Masami leaped forward with a punch. Yoto leaned to the side to dodge and responded with his own punch.

                                      *BOOM* 

When Yoto connected, Masami was pushed back a bit. This didn't keep him from rushing forwards again, this time with a kick. Yoto caught his leg and tripped him. As Masami fell to the ground, Yoto built his shallow and extended his arm until it was directly in Masami's face. 

"Yoto wins again" Inyo commented as he spectated their matches. 

"C'mon Yoto, let's go again" Masami stated. "We're tied" 

"What...wasn't that the tie-breaker?" Yoto replied. 

"No, I won twice. That was your second time winning"

"I'm pretty sure we're three to two now, Inyo?" 

Inyo just shrugged his shoulders with a slight smirk. 

"See?" Masami stated. "We're tied, let's go again" 

"Fine" Yoto stated as he entered his stance. "You'll just lose again" 

At this point, Shira and Mashiko could be seen approaching the group from a distance. Inyo turned to them and started walking towards them. 

"Hand to hand combat?" Shira asked as he walked up to Inyo. 

"Yes" Inyo replied. 

"It's been a long time since we've done that, why did we stop in the first place?" 

"Why would we continue? You beat me and Mashiko too many times. But, now there's some real competition" 

"Oh yeah? Who's been winning between those two anyway?" 

"They're doing a tiebreaker now" 

"I'm pretty sure we can worry about that later on" Mashiko interrupted. 

"Sure" Inyo replied. 

"Master Inyo, we weren't able to get the young boy" Shira stated. "We ran into a woman named Mioki, she seems to be the controller of the crows we've been seeing" 

"She's able to control them with her kosho, Karasu" Mashiko added. "And Karasu can take physical form seperately from her" 

"You mean her kosho can manifest seperately from her?" Inyo asked. 

"Yes" 

"Hmph" Inyo uttered. "Troublesome" 

"Other than Isobu and Douma, it seems it will just be us five" Shira stated. 

"Then it shall be enough, Shira" Inyo replied as he started walking towards Yoto and Masami. 

Mashiko and Shira quickly followed. 

"So you're making a new plan?" Shira asked as he caught up to him. 

"It seems it must be that way" Inyo replied. "If we had great numbers, we could attack them directly. But with limited personnel, we have to try a different route." 

"You know, around this time Tabuke visits his son" Mashiko stated. "Maybe we can use that to our advantage" 

"Yeah, we could capture him and hold him hostage" Shira suggested. "Even somebody as heartless as Tabuke would give in" 

"No" Inyo replied. "He won't. He'll just send his entire force at us at once. That won't be good. But..." 

"But?" Shira asked. 

"Using his son as a...bargaining chip, so to speak, wouldn't be a bad idea" Inyo continued. 

"What exactly are we going to get in the bargain?" Shira asked. 

"It has to be something that puts us in a advantageous position" Mashiko stated. 

"We can trade hostage for hostage, his son for the kid" Inyo said. 

"Master, wouldn't it be a better idea to trade him for one of our enemies?" Shira inquired. "I don't think he has the intention to hurt the kid, so we're not saving him. But, capturing and subduing one of the troublesome koshomuras on his side would be way more beneficial" 

"I already know who you're thinking about" Inyo explained. "It's going to be difficult to keep her subdued. The kid will be much easier to keep up with and his kosho could be a great addition" 

"Wait, why not get both?" Mashiko questioned. "Surely Tabuke will think his own son is more valuable than both of them combined" 

"Perhaps" Inyo uttered. 

"We can send Yoto to get Nusaru" Mashiko stated. "While Shira, Masami, and I create a diversion. The commotion is sure to draw Tabuke out." 

"Then Yoto brings Nusaru and we exchange them?" Shira added. 

"Exactly" Mashiko replied.

"Hmmm" Inyo wondered. "Are you sure the kid is up for it?"

"Nusaru isn't a koshomura, it won't take much for Yoto to capture him, even if he has to use force" Shira claimed. 

"If you two think it's a good idea to do this without me, then you can" Inyo concluded. "I have to meet up with Isobu and Douma. They should have some vital Intel on the koshomuras Tabuke have." 

"They're coming back?" Mashiko asked. "It's been that long already?" 

"I think this will be able to work" Shira exclaimed. "Besides a few new koshomura, we know exactly what to expect." 

"Fine, it's settled" Inyo responded. "Which one of you two are going to brief those two?" 

Mashiko, Shira, and Inyo all looked at Yoto, who had just defeated Masami once again. 

"So we're definitely three to two now" Yoto stated as he held out his hand. 

"Yeah yeah, whatever" Masami replied as he grabbed onto Yoto's hand and pulled himself up. 

"I heard you two have been doing hand to hand" Shira stated as he walked up to them. 

"Yep" Yoto replied. "Inyo said they were never able to beat you, and since I'm the winner out of me and Masami, I think we should face each other next" 

"Haha, not right now" Shira exclaimed. "We have your next mission, it's very important" 

"Oh?" Yoto replied. "What are we doing?" 

