As the lifeless body of the Yamabushi embraced the soil, the gang of ninjas rushed towards Nakamura and Yamazaki, while Kento appreciated their efforts.

"That was an intense fight. Nice work, both of you."

"Nakamura-san, let me treat those wounds of yours." Kumiko tended to his wounds while Isoko and Hinako aided Yamazaki.

Kumiko unloaded a vial from her shinobi pouch and grabbed one out of it. Pulling out its lid, she poured some fine, pale green powder onto her hand. It was a healing powder, made from a fruit named "Kachū na Kyū". It's a medicinal plant that bears spherical-shaped fruits in a short period. The fruits contained compounds that could boost your immunity to allow wounds and cuts to heal extremely fast whilst also being a good pain reliever and a disinfectant. Being incredibly rare with most of its species being confined to the Mie region of Japan, they were primarily used by ninjas before the samurai got to learn about their mysterious regenerative capabilities in the latter half of the Sengoku period. When they too started exploiting the remaining plant population, the Kachū na Kyū were overharvested, leading to the near extinction of most of the variants of the rejuvenating plant. But one of the species was lucky enough to be revived by Iga ninjas as they managed to replant the last remaining seeds to regrow a new generation of these unordinary plants.

Kumiko wetted the powder with a few drops of water. Taking Nakamura's arm, she slowly applied the powder to the laceration. The powder immediately started reacting with the wound and started the healing process. She repeated the same process with the other wounds on Nakamura's body, relieving the pain that was agonising him.

After applying the paste to Nakamura's wounds, Kumiko decided to cover up the huge wound using a bandage to prevent any infections that might worsen the condition. As Nakamura was being treated, Isoko and Hinako tried to patch Yamazaki's wounds. Kyuzo offered the injured some water, while Kento examined the dead body of the Yamabushi. A few seconds passed. Kento returned to Nakamura and asked a few questions. Before Nakamura started answering them, he slowly handed over the tourmaline which was covered with blood and a few blood vessels. Kento took it from him gently and rinsed it with a little bit of water, uncovering its magnificent brilliance.

"Nakamura, how are you doing? Feeling better?"

"Yeah! Way better."

"Kento-kun,'" Kumiko joined the conversation. "His injuries aren't severe. I treated every single one of them and managed to cover up the deep cut on his arm with some bandage wrappings. Hopefully, he will start feeling okay soon."

"That's great to hear." Kento smiled and decided to check on Yamazaki. And he was relieved thanks to Isoko's reports.

"I can say the same thing that Kumiko said to you a while back."

"Is he okay?"

"Yup, he is recovering, all thanks to our clan’s legacy."

"Ke….keee…..(Groans)"

A faint voice suddenly played inside Kento's mind and was familiar to his ears. He attempted to recognize the voice. The loudness kept on growing little by little. After a while, it exploded into a loud shout, intoxicating not just Kento, but also the others.

"Onii-chan! Look at that!"

Hinako's hand was directed towards the dead Yamabushi, who turned out to be still alive.

Horrified by the sudden realisation of the monk's status, Kento's whole body was instantly wet with sweat. He slowly progressed towards the Yamabushi but halted when he heard the Yamabushi's sudden burst of words.

"Kento, come towards me child….There’s something you might wanna know before my time in this cursed world shall come to a halt."

"Dude! You aren't thinking of going towards that freak, right?"

Yamazaki yelled.

"Of course not, Yamazaki!"

"Kento, are you joking? That guy is a zombie. What exactly does a zombie have to do with you? He might just end up cursing you with the same fate and might...end up pulling your heart out!"

"Wait. Don't worry. He can't move. So, I doubt he can harm me."

Despite his friends' warnings, Kento slowly approached the paralysed body of the Yamabushi, crouched down and said in an interrogatory tone.

"I have been stalling you the entire time, you know child I’m just an extra in their scheme…. Judging by how pathetic your fighting techniques are, you won’t survive for long on the battlefield. Let your friends enjoy the moment…all I wanted was to delay you while our empire builds your doomsday....”

Coughing up blood and wincing while saying each word, he stared into Kento’s eyes.

“You have no idea about the illusion you are entwined in. You are so foolish that even luck can't help you out, you really are Hattori’s son. A glorification of false talent and an utter failure.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The Yamabushi then affixed his eyes to the sky.

Kento looked motionless at the Yamabushi, trembling with anger and the guilty feeling that what the Yamabushi said might be true.

