"Waiiiit….It’s…Onii-san! And Hinako…Yamazaki….Kumiko! You all came!"

As Kyuzo’s sentence full of amazement and relief escaped, the Teen Ninjas who had just made it into the bear brawl arena jumped to help the remainder, followed by the samurai squad.

Kento dashed right towards Kyuzo and boosted up to retrieve his weapon. Hinako and Kumiko ran towards Isoko and Nakamura to care for their injuries, while Yamazaki took a few seconds to join the treatment along with a few soldiers from the squad who had brought medication to help aid the wounded.

"Did we come here on time?" Kento inquired, with his gentle big brother tone.

"Yeah! I would have been dominated by those bears if you hadn’t arrived. You came at the right time! But...How did you come to know that I needed help…Onii?"

"Well…you tell me! It was so obvious to me that you needed help! You guys were the only ones late for the rendezvous. Haven’t you been keeping up with the time? Plus, this samurai told me that Isoko went chasing after Akizuki. So me and the others quickly agreed to get here and assist you to put an end to this."

Kyuzo was alarmed. Being so distracted from everything that had been going on around him, he had forgotten to take one important thing into account; time. He gradually gazed upon the sky, only to witness the afternoon sun’s rays creeping through the thin, stringy clouds covering the sky. It clicked a few thoughts inside his mind.

“Oh my…I was so focused on navigating and fighting that I didn’t manage to notice the time! I guess you saved me big time once again, Onii-san.”

“Don’t mention it, Kyuzo. I am you Onii-san after all. Consider this as something that you’ll continue to receive as long as my heart still beats.”

Seeing the tensed faces of Kumiko and Hinako made Kento fear for the health of their friends. After seeking information from his friends, he eventually learnt that their injuries weren’t that serious, but they would require immediate treatment to combat the bites from the enhanced and enraged bears. Believing the skills of his friends, Kento left the job to his friend and his sister and progressed to lift his katana to repel the incoming kunai that was abruptly shot by Akizuki, who then spoke with an irritated mind.

"HATTORI KENTO? Care to explain how you got the guts to ignore the presence of a Kōga to do your dumb family talking?"

Listening to the Koga ninja's words, Kento steered his katana at Akizuki and replied with a smirk.

"Why get so mad over a small brotherly talk? Haven’t you Kōgas learnt any manners while inside your hometown?"

Glimpsing the ongoing conversation between Kento and Akizuki motivated the leader of the samurai squad to join the battle. He politely walked towards Kento to request to join them in fighting against the Koga ninja. Declining the request, Kento showcased the reason behind his declining. He mentioned that that was going to be his battle, and if he wanted to help him out, the best thing to do was to go and help his friends in aiding his downed teammates.

"I will do that, Kento."

After agreeing to Kento's suggestion, the leader commanded his team to reach out and support the injured, while Kento and Kyuzo plotted out their plan.

"Kyuzo, let me handle this."

"I can't. It's my opponent. I will finish what I started."

"Okay," He paused. "Then let's do this together, shall we?"

Kyuzo untangled his kusarigama and squeezed the sickle tight. He lingered for a second before providing his final answer.

"Fine by me."

Their conversation didn't reach a clear ending all because of Akizuki, who interrupted the conversation by trying to attack Kento's behind.

Kento had known perfectly well that at some point, Akizuki would try to attack him in an unnoticeable way. But the slight sound of the crackling dirt provided information to his vigilant ears and his body managed to sense the sudden change of wind, ultimately allowing him to draw back his katana and stand with his sword lifted against Akizuki.

The claws barely made any damage to Kento as he could block the attack. After landing her surprise attack, Akizuki opened her mouth to acknowledge her opponent sarcastically.

"Hmm...so you are just like your brother? Who knows? You might be even stronger than him! Or…it could be the other way around! Well, there's only one way to find out!"

