Plans to Decisions

Kannazuka.

A location that contained mountainous terrain with high steep cliffs, east to that of Yashiori Island.

To the folks of Inazuma, there was a legend that its name meant 'the hill where no gods reside'. Whether or not this was true, was not a fact that even the people of Inazuma were certain of. However, it was currently the disputed territory that had been fought between the Shogunate and the Resistance for the past half a year.

And amongst the areas in Kannazuka was Tatarasuna, a ring of islands surrounded by jagged, rocky terrain. What was more revealing was what laid within it, that being the Mikage Furnace, for it was the largest smelting facility in all the islands of Inazuma.

Inazuma's famed Jade Steel was produced in this facility, and still was being done so despite the civil unrest that had occurred in Inazuma.

Though there were rough and jagged cliffs all around, they were interconnected to one another, whether high or low through the many wooden bridges that had been built for. The bridges all led to one specific area, and it was right in the exact middle of Tatarasuna.

The most striking thing about it was the fact that it was a huge mass of land levitating in midair with nothing supporting its flotation, alongside the bridges spiraling around it for the purpose of easier movement, with carts filled with ores on almost every corner.

Not only that, multiple buildings also laid on these wooden surfaces, with most of them being at the very top of this large piece of land.

Some served the same function, others different. However, the people that stood in that location were not the usual workers busying themselves in the production of Jade Steel, but hundreds of soldiers belonging to the Shogun's army walking about, moving purposely yet aimlessly at the same time, unable to find what they were looking for.

And within one of said buildings, General Gorou of the Resistance hid himself there, alone amongst the sea of enemies.

The reason he was by himself, and not back in camp on Fort Fujitou with the rest of the Resistance was due to their last battle with the Shogun's army, in that they were completely blindsided by the enemy.

During that specific confrontation, it was clear to him that their side were fighting a losing battle, and as general, Gorou decided that the best chance to escape the worst scenario was to make himself a clear target for the Shogunate to focus on.

It wasn't hard to catch their attention. After all, he was not only a general of the Resistance, but also possessed a Vision that the Shogunate had been collecting ever since the decree was in effect..

His attempt had been successful in diverting the enemy's attention on him, giving a chance for the others to go back to camp and recuperate.

In these past few days, he had been running and evading attacks for as long as he could, while whittling down some of their numbers at the same time.

But in his efforts to do so, the blood had gone into his head as his thoughts were solely on trying to fight, causing him to be too focused on his skirmishes, not so much on trying to find the most rational way to escape.

Thus, his movement on Kannazuka had ultimately resulted in him arriving at the Mikage Furnace, essentially trapping himself inside it, with the soldiers of the Shogunate who ran amok, searching for his current location.

At present, Gorou found himself trying to decide on what was the best course of action.

He could try the more direct approach of fighting his way out, but even someone like him would find it impossible to leave unscathed, or worse.

This was because the Shogun's Army were not only standing near the furnace, but were spread out in the general location of Tatarasuna, meaning he had to consider the number of opponents that needed to be dealt with as well.

The other option was to escape while hiding himself in the darkness, but the sounds of his footsteps could still easily give away his location, even with the drops of rain blocking some of it out. This was especially the case once he stepped onto the wooden surfaces of the bridges connecting to one another.

If he were to be discovered on such a narrow and uneven path, then it would be all too easy for them to finish him off due to his limited maneuverability.

Vision or not, this situation was not in his favor.

So, he continued to bide his time, doing his best to escape their sights while formulating a plan of escape.

So far, he could not think of one that could guarantee his escape back to camp. At least, not one without him alerting the opposition of his presence.

Sooner or later however, he would have to come to a decision, even if the outcome was one that could result in his end.

Still, it was better to at least dwindle the enemy's forces if the worst situation were to come to be.

But just as he dwelled onto the possibilities, he felt something moved on his person, and swiftly grabbed ahold of the source.

It was a small yet rectangular box, one that was given by his commander, which was of course the leader of the Resistance, Sangonomiya Kokomi.

What mattered was not the box, but the implications from it.

To him, it was a signal that Her Excellency was now aware of the situation he was in.

