“Excellent job, Hattori Kento and Yamazaki!”

That was Michinobu’s first ever words, after gracefully standing up from the supporting pillar that he was sitting on to spectate the bloodbath between his goons and the Teen Ninjas. And then, he sent his fingers through the mask, untangled it and threw it aside, revealing his demonly scarred face.

The moment Kento witnessed his face, a strike of disturbance spread through his body. It was not because of his face covered in tattoos and scars. But rather, the eyes of Michinobu. It almost perfectly resembled the eyes of someone extremely close to him; his grandfather, Sensei Akio. Kento continued to look into his eyes with unease until Yamazaki tried to call him out, warning him about his advance towards both of them, though it wasn’t easy.

Realising Kento was up to something, Michinobu slowly crept up towards the bodies of his dead bodyguard and continued to observe them for a few seconds. After that, he broke loose. Michinobu lifted his foot above his faithful bodyguard and launched a kick into the head, producing blood from the corpse. Kento was awakened and ravaged simultaneously while spectating this ultimate mutiny and implored his next opponent with a daring tone.

"What? How could you do such a thing? Betraying your caretakers who waited beside your side with faith and honour?"

"Honestly Kento, I really don't care much for them," he replied. "I never knew that these pathetic nitwits would fall to a bunch of useless teenagers. If I had known of the skills of these damn guards of mine, I would have crushed their skulls with my weapon. I was hoping to see you all die at the hands of my guards. But they could only take down two of them but couldn't even kill them. But... there's no problem. With one of your friends squeezed on death row thanks to my incredible poison and two tortured into pain with the might of iron weapons, I will still be able to take you guys into the same world of fate and put you out of this misery."

Kento and Yamazaki promptly released their weapons from the pier floor and targeted Kanamori while he mumbled about the weaklings. Promptly after spotting the directed weapons, Kanamori's mouth gave birth to an edged smile, driving both Kento and Yamazaki into a perplexed state full of unknown possibilities. Kento's eyes warned him when they saw Michinobu drifting his hands into his back pouch, while he boasted about his might.

"You aren't even feeling afraid when you stand beneath my vengeful eyes? How dare you? Well, I think it's my bad boy's time to put you on trial for burning off my gratitude as a Kōga Jounin."

And in a flash, a volley of clanging noises of iron started to vibrate Kento's eardrums to an extent where it began to open up his nerves slightly. And it only took a few more milliseconds for him to catch the trickling noises which scared them to an even higher extent, until Yamazaki screamed, alerting Kento.

"Kento, look out! Above you!"

Kento's impulses were triggered. His arm automatically lifted his sword at a diagonal layout to act as a blockade against Kanamori's kusarigama scythe. He was fortunate enough to parry the overhead strike with his iron katana. When the sound of the metals disputing each other was elicited, Kento thought that he had pulled off a close one. And so did Yamazaki, who took a few steps back to provide support to Kento.

But little he did know what was coming. Soon after executing his move, his ears heard the same trickling noise again, this time a bit more potent. And in a fraction, both Kento and Yamazaki were sent into a state of shuddering when the Kusarigama blade suddenly emitted a white bolt into their bodies.

After being temporarily electrocuted, Kento and Yamazaki made a quick withdrawal, while desperately trying to recover from the shockwave that temporarily immobilised almost every part of his body for a second or so. After the effects began to evaporate, Kento changed the course of his stares towards Yamazaki. Turns out, he was still suffering from the same effects, which made him believe one thing.

His eyes sought out Kanamori after he finally completed his move. He grabbed the kusarigama with his bare hands and laughed in a horrifying manner that disintegrated Yamazaki's effects due to the panic that it managed to induce from within.

The four bewildered eyes of Kento and Yamazaki were horror-stricken when they finally managed to uncover the truth behind the shock they received. Kanamori's kusarigama was radiating white bolts into the thin air, while a white ball lightning cage protected the heavy end of the weapon.

Yamazaki yelled out.

"What? His kusarigama...can…"

His tongue twisted enough to resist the smooth flow of words.

"...Can produce lightning?"

Though Kento was listening to Yamazaki, his instincts kept him in another dimension. He began to feel something weird and sceptical.

“My god! What is….this? An unusual form of energy enveloping the Kusarigama? And what is this strange feeling that I am getting? I feel like something…. something is calling me...I really don't know what it is…Is it a living being?? Or something else….”

Kanamori chuckled.

"Ha! Felt the wrath of my kusarigama? It seems like it wasn't convinced by just that. So be ready to taste it once again, Kento and Yamazaki!"

