-Sixteen years later-
A girl, almost eight years old, ran through the forest, seemingly wounded, appearing to flee from someone, her expressions a mask of fear and urgency as she dashed desperately. Suddenly, her leg got struck by a piece of wood, causing her to trip and fall, injuring her foot.
Tears welled in her eyes as she struggled to stand, but her foot was badly injured, preventing her from doing so.
Resorting to crawling, she desperately moved away trying to escape when suddenly, everything in the forest began to shake, the trees, the ground, everything trembled. Panic gripped her, urging her to crawl even faster.
Suddenly, out of the darkness of the woods a big black bear emerged, and as its eyes as dark as an obsidian caught sight of the girl, the bear let out a roar and charged towards the girl.
The girl shivering in pain squeezed her eyes shut in terror. Moments later, a sound of something falling to the ground reached her ears, followed by another thud, indicating a larger impact.
With trepidation, the girl cautiously opened her eyes, only to find the severed head of the bear resting at her feets, its massive body sprawled behind its head.
As she processed the surreal scene before her, her gaze was drawn to an hooded assassin standing a short distance away from the bear's body.
The assassin stood straight with his back to her. Holding a sword soaked in blood with an armband bearing a rising sun wrapped around his bicep.
The assassin then swung his sword in empty air, cleaning blood before sheathing his sword.
Turning towards the girl, the assassin reveals his face covered with a half face ninja mask and, his eyes a shade of blue.
Locking eyes with the girl the assassin began walking towards her, reaching her, he gracefully knelt down before her, the girl seemed terrified.
With a gentle hand, he took off the hood from his head and lowered his ninja mask, unveiling the visage of an eighteen year old boy with striking black hair and piercing blue eyes.
Meeting the girl's gaze with warmth, the assassin offered a reassuring smile.
"Are you injured?" he inquired softly.
The young girl nodded solemnly, her eyes reflecting pain.
"Yes, my leg hurts." she replied.
"Can you stand?" The assassin asked, to which the girl slowly shook her head in denial.
Assassin smiles and stands up, and scoops the girl up in his arms.
"Don't worry, I will take you back to your place." he reassured her with a smile. And with that he started moving.
Curiosity was brimming clear in the girl's eyes, as she posed a question, "Who are you and what's your name?"
A gentle smile graced the assassin's face.
"I am Uzin Minamoto, an assassin from Sugiyama Kingdom" he replied.
(The logo of Sugiyama Kingdom features a rising sun.)
Suddenly, the forest reverberated with the roar of another bear, causing the girl to flinch in fear.
Despite her apprehension, Uzin the assassin remained unfazed, maintaining his calm demeanour.
"Please, my family is in danger, they need help." the girl pleaded, With desperation in her voice.
Uzin's smile remained unfazed, as he continued to walk away from the forest.
"I'm pretty sure they don't need my help in this," he assured her, his tone calm and confident…
In the same forest, Inside a small wooden cabin, an eighteen year old young girl holding a six-year-old girl in the corner of the cabin.
Both in distress, the six year old cries, and the eighteen year old girl panic heightened as something was scratching and pounding on the door, when eventually the door shatters.
Eighteen year old eyes widened in fear as a massive wild bear with obsidian eyes entered the cabin, roaring in fury.
Panic surges through the girl, and she frantically searches for an escape route, but there's nowhere left to run.
The bear slowly approaches them when suddenly, the house's rooftop shatters, and a hooded assassin lands squarely between the girl and the bear.
The assassin was holding a sword, his eyes were a shade of grey, wearing a half face mask, and a sun-emblazoned armband adoring his bicep.
The bear roars again in fury while the hooded assassin keeps his focus on the bear, but suddenly, the hooded assassin slowly sheathed his sword back at his scabbard.
The girl's disbelief grew immensely as tears kept flowing down her cheeks, witnessing the scene with laboured breath.
With a horrifying speed the bear charged toward the hooded assassin who stood unfazed, seeming calm and composed.
