Chapter 5: Hit and Miss; Help from the Blue Wolf and Yellow Mountain Rose of Niigata
(Disclaimer: Zoids Chaotic Century was authored by Michiro Ueyama. I merely borrowed his characters.)
Five years had passed ever since Prozen Gunther had taken over Hoshikagami own. Now, he has conquered almost all of Saitama including Urawa, Ageo and Kumagaya. Every male citizens in the Prozen's territory who were fifteen years old and above had been forced to join his reserve army in the fear of losing the lives of their families.
In Nagano Prefecture's Sawaki forest, a jonin had ambushed and was tormenting three samurai.
"You must be grateful to Fiona-Hime for she made me promise to her not to kill anyone. However, just because I won't kill you don't mean I won't torment you!" the ninja said as he stabbed the Iteza clan's samurai in the shoulders, crippling them for good.
"This is what would happen to any of Prozen's men who ventured within my reaches. And because I won't kill you, it means you can't commit seppuku and you'll die in humiliation." he added.
"Yamete kudasai, Van!" Fiona yelled from the bushes. She was crying as she witnessed the blood of the samurai spill on the ground.
Van then stopped the torment and left the three samurai in that spot. He and the young woman went back to their tree house.
"Sumanai, Hime. It's true that you made me promise not to kill anybody. But how the injustices that they have done to us, to our loved ones and to your citizens? Would you let them oppress people just like that?" Van responded to her.
Van and Fiona have changed a lot in the past five years. Van is now a major-rank, jonin-level ninja. The muscles in his body have developed to be large, well-toned and strong. The hair in the back of his head had grown long that he always tie and make it look like a rope. And even though he was just seventeen years old, he already was the master of the Byakutaka tribe.
Fiona, now she's also seventeen years of age, has become a lovely, young woman. After the sabotage of their personnel in the siege, she has become resentful of violence.
"Van, speaking about our families, I want to know what had happened to Mom, Dad and Hotaro nii-sama? If there is only a way to know." Fiona mentioned to the shinobi.
"There is! We can infiltrate the castle by dressing in the same clothes as those fools." he replied to her.
Meanwhile, some of Hardin and her troops who have been assigned to patrol the border of the Sawaki had discovered their crippled Iteza men.
"What happened to the three of you here?" the pink-haired woman asked them.
"We're sorry but a ninja had ambushed us. He said that he'll throw Prozen-sama out his throne and restore the Lynette family back." one of them replied.
"General Hardin, please give us our deaths! That ninja crippled us so that we can't commit seppuku." the three of them begged.
Hardin then disemboweled the three at their request. After that, she returned to Prozen to report about the incident.
"Prozen-sama, another group of samurai you had assigned to guard around the Nagano border had been ambushed by a ninja." she said to her lord.
"Not again! You, Hannah and Kirt had been losing your best lieutenants for about a year now due to those mysterious attacks, you morons!" the wicked man retorted in a hissing voice.
"This time, however, they were able give an important detail about that shinobi. They said that the ninja talked about your downfall and would restore the Lynette family back to power." Hardin riposted, trying to appease him.
"If that's the case, then my hunch is right. It's definitely one those ninjas' children who are doing this!" Eric said to them.
"Explain yourself!'' Hardin demanded.
"Well, you see, five years ago, my prize had been snatched by that monkey. Although everyone assumed that they were dead because they had seen blood spilling in the river, I suspected that they might still be alive since their bodies had not been found by anyone downstream." the samurai general answered.
"So that means…" Prozen said
"Fiona-san and that pesky ninja Freiheit Van might still be alive. They are the only ones whom I can think about would ambush our troops near the Sawaki forest." Eric told to them.
"Prozen-sama, please let me be in charge of hunting those two down. I still haven't claimed the trophy you had promised me." he asked the tyrannical daimyo.
"Very well, so be it! Catch that ninja for me and behead him in front of Atsushi." Prozen ordered as he gave his consent.
