Half an hour later, Kaede finds a way down into one of the lava diversion tunnels. Confident the tunnel will allow her to get out of Yamakasai without discovery, she descends into the tunnel itself. Once in the tunnel, the pika decides to rest again, her right leg burning in pain. But she's unable to relax, as the instant she sits down, the compact communication device Arata Bando gave her vibrates urgently.

"Of all the times…" Kaede sighs as she pulls the device from her pocket and answers the call. "Hello?"

"I trust I am not contacting you at an inopportune moment," Arata Bando greets.

Kaede's blood turns to ice briefly. "N‑No, not at all!" she stammers.

"You sound nervous," Arata observes.

"I wasn't expecting a call," Kaede explains.

"It's been longer than desired since your previous report," Arata replies.

"I'm in an active warzone," Kaede informs.

"You're in a secure location," Arata states with certainty.

"Well… yes, I am," Kaede confirms.

Arata doesn't reply.

"I guess now's as good a time as any to make a report," Kaede decides. "The Kage Byōgenkin worked well for a long time, but it wasn't strong enough to force the lynx and the badger to kill their friends. However, for the lynx, it worked long enough to mortally wound one of them."

"This is mixed news," Arata replies. "It appears I still have a lot of work to do to perfect my creation. Thank you for your work."

Arata closes the connection before Kaede can react.

"Well, that was rude," Kaede sighs, closing the device.

The device starts beeping.

"What the…?" Kaede asks, opening the device again.

The screen reads ++Self‑destruct in 3 seconds++.

"Shit!" Kaede hurls the device as far as she can, then huddles down, covering her head with her arms.

The device emits one last long beep, then falls silent.

Kaede cautiously uncurls, wary the device may yet explode. However, a few moments later, she feels confident enough to approach with caution. Eventually, she reaches the device, and crouches beside it to find it's simply smoking. "That's a bit of a let‑down," she sighs.

The device suddenly explodes, knocking Kaede onto her tail and lightly singeing her shins.

"Ow," Kaede mutters, blinking furiously to clear her eyes of dust.

In his ship on the border of the Midorioka and the Hokorioka, Arata Bando reclines in his chair and closes his eyes in thought.

++I take it the news was less than great?++ his green‑and‑black cephalopod robot asks, appearing beside its master.

"The news is as expected," Arata replies, his eyes remaining closed.

++You had hoped for better results.++

"Obviously. But it's not a problem. I would not want to rush my revenge and fail."

++There are alternatives to using the Shade Virus.++

"Almost all of which require an army. I could try and build one here, but after that idiot dragon's attempts, that possibility must unfortunately be ruled out."

++I didn't know she had visited the Gotoshi.++

"Not her. The other one."

++Him? He survived your attack all those years ago?++

"Yes, him."

++Where is he now?++

"Rotting in Shang Tu's dungeon."

++Maybe we could use him?++

"I have considered that option, and deemed it a waste of time and resources."

++We may be left with no other option.++

"There's always another option."

As if on cue, Arata's computer beeps, indicating the arrival of a new message. Arata opens his eyes and the message.

"Like I said, there's always another option," Arata smiles menacingly. "Find me everything you can on a machine known by the name Bakunawa."

++At once, sir.++

Two more messages arrive, Arata opening them immediately. "Also, find me everything you can on Corazon Tea, and the airship known as the Sigwada."

Deep within Kasai‑dojo, Tsubaki Moto is pinned down in a corridor. With no‑one to help her or provide a diversion or distraction, advancing is proving almost impossible. The bat knows what he's doing. I'm going to need to get creative about this.

Tsubaki checks her stock of flashbang grenades. Two… Not going to be enough. Knowing her current tactic can no longer work, the tanuki looks around for an alternative. All I see is an air vent… It's so undignified. But it's the only option.

Backing away carefully from the waiting Kasai fire‑teams, Tsubaki crouches by the vent cover and makes quick work of removing it. Discarding the cover, Tsubaki slides her muscular frame awkwardly into the vent. Shit, this is cramped. How do others do this so‑ Oh, yeah, they're usually smaller than me. Now, where to go…

In his sanctum, Hideyoshi Takenaka receives an alert. This is interesting: she's in the dojo, alone. Let's see what we can do about that. Hideyoshi turns to the map of his dojo and analyses it for a few moments. Yes, that will work. Hideyoshi then turns back to the radio and sends a series of messages to the fire‑teams and units deployed close to Tsubaki's location.

An hour later, Tsubaki reaches a dead end. Shit. No choice but to drop down into… wherever I am now. The tanuki backtracks a few yards to find a grate, which she removes. After a thorough check to ensure the coast is clear, Tsubaki drops into the room below.

"Freeze!"

Six rifles are aimed directly at Tsubaki's head.

"Shit," the tanuki sighs, holding her hands up in surrender.

In his sanctum, Hideyoshi receives a message. Excellent. One threat down.

Two hours after Arata's last message, Kaede emerges from the tunnel that has led her safely outside Yamakasai. Electing to rest on a nearby flat boulder, she's surprised to find her off‑road car has been repaired and moved close to the tunnel entrance. What on Avalice?

Ignoring the pain in her leg, Kaede returns to the car and unpacks the medical kit. A few minutes later, with her bullet wound cleaned, disinfected, and properly bandaged, Kaede climbs into the driver's seat. Who brought my car here? And where did they go? Kaede yawns deeply. That can wait: I need to sleep.

Kaede moves the car into the end of the tunnel, parking just deep enough inside to be completely hidden in the shadow, then curls up on the back seat under a blanket and falls asleep.

Chika Ueno enters the Kasai dungeon and halts in front of Tsubaki's cell, where the disarmed tanuki is sat with her back to the otter. "You should have known you'd fail," Chika greets.

"I have not failed," Tsubaki growls in response, refusing to turn and face Chika. "I am merely delayed."

"It's only a matter of time before we find and capture your co‑conspirator," Chika continues, unperturbed. "Once we have Kaede, we will expose your lies and deception, and end the war. Then, both of you will be incarcerated in an all‑new high security facility guarded by members of all five dojos and soldiers from all five cities, where any attempt to escape will be fatal. If you're lucky, you'll get to live your full life in prison."

"And if I'm unlucky?" Tsubaki asks.

"We'll let Hanna Skarlett decide your fate," Chika promises. "It really wasn't a smart idea to piss her off. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's the reincarnation of an ancient legend."

"Preposterous," Tsubaki spits with derision. "You know as well as I do those legends are just stories to scare children into obedience."

"Obviously," Chika agrees. "Still, I wouldn't want to be the one to test whether it's true or not."

"You lack courage," Tsubaki mocks. "Not like that's a surprise."

"Shouting at an akuma isn't courageous: it's idiotic," Chika corrects. "True courage is to watch your home be destroyed and your life is turned to ash, and to not only continue to fight, but also talk freely with the person responsible."

"If it wasn't for the bars, I'd have already killed you," Tsubaki growls.

"You're the one refusing to look at me," Chika replies calmly.

Tsubaki stands and turns to face Chika in one smooth movement. "You were saying?" she growls intimidatingly.

But Chika isn't fazed. "You know why I'm not scared of you?" she asks. "Because it's all theatre. You waste so much time and energy on making sure your enemy knows they've lost, you snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."

"Next time I won't make that mistake," Tsubaki vows.

"Yes, you will," Chika corrects. "You always do."

Tsubaki watches Chika leave. The mistake is yours, otter. Next time you see me, I will have already killed you.