Had it not been for the fact that Jurokubei was quite famous in this day and age, the ninjas may have spent months or even years wandering around trying to remember just where his palace was located. With Ebisumaru back on the team, there was now somebody among them who lacked just enough self-consciousness to ask total strangers (who made the members of the group look relatively normal) for directions, while the others would keep their distance and pray that the Ninja of Justice didn't do anything that could be considered offensive.

"Hey, what do you mean I look like a weirdo?! Get back here, you ingrate!" shouted one such stranger after a retreating Ebisumaru. The man, who was wearing a red hat shaped like a dragon's head, shook an angry fist at the pudgy ninja and his friends, the latter of whom were berating the former for performing another socially unacceptable gesture. This was indeed a delicate matter, and the volunteer for the task was the very antithesis of such a quality.

Finally, after several failed attempts, Omitsu and Yae took it upon themselves to ask the next pedestrian they could find for directions. "Excuse me," Yae said to a man leaning against the wall of a store. He wore a pair of shades that covered almost all of the top half of his head. "I'm sorry to bother you, but we're looking for Shishi Jurokubei. Do you know where we could find him?"

"Jurokubei? Yeah, I know where you can find 'im," the man said. He spit on the ground next to him before continuing. "His place is over that way, 'bout a mile and a half." He pointed a slightly undulating arm towards the outer edge of the town. "You're gonna go up into the mountains a bit, but it's a big place so you can't miss it. What do you ladies want with him, anyway?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Anyway, thanks for helping us." Yae and Omitsu bowed and turned to leave, but they each felt a hand on their shoulder as they were about to take their first steps.

"Listen, there's no need to hide the truth from me," the man said as he leaned closer to them. He had a toothy grin on his face, and his breath reeked of alcohol. "You're trying to become part of his 'collection,' aren't ya? I prepare most of the women he has up there, and I can tell just by lookin' at ya that neither one of you is ready for this."

"What?" Omitsu was affronted by this assumption. "I'll have you know, Jurokubei almost named me the most beautiful woman in his little collection!"

"It's not worth it, Omitsu," Yae whispered to her friend. "Anyway, we'll be on our way, sir. Thanks again."

"Seriously, I can help your chances," the mysterious man continued with a click of his tongue. "You should let your hair down," he said to Omitsu. "And you've both got great figures, you could do with a little wardrobe change. You know, show off a little more around here..." He patted Omitsu's stomach and chest to show them just what he meant.

"Eek! Get your hands off of me, you pervert!" Even before she had finished speaking, Omitsu's hand had flown across the man's cheek, sending his head spinning in nearly a complete circle. Despite this sudden attack, he was besides himself in a fit of giggles afterwards.

"Let's go, Omitsu," Yae said through gritted teeth as she led the furious waitress away by the arm. As soon as they were out of earshot, she added "Nice hit."

--

"All right, we're finally here...I think..."

Goemon led the group up a grand set of stairs leading to a stone archway among tall columns and yellow banners with the symbol that Jurokubei had made his trademark: a red manji. "Looks like he's done some remodeling since he supposedly changed his ways," Yae noted. "At least, that's assuming we're here sometime after we defeated him the first time."

The ninjas entered the building to find the place completely deserted. Not a soul in sight, not a sound to be heard. "That's weird..." Goemon said. "For a whorehouse, it's awfully quiet." Omitsu gave him a dirty look at this description.

"I don't see any dust or anything like that, so the place probably wasn't abandoned," Yae said as she examined the walls closely. "Let's keep moving, maybe everybody's just further inside. This is a big place, after all."

All five of them marched through the halls, but there was still nobody to be found. "Say, does anybody else find it odd that there doesn't seem to be any security around here?" Ebisumaru asked. "I mean, Jurokubei's got all these robots, shouldn't they be attacking intruders like us right about now?"

"Now that you mention it, it is a bit strange," Sasuke replied. "I can't help but feel we're walking right into a trap."

"No security bots, no girls..." Omitsu mumbled, rubbing her chin in thought. "I agree with Sasuke, this is probably a trap. But we don't really have any other choice, so keep your guard up, everybody."

