Chapter 10: Chōjikan no Ikidzumari! Soshite…. (Prolonged Deadlock! And then….)
As the battle between the Iteza clan and the combines forces of Hoshikagami's commoners and the five ninja tribes from Nagano and Niigata, Natalie managed to escape and inform their clan's seven hundred soldiers in the recently-conquered Kuyuka.
"Iteza-gun, the people of Hoshikagami and the ninjas of Nagano have made a concerted rebellion against our clan's rule. We now have to crush them without mercy for defying us!" Proen's daughter chanted to her men.
Upon hearing the heir's call, the reserve soldiers took their arms and readied themselves for a long battle ahead.
"Teme wa Freiheit! I'll behead you and your masters for having our own men rape me!" Natalie had thought as she glanced her reflection in the katana.
The Iteza reserve army then left Kuyuka and headed to Hoshikagami as fast as they could.
At Bit and Naomi's location, Seijuro and his men have managed to tilt the situation to their favor, but some of his men had been injured somewhat seriously. The Yamabuki master himself also sustained injuries, but are not life-threatening.
"Bit-san, Naomi-san, bring our downed comrades to the medic ninjas. We can't let them die if we are to permanently crush the Iteza clan!" the ninja master has commanded to the chuunins.
"Seijuro-sama, how about you?" Bit asked to his superior.
"Don't worry about me. What is more important is the lives of our men." Seijuro has replied to the two chuunins. "All of you, be on your guard! I'm sure Prozen still has some soldiers left in the other towns he had conquered" he told his other men as he thought of the possibility of counter attack from additional soldiers arriving from other nearby towns.
At about two and a half hours since the rebellion started, the combined forces of the ninjas and Hoshikagami's commoners have achieved the advantage in the battle against the Iteza clan. But their advantage was just slightly significant due to the heavy losses both sides have sustained. Meanwhile, Irvine, upon Ruji's request, arrived in Karl and Moonbay's location to check on the condition of the common citizens that they have organized and see if they needed additional help from their other comrades. Just as his fellow ninja masters have suspected, the fighting capacity of Moonbay and Karl's group was reduced to just half of its original force due to the number of commoners who had been severely wounded.
"This is not very good, Karl-san! Many of our town's people have suffered grave injuries and cannot continue to fight." Moonbay told the samurai.
"I know! Let's just hope that this is the last of the Iteza army so that they may have some rest." the blond samurai had riposted.
Then Natalie and their reserve men came to the town and started to fight the already battle-worn rebels.
"This is bad! They still have seven hundred men at their disposal, and many of your men and your town's people could no longer battle for tonight!" Raven told Karl and Moonbay.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Moonbay questioned to the Benitora master.
"Me and my men will continue to fight them." Raven had answered.
"But your men are also exhausted already." Karl has mentioned to the ninja master.
As the battle started to shift away from their advantage, Irvine then remembered his secret plan to regain the edge in the rebellion.
"Raven-san, can you hold back the Iteza clan's reserve army for a few more hours?" Irvine asked his fellow shinobi.
"What do you mean?" the onyx-haired jonin answered in return.
"Catherine-san asked her tribe elders four days ago if they would join our rebellion. She said that her tribe agreed but the soonest their forces would be able to come here would be around midnight." the grey-haired warrior had answered.
On Van and Ruji's location, news of the back-up Iteza soldiers caught the two ninja masters by surprise. The two of them were contemplating about what they should do since the rebel's offensive forces have now been reduced to half.
"Van-san, according to our comrades in other locations of the town, about seven hundred Iteza clan soldiers have arrived here. If this is true, then what will happen is…" Ruji told his fellow ninja master when he was interrupted by Zairin.
"A stalemate!" Even though you men are exceptionally well-trained and are being helped by this town's common people, the number of Prozen's remaining men and the number of the commoners and ninjas who could still fight will neutralize one another." the samurai has answered.
"No! We can't afford that; the citizens of Hoshikagami can't afford that! We must crush them at all cost!" the Byakutaka master has replied to the samurai as he was provoked by the scenario that Zairin has suggested.
"But Van-san, your comrades and the commoners here are already exhausted!" Zairin continued.
"No, he is right. If we need to die in order to free the citizens here as well as in other towns Prozen had conquered, we would be more than willing to do that!" Dr. D told them as he and some locals approached the wounded ninjas in order to treat them.
"We have to fight for our freedom until our last breath!" one of the commoners then said in response as the other townspeople who accompanied them yelled in agreement.
"What do you plan to do now, Van-san?" Zairin questioned to Van.
