11:00 am July 28th, 2018
Enji and Arashi left the temple to monitor the city. In case any accidents should occur they wanted to prepare an escape route or at least find any blind spots where an enemy could attack them from. As they walked among the crowd Arashi asked,
"We were brought here to watch over the nine-tails sealing, so it's likely that enemies are going to show up. Do you think Eclipse will appear this time?"
"It is highly likely. We still don't know what their end goal is, but it must've had something to do with those random rich guys."
"The Kyubi is a spirit, right? It may be possible that they want to tame it.", Arashi thought out loud.
"If that was possible then someone would have done it by now.", Enji said, "The conditions for a spirit whisperer to turn a spirit into a shikigami are unknown. Most tamers do it almost automatically, and it could be said that it requires 100% natural talent to achieve such a thing. If the Kyubi is as powerful as Kotsuki says, then it would surely be impossible."
Arashi then muttered, "All this and we still don't know how they produce that drug. It grants normal people psychic powers at the cost of their own sanity. If such a drug went onto the market then god knows how much destruction they could cause. Maybe they are planning a rebellion?"
Enji patted Arashi on the back, "I think you're overthinking things too much. Let's focus on the current mission and figure things out later."
As they walked Enji suddenly flinched all of a sudden as if she had seen something quite bizarre. She then pushed Arashi away causing him to crash into some people. Before Arashi could ask what she was doing, a sharp needle suddenly pierced the ground from where they once stood.
"5 o'clock at the top of that building."
A man that Arashi bumped into tried to grab and shout at him, but Arashi muttered under his breath as he said,
"Ninpo: hidden shadow."
The second the two made contact, Arashi disappeared into the crowd causing some confusion.
Atop the top of a random city building, a person wearing a cat fox mask while dressed in a red ninja gi held a bamboo stick in their hand. They stood up preparing to leave but then Arashi Suddenly appeared from behind her while holding a kunai knife.
He aimed it at the enemy's neck, but the ninja countered with their own, causing him to retreat.
"Who are you? And why did you try to kill me?", Arashi asked.
The stranger didn't respond but instead pulled out another kunai for their other free hand. He then suddenly charged toward Arashi at terrifying speeds, surprising him greatly.
The red ninja, slashed at him horizontally which Arashi dodged by ducking as he then kicked her into the sky. He then followed up the attack by throwing two shurikens towards him which was easily countered.
"If you won't respond, then I'll beat the answers out of you. Ninpo: After Image clones."
Arashi began to vibrate intensely causing his body to split into 2 identical versions of him.
He jumped towards the falling enemy as each clone prepared to pummel him.
The first clone threw a left hook, which the individual caught before kicking him in the back of the head. The next clone tried to grab onto him, but the red ninja stabbed a kunai knife into its forehead. The enemy tried to grab Arashi by the neck, and in response, he threw a small white sphere in between the two of them. It quickly flashed before exploding, releasing a great amount of white gas which blinded the two.
The two fell back onto the building roof, the red ninja then said,
"Ninpo: After Image Clones."
Their body vibrated rapidly as multiple different copies of them appeared quickly, surprising Arashi greatly.
"6 after image clones?? But you weren't that much faster than me earlier?"
The enemy then spoke for the first time, revealing their feminine voice,
"I didn't teach you to be this talkative, Arashi."
Before he could respond, one of the clones seemingly teleports in front of Arashi before he could block. They then deliver a powerful blow sending him flying to the sky while another clone teleports behind him, and kicks him to the ground below. Another one of the clones punches in his face while another knees him in the spine.
The last clone catches him and then smashed him into the ground causing the roof to collapse, making Arashi fall into a room devoid of people.
As Arashi coughed up blood he muttered under his breath weakly, "Could you... be?"
He then passed out before he could finish.
The red ninja gi-wearing figure, stood over the hole while marvelling at their work.
A powerful sword strike was then sent flying towards her, which she barely dodged.
Enji who finally arrived at the roof then said exhaustingly,
"Keeping up with enhancers is a chore. Now who the hell are you?"
The red figure then jumped onto the building fence as she said,
"That kid even after all this time, still can't use his ability. If he continues to fight like that, then he will definitely die in the upcoming battles. Let this be a warning to him, don't mess with eclipse."
The woman then dropped a white orb, which exploded and released a ton of gas.
Enji shouted, "Sword draw: Iai slash."
As she drew her katana, Enji instantly slashed away the gas in a single strike causing it to scatter. However, her target had already escaped.
She quickly pulled out her phone and dialled a phone number, once the other side picked up she then said,
"Shiro? Protect Hoshiko and retreat back to the temple. Eclipse attacked us so you guys should be in danger too."
She then jumped down to the floor below her and picked up Arashi by the shoulder.
11:30 am July 28th, 2018
The red ninja broke into what seemed like an empty and abandoned factory as well as the place where she rested.
She pulled off her hood, revealing her light orange bob-cut hair. As she drank a bottle of water from nearby by, a figure wearing a butler's outfit and a white mask emerged from the shadows.
"You attacked them ahead of the schedule, didn't you? What if they expect an assault from us now?", Asclepius said.
"We can't do anything until the day of the ceremony, so this minor incident shouldn't affect any of our plans."
"But that doesn't mean you can act out freely like this. Now that they know we are here, they will be on guard that much more. Aren't you meant to be Iga's red blossom of death? Yet you clearly still have lingering attachments to that boy."
She then pulled out a kunai knife from her sleeve and then pointed it towards Asclepius.
She then started to emit a wave of murderous intent as she said,
"Talk about that place once again, and then I might seriously kill you. I don't care if I will get in trouble with that man. But if you want to see the red blossom of death that badly, keep running your mouth like that."
The two simply stared at each other, while preparing to fight but then the sound of clapping followed by laughter emerged from the shadows.
"Why don't we all just calm down for a moment?" Adam said cheerfully. "Since we are going to be Idle for the foreseeable future, how about we have a friendly chit-chat instead of going off on each other like this?"
The woman then backed down while putting away her knife as Asclepius breathed a sigh of relief.
Adam then walked over to Asclepius and asked, "So how has your side of the plan going?"
He then pointed at the monocle which Asclepius carried as he said,
"That artifact of yours can see the potential of others right? Have you found a suitable ability yet?"
Asclepius replied, "I have found one that may be interesting. It will take some time until I can recruit him though. He still needs to mature a little."
"And how long will that take?", Adam asked.
He quickly answered, "11 days give or take."
Meanwhile Shiro and the others
Arashi in his usual outfit jumped through a forest of abnormally large trees in the dead of night. While he managed to avoid all of the branches, he opened the palm of his hand while shouting,
"Kamakura!"
A high concentration of blue lightning then gathered around his right hand as it also enveloped his whole body. Then with explosive speed, he quickly caught up with the person who he was chasing after.
"DIE FOR WHAT YOU DID, YOU BASTARD!"
His attack instantly pierced through the person's chest causing his hand to be soaked with their blood.
Once he blinked he was instead met with the body of a boy with light orange hair and freckles. As he groaned he said,
"Why did you kill me?"
The forest was then filled with a twisted evil laugh as Arashi shouted in horror.
He quickly pulled out his arm while carrying his dying friend's body,
"I'll take you back. The medical unit will definitely be able to heal you!"
The boy quickly grabbed his arm while looking at Arashi with hateful eyes.
"It's too late."
Overwhelmed with emotions, Arashi awakened from his nightmare while shouting at the top of his voice, greatly scaring Hoshiko who was nursing him.
"Where am I?", he asked.
But Hoshiko quickly got up and ran out of the room while calling for help.