Chapter 4: approaching storm

(Hanzo academy rooftop)

The early morning sun was rising over Hanzo academy, where some students were walking into the doors early for classes, unaware of a certain black hooded figure standing on the rooftop, keeping an eye over the campus while waiting for a certain spiky haired keyblade wielder to arrive. As the hooded figure was watching and waiting, a corridor of darkness opened up near him as organization XIII members, Vexen and Demyx walked out of the portal.

(Music: Disquieting)

"You're both late…" The hooded figure said.

"Hey, we were out looking for that ninja school you wanted us to find all night long. Cut us some slack!" Demyx exclaimed as the hooded figure turned towards him, causing the sitar player to flinch back in fear. "A-a-ah of course we could've been here a few minutes earlier, ya know?"

"That brings us back to the training facility. We finally managed to locate it, it's underneath the old school building at the edge of campus. Like you suspected." Vexen reported.

"Hmm, I should've known they would keep their base of operations far from civilians, these shinobi truly like their secrets." The hooded figure said.

"Indeed...Secrets I would like to study more closely, given the chance."

"Whatever. Our job here is done, right? That means I can get out of here, and you two can do whatever it is you want to do here." Demyx said as he turned to leave.

"We are far from done…" The hooded figure said, which stopped Demyx in his tracks. "Now that we are aware of all the ninja training facilities locations, we can begin preparations to take their most valuable treasures."

"So what? All out heartless invasion? That seems to be the best plan in my opinion."

"You honestly think that's the best choice, Demyx? Getting into the school is one thing, getting the treasures is another. The objects of our targets all have guardians, even if we successfully break in, getting past the guardians is another matter." Vexen explained.

"Exactly, we'll have to draw our objectives out into the open if we want them." The hooded figure said as he looked down at the schoolyard below and was able to make out Sora and Asuka, making their way towards the old school building together.

"The guardians will have no choice but to appear when we force them into coming out, and when they show their true power, the scrolls they guard will be ours for the taking, along with their power."


(Old school building entrance)

"*Yawn!*" Sora yawned as he walked side by side with Asuka towards the old school building, ready for another day of training. "Still not used to waking up early, I'm not completely awake."

"You should get your head in the game, Sora. Your rematch against Ikaruga is today, you're gonna need everything you've learned so far if you wanna beat her." Asuka advised.

"I hope I've learned enough to do that, last time I fought her, she beat the minute right after she transformed. But then again, I just got my ability to transform back, maybe that will even the odds a bit…"

"It takes more than a transformation to defeat a well trained shinobi. It takes skill." A voice said which caught Sora's and Asuka's attention as they turned to see a woman with dirty blonde hair wearing a blue school uniform with a long skirt, and was waiting next to the building entrance with her arms crossed. "I just wonder if you have enough skill to win this fight."

"Uh...Do we know you?" Sora asked.

"You don't recognize her, Sora?" Asuka asked as the keyblade wielder shrugged to answer.

"Take a hint, lion cub…" The woman said which made Sora try to remember where he heard that nickname form.

"Give me a moment…" Sora said as he tried to remember where he saw the woman before, then realized he recognized the face before imaging her with black hair and a cap. "Whoa, wait a minute...Daidoji?" He guessed as Daidoji smiled in confirmation.

"Surprised it took you a minute to recognize her." Asuka said.

"Well, she looks completely different now. And Daidoji looks like she should've left the school a long time ago." Sora said before Daidoji suddenly punched the side of the building and caused it to shake as Sora and Asuka flinched back in fear.

"You shouldn't talk about a woman's age in front of her, you know? It won't end well…" Daidoji said as one of her eyes glowed an intimidating red color.

"Uh..Not at all what I meant, actually. I just realized you're not the same age as the rest of us…" Sora defended himself as Daidoji seemingly calmed down.

"Hmm, good save, cub. Now come on, I believe you have a match today." Daidoji said as she crossed the entrance and Sora turned to Asuka.

"I know Daidoji wants to fight me and all. But do you think I can find a way to stall it?" Sora asked as the scene changed to himself in the middle of a desert while wearing a sombrero and a fake mustache as he played a guitar next to a rock and cactus.

"Hola! I am, el Soro!" Sora said as the arm of the cactus suddenly moved to tear away it's skin to reveal itself to be Daidoji in her shinobi state as Sora became fearful.

"There is no running!" Daidoji said as she grabbed Sora by his head.

"Wait! Wait! Hold on!" Sora begged as Daidoji tossed him forward into the screen which smushed against his face from the impact before the scene switched back to real time between him and Asuka.

"I don't think you should worry about a match between you and Daidoji anytime soon, it's very far off. I think she wants to be fully prepared before you two face off." Asuka assured. .

"I sure hope so. She could take my head off with one punch if she wanted to." Sora said as the two followed Daidoji inside into the old school building and walked through a few hallways before finding Daidoji near a wall which Sora and Asuka followed note by standing next to the senior before the wall turned around into the Hanzo ninja room while the keyblade wielder stumbled from the turn, but did not fall. "Heh. Managed to catch myself that time."

"INCOMING!" A voice yelled as Sora quickly ducked in response as a water balloon flew over his head as a disappointed looking Katsuragi appeared out of a corner. "Aw man. You're getting too good at this, and I thought that'd be a good morning prank too."

"Someone properly doesn't agree with that…" Sora said as he pointed behind himself to Daidoji, whose face was wet from Katsuragi's water balloon as the third year panicked.

"Oh crap! Daidoji?! I'm sorry! I was aiming for Sora!" Katsuragi apologized as Daidoji simply stared at her.

"...I'll repay this…" Daidoji said before walking off and Katsuragi gulped in worry. As the third year was worried about what Daidoji was gonna do to her, Yagyu and Hibari walked into the room with bags in their hands.

"Hi everyone. Good morning!" Hibari greeted with her usual smile.

"Hi, Hibari, morning Yagyu." Asuka greeted before noticing a certain class rep was missing. "Hey, where's Ikaruga? Kiriya sensei too?"

"Ikaruga is training down in the training hall for her rematch with Sora. Sensei is helping out with the training, that's how serious she's taking this fight." Yagyu explained.

"So what do you got in the bags? Popcorn to watch the fight?" Sora asked.

"Popcorn, and flags to cheer for both you and Ikaruga since we couldn't decide who to route for." Hibari said as she pulled red and blue flags with Sora's face, keyblade and crown on the red flag, while Ikaruga's face and the Hanzo emblem on the blue flag. "We even got them customized."

"Huh, I wonder what else they make?"

"Hey, don't you have a fight to be getting ready for?" Yagyu asked as Sora remembered the whole point of coming to the academy today.

"Oh yeah, Ikaruga is properly expecting me right about now!" Sora said

"You should go ahead, Sora. Me and the girls will go get changed in case Kiriya sensei wants us to train afterwards." Asuka advised as she moved a painting to reveal a cord behind it and pulled the rope as a hole in the wall opened up that led to the gym.

"Alright then, catch you girls in a few. Wish me luck!"

"For the fight?" Hibari asked.

"No, that I don't land on my face this time." Sora said as he had his back towards the tube before crossing his arms. "GERONIMO!" He exclaimed as he jumped backwards into the tube and vanished.

"He's in a good mood. I guess he wouldn't care if he wins or loses." Yagyu noted.

