Boosted by the morale of their leader, the Teen Ninjas exited the medical centre with haste and left the palace of Kyoto. They hurried to the city of Kyoto, where they were expecting to meet their first enemy, Kusunoki, who seemed to be holding the first crystal of the Star of Izanagi according to the details provided by the guards.

It has been many years since the Kōga clan's evil intentions of wiping out Iga and conquering Japan had begun. Many great warriors had paid their price for this circle of vengeance with their lives for this, while many other great ninjas had lost their limbs due to the flames of hatred.

The chaos had struck the eminent Hattori clan the hardest, The Eldest, and the creator of the Hattori clan, Hattori Hanzo being the first one to sacrifice his life for the well-being of the Iga Village. Since then, countless number of Hattoris have shed their blood to save Iga from the Tokiyoshi clan.

After about a five-minute rush, our warriors reached their destination, the city of Kyoto. The sights of people were engaged in their day-to-day activities without much commotion going around dumbfounded the ninjas. Yamazaki, who had taken the role of the clown in the Teen Ninjas tried to generate humour within the seriousness of the team in a rather sloppy attempt.

"What is this huh? Were those guards drunk or something? " Yamazaki said in an uneasy tone.

"Boom!"

This unforeseen loud noise caught the attention of the Teen Ninjas, diverting their eyes in the direction of the noise. As they were scanning the direction the sounds came from, Kumiko's eyes caught sight of a woman who was running away with a little kid. She momentarily halted the runners to ask for more information.

"Lady, are you okay?"

"I hope so, young girl."

Isoko hopped to assist her comrade.

"Lady, what exactly happened?"

"I saw a very crazy man walking around the marketplace. He was literally wreaking havoc."

"Can you tell us a bit more about how he looked?"

"Apologies young lady, but my eyes couldn’t grasp his appearance. However, I can confirm that he was wielding a double-bladed, curved sword. I could hardly see anything because he was using some kind of bombs that distort your vision."

"Hmm...judging by the description, I am pretty sure that those bombs are Metsubishi bombs." Kumiko untied her Katana out of her belt. Isoko unloaded her bow and attempted to ask for more information.

But once again…

"Boom!"

The explosions continued, disrupting Isoko’s attempt. Prioritizing the safety of the civilians, Kumiko reacted fast and escorted the woman and the child.

"Let's go this way.”

They ended up in the Kyoto Marketplace. Kento’s expression took a sudden change after witnessing the partially destroyed state of the market.

"Who would dare to mess with the livelihoods of these innocent merchants, I wonder!"

"This guy will not get away for what he has done! We need to find him!" Kyuzo shouted in anger while unloading his kusarigama.

While listening to these outcries, Kento examined the surroundings with care. As he was in that process, He accidentally walked over some torn clothing destained with what seemed to be a dusty, off-white powder. He produced a kunai from his pouch and grabbed a little bit of the odd smelling powder.

"There's no doubt Kumiko. You were right. This nasty stuff is indeed Metsubishi. We’ve gotta be very alert."

Yamazaki burst out words of uneasiness.

"I shouldn’t have come here in the first place. I don’t wanna lose my eyesight to a wacky Kōga ninja!"

Isoko's reply was enriched with anger, instantly silencing Yamazaki’s mouth.

"Yamazaki! THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE MAKING JOKES!"

As Kumiko was aiding Kento examine the area, her instincts suddenly honed in on a very faint noise of a dashing. Her eyes slowly swivelled in the general direction of the noise.

It must be him.

As she was making assumptions, a mysterious figure materialised behind Kumiko, causing her to scramble to safety. The figure then made a clunking noise that sounded very much like something made of iron. Kumiko's sharp eyes then spotted the poisoned kunai in the right hand of the unknown person, who then jerked it, marking one of her comrades as his target.

Her reaction was almost instantaneous.

"Kento! Get down!"

Her scream immediately activated Kento’s instincts and allowed him dodge the kunai attack. Kento couldn’t reevaluate the situation as the unknown person made an ungraceful appearence in front of Kento to strike him. Kento drew his katana in a flash and executed a quick move to block the strike. He pulled back to defend his comrades, while Isoko promptly loaded her bow to assist her leader.

"Hmm….I thought so. So, you are the Teen Ninjas of Iga. Isn’t it interesting to find the beloved older son of Hattori Katsuro, also the so called ‘saviour of Iga’, Kento right int front of me? Well, well, this is gonna get exciting."

The strange man uncovered his amulet, which spread vibrant rays of yellow into the air.

"I suppose this is why you are here…."

"Kusunoki…you sound more like a coward to me. If you had problems with our team then you should have settled it with us, not with innocent civilians," Kento replied, while pointing his blue iron katana at the unwelcome guest.

Hearing the words of Kento, Kusunoki detached the two curved katanas and loaded them into their respective cases. Then, he slowly pulled his mask away, revealing his face to the Teen Ninjas.

A gasp spread within the circle of Ninjas.

"Wh..what? Don’t tell me…"

"Yes. My face was scarred by the father of these two individuals right here.

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The face of Kusunoki was a creepy one, as a matter of fact. A deep scar which started from the upper left of his face and ran diagonally down to the right cheek. Kusunoki’s left eyelid was obliterated by the cut, along with his left eye. The left cheek bore three cross-shaped injuries that were partially healed.

"Am I looking at some ugly supernatural being or is this truly your face?" Yamazaki slowly whispered into Kyuzo's ear. Seemingly angered by Yamazaki's action, Kusunoki's brain triggered his arms to launch a shuriken at his newly met critic.

Yamazaki's reaction was swift, enough to dodge the incoming shuriken just by diving into the lower space. He barely missed it, though. He then gave a reply in a mocking tone.

