General Dokoku was mad about the Shinkengers having a new member. Much to General's annoyance, the new member was another Shinken Red, the one he hated the most. The General blamed Corroder, ordered him to figure out who was this new Shinkenger and do something about it.

Hence, the ghost figured out the identity of this new Shinken Red and confronted the samurais after sending the Killer Droid to assault them. "A challenge..." Chiaki echoed. "That's right..." Corroder confirmed before snickering at Takeru and the others.

"Tell us right away...your challenge" Hiro demanded and the enemy behaved properly. "Indeed. Very well. To be specific, I am addressing this challenge to the two Shinken Reds" Corroder stated. "For the existing Shinken Red, you will fight your Gedo self to the death. As for you, Tarious...I meant new Shinken Red, you will fight your friends. Both of you must take your respective challenge...alone!"

"Alone?!" Kotoha exclaimed. "That's too much!" Mako protested. "So what? I was the one who decide the challenge, not you guys" Corroder retorted. "If we say no?" Ryunosuke questioned threateningly.

"If even only one of you Shinken Reds refused to accept this challenge, you won't have any chance after this. More like, I will make those GranSazers commit suicide and you won't even see their corpses. Because I will sank them deep in Sanzu River" Corroder blackmailed and laughed sinisterly.

Hearing this makes the samurais gasped very shockingly. If Hiro or Takeru, not to mention both reject the challenge, Ran and the others will commit suicide. Worst, their corpses will be trapped in Sanzu River, a world where no living humans can ever entered unless they fall to Gedo while being alive by leaving the path of the righteous people like Fuwa Juzo and Usukawa Dayu.

How come Hiro knew about this? Takeru did told the bluenette that Kotoha's soul was once eaten by an Ayakashi called Utakasane just the day before her birthday. She and other 53 victims will die in one day and the samurais have to defeat that Ayakashi before that. However, Utakasane proclaimed that he refused to come out from Sanzu River ever again after returning there.

They tried to stop the Ayakashi but failed. For the samurai lord and his other retainers, it was truly painful to lose Kotoha as she was indeed too humble and kind nearly in every aspect for her own good. In fact, Kotoha never realised that herself is more than what she thought.

The others except Genta had decided to fall into Gedo at first with the intention of saving her after knowing how to enter the Sanzu River. Luckily, Genta arrived with a better solution that is by completing Ebi Origami since he implanted the Ebi character on Utakasane and also understood the nature of Origami and Mojikara. That is how they succeed in drawing out Utakasane and saved Kotoha.

Hearing this blackmailing truly ignites the anger within every samurai. "What's that...?" Chiaki snarled. "You're just playing dirty!" Genta accused. "Coward!" Ryunosuke scorned. "Are you too scared to fight fair and square?!"

"Say all you want! I don't care a bit!" Corroder proclaimed. The ghost outstretched his right hand, in a gesture similar to poor beggars begging money for their own living towards Hiro and Takeru. "Now, what's your answer, Shinken Reds?" he questioned.

Both Hiro and Takeru had been glaring while grunting at Corroder throughout his babblings. Their eyes indeed thrown daggers of anger and hatred yet both were speechless. Closing their eyes, they began to argue with their own thoughts.

Simultaneously, both had their eyes lid lifted after thinking hard about their decision. "All right...we accept your challenge" Hiro and Takeru said in unison. Their tone and the look in their eyes were pretty resolute.

Both of them had decided their resolves to accept the challenge. "Very well...In a week from now, I want you two to go to Mount Kurogane. Both of you have to be at there by 9 a.m. sharp" Corroder informed.

"Let me warn you again, if the two of you didn't come to that place alone or late by 1 second, the same consequences of not accepting the challenge will be applied" he warned. Afterwards, the ghost then floated into the air and disappeared. However, none of the Shinkengers, not even Corroder noticed that a shadow was spying them from somewhere nearby.

Putting that matter aside, Takeru and Hiro each began practising their swordplay and Mojikara from day to day ever since to prepare themselves for the challenge. The bluenette himself did not interfere with any of Kuroko's house chores.

