit each glass lamp one by one, lighting one match after the other when necessary and blowing them out when fire threatens their fingers. The lead innkeeper tells his juniors to attend to the customers inside, and in a moment they became busy registering customers for the night.

Outside, people ran for cover from the sudden shower. They huddled under whatever available shade there was, even when it may seem a little overcrowded. A million puddles form as rain continued, and rain dived into them with no trace. Frogs seemed to like the change in the weather; they were free to hop into the puddles closest to their homes. Their echoing croaks soon followed.

While waiting for the rain to stop, the shinobi and samurai stayed under the same inn. An awkward air between them lingered as silence held their tongue. They were seated by themselves in pure concentration. Naruto though couldn't help but constantly glance at the two strangers who drank tea. Unlike Yoshie, they donned certain armor like breastplates and shoulder plates, and they had a similar aura like the lady samurai. Only that hers seemed deeper in depth with a harmony they could not comprehend. Hirohisa Uesugi was the name of the friendly samurai with a warm smile, and it seemed that his companion didn't have that same warmth. He was Ieyasu Izanagi apparently.

The announcement that Hirohisa made brought them to an uncomfortable standstill. Naruto remembered the look of shock mixed with the dismay of a broken heart. His teeth grit angrily as his knuckles turned white. He refused this! Getting up from his seat, startling everyone right there, the boy stomps over to the two samurai. The big samurai's brown eyes were wide with surprise, but Izanagi didn't even bother to look over to the blond shinobi.

"What is it?" He asks coldly.

"Hey." Naruto glares. "Are you really going to marry Masashi-san?"

His teammates listen intently with mixed feelings. They didn't know what had gotten into Naruto's head, but they waited to hear the samurai's thoughts.

"Is there a problem?"

"No really--"

"Then why are you so worried?" Ieyasu asks. "Whatever happened between me and Yoshie is none of your concern."

Naruto gasps.

"You said her name so casually!" He exclaimed loudly.

Laughing, Hirohasa slaps his friend's shoulder hard, making the samurai nearly choke on his tea. He was amused with Naruto's reaction as well. "He and Yoshie have known each other as kids. Their fathers, the heads of the Izanagi clan and Masashi clan were good friends, though I can't say if Ieyasu and Yoshie-sama shared that kind of friendship."

"Quiet, Hirohisa! You can't go babbling everything I'm keeping quiet about!" Ieyasu hissed.

"They did say that an old man's wolf led them to us. Don't you think that's a sign from the gods?" Hirohisa's brown eyes shone brightly. His friend could only sigh sharply as his blue fringes cover his right eye.

"Alright, shinobi. Since the gods led you to us, then perhaps it would be necessary to tell you," said Ieyasu. He places down his tea and meets Naruto in the eye. Eyes deep like jade gleamed beautifully. Deep blue fringes partially cover his right eye. Seeing him up close like before, Naruto was starting to get the feeling that samurais had a similar vibe around them: mysterious and ferocious. "For the past seven years I've been training myself to challenge Yoshie to a duel. When she defeated her father in a duel despite her young age, her father decided that no one was to marry her unless they defeat her."

"How young was she?" Naruto asks, his curiosity now peaked. "Someone actually already told us about that. That one must defeat her in a duel to marry her."

"She was fifteen," Ieyasu replied without hesitation. "And she remained undefeated for the next four years."

"Wait, she was that good?!" Ino exclaimed.

"Huh, I wish I could see that," Choji remarks.

The pink haired kunoichi could only gulp at the sound of this. She instantly remembered her brief battle with her. It was still vivid on her mind. The exhilarating sensation that made her hair stand as the kunoichi threw a punch. But the samurai cut it short with only a few blows. Before Sakura knew it, she had been knocked out. Despite being a respected kunoichi, the samurai seemed to be in a whole other level. Without a doubt her fighting skills would be astonishing if she is given the chance to showcase.

"And if you've heard about it, why bother asking?" Ieyasu asks.

"We were told she. . . killed her child, and that. . . she killed everyone in the village after that," Naruto replied, contorting the samurais' faces into a frown. "I didn't want to believe it. . . but she didn't deny it when I asked her about it."

Ieyasu and Hirohisa glance at each other, giving each other a confused look for a moment. As though they were contemplating.

"What I know is that their child was the first victim. The first to become a shikabane. How their son became one we do not know. But what I know was that she had no choice," Ieyasu explained.

