Keisuke brought Daisuke up to speed of his brother Daichi's arrest. He also told him that he was outnumbered because a group of armed keisatsu was making its way to the palace.
While the officer tried to make the daimyo understand the gravity of the situation, Yamamoto and a team of twenty keisatsu arrived outside the palace and took up their positions. The task force comprised of the younger officers who shared the same views on anti-corruption as Keisuke and Yamamoto. They were armed with the exact same matchlock rifles and pistols the Hasegawa Syndicate had.
"That must be them," Keisuke told Daisuke after hearing the shootout form outside the palace. "You have nowhere else to go so it would be best for you surrender now whilst you can."
"Where did you people acquire firearms? Last time I checked, keisatsu were not allowed to carry one."
"I guess it's safe to tell you now. We have had an undercover agent within your yakuza who has been supplying us with ammunition and we have been waiting for the opportune time to carry out this coup."
"Shit!" Daisuke said trying to think of a plan. "You won't get away with this!"
"We already have," Keisuke had a wide grin. "And if I were you, I would start talking now… Where is Kaito?"
***
The task force was leveling the playing field as they fired shots at both the yakuza and their corrupt officers. The peppery smell of gunpowder filled the night air as spherical pellets flew from all angles and ricocheted on the concrete walls. The yakuza were becoming overwhelmed by the heavy artillery from the task force as this had been the least of their expectations.
"How the fuck do these pigs have guns!?" a yakuza yelled after seeing his friend's head get blown to bits.
"I don't know man!" came a reply from another yakuza who had also taken cover from the lead projectiles. "Just keep firing at them…they'll probably run out of pellets soon enough!"
***
After a thorough search of all the rooms, Mikoto finally found Kaito bound and gagged. He had been awaiting punishment from Daichi before being sent to Okayama prison or worse, knowing how ruthless the Hasegawa were. She freed him from his bonds and helped him to his feet before leaving the room.
***
An armed yakuza rushed in to daimyo's chamber to warn him of the shootout outside the palace. "Lord Daisuke! The palace is under atta–" He paused as he saw his daimyo held captive by officer Keisuke.
There was a stalemate as everyone in the room stood perfectly still. Daisuke, his guard officer and a yakuza against Keisuke and the two Lightning boys: three on three. Takumi was closer to Keisuke and the daimyo whilst Kazuo stood in front of the guard. The yakuza stood near the door with his pistol cocked and ready to fire on command.
Daisuke whispered to Keisuke, "If anything happens to me you will never see your brother again." The daimyo had played his final move because for a split second, he felt the officer's grip loosen at his statement.
In order to see Kaito I need him alive, Keisuke thought.
That was all the time Daisuke needed to hastily elbow Keisuke's abdomen and free himself from the tight hold.
"Shoot them! Shoot them down!!" Daisuke ordered the yakuza as he ran for the door.
Kazuo had already taken the defensive against the guard that carried two wooden batons.
Keisuke noted the yakuza ready to shoot Takumi and his body moved on impulse. He quickly jumped in front the Artisan and received a shot to the chest. He fell to the ground and remained there, motionless.
Before the shooter could reload his pistol with another pellet, Takumi picked up Keisuke's pocket knife from the floor and flung it at him. The blade flew across the room and landed deep in the yakuza's heart. He stood there, stunned and dropped his pistol to the ground before following it afterwards.
Kazuo fought against the guard unarmed whilst Takumi tended to Keisuke's wounds. Four of them were left and it had not dawned on the guard that he was now outnumbered.
"D–Don't," Keisuke coughed, "…you worry about me." He unbuttoned his uniform to reveal a steel armour underneath that had saved him from death. "I came prepared, go help your friend."
Kazuo was taking a severe beating since he had lost a lot of energy from his previous fight with Daichi. His arms had become sore from blocking the heavy blows from both sides. The guard had overpowered him and he lay on the ground blocking fists from getting to his face.
Takumi dashed for the knife, pulled it from the yakuza's chest and charged towards the guard. As he shoved the blade into the enemy's back, the guard knocked him out with a single baton to his face. Takumi fell to the floor, unconscious and the guard resumed the barrage of blows to Kazuo's body. At that moment the Inazuma boy also lost consciousness.