No sooner had she finished then a bright yellow laser hit the ground mere inches in front of the ninjas. Goemon pulled Omitsu to the side just in time to avoid being zapped by the next one while Yae took out her bazooka and shot at the source of the sudden attack: two ceiling-mounted turrets that had suddenly appeared about ten yards in front of them. Yae's shots flew straight and true and hit their targets with enough force to knock them to the ground along with two showers of sparks.

"Looks like we spoke too soon," Goemon said to Omitsu as he released her. "Hopefully we don't have another incident like that." A blushing Omitsu nodded as the group continued forward.

Unfortunately, the group had many more similar incidents. Turrets would show up in the floor, walls, and ceiling, and would fire at the ninjas as they proceeded through the halls of Jurokubei's harem. They were all dealt with in a similar manner, however, and thus did not significantly hinder them.

"They must all be deaf if they haven't figured out we're here by now. So where are they, exactly?" Yae wondered aloud.

"Halt!" called a loud, robotic voice after a few more moments of walking. "By order of Lord Jurokubei, you may proceed no further. Turn around and leave this place immediately!"

"Ah. There they are." Yae pulled out her sword as the others prepared their weapons and pointed them at the security robots approaching from the darkness. Their eyes glowed a bright yellow as they glared at the five people who had been audacious enough to come to their master's grandiose abode. "Where's Jurokubei? Tell us quickly or prepare to become scrap metal!"

"The intruders are still here," one bot said to another very matter-of-factly. "We repeat, turn around and leave this place immediately!"

"I guess they weren't paying attention," Goemon said. "Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way." With that, he leapt forward and brought his pipe down onto the metallic head of one of his foes, just barely managing to leap clear over him and land on the other side. The attacked robot reeled back from the blow before quickly spinning around, hitting Goemon with his fist and sending him flying into a wall.

"Ah, Goemon!" Omitsu ran forward and ducked under the arm of one of her opponents on her way to Goemon's side, her friend's safety the only thought running through her mind. "Goemon, are you all right? You're not hurt, are you, Goemon?"

Goemon chuckled lightly at this sudden increase in attention. "I'm fine, Omitsu. Believe me, I've been through a lot worse." Omitsu breathed a sigh of relief as the two of them stared at each other with friendly smiles. This peaceful moment was interrupted when Goemon shouted "Look out!" and yanked her over to the side. Omitsu lay across his lap, where she had a perfect view of the massive fist that was embedded in the wall where her head had been seconds earlier. "Umm...Eheh..." Goemon chuckled nervously as he helped her up. "Come on, it's time to show them what you can do!"

Goemon started the double team attack by bringing the head of his pipe down onto one of the robot's metallic joints. It's body lowered significantly as its arm bent, almost to the point of being ripped in two, giving Omitsu the chance to hit him in the face with an upward swing of her frying pan. The security bot tipped backwards as sparks flew from its joints and its eyes blackened.

Meanwhile, Ebisumaru, Sasuke, and Yae were dealing with their own wave of foes. Ebisumaru, who was known for using a variety of unconventional weapons, held a mallet in one hand and a dancer's ribbon in the other. The latter would be used to cause his opponents to topple over, while the former was used to deliver the final blow. Sasuke and Yae together used their agility to literally run circles around the robots, slashing as they went, weaving between the huge, lumbering individuals of a quickly diminishing crowd.

With Goemon and Omitsu fighting half of the robots and Ebisumaru, Sasuke, and Yae taking care of the rest, it was only a matter of minutes before they had all been reduced to piles of scrap metal, just as Yae had threatened. Their tactics were predictable and ineffective; a laser here, a punch there, but never enough to cause any major injury to the ninjas. In addition, they all refused to use anything vaguely resembling teamwork and always attacked the intruders one at a time.

It was a short battle, despite the number of foes that had attacked them. "That was too easy..." Yae noted, articulating what was surely on everybody's mind. "Don't let your guard down just yet, guys."