"I must go directly to the root. Kill Prozen, and the rest of Iteza will fall!" the ninja master has riposted.
"I'll help you, Van-san!" Ruji told his fellow ninja master.
"No, you need to stay here to guide our men and Atsushi-sama's people. Fighting Prozen is simply too personal for me." Byakutaka master has retorted.
"Van, don't be reckless. I'm sure Prozen is being surrounded by several of his clan's soldiers at this moment." Krueger reminded to his former student. "Don't worry. Me and the sniper genins and chuunins could handle them by ourselves." he continued.
Van then regained his composure and accepted his friend's assistance.
Meanwhile, Dan and Atsushi had just finished defeating the underground prison complex guards Prozen had sent there. Upon coming out of the dungeon, they quickly headed to where Prozen was.
"So you and your ninja friend managed to come out of that prison alive." the silver-haired man greeted to the two men.
"Cursed junk, your mouth fouls the air here!" Dan swore to his master's adversary.
"Dan, let me handle him. He is mine." Atsushi asked to his best friend.
"You still haven't recovered, Atsushi-sama." the ninja master protested.
"Your ever-faithful servant is right, Atsushi. You can't win against me in your weakened condition but I doubt if he'll fare better." Prozen taunted to the two men.
Dan and Atsushi then came rushing towards Prozen with their swords swinging at him, but one of Prozen's generals blocked Atsushi's sword.
"You have to face me first before you could help your friend against Prozen-sama!" Marx told Fiona's father.
"My people and my family have suffered from your master's tyranny for five years. I won't let his continue for any longer." the daimyo has retorted as the two clashed swords with each other.
While Atsushi and Marx dueled, Dan and Prozen engaged each other in a one-on-one fight.
"So you and Atsushi are still pretty strong even after being beaten up inside that jail for five years!" the dictator said to Dan.
"You need a lot more than what you did to weaken me beyond defiance!" Van's father replied as his nodachi clashed with Prozen's katana.
"You know, your son surely deserves to be praised for having the courage for ruining the peace that my clan has built. Sadly, he still must be punished for fearlessly defying me!" the tyrant told his opponent as he went for another strike.
"You and your minions have only sown terror, injustice, and disorder to people of this town and all the other places you have conquered!" Dan had responded to the silver-haired samurai.
As the uprising continued deeper into the night, the struggle between the rebel's forces and the Iteza clan's soldiers came to a stalemate just as Zairin predicted. Raven's troops have suffered severe damages but still managed to keep the additional Iteza men from advancing. The same situation could also be said for the troops under Krueger, Seijuro, Rosso, and Karl.
"If this drags on, the battle will start to tilt to our disadvantage!" Irvine said to Raven as he downed another Iteza soldier.
"Where is the back-up forces from Aichi? Don't tell me the ninjas from the Mikankujira tribe have come across Prozen's men along the way!"
"I hope that is not the case. But if it is, then we ourselves must finish this once and for all!" Aoiroh jonin has replied to the Benitora master.
Casualties kept piling up on both sides. While the Iteza clan mostly lost in number of soldiers, the rebels mainly lost on the quality of the soldiers.
"Shubaltz-san, the citizens here cannot continue to fight in our current condition! We need additional forces!" Moonbay yelled as she turned her attention to taking care of her wounded town's folk.
"Moonbay-san, we must proceed. I would rather die than be under that beast again!" said of the commoners whom she was attending to.
"But can't you see, your body cannot continue!" Fiona's maidservant has answered to her.
Another hour had passed. Upon reaching ten o' clock in the evening, the tides of war has shifted. The Iteza clan has gained a considerable advantage as the ninjas and the citizens of Hoshikagami got exhausted and those of them who could still fight have been greatly reduced. Some of the commoners were beginning to lose hope and were thinking of committing suicide. But just as things were becoming bleak, the promise from Aichi prefecture suddenly came.
"Sorry for being late, Irvine-san! We went first to Kuyuka and Ageo to ensure that Prozen no longer have any reserve soldiers left." a Mikankujira jonin mentioned to the Aoiroh leader.
"I thought you were already ambushed by the Iteza clan." Irvine has riposted. "How many of you came here?" he continued.
"There are one hundred twenty five of us here. That is more than enough to regain the battle to our favor!" another Mikankujira jonin had complimented.
Minutes after the arrival of the Aichi prefecture ninjas, the rebellion began to return to the rebel's advantage. Natalie was completely caught off-guard that her clan's remaining two hundred soldiers had been decimated by the Mikankujira when they went to Ageo before heading to Hoshikagami.