"I don't mean anything against Ikaruga, but I'm hoping Sora wins today. He's been working really hard since he got here, and he has a lot of determination to complete his shinobi training. Sora has this in the bag!" Asuka said as Daidoji smiled at her exclamation.

"You seem really smitten with this boy, Asuka. Have a crush on him?" Daidoji asked as Asuka's face turned bright red.

"Oh, come on, Daidoji! How would you even know if I do?!"

"Heh, I was a teenager too, you know?"


(Hanzo gym)

While waiting for Sora to arrive for their rematch, Ikaruga was training in preparation for the fight with multiple training objects throughout the gym to create a small obstacle course with 7 foot high hurdles and small rings to make up the course.

"Hup!" Ikaruga exclaimed as she jumped high into the air over a giant hurdle while Kiriya was near a wall with a stopwatch in his hand.

"Come on, Ikaruga! You're on the verge of breaking your record!" Kiriya said before looking up to see the tube that leads into the gym open up.

"WHOO HOO!" Sora announced as he flew out of the tube and into the gym and skidded across the floor on his feet before slowing down in front of Kiriya. "Alright! Nailed the landing!"

"Almost down to the wire there, Sora. I was not only keeping track of Ikaruga's time, but yours as well. But nonetheless, still pretty good time."

"Guess I'll be faster next time. So how's it going with Ikaruga?"

"Well…" Kiriya said as he gestured towards Ikaruga, who was slicing at a giant stone block with her sword, which seemed to be unfazed before it suddenly exploded into tiny sliced up pieces that flew everywhere with one piece bouncing off Sora's forehead. "I'd say she's more than ready."

"Hey! We're here!"A familiar voice announced as Asuka and the rest of the Hanzo academy girls walked in while wearing their respective gym uniforms, along with Daidoji. "Hope we're not too late to see the match."

"No, you're just in time…" Ikaruga said as she walked over after finishing her training. "I'm glad everyone is here for this event. I hope everyone can learn something from this."

"I hope Sora takes off more than Ikaruga's shirt this time! Hehehe!" Katsuragi snickered which quickly ceased when Yagyu elbowed her side.

"So how are Sora and Ikaruga going to fight this time, sensei?" Yagyu asked.

"Yeah, I'm curious about it too. Volleyball? Tennis? Basketball? Baseball?" Hibari kept guessing.

"It'll just be like the other day. A spar that will go on until one fighter is unable to continue, or admits defeat. Then depending on the outcome, we can advance on upping the training level for Sora." Kiriya explained.

"The next level? You guys were going easy on me?" Sora questioned.

"Not exactly. We were just training you just like we would train on an average day. I think what Kiriya sensei means is, we'll put more work into your training, and show you more advanced stuff." Asuka said as Sora nodded in understanding.

"So if you're able to win this time, you'll be one step closer to becoming a shinobi, like the rest of us. Now what we really want to know is, are you ready to fight?" Ikaruga asked as Sora turned to her with a serious expression.

"Yeah, I'm ready. And I'm not going down so easily this time!" Sora vowed as Ikaruga smiled at his answer.

"Alright then. Sora, Ikaruga, to the center!" Kiriya announced as the keyblade wielder and the 3rd year walked to the center of the gym and faced each other from several feet away. "Just like I said, this will be a simple spar, but don't be afraid to let everything the two of you have loose. And remember, the first to go down or to surrender will mark the end of the match."

"Surrender, Kiriya? This should be a fight to the finish, like a real shinobi battle." Daidoji objected.

"They are still children, Daidoji. They're not after each other's lives."

"Actually, sensei. I believe Daidoji has a point. I have no intention of surrendering." Ikaruga said as she held her sword ready to fight.

"No giving up for either of us!" Sora said as he summoned his keyblade and entered his battle stance.

(Music: Ikaruga's transformation theme~Burst re:newal~)

"Hmm, I guess there's no debating when the two of you are in agreement. Begin!" Kiriya announced as Ikaruga took out her transformation scroll.

"This time, I won't pull my punches. Shinobi transformation!" Ikaruga announced as she held her scroll up as it unraveled and her clothes disappeared before being replaced by her shinobi outfit and drew Hien to point it at Sora. "Now then, show me what you've learned!"

"Okay, you asked for it!" Sora exclaimed as he jumped into the air and dove downwards at Ikaruga with his keyblade that she quickly reflected with Hien before the two exchanged blows with their weapons and swung at each other with increasing speed with each passing attack.

"Whoa! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Katsuragi exclaimed in excitement as the fight went on.

"Go, Sora!" Asuka cheered.

"Go on, Ikaruga! Show 'em what for!" Hibari cheered as she waved her Ikaruga flags before quickly switching to the Sora flags. "C'mon, Sora! Work it!"

"I guess you really don't know who to cheer for." Yagyu said as she held one of both flags in her hands while Sora and Ikaruga continued to clash and took heavy swings at each before Sora took aim at Ikaruga's hand in an attempt to disarm her, only for the third year to deflect the attack before rearing her arm back.

"HA!" Ikaruga shouted as she struck Sora with an open palm strike that sent him flying back towards a wall, only for the keyblade wielder to recover in midair and spun around to plant his feet on the wall as flowmotion activated and a blue aura surrounded him.

"Don't think so!" Sora exclaimed as he launched off the wall and pointed his keyblade forward in a flying thrust attack, which Ikaruga ducked under as Sora passed by her, only for him to quickly turn back around to swipe his keyblade at the 3rd year, who quickly blocked the attack with her sword, but quickly noticed a tear in her sleeve from Sora's attack.

"Not bad, I can see improvement."

"I'm still starting! I got more up my sleeve!" Sora said as he pumped his arm and Ikaruga smiled in amusement.

"Oh really?" Ikaruga said as she pointed her sword forward before charging at Sora as he quickly deflected her attack before swinging his keyblade in an uppercut attack that Ikaruga quickly dodged before delivering a kick that knocked Sora back a few feet before following with a swing of her sword at Sora's head which he ducked under in slow motion as her arm passed by before Sora quickly pointed his keyblade upwards.

"Freeze!" Sora exclaimed as a mist of ice blew out of the keyblade onto Ikaruga's right arm and froze it in a thin sheet of ice.

"Huh?"

"Gotcha!" Sora exclaimed before taking advantage of Ikaruga's confusion and swung his keyblade at her while Ikaruga used her unfrozen arm and used Hien to block the blow and then shattered the ice off her arm.

(Not bad, I definitely see the improvement. Last time it took one attack to take him down after I transformed.) Ikaruga thought to herself before sheathing her sword as it became coated in energy. "How about this then? Secret ninja art: Oukaensen!" She announced as unsheathed her sword and swung it forward as blue flames in the shape of a phoenix were released and flew at Sora.

"Oh no, not this time!" Sora exclaimed as he jumped high into the air as the phoenix passed below him before reaching down with his keyblade and then caught the phoenix by it's wing before spinning around and tossed the bird back towards Ikaruga, who was more or less caught by surprise.

"What? How did he-?" Ikaruga questioned before her own phoenix collided with her in an explosion, just like the one that struck Sora the other day.

"Oh Damn! What goes around, comes around!" Katusragi exclaimed in surprise.

"You think Ikaruga is okay after that?" Hibari questioned.

