TheDarkestShinobi: Chapter 7: Read and Review people, and check out my other stories!!! P.s. my muse has died, I barely got to finish this and idk if you can tell but the end was a little rushed, I'll fix it when I put up chapter eight, so until then ja!

I'm not rich or Japanese

These characters don't do as I please

And the only reason for that would be

That they don't belong to me!

Chapter start

Now the main reason I brought you here..."

Ryu's face was still carefully blank, Hayate smiled in anticipation, Yuki frowned nervously and Ayane smirked awaiting the challenge.

"...I, in my infinite wisdom, have noticed that there is a growing tension between your two tribes. I also know of the violent nature of your lifestyles and the dangers that it possesses for my village as well as yours if the tension escalades into action. I wish to help prevent a fight, an unnecessary fight"

Ayane's mocking smile stayed on her face as she listened carefully to the words of the ever wise Shogun sama. He wasn't trying to prevent a fight; he was calling for a war. The Shogun never asked for peace, he always wanted to keep the best nin in the cemetery so that no one would hurt him or overthrow him. Little did he know that the only thing protecting him was a ninja's honor, if that was stripped from someone who wanted him gone, then he would be dead.

This Shogun was, by far, the worst; he was depressed and did not get much done. And what he did to was never vital to the villages' survival, or even helpful. The only one holding things together was the Nirou, his younger brother, who would be the Shogun if his older brother died without a son to 'take the throne.' The people didn't seem like they liked him either, but they were honor bound to obey him, and honor was the strongest force to bind a ninja, or any person who still lived and believed in Feudal Japan. As long as a person had and valued their honor as well as their family's then they would obey the Shogun. A person's sense of honor was strength as well as a weakness.

Ayane continued to process her newfound information and wondered just what would happen now.

Ryu knew most of what would happen now, the only missing parts coming from his lack of experience with the Shogun and this type of war. The Shogun was calling for this war, a war called by the Shogun was different than that of war in the traditional western sense. The best warriors are chosen from each village and they fight for the success of their village and honor of their family. When only one village's members are alive, they claim victory for their village and the war is over.

The other version, called total war, was banned by a Shogun long ago. It was a type of war where everybody from one village would be against everyone from another village, there could be an alliance system and the death toll was always catastrophic, in order to stop it, the first Shogun had signed a blood contract with the three leaders meaning that if it was broken the village that broke it was dishonored and the other two would attack it. Only the Hayabusa village no longer existed and the blood pact had lost its value, but every ninja felt honor bound to uphold it. Honor bound a ninja like nothing else ever could, stronger than even the bonds between family and friends, as proven by Hayate and his sister.

Why did it still hurt him to think of her?

"There is no need for a pointless slaughter, therefore one person from each village will now fight to prove their village's strength, if either village proves itself to be too weak then I will call the war in favor of the other."

--

Sereo rolled up the scroll and put it back on its normal spot on the bottom shelf, he sat back down in his spot next to the wall. He sat seiza style and turned his attention back to the scroll he was writing. He reread what he had written and nodded to himself, it was enough information for today. He sipped his tea as he waiting for the ink to dry.

The Shogun would no doubt have them fight today to prove their strength to him, and tomorrow would send them home, most likely with news of war and the ban being lifted. Sereo sighed, he would have to be sure Kasumi knew all that she could before he sent her on her mission to kill the Shogun, one wrong move, one thing that she didn't know could mean her death and Sereo wasn't going to let another sister die because of him, especially not after meeting with him.

Flashback

"Kolona sama!"

Sereo stopped short and turned quickly towards the man sitting on a tree stump. The man was wearing a tight red shirt and had on tight black pants that hugged his muscular legs. He was wearing black boots and had a sash tied to his left bicep, he was looking away even as he heard Sereo speak his name. He looked down and the wind blew his unruly hair back. Sereo just stood in awe, looking at him in disbelief, could this really be Kolona?

Kolona looked to Sereo and stood, he was 6'2 and had tan skin, it was built and in perfect physical condition, he had brown curly hair and piercing brown eyes. He did not appear to be aged but held the grace of an elder. Kolona crossed his arms and watched as Sereo stumbled forward and bowed to him as quickly as possible, almost causing the other to laugh.

