Kira returned to the inn that night, her newly-purchased dagger in-hand, to find Tetsuya kneeling on the floor. A few candles had been lit, giving the room a mysterious feeling. From the smell, a stick of incense was burning somewhere inside. Tetsuya’s pipe was, surprisingly, not in his mouth but instead laying quietly beside him as he quietly sipped sake from a small cup. The sombre mood was unsettling.

“Uncle…”

“Oh, you’re finally back.”

“What happened?”

“Straight to the point, huh, kiddo? So I just found out today that they’re here, the people from the purple bastard’s clan. That and…Kazumi’s dead.”

“That can’t be.”

“Yeah, the smiths said that two people, a big, old guy and a teenager, went to the Testing Hall. After some loud noises, the old guy flew out of the building and the young guy ran after him. After checking on him the young guy went back inside. A few moments later, he came back out and asked for directions to the nearest doctor before carrying the old guy away. The smiths assumed they’d just had the Kazumi treatment but nothing too serious. But...when they went inside the Testing Hall…”

Tetsuya’s shaky voice choked at this point. Kira was astonished to find that he’d actually held that foul-mouthed woman in a higher place in his heart than she would’ve cared to believe. Kira went to kneel beside him.

Personally she admired Kazumi from a point of strength. With her cultivation, Kazumi’s entire body seemed to be brimming with life, as if age would never take her, not yet taking into account her fighting ability. To Kira, people who persevered long enough to gain such a great level of strength would be those she always held some respect for, as they embodied the principles of hard work and perseverance.

Tetsuya sniffed.

“Ah, I suppose this isn’t like me at all, ey? I should just drink this off. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea…”

Before he could get up, Kira stopped him by pushing down on his head.

“Drinking won’t bring her back, and neither will wallowing in sadness. If she was that important to you, you should take action. Find the people that killed her and avenge her.”

Kira understood all too well the feeling of having those closest to her killed. However, her circumstances could be seen as different. She’d been able to kill the one responsible before the desire for revenge consumed her, allowing her to die somewhat peacefully. She had no idea of the effect that holding on to that resentment could have, but she was certain that it couldn’t be good.

Tetsuya flinched slightly. Kira’s bluntness ironically pierced through the haze in his mind and it seemed that what she said was right. He couldn’t allow them to remain unpunished. Kazumi gave her life to make sure they were prepared to fight and he couldn't allow her sacrifice to be in vain.

“You’re…right. We need to find them before they find us. If they’re strong enough to take Kazumi down…there can’t be many people with that kind of strength who recently entered the city.”

“I suggest we find the doctor first. He may give us some idea of where they’re staying. We can also get a more detailed description.”

“Tomorrow then.”

“Tomorrow.”

The pair kneeled together throughout the night, honouring Kazumi’s memory, one pondering over a brief yet powerful impression, the other holding a strong sense of loss.

Following the trail that the man and boy had left wasn’t easy. They had been careful to cover their tracks, travelling from place to place only when most of the city was asleep. The only testaments Kira and Tetsuya had to work with were the words of drunkards in secluded alleyways and the city’s early-risers.

It was tough to tell who was actually more helpful. With how the city was run, money was very important in the lives of these people. No information was free, from the poorest beggars to the wealthiest aristocrats and despite their attempts to keep their inquiries discreet, gossip spread as fast as the money exchanged hands.

The information network in Khukuri was somewhat strange in that information was both easy yet difficult to obtain. Within the community, certain people were willing to tell others things for free. Therefore, it was often the case that you obtained information when you didn't ask for it and had to pay for what you actually wanted. For outsiders, it was even more difficult, as finding out anything required getting through several pay-walls.

Even though Kira and Tetsuya ended up chasing many red herrings, the few sympathisers who were outraged at Kazumi's death helped reduce the cost to them for finding out particular tidbits.

At the same time, rumours spread to the pair from the Murasaki Clan that there were people looking for them. However, when they tried to trace it back to the source, they met with similar issues. It could be said that Khukuri’s information network was as difficult to traverse as a stormy sea without a navigator and they had to content themselves with changing locations every few days until…

“Come, Master, the coast is clear.”