"My pleasure!" the samurai responded.
Eric then went on the training venues of the Hoshikagami men forced to serve under Prozen's army.
"Everyone, get yourselves ready! We're going to annihilate a clan of rebels within a few days!" the samurai general ordered in a harsh voice.
The soldiers then obeyed Eric's orders, afraid that their loved ones would be beheaded.
Back at Van and Fiona's tree house….
Hime, if you want to see them, we'll set for Hoshikagami tomorrow." Van replied to his lady.
"But how about the civil guards?" the princess asked in return.
"Don't worry about that. Ninjas such as myself have been trained to fool enemy soldiers without been detected for most of the time." the jonin responded.
A messenger then interfered with their talk as he reported to his masters while they were planning their infiltration.
"Van-dono, one of the beast's generals has decided to stage an assault on the forest borders!" an 11-year old genin told him.
"Melissa, is that general a samurai with dark green eyes and violet-dyed hair?" the jonin asked her.
"Hai." the genin replied as she left.
"What now, Van?" Fiona asked her fiancé.
"I guess I have to destroy him before he destroys us, Hime." the high ninja responded to his girlfriend. "Well then, if you want to know the condition of your family, we'll set forth an hour from now….. that is if you want to." he added.
Fiona then nodded as an answer.
The young jonin and his lady then dressed up in the clothes of Prozen's soldiers felled by Maria's subordinates a few weeks before.
"Nee-san, take in charge of the village for a while. Me and Hime have something important to look for!" Van said to Maria.
"Hai, but be careful. I'm sure that you haven't forgotten what Grandfather had taught you." the kunoichi riposted to her younger brother after she prepared lunch for their sick grandfather.
Van then remembered the lesson he learned from Miyagi five years ago.
Flashback….
Van and Miyagi had been training one afternoon for the boy's final rites before the leadership of the Byakutaka tribe was passed down to him. Van's assault had been countered by his grandfather and the latter hurled him towards a willow tree.
"Van, are you alright?" Miyagi asked his grandson as the then chuunin level ninja was beaten and was lying in the ground.
"You know that I'm not alright!" he yelled at his grandfather as he refused the old man's help.
"Van, my poor grandson, do you know why I have defeated you in our match?" Miyagi asked him.
"Apparently, you are much better that me since you're a lot older." he responded.
"Wrong!" the old jonin mentioned in return.
"Then what!" the frustrated chuunin asked in turn.
"You let your emotions control you! You see, the two of us are equal in our cunningness and skills but you are stronger than your father, who was, in turn, much stronger than me. Yet due to your thirst for revenge against Eric, you have become reckless in our battle." Miyagi responded.
"Do you see the kanji sign written in your vest?" the old man asked again.
"It's the symbol for the word patience." Van answered as he looked upon the sign .
"Right! The sign "nin" must remind you that patience is the very essence of us ninjas. Patience originates from peace. If you don't have peace in your mind, then you'll lack patience, which in turn, will deliver recklessness and defeat upon you." Miyagi told his grandson.
"One more thing. Try to win battles without killing your opponents if you know you can defeat them without using a fatal force." the older ninja added.
"Arigato, jii-san!" Van responded in gratitude to his grandfather.
The jonin then whispered his thanks to his grandfather once more as he recalled one of the greatest virtues a ninja must have.
"What's wrong, Van?" Fiona asked her lover.
"Nothing, its' just that I remember a very important wisdom from my grandpa." he responded.
"Nee-san, tell jii-san not to worry about me. It would make his recovery longer than what we would prefer." the young ninja master has told his sister.
Van and Fiona then headed out to the Yamanashi prefecture. They saw that no one was patrolling the border but the two of them knew that the reason for that was the division of Prozen's men under Eric's wing would assault the Sawaki forest in a few days. They also knew that his and Raven's place would be the first villages to get attacked by the Iteza army, so they sent the Melissa to report that to the Benitora tribe.
"Ikuyo, Hime!" Van whispered to his partner as they went on.
