"That's enough for today."

Goemon sheaths the wooden katana they used for practice, holding a hand out for Yakeru as he sat on the ground after losing the match between him and Goemon.

Yakeru does not argue and takes his hand, getting pulled back on his feet and rubbing his backside a bit.

"You're using too much power. Ninjas aren't about how strong we can swing, but how quick we can maneuver our weapons." Goemon stares at Yakeru intently, waiting for him to show any sign that he understood what he meant.

"Got it. Less power." Yakeru nods, slightly wincing as the grip on his wrist got harder for a second before Goemon lets him go.

Yakeru sheaths his sword, walking over to where the albino sat and watching the two duel for practice. While Goemon worked with Yakeru on his swordsmanship skills, he found that Fuyuko could use her wind ability to help propel shurikens and kunai knives when timed perfectly. Fuyuko practiced on the long-range defense side while Yakeru worked on the close-range offense side.

As opposite as the two were, Goemon couldn't help but admire how well the two worked together. They are definitely the ideal duo every ninja clan wants.

"That was amazing, Yakeru-kun." Fuyuko beams, causing Yakeru to blush slightly at the girl.

"You give me too much credit, Fuyu-chan."

The redhead gives the girl a pat on the head, watching her giggle innocently before grabbing his hand and holding onto it firmly. Standing on her feet next to him, the two walk back to the mansion with Goemon following.

"How was it?" Kotaro stood on the steps of the mansion, watching the group walking towards the courtyard as the day came to an end.

"I'm getting better at using sharp stars!" Fuyuko tells her father in excitement, jumping up to him and wrapping her arms around him.

Kotaro held her with ease, giving her a small tender smile. "Aren't you? Well, Fuma's have always been good with long-range."

Fuyuko nods excitedly.

"I don't get it," Yakeru says as he makes it to the steps. "Wouldn't having some power to a sword be an advantage?"

"Didn't Goemon teach you that it isn't about the power but the ability to maneuver the weapon?"

"I literally just said that a minute ago…" Goemon frowns deeply.

"Unless you are a swordsman such as the Yagyu family, the power you put behind your sword is just a large disadvantage. It will make more sense when you continue to work with the katana." Kotaro explains, setting his daughter back on her feet before nodding to Goemon.

"You two take a bath and get some rest. We have some business to do."

Goemon and Kotaro walk-off shoulder to shoulder, leaving Yakeru and Fuyuko to watch their backs as they disappear around the corner. The two looked back at each other and read each other's expressions.

~PYRODYNASTY~

"Are you sure we should do a mission without Goemon-sensei?" Fuyuko asks Yakeru as the two rode their horses' side by side.

"Don't worry, Fuyu-chan." Yakeru gives the albino a confident smile. "When we come back with those documents, Goemon will surely let us do more missions without him. Besides, how hard would it be to get some documents from an office while the idiot is overseas?"

Fuyuko gives the redhead a nod before looking back over her shoulder in nervousness.

~PYRODYNASTY~

A shudder runs over Kotaro's body, halting him in the middle of the hallway and trying to sense where there would be incoming danger.

"Kotaro?" Goemon turns back to his friend when he notices him standing frozen, a confused but churned expression on his face.

"Where is Fuyuko?" was the only thing out of his lips before turning on his heel and heading towards his daughter's room.

"She and Yakeru should be back in their room by now. What are you getting at, Fuma?" Goemon follows, trying to keep up with the hurried stride of the albino.

Making it to the room, Kotaro doesn't even knock before slamming the door open and finding the room completely empty.

"Well, they aren't here. They probably went out to get food." Goemon suggests with a bit of a nervous tone.

"Fuyuko's backpack isn't here," Kotaro states, standing still in the doorway as his eyes scan the room.

Goemon walks past him and into the room before taking a quick glance around, looking back at Kotaro with a similar expression now. "None of their weapons or ninja attire is here."

Kotaro's heart skips a beat before he takes off towards the back of the mansion, which then leads to the back courtyard and stables.

"Fuma? What are you in a hurry about?" Hanzo asks, barely dodging the man as he drifts a corner towards the doors.

"Sorry, Hanzo. We'll explain later." Goemon pardons, following behind Kotaro by a few strides and leaving Hanzo in the hallway with a muddled look on his face.

"Oh, master Fuma, you're still here." A stablehand expresses; a slight look of surprise on his face when Kotaro runs into the alleyway in a hurry.

"Still here?" Kotaro asks. "What are you getting at?"

