Namiko and an unconscious Hanzo arrived at the Shiga district well after dawn that morning. Still disguised as a maidservant, the daimyo asked one merchant about a lady named Rani. The merchant was kind enough to inform Namiko where the sorcerer lived and how she had saved his life. However, the daimyo was in too much of a rush to listen any further, so when she heard where the sorcerer's cabin was, she charged the carriage in full sprint.
"Lady Rani! Lady Rani!" said Namiko, skidding to a stop outside the witch's cabin. She jumped off the carriage, sped towards the door and knocked on it repeatedly, "Please come quickly! It's Hanzo… he's unconscious!"
At the mention of Hanzo's name, the door was swung wide open and two people dashed outside. Rani and Chikao carefully lifted the patient and carried him inside.
"What happened to him?" Rani asked Namiko, when Hanzo was laid on a wooden board. She opened his eyelids and observed that his pupils were dilated. I see, this must be some sort of poisoning.
"He was shot by an arrow, and along the way, he started shaking uncontrollably before passing out."
"Got it, you may wait outside, I'll take care of him," said Rani. This could be Nightshade, and a small dosage at that. If it weren't for his slowed breathing that's almost unnoticeable and this woman rushing him here, Han would be dead.
While Namiko and Chikao were outdoor, Rani searched around her lab and found and animal's bladder that was tied to a goose quill. She gently injected her patient's open wound with the quill and pressed the contents of the bladder. Horses and a few other animals are immune to Nightshade, so this mare's blood should do the trick. When she was done, Rani tended to the wound and covered it with a tourniquet.
"You can come in now!" said Rani.
Namiko and Chikao entered the cabin.
"Hey there miss, I didn't quite get your name but your man here… will live."
"Thank God!" Namiko's face beamed as clasped her hands. "I'm… Shizuka."
Kirishitan, huh? I doubt that's her real name either but what I did was science. "Well, nice to meet you Shizuka. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Yes, just one more thing, Lady Rani." Namiko took out a piece of paper and handed it over to her. "He asked me to send this to Kaminari village."
"Right." Rani called for Chikao and gave him the letter. "The destination is Kaminari."
☯
Meanwhile in the Water country, an armada of twenty battle ships was lined up and ready to set sail for the mainland. The war fleet travelled on the water, each fully loaded with twenty men armed with swords, spears, shields and muskets. When they reached their destination in the afternoon, the army commander's men stood at four hundred strong. On General Yuji's command, all the heishi jumped off the vessels and attacked the defenseless Yamaguchi Port in a quick swoop. They pillaged everything in sight, sparing only the women and children.
The efforts of the untrained men who tried to defend their port had all been in vain as they were brutally murdered in their numbers. Suddenly, a flash of light lit the dark sky and was followed by a loud crack of thunder. The celebrations with the spoils of war were suddenly cut short by a heavy downpour. Several tents were set up to take refuge from the torrents of rain that washed and mixed the blood of the dead with the soil.
"Ah," said a drenched Yuji with his arms stretched out. "Surely, who can be against us when Lord Ryūjin (Dragon god) is with us?" He took in the moment of victory. "Tomorrow morning, we charge further into the Earth capital until we reach those walls said to be impregnable."
☯
Later that evening, the Lightning Sage received a messenger pigeon from the Grass region and summoned Kazuo, Mikoto and Takumi. It was now raining lightly outside when the trio arrived at the ninja school.
"So what do you guys think?" Asuka asked, after she had read out the letter. "The characters may be similar but why use a Grass pigeon and not his raven like last time. I wouldn't want to send you on another ambush."
"I agree senpai, that it could be a trap," said Mikoto, holding her chin. "Hanzo-sensei would never work for Shadow ninjas. That's unlike him."
"Can we have a look at it?" asked Takumi and the Sage handed the letter over to him. "I once read some of his memoirs when we were at Yamaguchi Port and this writing bears a striking resemblance to them."
Why work for the Shadows? They killed his sensei, my great grandpa and my family members! Kazuo thought, feeling sick to his stomach. Fuck! How could he betray us like this?