For him, the one week preparation is important to improve himself and he must be firm with his decision. Same goes for Takeru. None of the retainers, not even Hikoma or Genta disturbed their lord or Hiro from training. The only thing Ryunosuke and the others did were giving idea or sparring with those two.

Though at one evening before the challenge's date, Ryunosuke and the others began to worry about both Hiro and Takeru. How come they are not worried? Those two overexerted themselves from doing those trainings.

Other than eating, bathing and sleeping for only a few hours, they do nothing but training nearly all day. Though, only Takeru is practising at the mansion's garden while Hiro is practising somewhere else.

The others are currently in the common room, still worrying about those two. They can hear Takeru's voice in practicing kendo. "Those two...are still practicing like that from the first day even though tomorrow is the challenge" Mako muttered.

"It cannot be help if they are like that. I am like that too before the Kabuki show I was so nervous that I practiced all night long" Ryunosuke admitted. "Will those two be alright...? They're going to need all the rest they had for tomorrow" Chiaki expressed out his worriedness.

"One thing bothers me, Lord-sama and Hiro-kun seems to struggle and hesitated during their practices. I wonder why?" Kotoha asked concernedly. "I think it's because both of them lack the confidence to face the challenge and resolve to face the consequences" Ryunosuke deduced. "Lack of confidence?" Genta echoed.

"Let's take Kabuki performance as an example. In the performance, the performers had to dance and move their bodies accordingly to the rhythm of the music. For expert performers like me, I can definitely tell if I or other performers did perfectly well during practices. If not, we won't take the risk of performing in real stage because we'll definitely mess up a lot and humiliate ourselves in front of other experts. The same goes for what happen every day or what we face" Ryunosuke explained.

"But! Not all people including Take-chan are perfect or prepared enough for everything" Genta argued. "True. But what's important is that they must have the confidence to face the challenge and resolve to accept the consequences bounded to happen. Right now, Lord and Hiro still didn't have a stable confidence and resolve" Ryunosuke pointed out.

Meanwhile...

Hiro in his white kendogi and blue hakama, is practising his swordplay using Shinkenmaru, fighting an invisible within the mountain. The ground there was pretty messy due to very many scattering dried brown, golden or red leaves around.

Though Hiro did not know, the place he was at was completely guarded with the kanji '守', which means protect. In other words, it is not possible for Gedoshu to come there from the crevices nearby. While practicing, the bluenette suddenly stopped swinging his sword in midway on a whim.

His current facial expression reveals everything and that he is actually hesitating. Tomorrow, I will fight everyone...but, will I be able to save them? Hiro wondered. Then he stared at the secret disc equipped to the Shinkenmaru. It was white and written with the kanji '反', which means 'Resist'.

Takeru-san told me that he used this character disc to save the manipulated Ryunosuke-san. While that Lord-sama knew the fact that infusing human with Mojikara is killing, Ryunosuke-san was a tough opponent for him to find a chance to infuse it.

I know those facts but will they survive and regain their senses if I infuse the Mojikara from this disc...? More like is it enough to save them with just this disc? In the first place, will I be able to gamble this battle with their lives on the line?

Soon becoming so frustrated of not getting the best solution, Hiro then laid himself on the floor while gazing at the skies. The ground will indeed dirtied his white kendogi and blue hakama but the Kuroko can wash them soon enough or get replacements for him.

The sun is up but it is already going down by more than 140 degrees and slowly will hide itself into the landscape. The not so tenderly and violently wind blows, causing the leaves to fly and a few did land on the bluenette who is thinking about Takeru.

Takeru-san, he predicted that one or more of his retainers may fall into the enemy's hand or get killed if they got involved. That's why he wanted to fight alone and get himself in danger from the very beginning.

Everyone else did told me this, Takeru-san ordered them to protect themselves instead of him. He don't want to burden them by having themselves acting as his shields. His concerns about them makes him resolved to be stronger so that he won't to get in their way during battles. I can tell that he was definitely resolute on that.