"Well, your horses are gone." The stablehand nods towards the empty stalls. "I assumed you went on the mission tonight."

Goemon and Kotaro both felt their stomachs drop, their worst nightmare coming true by the minute.

"Get two horses ready immediately! We'll be back in a minute!" Goemon orders the stablehand before grabbing Kotaro by the arm and dragging him towards the mansion. "We don't have time to get ready. We don't know when they left so let's just grab our weapons and get to Hojo's as soon as possible."

Kotaro wasn't able to process the situation, almost dragging his feet as he was being pulled by the redhead.

"Kotaro!"

Goemon grabs him by his shoulders and shakes him.

"The sooner we leave, the greater chance we can catch the two before they get inside that mansion!"

Kotaro nods, snapping back into reality and moving swiftly to his room. Tossing his ready-to-go mission backpack over his shoulder and his matchlock in hand, he only pauses a moment to wait for Goemon before the two once again run back to the stables and take the horses that the stablehand was able to tack up in just a minute.

"Tell Hanzo that there has been an emergency and we'll be back soon," Goemon tells the stablehand before kicking his horse and having it pick up the gallop just barely out of the gate, heading North towards Hojo's mansion with Kotaro strides behind him.

"You better not do anything stupid," Goemon whispers to himself.

~PYRODYNASTY~

"There it is. Hojo's mansion."

Yakeru and Fuyuko sat in a tree near the entrance of the mansion, careful to keep their voices down and to stay in the shadows.

"There are a lot of guards." Fuyuko observers.

Yakeru nods, trying his best not to act nervous.

"We just need to get into the office through the window." The ninja scans the entire structure, feeling tense as he sees how massive the place was and there is no way for him to know which room is the office that is holding the documents. "It is definitely gonna be a room that isn't very lit since he isn't here. Like… that one." Fuyuko follows where Yakeru is pointing and notices the darkroom on the third story of the five-level building.

The room wasn't lit at all while some of the other rooms around it were. It sat on the corner of the building, furthest away from any tree or structure. This made it look nearly impossible to make a quick entrance and exit.

Yakeru gazes over the neighboring rooms, trying to figure out what the rooms were for and which would be the easiest to get into.

"Yakeru-kun," Fuyuko points over at the other end of the mansion and reveals that there is a balcony on the third floor with a very convenient maple under it.

"I guess that is how we will be getting in. Good eyes, Fuyuko."

Yakeru gives Fuyuko a pat on the head before jumping from the branch onto the wall that surrounded the property, keeping himself low as he navigates around the branches and top guards. It didn't take long to get to the maple but the problem was trying to stay quiet while jumping from the branches towards the balcony. He knew he wasn't the best with tree climbing so he nodded for Fuyuko to go ahead and find the best way up for him. She gives him a nod back before she scans the branches and effortlessly vaults off of one branch to another. Making it to the edge of the balcony, Fuyuko turns back to look at Yakeru, pulling down her facemask to give him a smile of satisfaction.

Yakeru smiles back before shaking his head, thinking to himself how cool Fuyuko is.

Following her pattern of steps, Yakeru kept himself light on his feet until he hit the last branch, thinner than the rest of the ones previously, and felt himself sink just a few inches before freezing. His heart stops when he hears how loud the shift of the branches and leaves were in the silence of the evening, hoping to himself that no one heard the tree rustle.

Fuyuko's eyes widened, looking around them to see if there was anyone in sight who would have heard Yakeru. While she didn't see anyone, she did hear footsteps approaching the balcony.

Yakeru also hears the footsteps, quickly trying to get off of the tree and onto the edge of the balcony, moving to the sides and flattening himself against the wall. As soon as he and Fuyuko were out of sight, the door to the balcony slid open and a guard walked out to the end. He immediately looks down at the tree below him and clicks his tongue.

"I bet it's those stray cats again." He mutters in annoyance.

"Damn, they are so bothersome. Next time I see one, I'm shooting it in the head." Another says, almost laughing at the threat.

"Please! You can't aim for shit!" The guard walks away from the balcony, completely oblivious of the presence of both amature ninjas just a few feet away from him.

Yakeru let out a silent sigh of relief before jumping onto the platform, nodding to Fuyuko to follow him as he snakes through the crack of the sliding door and into the hallway. Tiptoeing towards the room at the end of the hall, Yakeru could only think to himself how easy this mission was, in and out, before one of the doors to a room they were about to pass opens and in the doorway stood an older woman with white face paint but no other makeup and in a brightly colored yukata.