"Huh?!" The shinobi exclaimed.

"So it is true. . ." Shino muttered.

"No way. ." Hinata trembled, because she couldn't believe her ears.

Sasuke frowned. "Then why didn't she explain that herself?" He asked.

Obito. . . He couldn't understand.

The older Uchiha shut his eyes in agony. Pounding heartbeats slowly broke his heart. The throbbing pain in his chest made him tremble. Sweat began to form on his forehead as his soul reached an emotional and mental paradox. Even his fellow jonin couldn't believe their ears either. Kakashi, in particular, wondered how things were winding up this way. Like Obito, he found this unsettling. But before anyone could say anything else, before anyone who stood quietly could speak out their troubled minds, the samurai continues his explanation.

"But killing their child didn't stop the disease. Her entire village. . . All of Taiyogakure became a hive for shikabane. Yoshie was only one of the few unaffected," Ieyasu explained grimly.

"We're actually from the village far west from Taiyogakure. We went to her village to visit. But we weren't aware of the many things that had transpired. We were horrified to see the village burned down. We found Yoshie alone in the fields, burying all the bodies by herself. It was depressing," Hirohisa went on. His big fingers stroke his beard as he made a sorrowful look. But his words placed a blade into guilty hearts.

Ieyasu sighs.

"We're looking for Yoshie because we have information that might put her wandering soul to rest. She has been mourning for all these years. From where we came from, she's earned the title: The Mourning Samurai."

* * * * * * * *

"Uesugi-san!" Naruto calls as he dashes to the samurai ahead of him. Hirohisa simply flashes a smile in greeting while giving Naruto a wave. "Thanks for letting us come!"

"Well, if Yoshie-sama has requested your help. . why not?" The samurai shrugged. "Besides, it would do us a favor. Ieyasu and I actually tried examining bodies some times ago, and we found a curse mark on the tongue's underside."

"Oh! We saw that, too!" Yamato adds, stepping beside Naruto.

The samurai's brown orbs gleamed. "That means Yoshie-sama has been going around trying to find a way to counter the curse," Hirohisa remarks as he gave a glance at the blue-haired samurai beside him. Ieyasu only gave him a nod as he places on his kasa.

The shower has ceased from falling. But the sky continued to stay in an unspeakable melancholy. Rays of light shone through the gray clouds, and from a distance one could hear the deep rumble of thunder. Water splashed as fast footsteps scurried around. The villagers hurried around with their business. Women carried baskets on their heads as men loaded sticks and rolls of carpets on their backs. The state of weather did not stop them from doing business.

The same went for the samurai and ninja. They readied themselves for the journey ahead by donning cloaks. The whole while they waited for the rain, they exchanged the knowledge they discovered through their different journeys. The clues the mysterious samurai left behind still left them baffled, but there was one thing clear.

"It may seem like she's heading back to Taiyogakure," said Ieyasu as he discussed travel matters with Kakashi, Obito, and Yamato. "I wonder though if she was able to find what she needed."

His blue orbs scrutinize at the three before him, and he sensed the intense aura around them. Without a doubt, they were prominent ninjas for sure. It eased a little bit of his doubts and worries. He didn't want to be slowed down after all.

"Hatake-san, are you sure that Yoshie didn't passed through here?" He asked.

Kakashi nods. "We've already asked around, and there is no sign of Masashi-san ever passing through the village," he calmly replied.

"It's possible that she didn't pass through here," said Yamato. "She may have met the old man we saw outside the village outskirts, but Masashi-san could have just went around instead of passing through."

"That's possible," said Ieyasu, looking at the ground thoughtfully. "But that would mean she didn't replenish her resources."

"We didn't see her though," Hirohisa comments. "We should have seen her."

Private meetings between older adults seem to always exclude the younger shinobi. Despite being eighteen years of age, the shinobi were still being treated as children. The blue-haired samurai didn't seem to acknowledge them, which instantly made them dislike him, especially for his cold personality. He may have looks, the stature, the overall mysterious aura; but unlike Yoshie he had a haughty vibe spicing up his personality.

The young nin certainly preferred the smiling Hirohisa over Ieyasu. But they still found it hard to believe that he was going to fight against Yoshie to win her hand in marriage. Sakura held the kaiken in her hands. . . wondering what Yoshie is thinking if she ever realizes that her dagger was missing. Her slender fingers grip the dagger tightly, hoping to return it to the samurai. And maybe try to see things through to make up for their doubt. Ino was quick to notice this. Her rouge lips curl into a smile, and she places her hand on her friend's shoulder as a sign of assurance.