He prepared himself as he opened the lid of the box, only to be greeted by the sight of a plain fish holding onto a note as it bit the edges of the paper.

For many others, this would be a strange scene, but for someone like Gorou, he was more than used to it already.

Taking it gently into his hands, he then read the contents of the note carefully.

He was right that Her Excellency was more than privy to his current predicament, and the letter was to inquire him of the specifics of his situation, ranging from his whereabouts, the numbers of enemy and his physical condition.

He was by no means an excellent strategist as he preferred thinking in the heat of the moment, but he did not need to as he had absolute faith in Her Excellency's strategies, and surmised that she was already forming a plan in regards to his situation, and needed every last details in order to finalize them.

And so he did just that, writing at the back of the paper with as much information he could cram into the blank spaces before handing it back to the little messenger.

As the messenger disappeared, Gorou closed the lid of the box and continued to hide himself, only this time with a renewed sense of vigor, knowing that his situation would not only turn around, but was more than likely a counterattack on the Shogun's Army.

He would be as ready as Her Excellency needed him to be when the time came, and carry them to the best of his ability.

"So... this is the place where that Gorou person is at?" Goku questioned, observing from afar, with Kokomi standing to his right.

Currently, they were standing on the soft sands of Nazuchi Beach, a strip of land that connected Yashiori Island to Kannazuka.

After Kokomi received the letter back from Gorou, something that Goku was bewildered at first as he did not think a fish could work as a messenger, she had stared at it for several minutes in silence, only to then furiously write on a new paper with a set of instructions, before sending it to Gorou once more.

It was only after that did she relayed the information to the rest of the Resistance, and laid out her plans in detail. After doing so, they all set out to the location Gorou was at, which had taken a full day of marching for them to make it here, and night had already fallen by the time they had arrived.

"That is correct. While Tatarasuna is wide in terms of area, Gorou would still have difficulty in escaping by himself, given the amount of Shogunate soldiers he is surrounded by. The best possible strategy would be to create a path for him to return to."

"Then why aren't we any closer to the place then, isn't it gonna be hard for you to see from this far away?" he pointed out, squinting his eyes as they were quite a bit away from the designated battlefield.

And that was the truth, for the rest of the Resistance were already moving towards locations that had been designated by Kokomi, with groups of them separating once they arrived at the entrances to Tatarasuna.

Each squad had their own roles in the coming battle, and she had already given specific commands for what part they each played in.

She merely stared at the backs of her soldiers, "It's simpler for me to observe from this location, rather than somewhere else."

Of course, one could argue the buildings that were placed near the entrances would be more suitable for her to observe the battlefield, but she needed to cover all her bases when the fighting began.

"Eh? You can see that far away Kokomi? I can sense a lot of people around here, but I'm still having trouble trying to tell how many there are."

Ever since he had arrived here, his ability to sense ki had not exactly been as sharp as he was used to. Sure, he was still able to detect the presence of individuals nearby to a point that was still more accurate than simply relying on his eyes, but for distances that stretched beyond landmass, he was as blind as anyone else here. He could sense them, but it was more like a vague estimate than an accurate one he had been used to for the past few years.

The fact that this overbearing presence he noticed every time he focused his senses did not help either.

"In a sense, I am seeing with my eyes, but only from here can I do so. If you want to see as well, you can try creating a deep hole in the sand."

Goku did not question it, as he was curious on how exactly she would achieve such a thing, and quickly threw a punch right onto the sand, creating a palm-sized hole on the ground between them.

And just as he released his fist from it. Kokomi swiftly controlled the drops of rain around them, forming it into a ball of water before dropping it into the small pit.

Moments after, Goku saw something in the reflection of water, and immediately recognized the scenery in it, as it was the image of the very same soldiers he had been walking with just a few moments ago.

"So you can just see things like this huh? Kinda the same as how I can sense other people around," Goku said, comparing his abilities to hers.

Typically, she did not need to exert herself in order to see such sights from the reflections in the water, but in doing so, others could not see the same scenes as she did.

It was certainly no impossibility to allow others to do so as well, but it did require a bit of her concentration to do so.

"Mhm, it's how I observe the battlefield. It also allows me to assess the situation from a wider perspective, and communicating with each platoon in the heat of battle is no trouble to me either."

