Samurai Warriors: Crimson Samurai Chapter 7
Love and Chaos
"In chaos, one can not remain pure...The blood will not wash away easily...I, alone will shoulder the sorrow. That is all..."
Yukimura shielded Kunoichi from the sight, he, himself uncertain of the future now. He would once again be called to take up his spear and fight his brother, "What happened to us?" Yukimura said silently, he led Kunoichi upstairs, where she lay for hours.
"Yukimura, what is your brother's problem?" Magoichi asked angrily, a look of bitterness in his face as he poured sake into his bowl. It was just Magoichi, Yukimura, Hideyori, and Katsunaga; Keiji had stayed with Okuni who wept, the Saika Mercenaries and the rest of the ninja girls had went to bury the dead girl.
"My brother sided with Tokugawa, my father and I sided with Shingen Takeda, until his death, when I became an officer for the Toyotomi Clan." Yukimura said, he sipped at his sake and stared deeply into it. Hideyori and Katsunaga looked at each other.
"Lord Yukimura, please allow us to assist you. There is no possibility that Nobuyuki could bring an army strong enough to take down the mighty Sanada and Toyotomi clans together." Hideyori said with happiness in his voice.
"Yukimura, the Saika Mercenaries and I will gladly assist you as well." Magoichi said, vengeance in his voice, the thought of a beautiful woman being harmed on account of one seeking to prove a violent point disgusted him. His raised his rifle over his shoulder and walked out, leaving Yukimura and Hideyori stunned. Yukimura turned to Hideyori, "Lord Hideyori, thank you, but I need to handle this on my own, he is my brother and I can not let him kill anyone else because I refused to take immediate action." Yukimura got up and left to go check on Kunoichi.
Magoichi turned and looked at a target in the castle's front, where warriors practiced their bow and musket skills, holding his Kunimoto in his right hand; he aimed it at the target, passion in his eyes, as if preparing to guide the bullet into the target, he fired the rifle, the shot directly penetrated straight through the target, but in doing so, the force of the shot, combined with the great accuracy, the target broke in half. He threw the rifle over his shoulder and kept walking on; the marksmen behind him looked on with astonishment, backing off as he turned, even the Saika Mercenaries knew better enough then to bother Magoichi as he was.
Yukimura ascended to his room, Kunoichi still lay on the blanket, her body facing the ground, Yukimura knew, even through her silence, tears were gathering and falling from her eyes. "I'm sorry, Kunoichi." He said, she turned her body to him, her face had become pink, and tears fell from her cheeks like a glass of water that had been turned over on a table, the drops fall from the edge rapidly. "I will kill Nobuyuki..." Yukimura said, interrupted by Kunoichi, "...As I will kill Inahime." Her eyebrows slanted, her eyes widened, her nostrils flared, and her lips frowned; her appearance worried Yukimura, he had never seen her, this angry before, in fact, he couldn't recall ever seeing her this enraged. He rushed over to her, kissed her forehead and embraced her, whispering in her ear, "Please, stay here...Please, I will not allow you to fight this time..." She resisted his embrace, she looked at him, his face carrying the emotion of a casual concern, hers carried the flaming emotion of hatred, and neither was used to such emotions, so they were unable to cope with the emotions properly, placing Kunoichi into a blood-lust and Yukimura into an effeminate state. She released herself of his grip and left him sitting on the ground, like before, he was wary of what her plan was.
Keiji had finished consoling Okuni, she had fallen asleep crying, afterward he met with Magoichi and a tense Yukimura, there was no way of talking Keiji and Magoichi out of it, both had a heart ready for battle, Magoichi for justice, and Keiji for passion, Yukimura felt nothing in his heart about this battle, nothing except for fear of Kunoichi getting injured, or worse. "...In her reckless state she is bound to get herself killed." Magoichi said, "There is only one way to insure her safety, it is also the only way to beat a ninja: We have to kill Nobuyuki first." Keiji looked at him, a look of pure stupidity going toward Magoichi. "How exactly do you expect us to kill Nobuyuki without Kunoichi finding out, she's a ninja, meaning, even if we were planning to, she would be able to find out quickly." Keiji snarled, turning to hopefully get Yukimura's nod of approval. Yukimura contemplated on the matter, but he knew that a full-scale assault would be inevitable as well, and even though fully healed, he would not be able to stop Kunoichi, her ninja speed and newfound vengeance would eventually consume her, if she continued.