"Don’t take me lightly, Kusunoki! I am no longer the person that I used to be."

"Woah! Woah! Wait!" Kyuzo burst out. "Don't tell me you actually know this freak?"

"My father and I fought him about two years ago, in Osaka. It was just a few weeks after our team was formed."

"Long time no see, Yamazaki. This is a wonderful opportunity to take revenge for what your father did to me back then."

"Kusunoki, I believe that you wield the Citrine of Eagle Vision, the first fragment of the star of Izanagi. I, Hattori Kento, would like to let you know that I am here to take it back to my parents."

Kusunoki gave a grim chuckle, and he drew his two Katanas out of their respective cases. Taking them into both of his hands, he connected them and transformed the short curved bladed sword into a double-edged murder weapon. After making his ultimate weapon, Kusunoki replied.

"What a humble request? I gotta admit, you are well-mannered, for an Iga at least. I think you'll have to defeat me first if you really want to get hold of the first piece of the star of Izanagi. Kento, I challenge you to come and fight me!"

Kento stepped forward bravely, while his friends sought his permission to join. But he declined, with good reason.

"Guys, I know you want to help me. But he only wants to battle me first. So be it. If you really want to help me out then please try to have faith in me and wish me the best of luck."

Kento grinned and picked up his sharp friend.

"Kento-kun, I believe in you. You can do it."

"Kento! Don't let me fight that ugly moron. You have to win this fight some how!"

Kusunoki gave another grim chuckle, while readying his weapon, and shouted.

"Get ready to die a slow and painful death, you stupid Iga!"

Kento didn’t even have time to reply to Kusunoki, as he made his first move by vertically slashing his double-edged sword right after speaking.

Clang!

Metal met metal…....

Kento had reacted fast enough block it with his own katana. his reaction was as quick as a lightning bolt. I mean, you get the idea, right?

"Nice work, Kento!" Yamazaki's encouraging words received an unexpected answer from Kento.

"Not yet. This guy has some power."

"Nice work indeed, Kento...kun." Kusunoki's smile was a weird but a scary one.

"But you have underestimated me."

Kento's opponent vanished in a glimpse, which panicked Kento. He attempted to execute a gingerly study of the surroundings, but couldn't finish….

Because of Isoko's shriek.

"Kento! Above you!"

This warning pumped energy through Kento's body, which forthwith reacted to escape the air attack of Kusunoki.

Kento rolled away from the point-blank attack and immediately retreated while sending his hand through his ninja pouch, hoping to grab a Kunai to attack from a distance.

When he was just about to take hold of another kunai, his ears sensed the incoming two shurikens. He acted fast and jerked his kunai to deflect it and at the same time to counter-attack.

His throw could successfully nullify the two shurikens, but the attempt to counter-attack ended up in a failure.

"Man, This guy is fast. I gotta lure him away so that I get him from behind."

Kento dashed past Kusunoki while aiming his katana at his right wrist. His enemy noticed the attack and tried sliding away to dodge it, but Kento's attack managed to wound the right ankle by making a fairly deep cut on it.

"I got him!"

Kento slowed himself down after that dash, to prepare himself for his next move. He tried to gaze at his opponent to observe his actions, but when he did, his excited nature was aroused as Kusunoki wasn't where he had been a few seconds ago.

Hinako broke her silence and cried out loudly to warn her big brother about the enemy's position.

"Onii-chan, he is coming from behind you!"

Kento instantly turned around and witnessed Kusunoki approaching him fast while holding a Kunai in his hand. It only took a blink of an eye for him to reach Kento. Kento's blood was soon nourished with adrenaline, as he was frightened by the blood-thirsty look of Kusunoki.

"Kento! Run!" Kumiko screamed to warn her friend in order to prevent the devastating situation that would ensue if the poisoned kunai of Kusunoki were to pierce Kento's skin.

Kento prepared his legs to flee, but he was too late. His foe had come right up to his shoulder and gave his usual grim chuckle before speaking.

"You are gullible and a big loser."

A scream full of pain echoed all around the Kyoto marketplace, worrying Kento's friends and filling them with unease because Kusunoki had embedded his Kunai into Kento.

“Hah! I won. Now that's one down."

Though he had embedded his Kunai inside Kento's heart, the gush of blood that Kusunoki was expecting didn't make an appearance. In fact, the kunai didn't even spill one drop of blood. It only took a while for Kusunoki and his remaining enemies to realise that Kusunoki had struck his Kunai into a….

A log.

"What? How?" Kusunoki shouted in rage.

"Now that's what you call an excellent substitution!"

Just when Yamazaki was teasing Kusunoki for his misconceptions, a powerful kick from behind knocked him right the ground, leaving his mouth full of blood. A reply came from the attacker, who was none other than our boy Kento, who had immediately substituted a log in his place when he was about to get annihilated by the rapid kunai blow of Kusunoki.

"I think it's too early to decide who has won. Never underestimate your opponent or this will end up being your predicament."

Our downed friend choked, and soon after, he coughed out blood. His next act surprised the young Iga ninjas, as he started begging for mercy.

"Please don't hurt me anymore. I will give the Citrine to you right away."

Right after uttering these words, he removed the first piece of the majestic star of Izanagi, the Citrine of Eagle vision, from the amulet he was wearing, and offered it to Kento and the others, while saying,

"Here it is. Take this and spare my life!"

He then threw the crystal which was spreading vibrant yellow-coloured light rays into the atmosphere. Nakamura threw away his nodachi and thrust himself into the air and got hold of the jewel while celebrating Kento's early win.

"Thanks for the jewel, Kusunoki. And good job Kento! For a split second I thought he almost had you, you know.”