"I'm sure that she is." Yagyu answered as the smoke from the explosion began to clear away to prove the first year right as Ikaruga had emerged out, slightly harmed from her redirected attack, but her outfit was greatly damaged as her shirt was blown away, leaving her bra exposed while her skirt and tights were torn in various places.

"Alright, you got me good with that one. You have my full attention now." Ikaruga said.

"Oh, so I finally got you to take me seriously, huh?" Sora questioned as he slung his keyblade over his shoulder.

"Yes, and I apologize for that. I made that mistake once before when me and Katsu were still first years here, and now I acknowledge your strength as well."

"Then I better not disappoint you then!" Sora said as his blue flowmotion aura covered him again and he shot towards the ceiling and bounced off it towards Ikaruga with a flying thrust, only to be deflected by Ikaruga's sword while Sora continued to fly towards another wall and then bounced off it as well and he flew back at Ikaruga, who was expecting another thrust attack and held her sword ready to counter, only Sora had something else in mind. "Sike!" Sora exclaimed as he used a flying downward slash that knocked Ikaruga's guard off balance before he continued with an upwards slash that knocked the third year back, much to the Hanzo instructors' impressions.

"Oh, it seems like Sora is really taking my lessons quite well. He's learned how to adapt to situations quickly." Kiriya noted.

"Indeed, he's clearly a fast learner, Kiriya. But I wonder if that will help in the long run." Daidoji questioned while Ikaruga was defending herself from Sora flying around with flowmotion, making hit and run attacks as he flew by until Ikaruga decided to put a stop to the assault.

"Okay, that's just about enough!" Ikaruga said as she held her sword's sheath out as Sora flew at her again and was struck in the neck and lost control of his momentum and crashed into the wall. "Hien hosen: Mode one!" The third year exclaimed as she swung her sword and the air around the crashed Sora became distorted as afterimages of sword slices appeared around him before the wall exploded from being sliced apart and the keyblade wielder vanished in the resulting smoke. "I'd be surprised if he gets up after that."

"Already am!" Sora's voice announced as Ikaruga looked up to see the keyblade wielder jumping off the ceiling and dived down towards her with a falling slash, which the third dodged before Sora followed up with an uppercut that also missed before Ikaruga brought her sword down on the keyblade.

"This all you got to show me? I thought you had regained your ability to transform? So why don't you show us all!" Ikaruga said as she pushed her weapon against Sora.

"Okay, Ikaruga. You want it? You got it!" Sora exclaimed as a light began building up around his body, which Ikaruga stepped back away from instinctively as the light released a shockwave as the keyblade wielder's clothes changed into limit form, which impressed Ikaruga and the other shinobis.

"So that's it. It really is similar to a shinobi transformation…"

"What, that's how Sora transforms? All he did was change the color of his outfit, not that big of a change if you ask me." Katsuragi commented.

"No, it is a big change. Sora's power has been raised higher, just like our shinobi transformations. He just didn't need to change his outfit to do so." Yagyu explained.

"Asuka, you saw Sora use that power. What was it like?" Hibari asked.

"You'll see soon enough. It's really something to watch." Asuka said while Sora and Ikaruga stood across from each other, waiting for their opponent to make the first move.

"Now I guess you've taken the children's gloves off and show me what you're really made of?" Ikaruga questioned.

"Yeah, you asked me to. Now there's no more holding back!" Sora said as he reentered his battle stance and Ikaruga held her sword ready.

"Good, I was hoping you'd honor me with your full power!" Ikaruga said as her sword was coated in blue flames before she rushed forward at the keyblade wielder and clashed weapons with him in a flurry of sword swings before Sora dodged one sword swing that slightly cut him on the check before he decided to counterattack.

"Here's one for you!" Sora announced as he aimed his keyblade towards the ground to use explosion and summon a rotating salvo of light orbs that knocked Ikaruga a few feet as she resheathed her sword.

"HA!" Ikaruga exclaimed as she swung her sword and a wave of air sword slices traveled towards Sora who held his keyblade forward.

"Jah!" Sora grunted as he shot forward in a lunging strike and struck the wave of slashes, forcing the attack to be nullified, much to Ikaruga's surprise.

"No way! How did he do that?" Ikaruga questioned before shaking off her shock and jumped into the air. "Here you go, a special treat!" She exclaimed as she swung her sword and crescent energy waves down at Sora.

"Thanks, but I got something for you too!" Sora said as he tossed his keyblade in a straight line through the energy waves and then launched upwards Ikaruga in midair while she descended.

"What?!" Ikaruga said as Sora flew at her before swinging his keyblade at her and locked weapons with her in the air before they pushed each other away and landed on the ground, several feet away from each other.

"So what do you think so far? I really made an impression, didn't I?"

"You certainly did. I think it's time I show the final ace up my sleeve." Ikaruga said, much to the others' surprise while Sora was unaware of what she meant.

"I guess Sora has finally proven his worth to push Ikaruga that far." Kiriya commented.

"I was hoping he would. Things are about to get much more interesting!" Daidoji said as Ikaruga tossed her sword's sheath to the side and held the handle of Hien and the blade became coated in blue flames that soon extended in length towards the ceiling, much to Sora's surprise.

"Oh boy…" Sora said as Ikaruga held her sword ready for attack.

"I hope you're ready for the finale. Ultimate secret ninja art: Zekka hoosen yomishiki!" Ikaruga announced as she swung Hien downwards towards Sora, who was ready for the coming attack.

"Bring it!" Sora exclaimed as he thrusted his keyblade up at the falling beam of flames and crashed into the attack and pushed back against Ikaruga's attack while the third year was trying to win the struggle with all her might.

"Ghh...Gah!" Ikaruga grunted as she tried pushing Sora back, which seemed to be working as the keyblade wielder was being forced back while he gritted his teeth.

"HAA!" Sora shouted as he was able to give the beam of flames a small push back, allowing him to call up ripple drive to deflect the blade of blue flames and force it to be extinguished.

"What?! No way!" Ikaruga exclaimed in surprise as she was knocked off balance from her deflected attack and Sora held his keyblade ready for a powerful rush attack known as sonic blade.

"I got you now!" Sora said as he flew forward at Ikaruga with a flying thrust and struck her as he passed by before lunging back towards her with a second thrust and followed up with five more flying lunges before charging up for one more attack. "It's over!" The keyblade wielder exclaimed as he attacked with one more powerful thrust that knocked Ikaruga down to the ground and lost her grip on Hien as it slid across the gym floor.

"Ah! My sword!"

"C'mon, Ikaruga! Don't let that stop you!" Katsuragi said.

"Yeah! You can still keep going!" Hibari said as Ikaruga considered what the two were saying as she looked back at Sora, who seemed ready for whatever the third year was about to do.

"Are you still in this? Because I'm still ready if you still got fight left in you." Sora said as Ikaruga simply smiled and shook her head.

"No. I concede to you, Sora. You win." Ikaruga said as Sora and the others were surprised by her surrender.

(Music ends)

"Huh?!"

"Huh?!" The Hanzo girls exclaimed in surprise together.

"Hmm. Looks like Ikaruga decided that surrender is an option after all." Kiriya said.

"Perhaps she hit her limit during this fight." Daidoji guessed, although Kiriya was thinking otherwise.

