The long-bearded Yamabushi raised his hand while crying,

"Attention! It seems like we have reached a point. The highest bid has been updated to…."

"An Ōban!"

The Yamabushi's eyes popped out, and his head swivelled sharply towards Kento, who had broken his silence at the appropriate time. All the rich aristocrats directed a look full of envy and surprised the great son of Hattori Katsuro.

The Yamabushi gave a tight-lipped smile and notified the entire mob that the bid had been closed and that Kento had won with the huge offer of an Ōban, which was the equivalent of ten Koban.

Kento was smiling through his mouth’s edge, though suspicion was filling his mind. It grew even stronger when the Yamabushi’s guards opened their hands, requesting the money that he'd agreed to hand the Yamabushi if he wanted the Tourmaline. Kento opened up his pouch and grabbed one of the two big gold coins inside his purse. His memory flashed over all the times in the past when he had struggled hard to save up this money. It was a truly heartbreaking moment for him. But he gathered himself and let them have what they wanted.

The guards then exchanged the discoloured Ōban for the Tourmaline of Mobility. They then turned back and signalled the Yamabushi with a quick hand sign, which didn’t escape Kento’s keen sight. He took a glance at the jewel that the guards gave him and what he saw angered him.

"I knew it!"

"It was a pleasure doing business with you all. Thank you…."

Angered by the offering of the guards, Kento made a graceful attempt to interrupt the speech of the white-bearded Yamabushi, which subsequently raised the anger of the bodyguards. One of the guards disobeyed his master's order and launched a shuriken at Kento, which he deflected with style.

The throw agitated the aristocrats but they were relieved when Kento explained everything briefly to the fear-stricken nobles.

"Hold it right there, you wretched thief! Thought you could deceive me and all these people with a fake gem? You have underestimated me. I will ask you again politely, Kōga Yamabushi. Hand me the Tourmaline of Mobility."

An evil chuckle from the Yamabushi diverted the attention of Kento's friends. Kumiko slowly dragged her Katana out and progressed towards the Yamabushi and his bodyguards with caution.

"Huh! You brought reinforcements, Kento-Kun?"

He pointed his hand to the guardian holding a yari and shouted.

"Kill those bratty teens!"

As the words escaped the Yamabushi’s mouth, the Yari bodyguard charged towards Kumiko. As his bloodthirsty eyes and the strong intention to kill were witnessed by the crowd, they momentarily froze. When he got closer to her, he aimed his razor-sharp yari at Kumiko's forehead. Though in such a tight situation, she didn't react, which generated an evil laugh from the yari-yielding guard's mouth.

"Huh! Aren't you even running? You should be ashamed of yourself. But it doesn't matter. I am gonna send you to the afterlife right now."

Bang!

A loud banging noise reverberated inside the Yamabushi’s head. He checked the surroundings and was startled to see his guard rammed into a nearby wall by Nakamura, who had bashed him right when he was about to strike Kumiko.

"I think it's too early to decide that," Nakamura said.

"All lords and ladies, The Yamabushi that's right in front of you are none other than a follower of Tokiyoshi Keiichi. And he was fooling all of you with a fake Tourmaline. Now please leave this place at once. We shall handle this.”

It only took less than thirty seconds for the lame aristocrats to flee from the market, which was quite humorous, to be honest.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Your attempt to deceive everyone using this fake crystal was useless. Now may I ask you about where the real Tourmaline of Mobility is?"

Kumiko said while pointing her sword towards the Yamabushi.

The Yamabushi answered with a grin, which turned Kento more suspicious. While observing the behaviour of his opponent, the other shinobi joined him. Surprised to see the Yari ninja who had fallen thanks to Nakamura, Yamazaki decided to unleash his humour upon the fallen comrade.

"Bro, don't you think that you hit him a little too hard? I mean just look at him! He is helpless."

"You fool!! He tried to stab Kumiko with that Yari of his. I will never let my comrades get hurt. And you know what would happen if they touched her in front of my eyes."