Upon arriving at the edge of the town which once belonged to the Lynette family, Van and Fiona tricked the guards.
"Did General Eric call for us?" the two of them pretended.
"Hai! He said every soldier in his command must get to their barracks right away!" the guards told them.
The jonin and his lady have easily fooled the guards with a simple deception.
"Now, Hime, we'll need to knock out at least two of the guards assigned to the prison." Van whispered to Fiona.
Two of them headed out for the prison. Since Van had a map of the prison, they have no trouble of locating it. Suddenly, three guards walked towards their direction.
"Is it true that General Eric said that Fiona Hime-sama is still alive?" one of them asked his companions.
"I don't know but I'm sure that she'll try to rescue her parents and save us from this bastard's reign." the others said to him.
Van then hit the three of them with needles laced with a mild poison enough to make them fall asleep for a few hours.
"Sumanai, but we have to do this to make sure you won't tell your comrades and for your own safety too." Fiona said as she and her ninja dragged them into a cell and locked them there.
Van and Fiona then searched the prison in hope of finding Atsushi, Isami and Hotaro.
"Van, do you think we can find them here? I mean, Prozen could have them locked up in some other dungeon." the princess said to her ninja.
"Be optimistic! I'm sure we'll find them soon enough." the jonin responded to her.
While the couple was searching the prison, Eric walked towards one of the generals he summoned to assist him in his planned assault.
"So how are things going on right now, General Harvey Kirk?" the samurai asked his associate.
"There's nothing that you should worry about, General Eric. Oh yeah, two of our comrades came from the direction of the Sawaki forest. They asked us if you have called for them." Kirk answered.
"Did you say from the Sawaki?" Eric asked him.
"Hai." the other samurai replied.
"I see; they have infiltrated us," he thought. "There is a high possibility my trophy and her shinobi will try to rescue Atsushi's family. In that case, we won't need to launch an offensive to draw them out after all." he further guessed.
"Tell the troops at the guard house to search every square inch of the prison! The enemy had already slipped past us!" the samurai shouted at one of the soldiers.
Back in the prison, Van and Fiona were unaware that they had been discovered when they suddenly came across a familiar person.
"Hotaro nii-sama!" Fiona said in excitement as she saw her aniki.
"Fiona….is that you?" the deposed prince asked his sister.
"Hai!" Van-kun and I went here so that we can see you again." the lady said as tears of joy began flowing down her cheeks.
"Hotaro-sama, I don't want to interfere with your moment but may I ask you where are Atsushi-sama and Isami-sama's cells?" Van asked the prince.
"Go to the fifth cell of the fourth hall in this dungeon's basement. You'll find our parents there." Hotaro replied to him as he struggled to get up after a heavy torture a couple of days ago.
Van was about to go to where his higher masters were imprisoned but then he heard the noise which alerted him that they had been discovered.
"I think we should better go now! It looks like our ploy has been foiled!" the jonin told them quietly as he pried open the cell's door with a crowbar.
After Hotaro had escaped from his quarters, the three of them made a dash to the exit just fast enough to be ahead of Eric and his men.
"As I've thought! Men, we won't stop until those three have been captured!" the evil samurai ordered to them.
"Hime, Hotaro-sama, get ahead of me! I'll try to delay them for as long as I can!" Van yelled to the siblings as they ran in the middle of the town.
"But Van, how about you?" his lady asked him.
"Don't worry about me. I can easily catch up with you in a while." the ninja assured the princess.
Hotaro and Fiona then ran in a place where they thought they would lose Eric. Van, meanwhile, bought them enough time to escape. At that moment, he wanted to get his vengeance on the traitorous samurai but he suppressed his emotions as he realized that it wasn't the proper time to exact what he wanted.
"So are you ready to meet your demise, monkey kid!" Eric mocked to Van.
"Don't feel so bad that you have been fooled by the corpse of a dead macaque, horse-face!" the ninja touted him in return.