Come to think of it, my current resolve to be a Shinkenger is more halfway than before...No...From the beginning, maybe it was that way...I am truly a bummer isn't it? For not realising it soon enough. The bluenette thought honestly and closed his eye lids. I guess I'm not cut out for this, not as a Shinkenger, GranSazer or a friend.

Later, he quickly opened up his eyes, get on his feet and had his Shinkenmaru laid on his shoulder. Reason? He suddenly heard footsteps approaching to him, which the bluenette can think it was an enemy, be it Gedoshu or human trying to kill him.

Looking to the direction of his instinct, he saw a woman stood right before him, probably younger than Kotoha but older than himself. She wore a pale blue, flower-decorated kimono and a pale brown hakama. Her eyes' colour is probably similar to Hiro himself, which is dark brown. She had black hair tied in short ponytail.

Her facial expression seems so stern that it reminds Hiro of how serious Ran can be when she was furious. "Who are you?" Hiro asked. The woman did not even reply but instead took out a familiar transformation device, which is a Shodophone.

"Shodophone?" Hiro echoed. The bluenette then was astounded when she wrote the kanji '火' and transformed into a feminine version of Shinken Red since she had a skirt added to the garment.

Taking out her Shinkenmaru equipped with Common Disc, this female Shinken Red pointed her katana towards the bluenette. The bluenette stood up and took out his Shodophone while did not bother to ask any questions because he knew she will not answer them. So talking is not needed, huh?

"Ippitsu Sojo!" Hiro wrote the kanji '火' and transformed into Shinken Red. He still makes the same stance just like before, resting his wielded Shinkenmaru on his right shoulder while holding it with both hands. The wind began to roar violently, causing the leaves flying into the air for a while.

The moment the violent wind stops blowing, both Shinken Reds charged towards each other and clashes with their swords a few times. Who is this woman? Why she transformed into Shinken Red? Hiro thought and continued clashing against her. Afterwards, a vision of that female Shinken Red flashed into Hiro's mind.

The scene took placed at a certain part of the city and a crisis is occurring there. People are running away from the gang of Nanashi who are attacking them. Afterwards, the Gedoshu halted when they saw the Kuroko were in the way as the black supporting helpers of Shiba household set up the usual white banners.

The samurais were then revealed to be hiding behind them. It was that same woman with her retainers. Surprisingly, the retainers were Ryunosuke and the others, excluding Genta. Afterwards, they uses their Shodophone to transform into Shinkengers.

Then two Kuroko, both slightly dressed differently than the usual Kuroko approaches that female Shinken Red. One opens up her buckle, took out the Common Disc to equip it onto Shinkenmaru and the other one handed the sword for the female Shinken Red before she takes it.

"Shinken Red! Shiba Kaoru!" the Shinken Red lift up her Shinkenmaru high and behind. Then she brought the sword towards herself, with the tip facing upwards and slowly point it forward. Afterwards, she stab the ground with Shinkenmaru although not touching it. The vision ended just like that.

She is...the one Takeru mentioned about. Princess Shiba Kaoru. Hiro deduced. The news about the Princess being the true Shiba head is an utmost secret, no matter what. If the Gedoshu, particularly Chimatsuri Dokoku know about this, the world is over. Takeru's voice echoed inside Hiro's mind. If this Shinken Red is that Princess…I can't afford to let my guard down. Hiro reminded himself and proceeded clashing against Shinken Red (Kaoru).

15 minutes later…

Shinken Red (Hiro) fell to his knees and reverted back to his human form. The bluenette is panting with sweats covering almost his entire body while still resting the Shinkenmaru on his shoulder. "S-Strong…" Hiro muttered. "I guess it's to be expected that I'll lose this fight"

"I can tell from clashing our swords…You're hesitating" Kaoru began to speak. Hearing this makes the bluenette to look at the female Shinken Red who then reverted to her human form, Shiba Kaoru.