"It is really you"

"Hai, Sereo"

"You have appeared to me, for what reason Kolona sama" Kolona nodded

"I have, and the reason is Kasumi, she is the one you have been sent to kill, but I have a different mission for you instead"

"Hai"

Sereo immediately felt to one knee with his hand on the floor in a fist in front of him. He looked down at the floor respectfully as the wind blew by once again.

End Flashback

--

"And now, the Shogun will test your abilities, first is the Tsube, your warrior may use one weapon and one weapon only"

The leader of the other village looked up into the eyes of the Shogun, her gaze only showing her confidence, while the Shogun had to fight to keep his breathing even. She had blonde hair that fell to her shoulders and ice cold blue eyes. When she stood it was at 5'6" and confidently but as of now she sat unmoving in front of her fellow nin. The Chokaku was silent except from the audible breathing coming from the Shogun, his guards and the six against the wall. Suddenly her head snapped up so that it looked like she was looking down upon the Shogun.

Ryu seen her out of the corner of his eye, he recognized her from a visit to the Tsube. His sensei had taken him to see her when he was informed about political policies, they befriended each other and he remembered that she liked the color blue and that she liked sunflowers, he remembered thinking she would be a weak leader. Now she seemed to be proving him wrong. Her name was Senshi Haruka, she had a younger brother and a crush on him. He smirked as he remembered his sensei telling him about it, he was so naive when he was a child.

"Gobei"

Her voice came out crystal clear and assertive making the Shogun slightly jump in his seat startled, something only the ninjas would notice, and they all did. Ryu noted that her tone was harsher and slightly lower than he remembered, but it had been more than fifteen years.

Swiftly and soundlessly the eldest in the group stood up, he was bald and stood at a 5'2" which was the same height as both Ayane and Kasumi, his eyebrows and beard were white and his pale blue eyes told of wisdom, his face had very few wrinkles and his body was still defined in his old age. He was in a green and black kimono type outfit, similar to the white and blue one that Hayate wore. A black sash was wrapped around his midsection and a three sectional was tucked into it in the middle of it along his back. He stood up but he was hunched over.

The Shogun watched as the man took a few steps forward so that he was away from the rest of the still unmoving ninja. The Shogun found it unnerving how long they could sit without moving. He took a deep breath and stood slightly hunched. The Shogun suddenly smirked confidently; surely this man was both old and senile. He lifted up his right hand and signaled for the men to come forward. In a few seconds Gobei was surrounded by twenty of the best warriors of Kita Santi.

Gobei simply lifted his hands up and held his arms slightly in front of him, his wrist were bent and his hands hung limply, he bent his knees and stood in his tiger stance. There were twenty people that surrounded him and they all had on black kimono type outfits, they held different weapons, some had short swords and some wielded bamboo sticks. They were all young; none of them looked like they were older than their mid twenties. Gobei, unfazed at their appearance, simply settled deeper into his stance and it was silent once more.

"Hajime!" The Shogun yelled and still none of them moved, but the command was given. Gobei snapped his hands up so that his palms faced his enemies and he narrowed his eyes.

The Shogun's hands twitched before he looked over to the seven other nin, six of which were watching the fight. Ryu had his eyes closed; they snapped open a split second before the cry was heard.

"Ya!"

A shadow moved towards Gobei and he side stepped the man and the sword, he reached out his hand and thrust it into the man's chest. He caught the fabric of his shirt the way an animal's paw would and pulled back to the painful cry of the younger. He let the black fabric fall to the floor and looked to the young man who had five dark red spots on the part of his now bare chest where Gobei's fingers had met his chest. Blood trickled out the side of his mouth and he fell to ground with a soft yet audible thump. Gobei simply stepped back and brought his arms in front of him.

The Shogun gasped lightly but both Ryu and Haruka heard it, Haruka smirked and Ryu dismissed it choosing to pay attention to Gobei's fighting style, that, he felt, would be worth more in the near future. He knew this Shogun was inexperienced, and unconfident, and most importantly weak. Gobei, however, he knew almost nothing about.

All at once the nineteen remaining rushed at him, he leaned forward and dodged a sword strike striking another in the throat with his left hand. The man's eyes glazed over as he stood there, his body was stiff and lifeless but without any force it simply stood there. Another was kicked in the chest and flew to the side coughing as his katana flew into the wall next to the man in white representing sea and whose skin paled as he looked at the blade.

