Despite giving it their best efforts, the two ninjas realized that they wouldn't even be able to get close to Bismaru's ship, the atrocious-looking and atrociously named Bismaru Elegant. Goemon slowed down to a stop and bent over, breathing heavily in his best attempts to catch his breath. "Damn it. There's no way we'll be able to catch him like this. Do you have any ideas, Ebisumaru?" No response. "Ebisumaru?"

Goemon turned around and wasn't surprised to see that Ebisumaru had given up the chase long before he had. "What was that, Goemon?" he called out between shallow breaths.

"I said," Goemon huffed as he walked towards his tired companion, "do you have any ideas? You know, about what to do next. It doesn't look like we're gonna be able to catch him on foot."

"Well, the answer is obvious, isn't it? We have to go see him. We're not too far from his place."

"Go see him..." Goemon repeated. "I guess even you can have flashes of genius every once in a while. Let's get moving."

Before Ebisumaru could protest, his more active partner was already running off. "Why doesn't he ever want to just take a breather first?"

--

"And that's what happened, Wise Man."

Goemon had just finished explaining the situation to a man in his 90s with a long, white beard that almost seemed enough for him to have earned his nickname of "Wise Man". But the name was substantiated by a mental vault of nearly endless knowledge of the occult and mechanical know-how. It was the two greatest results of this know-how that Goemon and Ebisumaru were here to borrow.

"Hmm...Well, of course I'll allow Sasuke to go with you," the Wise Man said, indicating a short ninja-like robot with a green tunic and a ponytail of blue hair that stuck straight up in the air. "Impact, though...I'm not too sure about."

"What?!" Goemon and Ebisumaru exclaimed at exactly the same time.

"Sorry, but you guys used him somewhat...irresponsibly last time. The Lord of Edo is still pretty upset about his castle."

Goemon rolled his eyes. The giant robot, Impact, had come out of a time warp and landed right on top of Oedo Castle during the incident in question. "I told you, that wasn't our fault, Wise Man."

"Doesn't matter. The point is, he's furious, and I don't blame him. He knows Impact is my creation, and I have to take full responsibility for his actions. I mean, for all I know, you guys may end up going through a number of towns, destroying everything in your path every time you get behind the wheel of Impact from now on. I wouldn't seem very responsible if I let people like that pilot a 50-foot robot, now would I?"

Goemon grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Eheheh...Don't be ridiculous Wise Man. We'd never do anything like that." He coughed and mentally added, "I guess he really doesn't know..."

"Sasuke, can't you say something to get the old man to change his mind? Please?" Ebisumaru pleaded to his mechanical friend. With large, glossy eyes, Ebisumaru could create an expression on his face that would've been difficult for any normal person to resist. Too bad for him, normal people were a rarity in that time, especially among the self-proclaimed Ninja of Justice's acquaintances.

"Wise Man...Please reconsider," Sasuke said after going into a deep bow. "The only way we can chase Bismaru is by using Impact, and on top of that we have to hurry."

"Listen, Sasuke m'boy," the Wise Man began. "I know I can trust you, but these two clowns, well...I'm still not too sure if they're really intelligent enough to handle something like piloting Impact."

Before Goemon had a chance to even attempt to refute that claim, the front door burst open with a loud bang and a female voice shouting "Anybody home?". Mere seconds after that, a woman about the same age as Goemon with green hair tied back in a long ponytail ran into the room. "Ah, there you are. Wise Man, you've gotta let me borrow Impact for a while." She gave Goemon and Ebisumaru a quick look before addressing the Wise Man once more. "I guess those two can come along if they really want to."

"Ahem!" Goemon coughed rather conspicuously. "If you don't mind, Yae, Ebisumaru and I were here first to ask the Wise Man to let us use Impact. What do you need him for?"

Yae, a secret agent in a secret organization made up of secretive ninjas, brushed some hair out of her eyes before replying. "Well, if you must know, we just received some reports that wives, sisters, and daughters have literally disappeared into thin air while walking around town. Not too long after that, I saw a familiar menace flying through the sky, and what looked like cages dangling below it. I'm pretty sure it was that ugly robot owned by the nun that looks like Ebisumaru. (Ebisumaru scoffed and shook his head disapprovingly.) Anyway, it's impossible to catch him on foot, I have to use Impact."

Goemon had been making hand motions throughout the entire speech that were meant to hurry it along to its conclusion. When it finally arrived there, he wasted not a second before reiterating his point. "And that's exactly what we need him for, too!"

"Great, we'll do this together, then. So come on, Wise Man, can we have the conch shell?"

The Wise Man contorted his face as he weighed the pros and cons. "Well, I don't know...I don't want Impact and everything around him to be reduced to ruin. I mean, Goemon and Ebisumaru, they..."

"Don't worry, Wise Man. I'll keep an eye on them. You can trust me," Yae said, leaning forward with a wide smile and a wink on her face.

The Wise Man shivered happily and seemed to mentally fall to pieces when the kunoichi in front of him smiled and winked at him. "Oho, but I can never say no to a beautiful young lady! Here, take the conch shell, just, uh, stay out of trouble, will ya?" He reached behind his back and seemed to magically produce a large, white shell that he held out in front of him.

Yae shuddered a bit before taking the conch shell and giving it to Goemon. It had always been an unspoken rule of sorts that Goemon would hold on to it at all times. "Thanks, Wise Man," she said cheerfully. "Now, let's move!" She quickly turned around and ran out of the room and the front door, Sasuke following closely behind.

"Yae can be very convincing when she wants to be, huh?" Ebisumaru asked Goemon before they followed their two faster friends outside.