He shouted and progressed to put pressure on Kento as he was speculating the enigma behind the odd energy that echoed inside Kento and Yamazaki with a stunning shock. Yamazaki prepared himself to block the attack while alarming Kento once again to draw his weapon to fight back. Kento understood and drew his katana container and brought it back to his hip level to more effectively compromise Kanamori and his energy kusarigama. Kanamori struck Kento with a diagonal Kusarigama cut. Kento brought his katana up to his chest level and tilted it to hook up the scythe just above the tsuba handguard partly. He tried putting pressure on his arms and then eventually with his entire body to drive away the kusarigama and damage Kanamori. But Kanamori's surprise attack left Kento immovable as the heavy end of the kusarigama intertwined his body with the long chain. He eventually started to feel regret in his mind for underestimating his opponent. In a short period, Kanamori started to enjoy Kento screaming out as he was electrocuted by the energy-emitting kusarigama.

Yamazaki was determined to rush to Kento. But even though Kento was feeling unsteady after getting affected by the shockwave produced by the kusarigama, he began to feel the calling of the same unknown entity that awakened his confusion when he first experienced the hostility of the kusarigama.

“There it goes again! What is this strange form of energy that is calling out to me? Wait…. It can't be! Could it be…”

Kento's lost stamina returned to him, triggering his reflexes and pulses to evade the current crumbled state to confirm the truth behind his assumption. He knee-kicked Kanamori just in time to barely miss the kusarigama scythe which had gained a lot of distance that rendered it up to the point where it almost touched Kento's neck. Kento realised how blessed he was after this strike. Kento's ears started sensing the trickling noise once again, alerting his entire body that another white bolt was on the way. Quickly understanding the fact that another bolt would paralyse his already strained body, Kento spun in the opposite direction to release himself from the wrapped chain by taking advantage of the little bit of time he gained from counter-attacking. After being ejected from the electric chain, Kento took a few steps back and signalled Yamazaki to go for an opening thump with his naginata, while Kento tried to wither the shocking pain using his sheer willpower.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Yamazaki understood the signal and flawlessly dashed into Kanamori despite the furious noises of the energy beams that radiated from Kanamori's Kusarigama. His eyes glanced into the heavy end of the kusarigama which proceeded to radiate a sphere encircled by white bolts, which reminded him of ball lightning. The bright whitish-blue glow of light constantly circulated a predicament in Kento’s mind, which made him figure out what was actually going on.

“That white glow...That must be the Diamond of finality. It must have been the thing that called me for the past few minutes. As stated by my grandfather, the pieces of the star favour us Hattoris. So then...why is Kanamori exploiting this diamond as an energy-inducer for his weapon? Does it not have a special power? Is this the only piece of the puzzle that does nothing truly outrageous as the other fragments? “

The deduction of the puzzle led Kento to be determined to beat Kanamori at any expense. He came up with a good synergized attack when he saw the charging Yamazaki.

Kento sent his arm into his pocket and retrieved a kunai from it and jerked it with the consumption of a good amount of kinetic energy that sent the projectile flying through the air. He shouted to Yamazaki as the ferry pier battle started to get more and more intense each second.

"Yamazaki, go!"

It only took a few milliseconds for him to grasp Kento's message. After hearing the yelling, Kanamori exhilarated himself too much to charge up his Kusarigama into a stunning blade of death. Aiming his blade at his incoming prey, Kanamori initiated a high vertical strike which locked onto Yamazaki's head.

"Now die!"

Yamazaki knew what was coming and advanced to counterattack with an outstanding motion. After quickly calculating the possible hit zones, Yamazaki stabbed his naginata into the wooden platform and executed a pole vault. Gaining enough momentum in the air Yamazaki flipped over Kanamori, while his bolting kusarigama blade thudded into the discoloured wood, unable to move.

Kanamori was agitated with frustration when his attack went to a complete waste. Kanamori's distinguished eyesight seemingly made him more and more excited about the incoming threat, allowing his excited body to drag the Kusarigama scythe that had been embedded into the wood after being dodged by Yamazaki. He eventually managed to pull it back. But when he realised that he was successful, it was already too late.

While floating in the air, Yamazaki clasped hold of the kunai that Kento jerked into the air. Flipping once again, Yamazaki made an outstanding onslaught on Kanamori by hurling the kunai, which rode in the air like a slingshot, and pierced Kanamori's thigh, registering a successful attack for the Teen Ninjas.

"Gotcha!"

Yamazaki safely landed on the pier a few feet away from Kanamori as he crumpled onto the ground with his hands tending to the puncture after senselessly losing his grip on the kusarigama. Kento's mind filled with satisfaction due to the outstanding performance of his buddy, allowing him to admire his efforts.

"Nice one Yamazaki!"

Comforting his exhausted mind from the polite compliment of Kento, Yamazaki prepared his mouth for an even polite reply.