Akizuki began to focus all her mind juice on the peridot to call for more backup. Though she seemingly tried, after sometimes she felt something was missing, though Akizuki had no idea what it was. It took a few tries for her to realise what was missing, which immediately caused her to get stuck in a puzzled state.

“The Peridot…WHAT HAPPENED? WHERE IS IT?”

Kyuzo too was stunned after identifying that the peridot was missing. After trying to recollect everything that had happened in the past few minutes, he slowly locked his eyes on Kento. After a few seconds, Kento managed to generate gasps full of intrigue from everyone by uncovering the lost jewel, the Peridot of Summoning.

He held the uneven, cubical lime green gem between two fingers, and slowly lifted it to a point where it was in the line of sight of Akizuki's worried eyes.

She exclaimed.

"What? But how?"

Kento replied while putting the katana inside his case.

"Simple. I broke the string off when you rushed to flank me. I pulled off a sword strike that blocked and cut at the same time. Perhaps you should think about how your arrogance and impatience can sometimes screw you up…big time."

Repenting for the fault she had made, Akizuki knelt on the ground while putting her head in her hands. She screamed with regret in her voice, embodying the truth inside her heart.

"I...I don't have anything to say...I...I surrender. I don’t deserve to live. Kento, kill me…PLEASE!"

Kento brought out his iron comrade and walked up to Akizuki. He held the sword just above Akizuki's neck. And in a flash, he brought down the sword.

"Kento!"

Everyone screamed. Their eyes were shut to avoid spectating this beheading scene. But Kento had managed to stop his attack when the sword tip had gotten close.

Akizuki was regretful but somewhat relieved at the same time to find her head still intact. Kento reinserted his katana and replied while supplying the reason behind why he didn't attack.

"I don't go around killing people for sport, like you."

Akizuki sighed with relief. But her sense of relief soon evaporated after her hands were compromised by two samurai guards, who whacked her on the back before taking her into custody. She didn’t try to resist like Kento would have thought and a while later, she stood up with a few fresh bruises on her body.

Kento continued.

"But don’t ever think that the authorities will let you rest peacefully. Your crimes will bring you a hefty punishment by orders of the shogunate and the imperial palace."

Kento ended and went back towards his injured friends, followed by Kyuzo. Obeying the orders of their leader, the remaining samurai team entangled Akizuki with chains, removing even the slightest of chances that she might have previously resisted, and the leader's job of seizing her into custody wasn't a tough job.

Kento was delighted to see his injured comrades had regained consciousness. Thanking the efforts of his friends and comrades, he initiated a conversation between them, asking how they were feeling.

"Isoko? Nakamura?"

They both slowly answered.

"K..Kento? You guys came?"

"How are you guys…nevermind. My bad guys…Don't try to force yourselves.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Isoko gave her reply first, followed by Nakamura.

"I..think...I am okay."

"Aah! My leg! It's almost gone!"

"Nakamura," Kento grabbed and held Nakamura with his left arm and used his maximum potential to help him move. Seeing his brother's terrible condition, Yamazaki too decided to join Kento in assisting Nakamura.

Kumiko slowly tried wrapping up Nakamura's wounds by using the last bit of elite bulb powder she had. Hinako did the same with Isoko's left leg, which had undergone the same treatment as Nakamura's, with intense bite marks and a few scratches. After working on Nakamura's wounds, Hinako and Kumiko utilised their mend the scratches on Isoko's stomach, which reached up to her chest. Kumiko had to just cover up the wounds with a plain cloth as she didn't have any elite bulb essence left.

A soldier reached Isoko and Nakamura and offered them some water. They were happy to accept the offer, but the pain and the fatigue inside them were sucking the lifeblood away from them. And as a result, they hardly had any stamina to pick up the bottle of water that the samurai soldier offered.

Kento was moved by beholding the poor condition of Isoko and Nakamura. Triggering his leaderly instincts, he promptly got hold of the container and closed the distance by bringing it close to Nakamura's face.