"I hope we could catch up to Yoshie soon," said Sakura, her jade orbs glimmering with hope.

Ino flashes a toothy grin. "Of course! I'm sure of it!"

"I'm worried about those shikabane though," said Hinata, makng her two friends glance at her. "If they've reached as far as the bathhouse, who knows the actual radius of their spread."

"Let's be positive and just say that the shikabane haven't gone that far," said Shino. "If I had to say something myself, we'll have to set a perimeter and suppress the spread."

"They are impossible to cut down with normal blades though," said Sasuke. The Uchiha takes the chokuto he had in his belt and gives it a good look. It made the other ninjas recall what transpired back then.

"Oh, you bought yourself a new one?" Naruto asks as he joins his friends.

Sasuke nods. "It is a weapon I use after all. But it'll be a problem if we don't find out how we could enhance our blades without needing to use our chakra. . . assuming that that would be enough to cut through their bodies."

Choji snaps his fingers at Sasuke's words. "Ah! Then we simply need weapons like Masashi-san's right? Hers cut just fine!"

Sakura and Naruto instantly remembered the samurai's sword snapping Obito's kunai's into two. It sent chills up their spine. The glowing halo of light was shining behind her, creating a stunning image of a goddess as the cold wind played with her hair. They recalled the glowing embers in her eyes that were full of pain and sorrow.

Their reminiscence was soon interrupted by a cheer of joy that made them turn their heads. Coming in their direction, Team Guy hurried to them as fast as they could. Sweating, dirty, and haggard, the four shinobi looked like they have relentlessly chased down their fellow teammates. But there was excitement in their eyes. Obviously, they were hyped with this new mystery.

Thick eyebrows arched into diagonal lines. Dark onyx eyes burning with passion. And a yelling voice created a disturbance that made the villagers peak out of their windows. A cloud of dust formed behind the young frisky shinobi. His teammates behind him had agitated expressions, but it seemed like the oldest ninja with them had pride for his pupil. It appeared like they were trying to tell him to slow down, but his response only irritated even more. Nonetheless, in a moment they reunited with their friends and they exchanged cordial greetings as Guy went over to Kakashi and the others.

"We're here!" The thick-eyebrowed ninja yelled, throwing his arms up in the air.

His female friend heaved to catch her breath, but in a short moment she gave him a pound on the head. "Rock Lee, you idiot! You're disturbing the villagers!" Tenten yelled at the boy angrily.

"We'd prefer if you behave yourself," Neji told him coldly. "We might get kicked out."

"I'm just happy that we finally caught up to them," Rock Lee told them, unfazed with their cold reactions.

"So you guys finally arrived," Kiba remarked. He gives Rock Lee a fist bump, and everyone else does the same. Rock Lee seemed to have eased up the air with his sudden arrival. Smiles were exchanged, and brief discussions of their adventures ensued.

"We saw what happened at the mountain," said Tenten, her face full of fear and worry. "The sight sent me chills. Abe-san had the bodies burned, and they traced them all the way to the village. No one was left alive. Ah! It was horrible! Everyone looked horrid!"

"We were only given a brief explanation of the situation. We'd like to know the details along the way," Neji interrupts.

Shikamaru nods as he crosses his arms. "For now, we'll be going to the Land of the Rising Sun with the two samurai. Hopefully, we'll find the woman."

Suddenly a bloodcurdling scream sent chills up the spines of anyone who heard it. The ninjas and samurais instantly dashed to where the voice belonged to. People were hurrying away, while some hurried over due to curiosity. Screams seemed to escalate by the second. The smell of death and fear made the air cold and heavy.

Within short moments, the shinobis and samurais found their eyes trembling in fear. Like statues, the sight before them left the group frozen in place. A woman with hot tears streaming down her face, yelped at them for help. But her voice could barely be audible. Blood oozed out of her neck, because a man, gray like wet ash with marks of burning lava, had his teeth sinking into her neck. His hands held her in place, and she was beyond help at that point. The sound of her scream quickly ensued soon after. Blue lines like vines appear on her skin, but both Hinata and Neji knew that was her chakra life line that appeared.

So why?