"You are going to capture Tabuke's son, Nusaru" Shira stated.

"He has a son?" Masami asked, dumbfounded. 

"Yes, and now is the time of the year when he visits him" 

"Shouldn't his son be under heavy guard?" Yoto asked

"Normally he would be" Shira explained. "But, we're going to draw them away from you."

"I guess that's where I come in" Masami joked.

"You're correct" Shira announced. "Once Yoto has Nusaru, he'll bring him to us. And then we'll do a simple hostage trade." 

"When?" Masami asked. 

"First, Inyo will meet with Isobu and Douma, who are coming back from their mission." Shira explained. "He's going to meet us there around the same time Yoto brings Nusaru" 

"Isobu and Douma?" Yoto thought. "The two Shira and Inyo keep mentioning. Hopefully they come back safely. With the way they praise them, Isobu and Douma must be super strong and Tamuro should be even stronger than that. I wonder if they're preparing for us like we are for them right now. " 

                               *MEANWHILE* 

   

Tabuke was knocked back into a brick wall. He was in a room that resembled an experiment lab. There was plenty of open space with one door in the middle of a protective glass barrier. He had a cut on his forehead, which caused a mild blood trail to start leaking down his face. His clothes were ripped and dirty, sure-telling signs of a struggle. 

"That thing is going to kill boss" one of many guards stated as he equipped himself with firearms. "We have to help him" 

He then rushed into the room Tabuke was in, busting through the door. The guards behind him followed, but they stayed near the door entrance. 

"Cover me!" The leading guard stated as he ran towards Tabuke. 

"Yessir!" The guards stated just before they opened fire on the figure of the giant humanoid seen in the shadows of the corner in the room. 

     *POW* *POW* POW* *BANG* *DODODODODO* 

The leading guard made it pretty close to Tabuke before - 

                                  *SWOOSH* 

A giant skeleton hand appeared in front of him, and slapped him across the room. At this point, Tabuke rose to his feet as the guards standing near the door exited the room, but kept shooting.

 "Boss!" The guards called out from a distance. "Get out of there!" 

Tabuke began to run for the door, soon the giant skeleton hand followed. The guards continued to call out to Tabuke as they watched the pursuit. 

"Boss!" 

"He's right behind you!" 

"Keep running!" 

Just as Tabuke reached the door, the skeleton hand grabbed a hold of him 

"Aughhhhh" Tabuke uttered as he began to be constricted by the massive hand. 

Tabuke began to build his aura as his shallow turned into floating drums around his body. 

"Thunder...Dance!" He uttered as he shot an orb of shallow energy that hit the drums. 

                                     *BOOM* 

The skeleton hand was repelled by the rumbling that resembled the sound of thunder. Now that he was free, he leaped out of the room and shut the door. 

"Damn, you weren't supposed to leave him" Tabuke stated as he panted. 

"You did too, boss" one of the guards replied. 

The skeleton hand could be seen sprouting the rest of the body, not too long after two hands connected to two arms, and a ribcage formed. 

"He's going to break through the chamber!" One of the guards stated. 

"Relax" Tabuke stated. "The sound vibration from my thunder dance will send it flying away. But we'll have to prepare for when it returns, since it probably has a taste for my blood now." 

As the guard said, the still-forming skeleton rushed towards the door. 

"Thunder dance!" Tabuke stated as the drums formed again. "After this, contact Mioki immediately!" 

Just as the Skeleton was about to bust through the window - 

                                    *BOOM* 

The sound sent the skeleton flying through the walls of the building as Tabuke's men were also pushed back in to the walls. 

"Ha, guess I overdid it" Tabuke stated seeing this just before falling to the ground. 

As Tabuke lost consciousness, he heard the last words of his men. 

"You, go get Mioki!" 

"That'll take awhile, we should summon Mara" 

"Are you crazy? Will she even be able to tell if we're on her side if we summon her like that?" 

"She'll know once she sees the boss on the ground"

"Say it three times : Mara! Mara! Mara!" 

                               *MEANWHILE* 

Nusaru was sitting in a bedroom, gazing out the window. An old mirror in the corner of the room started flowing with shallow energy, as a short-haired woman wearing a red shirt with a jean jacket started coming out of it. Nusaru felt her presence as he looked back at her. 

"What do you want?" He asked. 

"For some reason, I'm being summoned." She replied. "It seems urgent, so I won't be taking you with me." 

"Alright" he stated. 

"Don't go anywhere" she instructed. "You know I'll be able to tell"

"Don't plan on it" he replied back to her. 

The lady walked back to her mirror and went through it again. 

"I'm either stuck with that menacing mirror woman or being chased down by the lady with the crows" Nusaru thought. "What's the point of trying to run" 

Nusaru continued gazing out the window under he noticed something. 

"What is that?" He stated as he watched a shadowy-figure enter the city's entrance. "Is that a skeleton?"