CHAPTER 1: Defeat & Redemption

Junko Kazuka, esteemed samurai master and trainer knew he was surrounded, and that this was going to be his final battle.
The fields around him were stained with the blood of both his students & the warring Zoroshi Clan Soldiers, men raised from a young age to kill and follow orders were closing in on him and his students.
Junko watched as the soldiers swarmed across the battlefield, cutting down both Tokugawa and Kazuka clan samurai, with only a single building remaining unrazed amongst the raging fires: the now green and brown Township Building.
Junko’s best student and assistant teacher, Nobunaga, pointed to the building and shouted “Sensei! We must retreat at once! We can hold them off from in there!”
Junko nodded, and his students, all young men aged 20-30 gathered in a sharp V shaped formation as the soldiers threw themselves into the now burning township building. These soldiers, armed with black and red blades and wearing black and grey body armor began to hack away at the frail door that kept the students from being murdered by the emotionless, bloodthirsty monsters on the other side.
“Steady my students! Remember, you are Samurai through and through! Do not ever fear the embrace of death! Give these animals the fight they are wanting!!”
Junko’s best student, Nobunaga, watched as the door began to buckle, and commented jokingly “Well at least they had the courtesy to knock first” as he stood beside Junko.
The door finally groaned open. Soldiers poured in, with each Samurai cutting down a man that thundered towards them. Junko whirled around each enemy, cutting down man after man who tried to strike him down. Nobunaga cut down a soldier that managed to jump behind Junko, grinning as the two fought with such fervor that even the Samurai began to become emboldened with the battle.
Eventually, the leader of the soldiers stomped in and grinned.
“Well I will be DAMNED. You really are the best swordsman in Japan, sensei Kazuka. These men…these kids, have proven themselves wonderfully…but I think you and I both know how this will end”
He drew his sword, its edges jagged and lined with deep cuts that gave the impression of a savage animal’s tooth.
“Like it? I call it the Temptress…” He swung the blade in the air and instantly a cooing noise sang from the cuts, entrancing the students.
Immediately two students fell to the blade, cut apart with almost perfect precision as the leader became a tornado of movement. Junko dodged a cut and began to parry each blow the leader threw at him.
Nobunaga joined the fight, his sword blocking the blows while Junko attempted to deliver a killing blow to the man. Soon there was a sharp SHUNK noise, with the leader collapsing on the floor.
The students stepped back as blood and vomit gushed from the leader’s mouth, his coughing and sputtering resounding through the building. Nobunaga walked up to him and pressed the tip of his blade against the man’s temple, pressing hard and allowing the blade to slice deeply into his brain.
Junko looked at the two dead students and sighed. “They died as they fought…with honor” he said, as the other 5 students gathered around to pay respects.
Nobunaga picked up Temptress and examined it, curiosity taking him over as he tightly gripped the blade.
“Nobunaga, put that thing down” ordered Junko, as the other students gazed at Nobunaga as he turned.
“Why? It’s just a sword” Nobunaga commented, as Junko angrily replied “You put that thing down RIGHT NOW!”
Nobunaga frowned as he put the blade on the ground, before muttering “It is said that whoever possesses the Temptress, controls the army that can rival the Tokugawa Shogunate…a power beyond anything mere Daimyos or Emperors can fathom…”
He smiled and stood, brushing dust off his Kimono. “Still…that is but a fairy tale…”
As he stood there the other students breathed a sigh a relief. “All that stress over a single sword sensei?” one asked, with Junko growling “That sword has brought more grief, pain and instability than any one warlord in our entire history! It is best to leave it be”
Nobunaga started laughing hysterically, prompting another student to ask “What has come over you, Nobunaga?”
“The irony of Master Kazuka’s statement is too much! We are fighting against anyone who dares threaten the Shotgunate…and he has the gall to say that sword alone is worse…maybe what we need is something…new”
With that he picked up the sword and held it out in front of him.
“Nobunaga, what are you doing?!” bellowed another student.
“Taking control”
With that Nobunaga slashed the blade in the air, watching as a student’s head dropped on the ground.
Another rushed towards him and was cut down with ruthless ease. Another’s leg was cut off and soon his upper torso was cleanly removed from his body.
The second to last samurai parried one of his blows, but was disarmed and gutted with a single , with the final student losing his arm, and then having his head sliced in half, blood shooting out from the neck.