Gobei then thrust both his hands forward and hit another in the chest and sent him flying before spinning and pulling out his three sectional. He held both ends in both hands and managed to stop four attacks. He then quickly moved his hands to both ends of the center piece and pushed forward hitting the man in the neck, he then kicked him with his right leg before spinning to block another attack.

Hayabusa watched as Gobei worked his way through the test, his tiger style was flawless and his three sectional skills were impressive. The tiger style was meant for taller stronger people and normally someone so small would not be able to utilize it in such a way, but it wouldn't be in his best interest to underestimate an opponent, it was a mistake one could pay for with his life.

Gobei had taken out the majority of the people when he lost his three sectional, it skidded and landed right next to Ayane, who eyed the weapon nonchalantly before turning her full attention back to the fight.

Gobei lifted his foot to block a kick and deflected a punch with his hand, still in the claw form. He thrust his arm forward but it was caught by another so using momentum, he spun and used a spinning back kick to send him away. The other jumped back gripping his bow tighter.

Gobei then crouched low, his palms were facing upwards and his fingers were relaxed. Both knees were bent with his left being slightly forward, his right hand was in front of the top of his stomach and the left was in front of his right, slightly higher to protect his neck and face.

"Come at me"

His voice was gentle, with an underlying tone of power. The men simply shifted into their stances and looked to each other. There were only three left, and the man from before still stood.

One moved fast, even for ninja standards, and swept his foot lowly across the floor catching Gobei off guard. Gobei fell backwards and landed on his hands, bending his elbows he launched himself into another person catching him with a double kick before quickly bending at the waist bringing his arms forward. His hands pushed back and dislocated both of the other man's shoulders and the man fell back due to the force, Gobei jumped off and brought up his foot to kick another's shoulders, the person ducked and Gobei spun all the way around, spinning once again for a 720 he ducked lowly and swept the other's feet. The man fell and Gobei jumped on him, landing the final strike to his neck. Gobei then jumped off and turned as he landed facing the last man.

The man shifted and placed his bow on the ground before rolling it away and falling into his own tiger stance and smirking. Gobei pushed his arms forward slightly as he cautiously stepped forward.

"This should be good"
"I'm not getting any younger"

The Shogun tried and failed to hide his shock, the little senile old man took out twenty of his guards, well nineteen so far. His hands gripped the end of the armrest tightly as he shook. He looked over to the other seven to see them watching the standoff unfazed. He was the most unnerved at the man that was still standing, he was so still and most likely dead, but he didn't fall like the rest. He looked over to the three against the right wall and then the left. He seen the pale skin of the one in the white, he was shaking and the Shogun felt bad for him, the sword was mere inches from his neck.

Gobei and the other stood in mirrored stances as they sized each other up, then they both slowly moved to their right in a circle.

"You, you practice the tiger" the man smirked
"Don't let my age fool you, I am a master at this"

He took two quick steps and lunged for Gobei's throat, but Gobei simply moved his head and pushed the hand away with the back of his hand. Gobei then went to strike his throat when the man ducked and then thrust his hand up to Gobei's chest. Gobei leaned back and to the side to avoid it before spinning around bringing his hands within striking range.

The man grunted before bringing up his leg to kick Gobei in the side of the face. Gobei shifted his eyes and seen the foot drawing closer, and closer.

The Shogun shut his eyes and winced hearing the loud sound that the impact had. The Shogun slowly opened his eyes after not hearing anything, only to have them open wide in shock.

Gobei's hand was right next to his face, his hand was not in a fist but his fingers naturally curled. The foot was stopped on the other side of the hand and Gobei was smirking, while the other had narrowed his eyes.

"A master you say?" Gobei's other arm came forward to jam into his knee and break it and the man grunted before twisting, when Gobei's hand hit it hit the back of his knee and just bent it. The man jumped up to kick him again with his foot still against the other's hand. His foot was coming towards the other side of Gobei' head.

Gobei leaned back and did a no hand back flip catching the other in the chin with both feet. As he landed the other fell and landed on his back, the impact winded him and Gobei quickly ran forward and thrust his hand towards the man's neck going on one knee, only to stop an inch away.

