Rennoshin was the first to make it to the crime scene, but it was the last thing he would have expected. Hanging from a sakura tree was a prostitute. Her makeup was smeared and her kimono was partially open, but her jewelry was all off and scattered. Even the hair stick that kept her hair up was several meters away from the body, as though the murderer threw it away from her.

"Bring her down." Rennoshin tells the samurai.

Cutting down the rope that held her by her neck, the samurai gently caught her and laid her down on the ground without a single word before backing away and allowing the doctor to examine her body.

"Such a beautiful woman, yet she died a horrible death." Rennoshin hesitates before looking back at the tree to see Goemon leaning against it with a frown.

"Would you suspect a suicide, doc?" Saizo asks as he walks up to the body.

"No." He simply answers.

"But only someone who wants to kill themselves would hang themselves from a tree." Sasuke exclaims.

"Nothing about this looks like a suicide." Kotaro states behind the doctor. "There is vomit on the grass near the tree and from the looks of her broken fingernails, she must have put up a fight."

"Kotaro is correct." Rennoshin says as he examines the hands of the prostitute. "She also has a clean cut on her palm, meaning she was fighting against someone with a weapon."

Rennoshin begins to open the kimono to examine the body, but what caught his eye was the unsubs signature of "Corpse" on the females valley. Yet all the men look at the symbol in awe, Rennoshin could only let out a sigh in disappointment.

"She was here."

~*~ Yagyu Criminal ~*~

"I wouldn't have never suspected the serial killer to be a woman." Sasuke mutters as he lies on the tatum flooring in the Hattori mansion.

The ninjas and the doctor made it back to report to Hanzo about the change in M.O. The news made Hanzo confused and worried. Knowing that these killing have gotten this far, he wondered how much further this man is willing to go before being brought to justice. And how many more lives will be taken.

"Well, things like this always happen. I had this situation in mind when I first heard of the murders happening, but I didn't expect it to be true." Kotaro explains to Sasuke as he looks down at a map of the Province.

"This serial killer is very good with covering their tracks." Saizo comments. "No foot prints, hair, skin, clothing. Nothing left behind besides the body with the death blows."

"So the first five men were murdered the same way; stab wound to the heart for a quick death. Also, the men's jewelry was scattered or thrown in a distance. We still don't know if they have any connections to each other but so far, they are all from different villages." Goemon continues to speak as he looks down at a scroll with the latest victim.

"And Rennoshin was told that the killer may be a woman because Musashi Miyamoto told him." Saizo grunts in annoyance.

"Didn't Rennoshin also find a hair sample?"

"Yes. He says that it's the only solid evidence that they have of this killer." Kotaro simply states as he continues to trace the map.

"How is he, or she, that good?" Goemon shook his head.

"No idea. But they may have special training somewhere."

"Like swordsmanship?" Sasuke asks his friend.

"That narrows the list down." Goemon sarcastically says to Saizo as he rolls his eyes. "Almost all of Japan is like that."

"Well do you have a better idea?" Saizo asks in an irritable tone.

"Maybe this guy is a ninja." Sasuke mutters mostly to himself.

"He's not a ninja!" Goemon and Saizo shout at him in unison.

"Shut up. I think I found something." Kotaro walks over to the men on the ground and set the map down in between them. "These are all the places where the murders have happened, including the one that happened today."

"Yeah, so?"

"If," Kotaro pulls out a pencil and begins to connect the points. "We connect them and find the point of balance between the six spots, you get," He points to the center of the lines where they connect and looks up at his allys.

"The safe haven of the killer." Goemon says out loud.

"Finally, so where is this safe haven?" Sasuke asks.

But none of the ninjas answered as they looked at each other with all the same expression.

~*~ Yagyu Criminal ~*~

Musashi walks through a village as though it was his thousandth time he has walked through it and is retracing his steps. His arms at his sides in a relaxed position, his lips curled in his usual grin, his swords at his belt. Everything was going good, and Musashi was just going to visit a friend.

As Musashi walks out of the village and down a cobbled road, he makes his way towards a fine looking mansion he knows from the inside and out. Knocking at the mansion gates, an archer from the top of the gates shouts out,

"Who goes there?!" Musashi remembers the script clearly.

"A friend of the heir." The guard nods his head and the gates open to Musashi. His smile doesn't cease as he walks in like he owns the place.

"It's been a while, Miyamoto." The guard says to the ronin before he gives him a nod and walks towards the courtyard.

"Good afternoon, Munetoshi." The ronin bows deeply to an elder man sitting on the porch of the mansion.

"Ah, Musashi. It's been a while. I see you are growing stronger." The elder man comments to him before taking a sip of his tea. "I believe you are here for my son."

Musashi smirks. "As much as it pains him to see my face, yes."

Munetoshi laughs before waving over in a direction; towards the training grounds. "He's training some men at this moment. But I believe he is to finish soon." Musashi nods to the elder once more before turning on his heel and walking over to the training grounds.

"Again!" Musashi hears before he was able to see.

"Hm. Amateurs." He mutters to himself before he leans against a gate and watches the violet haired swordsman shout to the group of trainees in front of him.

"You're not even holding the sword correctly!" He points at a student near him. "Your hands are way too spread apart. And yours are too far up the sword. If you were holding a real sword in your hands you would have no fingers by now!" He continues to shout before Musashi loudly clears his throat, making the man look back at him with a glare.

Musashi gestures him to calm down, resulting in the swordsman taking a deep breathe and lowering his voice.

"Trainings done for the day. Go home." The students bow before rushing out of the grounds. The swordsman rubs his temples and lets out an annoyed sigh.

"You look like you're having fun there, Munenori." Musashi smirks as he walks up to his friend.

"Trainings in the afternoon get to me, especially in this heat." Munenori takes a bamboo still from the ground and gently tips it to drink the water in it. "Why are you here anyway, barbarian?"

"Hm. Thought you would never ask. Did you hear about the murders going around the province?" Munenori nods.

"Who wouldn't have? The killer already killed five men and hung a prostitute this morning." Munenori looks off into the distance as he continues to speak. "After the third murder, word started to fly in the air as though it knew there would be another victim."

"Hanzo has been lacking evidence." Musashi continues.

"Yes, I've heard that also. He's responsible for the injustice going around, and the Shogun is about to pull the plug. Also heard that he allied Koga, Iga, and Fumma ninjas for help." Musashi nods.

"And we both know who might be behind these murders, there's no way we can lie to ourselves about it." Munenori nods his head to his friend before turning his head over his shoulder and calling out,

"We know you're out here. Come out."

At his orders, a figure appears from behind a line of trees. The figure was a woman; light violet orbs and long mint hair. She wore an expensive kimono that was trapped by different belts holding onto many different lengths of swords. She wore a smirk on her thin lips that were naturally a painted color of rose to appear similar to a certain man's.

"You have finally come out of the shadows, sister."