Having acquired new information, the team rushed back towards the marketplace, and to their surprise, they found Nakamura and Isoko waiting.

“Nakamura, Isoko! Apologies for making you wait.”

Nakamura then replied.

“It’s fine Kento. We have managed to patrol this area while you guys left to talk with those drug-inhaling idiots and sure enough, some Bakufu soldiers arrived here. Guess what? Those guys received the news about the auction. Thanks to Isoko's talking, we managed to convince them to move out of here and to the other side where Kusunoki was causing problems.”

“All aside Kento, what happened? Did you guys fix the map? And what about that weird symbol?” Isoko changed the subject.

At that moment, Kento slowly unrolled the map and showcased its fully functional interface to his buddies. He then opened up his mouth to answer Isoko’s other question.

“And as for the symbol, I am afraid to say that...well...we found a lot...about what’s behind that top-secret organization. I am afraid that I can’t explain everything to you guys right now. We have a mission to complete. We need to hurry up because we are running short on time.”

Yamazaki then promptly responded to gain attention.

“My bro is right! We've got to make haste!”

"Haste makes waste Yamazaki! So don't get too excited, Yamazaki." Isoko warned Yamazaki in a low tone.

While Yamazaki and Isoko engaged in another casual argument as they'd always do, Kento closely observed the map and tried gathering all the information that it was providing. Closely studying the position of each dot with the assistance of his brother and sister, Kento collected all the coordinates and locations of the remaining jewels.

"Listen up everyone!" Kento called out.

"Your forehead is so big that you'll never have enough hair for bangs!" Isoko didn't quite catch her leader's callout as she was busy arguing with Yamazaki as a part of her daily routine.

"Oh yeah?" Yamazaki wasn't ready to accept defeat just yet. "Your chest is so small that it can be nailed much easier than freaking wooden planks!"

"What did you just say about my CHEST??? I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL..."

Yamazaki's roast gave birth to a few sparks of anger inside Isoko. As a natural reaction, she leapt to spank Yamazaki on the head to put an end to their childish brawl but was promptly halted by Kento with his dominative voice.

"ISOKO! YAMAZAKI! CUT IT OUT!"

Slowly diverting their sights onto the ground, Isoko tried to blame Yamazaki to clear out her name.

"Yamazaki! I told you to stop this a while back!"

"ENOUGH! JUST TELL ME IF YOU WANT TO ABORT THE MISSION SO THAT YOU CAN GO ON YOUR MERRY WAY TO BECOMING BETTER FRENEMIES!"

As these words escaped Kento's mouth, both of the culprits were struck by a strong sense of guilt. With the fact that the rest of the gang was spectating the entire scene, their guilty conscious only grew stronger. Isoko promptly gave out her apology to put out the fire.

"No please! You don't have to go that far, Kento."

Yamazaki then followed her up with a much more, bro-like tone to calm his best friend.

"I am sorry Kento. Please! It won't happen again."

"Goodness guys! I was just trying to let you all know of the plan. This is not the time to be messing around. We are running out of time. We've got to be quick."

"Yeah, we are both in the wrong here. Just pretend that this never happened and continue what you were about to say."

"Okay, I just spent these last few minutes analysing the map to figure out what I can gather about the locations of the remaining fragments. We have already collected two of the fragments of the star of Izanagi. So, we have six more to hunt down."

He paused for a minute and lifted the map to his comrades. He gradually lifted his finger and targeted the red dot on the map, the symbolic representation of the Ruby of Regeneration.

"The Ruby of Regeneration is the closest one. I think we should all get there."

After succumbing to the effects of Kento's voice, both Yamazaki and Isoko were quick to bow their heads to Kento's suggestion, followed up by Kumiko, Kyuzo and Hinako.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Kento, I don't think so." Kento was struck with confusion by the response he received from Nakamura, the only person to reject his idea. As all of the approvals he received were shattered by the oldest member of the Teen Ninjas, Kento was quick to question in a kind of furious manner.

"What? Why? Why are you opposing?"

"Kento, if we all just go together to take down each Kōga, we will never be able to revive your parents."

"What? I...I don't get it."

"We will waste a lot of time trying to take one enemy at a time. Instead of going together, why don't we all spread out and hunt down each of those ninjas alone and gather all the crystals at the same time?"

Kento's facial expression wasn't the greatest thing you would have imagined.

"But Naka…"

"I think what he is saying is right, Kento,"

Despite being affected by Kento's heavy scolding, Isoko was the first one to jump in and display her thoughts.

"If we just take them on together one by one, we would never make it on time. We should go alone to engage each of the Kōgas to recover the crystals. It would help us to complete this mission a lot faster."

"She is right."

Hinako and Kyuzo agreed along with Yamazaki, who lifted his hand instead of speaking.

Kento's anger subsided. He was in a pickle, unable to make up his mind to agree to the suggestion that most of his friends agreed to.

"Guys, it's way too risky! We are out here facing the tough forces of the Kōga clan. Besides I am responsible for your safety. If I sent…"

His speech instantly halted...

When Kumiko had laid her hand on Kento's palm. She talked to him in a soothing voice, comforting him thoroughly.

"Kento-kun, you believe in us, don't you?"

He nodded, realising where this conversation was heading.

"Then why don't you continue to keep that trust in us? We can take them on alone. Please, just let us spread out. We are making this request on behalf of your parents, Kento-kun."

Ever since the day that Kento first teamed up with his current teammates way before they were even selected as the official Teen Ninjas, he always believed in his comrades' potential. He cared for them deeply and watched over them like their brother. Kento had always been trained to carry a strong sense of responsibility by his elders as it was a necessity to prepare him for all kinds of hardship, something that the Hattori Clan experienced quite often. Because of this very reason, it was natural for him to disagree with a suggestion like this one that would keep their friends' lives at the end of a stake. But thanks to his friends' endless requests, it was only a matter of time before his state of mind changed.

"Alright then... I guess I just can't underestimate your potential like that right? How about we teach all of those Kōgas a lesson to remember...together?"

"Yeah! Now that's what I like to hear from you, my bro!" Yamazaki lifted his upbeat but was suppressed by Isoko, who landed a punch on Yamazaki's spiky hair.

"Woah! Woah! Don't get too excited Yamazaki. Both you and Nakamura got injured in the last battle. I can't send you alone. So, I am going to send Kyuzo and Hinako to assist you both."

Kumiko agreed.

"I do agree. They might need some help. So I think you both should go with them."

"Roger that," Kyuzo replied.

"Fine by me." That was Hinako's reply.

Kento resumed.

"Okay now listen. Everyone except Nakamura and Yamazaki is going on alone. So, we have split our team into five segments. As there are six more enemies, we can take on the first five simultaneously. After engaging them, we all should rendezvous here before going after the final crystal, the Diamond of finality."

He continued to discuss his plan for about three minutes. During that time, he provided his teammates with all the details about the coordinates and locations of the jewels while also assigning each of them an opponent to take on followed by safety precautions to ensure their safety.

Concluding their discussion, Kento asked.

"You got everything right?"

"Yeah!" Everyone seconded.

"Hinako and Kyuzo, take good care of Nakamura and Yamazaki. I believe in you two."

"Don't be afraid brother. We will safeguard them like our eyes."

"Alright then," Kento gave a roaring reply full of a victorious voice.

"Let's go! Everyone, SCATTER!!!"