Yakeru and Fuyuko both freeze and look in her direction in shock before the woman looks right at them and lets out a deafening shriek.

"ASSASSINS!"

"Fuck." Yakeru breathes to himself before grabbing Fuyuko and pulling her to the checkpoint only to be cut off by some guards that were just around the corner.

"Look at that. Just some pewnie little ninjas." One of the guards sneers.

Yakeru unsheathes his sword as the guards draw theirs. He knew while they may have some good swordsmanship skills, they don't possess the ability to wield fire.

He lit the blade of his katana ablaze, giving the guards a cocky smile as he swung it around.

"Try me."

The guards share a look before attacking at once, one on each side of Yakeru.

Yakeru may have been cocky but he had to think fast. Moving to the left, he dodges the blade to his right and catches the blade to his left. Pushing it to the side, he opens up the body and kicks him on the side before deflecting the blade from his right. Circling the tip of his katana around the blade, Yakeru was able to push up on the guard of the sword and toss it out of the man's hand while cutting off two of his fingers.

"Fuyuko! Go to the office now! Find the documents!" He orders the girl behind him before throwing a sloppy diagonal cut downwards on the guard.

Fuyuko nods, dodging the falling guard and running towards the room at the end of the hall. She quickly enters and closes the door, looking into the darkroom and trying to find anything that could show if the room was really the office.

As soon as Fuyuko disappears into the room, more guards round the corner, unaware of the second ninja secure behind a sliding door. All their attention was set on the redheaded ninja cutting down the second guard, his sword still ablaze as it cooked the blood off of the blade.

"More of ya?" Yakeru asks with a cocky grin. "Well, looks like I need to step up my game."

The flame grew as the guards approached in unison before Yakeru swung his katana horizontally, fire barraging from the blade and all over the guards and hallway.

Yakeru almost loses his balance as he steadies his katana, his eyes then widening at the sudden realization of what he had just done.

Not only were all the guards lit up in flames by the fire and running around hysterically, but the entire hallway was now ablaze. The paper art all over was easily spreading the fire and he knew that it would only take minutes before the entire mansion was up in flames.

"Fuyuko!" Yakeru called out as loud as he could, but the screams of the guards drowned his voice.

He couldn't get to her from the hallway as these guards were running around and blocking his path, so sheathing his sword, Yakeru jumps out of the nearest window and onto the roof, running towards the room before the ground under him crumples under him and he falls onto the roof of the second story, rolling off of it and falling onto his arm on the hard ground. Yakeru let out a painful groan, attempting to get off of the ground with his good arm before falling again.

"Yakeru!"

Yakeru looks up at the familiar voice and finds Kotaro and Goemon running up to him.

"Kota-" Yakeru attempts to get up again before wincing in pain.

"Where's Fuyuko?!" Goemon shouts, looking up at the burning building above them.

"She's stuck in the office on the third story." He quickly explains before Goemon skillfully climbs the building with light steps and misses every part that was nearly close to collapsing.

Goemon makes it into the hallway, scanning the orange interior before finding the room at the end with the door burnt black but still closed. He could only assume that they thought that the corner bedroom was the office as it was inconspicuous and empty as it was Hojo's concubine's bedroom.

The ninja was unaffected by the flames around him, but he needed to be quick because he didn't know how long until the building would start collapsing and if Fuyuko was able to stay out of the fire and smoke.

Kicking the door open, he finds the albino in the furthest corner of the room with her hands over her face, attempting to stay low from the smoke and not breathe it in. Quickly making it to her, Goemon takes off his kimono and covers the girl with it, showing her that he wanted her to use the sleeve as a mask as it was thicker than her face mask for her uniform.

Goemon scans the burning room, trying to figure out a way out.

"Let's get out of here before the building collapses." Kotaro pulls Yakeru to his feet and drags him out of the courtyard.

"NO!" Yakeru attempts to pull away, "What about Fuyuko?!"

"Goemon will find her."

"He won't find her in time!" He shouts at him angrily.

"Yakeru,"

"We need to get her before,"

As he turns, half the building caves, and an explosion is heard.

Yakeru freezes, his heart-stopping for a moment.

"Who the hell keeps gunpowder on the second story of a mansion?"

Yakeru and Kotaro turn towards the voice and find Goemon walking towards them with a wrapped Fuyuko in his arms. He seemed completely unfazed at the entire situation and was completely clean even though he just navigated a burning building.

"Fuyuko!"

Kotaro turns back at the carnage of the Hojo mansion, frowning deeply at the scene.

"Let's head back."