"I yield old man"

Gobei stood up and the man sat up, still panting
"You are skilled for your age, get better, and challenge me again" Gobei offered his hand to help him up but he shook his head,
"Let me keep this last shred of my dignity"

He stood and bowed to Gobei, who in turn bowed back
"I am Hizo Jinochi"
"Majidani Gobei"

Hayate watched as the court was quickly cleaned as the two men spoke quickly, he looked to the woman leader out of the corner of his eye and almost scoffed. What a weak village, to be led by a woman. The Mugen Tenshin had never and would never be ruled by a woman; they were just not equal creatures to men. After his father died, his mother could not lead the village, and even then Kasumi would've been given control of the village, that would have been destructive for the village. It was very fortunate that he had healed from his defeat to Raidou, Hayate felt that the fight was close and that he could've won if Ayane had not moved into his way to attack her father.

(Yeah right! Raidou pwnage)

Even Raidou had known that Ayane put up more of a fight that he did, but he ultimately lost the battle and his life to the Kunochi of Destiny, who had killed him with no mercy.

Hayate knew that even Ayane, the outcast of their village could take out the men with more ease than Gobei could.

After a few seconds of silence the shogun cleared his throat before speaking

"Now is the Hajinmon, once again, as the Tsube before you, your warrior may only use one weapon in this test"

Silence followed his command as the people in the Chokaku looked at Hayate in anticipation, would his warrior put on as much of a show as the Tsube warrior, or would they fall to the Shogun's men. Ryu took in the fleeting emotions on the Shogun's face and thought more to himself as he sat still in the seiza position.

The silence was interrupted by Hayate, he lifted his chin up slightly and curtly nodded never taking his eyes off of the Shogun's.

"Ayane"

Ayane stood quickly, silently and gracefully with Gobei's three sectional held in her long slender fingers, she was in her normal purple attire. She had her purple headband on and her dark purple outfit, it had darker purple seams and no sleeves, she also had on her fishnet arm wear. Ayane pulled the weapon up in her arm and held it out with a smirk. Gobei eyed his weapon as he moved his left hand to the right side of his body. Ayane lifted her arm and threw the weapon.

Yuki watched Ayane throw the weapon to Gobei, Hayate and Ryu were simply facing forward. Gobei caught it effortlessly with his left hand in a sweeping motion as she slowly walked forward to the center of the Chokaku. Yuki bit her lip as Ayane stopped walking and crossed her arms, her hip naturally leaning towards the left, in the direction she would start to spin in.

The Shogun watched her carefully, he knew that women were essentially as powerful as men, especially when it came to ninjas, but it was hard to believe it. Her hair was cut short and he wondered if she preferred it that way or her life required short hair, he couldn't see any weapon on her, she had no bow, nun chucks or sword. He couldn't seem to understand the ninja world, even though he had been reading about it for years in his study.

Once again he wondered why the leader had chosen her and not the man sitting to his side, he radiated power that even the Shogun could sense. Could she possibly be stronger than the masked man, or was his point to show off the fact that she could do this without being the strongest?

She looked up to him and he took a gulp looking into those cold eyes, he stared into them for what felt like hours and for his life he couldn't tell you what color they were.

He raised his right hand mechanically and twenty more men filled the Chokaku. Ayane eyed them while seeming to keep eye contact with the Shogun. He was so scared and felt completely immobilized. He was wondering what was really protecting him from her at this moment.

"Begin!" He said louder and higher than necessary and once again there was absolute silence in the Chokaku. Ayane turned her attention back to the men surrounding her. Her fingers were gently strumming against her biceps.

She eyed each one and their weapon carefully as she waited for the first to make their move. Ayane closed her eyes, removed her hands from across her chest, and settled into her stance, yet no one else moved.

Maybe they hadn't heard him speak. The Shogun shifted slightly and was about to yell out the command again when the female ninja opened her eyes stepped to the left catching a punch.

"Is that it?" She taunted as she turned her body and slammed him onto the floor. She then jumped up doing a double tuck before landing on him shouting 'ei kay' he stayed down and she stepped off of him. She jumped up as three more rushed her and kicked one in the chin, he grunted but did not fall.

She landed and started spinning; she then punched the man next to her twice before stopping and kicking him in the side of the head. He flew into the wall and slumped against it, unconscious. She smirked slightly and knew that the rest of the ninjas had only seen a purple blur, and the Shogun and his men would not even see that. She looked over her shoulder to see the rest of them.