"Yes…That's right…" Hiro reluctantly acknowledged and lowered his head. "In a battle, no matter who your opponents are, one have to fight them to your fullest, even if they are your friends. If you even hesitated for even a moment, you'll get yourself killed" Kaoru reminded. "I know…but…" Hiro stuttered.

"Fear is the greatest enemy. If you become afraid, or lose confidence…you will lose to an enemy that you could normally beat. It's expected that lives were put on the line in battle and not all of them can be saved. However, your feelings and willingness to wager their lives decide whether you can save at least one or none. The way you are now, you won't be able to save even one live" Kaoru pointed out.

"If you have to make a decision that leads to regret, pick the one you would regret less. There's no shame in having a halfway resolution because it might be more than enough to make the impossible possible. I'm sure your friends wouldn't want to see you like this. What would they say if they saw you now?"

The words truly hit the spot and Hiro had just realised how pathetic he is currently. That's right...Ran-san and the others wouldn't want to see me like this. They will definitely say the same thing to me. Hiro thought. The bluenette then stood up, no longer resting the sword on his shoulder and look into the eyes of the princess.

Kaoru can tell well from the way Hiro stared at her. The bluenette was no longer daunted by his own doubts. He believed that no matter what happened, everyone would and eventually accept his decision.

"Nice eyes...You're good to handle the challenge tomorrow" said Kaoru. "Yes..." Hiro replied. "Before you leave, I have something to give you..." Kaoru stated and the bluenette was a little surprised.

Sometimes later...

The bluenette bowed his head and takes his leave to the mansion. Kaoru watched the bluenette leaving until he is no longer visible in her eyes. Afterwards, an old man, wearing something similar to Hikoma appeared and approaches Kaoru.

"Princess, are you sure about doing this for that kid? It's not even your problem and he didn't even carry the name of the Shiba family in the first place. To have someone like that becoming a Shinken Red is a total disgrace, even worse than having him to become the shadow" the old man protested.

"Don't worry, Tanba. Even if this Shinken Red didn't carry the Shiba family name, I can tell that he carried the clan's bloodline and is my descendant in the distant future" Kaoru explained. "And I do this because of my curiosity about him being Shinken Red"

Next day...

Hiro and Takeru both had arrived at the location assigned to them sharp at 9 a.m. and they were not accompanied by anyone else. Corroder, who was there earlier than them noticed that both had arrived on time.

"Nice, you both obeyed the conditions given" Corroder commented. "Come, my slaves!" the ghost summoned Gedo Shinken Red and the 11 GranSazers. The Shinken Reds' opponents appeared and stood right before their very eyes.

(Play music: Shinkenger OST 'With these brushes, we report to the Emperor [Ippitsu Sojo]')

"Gedo Shinken Red, I will definitely defeat and surpassed you!" Takeru declared. Ran-san, everyone, your lives...entrust them to me. Hiro said in his mind. "Shodophone! Ippitsu Sojo!" Both of them took out their Shodophones, set them to brush mode and wrote the kanji '火'.

Hiro and Takeru each transformed into Shinken Red. "Shinken Red! Oozora Hiro!" Hiro pulls out his Shinkenmaru and makes an uppercut slash. Then he rested the sword on his right shoulder and makes a forward punch with his left fist.

"The same! Red! Shiba Takeru!" Takeru draws out his Shinkenmaru and pierce it forward while bending. Afterwards with his usual pose, he stood straight and single-handily rested his sword on his right shoulder.

"Shinkenger! Going Forth!" Both Shinken Reds slashed forward and make their respective stance. Afterwards, they both charged towards their opponents in front of them.

Sorry for the cliff-hanger, from today and the next two weeks, I will be on temporary hiatus. In other words, I won't work much and very little on the next chapter, not until those two weeks are over, at least but it depends on the current situation.

Like I mentioned at the end of the previous chapters, I got tests, assignments and projects ongoing with their respective datelines approaching. Borrow your saying in one of your work's review, GenesisXYZ patient is a virtue, my friends.