"This ought to be the end; after all, what can a group of teenagers possibly do to retaliate against the Iga’s greatest rival and its league of soldiers and artillery," Kento thought to himself. "We need to head back. I cannot put their lives in danger just to delay the inevitable,"

Kento thought while looking at his friends, while the Yamabushi’s words resonated in his mind,

“'Let your friends enjoy the moment…All I wanted was to delay you while our empire builds your doomsday...' Was the Yamabushi’s only aim to stall us and let himself be defeated just to lure us into their trap and make sure we get to their ultimate snare and then suffer slow, painful deaths?“

“Hey,..” Kento was startled out of his thoughts; he almost reached for his sword and then realised it was Kumiko. The frustration and anxiety Kento was steeped in pretty much made him senseless to his surroundings, making him even forget Kumiko’s voice.

“You know we just got started right? We need to move quickly, time is not stopping you know,” She looked at the prone corpse and asked, “Did he say something to you? Any intel?”

“We...We...We need to head back. This is too dangerous. Far too dangerous since I’m putting all of your lives on the line. I will tell sensei that we are calling off the mission.”

“Kento…”

“Putting all of your lives at stake for something so uncertain is not the best thing I can do as a leader…After all, this is just family problems….I might get through it with time.”

Kumiko suddenly noticed something; Kento trying to blink back the tears from his eyes.

“Kento-kun, look at me...Hey, look at me.” Kento looked up.

“Look, we are all here for you. We decided to come and it isn’t your decision to make. To send us back for thinking that our lives are far more valuable…”

Kento still didn’t look convinced.

“What did he say, please tell me,” Kumiko inquired.

Kento tried his best not to look shocked in front of her, and tried his best to come up with a lie… but before he could stop himself he blurted out, “He said that this was nothing more than a pet project of their master plan and their master plan to conquer our land is underway. By this incident, not only do the Kogas know who we are but also our abilities, our weaknesses, our location and possibly our entire plan to retrieve the crystals.”

“But the Yamabushi is dead now, Kento-kun.”

“It was intentional. My intuition is telling me that he had meant that to happen. The Kogas has planned to slow us down and gather our information. They might’ve even planned to hurt or kill anyone on the squad, they probably resolved not to kill us now and lure us to their mainland and slaughter us in front of their people. This wouldn’t be the first time that happened to an Iga."

Kumiko was obviously shocked. No point in concealing it and delaying the inevitable. They were going to know about this sooner or later, the easy or the hard way.

“That's why we are here with you. To go through all of this together and reclaim what was once ours. I will be there for you, walking with you even if it requires me to go to hell and back. I think the others won’t differ, except perhaps Yamazaki.”

For once, which seemed like forever, Kento felt light at heart which opened his sense of sarcasm for once. “Haha, yeah...that Baka. I wonder why am I still friends with him even after all these years.”

The young hero felt rejuvenated and more spirited. Kento got the courage to fight the opposition.

"Damn...I almost fell into that geezer's trap. That was way...way too close. I’m not going to act the way the Kogas want me to; we will bring the fight to Koga no matter what happens."

“Kento-kun!” The sound of Kumiko broke through Kento’s self-contemplation, as Kumiko held up something that looked like an oddly shaped key with a few weird-looking stamps near its handle.

“What the hell is that?”

“I think it’s a key which opens something that isn't a door.”

“Well, that's kind of obvious because you won’t find a key like that which opens your front door…where did you find it?”

“He was wearing this around his neck. Wait…”

“What is it?”

“This shape. It…seems…impossible.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Jogorumo Key [https://i.imgur.com/jWmJ7h6.png]

“The shape on this weird-looking key… it seems to be depictable in a singular plane yet it can’t exist in the real world. I haven't seen anything like this in ancient Japanese culture. I can't think of anything which I can relate to this shape though…”

Kento took a closer look. “There are some ancient Japanese characters on it that I can’t seem to understand. And...Wait...Look!"

"Yeah?"

"There is a shape of a Jorogumo on it,” Kento pointed out the weird-looking creature's carving on the key. "Jorogumo are enormous, spider-like demons. In most stories, they’re depicted as evil and hungry for human flesh. To catch prey, the Jorogumo can disguise themselves as attractive women. Never thought I'd ever see something like this. I wonder..."

“We will lose our minds if we continue to pay attention to its symbolism. We should go and tell the others,” Kumiko said.