Several well-armed warriors run from a fork in the road to Bou, Fujiwara, and Minamori. They back away, there are too many of them after all, while Minamori says:

"There's no way we can beat them like this!"

Bou, running towards the center of the road, turns around quickly, throwing the weapon basket to Minamori, who tries to hold on, but falls sitting on the ground with the weight.

In the middle of the road, Haru turns to Hideo and asks:

"Now what do we do?"

"We watch where they need support. Depending on which side of the enemy is stronger that's where we go."

The two look to the side of the road opposite the captain and see the big thief put his hands under the stubborn donkey, lifting it. The warriors slow the speed of their onslaught, taken by the hesitation of seeing a boy lift an animal above his head.

Bou leans back, pulling the air in and lifting his left leg slightly. Haru speaks:

"Yeah, I think they're fine on that side..."

The giant throws the donkey, causing the animal to fly and fall over five warriors, breaking the formation of their enemies' onslaught completely.

Just then a shout from Tobi can be heard:

"NAOKI, NO!!!"

Blood splatters fly at everyone around, briefly blinding the giant man who delivered the attack with the Zanbato.

Chapter 9- Reaction.

Hideo and Haru turn to the other side, see the blood splashing upwards and immediately run out, passing five other thieves who are standing still.

The leader of the thieves stops running for two seconds just after passing them, turns around, raises four fingers with his unoccupied hand, and then points to where Minamori is standing.

"Four with them, one with me, now!"

So his followers do. Yuji, Kaito, Tsukasa, and Mai go to provide support alongside Bou, Fujiwara, and Minamori. The other thief, Jinme, follows Hideo and Haru to the side where Izumi, Tobi, and Naoki are.

The giant man, rubbing the blood on his face with his arm to see better again laughs:

"Two down, thirteen to go!"

When the man finally recovers his sight, he sees that his blade is in the abdomen of a samurai, whom Naoki had pulled by the collar and used as a human shield against his attack. She finds herself crouched on one knee on the ground, covered in blood, her arms raised holding the dead man above her head.

"Like I'm going to die easily like that!"

She stands up quickly, throwing the dead man onto her opponent, knocking him off balance. The thief uses this second to somersault to the side and pick up her staff from the ground.

The captain's voice echoes:

"Kill her, Gojo!"

"Yes, sir!"

The man throws the dead man over himself, freeing his blade from the corpse.

Gojo and Naoki stare at each other for a few moments. The physical strength of both is imprinted in their muscles and size. This is not going to be an easy or short fight, and the winner is far from decided.

The warrior begins a war cry along with a fierce charge and a sequence of attacks with his Zambato. Naoki shouts just as loud and defends each one with her Tetsubo club. Suddenly Haru takes a step on Naoki's back, picking up momentum for a jump, rising over her.

Gojo immediately recognizes the boy he failed to chase before...

"Not you again! Damn you!"

He brings his giant sword up to kill Haru, but the latter spins in midair, passing with his back close to the blade, landing on the ground beside the warrior. He, distracted by Haru, doesn't see Naoki's Tetsubo coming at him from the opposite side, which, with a hard impact, hits him in the ribs.

"ARGH!"

His eyes meet Naoki's and her fierce gaze conveys a hidden message in a language that only warriors understand. It says:

'How dare you look away! I am your adversary! I will kill you!'

Gojo sees in his peripheral vision that Haru has taken off running toward the captain. Hideo, taking advantage of Naoki's blow, went through the other side without the warrior being able to do anything.

......

Bou takes down armed warriors with powerful punches, while Fugiwara alerts him to new arrows and attacks warriors with his Masakari ax.

Minamori, always attentive in the movement of others, throws weapons to her companions who have come to support them. Yuji takes an odachi, now having two swords in addition to the Tsurugi he already carries. Kaito puts away his katana and picks up a bow and quiver of arrows. Tsukasa throws one of her kama scythes into the face of a samurai in her path, releasing one hand for a Kusarigama that Minamori throws at her. Mai delivering blows with a Nunchaku and clips it under her arm as she picks up a Daito sword.

Everyone tries to ignore Tachibana's body that lies a few feet away.

There is a contrast to the noise at the other end of the road and the silence forming on this side. There screams reign and sounds of colliding blades can be heard in the background. Here, the wind and the sound of sandals slowly sliding on the earth speak louder than anything else.

No arrows are fired, by the archers waiting for the warriors to position themselves favorably.

A samurai covered in armor dyed bright red begins to walk. Protecting his head with a large Kabuto helmet, a Do protecting his chest, Sodes protecting his shoulders, as well as Kotes and Tekkos protecting his arms. He wields a long Nodachi sword and stands in front of Fugiwara. He makes a small bow with his head and the thief mimics him.

"My name is Soda Katsumi and I have come at the Daimyo's behest to kill the last Arata! Get out of the way and we won't have to kill you!"

Fugiwara gives a response to the warning:

"I'm Fugiwara, I don't know about any Arata, I've come to steal fish, but I'm seeing a lot of interesting armor so I won't let you pass until you give me everything!"

One of the archers in the background whispers to another:

"Is he crazy? We are outnumbered and have more weapons!"

"Besides, you heard him, didn't you? That's Soda Katsumi, the famous samurai!"

"I bet he was sent by Shogun Tokugawa to serve our Daimyo and finish off that clan for good!"

A samurai bumps into this archer, passing by other warriors until he reaches the front line. He has an older appearance, long hair, a large kamon of a flower decorates the back of his navy blue Haori. He wears a light blue kimono underneath and a dark gray Hakama. Carries with him a Katana sword and a Wakizashi.

He positions himself in front of Yuji who can immediately see that this is a man experienced in battle.

"I am Saito Daisuke and I will not fail to kill Arata Haru again."

Daisuke places his hand on the handle of his Katana but looks at the double-edged Tsurugi sword in one hand of Yuji and the long Odachi in the other. His gaze travels over the boy's shoulder and sees an enemy archer, Kaito, aiming at him.

A subtle smile, but one that is noticed by Yuji, forms at the corner of his mouth as his hand loosens the handle of his Katana. He sighs and draws his Wakizashi.

"You are still very young, too bad you have to die so soon."

The Wakizashi is a short sword, used for close-range combat, decapitations, and committing Seppuku, but in this situation, it has a different message. Yuji understood this and felt humiliated: His opponent was underestimating him.

"My name is Yagi Yuji, and I'll show you who's going to die here, you miserable old man!"

"Tell me Yagi Yuji, have you ever felt the warmth of a woman? Have you ever fought in a war?"

"Yes and no, I haven't fought in any war, old man."

"Well, boy, you'd better get ready..."

He puts one foot in front of him and positions himself for the fight.

"...Because there's a war coming."

A fellow samurai pats Daisuke on the back, along with a laugh. He has awkward blond hair, a dark Do protecting his chest, and a light green Hakama. He takes his Katana from its sheath and stands beside his companion, facing Mai, who has a Daito sword and a Nunchaku in her hands.

"Don't go easy on them because they're new, Saito-kun, or we might end up letting them get away like the kid last time."

"That won't happen, Masaaki. Not this time."

Mai positions herself better, getting a little closer to Masaaki. They face each other. The samurai can see in the thief's eyes the confidence in her abilities. She chooses not to say anything, concentrating more and more on reading her opponent.

Masaaki makes a joke:

"If you keep staring at me like that I'll end up falling in love with--"

KA-PLAU!

His words are interrupted by one end of the Nunchaku crashing into his chin, causing a loud sound. His head is thrown back. He stands still in that position for a second. Mai concludes:

"You talk too much."