“Hideyoshi, stop.”

“Master?”

Throughout his Master's healing process, Hideyoshi had been the one to take initiative, making the decisions of when to change locations and where to go, while still seeing to his master's medicinal requests. But today, his Master was different.

“All this running like scared mice isn’t becoming of us as members of the Murasaki Clan.”

“But Master, your injury-”

“I may be injured but I still have my pride. The injury itself is mostly healed. I’m well enough to fight this battle, whenever and wherever it may be. Although, I would prefer it to be on our own terms, rather than a coincidental meeting.”

“What Master means to say is…”

“I don't mean for us to fight recklessly. We will choose the time and place and let them come to us. They know I was injured in the fight with that woman and, if it were me, I would strike at my enemies when I have the highest chance of landing a fatal blow.”

Hideyoshi remained silent. He was worried about his Master. Although others may not see it, having spent so many years with him, Hideyoshi could clearly see that he was still far from peak condition. His Master's movements weren’t as agile as before and he walked with a slight hunch, using his walking staff to support him somewhat. Others may think that this was normal for his age but Hideyoshi knew better and it saddened him greatly to see his Master like this.

However, he still trusted him completely.

“Don’t worry, Hide. It’s not as if we’re going into the fight unprepared. In fact, one might say that we have the home advantage.”

Hideyoshi looked up to see his Master looking up to the sky, a familiar twinkle in his eye.

“Yes, Master!”

“Here we are. This is the place where that Soul Sense pulse came from. Not much to look at, is it?”

Tetsuya swept his gaze across the slums as he spoke and his nose twitched. Not more than thirty minutes ago, he felt a mental pulse sweep outward over the city. From the scale of the pulse, he could tell that it belonged to someone powerful, most likely the person they were seeking.

“Uncle, if it really is them, why would they do something so bold after managing to hide from us successfully for so long?”

“No idea, but it’s almost certainly a trap of some sort.”

The slums in the outer ring consisted of densely packed square-ish houses with flat roofs that seemed to be jostling with each other for space. Small alleyways branched off the mains roads, some of which were only just wide enough for a single person to fit through. To those who didn’t know the area well, it was a labyrinth.

“Master, they’re here.”

Hideyoshi flicked a coin to a man in tattered clothes who clasped it with both hands and held it tightly to his chest as slipped away.

“Follow me closely, let’s move.”

Kira and Tetsuya kept to the main road as they cautiously approached the epicentre of the district, a large octagon from which eight different roads branched off with a shoddy-looking fountain that had long-since run dry in its centre.

Tetsuya lit his pipe and took a deep pull. Breathing out, he spoke.

“They should be around here somewhere…careful!”

Tetsuya wrapped his arm around Kira, pulling her close enough that she could smell the musty odour of his cloak as a trio of blue energy streams shot out of three separate roads towards them. Tetsuya pulled on his pipe calmly before breathing out blue smoke. The blue smoke seemed to grow exponentially as it billowed out around them, hiding them within as the energy streams collided with it.

Shoooom!

The cloud burst apart explosively, energy mist flying out in all directions. As it dissipated, it revealed Tetsuya and Kira, Tetsuya standing there as calmly as before, pipe in hand.

“Nice trick. Why not come out and let me know who I have the honour of putting in the dirt?”

Despite his calm exterior, Tetsuya's voice was tinted with anger. It was finally time to avenge Kazumi. Also, he was surprised at the strength of the previous attack. From what he felt through his Smoke Dispersion, it wasn’t a low-ranked Skill but from its strength he could tell it also wasn’t purely offensive. This information was enough to make him keep his guard up.

“I must say that I’m impressed. Your female friend had a much tougher time dealing with that Skill.”

A deep voice resonated from all around them. Immediately, Tetsuya extended his Soul Sense, using a similar technique to the pulse that led them there, but with a smaller range, allowing him to sense the position of any cultivators on his own level or lower.