The samurai then charged towards him with his sword but the jonin hurled some smoke bombs into the ground while releasing his load of tetsubishi, hence causing confusion amongst the generals. Van then stepped on Eric's head as he snatched some of the soldier's firearms and jumped out of the scene.
However, Kirk fired his rifle towards him and it hit his left upper arm.
"No good. This is what Grandpa warned me about." the ninja reflected as he looked at his injury. "Good thing it was shallow." he muttered as he covered his wound with a piece of fabric he tore from his left sleeve.
"Damn, he escaped again!" Eric thought in rage. "Tell the order guards to close all the routes that cross the town's borders. I'm sure they're still inside the town." the samurai ordered his men.
It didn't take long for Van to catch up with Fiona and Hotaro as they headed towards the poorly patrolled part of the town nearest to the Sawaki woodlands.
"Hime, Hotaro-sama, let's head to that whore house!" the ninja told the deposed daimyo's children.
"Are you a moron, Van-kun?" Hotaro replied to him in disbelief.
"I myself really hate to go in a place such as this but right now, we have no other choice than to hide temporarily in this filthy house. This is the last place they're going to think about our whereabouts." the jonin explained to them.
"Why not go to the forest right now?" the former prince asked him.
"If we do that, two ninja villages will be destroyed and countless ninjas will lose their lives." Van retorted. "It's better to trick them into thinking that we're locked inside this town. It doesn't matter if they closed the town's gates. We ninjas have been trained to move from tree to tree in order to fool opponents or escape them." he added.
"Hotaro nii-sama, Van-kun is right! The Byakutaka and Benitora ninjas are the last warriors the people believe would liberate them from Prozen. But right now, those tribes's armies are totally outnumbered by Prozen's men by twenty five to one. We can't risk the possibility of letting them launch an assault in the Sawaki." Fiona mentioned to her brother.
"Alright." Hotaro sighed as they went inside the red house.
Once they had entered the prostitute house, Van handed to Hotaro the riffles and guns he had snatched from the soldiers. But the two of them were shocked by what they saw next.
"Dr. D, I never expected that I would find you flirting around with these witches!" Hotaro said to a bald man who was with a half-naked magenta-haired harlot.
The old man had been startled as turned around and saw the noble siblings and their jonin guardian.
"Oh look at the deposed prince. Have you come here to make your sister work as a slut in this house." the magenta-haired woman said to Irvine.
"Leena, show them some respect! The two of them are still the real legitimate heir to this town!" Dr. D said to the whore.
"Why should I? Prozen had deposed them so it means that she can now become a harlot just like me!" the prostitute riposted.
Van was then enraged by what she had said about his lady that he suddenly threw a shuriken at her direction.
"Harlot, the next time you'll say that to Fiona-Hime, I won't hesitate to kill you, hag!" the furious jonin replied to her.
Leena suddenly stopped her arrogance as the she heard the ninja's warning to her.
"This is bad! I have to report these to General Eric right away!" the red house manager said to herself as she went to report about the incident in the whore house.
"Dr. D, it's good to see you after so many years!" Fiona said to the old man.
"Hehe, it's been quite a while since I last saw you sibling together. I still remember the time when I helped your father attend to your mother's needs when she was giving to you and your siblings, Fiona hime-sama!" Dr. D said in response.
"Even though he likes to hang out with prostitutes, he still treated me, Rhys and Fiona as if we were his grandchildren." Hotaro said to Van.
"I like Dr. D for serving as a sort of fatherly figure for you and Atsushi-sama. However, I'm disgusted by the harlot he is hanging out with." the jonin replied to the prince.
"It doesn't matter now if he's flirting around with Leena-san or not. I'm sure Dad will be happy to know Dr. D is alive." Fiona mentioned to her fiancé. "Hmmm, Dr. D, do you want to come with us to Van-kun's village? I'm sure you could help us in the coming battle." the princes said to the old craftsman-doctor.