"I don't think so. Perhaps if they kept fighting, Sora would've won for sure." Kiriya guessed as Ikaruga picked herself off the ground and her damaged shinobi outfit returned to the previous gym outfit she was wearing before the fight.

"Here you go." Sora said as he offered Hien back to Ikaruga and his limit form soon wore off. "Though you would want this back."

"Heh. You're very honorable, I'm glad I got to spar with you today." Ikaruga thanked as she took back her sword and then bowed to Sora, who rubbed the back of his head.

"No need to be so formal about it. Don't you do this alot with the other girls anyway?"

"Yeah, but I don't think she ever bowed or anything fancy." Katsuragi said as she and the other Hanzo girls walked and the blonde third year slugged Sora in the arm. "Congrats on the victory, newbie. How does it feel?"

"Well, just like any other win actually." Sora answered.

"At least you're not the type to brag." Hibari said.

"I don't know about that. We should give him a little bit of time." Yagyu said as Sora gave an annoyed look.

"Hey! My head's not too big yet!" Sora said.

"Hehehe. Sora, Yagyu's poking fun at you. Even if it doesn't look like it." Asuka said with a chuckle.

"Kinda hard to tell with her."

Don't worry, that's just how it is around here." Kiriya said as he approached from behind with Daidoji following. "Good match today, children. Sora, I'm glad to see you've made some great improvements since you started training. Although I wasn't expecting you to make enough progress to overwhelm Ikaruga."

"I gotta admit. I wasn't expecting that either, I thought it would take a little while for me to reach her level." Sora said before turning towards Daidoji. "Hey, maybe I can reach Daidoji's level too."

"Not yet, cub. You're still green in that area." Daidoji said as Sora slumped over in disappointment.

"Figures…"

Aw, don't worry. Maybe sooner or later." Asuka assured as she patted Sora on the back.

"Then we should get to work as soon as possible. Start up training again." Kiriya suggested, which Sora seemed to agree with as he perked back up.

"You know what? You're right! I should get back to training, the sooner I get back to full strength, the sooner I can take on strong people like Daidoji on my own again!" Sora said with hope.

"Take on Daidoji by himself? That's something to see." Ikaruga said.

"Wow, Sora at full power must be really strong!" Hibari said.

"That makes me wanna have a round with Sora myself! That's it! I get the next crack at him!" Katsuragi claimed with excitement as she smashed a fist into her palm.

"If he could beat Ikaruga. What chance do you have?" Yagyu asked as Katsuragi made a pouting face at her.

"Hey! Are you trying to say something?"

"Hahahahaha!" The Hanzo girls and Sora laughed at the scene together while Kiriya and Daioji smiled at the group.

"Well, if we're all done laughing, we really should resume training." Kiriya spoke up.

:Yeah, of course, sensei. What's on the agenda?" Asuka asked.

"Well, first of all…" Kiriya said as the view of the gym panned out to show the damage Sora and Ikaruga did to it during their spar, with slash marks across the gym floors and walls and a light fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor. "Clean up this mess!" He exclaimed as Sora and the Hanzo girls sweatdropped.

"Yes, Sensei…"


(Hanzo ninja room)

"Ugh, in what world is doing jaintior's work considered training?" Sora asked as he and the Hanzo girls walked into the ninja room after the girls changed out of their gym clothes and into their school uniforms.

"Well, we did cause the mess in the first place. Also, I think it's good disciplinary training." Ikaruga commented.

"I call it slave driving…." Katsuragi said.

"Sounds like we're all in need of some lunch." Asuka suggested.

"I like the idea of that! I could go for your futomaki rolls right now." Hibari agreed.

"Do you have any right now, Asuka?" Yagyu asked.

"Actually, no. I better get the sushi bar set up so I can…" Asuka said before stopping before noticing the ninja room's sushi was already lit up and prepared. "Huh? It's already set up?"

"That's weird. Everyone was watching mine and Ikaruga's fight, weren't they?" Sora questioned.

"That should be true. Unless…" Ikaruga guessed before a new presence made themselves known.

"Uhhahaha!" A voice from behind the sushi bar laughed, surprising the group while Sora was prepared to summon his keyblade before a pair of hands appeared from under the counter and an elderly man with grey hair, beard and mustache propped himself upwards. "I caught all by surprise now, didn't I?"

"Master Hanzo!/Grandpa!" The Hanzo girls exclaimed in surprise as they bowed with the expectation of Asuka, as well as Sora when he heard Asuka called the old man "Grandpa."

"Wait, so this old guy is…?" Sora questioned.

"That's right. I'm Asuka's grandfather, it's nice to meet you young man." The old man introduced himself as Asuka's grandfather, and the legendary shinobi that founded the academy Sora was standing in, Hanzo himself, making Sora bow in a panicked manner.

"Uh! It's nice to meet you, mister, Asuka's grandfather, sir?" Sora said.

"Hahaha! No need to be so formal, the pleasure is all mine after you helped out my granddaughter with those monsters that have appeared." Hanzo stated. As Sora stopped bowing and rubbed the back of his head.

"That was before I found out she didn't really need help."

"Ah, nonsense my boy! Asuka used to be scared of tiny little frogs, I'm pretty a brave young man like yourself needed to step in for her sake!." Hanzo said as Asuka became embarrassed.

"Grandpa! Don't tell him that! The thing with frogs was a long time ago!" Asuka exclaimed while her face was totally red.

"What? I'm just telling the truth. Hahahaha!" Hanzo laughed while Asuka buried her face in her hands out of embarrassment before a cloud of smoke suddenly exploded in the middle of the room as Kiriya and Daidoji appeared out of the smoke. "*Cough cough cough!* Ahh, Kiriya. Still using smoke bombs I see. Daidoji, nice to see you as well."

"Hello, Hanzo. I thought I heard a familiar laugh. What brings you to the academy today?" Kiriya asked.

"Well, I heard you got a new student in the last few days, and Asuka herself brought them in. So I thought I'd whip up some of my famous futomaki rolls for a welcome celebration." Hanzo answered as he held up a plate of sushi rolls.

"Alright!/Awesome!" Everyone exclaimed as Sora and Hanzo students each took a sushi roll and gathered around the main table to enjoy their meals.

"Ahaha! Enjoy my rolls as usual, and it's nice to see Asuka has gotten the new boy to enjoy as well." Hanzo said as Kiriya had a question on his mind.

"I know you didn't just come here for a quick hello, Hanzo. You're here because of recent events, haven't you?" Kiriya asked as Hanzo's easygoing face turned serious.

"Hmm, sharp as ever, Kiriya. Indeed I did come here because of those monsters that have been appearing lately, and I also heard that the boy is a wielder of the mythological keyblade."

"You heard right, master Hanzo. The boy can wield the keyblade, and these monsters you are talking about are called "heartless" apparently. There's also the possible fact that they're being controlled by these figures in black coats." Daidoji reported.

"I see, does the boy know anything about these black coated men?" Hanzo asked.

"He actually does. According to Sora, they are called organization XIII, and their goals are quite dark from what he told us about them." Kiriya explained.

"And they're focusing on us now because we have something they want." Hanzo guessed as Kiriya's face became serious.

"The super secret ninja art scrolls. It's the only explanation…"

"Kiriya, you think we should tell the boy about them? It might prove to be the best choice." Daidoji suggested.