Junko gawked with abject horror at his dead students as the tip of Temptress was pressed against his neck. “Why…why would you do this to your brothers…TO ME?!” Junko shouted, tears gushing down his face as Nobunaga calmly replied “You know why I want this…why I did this…I have the chance to make my life better, and in the future Japan’s” He pressed the edge of the blade into Junko’s neck “I would have thought a man of liberal ideology would have understood”
He turned and left Junko to stand amongst the dead students who fought at his side, now littering the ground with flesh and blood.
“I will…” Junko stammered “I will…I WILL NOT LET THIS BE FORGOTTEN!!”
Nobunaga smiled. “No…because no one will let you forget”
He left the building as the roof began to creak from the fire that blanketed the top.
Junko ran out to find the Shogunate Samurai armed with pikes surrounding the entrance. “JUNKO KAZUKA, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR THE MURDERS OF ALL THE KAZUKA SCHOOL STUDENTS! DROP YOUR SWORD!!”
Junko collapsed, looking at the fleeing Nobunaga with tears in his eyes.

Nobunaga ducked into the woods before being confronted by an older student who had escaped the battle. He aimed his sword at Nobunaga and growled “Is it true…did he kill the others?”
Nobunaga nodded. “He did. Now the school is gone…save for us. I have plans for Japan’s refinement with this” He held the Temptress blade close to the student’s face “Care to partner with me?”
The student’s hand waivered. “As your student, Nobunaga? You always did have the superior sword skills over even Master Kazuka”
“If you want to, you may. Tell me again, what is your name?”
“Masaji…Shiro Masaji…”
“Well then Masaji…you and I have a lot to start with, don’t we?”
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                                                      -2 MONTHS LATER-

Shoji Kawamura sat alone in his small house, as the rain beat down on the tile roof above him, holding the painting of his family that had left his life.
He was a younger man, aged 29 but had been married and had a child, leading a quiet life away from violence. However based on the emptiness of the house that fact seemed almost unbelievable.
He saw the fire clearly as if it was happening again…
“SHOJI!” screamed his wife Rika as arrows soared in the air. A rival samurai thundered towards her, only to be cut down by Shoji. “This way!!” he shouted as she clung tightly to their son. The rival Samurai soon saw the woman and ran to intercept her as they ducked into a house. A shipment of Chinese gunpowder erupted from the fire as Shoji kicked down the door to a house that was underneath a small tunnel.
“In here!!” Shoji ordered, but before Rika could follow, an arrow from one of the samurai struck her in the back, causing her collapse and end up crushing the child.

Shoji instantly screamed “RIKA!!!” as the samurai circled around her. Fueled by pure hate and rage, Shoji jumped forward, cutting down each man that approached, receiving only minor wounds in the process. As more and more samurai swarmed his position, the more he became weary and reckless with his fighting.
Soon he was struck by a fist that sent him flying from a large man armed with a Nodachi, or long sword. He awoke a moment later to see Rika’s corpse now covered in stab wounds and the baby’s remains left to sink into the mud.
A boot stomped on his back, with the cold tip of a sword blade resting on his throat.
“Did you honestly think you Samurai loyal to the government would be let off so easily?” he mocked, raising the sword to deliver the killing blow.
Shoji grabbed a broken spear shaft and slammed the sharpened end deep into the man’s neck, spilling blood onto Shoji’s face.

The now broken Shoji shoved the body of the man away from him and picked up his wife’s corpse, placing it on a nearby table. He was entirely alone, and only the sound of cold wind howling through the extinct village broke the silence. He spent the whole night digging hers and his son’s graves, stopping only once to scare away a stray dog that began to sniff around the open pits.
He placed Rika in the ground and removed a small necklace he had given her, an oval jade chip with a silver center that had once belonged to his mother. He shakily snarled through gritted teeth “I wasn’t supposed to be alone this way…not this way…not without you!!”