"If this will end up in Prozen being beheaded, then I'll be more than willing to offer my aid!" the old man riposted.
Unknown to them, the prostitution house owner have met General Hannah and her squad some distance away.
"General, the former daimyo's children and their ninja had come to my business place where they are currently threatening of my whores!" the manager reported to the female samurai.
"Don't worry, woman. We'll be there immediately." Hannah answered her.
It hadn't taken long before Hannah's troops, along with Zairin's squad, to reach the whore house where the Lynette siblings and their comrades were.
"Hotaro-sama, we better leave now! I think someone tipped them our location." Van said to his master.
The group then started to run towards the back door as fast as they could when Hannah and her lackeys entered the edifice.
"Men, search this whole house thoroughly! We can't afford to let them escape now." the female general ordered her to her soldiers.
"There they are! Zairin shouted as he pointed the direction which Hotaro and the others has been heading.
"Hayaku!" Van yelled to his companions as the troops got approached them.
Everybody then rushed towards the Sawaki forest as quickly as they could. Leena, however, tripped on a stone in her way as she made a run to the woods.
"Let me help you." Fiona offered to the harlot as she helped her get up her from her fall but because of that delay she had been hit by a poison-tipped arrow on her ankle.
"Hime, are you alright?" Van asked his fiancée.
"My foot, it..it's hurting very much." the princess riposted to him as she saw the cut inflicted by the projectile.
"Hang on me tight. This could get rough." the ninja told her as he leaped into an oak tree and hurled some light bombs towards the soldiers.
"The light from those will blind them for a couple of minutes." the jonin said to his princess as he jumped from tree to tree in order catch up with the others.
Near the town border, Eric and his men were unable to come in time.
"Shit! You let them escape again!" the samurai said furiously to Hannah and Zairin.
"Settle down, General Eric. I shot Fiona-chan with a poisoned arrow on her foot. Although that poison isn't fatal, it cripples the part of the victim which was hit. Besides here, the nearest place they could get the antidote was in the mountains of Niigata. Hence, we could track them down easily since they are going to be slowed down by one of their comrades." Zairin answered to him.
"In that case, I'll proceed with the offensive on Sawaki." the higher general said in return. "I'll take hundred men with me and kill all of the ninjas who will dare oppose us." he added.
Meanwhile, Van and the others have finally reached the main village of the Byakutaka tribe. There, Fiona's condition started to get worse.
"This is serious. Even though the poison is not deadly, it could leave the region of the body where is applied paralyzed." Dr. D said to Van, Hotaro, and Maria.
"Sumanai, Van. Once again, I became a hindrance to you." Fiona called to her shinobi as she lay down in the bed.
"No, Hime. It wasn't your fault. You just show that you're indeed a good leader for your people." the jonin responded as he saw the agony his lady was into. "However, this wouldn't have happened if you haven't come with us in the first place, hag!" Van said furiously to Leena as he turned his head towards the harlot and drew his sword from its scabbard.
The magenta-haired prostitute then took a few steps backed before she stumbled as she felt the ninja was going to kill her but Hotaro stepped between Van and Leena.
"Van-kun, this isn't the right time to blame each other for what had happened to Fiona. Just what do you think would happen to your tribe if you have been the one who was hit by that arrow?" the prince said to the jonin as he tried to calm him down.
"Van-sama, I'm sorry for what had happened. Even though I disrespected Fiona hime-sama and Hotaro-sama when you came there, she still sacrificed her own safety just to save me. I promise I, Ross Leena, will help you in the rebellion you're going to initiate." the whore said to him as an apology.
"Enough about that. Dr. D, is there an antidote for this poison?" Van asked to the old scientist.
"There is. However, the only place where we could obtain the already prepared form was back in Hoshikagami, unless you're willing to travel to Niigata to collect the herb that ill serve as the basic ingredient of the antidote. I could then prepare the concoction quite easily." Dr. D replied.
"Then I'll go there." the jonin mentioned in return when a genin suddenly came rushing towards him.