"I still don't know if that's the best solution. Don't forget, Sora is not a shinobi, diverging our greatest secrets to him could lead to disaster."

"I say tell the boy everything ." Hanzo said, which caught Kiriya and Daidoji by surprise by the legendary shinobi's decision. "If we tell the boy, he might be able to tell us what those, organizator want with the scrolls."

"That is, if he doesn't turn out to be a spy. No offence to Sora, but I still have to look out for the girls." Kiriya said.

"Kiriya. Listen to me, I sense no ill will coming from that boy. Asuka trusts him, for me, that's all I need to know." Hanzo said with a stern expression that Kiriya knew the legendary shinobi would not change his mind.

"*Sigh* I see then, I guess we have no choice. Sora, I'd like to ask you about something." Kiriya said as he turned around to see that the keyblade wielder and the Hanzo girls were not present at the center table, leaving the sensei flabbergasted. "Where did the children go?"

"Did you not notice that they left five minutes ago? You're losing your touch, Kiriya." Daidoji said.

"And you both let them leave?!"

"Well, we're not babysitters, Kiriya." Hanzo commented as Kiriya facepalmed.


(Hanzo campus: Main school building)

"So what are you taking me to see?" Sora asked as he followed the Hanzo girls up a flight of stairs after Asuka asked him to follow her and her friends to the main school building where the keyblade was following the ninja girls up the empty after hours building.

"I told you it's gonna be a surprise, you'll see it when we get there!" Asuka said as she dashed up the stairs and Sora looked towards the other girls.

"None of you can tell me anything, can ya?"

"Sorry, we already promised Asuka that we wouldn't say anything." Ikaruga said.

"It's really not our place to say." Yagyu said.

"Well how do I know Katsu isn't setting me up for another prank?" Sora asked as he looked at the blonde ninja as she held her hands up defensively.

"Oh no. I don't wanna ruin Asuka's surprise for you, so I'm putting off the pranks for now." Katsuragi said before her face turned to worry. "Besides, I need to keep an eye out for whatever Daidoji is planning for revenge…"

"I don't see Daidoji as the type to play pranks though…" Hibari said.

"That's what worries me…"

"Hey, guys! Are you coming, or what?" Asuka yelled from further up the stairs.

"Oh. Sorry, Asuka. Got wrapped up.' Sora apologized before he and the girls resumed climbing up the stairs and reached the top where the granddaughter of Hanzo was waiting near a door. "So, I'm guessing you don't wanna just show me a door, right?"

"Nope. I wanted you to see this." Asuka said as she pushed the door open to show the way outside to the rooftop of the school, as the sun was setting over the campus.

(Music: At dusk, I will think of you~1.5 ver~)

"Oh wow, you can see everything from up here." Sora noted as he walked over to a nearby railing to observe the various sights around the school. The entire campus to the old school building, the nearby soccer field, the city and all the way to Sensoji temple, much to the keyblade wielder's amazement.

"I thought you might like it up here. I got the idea to bring you here after patrol yesterday when we were on top of that building. It seemed like something you liked to do offen."

"Well, you could say that…"

"So how come we're all up here?" Katsuragi asked.

"I wanted to celebrate Sora's big next step in his training! He's come so far in a few short days."

"That's true. It's taken us all years to get where we are now. But Sora was able to beat me after a few training sessions, his progression is staggering." Ikaruga said with a hint of admiration.

"You Sora might make it as far as Kagura?" Hibari asked about a shinobi rank that only the most powerful shinobi ever reach.

"I don't think Sora is planning on going that far." Yagyu said.

"Well if anyone is gonna reach Kagura, it's definitely gonna be me!" Katsuragi boasted.

"I'm not so sure about that, Katsu. At the rate Sora is going, he might beat you there first. Right Sora?...Sora?" Asuka repeated after receiving no answer from the keyblade wielder and turned to see Sora was staring off at the sunset, and surprisingly had a single tear flowing from one of his eyes. "Sora? You're crying."

"Huh?" Sora questioned as he turned around before reaching up to his face and felt the tear running down . "Oh, I guess I am."

"What's the matter? Sunsets make you sad or something?" Katsuragi asked.

"Um, no. It's kinda a long story, it involves another keyblade wielder named Roxas."

"Roxas, didn't you tell me about him yesterday?" Asuka asked as Sora nodded in confirmation.

"Who is this Roxas?" Ikaruga asked.

"Roxas was a member of the last organization XIII, and he was a nobody. A nobody is made after a person loses their heart and becomes a heartless, and then the body acts on it's own...And Roxas is my nobody." Sora explained as the girls remained silent for a moment.

"...HUHHHHHHH?!" The Hanzo girls all exclaimed at the same time.

"Wait, so that would mean, that Roxas guy is, technically you!" Asuka exclaimed.

"Not really. Roxas had his own experiences, his own life. I saw it all in his memories. He had friends to laugh with, fought with, cried over when he lost them...Roxas was told he didn't have a heart, but it turned out he did. You have to have a heart to cry." Sora said as the ninja girls fell silent at the story.

"What happened to him? Where is Roxas now?" Ikaruga asked.

"Here, kinda." Sora said as he held a hand over his chest, referring to his heart. "After I turned back from being a heartless, Roxas still existed, and I was kinda incomplete. In order to be whole again, Roxas had to give up his existence."

"That's kinda unfair. Sounds like he had too much to give up." Katsuragi said as Asuka had a look of regret on her face.

"I'm guessing coming up here was a bad idea. I didn't mean to make Roxas sad…" Asuka said.

"No, don't be. It reminds me of what I want to do for him, to help him get his life back." Sora said.

"How can you do that? You said that he ceased to exist." Yagyu pointed out.

"No, he's not really gone for good, I think his heart is in mine. So, I'm gonna find some way to get Roxas, after all, a heart can live anywhere." Sora said as ninja girls smiled again, seeing the keyblade wielder optimistic again.

"Sounds like you have a goal in mind, quite the large one in fact." Ikaruga said.

"I wish we could meet Roxas now, he sounds like a real good guy. Properly would be a real great friend too." Hibari said as Sora smiled at her.

"Yeah, he would be…" Sora said.

"Then let's not just celebrate Sora's training progress up here. Let's also celebrate the life Roxas had, and to hope for his future." Asuka suggested, which everyone agreed with.

Yes, let's hope for the best that Sora will find a way." Yagyu said.

"Yeah, maybe we'll meet him one day." Katsuragi agreed.

"Don't worry, when I find a way to brings Roxas back, I'll introduce him to all of-" Sora said before stopping when he felt a familiar presence in the area and then looked up instinctively towards the flagpole that sat uptop the center spire in the middle of the rooftop, where a figure in a black coat was staring down back towards Sora.

(Music stops)

"Huh?" Asuka questioned when she noticed Sora staring upwards. "Hey, Sora. Is something wrong?"

"The organization…" Sora stated, which caused the Hanzo ninja girls to become startled before they turned around and saw the black coated figure standing next to the flagpole.

What? How long was he here?!" Ikaruga questioned before the black coated figure suddenly fazed away from the flagpole and reappeared in front of the group.

"You wanna take us on, punk?!" Katsuragi said before her iron boots appeared on her legs and she rushed at the figure.