"Ninjas are you ready?" Kunoichi asked, a pair of new daggers forged for her, the Shiranui, two powerful blades, but still not a weapon meant for a direct assault into battle. The castle's ninjas had all gathered around her, for the loss of one, they would make Nobuyuki pay with his entirety. The shadows quickly departed, leaving Kunoichi as she prepared to follow them. She thought about Yukimura, his glance earlier was one of concern, he knew that the death of a close-friend was difficult, but the ninjas were all Kunoichi had growing up before she met Yukimura; she refused to allow for every single to be forgotten over a single bloody victory. This time, no one's life was at stake, but she had to move and strike fast.
"It's decided, Magoichi, bring all of your mercenaries, Keiji, leave Okuni here, she'll be alright. We will storm Nobuyuki's castle, and kill him, but we must leave tonight." Yukimura said, going up to his room and putting on his full armor. Magoichi left his trench-coat and let his hair down, the mercenaries were all ready. Keiji had mounted his horse, his pike resting on the saddle. Just as the sun went down, they all left, riding toward Nobuyuki's recent acquired castle, Azuchi Castle. The sound of hoofs stormed the night like a blaze of lightning and thunder. There they cleared a path, heading straight for Azuchi, making very rare stops, they were able to reach it in a matter of days, their provisions were low, but as they reached Azuchi, they knew that they would not be without once they took the castle.
Yukimura, leading all of the others, they stormed the castle, gun shots rung through the air, samurai fell to the ground as they exploded from the shots. Blood littered the ground; the Sanada-Saika-Maeda army had annihilated the entire weakened guard of the Nobuyuki army. Only Magoichi, Yukimura, and Keiji entered the castle, the Saika Mercenaries stayed outside to ensure that no one entered and snuck up behind the three. They quickly noticed why Azuchi was called the Palace of the Demon Lord, traps were littered everywhere, they attempted to climb to the fourth floor, but a misstep had taken them into a room where they found Kunoichi, battling against an iron-clad figure.
"Freeze!" Magoichi shouted, raising his gun at the figure, only to lower it when he saw who stepped out of the shadows. Magoichi and Keiji stepped back, frightened by the appearance of such a being. "Mitsuhide, get out of our way!" Yukimura shouted, attempting to strike Mitsuhide, only to have his spear knocked away by Mitsuhide's sword, there Yukimura fell off-balance, to Kunoichi's feet; she assisted him up as Mitsuhide turned around and began walking. "What are you doing here Mitsuhide?!" Keiji shouted at the man whom he presumed was dead.
Mitsuhide looked at them, he sheathed his sword and turned away from them, "Located inside this castle is an abyss, and rumor is Nobunaga waits at the lowest level. I'm here to finish what I started at Honnouji." He continued his way away from them. They looked at him surprised, but taking too long, as more troop reinforcements had arrived, quickly, the four took action to strike down the troops, but quickly making their way to the top. As they reached the sixth floor, they witnessed a ghost that they had prayed was gone forever. Nobuyuki sat beside Inahime, clutching her to his side, Oda Nobunaga stared at them from near a window, his frightening sword, the Muramasa in his hand...
End of Chapter 7
Authorial Notes: Yes, Nobunaga is back, but does he seek to kill Yukimura? Why is Mitsuhide still after Nobunaga's life? Are any other dead characters back to haunt them? This and less in the next chapter of Might Morphin' Power Rangers!