She then turned so her opponent was behind her and then kept spinning so that she was face to face, she struck him and then spun again, she hit him twice more with her hand then jumped up and double kicked him.

The Shogun felt himself getting dizzy just watching her spin around, and he silently winced every time a limb shot out and hit somebody. Thanks to the last two fighters left before he learned that Gobei's style was the tiger, but he couldn't imagine what style involved spinning around so much, and how anyone could practice it without constantly puking from dizziness and headaches. At times she spun so fast he could only see a thin purple blur.

The Shogun watched as she attacked and defended in awe, Gobei seemed skilled, but she seemed unreal. He had never seen anything like this and he probably never would again, it made him feel weak and unworthy. He didn't want his job, but he knew that he was worthy of it, he knew he was the only one worthy of it. He didn't like how little she made him felt without even trying.

Hayate smirked slightly as Ayane kicked off of one man and landed across from everyone on the opposite side of the Chokaku. Ayane pulled out her weapon and held it in front of her horizontally, it was about a foot in length and she held onto a handle in the middle.

The Shogun narrowed his eyes, what weapon was that? He had studied books upon books of weapons and he couldn't recognize it. He then took a deep breath and calmly sat back in his seat, he needed to appear all wise. He needed to be all powerful, he needed to be calm.

Ayane closed her eyes slowly as the others settled into position. They were going to try and rush at her, they should know that it wouldn't work. She was back there again, in her memories, her past never seemed to leave her. No matter how skilled she proved herself as a ninja, she could never let him go, it was a weakness, but she could never forget her father, she could not leave him behind.

She moved the weapon out towards them.

(Flashback)

"Ayane" Ayane jumped out of the tree and landed in front of her surrogate father who reached down and ruffled her hair.

She sat down on a tree stump and he handed her a cooked fish. She blew on it gently before taking a bite; she crossed her legs before uncrossing them as he sat down next to her. She looked up at him and he took a bite out of his own fish before sighing and turning to her.

"Ayane, do you remember everything that I taught you"

Ayane nodded as she sat straighter and looked down to her food, she knew better than to say or do otherwise. She had turned seven last year and had begun her formal training then, every ninja had trained in different ways since birth but official training began on the seventh birthday by a sensei that was picked beforehand and most likely, had started to train them before. She was eight now, and even more was expected from her. A ninja was not allowed to forget anything that they had been taught, that would be ignorant, and ignorance was a sign of weakness.

Ayane took another bite of fish as he continued.


"You know all about ninja's deaths"

Ayane nodded, it was her favorite part, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, with the exception of traitors and enemies they all were the same when they died, they all were treated equally in death, in death it wouldn't matter that she didn't have any parents. She looked up at his face, it had a sad smile on it.

"I am going to die soon"

Ayane blinked in shock and dropped her fish. She quickly sat up and stood in front of her father with her hands on his knees and her face close to his looking into his eyes, looking for lies.

"What? Why?" he shook his head slowly and she moved back, her eyes widening slightly.
"Because I am sick, my illness can not be cured"

She had never thought of her father dying, he was not her real father but she had always treated him as if he was, and he had always treated her as his daughter. Ayane was born from the same mother as Kasumi and Hayate, Ayame, but not the same father, her mother was raped by Raidou, which was Ayame's brother in law. As a result of this she was shunned by her village, the only ones who had treated her with respect were Kasumi, and Ayame. One of which she hated, one she loved back but was immensely jealous of, and that envy would soon turn to hatred.

She stepped back looking down, this couldn't be true, it had to be a lie. She stopped after the fourth step and looked back to her father scrutinizing him the way she was taught to do to an adversary to figure out their strengths and weaknesses and if they could take the other in a fight. His breathing came irregularly and more labored than it had been only a year ago, his hair was thinner and grayer and his eyes were not as sharp. His arms were thinner and not nearly as muscular, the same went for his now scrawny legs. Ayane looked down, he was weak, and he was growing weaker; he was going to die soon. It was not a lie.

Ayane gave her father a hug and swore to herself to study even harder, train even longer, be even better, to be the best and have the ability to protect her father from everything.

--

Ayane jumped down and landed in front of her father, it had been eight years since she had found out he was going to die and had sworn to protect him, now, she looked to him with a hardened stare, now she was going to have to kill him.