"Wait! Katsu, don't!" Sora warned, which fell on deaf ears.

"HAAH!" Katsuragi shouted as she jumped at the figure both her boots forward for a flying kick, only for the black coated figure to wave his arm for a dark stream to knock the blond ninja aside.

"Katsu!" Ikaruga exclaimed.

"Hang on!" Hibari said before the group, minus Sora and Asuka, rushed over to the fallen 3nd year before a barrier suddenly appeared and separated the group in half, leaving the keyblade wielder and the granddaughter of Hanzo on the other side with the black coated figure.

"What? A barrier?" Yagyu questioned as she reached forward, only to have a translucent hexagon block her arm.

"Girls! Look out behind you!" Sora warned as the Hanzo students turned to see a variety of heartless appearing behind them, with several neoshadows and swordsmen heartless forming on the rooftop.

"Ah! They're in the school now?" Hibari said, seeing that not even the Hanzo academy grounds were safe from the heartless.

"We can't allow the heartless to stay here! They must be destroyed!" Ikaruga said as she summoned her sword and Yagyu pulled out her umbrella while Katsuragi stood up off the ground.

"Hey, Asuka, Sora. Think you handle tall, dark gruesome on your side?" Katsuragi asked.

"Yeah, we'll get 'em! Right, Sora?" Asuka asked as she looked at the keyblade wielder.

"Yeah, let's go!" Sora said in response as he and Asuka turned towards the hooded figure and saw he had moved back upwards near the flagpole as he raised his hand up towards the sky and a cloud of darkness began forming in the air, taking shape into a physical being before fully forming into a heartless in the shape of a giant toad with the heartless emblem across its mouth and dubbed the ribbitoad.

(Music: Untamable)

"*RIBBIT!*" The ribbitoad croaked loudly as the giant heartless landed in front of Sora and Asuka.

"A giant frog?! Seriously?!" Asuka exclaimed.

"I think that's actually a toad." Sora corrected before looking back to the hooded figure walking into a dark corridor. "Hey! Come back!" The keyblade wielder shouted as he ran forward to stop the organization member, only to stop in place when the ribbitoad suddenly shot its tongue out like a whip and struck the ground in front of Sora to stop him.

"I don't think he's just gonna let us by, Sora. We gotta take it down first!" Asuka said as she took out her scroll.

"Alright, if wartface wants a fight, we'll give it to him!" Sora exclaimed as he summoned his keyblade and took a battle stance while the rest of the Hanzo girls took out their transformation scrolls.

"Okay, here we go!" Ikaruga said.

"Shinobi, transformation!" All of the ninja girls shouted together as their scrolls unraveled and their clothes disappeared before being replaced by their shinobi outfits and the heartless lunged at them.

"Yah!" Katsuragi shouted as she kicked a neoshadow in the face.

"Hah!" Ikaruga exclaimed as she swung her sword at several swordsmen that swung their blades as well while Yagyu opened her umbrella to release a blast of air at the heartless while Hibari held her hands out to call something.

"Hey, Ninto!" Hibari called out when a pink rabbit riding a cloud appeared out of nowhere to fly around Hibari before aiming forward and released a surge of lightning from the cloud that electrocuted any nearby heartless.

"Guess the others will be fine without us." Sora said before he and Asuka dodged to the side to avoid another tongue attack from the ribbitoad.

"The big one is what we gotta worry about!" Asuka said as she jumped at the heartless and cut it across the side with one of her swords, getting the ribbitoad's attention.

"Ribbit!" The heartless croaked as it lashed out with it's tongue, only for it to be struck by Sora's keyblade.

"Hey! Over here you overgrown toadstool!" Sora taunted as he shot a fire spell at the ribbitoad and the heartless responded by lashing its tongue over at the keyblade wielder as he dodged the appendage before tossing his keyblade at the ribbitoad's forehead, causing it to stagger for Asuka to pull out a smoke bomb.

"Bombs away!" Asuka exclaimed as she tossed the bomb at the heartless and it exploded on contact and created a giant cloud of smoke that covered the ribbitoad's vision, leaving it open for a combined sneak attack from both Sora and Asuka while it was confused

"Here goes!" Sora said from the smoke before he rushed forward to tackle the heartless in a quick strike before he jumped back into the smoke cloud and Asuka mirrored his earlier attack by also rushing forward and tackled the ribbitoad with a quick slice before jumping back into the smoke while simultaneously throwing shuriken stars at the heartless.

"One more for the road!" Asuka exclaimed before she and Sora both flew forward at the same time to tackle the ribbitoad together and bounced off it's head from the force as Asuka tossed several bombshells into the air that dropped on the heartless' head and exploded upon contact.

"Yeah! That had to hurt!" Sora exclaimed before noticing the smoke cloud still surrounding the giant heartless. "Wanna go for another round with him?"

"Of course. I don't he can take another-"

"*RRRIIIBBBBBIIITTT*!" The ribbit toad roared in rage before stretching out its tongue and spinning around in a cyclone, causing the smoke to fade away before the giant heartless jumped high into the air.

"Incoming!" Sora warned as he and Asuka both ran off in separate directions, which proved pointless when the ribbitoad landed back in solid ground it created a shockwave from the impact, causing the keyblade wielder and the granddaughter of Hanzo to be knocked down from the force, catching the attention of the remaining Hanzo girls on the other side of the barrier while they were fighting.

"Uh oh! I think Asuka and Sora need our help on the other side!" Hibari exclaimed while failing to notice a neoshadow lunging at her, which Yagyu intercepted in time with a swing of her umbrella and knocked the heatless away.

"We can't do anything to help them right now. We're stuck on this side because of that barrier!" Yagyu said before avoiding an attack from a swordsman heartless and smacked it in a counter attack.

"Then we'll finish this up as fast as we can!" Katsuragi said before dodging a swipe of a neoshadow's claws and grabbed it by the neck before slamming it hard into the ground.

"Katsu is right! We need to finish this fast!" Ikaruga said as several neoshadows and swordsmen jumped at her, only to be destroyed by a wide swipe of her sword. As the Hanzo students were fighting the array of heartless, Sora was recovering from the ribbitoad's shockwave attack and begann standing up and looked around for Asuka.

"Asuka? Where did you go?" Sora questioned as he looked around for the ninja girl.

"Hey! Let go of me you slimy creep!" Asuka's voice rang out as Sora looked up to see the ribbitoad on the side of the flagpole spire with its tongue stretched out and coiled around Asuka as it retracted the tongue back to itself. "This is really bringing back my frog phobia!"

"Hang on a sec! I got your back!" Sora called out as a light shined around himself before the sound of glass was heard as limit form was now active and Sora reared back his arm to throw his keyblade using strike raid, a powerful hurl of the keyblade, which flew at the ribbitoad in the side of its face and forced the heartless to reel back in pain and it's tongue uncoiled around Asuka, allowing her to escape back to solid ground while half of her vest was damaged to reveal her rainbow striped bra. "You alright, Asuka?"

"Yeah, I'm all good!" Asuka confirmed before the ribbitoad swelled up it's cheeks before spitting a purple ball at Sora, who dodged the projectile as it landed where he was standing before the floor in front of him began melting. "Whoa! That's acid!"

"Better not get hit by that!"