"Sou na! I can't let our clan's reign end now!" Prozen's daughter had murmured as she watched the fall of the Iteza's remaining troops.
"Natalie-sama, let's escape now! We no longer have the strength needed to resist the rebels." a samurai told to his master.
"We would not retreat! My father worked for the clan's glory, and I will not let his honor be trampled by the former daimyo's people!" the young woman said to her servant before seeing Fiona and her mother being at a street nearby. She then chased them to where they were heading.
"It's been five years since I last saw you, little princess!" Natalie called to Fiona's attention. "your lover started all of this, right?" she added.
"So what if he did! He is just heeding my people's call for freedom!" she had answered with strength in her purplish-red eyes.
"You dare defy us? Unforgivable!" Natalie shouted as she swung her sword to Fiona.
"Your land? This state belongs to neither to you nor to me, but to my people!" Fiona had retorted as she used the ninja-ken that Maria had given to her earlier to block and counter the attack.
"Even though Van-kun never taught me directly on how to fight, watching him train has given me knowledge in fighting with swords." the young lady said as she swept back her greenish-blond hair to have a better vision of her opponent.
"Fiona!" Isami called on her daughter.
"Don't worry, mom, I can handle her-especially now that Van-kun and our friends are fighting to free our people!" Fiona told her mother.
"You know, Eric-san doesn't like defiant girls…I wonder why he still sees you as his price." Natalie insulted to her.
"For raping helpless girls, even a pig stands much higher than him!" Van's fiancée riposted as she clashed swords with her.
Just at that moment, Karen rejoined Isami and Fiona. Upon seeing that her soon to be daughter-in-law was getting overpowered, Karen immediately flung a sharpened kunai at Prozen's daughter.
"Ughh, what the hell!" Natalie cursed as she felt the blade penetrate her backbones.
"I won't let you lay a finger to my son's future wife!" the kunoichi told her.
"Bastard!" Prozen's daughter yelled to her when Fiona then stabbed her in the thigh.
"I can't believe you could get that violent, my child." Isami mentioned to her daughter.
"Don't worry, she would be able to survive that injury, but she would no longer be able to fight back." Karen said in response to Isami. "If I were you, I'll leave to your people to decide her fate." she added.
In another site of the town, Atsushi had managed to overpower Marx. However, Dan has suffered relatively major injuries and was about to be overpowered by Prozen when Atsushi suddenly slashed their adversary in the chest. The chest armor was split into two as it was pierced by the sharpness of the sword's blade.
"Atsushi! Omae…!" the silver-haired general yelled at the daimyo as he turned his attention to his sworn enemy.
Atsushi then slashed at Prozen's thigh, causing him to collapse.
"You have nowhere to go now, Prozen!" Dan muttered coldly as he stabbed the dictator's hand to the ground with his nodachi.
Van and Ruji then arrived just as Prozen was disabled by his father.
"Dad, you look pretty tattered up." the young ninja master mentioned to his father as he treated the injuries of the older ninja master.
"Don't worry, son. I won't die from these injuries. You should treat Atsushi-sama's wounds first." Dan commanded to his successor.
Van then promptly administered the necessary treatment for the daimyo's wounds before returning to treating his father's injuries.
Unknown to Van, Eric followed him from a relative distance and aimed his bow and arrow at him.
"If you had not been born, I would have been favored by Fiona's parents for her." the samurai said to himself as he released the arrow just as Van finished taking care of his father's injuries.
"Van-kun, look out!" Atsushi called to his future son-in-law as he saw Eric setting the arrow flying to the young ninja master's direction.
Ruji then placed himself between Van and Eric and took the arrow shot in his chest.
"Ruji-san!" Van yelled to his fellow ninja master as he saw him got hit.
"Van, I can manage this!" Ruji said to his friend as he tried to pull the arrow out of his chest.
Van then stood up and faced Eric's direction.
"Dad, please take care of Ruji. I have one more demon to kill!" the younger Byakutaka master told his father as he pulled the nodachi that pinned Prozen's hand on the ground only to stab it again with his katana-type ninja-ken.
"Van, please be careful. Promise me you'll return alive." Dan demanded to his son.
"I will. Fiona-hime already made me promise that. I will never fail you, especially hime." Van retorted to his Dan.
"Eric, you cursed junk!" Van yelled as he chased the envious samurai to a house that had just caught fire.
"Koko de owarimashō, Horse Face!" the ninja master told his adversary as they faced each other one on one.
"I've been waiting for this fight, ninja!" the wicked samurai answered to Van.