The door to his house rattled, shaking him from the memory. He opened the door and was greeted by a man holding a piece of parchment. “Shoji Kawamura, is it?” the man asked, his sweat rolling off his fat cheeks. “Yes, who wants to know?”
“This property is no longer yours to claim, Mr. Kawamura. The Shogunate needs the property for an expansion of his military”
“I own this land…they cannot claim it”
“While that is true, we CAN claim it, and we have. You have 3 days to leave, otherwise you will be removed”
Shoji half smiled and nodded. “Understood” he remarked, slamming the door shut in the man’s face.
He walked through his house, remembering when his son was first brought home, when his wife first announced she was with child…all these memories were now going to be forgotten.
He packed what remained of his belongings, a kimono his father wore, his mother’s Netsuke (small bone figure), and his wife’s necklace, with his son’s blanket used to hold the items.
He walked outside to see the man talking to a samurai guard and handed him the key to his home.
“I hope for your sake, you never have to lose your family” He rumbled.
As he turned away, he noticed an older man with his face hidden by a strip of cloth shove a wood block in his hands.
The man darted away before he could confront him, so instead he looked at the wood block: “Shoji Kawamura: I know you are looking for a new chance at life. I can give that to you. Arrive within 2 days at the Dojo along the Shinegami pass crossroads, and we can talk. ~Junko Kazuka”
He looked behind to see that the man had left his peripheral sight, and stuffed the wood block in his pocket. “Well, this should be interesting at least” he muttered.
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The caravan arrived at the city before dark, and Bokoso Nokoro, the main guard, watched as the cattle settles down for the night. He was young, having just turned 27, and used his massive Naginata to scare away any potential robbers and raiders along the roads.
The main caravan leader, Hito, approached him and handed him a crude bowl filled with salmon meat and rice. “Eat up” he ordered “We are going to head out in the morning. I will go into the nearby village to talk to the traders for a safe route” Bokoso nodded and watched along with the other guard as their boss entered the village. “Might as well get some sleep” the other guard suggested as the night began to fall on the land.
Bokoso slept that night until he heard one of the cattle moo angrily.
“EH?” he grunted sleepily as he rubbed his eyes.
“Shhh” one of the guards hissed “Something is disturbing the cattle…might be a dog”
Bokoso listened and heard the pitter pat of feet approaching the men. “It’s not a dog…its human”
Immediately three men rushed into the tent and stabbed the first guard. Before the other raider could react Bokoso smashed his nose in with a hard fist.
“COME ON SAMURAI!!!” one raider howled, slashing at Bokoso wildly while the Samurai dodged and weaved every blow. He then brought down his Naginata down hard on the man, smashing bone and muscle as the heavy blade clove his head nearly in two.
The other two men attacked Bokoso immediately, with one getting struck across the ribs with the pole part of the weapon, winding him while the other tried to get in close. He only succeeded in getting his neck struck by the blunt end of the weapon, sending him to the ground convulsing.
The final man stood and lunged at Bokoso, but the warrior brought the blade down, using it to propel himself at the man and kick him in the chest. After connecting the blow, Bokoso instantly swung the blade up and over his head, bringing it down onto the man’s collar bone, splitting it wide open.
Panting and sweating from the fight, Bokoso ran to the tent to see the other guard was now dead. “Dammit” Bokoso cursed as he looked at the raider’s bodies.
He noticed a slip of paper on the person of one man and pulled it out of the pocket, reading the message:
“Caravan along the road to Hitsunoku is carrying gold and other goods. Kill the guards and make it look like random robbers got to them. We will later on claim compensation for the loss of such a valuable caravan~ Hito”

Immediately Bokoso crumpled the note with rage pouring from his body, cursing again “That bastard set us up…for money?! But he was a father figure to me…”
He dragged the bodies and hid them in the long grass that covered the roads, waiting for Hito to return.
The next morning, Hito walked up to the caravan, only to discover the cattle were still alive, and the gold and goods were missing. “Dumb idiots could have at least killed the damn cows” he grumbled, looking inside the tent. “Well there lies Orano, the stupid prick…now for Bokoso’s body”
He looked around the tent and found nothing. He stepped outside and found the blood that had pooled along the dirt near the road. “Must have carried the body away, the stupid frauds” Hito growled.
“Or Bokoso was never killed, Hito” a voice answered.
Hito turned and saw Bokoso come out for the nearby bushes, his face red with rage.
“Oh my goodness! You made it I am-” Hito began with Bokoso thundering “Save it! You set us up for slaughter while you would roll in money! You think you can just betray us like we meant nothing to you?!”
“You don’t, because you never did. You are merely expendable lives for the Silver Crane business. Sacrifices have to be made, and you are just another nail that needs to be pounded in”
“Where is your honor?! Where is your sense of pride?!” the younger man yelped.
“Look around you, Bokoso! Japan is evolving before our eyes, and we either catch up or end up as forgotten people in a larger world”
Bokoso held back the tears as he stammered “Y-y-you said I was like a son to you…you said I meant something to you as a friend”
“Well you don’t. Sorry to break your image, kid” Hito coldly replied, drawing a knife from his waist.
Before he could move, Bokoso quickly sliced his chest open with a single, powerful blow, killing Hito instantly.
He stood there motionless as the cattle grunted and mooed in the back, unaware of what had just occurred.
Bokoso led the cattle into the village and approached the trading post, handing the nearest trader the cows.
“Take them…we won’t need them anymore”
“Where did Hito go?” the man asked. “Hes dead. Don’t ask any questions” Bokoso grumbled, handing him the note.
As he walked away he was bumped into by a strange man wearing nothing but black robes and a cloth mask. A wood block was slipped in his Kimono, which Bokoso looked at:
“Your skills are beyond questions Bokoso Nokoto…yes I saw you killing the traitorous caravan leader, but that is only between me and the blood soaked ground. In 2 days, come join me at the Dojo along the Shinegami pass crossroads, and we can talk. You can do much better than protect a mere caravan ~Junko Kazuka”
Bokoso squinted at the wood block and smiled slightly.