The azure color slowly drained through where the man bit her. Gasps from the woman escaped from her cold blue lips. And in a brief moment, the shikabane drops the woman with a loud plop on the ground. Those who spectated either screamed or kept their ground. Only the samurai and shinobi stood their ground.

Without saying anything, the samurai charged at the shikabane. Hirohisa unties the string wound before pulls off the cloth over his spear. His mighty arm hurls his metal rod, allowing the blade at the tip to pin the shikabane into the closest house behind him. Then leaping with a katana, Ieyasu cuts the s.

"This village is doomed," said Ieyasu as he flicks the blood of his blade.

"We better stop it then," Hirohisa replied, pulling out his spear. Then without much thought, he stabs his weapon into the dead woman on the ground. It instantly angered the ninjas with them.

"Hey, she's already dead!" Sakura yelled angrily.

The big man gives her a frown. "Watch." He patiently replied. His brown eyes divert to the corpse, and sure enough it began to shake and turn wildly as though an evil spirit came to possess the body. And soon the corpse began to shriek and snap at Hirohisa, astonishing the shinobi. "It seems that these things somehow can make someone else a shikabane. A single bite seems to be enough to turn you into one of them."

"That shikabane just now. . . it sucked the chakra out of the woman. . ." Hinata's voice stuttered.

But before they could say anything else, the village was plunged into chaos. Shrill screams were ringing everywhere. Blood splattered on the ground. Cries of anguish drowned out the pleas of help. The villages that was known for the eccentric wares they sell now suddenly turned into a slaughterhouse of deadmen. The instinct of survival awakened to the point of madness where people thought of their own safety.

But in the midst of that, one of the ninjas suddenly remembered the old man and his wolf companion who helped them.

"Old Man Hisao!" Kiba yelled frantically. "We have to find him!"

"But he could be anywhere by now!" Said Ino as she eyed at the numerous shikabane that appeared out of nowhere. She avoids them, knowing that fighting them head-on was impossible. Cutting off their limbs is one thing, but the monsters would still be alive. Their limits are yet to be discovered.

Shit! Kiba is right! Thought Naruto as he boxed a shikabane in the face. It sent the corpse flying into its fellow deadmen, but they displayed no emotion whatsoever.

The number of shikabane seemed to be increasing bit by bit. Like a swarm of bees, the shikabane came at the Leaf shinobi and their two samurai companions. There seemed to be no end to them, and it sickened the young warriors to the bottom of their stomachs. They shrieked and moaned thoughtlessly. Their sunken eyes forced in fear into the young shinobi's fiery hearts. They have never seen something like this.

"All of you get the villagers out of here!" Kakashi quickly yelled as lightning enveloped his hand. Power surged through him as a grim look in his eyes shadowed over his brows. Like touching a live wire, the gray-haired ninja felt an all-familiar exhilaration run through his arm. Then in a flash, the shinobi dashed through the hoard of shikabane. His hand swipes through the shikabane with ease, and in a moment he had taken down several deadmen.

His students were amazed to see their sensei. It was a rare sight to see him so engrossed in a battle. But the aura around him belonged to a desperate man trying to save the helpless. As he had instructed, everyone except for the samurai and Obito and Yamato remained.

"Will they be alright?" Obito asks worriedly as he plunges his kunai into a shikabane's chest. But it only snapped into two from his strength and the sturdiness of the monster's chest. His face quickly crumples into a frown. "Shit! It's really not working!"

Meanwhile, the young shinobi dashed around to save people who hurried away from the shikabane. The pungent smell of blood permeated the air quickly, and fire began to spread through the village. Villagers were panicking like ants whose home was invaded. They lost their sense of order. And they could hear it. The drum of death reverberating through their eardrums. Pounding hearts soon came to a standstill. Men, women, children. . . death doesn't discriminate.

The Leaf shinobi run and turn, trying to get the people to escape. But they can only go so far when they suddenly get pounced out of nowhere. Shikamaru held shikabane in the place to allow the villagers to escape. Neji managed to kill some with just his palms. Shino had his insects consume some. Tenten tried to blow up a couple. Choji sent some sprawling on the ground. But Sakura had more power compared to him. And Naruto felt his demon aura envelope around him as he felt more stress by the moment, it only multiplied as he eliminated several shikabane with his rasengan.

Helplessness creeped into the shinobis' minds when their assistance turned into a failure in an instant. Whenever they save a villager from the jaws of a shikabane, they just couldn't seem to escape death as well. A single bite was enough to send them into an infinite oblivion. The tears that streamed down their cheeks was not enough to save their damned souls.

