Just as Kazuo channeled his prana and awakened Sūijin, the heavy falling snow surrounding them melted. A whirlpool formed and made a helix around Sūijin's blade. Kazuo then swung the katana and water violently splashed all over the flame. This resulted in the fire being extinguished. The two warriors were also drenched and soaking wet. Kagemaru attempted to ignite the fire katana but its blade was too soaked. Kazuo used the opportunity to attack with both swords. He swung Raijin and Sūijin at the Shadow ninja in rapid succession.
"Ha!" Kazuo spun around making a vortex movement and disarmed Kagemaru.
The fire katana was sent flying in the air. Kazuo leapt at his startled opponent and kicked him down. When he was on top of Kagemaru, he swung Raijin and halted just before the tip sliced clean right through his neck. The Inazuma lad had hesitated when their eyes met! Kagemaru grabbed hold of Kazuo's leg and the two were transported to the latter's shadow plane. Kazuo was subjected to the stored away memories of growing up seeking his father's attention and validation.
"I've been here before," said Kazuo. "You can't scare me with this shit!"
Kazuo sliced through Kagemaru's projection and the two of them were teleported to the latter's shadow plane. When they arrived, Kazuo noticed that the conscious Kagemaru had been bound and gagged by snake-like shadowy figures. The Shadow ninja was also subjected to a visual of his mother get murdered by his father that kept on repeating itself to no end. Kazuo used Raijin's electrocution to shock the shadow snakes.
Outside the shadow plane, Kagero was winning against Asuka. He struck at one of her hands which resulted in her dropping her knuckle duster to the ground. Asuka had taken a heavy beating and had a few wounds that were also bleeding. She sighed and raised one hand to take up a defensive stance.
So this is it huh? The end, she thought. If only I could break that armour of his.
"Hahaha!" Kagero cackled. "Any last words, Asuka-chan?"
Kagero swung both staffs with maximum strength. Asuka saw the two rods coming at her and she knew she did not have the energy to dodge the attack. That was it. Then suddenly to her luck, a miracle occurred. Kagero's shadow dissolved and he was left bare.
"No!" the king was infuriated. Kagemaru! What have you done?
Asuka saw the opening and summed up the last of her energy. She made the Prithvi mudra with her working hand, took a deep breath and exhaled. I am grounded!
A red aura exploded from the base of her feet. She channeled all that prana to her knuckle duster and amplified her last punch tenfold. In the spur of the moment Kagero tried to make an X with his broken shadow staff and block the attack but Asuka broke through his defenses. The blow connected square on his chest and he was sent flying backwards only to land just a short distance from the roof's edge. Asuka's aura vaporized, she dropped her duster and fell to the ground loudly. Both of them were now unconscious. A few seconds later Kazuo jolted back into reality and saw the other two warriors down for the count. The conscious Kagemaru woke up soon after Kazuo, he was fatigued and mentally drained.
"Y–you must be K–Kazuo…" Kagemaru coughed, trying to speak. "T–thank you."
"When I got into your mind I saw from your memories what you did for my mother." Kazuo held back tears from falling. "I also saw what he did to your mother and why you must resent him."
"B–but I k–killed her… y–your mother."
"She died when he violated her. He murdered her… he must die."
Kazuo rose and walked over to pick up Kajin from where it had fallen and slowly made his way to Kagero. The latter had also regain consciousness but unable to move an inch. Kagero's entire body was aching from Asuka's deadly blow. Kazuo stood still eyeing the man who had killed his family members. He was both enraged and hurt as he breathed in and out. At that moment his mind ignored the pain he felt in his body from the battle against Kagemaru. All he was focused on was putting an end to Kagero permanently.
"This is for Rohan, grandpa, my family. This is for all the innocent lives that were lost at your hands. This is most importantly… for my mother." As Kazuo thought about all the people dear to him who had passed on, a memory from his grandfather flickered through his mind. "I know you were his younger brother but what you have to pay for what you did."
Kajin's blade was charged with a gentle blue flame.
I cannot die here, I cannot die here! That was all Kagero could think as he crawled like a wounded animal. "Kazuo-kun, y–you don't have to do this. After all it wasn't me who killed your mother! It was… Kagemaru!"
"Jigoku no mon: Kasō…"
The fire burst from the blade and lit up Kagero's clothes. There was a sizzling sound mixed in with the king's loud screams. After a few minutes the fire was extinguished and all that was left was a black charred figure of what was once the king of the Shadow region. Kazuo pushed the corpse over the roof's edge with his leg and it landed on the ground with a loud thud. The people who had been engaged in battle below halted as they saw the burnt body and Kazuo standing on the edge of the roof.
"Hey you Shadow ninjas!" said Kazuo, raising his voice so they could hear him. "If you don't wanna end up like your leader over here, I'd suggest that you put your weapons down!"
Fearing for their lives the twelve Shadow ninjas remaining surrendered.
"Ayame, Mikoto and I can take the wounded to the Medical Corp whilst Shin, Takumi and Kenji can bind these guys," said Hideo. "We won't be long."
Ayame was sixteen, the same age as most of the students graduating that year. She had long black hair, dark brown eyes and freckles on her fair skin face. She had been Mikoto's rival for the longest during their early ninja school years. Ayame was also from the Suzuki clan which was one of the richest in Nihon. In the six months under Shadow rule over the Lightning region, she rose in rank and learnt to fight at a level close to an assassin. While Mikoto was away, Ayame became best friends with Kohaku out of spite. Along the way to the Medical Corp, Hideo could sense the tension between his two former students.
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After the Shadow ninjas were bound, Shin left the two underlings and went to check on Asuka. He was at a loss for words when he saw her lying still on the roof top. He carried her body and took her to the Medical Corp. All the severely wounded Lightning ninjas were sent the hospital and the surviving captives were incarcerated. Kazuo, Takumi and Kenji also got checked by the ninja nurse in training Kohaku. However their wounds were minor compared to those who had to be sent to the ICU such as Asuka.
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Two weeks later in Kurai village…
A young man and woman clothed in white kimono were busy meditating in a wooden shrine when a third masculine figure with dark locks of hair and adorned in a long black coat gracefully walked in. He carried himself in a manner similar to that of a Buddhist monk with his wooden shakujō and the air about him felt like he had attained enlightenment years ago. When he turned to face them, he was revealed to having chestnut skin, dark brown eyes without eyebrows. He had dark eyeliner and his nails and lips were painted black. He also wore earrings, a septum ring and on his bare torso was the tattoo of an ankh.
"Hasegawa, could you excuse us? I would like to have a word with Princess Rina…" He spoke in a dead calm baritone voice.
"Yes, Lord Darkness." The young man did as he was asked.
When it was just the two of them Rina asked, "Kagami-sama… what's going on?"
"It has been two weeks since we received word from Kaminari village. A foot ninja arrived this morning with the news of your father's demise."