Being someone well-versed in Soul Sense, the Murasaki Clan Master wouldn’t allow himself to be found with such a method. Hideyoshi, on the other hand, while training under his Master, had a mental strength that was still far below Tetsuya’s. Unlike Kira, he could still feel the sensory wave, however, and in his struggles to hide himself from it, revealed his position.

“Found one. Let’s go, kiddo.”

Tetsuya kept his words to a minimum. The comment about Kazumi earlier didn’t just sweep over him and it was taking all of his self-control to hold back his anger. Kira clearly noticed this but didn’t say anything.

‘He’s experienced enough to know what will happen if he gives in to it.’

Kira thought as they dashed through the winding streets and alleyways.

Meanwhile, deep within the slum district, Hideyoshi smiled. This situation was just as they’d anticipated.

Turning the last corner, Tetsuya, who was further ahead, dived into a roll to avoid the pair of daggers, which were crackling with blue energy, as they sliced through the air above him.

As Kira moved forwards to catch up to him, the ground in front of her ruptured into a huge mound of earth that rose up, sealing the gap between the two buildings. She looked up and saw a tall figure facing Tetsuya standing atop the blockage, dressed in a purple cloak that fluttered despite there being no wind that day.

Seeing that shade of purple again sparked up Kira’s resentment at how useless she felt the previous time she fought against someone from the purple-cloaked clan. Within the span of a breath, she unhesitatingly drew her twin dragon-motif sword and, with a flash of gold across her pupils, fired off a vertical Wind Rending at his exposed back.

Without turning around, the cloaked figure swayed slightly and the Wind Rending just slipped past him. For the second time, Kira heard that deep, resonating voice.

“You have fire, little girl, but it is far too soon for you to even think about injuring me. Hide, capture the girl, unharmed if possible.”

'Hide?'

Kira didn’t have time to dwell on who it could be when a crackling sound caught in her ears. Dropping to the ground, she avoided the two energy-charged daggers as they flew overhead and embedded themselves in the earth mound. Above her, a blast of air signified that the tall man had left to battle Tetsuya.

Quickly getting to her feet, Kira turned to see a young man in a similar purple cloak, his hood hiding his eyes. With a blue light glowing from his palms, he gripped at the air and a pair of daggers materialised in his hands. As Kira took her stance, to her surprise, the young man took a step back.

“It’s…you.”

“I don’t believe we’ve met before. I would remember someone with a cloak like that. Your clan is despicable.”

“Wait, what are you talking about? The man with you killed one of our people and you call us despicable?”

“After your clan member killed fifteen people in my home city, none of them even twenty years old. He even tried to kill my brother and I.”

The cloaked figure was taken aback and lowered his weapons slightly.

“You’re lying. The man with you did all that. The Oda Clan Leader even asked us to get revenge for him. We refused because he didn’t have the balls to do it himself.”

“Oda…haha.”

Kira laughed mirthlessly.

'Trust Oda to find a way to turn the blame away for his own gain. His own son gets killed and he doesn’t look to blame his, obviously unhinged, “ally”, instead trying to milk their partnership for all it’s worth.'

Kira thought, disgusted.

“What’s so funny?”

By now Hideyoshi was both unsettled and confused. In his heart, there was no way someone from the Murasaki Clan would do something as horrendous as killing such young people…unless it was on the clan’s orders, another possibility he couldn’t accept.

“Oda is the most despicable and ambitious scum I’ve ever met. He’ll butcher the truth if he can find a grain of benefit from it. The truth is, your clan member killed his son, it happened right in front of me. Then Oda still tries to trick you into furthering his political agenda. He's truly shameless.”

“Shut…up.”

Hideyoshi didn’t want to hear anymore. If Oda’s words were really a lie then…

“That’s right, your clan actually accepted a psychotic killer. They probably sent him this far away from the Capital because he was causing too much trouble.”

“Shut up.”

“And now you’re here to clean up his mess because we’re the only ones that know the truth. Besides my brother, we’re the only survivors. Your clan can’t afford to let it be known that one of their own killed a bunch of children in some backwater city. I’m sure that would seriously hurt your recruitment opportunities.”