"Help me! Help me!" A girl in kimono cried out to Sasuke. One of her wrists couldn't pry themselves free from the hungry shikabane behind her.

Grunting angrily, the shinobi rushes over and cuts off the shikabane's arm. The Uchiha quickly yells at her to leave, and the girl didn't need to be told twice to run. Meanwhile, the shikabane Sasuke attacked lets out a shriek of pain, and as though angered. Strong jaws snap at Sasuke, causing him to get imbalanced from surprise. But Sakura, out of nowhere, sends the shikabane flying with her fist.

"Thanks," he said gruffly as the pink-haired kunoichi heaves him up from the ground.

Sakura grins at him. "No problem! More importantly. . ." her gentle green eyes divert to the once beautiful village. Now in flames, the village they were enjoying in was no more. The smiles turned into inverted lips that moaned. "We. . . couldn't save anyone."

Sasuke couldn't say anything to console her as tears began to stream down her face.

Was this how Masashi-san felt when she was at her village? Sakura thought, lifting her eyes to the sky above.

* * * * * * * *

Dashing around, Kiba along with Akamaru, Ino, and Hinata went looking for Hisao. The old man was supposedly selling fur coats. But the shops, inns, houses, everything. . . they were lit in waving tongues of flames. The sound of helpless cries had ceased. The only echoing noises resonating were the crackle of scorching fire and the deafening moans of the shikabane. Mounds of bodies piled up throughout the village. Their eyes dim within the pool of death while their skin soaked in the untold miseries of hundreds.

However, there was no sign of the old man, and Kiyo was nowhere to be seen as well. Anxiety fixated on the three ninja. There was no way the old man was dead, they told themselves. They were going to find him. They don't plan on stopping until they find at least his corpse.

Bu there was no trace of him.

"Maybe he already left the village," Ino suggested. But Kiba ignores it.

It wasn't easy jumping from one roof to another just as it was about to collapse. There had to be some other way to look for him. But Akamaru couldn't catch his scent with all the blood and ask in the air. He could only look at his friend in despair, while making low sounds indicating his handicap. The boy with him simply flashes a pained grin.

"It's okay. . . we'll find him. . . and Kiyo, too," he told Akamaru, but the dog didn't look too reassured.

"You don't think he. . . ?" Hinata's voice trails off as her pale orbs watch the shikabane mindlessly walk around. They looked exactly like the man that turned into a shikabane. Was this why Masashi-san killed them all even when they haven't turned into a shikabane?

Suddenly she gasped when she realized that the monsters had begun to move outside the village through the gate. Without a warning, the Hyuuga princess dashed off to shut the gate. Her long black hair flew behind her as she ran. She felt the tiles under her feet move ever slightly, making Hinata wary of her footsteps. Pillars of smoke escaped through the openings on the houses. Although hell's fire spread slowly but surely, the whole village was going up in flames.

Running as fast as she could, Hinata's eyes widened in fear as a few got through the gate. She screamed in her head, crying no. But joy came over when she saw the old man with his wolf block the shikabane from leaving.

"Hisao-san!" The girl cried joyfully, feeling relief overwhelm her greatly. She couldn't help but feel tears well up in her eyes. 

"That old man seems to be full of surprises," Kiba remarked, grinning from ear to ear.

Like Hinata, the boy was as happy as she was. Ino was happy as well, but she couldn't say anything but smile. But they wondered where the mysterious Kiyo was.

"The dead shouldn't reside with the living. Let me send you where you belong," his deep voice thundered. Extending his arms, the man's arms seemed to multiply as he moved them in circular motion. A blue fiery aura envelopes around the man, forcing the shikabane into a momentary stand still. Then suddenly in a flash he rips out several hearts all at once, making shikabane fall into their knees. He continues to attack them head-on as his aura still burned like fire. With ease, he sent the shikabane to rest, never to rise again. He sliced their heads off, pulled out their hearts, and ripped them apart.

The old man's retaliation attracted many deadmen like a flower attracting bees. Running mindlessly like mad men, the shikabane rushed at him with their mouths watering for him. Grabbing hands were stretched out, their fingers hungry to rip him apart. Beady eyes glowed with no conscience or spirit left in them. But the man stood his ground as these monsters came at him. 

