Nazo locked eyes with Roka as she made her next move. A cunning smile spread across her face from behind the mask.

"I know why you play this game," Nazo continued. "It's not because you just need more allies for the Onryo. You specifically need what I have to offer for your future campaigns. You are aiming to strike at the Jikan first, are you not?"

"Oh, so you know," Roka smirked as she made her next move. "Indeed, I require the services not only of your kunoichi but your legions of matchlock ashigaru. Armed with arquebuses, like the one you're hiding."

Nazo was taken aback, startled that Roka knew her secret. Coincidentally, Roka's next move was a check on the king. As Nazo tried desperately to move a piece in defense, Roka piled it on.

"You might fool other people, claiming that it’s your war fan," Roka smirked. "But you won't fool me. Chikyu is a tanegashima, a matchlock firearm. A magical ranged weapon and one of Ina's nine."

For a second time, she threatened Nazo's king with another check. Beads of sweat fell from the kunoichi's forehead as she knew that the end was near. She responded poorly, with a clumsy defense. Seeing this, Roka applied the pressure.

"I've always wondered why someone like you would side with the enemy," Roka spoke. "Truth be told, that was not your intention. In fact, you tried to fight them but was defeated. That is why you only have one bullet left, which you were saving for the Hibiki daimyo's killer. Your target, Tatsuya."

"S-Shut up!" Nazo stammered, her nervousness resulting in another careless move.

"Truth be told, you have nothing against Tatsuya," Roka continued. "But you have something to protect. You would give up everything to protect it. Your true secret..."

Roka gazed at Nazo as she made her final move.

"Tsumi," Roka said as she declared checkmate. "You did it to protect your bloodline. Isn't that right, Fujiwara Hime? Are you not the last descendant of the lost Imperial family?"

"I no longer go by that name," Nazo replied as she finally removed her kabuki mask, revealing a beautiful woman. "The Imperial family is no more. I will join your cause."

"We will avenge your family," Roka reassured her.

"Long before the reign of the great shogun, emperors ruled over Orient," Nazo sighed. "Alas their retainers were often greedy and ambitious. Some even assassinated the reigning emperor before he could name an heir, resulting in a succession crisis. It was only thanks to Ina helping that lone warrior become the legendary shogun that the infant heir, the emperor's youngest, was saved. I descended from that line."

"Join us Empress," Roka bowed. "Restore the Imperial line, and the Onryo would faithfully defend it."

Before Nazo could respond, the Hibiki messenger burst into the room demanding to see the kunoichi.

"Lady Nazo!" the messenger cried. "The garrison have fallen! We are in dire need of your aid and-"

It was then the messenger noticed that Nazo was standing next to Roka, the enemy's main strategist.

"T-Traitor!" the messenger cried as he tried to make a run for it.

Seeing this, Roka smirked and whispered into Nazo's ear:

"You have one shot Empress. Make it count."

A geisha quickly tapped on the wall, revealing a hidden compartment that held Nazo's signature weapon. Seeing this, Roka moved to the side as the geisha tossed the weapon to her master. In one fluid motion, Nazo caught the matchlock arquebus in midair and pulled the trigger while aiming at the Hibiki messenger. There was a flash, followed by the smell of smoke and a bang that sounded like thunder.

The white flowers of the beautiful folding screen were now bathed in Hibiki blood.

Cackling flames jumped from house to house, consuming them until they were nothing but ash. Smoke rose in columns to the sky, but the motionless corpses that piled on the ground could no longer suffocate from them. Blood oozed like small rivers from various puddles, attracting vultures to prey on the decaying flesh. The bodies were all pitifully mangled, deformed beyond recognition. If anyone ever wondered what kind of painting the kami were going for this scene, it could only be one thing.

It was the painting of a massacre.

As the Hibiki soldiers raced with one another to grab whatever they could loot, a young man crawled his way to an abandoned shrine. They left him for dead after they slaughtered his entire family right before his eyes. The boy leapt out of the window of their house by the river and pretended to have drowned. When the coast was clear, he made his move.

Knowing the way, he snuck into the shrine's secret room where a glowing katana was placed on a pedestal. This was Kasai, one of the nine magical weapons of the kitsune Ina. Guarded by the boy's family through generations, it was intended for the heir of the legendary shogun. They were to keep it safe until the day he claimed it. The young man muttered a silent apology to the heir, and picked up the sword out of desperation. At first, he thought that the weapon would punish him in some way, but to his surprise nothing happened. With the hilt firmly gripped in his fist, he would deploy a hit and run tactic to slaughter as many soldiers as he could. He would actually manage to kill several troops before he was overwhelmed by their sheer number. Fortunately for him, a band of rebels came to his rescue.

The last thing the young man remembered was losing consciousness while being strapped on one of the horses of the rebels.

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"Tatsuya! Your head is in the clouds again!"

It was Mizuchi who has been calling out to the swordsman. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity of daydreaming, Tatsuya acknowledged him. It has been three days since they wiped out the remainder of the Hibiki clan. Roka has joined them from her mission, with a new addition to their team in Nazo.

"Sorry I was just reminiscing about the past," Tatsuya apologized. "I still wonder to this day why this sword helped me survive."

"You're probably just stressed," Mizuchi shrugged. "I heard you've managed to recruit every ronin in these parts, save for the ones who were still after Hagemi's body."

"I'm departing for the mountain tonight," said Tatsuya. "You guys go on ahead. I'll deal with this myself."

"Are you sure?" Mizuchi countered. "Can't be too careful with a traitor around."

"I've heard," Tatsuya replied. "But my friend, I have to deal with this alone."

"But Tatsuya!" Mizuchi protested.

Mizuchi then felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Roka standing there. She looked concerned, but at the same time she understood why Tatsuya insisted. She told his brother to just let Tatsuya be to deal with the ghosts of his past, to which Mizuchi reluctantly relented. As he took his leave to investigate on the traitor, Tatsuya was left alone with Roka. She smiled brightly, which prompted the usually grumpy Tatsuya to grin as well.

"I-I heard about how you defeated the general by controlling the river," Roka said shyly. "It was a sound strategy. Consider me impressed."

"I should thank you," Tatsuya smiled. "It was your strategy that guaranteed our victory. I simply added the finishing touches."

"You know that strategy brings back memories," Roka said as she gazed up at the sky.

"How so?" Tatsuya asked curiously.

"You remind me so much of the legendary monk Tenrai," Roka smiled. "The monks used to tell me about him all the time as I was growing up."

"The original owner of your brother's weapon," Tatsuya commented, to which Roka nodded.

"That strategy of controlling the water's depths was one of his signature ones," Roka explained. "Knowing that a legend like that kept a whole brotherhood of monks safe for generations reassured me that everything will be alright. It helped me feel secure the whole time I was separated from my brother."

She turned to Tatsuya and locked eyes with him.

"You remind me so much of this childhood hero."

There was an awkward silence as the two of them blushed. Tatsuya decided to break the ice by reminding Roka of his mission.

"I still need to bring the remaining ronin over," Tatsuya sighed. "I have to go."

Roka stepped forward and held his hands.

"You will succeed, I'm sure of it."

"Thanks for the encouragement," Tatsuya smiled.

"Be careful okay?" Roka called out as Tatsuya took his leave.

"Stay pretty until I come back," Tatsuya teased as he watched Roka blush.

Now all alone with his hand on the hilt of his katana, Tatsuya began the difficult climb up the mountain.