"*Ribbit!*" The ribbitoad howled before several new heartless appeared in front of Sora and Asuka in the form of small purple tadpoles called pollywogs.

"Aw, aren't they cute?" Sora said as the pollywogs rushed at Sora and Asuka as they swung their weapons at the heartless when they tried swinging their tails at the keyblade wielder and the ninja girl before the ribbitoad snapped it's tongue at Sora and knocked him back away from Asuka.

"Oh no, Sora!" Asuka exclaimed as she tried to run over to the keyblade wielder to assist him, only for the pollywogs to stand in her way instead. "Hey! Back off!" She said as she resumed a battle stance while Sora stood up after recovering from the ribbitoad's attack.

"Yessh, this heartless seems really determined to keep me and Asuka separated." Sora noted before the ribbitoad jumped down from the spire and breathed right in the keyblade wielder's face. "Whew! Ever heard of a breath mint, froggy?"

"*Ribbit!*" The ribbitoad croaked in response before swelling up it's cheeks and spat out a barrage of it's acid spit at the keyblade wielder, which Sora dodged successfully before jumping at the ribbitoad and attacked it with a quick combo from aerial finish and left a few slash marks on the heartless before it countered with another lashing from its tongue and knocked Sora back crashing into a nearby bench. Despite the heavy crashing into the furniture, Sora managed to shake his head to see the ribbitoad slowly making its way towards Asuka, who was busy fighting the smaller pollywogs, making Sora realize why the heartless was determined to keep them apart.

"The heartless, their after Asuka?"

"Hah!" Asuka shouted as she held both her swords in a reverse grip as the blades became coated in a green aura. "Take this! Secret ninja art: Hanzo style, full bloom!" The ninja girl exclaimed as she began slashing at the pollywog heartless in a quick flurry of blows, destroying each heartless with each blow before spinning around in a tempest attack, drawing in close by pollywogs before finishing the attack by slamming down her swords together and destroying the rest of the heartless from the force. "Alright! How do you like that?"

"*Ribbit!*"

"Huh? AHH!" Asuka groaned in pain when the tongue of the ribbitoad sent her crashing backwards while the rest of her vest was destroyed while her skirt and stockings were tattered by the blow as well. "Agg, cheat shot!" She complained as the ribbitoad swelled up its cheeks, preparing for its acid spit attack.

"Thunder!" Sora's voice rang out as the ribbitoad was shocked with a bolt of lightning, stunning it in place. "If you want Asuka, you gotta deal with me first!" The keyblade wielder exclaimed as he jumped forward when the keyblade was coated in a golden aura as Sora charged up for his most powerful combo attack, ars arcanum, and began pummeling the ribbitoad with a flurry of combo swing that was slowly pushing the giant heartless backwards towards the edge of the rooftop.

"See ya!" Sora exclaimed as he charged up his keyblade for one final attack and slammed his weapon into the top of the ribbitoad's head, causing it to become disoriented from the attack and stepped backwards off the rooftop and fell off the ledge while Sora's limit form wore off. "Yeah! Have a nice fall!"

"Nice job, Sora!" Asuka cheered.

"Sure did. Now let's go help the other-"

"*RIBBIT!*" The ribbitoad roared when it suddenly shot up over the edge of the roof with it's mouth open and chomped down on Sora while his back was turned, much to Asuka's shock.

"SORA, NO!" Asuka shouted while the rest of the Hanzo girls heard her scream.

"Huh? What happened?" Katsuragi asked.

"I think something happened to Sora. We need to get over to the other side!" Ikaruga said as she defended against an attack from a swordsmen while on the other side of the barrier, the ribbitoad was inching closer to Asuka in an intimidating manner.

"Back off, slimeball! I'm warning you! And give back Sora!" Asuka demanded as the ribbitoad ignored her as it prepared to snach her up in its mouth as well, only for a light to slowly shine from within its belly.

"*Ribbit?*" The ribbitoad croaked in confusion as the light began building up from within and was causing its mouth to swell up as well as the light shined through.

"Oh, boy!" Asuka exclaimed as she ran over to a nearby beach and ducked under it over cover when a massive firework like explosion burst out of the giant heartless' mouth and it slumped over defeated as Sora rolled out of its mouth with soot covering his face after he used one of his most powerful attacks called Ragnarok to escape.

(Music stops)

"Guess I give the heartless bad ulcers." Sora said as he walked away from the fallen ribbitoad as it's body began vanishing into dark particles and a giant crystalline heart floating away into the sky. As the heart vanished, Sora walked over to where Asuka had taken cover to check on her while she stood up. "You took a couple of nasty hits. You okay, Asuka?"

"I'm fine, I've taken a few heavy hits before." Asuka assured as she made a step forward, only to stumble and for Sora to catch her by the arm to prevent her from falling.

"I think you need a little help." Sora said as he pointed his keyblade upwards and the tip glowed green. "Heal!" He announced as a green glow covered Asuka and she felt the weakness leave her body and was able to stand up on her own again.

"Oh, I guess I needed a little pick me up after all." Asuka said as she spun her arm around in a circular motion before remembering about the other ninja girls trapped on the other side of the barrier. "Wait a minute, the others! How are we gonna get them out?"

"Wait for it…" Sora said as he gustered over the barrier where the other Hanzo girls were finishing their fight against the heartless.

"He yah!" Katsuragi grunted as she destroyed a neoshadow with a heavy kick that dispursted it into dark particles.

"Ha!" Ikaruga exclaimed as she sliced apart a swordsman heartless and released the heart within before placing her sword back in her sheath while the barrier that separated the rooftop suddenly lit up and lifted away, which the girls noticed.

"Huh? Hey, look at that! The barrier is down!" Hibari said as the other girls noticed as well.

"Looks like our enemies were what was keeping the barrier up." Yagyu noted while Sora and Asuka quickly rushed over to the girls.

"Whew! We're glad you're all okay!" Asuka said with relief.

"What about you though? You look a little worn out there, Asuka." Ikaruga said as she looked over Asuka in her damaged attire.

"Me? I'm fine. Sora actually patched me up, even if it doesn't look like it."

"Oh, yeah?" Katsuragi questioned as she suddenly sneaked up behind Asuka and began groping her breast again. "Did he heal you by massaging your shinoboobs since they're on full display right now?"

"Katsu! He's not you! So cut it out!" Asuka shouted while Sora looked away while blushing.

"Well. glad to see you doing okay, Katsu." Sora said while the other girls had questions on their mind, mainly about the organization member that sent the heartless after them.

"What was all of that? How did that guy manage to get the drop on us like that?" Yagyu questioned.

"Better yet, what did he what?" Ikaruga questioned before turning her attention towards Sora. "You must know, Sora. Why would the organization attack us now?"

"Beats me. Usually they spout some nonsense then they leave heartless for me to fight before taking off. Although...the heartless seemed to be focused on Asuka." Sora said, which didn't seem to surprise the Hanzo girls much. "Why do I have the feeling you girls might know why?"

"Because they do know why." A familiar voice spoke up as everyone turned to see Kiriya, Hanzo, and Daidoji in her shinobi attire standing on the other side of the roof. "Sorry, we got here so late, children. But you did run off on us."

"So sorry, Sensei! It was my idea to come up here in the first place to celebrate Sora's win today." Asuka apologized with a bow.