He takes on a strange stance: tiptoeing on one foot and the other he crossed across him. His hands were posed so elegantly that it almost made him look like a statue: his pinky and ring finger pressed gently against his palm while the rest of his fingers . His eyes were closed shut for a moment before he suddenly made swift hand signs that even Hinata herself couldn't completely follow. She could hear the sudden rumbles of thunder above her head. It was as if the heavens followed the old man's swirling emotions.

"Come, Kiyo!" Hisao suddenly roared and a spine-chilling howl filled all the listeners' ears. And before Hinata knew it, the man pulls his hands together into a thunderous clap. A blinding light flashed instantly as lightning from the sky came down, making the ninjas and samurais grunt and gasp as they covered their eyes, and all the that had no souls shrieked a final horrific cry before disappearing into near-nothingness, only left with their hearts that wrapped with mysterious metallic material.

"What was that?" Shino asks Shikamaru who was closest to him.

"Let's go find out," the shinobi replied. 

Naruto, Sasuke and Neji thought the same thing Shino and Shikamaru did, and noticing where their friends were headed they followed. Sakura was left alone in an abandoned wasteland with nothing but burned houses and random belongings left everywhere. Tears flowed flowed down from her eyes trying to find survivors. Men, women, children. . . anyone she hoped to find to ease her aching heart. "A single soul would be enough," she kept muttering in her head. But stopping in front of a house, Sakura steps inside to look for survivors since it was not as badly burned as the others. After a brief search, the girl saw two hearts close to each other in a mound of black ash. One was bigger than the other. Pain stabbed right through the pink-haired kunoichi, and she instantly fell to her knees with wailing cries.

Meanwhile, where Obito was with Kakashi, Yamato, and the samurais, mounds of those hearts were left like piles of coal. It made the blue-eyed samurai frown as he picks up a stone heart. It still shaped like one, only that it gave off a soft orange glow. As though it was a coal still burning, the heart felt warm to the touch. Protecting it was web-like, veins, hardened while smooth to the touch. Ieyasu instantly reminisced a distant memory.

In her trembling hands, the young woman showed something that nearly threw everyone off their seats. Fear was evident in their eyes, and the shock was obviously there. But Yoshie's face was ever unmoving, as though it had turned stone-hard. Her eyes burned with fury like the flaming fires of hell. She was no longer the soft-spoken and gentle lily he once knew.

"This is Takashi's heart," Ieyasu remembered Yoshie saying. "I have collected everyone's hearts. . and I'll avenge them. I'll kill that damned demon. I'm going to make him regret ever showing his face to me!"

* * * * * * * *

Along a river, a lone deer comes to quench its thirst. Its long tongue stretched to lap from the river's surface. The fur on its back shimmered in the sun, and strength was bestowed on its four legs. Large antlers were the creature's crown and pride, but at the same time, its weapon against dangers it cannot escape. 

A sudden crack made the deer lift its head, its pearly black orbs scanning its surroundings. After a brief moment, it caught sight of a beautiful maiden leaning against a willow tree nearby. She donned on pure white garments, her silky hair tied loosely behind her. Two long katanas hung by her side, along with a shorter one. And even if humans thought animals were stupid, the deer instantly knew that she was a samurai.

Yoshie was her name, the one who has been wandering for many years. Her kasa hid away her eyes, but sensing the deer the woman turns her gaze towards the creature who stared at her in pure curiosity. Her orange orbs meet his black ones, and the two stare until another crack sent the deer fleeing for solitude. It made the woman frown as she turns to the source of noise behind her.

Underneath the leaves of a willow tree, hiding in its shadow, a young man whose gold hair was but a fray of a mess. He was dressed all in red like blood except for his turtleneck shirt and pants. And his swords were sheathed behind him, diagonal with two strange handles in either end. His boots were reinforced with metal at his toes and heels. His lips were curled into a wry grin as he scrutinized the woman samurai from head to toe.

"So you're Yoshie-san of the White Dragon?" He asks.

Yoshie's hand slides to her katana's hilt. "And you're Hanzo. . . of the Red Dragon."

~~~

Number of words: 5356

This chapter is dedicated to princessanastasia721, especially that she read this book more than twice, which means a lot to me. I don't hear that often ;;

I wanna thank you all so much for your support. I just wanna say it, because I'm grateful to you guys. I'll keep thanking you all until the final chapter. And I'll keep making those damn cliffhangers and keep you on your toes. Tell me how you feel about this chapter, guys. I'd like to dedicate this to someone again, hehe.