"Oh, is that so?" Yamazaki replied while gazing at the yari ninja who was moaning for help. "Then I can't help it, can I? I think I might need to let him get the taste of his own medicine."

Just when Yamazaki was about to thrash the fallen ninja's grace, the Yamabushi jumped right in, making an abrupt entrance to the battle while simultaneously trying to attack Yamazaki with his shinobi kamas. Yamazaki could block the attack with his naginata. As he was choking, he pushed his opponent right into the same wall that the Yari ninja was rammed into. The Yamabushi back-kicked Yamazaki in his stomach right before his attack was completed. This blow left Yamazaki on the ground, with a little bit of blood oozing from the edge of the left side of his mouth. Kento dashed forward to protect his friend from the sickle assault using his own Katana. Kumiko assisted Yamazaki to get up, while Isoko wiped the blood off his face. An excellently timed kick from Kumiko sent the other bodyguard flying in the air. Following Kumiko's example, Kento counter-attacked with three shurikens and retreated right after jerking them simultaneously. The Yamabushi deflected them with ease and started talking.

"Trying to take me down with those lame moves? You sure that you got the meaning of the word ‘Shinobi’ right?"

"What? Do you have any problem believing it?" Yamazaki replied rather furiously while having his sharp naginata locked against the Yamabushi.

"Now look who's talking. Just one kick in the stomach and boom! On the ground with a bloody mouth!"

Isoko then started glaring at Yamazaki, which made him instantly start describing Yamabushi's attack.

"Oh come on Isoko! Why are you looking at me like that? Try to understand! That guy's kicks were too hard. Yeah, I mean it! His kick was ten times stronger than Sensei's kick.

Isoko however wasn’t keen on believing Yamazaki's lines. But Kento however fell into a deep well of thoughts after listening to Yamazaki's conversation, where he analysed everything that Yamazaki was saying.

"Okay. I am pretty sure that Yamazaki is not lying but… judging what happened, it is quite hard to believe how Yamazaki's mouth started bleeding right after getting hit by him. If his kick was that strong, it must have caused some sort of internal bleeding. The Yamabushi’s kicks must have a speciality. I’ve got to observe him the next time."

"Hey, Kento!!"

A tap on Kento's back instantly recovered him from the trivial daydream. Nakamura got hold of his nodachi while Yamazaki grabbed his long naginata and stood beside his brother.

Seeing their poses, the two bodyguards of the long-bearded Yamabushi appeared in front of him, armed with a yari and a pair of sai.

"Hey you two," the Yamabushi started talking again, "You said you want to fight me right? Then better get your fat bodies ready to defeat my bodyguards first," he paused for a moment and pointed his index finger towards Kento and the others, "And you shouldn't interfere. Especially you, the grandson of that foolish clan head, Hattori Akio."

Kento's heart rate escalated and his leg muscles were triggered to rush towards the enemy, but Kumiko tried grabbing his hand to stop him. She could stop him, but she wasn't powerful enough to stop his angry sentences.

"How dare you say that? Try irritating me all you want. But keep your hands and your ghastly mouth out of my family!"

Yamazaki and Nakamura dashed in front of their friend to assist Kumiko. Yamazaki placed his hand on Kento's shoulder, which helped Kento’s anger abate.

"Kento, it's okay. Your bro will make him pay for what he has done. Keep your trust in me and my brother. We will deal with these guys."

"Believe in us Kento!" Nakamura replied his determined eyes burning into Kento's. Their words gradually disintegrated that roaring anger inside Kento and generated a very small and unnoticeable smile at the edge of Kento's mouth.

"They are all yours now. Show me what you got, Yorihide brothers!"

Kento tapped Yamazaki and Nakamura on their shoulders while speaking these words. The two brothers shook their heads and prepared for the battle.

The two bodyguards drew their weapons out, while their master kept on imitating the role of a villain.

"Are you ready to let your helpless souls succumb to the darkness?"

Nakamura banged his nodachi on the ground while responding in a slow but intimidating voice.

"We aren't….and we certainly won't."