With a blink, Kento spoke, slowly.

"Nakamura, come on. Drink."

Nakamura lifted his shocked and sweaty face at a snail’s pace and slowly started to sip pure drops of water from the bottle, while Kento supported by tilting the bottle. Each drop of water drained away the exhaustion a great deal. And after drinking a sufficient amount, Nakamura released his mouth from the bottle, and smiled to thank his comrade.

"Are you feeling better?" Kumiko slowly inquired.

"Ahhh...I guess…" Nakamura replied in a low voice.

Kento smiled.

"Good."

He then advanced towards Isoko to follow the same thing, and she ended up drinking all the water that was remaining inside the bottle.

"Isoko? What a miracle?"

"What's so funny about it, Yamazaki? I swear to god this fool doesn’t have any barriers to where his unfunny humour would pop up."

It was the question that popped into Hinako's mind.

"Oh..well…"

Kento made an announcement.

"Listen up. So far, we have managed to recover seven out of eight pieces of the Star of Izanagi. We are very close to completing our mission. However, I have got to make some changes to our plan because of the incidents that took place. First of all, Isoko and Nakamura, I am sorry to say this but I am afraid that you won't be able to join us in defeating the next enemy in your current condition."

Their faces weren't the prettiest thing when Kento stated this. But they eventually understood how thoughtful Kento's decisions were.

Kento quickly changed his field of view towards the samurai leader of the samurai team and requested.

"Sir, please carry my injured friends safely back to Sensei Akio. In their current state, it is almost impossible for them to come and face any opponents. And I do carry a responsibility for their safety. So please, take them back with your entire team."

The Leader shook his head.

"Kento, then what about you and your friends?"

Kento replied almost instantly.

"We are going to track down the last of these Kōgas wreaking havoc. And I will figure out a way to save my parents. I made it this far and I can't turn back now."

"All right Kento. Consider it done. I will take this Kōga Kunoichi into the prison for the royal court to judge her fate. And your friends will be safe, trust me."

Kento smiled and bowed. Nakamura and Isoko were assisted by a few soldiers to allow them to walk with ease even in their current condition. Before the team started to leave the dense jungle to head back to the Palace, Kento decided to talk to his injured friends for one more time before they took their leave.

"Nakamura, Isoko, stay safe. If my grandfather asks questions about us, tell them that we are doing fine. Please don't try to push yourselves too hard. You guys have done enough. So now, return to our sensei and rest for some time."

Both Nakamura and Isoko reacted to Kento's phrases with a head shake. And the team readied themselves to leave. But before they stepped their feet out of the forest, Nakamura called out to Kento one more time. Kento reached towards him and kept gazing at his friend's face. And all of a sudden, Nakamura offered his hand for a fist bump while replying,

"Kento, promise me that you will finish this mission."

Kento took a deep breath into his lungs and with a steady gaze, he bumped his right fist into Nakamura's. He gave his answer with a voice that highlighted his self-confidence greatly, which satisfied all his friends from within.

"I will. It is a promise."

After a while, the samurai team started to head back to the royal palace with Kento's two friends and Akizuki. When they dispersed out of Kento's sight, he turned around to begin his short speech.

“Brother!”

And all of a sudden, Kyuzo reached for Kento. Seeing his brother's face full of eagerness, Kento made up his mind to ask Kyuzo for the reason, while the others waited for the same thing with an unimaginable level of curiosity.

"What is it, Kyuzo?"

Within the blink of an eye, Kyuzo opened up his palms to point out the object that was sticking inside. And in a matter of seconds, the sights of all the people who were at the scene were taken away by the glowing purple light that was illuminating the object that was on Kyuzo’s palm; The Amethyst of Levitation.

Kumiko and Hinako then brought out the Ruby of Regeneration and the Emerald of Invisibility and stuck their dazzling light upon Kento's eyes.