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Zaito Watanabe watched as his family was dying before him. And there was nothing he could do.
His adopted father vomited blood and sputtered “Zai-Zaito…why have you not left this house for your sake?”
“If whatever is killing you spread then I am infected too” Zaito said, trying to comfort the old man. Zaito was incredibly young at only 20 years old, but was mature enough to see through the false hope the doctors promised him, since he had seen enough death to know when it was knocking at the door.
“That may be true” his adopted father crooned, wheezing as the disease ravaged his lungs. “But you are not going to die taking care of us…you have a brighter future ahead, and that is what I wish you do instead of wasting your time with us”
“It’s not wasted time!! I care about you!” Zaito implored.
“Listen to your father, Omoiya” his adopted sister snapped.
Omoiya nodded weakly at the girl, and continued “You are a warrior…you have been trained to protect the weak and punish the guilty…you need to do what you were trained to do”
Zaito shook his head feverishly. “No I won‘t leave you!”
His adopted mother, Namie, coughed “My sweet honey bee, listen to me please”
Zaito walked over and held the back of his dying mother’s head in his hand, whispering “Yes mother?”
“Our time is nearly over…soon only you will remain…don’t tether yourself to this house when this house will not remain much longer. Go out there and make your own way…in our name. Can you do that for us?”
Her adopted son felt the tears rolling down his face, but he bravely replied instead “I will mother…for both of you”

Omoiya pointed to a chest in the middle of the hallway next to them, which Zaito ran over to open. Inside were numerous papers, reeds, dusty old kimonos, and pieces of carved wood, but in the very bottom were two Wakizashis.
Zaito took the blades and asked “But I am not trained to use these…where is your katana?”
Omoiya croaked “I trained to use this to improve my speed, to improve my reaction timing…you will find my old journal that explains my special fighting style of Jinbaku…”
He then coughed so violently blood shot out of his mouth, and he began to shake violently. Zaito dropped the blades and screamed “Father!!! NO!!!”, before his mother also began to do the same.
His adopted sister watched as Namie slumped on the floor, her body slowly draining its color. She looked at Zaito and hissed “Leave now Zaito…do what they wanted you to do”
Zaito looked away from her and asked “What about you, Ana?”
“I will bury MY parents…you need to go honor their names. Don’t worry, I will take care of their funerals”
She picked up the blades and handed them to Zaito and said “Go…”
Zaito nodded and took the blades, as well as Omoiya’s journal and began to leave the house, taking one final look back at the family he had lost.

For the next several weeks he trained from the journal, practicing the moves, stances and techniques Omoiya wrote down and soon he began to master Jinbaku, until he could glean no more from the journal.
One day he was in a market place, buying some roasted skewered meat when he saw a man dragging a woman into an alley, with no one paying attention.
Chomping on a piece of meat he ran over to follow the man, finding him kicking and beating the poor woman, shouting “Think you can forgo paying your obligation to our boss?!”                                                  
He raised his fist to strike her one more only to have the back end of a Wakizashi stop the strike.
“What this woman did is nothing worth killing over. Tell me how much you want for her life, and I will pay it”
The man pulled the fist away and snarled “Nothing you can offer can make up for what this woman owes the boss!” he drew a knife and slashed at Zaito’s midsection, only to receive a cut to his arm, forcing him to drop the knife.
Zaito raised both blades towards the man, only to witness him run away, clutching his arm as he scurried away.