The bear swung his sharp pointed claws at the assassin poised for a deadly strike. But just as it claws near the assassin, the hooded assassin unleashes a devastating punch straight into the bear's chest, the impact so fierce that his fist struck deep inside the bear's chest.
A roar of pain erupts from the bear and before it could respond the hooded assassin swiftly withdraws his hand from its chest, clutching the still-beating heart of the bear.
In a surreal moment, the bear stands frozen, its aggression halted by the unexpected display of power from the hooded assassin.
In a flash, the hooded assassin unsheathes his sword and executes a flurry of slashes that carve through the air with lethal intent. After a flurry of slashes the hooded assassin stands still maintaining his stance.
Seconds later, the bear's massive form shatters into pieces, scattering across the floor like shattered glass.
With a composed demeanour, the hooded assassin sheathed his sword and turned to face the girl and the child.
kneeling before them, the hooded assassin's piercing gaze meets theirs.
"Are you both okay?" he inquired in a serious tone.
Eighteen year's old girl quickly nodded in agreement, still seemed to be terrified and worried.
"You seem injured." Hooded assassin said "Allow me to escort you both to safety. Let me carry the child."
"Who are you?" The girl asks, appearing stunned and confused.
After a momentary pause, the hooded assassin delicately removes his hood and lowers his ninja mask, revealing a twenty-two-year-old with long pushed back black hair.
"I am Ukichi Minamoto" He introduced himself with a chilling calmness, "An assassin under Sugiyama's command. But fear not, I have no intention of harming you both."
Attempting to rise, The girl stammered, "I... I must protect my family."
Ukichi the assassin gently held her back. "Nothings gonna happen to your family." hs assured, "Right now, you need urgent medical attention. So now I'll be taking you to a safer place."
Overwhelmed, the girl reluctantly nodded, allowing Ukichi to lift her injured sister before they left the cabin together…
In the same forest, a twelve-year-old boy flees through the woods, his face twisted in fear, his body bearing wounds, his breath laboured.
Coming out from the woods, the boy came to an abrupt stop, his eyes widening as he encounters a falling cliff about fifty feets ahead of him.
Below the cliff, lies a dense, shadowy forest, alive with the presence of abyss creatures and possessed animals, adding to the palpable tension of his dire situation.
Surveying his surroundings, the boy realizes there's no escape. Suddenly, the sound of approaching footsteps reaches his ears, causing his heart to race even faster.
Suddenly a group of six thieves clad in red and black attire burst forth from the darkness of the woods, brandishing swords, their sinister laughter echoing through the area.
They all began advancing towards the boy encircling him with malicious intent, causing the boy to recoil in terror before tumbling backwards.
With a swift motion, one of the thieves swings his sword at the boy, aiming to strike the fatal blow causing the boy to squeeze his eyes shut.
But suddenly another thief intervenes, halting the other attack in mid air.
"Why end his suffering so easily?" The thief said with a mischievous smile, "This boy has made us chase him tirelessly. Let's give him a fate worse than death, let's throw him into the forest below. None have ever returned from the depths of that dark forest."
Upon hearing his words the rest of the thieves let out a laugh of agreement, before one of the thieves seizes the boy's arm and forcibly dragged him towards the edge of the cliff.
The young boy struggled against the thieves' grasp, but his efforts were futile against his strength. The thief threw the helpless boy down the cliff.
Falling downwards, fear gripped the boy as he closed his eyes tightly, tears streaming down his face as he kept going down.
In a moment of despair, he felt a sudden firm grip around himself, someone taking him back up.
The rescuer was ascending with swift movements, and the boy began to hear the thieves' laughter once again, signalling their return to higher ground.
After a few moments, the movement of the rescuer halted, and the laughter of thieves also halted.
"Who the hell are you?" One of the thieves shouted.
That twelve year old boy opened his eyes and saw a hooded assassin carrying him.