Kento smiled to thank everyone for their efforts, and he was honestly feeling very happy that he and his friends managed to make it this far.

"Good job, Everyone. Thank you so much for all your efforts. And, with that, we now have seven out of the eight total fragments of the Star of Izanagi. Now, we only have just one remaining."

"Brother!" Hinako broke her silence to give her suggestion. "Connect all those parts! I am eager to see how this actually turns out!"

“Huh?”

Kento wasn't so sure about it, yet his utter curiosity and constant requests from the rest of the team persuaded him to reunite the fragments once more.

Kento felt a weird sensation when he first removed the first piece, the Citrine of Eagle Vision. It only grew stronger as he gripped it tight inside his hands. Following that, he then generously pulled out the Tourmaline of Mobility and with a twist, he slowly attached the second piece to the debut part, while all of his friends kept their eyes locked onto this scene as the tourmaline almost instantaneously attached to the Citrine, kind of like how a magnetite ore would work. And as the jewels met one another, a wave of colours echoed across the plains.

Holding the attached two pieces inside his left hand, the Ruby of Regeneration was given to Kento by Kumiko, who handed it over to him when its opportunity arrived.

“The ruby too? Am I seeing something totally different from everyone else or is every fragment of the star shaped like a cubical-shaped gemstone that has been carved by a six-year-old? They all look uneven, old, worn out but they emit a colour that’s more bright and vibrant than anything I have seen in my entire life?”

This was Kento’s mind, processing the uncanny appearance of each fragment. The other interesting part is…probably because this was not only exclusive to his mind…but to all of the Teen Ninjas.

Each time a new fragment got connected to the fixed star, a wave of the colour of each fragment was released, and at the same time the brilliance was improved, enchanting everyone with its eye-gleaming look. After attaching the Emerald of Invisibility given by Hinako, Kento unloaded the Sapphire and the Peridot, which he had obtained by his own effort. And gently, he mounted them into the partially completed Star of Izanagi.

At that time, the eyes of all the people were locked upon the almost completed Star of Izanagi, which initiated an eye-catching procedure where the star spread lights of wonderful, vibrant colours. But Kento had his sights set on the star lacking one last piece. It had six cubical gems attached to the six sides of the one in the middle. But with the way how it looked now, many started having doubts about where the last fragment would fit in. Is it just going to be another uneven cube? Or a different shape that would encase all of the current ones to form a much bigger cube? These were just a few of the conundrums that our Teen Ninjas tried to process. As for Kento, it wasn’t so different. But he knew there was only one way to find out what the actual answer was; To face the final foe.

Kento's enthusiasm to attain the final chunk of this rainbow jewel grew further and further each time he spent time observing the odd-shaped incomplete star.

He broke the silence he had maintained for the past few minutes, with a smirk.

"That leaves with just one more to grab. Are you all ready?"

Yamazaki returned to his original plane after being diverted thanks to Kento. He made his way towards the dead bears and grabbed hold of his naginata before trying to do anything. Following what Yamazaki did, Kumiko and Hinako slowly recovered their weapons and prepared themselves for the next fight.

Yamazaki shouted out.

"Buddy, we are good to go!"

"Okay then, are we all good to head off?"

The replies were almost the same.

"Oh, hell yeah Kento!"

"I am, Onii-chan!"

"I am always ready, Onii-san."

And the final reply was from Kumiko, who gazed into Kento's brightly burning eyes. And with a blink, she slowly answered Kento's question.

"Kento-kun, I am ready too."

Kento smiled hard. With a small adjustment inside his pouch, he slowly stored the unfinished star of Izanagi and grabbed his katana. All the others restored their weapons and prepared themselves for their final adventure.

Kento shouted with an encouraging, victorious voice.

"All right, Teen Ninjas. Let's roll."

Within seconds, they kick-started their legs to gain maximum speed to head out for the next location, where they expected to encounter the carrier of the Diamond of finality.