"Y...Ya...Yama..zaki."

But his attention was driven away by the whispering of a familiar girl's voice that was filled with pain and agony. After blinking his eyes to refresh his sight, his eyes caught a clear picture of Kumiko, who had been struggling to call out his name while being in a poisoned state. Seeing Kumiko with blood draining out of her mouth, Yamazaki neglected what he was about to do. He instantly prompted his limbs to crawl up to Kumiko to aid her as soon as possible.

"Kumiko, hold on!!"

Yamazaki's calling sprang Kento's heartbeat up to a higher level as he was deeply concerned about the condition of his friends and siblings. And he was partly comforted when he caught sight of Yamazaki trying to reach his poisoned friend.

"Graaa!!"

Kanamori's groaning grew louder as he unexpectedly pulled out the kunai that punctured his thigh. His groaning was a dead giveaway of his enraged state, which drove Kento into an anxious state where he barely got to cry out his friend's name to warn him when his ears began to sense the zapping outcries that signified the arrival of more energy bolts. He screamed out to call his name…

"Yamazaki!!"

At that exact moment, Kanamori gripped the chain so tightly that the heavy metal orb of the kusarigama leaked a bright globe of light that covered the ball. And eventually, the humming noise of pure energy started to grow into a much more deafening state, terrorizing Kento from the inside. And in a split second, Kento found himself affected by another shockwave but could recover sooner compared to the previous ones.

But his condition only got worse when he saw the truth behind the real aftermath that took place. While he stood back on his feet, his body almost froze when he saw Kanamori standing in front of him, with a smiling face full of enjoyment and his energy kusarigama in his hand.

Kento lifted his head to check on his buddy and Kumiko after the commotion that took place. And it wasn’t long before his complexion had started to go pale from the trepidation of what had happened.

Yamazaki was lying on the ground next to Kumiko. Kento yelled out his friends' names but they made no reply as they were lying apparently unconscious. He also noticed something bizarre. It was the branching redness on Yamazaki’s arm that was shaped like a lightning bolt. Kento was stricken with fear, infesting his mind with anger against Kanamori, who chuckled and laughed while explaining his awesomeness that chilled Kento's instincts to a higher extent.

"Your pathetic friend has been judged by my weapon! The energy bolts have paralyzed them inside an immovable state. I warned him not to touch that girl until you had defeated me. Now this is what true power really is."

Kento broke into absolute berserk phrases.

"You believe the sole idea of exploiting the power of the Diamond of Finality to fulfil your malicious intents to cause disruption among people is a solid idea?"

Kanamori was baffled when Kento referred to the diamond, which clarified that Kento had discovered the truth behind the tremendous power of his kusarigama.

"Hmm... seems like you have managed to discover the actuality. Yes, of course. My master allowed me to borrow the Diamond of finality as a device to empower my weapon with its omnipotent energy. These energy flashes can stun anyone with just one blow and can even kill anyone if they come into contact with the right concentration. I felt reawakened the moment I grasped my hands on this new and improved, enchanted chain sickle. And I will use its true power to reap your soul and heart out of your body!"

"TRUE POWER? Said like a true Kōga ninja…who has no morals about life…just what the general public would say about your people."

Kanamori wasn't going to listen to a lousy teenager. He gripped gripped his kusarigama scythe precisely with his left palm, while rotating the heavy end that held the Diamond of finality in place with the manriki chain.

He replied.

"Listen kid…you are just too naive. You don’t get it. Perhaps…I shall give you a good taste of my excellent Kusarigamajutsu. Only then, you’ll finally understand our belief when it comes to facing our enemies. THERE ARE NO RULES!"

Kento was stuck. Being excavated by multiple battles, his body was covered with blisters, cuts and bruises. But it wasn't an excuse for him to give up. With two of his comrades sent back and four of his closest downed in front of his own eyes, he was the only hope left for the Teen Ninjas. He knew he couldn’t give up. He constantly tried to recollect the fact that he was the one who implored his grandfather and the officials to go on a hazardous mission like this one to save his dying parents. Though his friends volunteered to participate, he never wished for them to put their lives on the line just for Kento's parents. He closed his eyes and gave the body a good refreshing before reopening them. His strong will and determination to complete the objective and rescue his dying teammates at any cost kept his senses more awakened and alert than ever before.

With a blink, Kento gently lifted his hat, while wiping away the blood and the sweat that was covering his face. Locking his eyes upon his opponent with bravery and might in his look, he courageously prepared himself with a battle stance, known as the Seigan no Kamae, where he held the katana tight with his scratched hands and edged it up to Kanamori's chest, responding,

"All right then, bring it on, Keiichi’s rat face."