“Ma’am, are you badly wounded?” Zaito asked the woman, who stood and shook her head. “No I’m fine, thanks to you” She replied with a thankful smile.
As they turned to leave the alley they were stopped by 4 armed thugs, all wielding katanas.
Zaito stepped in front of the woman and readied his blades, and within seconds one thug rushed at him, cutting wildly at his target, only to get his hip and leg cut by the young samurai. Two more rushed forward and cut at his head, only to have Zaito block both blades and knock both men out with the clenched fists wrapped around the handles of the wakizashis.
The final thug attacked Zaito with quick albeit sloppy reflexes that surprised the young man, but soon the two were on an even footing as Zaito pressed the defense, using both blades to keep his balance and to distract the man from making a more effective counterattack.
After a brief moment Zaito knocked the blade away from the thug’s hand and held the tip against the nape of the man’s neck. “Yield..” demanded the inexperienced samurai.
The thug grinned and asked “Well, do you?”
Zaito then felt the cold touch of steel kiss his neck from behind him. He looked behind and was stunned to see the woman holding the sword against his neck, as she cooed “Such a brave young man who falls into a spider’s web”
“But…you were being beaten…why?” Zaito asked, stunned with what was before him.
“Those swords will make us a pretty penny…but once you’re dead they’ll be easy pickings” She lunged and tried to cut his neck, but Zaito dodged the attack, instead ducking and out of pure survival instinct, stabbed both his blades into the necks of the two robbers, killing both of them quickly as they gargled on their own blood.
Zaito stood there in stunned silence, shocked with what he had just committed. Retracting the blades from the dead robber’s necks, he quickly wiped them off and ran out of the alley, only to end up being captured by the samurai policemen.
He spent the next several hours in the city jail, until he was suddenly released from his cell without warning.
“What is this about?” he asked.
“No clue. Man paid off your bail” the samurai jailer replied, handing him his possessions, including a block of carved wood.
“This…isn’t mine” Zaito commented.
“The man told me it’s yours” The jailer said, growing slightly irritated.
Zaito bowed and left the jail as night began to fall. He looked at the block of wood which read:
“Your skills are far too great to be locked up in some filthy jail. I was your witness, and bailed you out. If you are still wishing to do some good, the next thing on your agenda should be to pay me a visit for further training. Japan can use your skills. In 2 days, come join me at the Dojo along the Shinegami pass crossroads, and we can talk. Don’t mention my good deed to you to anyone. ~Junko Kazuka”
Zaito clutched the wood block and looked around him, and didn’t see anyone watching him. He then pocketed the carving and began on his next journey.

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Junko Kazuka sat on the flat rock that stood out amongst the Bamboo and honeysuckle plants that adorned his small but humble home. It had been abandoned for years, and this was the first time he had visited it.
He reclined on the rock and closed his eyes, the events of the past week unfolding before him as a young woman entered the room, asking loudly “Sensei Kazuka?! Is that you?”
Junko sat up and smiled. “Yes Hiyuna. I should have warned you have told you was coming back”
Hiyuna was a plain looking woman with her shiny black hair tied in a ponytail that he had known for over 20 years, and she was the only person who could challenge the master when he had a bad idea, or was on a drunken rampage.
“But it’s been 2 months…where have you been?” she asked.
“Away” Junko replied sorrowfully.
Hiyuna looked at the bloody tunics on his lap. “Is this…”
“It’s all of them, Hiyuna. Nobunaga…he…”
“He killed your students?!” Hiyuna gasped as Junko nodded somberly. “He betrayed everything I stood for…what WE stood for.  Now it’s just me…The police arrested me, thinking I killed them…it took hours to explain I was innocent…damn Zoroshi clan vanished before the police and samurai arrived”
“Why were you let out?” Hiyuna implored, sitting next to Junko.
“They…called me insane…said I was too far gone to be taken seriously. So they threw me out”
“But you went out to fight the Zoroshi clan 2 months ago…where have you been that whole time?”
“In their jail for 1, and doing a little soul searching for the other …and something else as well”
Hiyuna frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I…summoned three notable outcasts with the fighting skills to match any of my former students. I am not letting Nobunaga get away with what happened, and I cannot let him cause more harm to Japan…”
Hiyuna frowned. “And these warriors will be his undoing? Are you really certain they will be the saviors you need?”
Junko sighed and closed his eyes. “They will have to be. At this moment in time, I have no other choice but to pray they are as skilled as he is. Not just for my sake…but for everyone’s sake”
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