"No need to apologize, it's our fault for not foreseeing an attack."

"Either way, I think we should count ourselves lucky that the children were able to protect the school and no one was here since it's after hours. They handled the situation quite well." Hanzo complemented.

"Despite the fact they fought quite well, what about this organization member that orchestrated the attack?" Daidoji asked as Sora shook his head.

"He got away, just left the heartless for us to fight. Although, they were mostly attacking Asuka when most of the time the heartless want a piece of me. Would you happen to know anything about that?" Sora asked as Kiriya and Hanzo exchanged a look.

"Kiriya, I think now might be a good time to tell the boy." Hanzo suggested as Kiriya sighed in defeat.

"Okay...We'll tell you what might be going on. But not here…" Kiriya said.


(Hanzo ninja room)

"Super secret ninja art scrolls?" Sora questioned as he and the ninja girls stood in front of a blackboard Kiriya pulled out with a diagram with drawings of the ninja art scrolls.

"Yes, you know that the girls use scrolls to unleash their shinobi transformations and ninja arts, correct?" Kiriya asked as Sora nodded before drawing on the blackboard to scribble a yin and yang symbol on the board. "The super secret ninja arts scrolls are much more powerful. They have the very power of yin and yang within them, and thus they are our most valuable treasures."

"Those organization members me and Katsu eavesdropped on yesterday were talking about our most "valuable treasure" themselves. They have to be talking about the scrolls." Ikaruga said.

"Yeah, they were also talking about the other academies too. They must be planning on hitting them as well." Katsuragi added.

"The other schools have scrolls too?" Sora asked.

"Indeed. The scrolls used to be unified. But were split up because of how powerful they were, and that is how they represent yin and yang, good and evil, the sun and the moon…" Hanzo explained.

"Light and darkness…" Sora finished before coming to the conclusion that the scrolls did seem to be the main target of organization XIII. "Yeah, it has to be what the organization wants. But their goal is to start a keyblade war, and they need their thirteenth to do it, which was supposed to me. So they're probably gonna use the scrolls as weapons."

"Not a chance. Like that keyblade of yours, the scrolls choose their representatives, and they've all been chosen already." Daidoji said.

"Indeed, Gessen academy and Hebijo already have their chosen ones. While Hanzo academy used to have two scrolls when one of them was stolen by Hebijo when they were still our enemy, and now that has chosen someone while the one that remained here chose one of the girls." Kiriya explained.

"Let me guess. It's Daidoji since she's crazy strong." Sora guessed, which was actually far from the truth.

"Um, actually…" Asuka spoke up as Sora turned to her while the ninja girl fiddled with her fingers. "The scroll that stayed here chose me when we fought Hebijo. So, yeah, I'm the chosen one here."

"Whoa, really? What were the odds?"

"We were surprised too. Before Asuka was chosen, we lost a couple of battles to hebijo beforehand, afterwards, Asuka's skill really went skywards, even before she was chosen by the scroll." Yagyu explained.

"Indeed, that battle caused you to grow as shinobi, and I couldn't be more proud of you all that day. But it seems history is about to repeat itself with a new enemy after the scrolls." Kiriya said.

"We should warn the other academies of the coming danger, hopefully they will be ready in time." Daidoji suggested.

"Hopefully, we've never had to fight anything like this organization XIII. We may not be prepared at all." Hanzo added.

"Then I'll make sure everyone's ready!" Sora announced as everyone turned to the keyblade wielder. "I won't let the organization do what they want with this world. I'll fight all of them at once if I have to!"

(Music: Sora's theme~2.5 ver~)

"Sora, you don't go that far for us. It's our scrolls and schools that we have to defend." Ikaruga said.

"Yeah, you still have training to focus on." Hibari added.

"I don't care! Organization XIII was my problem first, you guys just got caught up in their schemes. If anything, I have to make it right by driving them away from this world." Sora vowed.

"So you don't care if you're not strong enough?" Yagyu asked as Sora shook his head to answer.

"My greatest strength isn't power or even the keyblade. It's the friends I have by my side, like right now." Sora said, which caught the Hanzo ninja girls by surprise before they all exchanged a look.

"Hahahahahaha!" The Hanzo girls all laughed together, much to Sora's confusion.

"Hey! What's so funny?!"

"Sora, that line was sweet and all, but…" Asuka said before Katsuragi took over.

"It was also so corny! I never heard that one in person before!" Katsuragi laughed before it dawned on Sora by what she meant.

"Oh...Hehe. I guess it is." Sora admitted with a chuckle while rubbing the back of his head.

"Hmm, I guess you've made up your mind and there's no changing it." Kiriya asked.

"No, I gotta make sure everyone fights the organization and the heartless. I'm not backing off on this."

"Sounds awesome. That means you and I can settle our little rivalry. The prank war is back on!" Katsuragi exclaimed.

"I'm glad to hear that, Katsuragi. Because I've been meaning to do this." Daidoji said as she reached over to a rope hanging from the ceiling and pulled it to open a door in the ceiling, which dumped out a torrent of water onto Katsuragi's head and soaked her from head to toe and caused her outfit to become see-through. "That was for the water balloon earlier. Consider me part of your little competition from time to time."

"Oh god...Momma help me…"

"More like help both of us. She'll be coming after me too." Sora added.

"Heheheh!" The Hanzo girls minus Katsuragi laughed before Hanzo walked up behind the keyblade wielder.

"I'm so glad you get along so well with my granddaughter and her friends. I also must thank you for saving them from those monsters that have appeared." Hanzo thanked.

"It's no problem, sir. I would've done it for anyone in trouble, Asuka and the other girls just happened to be the latest." Sora said.

"Hmheh, so, you often help those in need, do you? Perhaps you have in you to master the sword and the shield." Hanzo commented, which confused the young keyblade wielder.

"The sword and the shield?" Sora questioned as he turned to Asuka. "Hey, do you know what that means? I handle a sword, but I don't know about any shields."

"Hehe. No, Sora. Grandpa means something very I've learned while becoming a shinobi, and it's something you'll have to learn for yourself, like I have." Asuka said, which reminded Sora of the mighty hero, Hercules once said to him about what it meant to be a true hero, which he still took to heart to this day.

"Yeah, I get it now. It won't really mean anything unless I learn what it means myself, and I know how I can start…"

"Really now? How do you plan on doing that?" Kiriya asked as Sora smiled.

"I'll start by proving myself as a ninja. Like the rest of you!"


Notice: The star seeker skin has been unlocked for midnight blue, and be used in Kingdom hearts 3 by having a save file of kingdom hearts 2.9


Journal update

Hanzo: Asuka's grandfather and a legendary shinobi that founded Hanzo academy. Hanzo's own personal philosophy is called the sword and the shield, the belief that strength is nothing without the will to protect. Despite his legendary status, Hanzo is also well known for his pervertedness.

Heartless

Ribbitoad: A giant heartless in the shape of a toad that was sent after Asuka to capture her super secret ninja art scroll. When it isn't using its long tongue like a whip, acid spit, or powerful shockwave jump, it will call allies in the form of pollywog heartless for backup. (Found in kingdom hearts union X)

Pollywog: A heartless in the form of tadpoles. Although not very strong, pollywogs often rely on their numbers to overpower foes. (Found in kingdom hearts union X)