"Finally passed out, you puny little brat!" the guard raised his baton to finish off Kazuo.
Suddenly, Mikoto and Kaito rushed into the room just before the guard could land the final blow. Seeing her comrades down for the count was enough to rile her up. She leapt at the guard and connected an intense kick to the back of his head. The guard rolled over and stood where he had landed to face Mikoto.
Kaito raced over to check if his brother was alright. Keisuke was still unable to still up straight due to the pain from the impact he had received on his chest.
"Hey little girl… If I were you, I would run along unless you want to end up like these two street rats over here."
"You'll pay for what you did to my friends!"
Her face was red as veins began to show on her temples. She charged forward with an outstretched fist and the battle began. Mikoto immediately took the upper hand with her heavy punches and kicks. She disarmed the guard and gave him a knee to the gut. He drew closer as if to attack her and she ducked and gave him a blow to the face. His nose made a cracking sound and she followed up the punch with an uppercut that sent him to the ground.
Mikoto picked up the guard's batons and sat on his pelvis so he would not move around as she went to work on his face with successive blows.
The wooden sticks were bloody when Keisuke pulled her away from the unconscious body. Her eyes were filled with rage that he had never seen before and he was convinced that she would have killed the man had he not intervened. The guard's face was left unrecognizable as he lay on the floor.
Mikoto walked over to Kazuo in order to assess the magnitude of his injuries.
"Will he be alright?" asked Takumi after regaining consciousness.
"We need to rush him to a hospital now!"
"The best hospital in this country is in the Ishigami district. I promise you we will get him there," said Keisuke.
Yamamoto and two other keisatsu entered the daimyo's chamber and announced that they had gotten the remaining yakuza and corrupt officers to surrender. They had all been arrested including the youngest of the Hasegawa brothers. However, Daisuke was nowhere to be seen as he had fled the district unnoticed.
Keisuke and Yamamoto took Kazuo and the wounded guard to the hospital followed by Kaito and the Lightning team. The other officers came along because the guard was to be arrested as soon as he recovered. Keisuke later found out that his task force had been reduced to twelve men during the siege.
Doi Ishigami was reinstated as the daimyo after moving back into the palace where he was forcefully removed by the Hasegawa Syndicate. In his first act as daimyo, he honoured Keisuke and his task force as local heroes. Keisuke had informed the Lord that their coup would not have been a success had it not been for Kazuo and his friends. Hence, the honour was extended to the Lightning village trio as well.
***
Kazuo was discharged two days later and had to wear a sling to hold his broken arm in place. In fact, his face and body were covered with bandages for the cuts he had sustained during his showdown with Daichi.
"How can I surely repay you for what you have done for us, Inazuma-dono? Fame? Riches? Or even one of daughters' hand in marriage? You name it," said Doi. He could have been in his forties with a dark goatee and hair that was laid in a chonmage style. He was visibly obese through the green haori worn only by Earth daimyo.
"Well, my team and I were here for Dōjin–the Earth blade. If you could give me the sword that would be great."
"B–but that's our nation's treasure, given to us by the Legendary Sage himself as a peace offering." The daimyo glanced at the newly promoted Sergeant Keisuke. "I will have to talk with my advisors on that."
After a great deal of convincing, mainly from Sergeant Keisuke who mentioned to Doi that Kazuo had been the only person to wield the sword ever since it was cast in stone several years ago. The daimyo had no choice but to allow the Lightning trio to take the blade.
After retrieving the sword, the trio bid farewell to Keisuke and Kaito. They made their way to the farmer outside the Soil district to get their carriage and began their journey to Yamaguchi Port.
***
Daisuke had just arrived on an island across the sea to the East. He was immediately stopped by a group of Shadow ninjas when he reached the village boarder.
"Stop right there and state your business in the Shadow village," one of them placed his katana on Daisuke's neck.
"I mean you no harm," Daisuke raised his hands and surrendered. "I would like to speak to the Shadow King, I have information on Kazuo Inazuma."