Kazuo was about to storm out of the room when Takumi stopped him.
"Think about it, Kazuo." Takumi grabbed him by the shoulder. "What could Hanzo gain by preparing us to defeat Kagero? Training you guys for three years?" he asked them and then added, "In those six months we had, I never detected any form of maliciousness from him. So here's a thought, what if he was working undercover all along?" said Takumi. "What if, after assassinating the Water daimyo, he fled to Rani? That could explain where the letter came from… and also if the heishi think this to have been carried out by a keisatsu, then I'm sure they would want retribution."
"Blood for blood," said Mikoto. This is really bad.
"The Earth country is our ally and we haven't heard anything from them yet. However, you both raise valid points, if this letter is true then their daimyo's life could be in danger." Asuka thought deeply for a few seconds and then continued, "To be on the safe side, I'll ask Natsumi to ready a small task force to go and confirm this with Commissioner Keisuke. We could be dealing with a level S mission on our hands."
"Since we've already been to the Earth country, can we be on that task force?" asked Mikoto. "If the letter is true and the daimyo's life is at risk, they're going to need all the help they can get."
"I'll allow it, as long as it's at least six ninjas who are going," said Asuka. "So go and prepare for the trip, you'll be using horses this time around."
☯
Several hours later, in the Earth country…
"Commissioner!" a police screamed as he ran into Keisuke's office. He had to catch his breath before he said, "I'm Officer Harada stationed near Yamaguchi sir…the Port has just been taken by an army of heishi. It was a bloodbath, that's why I rushed here to inform you!"
"Great work Officer Harada, can you estimate how many they are?"
"From what I could make sir, I'd say about four hundred men."
"Thank you for the information, you're dismissed..." said Keisuke and the officer left the room. Four hundred huh, we only have about hundred keisatsu. To get here from Yamaguchi, it takes about ten hours on horseback and two days on foot. Which means if they're already on the move they will get here in three days' time. I need to call an urgent meeting with my chief inspectors and see if we can bargain with these heishi. But what bothers still me is why they attacked us? Since Lord Doi and Lady Namiko were set to form treaty.
Keisuke summoned five chief inspectors and also his friend–Deputy Yamamoto who was his second in command. They discussed at length about what to do next and finally came to the conclusion that they would send an envoy on the morrow. When the sun rose the following day, Yamamoto and four keisatsu galloped on horseback to meet with the Water heishi who had begun their march. That afternoon, the two groups crossed paths at the border between the Yamaguchi and Ishigami cities.
"Good day gentlemen," said Yamamoto, gulping when he saw the full scale of the army. "I'd like to speak to your General."
"You Earth scum have got balls sending only five men against my four hundred!" Yuji emerged from the large troop. "What do you have to say for assassinating our daimyo?"
"Assassination?" asked Yamamoto with a confused look. "I am afraid I do not follow."
"One of your keisatsu murdered my niece in cold blood and we want retribution!"
"Um… I–" Yamamoto stammered. "My condolences… I am just hearing about this. We don't know about any attempt on the Water daimyo's life. If anything, we thought our people were working on a truce. And what brought us here is the massacre you carried out at Yamaguchi."
"Massacre?" asked Yuji, laughing as his soldiers joined him. He then raised his hand and they ceased, "You're the ones who declared this war and the only thing that can stop us is if you gave us Ishigami Doi's head!"
"Can we not talk about this in private, as men?" asked Yamamoto, he stared at the army before saying, "To see if we can come to some form of an understanding."
What a fool! He thinks he can bargain with me but I'm not in the mood for any of that, Yuji thought and then said, "Who are you? And what is your name?"
"I'm Deputy Commissioner Yamamoto."
"So the Commissioner doesn't want to talk to me himself, huh?" asked Yuji, raising his hand once more. "Well then Yamamoto…here is my answer."
Yuji swiftly lowered his hand and sharp projectiles rained on the Deputy and his keisatsu. The officers were shot dead with several arrows before they could return fire. As they dropped to the earth, their horses ran around haphazardly and stampeded them.