“SHUT UP!”

Kira's words were razor sharp as she spoke. She had a feeling that this boy, although fairly young, was definitely stronger than her overall. Although she wasn't very well versed in psychological warfare, she'd simply spoken the truth, mixed with some speculation, of course.

Hideyoshi viciously threw an energy-charged dagger at Kira. As she raised her block to deflect it, Hideyoshi suddenly appeared in front of her, the airborne dagger firmly gripped in his hand as he cut downwards. Kira just about caught the attack with her sword but she couldn’t let her guard down as his other dagger swept towards her gut.

Stepping back, she avoided his second attack, acutely aware of both the wall of earth behind her and buildings tightly packed on either side.

‘This isn’t good. I can’t swing my sword with my full strength in this enclosed space. If I don’t do something soon, I won’t have room to manoeuvre. His weapon is more suited for this than mine.’

As Kira was trying to figure out her dilemma, Hideyoshi was struggling with his own emotions.

‘No, it can’t be. Are we really just cleaners? Master would’ve told me, right? A killer like she said, why would the clan accept him? The Murasaki Clan has always been good to me so I’ve always done what I can for them, but have I always done the right thing? What is the right thing? I don’t know anymore!’

Under Hideyoshi’s relentless barrage of attacks, while unable to use any of her own, Kira was continuously pushed back until her back was almost against the wall of earth. Just before she touched the wall, she braced herself and leapt up as high as she could, planting her feet against the walls on either side of her as Hideyoshi’s attack passed just beneath her.

As he moved to attack again, she dived at him from above, her sword held out horizontally in front of her, her left hand on the flat of the blade. When their weapons met, gold light flashed across Kira’s pupils as her Rejection Skill released.

The explosive force sent Hideyoshi stumbling forward into the earth wall while assisting Kira’s momentum to drive her further along the cramped alley, putting a reasonable amount of distance between them as she rolled into a crouch. With a brief glance behind her, she sheathed her blade and sprinted off through the narrow streets.

Shaken with uncertainty, Hideyoshi didn’t immediately give chase, instead just staring at the wall, taking a few moments to calm his breathing before turning to chase after her. Being one of the most talented of the Murasaki Clan’s young generation, he couldn’t allow his emotions to get the better of him any longer.

That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t still deeply unsettled. He simply forced himself to focus on the person who was his anchor, the Master who he looked up and who’d raised him like his own son. From these memories he found the strength and security to just about push down the doubts and fears that plagued him so that he could focus on the battle before him.

‘Any questions I have can wait until afterwards. The most important thing is to complete my mission without getting killed.’

Meanwhile, noticing that Hideyoshi wasn’t following behind her as she zipped from tight corridor to narrow alley, Kira actually became even more wary of him. She was certain that his frame of mind was shattered right now but if he somehow managed to piece it together again, he would be a difficult opponent.

‘Whatever state he’s in, I can’t fight here. I need more space. Their trap was well thought out, splitting us up in an unfamiliar environment.’

Recalling when they first entered the district, Kira remembered the eight main ‘roads’ that branched out from the fountain plaza. If she could find one of them, she could fight without restraint. Turning a corner, Kira looked down the alley and saw, right at the very end, that the gap between the buildings seemed to be larger than usual.

‘This might be it.’

She thought excitedly, breaking into a sprint. A now-familiar crackling sound brought her to an abrupt halt as two daggers charged with blue energy impaled the ground where she would have been had she not stopped in time.

‘He recovered faster than I thought.’

A hooded figure blurred into sight in front of her, kneeling as his hands tightly gripped the pair of daggers.

“Now that I get a look at you, you’re actually so young. But when you speak, it’s like I’m being lectured by one of my instructors. I really don’t want to hurt you but the mission always comes first. Lay down your weapons and I’ll make sure you’re treated well.”

“That’s one condition I can’t meet. My blades and I are one. Besides, I’m afraid that I can’t allow you to leave here alive either. You and your master know too much. We can’t have your clan keep sending people after us.”

“So I guess there’s no other way then…”

“None.”