The Jun tribe came to seek refuge in Yuiken village after suffering a major defeat. Kamiya, Kinjo, and other elders greeted them at the village entrance. Kamiya's heart ached when he saw the exhausted and wounded state of the tribe members; he was particularly surprised by how severely Akane had been injured.
Kamiya stepped forward and said in a warm voice, "Welcome, Jun tribe. Yuiken village opens its arms to you. The wounded can go to the hospital, where Doctor Hanzo will take care of them."
Akira, the leader of the Jun tribe, bowed his head wearily in greeting. "Thank you, Leader Kamiya. I don't know what we would have done without your generosity."
Kamiya placed a friendly hand on Akira's shoulder. "Rest first. We'll discuss the details later. Kinjo, please show them to their accommodations."
Kinjo nodded and directed the tribe members into the village. Kamiya turned to Akira and his assistant Yuki. "You two come with me. You need to tell me what happened."
The three of them went to Kamiya's room. Akira took a deep breath and began to explain: "The Xen tribe and the Xigua clan joined forces and attacked us. We were caught unprepared. Most of us... either died or were captured."
Yuki interjected, her eyes blazing with anger. "Their powers were very different from ours. It was as if..."
Kamiya furrowed his brow. "What do you mean? Can you explain a bit more?"
Yuki, with a trembling voice, explained: "According to what Akane told us, Kenshin Seiryo is immortal."
Kamiya nodded thoughtfully. "I see. This is very valuable information. Don't worry, you'll be safe here. You can help our village grow and become stronger. Together, we'll be more powerful. We'll definitely find a way to stop Kenshin."
Akira and Yuki bowed gratefully. "Thank you, Leader Kamiya. Just tell us how we can help."
Meanwhile, Kinjo quietly left the room and went straight to Endo Naizen, quickly reporting what had happened.
Endo became serious upon hearing the news. "This threat could be bigger than we thought. We must form a special team."
Kinjo nodded in agreement. "We should include Dokuro. His skills will be very useful in this situation."
Endo said thoughtfully, "You're right. Also, we should keep this team secret. Let's call it 'The Shadows'. They'll use codenames and wear plain masks with yellow embroidery. Have the masks prepared secretly. Kamiya and the other elders don't need to know about this, it's enough for just the two of us to know."
Kinjo said, "Understood. I'll start the preparations right away," as he headed towards the exit.
"Kinjo!" Endo called out, his voice stern.
"Yes, sir, is there something else?" Kinjo asked.
"I'm entrusting you with the main management of this team because you've been loyal to me for a long time. Take Dokuro as your assistant. I'll lead the team when necessary, but otherwise, let's create and progress with the tasks together," said Endo. His words were reassuring.
Kinjo nodded. What he really wanted was to eliminate those who had betrayed his father. However, this was quite difficult to achieve at the moment, because no one knew where that person had disappeared to.
Thus, with the arrival of the Jun tribe, a new era began in Yuiken village. With the establishment of The Shadows, a secret line of defense was formed against approaching dangers.
While Kinjo was discussing these events with Dokuro, Dokuro made a suggestion: "Kinjo, I know how appropriate this is, but maybe we could include Rikimaru and Soma and train them for this matter."
"I'm not sure about Rikimaru, to be honest, but Soma could work. You take care of him," said Kinjo.
"Of course, sir," said Dokuro and quickly left his side to search for Soma.
Meanwhile, Kenshin and Asahi were celebrating at the center of the former Jun tribe.
"Your revenge is near, Asahi, our next target will be Yuiken village!" Kenshin was shouting, laughing loudly and having fun at the same time.
Asahi, on the other hand, was a bit calmer and more serious. He wasn't much for the celebration, because someone from his clan had been killed, and no matter what, if a Xigua was killed, revenge would be taken. "I'm going to rest. We've waited long enough, let's set out soon. I can't waste any more time," he said. Clenching his fists, he began to move away from the celebration area.
Kenshin didn't care much about this because he knew Hama wasn't raised in the Xigua Clan. He shouted after him: "she wasn't even living with you, you're taking it too seriously."
Asahi suddenly underwent a partial transformation and appeared in front of Kenshin. "If she hadn't been kidnapped by the city dwellers, she would have lived with us. The family elders might not have accepted him when she returned, but the fact that she was one of us doesn't change." His legs had turned into cheetah legs, but his upper body was entirely human. He thrust his fist forcefully close to Kenshin's face.
Kenshin suddenly became serious. "I hope you don't think you can beat me, that would be funny. Look, I don't care. I hate that place called Yuiken village and I'm going to destroy it no matter what. Do whatever you want during that time, just leave Sato Ryo to me." Their faces were very close to each other and both had suddenly become angry. Meanwhile, Asahi thought: "Your time will come too. Allowing a monster like you to survive is a big risk." After staring at Kenshin for a while longer without taking his eyes off him, he turned around and left without saying anything.
Evening had fallen. Endo had secretly gathered the members of his newly formed secret team in his own house.
Kinjo, Dokuro, and six others were there. Soma was also there as an extra. The youngest person in the room, despite being only fifteen years old, was considered quite powerful even by adults as a Naizen with the seimei-sen eye.