The assassin, with piercing yellow eyes, wearing a ninja mask, and a sun-emblazoned armband adorning around his bicep.
Carrying an air of confidence the hooded assassin put the boy on the ground and drew two gleaming swords from his back, before swiftly pointing the blades at the thieves.
"You should consider yourselves fortunate," The assassin declared, his voice firm beneath the mask. "For you shall meet your death by the hands of the future King of Sugiyama!"
A silence envelopes the area at the bold statement by the assassin, the boy appears stunned, when suddenly thieves burst into laughter.
One of the thieves scoffed, "A king? Who do you think you are? We'll put an end to you right now!"
With a swift motion, he charged at the hooded assassin, swinging his sword at him.
However, the assassin remained unfazed as he effortlessly dodged the thief's attack with a graceful sidestep.
Stunned thief unleashed a flurry of slashes at the assassin who began dodging every single attack.
Between dodging, the hooded assassin remarked "Impressive! You're certainly brave and fast."
"But not fast enough," With a swift motion the assassin deftly sliced the arm of the thief from which he was holding his sword.
Thief arm with sword dropped down on ground, followed by a piercing scream of agony by the thief.
In the middle of his scream, the hooded assassin swiftly plunged one of his swords into the thief's mouth, the blade piercing through his face, instantly taking his life.
The assassin withdrew his blade allowing that thief's lifeless body to fall on ground.
looking up at the remaining thieves, the hooded assassin remarked, "I have a headache today, so please refrain from screaming."
The other thieves were in disbelief, their fury surges as four of them rushed towards the assassin.
The hooded assassin smiled and in an instant he discapitate all four of them, causing their headless bodies to crumble on the ground. The assassin remained standing, casually stretching his body.
The hooded assassin then cast a glance at the sky, remarking, "What a splendid day, and my blades have been graced with blood. Truly, a fulfilling day."
He then turned his attention to the lone remaining thief, who was shivering in fear.
Walking towards that trembling thief, the hooded assassin casually asked, "Hey, do you have anything to eat? I'm kinda feeling hungry."
Overcome with immense fear the thief ran away.
The hooded assassin stopped in his tracks.
"I simply asked for something to eat, and you ran? Do you genuinely believe you can escape from me!"
He threw one of his swords at the thief which pierced the thief's leg, causing him to fall, screaming in pain.
The hooded assassin then approached the thief, and pointed his sword at the thief's neck.
"Acknowledge me as your king, and I will spare your life." He demanded chillingly.
The terrified thief grasped the hooded assassin's leg and pleaded, "You are the king of the kings my lord! There is no one more stronger than you! there is no one who can rival you! please, your Majesty, forgive me, I am begging you!"
There was silence for a few moments, the thief slowly looked up and saw tears in the eyes of assasin.
"Remarkable! that was brilliant." The assassin said.
"May I leave now, Your majesty?" The thief inquired with a hopeful smile.
The hooded assassin then raised his sword up.
"Kidding" He said coldly before mercilessly slashing the thief's head in two.
The hooded assassin then sheathed his swords and turned around and began approaching the boy.
"Are you alright, little one?" The assassin asked, kneeling before the boy.
The frightened boy began crawling away, calling him a monster.
The hooded assassin let out a soft chuckle. "No, no, I'm not a monster. I'm a human, and I'm an assassin. I'm here to protect you, kid."
The child, still frightened, picked up a small stone and threw it at the hooded assassin, striking him on the head which obviously had no effect on him.
"You're a monster!" The boy exclaimed with urgency and terror in his voice.
The hooded assassin chuckled again, removing his hood and lowering his ninja mask, revealing an eighteen-year-old boy with black hair.
"You see, I'm a human just like you." Assassin said, adding, "I'm Kageru Minamoto, an assassin, and I'm here to protect you. Come here, little one."
He extended his hand towards the kid but the child slapped it away and fled, calling him a human-like monster.
Kageru, watched the boy fading into the distance, "Well well well... What an odd child."