"Van-dono, our outpost has been attacked by one of the beast's generals." the boy reported to his master.
"Michael, have Melissa warned the Benitora about the demon Eric?" the ninja commander asked his subordinate.
"Hai. Donnie-san and Raven-san are already fighting them off." Michael answered.
"I'll be right there." Van said.
"Van-dono, me and my men will come along with you. I have ordered my chuunins to bring along some of the rifles we have salvaged from our ambushes." Kruger said to his former student.
"Arigato, sensei! Let's now go." the Byakutaka master said to him as they headed towards their tribe's outpost.
"The last time one of our outposts had been attacked was when Maria was still an infant. Back then, Hiltz of the Yamisasori clan from the Yamagata prefecture invaded Niigata. However, Dan-sama destroyed him and crushed them when he tried to exterminate the uprising of the Aoiroh, Yamabuki and Kuroguma tribes." Kruger remembered.
"Van-dono, I think we should ask the help of the three tribes of Niigata in the battle against Prozen. I'm sure that beast would also try to invade Niigata if he managed to take over here in Nagano." the older jonin said to his master.
"Sensei, that's exactly what I would do even before Dr. D said that the main ingredient of the antidote could be found there." Van said politely to his former teacher.
Upon arriving at the battle scene, Kruger's riflemen chuunins shot Eric's snipers with the firearms they had raided from their ambushes. Although many of Prozen's men have been felled, many of Van's subordinates took hits as well and were gravely injured.
"Sensei, I'll handle these swordsmen while you take care of the injured." Van instructed to Kruger.
"You know, we thank you a lot for the gifts you bring to us every time you visit our home." Van said to eight Iteza men as he slashed them with his sword. "How do you feel now that your weapons turned against you?" the ninja mocked to Eric after he subdued the eight samurai.
"Damn you!" the samurai shouted as he tried to slash him.
"Don't worry, Eric. I won't kill them so that I could enjoy torturing their crippled bodies. But that won't be the same for you." the jonin said as he used his ninja-ken to block the attack.
The ninja and the samurai then battled for several minutes, with neither one gaining an upper hand as the two of them seemed to be equal in strength. However, Eric's men were losing strength and numbers faster than the Byakutaka warriors.
"This is getting bad. Only a few of my soldiers are left uninjured." Eric thought. "Retreat!" he ordered to his remaining men in order to avoid failure.
"Don't misconstrue our withdrawal from our fight tonight. Your tribes are no match against the full power of the Iteza clan." the samurai warned to his sworn enemy as they returned to Hoshikagami.
"Don't shoot the purple-haired samurai. He is my quarry." Van commanded his subordinates as they tried to aim at and shoot Eric and the retreating Iteza clansmen.
However, before Van could chase the person he wants to destroy, his attention was caught by one of the Benitora's Chen brothers. One of them was critically injured by a shrapnel and had lost a lot of blood despite Kruger's best efforts.
"Donnie, don't give up. You said that you're going to prove you're more worthy to be our tribe's next leader than me!" Raven said to his twin as he tried to stop his bleeding.
"I guess I can't do that anymore, Joyce…. Please claim the heir of the Benitora leadership from now on." Donnie replied to him. "Joyce, please promise me you would always love Rhys hime-sama just like I do." Donnie requested to Raven.
"Don't say such stupidity, Donnie! You are not going to die!" Raven yelled at his brother.
"Joyce, my life as a ninja has reached its end. But I don't regret dying as one." the jonin said to his twin as he closed his eyes for the last time to meet his Creator. Raven then began crying as he witnessed the death of his twin.
"Eric, you cursed horse-faced junk! Next time we battle, you'll die in hell!" the Byakutaka master yelled in rage.
"Sumanai, Raven-san. If I had only come earlier, we could have saved Donnie." Van said to his comrade as he tried to comfort him.