Endo chimed in: "Kinjo and Dokuro will be the brains of this team. Dokuro, you'll also be involved in operations. But Kinjo, you must never be involved. You shouldn't be exposed or associated with us. Be extremely careful."
Kinjo and the others nodded their heads. "Then I'll give you your first mission," said Kinjo. He walked from the head of the line to Endo's side and began taking masks out of a bag one by one, distributing them in order. "You'll be divided into two groups of four. Dokuro and Soma should stay on the same team for now. Everyone needs to choose a codename."
Endo had a slight smile on his face. He was confident he had entrusted the team to the right person and felt at ease. For about seven years, he had been using Kinjo as a double agent. The reason for this was that Kinjo was the brother of Hirabayashi Ryo.
Seven years ago, Kinjo was going to meet with Hirabayashi and his brother to give a report. When he arrived at the building, he heard voices rising from behind and secretly approached to listen to the conversation:
"Kenji Ryo, I cannot assist in such a betrayal. I'm sorry, but I must report this. The tribe leader Hirabayashi is your brother, to secretly overthrow him and stage a coup... At a time like this... I'm sorry, but this shouldn't happen. Please abandon your cause."
Kenji roared with anger. He was unaware of how loudly he was shouting and that he would attract attention. He trusted Kuroki Kohei greatly: "Kuroki! You've served me for so many years, how can you betray me and not support me? I despise selfish and opportunistic people." He quickly drew his sword and plunged it into Kuroki's stomach. As blood poured from his mouth, Kuroki Kohei spoke his last words: "My lord, please keep my son out of these affairs. For the sake of all these years, tell him I died in battle."
As Kenji withdrew his sword, blood splattered around. He turned to his henchman: "Clean this up and stay out of sight for a while."
Listening to this, Kinjo was breathless and in tears. It felt as if his heart would leap out of his chest. He suddenly ran away, fleeing outside the clan. That day, he made a decision: As long as Kenji Ryo was alive, he couldn't stay here. He didn't return to the clan for a long time and encountered Endo Naizen on a battlefield. After an intense confrontation, he somehow managed to convince Endo and swore allegiance to him. In return, he sacrificed one of his eyes.
Although this loyalty still continued today, Kinjo did not fully trust Endo. Nevertheless, he would continue to use him for his own interests.
"Disperse and observe the movements of the Xen tribe," said Kinjo. "I suspect they're currently at the location of the Jun tribe. Find out when they'll make their move, how many they are, and what their objectives are, then return."
Everyone nodded simultaneously and secretly left the house, dispersing. Dokuro and Soma were in the same group.
"Soma, I'll call you Navigator. Call me as Knight," said Dokuro.
"Alright Knight, should I call you normally when we're in the village?" Soma asked.
"Don't be stupid Soma, of course you'll use my normal name," said Dokuro. "Anyway, just follow my orders for now. If anything happens to you, your father will give us trouble."
Soma nodded and set off towards the Jun tribe outside the village, along with two other people.
The moon had nearly reached its zenith. Kinjo went to Kamiya's office and lied: "Soma will be staying with Elder Endo of the village for a while. We ran into each other, and he asked me to let you know."
Kamiya replied with a slightly sad and tense demeanor: "That's fine, he can stay. After their fights with Rikimaru, I can't force them to stay in the same place, but I hope they make up soon."
As Kinjo bowed to pick up the boxes and place them on the table, he said, "I see you've opened the books."
Kamiya answered with both excitement and fatigue in his voice: "Yes, I can read and write, but oh, these texts are quite heavy. Did you know there was a book that only talks about flowers? I realized how much I've been missing, doing nothing but fighting. I think I'll be spending a lot of time here." He was enjoying learning new things.
While organizing the books, Kinjo said, "Rest for today, it's very late. You need to take care of your health, Kamiya."
As Kamiya stood up, he said, "You're right, I should go. Sitting here all day has been tiring anyway, I need some fresh air," and he returned home.
When he returned, Sanda was asleep, but there were sounds of wood being struck coming from the house's garden. When he went out to the garden, he saw Rikimaru fighting with his clones. "What are you doing!" he shouted. "This is so illogical. You can't train with your own clones, it won't add anything extra for you. Punching yourself won't do you any good, Riki!" Kamiya was quite angry.
Rikimaru paused and sat on the ground, out of breath. "I just want to become stronger. I can't control my power. The other day I made six clones, Uncle Kamiya. I can't believe myself—how could I make six, how could I generate this energy? Even my father could only make one or two at most. I had heard that even in legends, there were at most five."
Kamiya went over to him. "This already means you're quite powerful, Rikimaru. You don't need to get stronger; your perceptions and intelligence are good, in my opinion you're a genius. But if you keep pushing yourself this hard, it won't end well."
He knelt down and put his hand on Rikimaru's shoulder. "Focus on calming down and controlling your energy. With great power comes great responsibility. If you can't stay calm, you'll start hurting those you love."
Rikimaru maintained his silence, filled with complex emotions. As Kamiya left him alone and went to bed, he said, "Don't forget to rest. Rest is important for you to process your development."
Rikimaru stood up with firm determination and clenched his fists. "The time will come, father, I'll save you," he muttered, then went back into the house to go to bed.