Ayane watched as this monster that once was her father drew his weapon and settled into his stance in front of her, she simply tilted her head slightly as he settled and let the weapon extend and glow purple. She closed her eyes and settled into her own stance,

"Gomen nasaii Otosan" she opened her eyes and ran towards her father, she had to kill him, they was no choice in the matter, besides, the man that stood before her was not her father. That was a monster that DOATEC had created from his body when he went to them for help, it was a monstrosity, she had to convince herself that the monster was not her father.

--

Ayane held the weapon in front of her respectfully, her father had been slain by his only daughter and now was burning into ash. She did not think of the battle just now but of the old man that had taken care of her and helped her to be the person she was today, the ninja she was today. He helped her become the strongest Kunochi in the world; the only stronger one had disgraced her clan by betraying it. Ayane moved the weapon as the fire grew and she looked into it.

Everyone was treated the same in death, their sins were forgotten and their lives were celebrated. She refused to remember her father as the monster she had just fought, but as the man that was her father.

Ayane looked into the fire and then blinked letting a single tear escape her eyes. She truly allowed herself to mourn her father and allowed herself to be weak for the first time since she was eight, she vowed to herself never to be that weak again.

She had kept her vow.

End Flashback

Ayane opened her eyes and the weapon began to glow purple

Father, please forgive me for my sin…

It glowed brightly and with a sound like two swords clashing it grew until it was about six feet long.

Please allow me to use the weapon which contains your strength…

She brought her left hand back until it was at the right elbow bending it slightly.

Please fight besides me and lend me your strength…

She jumped up and appeared behind someone with the weapon held vertically, she was looking straight ahead, with her eyes set as hard as stone.

Please…

The man turned drawing his sword and the weapon was brought upwards slicing his skin, it did not cut through like a sword but cut the skin enough for a thin line of blood to follow it. He cried out in pain and dropped his sword. She turned and blocked multiple strikes with her weapon; she then spun it counter clockwise rapidly as she blocked attacks. All that was seen was purple and it looked like a shield surrounding her. She then stopped spinning and brought it down hard once to slice a weapon in half before striking the person in the shoulder with it.

The Shogun watched in horrified awe as Ayane fought and as warrior after warrior fell to her, essentially proving that not all men were stronger than all women. He suddenly felt jealous of her and her strength. She was a nobody from a hidden village, he was the Shogun, why should she be stronger than he was, it just didn't make any sense to him. He was supposed to be the strong one, the one that people feared and looked up to, he was the strong one not this woman. He watched apathetically and cursed her existence; he cursed all of their existences and hoped that they all died in the battle, the war that was surely to follow this, after all both villages were clearly proving that at least one of their members was strong.

Ayane then pocketed the weapon and jumped up onto a man's shoulder kicking him into the ground and knocking him unconscious. She then hit a pressure point on the neck of another and rendered him immobile. She jumped up and grabbed the last man with her thigh as she wrapped one leg around his neck; she then flung him across the room and he slumped against the wall unconscious.

Ayane landed crouched with her fist in front of her towards the Shogun, her head was down as she looked to the floor respectively.

"It is done"

The Shogun looked down to her and then took in the scene before him with cautious eyes, there laid the twenty men in various poses each in a state of unconsciousness but she had defeated them all. He stood and walked down the stairs until he was on the same level as they were.

Ayane stayed looking down and he touched her shoulder with his hand, she was tempted to push him back and insult him, saying he was not allowed to touch her so familiarly but he was the Shogun, and he was allowed to touch her in such a way. Despite her lack of respect for him or his title she had to honor him.

"Leave now, but come back as soon as the sun sets today, for I will have my decision then, I expect you all to be here" The Shogun released Ayane's shoulder and watched as the seven behind her jumped up flipping and disappearing into thin air as they did so. Ayane then stood as he stepped back; she jumped backwards flipping and disappeared in front of his eyes.

The shogun blinked in shock before another came up to him. This man was tall and imposing. He stood at 6'4" and had long black hair that was not held back into a ponytail but fell over his shoulders loosely. His eyes were light brown compared to the dark brown of his brother and he simply put his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Come, brother, we have much to discuss"

The shogun turned and nodded slightly.

"Hai"

Chapter end

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