"Don't be a fool, Van-san! It wasn't your fault that he was killed. Donnie saved me from being hit by that gunshot." Raven replied to the other jonin as he wiped away his tears. "I'm going to send that samurai to hell." he swore to himself as he thought of Kirk's face.
"All we could do now is to bring Donnie back to your village for a proper burial." Van said to his rival.
Raven and his companions headed back to the Benitora village and informed the villagers about the loss of one of their elite jonins.
"Raven, you don't have to be guilty of what has happened to Donnie. He died fighting as a noble ninja." Rhys said to him in condolence.
"I understand. That's why I'll make sure he's death wouldn't be wasted. I'll kill that samurai." the Benitora jonin responded.
"Van-san, whatever you're planning to do, count my tribe in. We won't let Prozen continue on his insanity." Raven said to his rival.
"Understood. You take care of Kirk. I'll ensure that Eric will die in hell." the other jonin riposted.
After Donnie's coffin was buried, Van and the rest of his tribe returned to their main village.
"Nee-san, take care of Hime for me. I'll get the cure for her poisoning." the young man asked his sister.
"Hai, take care. By the way, are you going to visit the Aoiroh, Yamabuki and Kuroguma for assistance?" Maria said to her brother.
"Hai. I'm sure Ruji and my other friends understand the situation here. They won't let someone like Prozen to overthrow Re Mii's family." Van retorted. "One more thing. Please surround the whole village with traps so that the only way to avoid them is by leaping from tree to tree, which is impossible for them." he instructed further to the kunoichi.
"Van, are you going out again?" Fiona asked her lover.
"Don't worry, Hime. I promise I'll return alive. I'm doing this for your sake." the jonin replied as he held her hands with his.
Van then headed to a remote forest in Niigata in search of the antidote herb. He took Zeke with him along with his father's white wolf and a bluish tiger given to him by Donnie when he was eleven years old.
"Zeke, alert me whenever you spot something suspicious from above." Van commanded to his white eagle.
"Jiku, Caesar, always be on your guard. Who knows if we're being trailed." he said to the wolf and tiger respectively.
Van's voyage took about four days before they reached their destination. Upon finding the antidote herbs on mountainside grassland, he collected as much as he could right away. What he never expected was that he would also meet there one of the persons he needed to talk to. The young man sitting on a nearby rock was the heir to the Aoiroh tribe's leadership.
"Van-kun, is that you?" a reddish brown-haired ninja asked the Byakutaka leader in Echigo dialect.
"Ruji! How have you been?" he replied to the other ninja.
"It's been long time since we last saw each other. Melissa once told me that you have already taken over the Byakutaka leadership." the Aoiroh jonin greeted to him. "So what have brought you here?" he asked.
"I came here mainly to gather some of herbs needed to cure Fiona-Hime's poisoning but I'll also ask you something." Van mentioned to Ruji.
"What is it?" the other jonin questioned.
"You already know what happened to Saitama five years ago. One of the Lynette family's samurai defected and allied himself to Prozen, which led to the death of my parents, sabotage of the Lynette family's army and the downfall of Atsushi-sama. We need your tribe's help, along with Yamabuki and Kuroguma's since even when my tribe and Benitora's forces combine, were still outnumbered thirty two to one." the Byakutaka master told him.
"I understand. Even the daimyo here is alarmed by the size of Prozen's army." Ruji answered to Van. "So how many men do you need?" he asked to him.
"I don't know but if we combined the available warriors from our allies' tribes with our own, it would be about five or six or seven of that demon's men for every one of us available ninjas." Van responded.
"Well, I'll send some messengers to Seijuro and Rosso's tribes." Ruji riposted. "Why don't you rest for a while and discuss what you're planning to do later on. You and your pets seemed tired." he offered to him.
"Arigato, Ruji of the blue wolf." his companion replied.
XOXOXOXOXO
(Note: Van referred to Aoiroh when he thanked Ruji in this instance. The name of Ruji's tribe here, Aoiroh, literally means Blue Wolf).