In the beginning of this civil war, there were many things she had not been accustomed to. A technical know-how in war strategy did not automatically mean she was good at commanding others in battle, but she was able to grow accustomed to it throughout the course of this civil war.

Yet here she was, already used to the scene of a battlefield despite not always actively participating in them.

"Still, fighting at night? Wouldn't it be hard to see, especially since it's raining and all?"

For Goku, it wasn't that difficult to fight in such conditions, having weathered through situations like these numerous times already in his adventures, but he definitely didn't have the best of time either before he learned how to sense life energy.

To his question, she had but only one response, "The enemy's spirit is keenest in the morning; by noonday it has begun to flag; and in the evening, their mind is bent only on returning to camp. Although we are hindered as well by the poor visibility, the Shogun's Army will be much more affected as they will not be expecting a counterattack so quickly."

Goku nodded at the explanation, thinking that it was a reasonable assumption.

It was kinda like him with food. He wasn't exactly at his full strength either whenever he had an empty stomach, which had definitely happened before.

"Now, watch it all with your own eyes Goku...of what has been transpiring for the past months here in Inazuma."

Unknowingly, Goku tightened his right fist at her words. There was just something about it that annoyed him to some degree.

To only just stand around and watch, could he really do that the entire time during this battle?

The atmosphere around the Mikage Furnace was dreary, to say the least. Though there were no sounds of conflict that spurred on, many of the Shogun's Army were simply done with the day's events.

Some were tired from the day's search, others trying to distract themselves from the tedium, only few were still focused on the task at hand.

Even if the individual they were looking for possessed a Vision, it was reasonable on their part to assume that the general of the Resistance was at his wits' end, and even if he did show up from his hiding spot, he would have no chance of winning against all of them in a confrontation.

After all, the rest of the Resistance had already retreated, so the possibility of them coming to his rescue in this short time frame was close to none.

It was only a matter of time.

Just as the many soldiers of the Shogunate decided to take a break, they began to hear a faint noise echoing the area.

At first, most of them had thought it was simply the sound of raindrops, but the intensity of the rain had not increased, so that definitely wasn't the reason.

As moments passed, the noise became louder and louder, until it caught the attention of almost all of the Shogunate soldiers in the area, especially the ones that were at ground level. It was clear to them it was the beating sound of drums being repeated over and over.

Although they were now aware of the noise, the soldiers did not move towards it, as most did not know what to make of it.

That was, until something shot out from one of the gorges in Tatarasuna.

Sparks of light flew into the open as it shone in the darkness, but it lasted only for a moment as it quickly fizzled out due to the rain.

Before the Shogunate soldiers could process what they just saw, dozens of more lights were shot into the area, every one of them hitting nothing but the air before landing on the ground, the only indication of its purpose gone the moment the light was snuffed out.

To many of them, they only became more confused, even if they tried understanding it to the best of their abilities. Though many were confused, one of the men on the ground level was able to see the shadow of the individual shooting the lights just now.

Realizing who the perpetrators were, he yelled out to the rest of the soldiers near him, "It's the Sangonomiya rebels! They're here!"

As if it was a response to the man, the beats of the drums grew ever louder, alongside the accompanying noises of horns being blown with it.

One of the commanding officers was not deterred by this tactic, as he yelled out at the top of his lungs, "Attack! There can't be that many of them! It's just a futile attempt to save their general!"

The soldiers all rushed into the direction the sparks had come from, with the officer leading them into one of the gorges of Tatarasuna.

Once they arrived at the intersection, they turned to the right as sparks flew once more from that direction, catching their attention.

Though they were hit, the Shogunate soldiers shrugged off the harmless firework as they marched towards the source, now fully aware of the rebels' location.

They were prepared to attack once they reached the other end of the gorge, only to be met by a barricade line blocking their way forward.

It was not impossible to go around it, but there were Resistance members awaiting them from the gaps of the space between the entrance and the barricade, each one of them armed with a weapon.

However, the rebels did not initiate the exchange, instead waited for their response, or rather, anticipating for something else to occur first.

"Argh!"

One soldier in the back of the group screamed out, startling the rest of them.

As they turned, they were met with the sight of another group of rebels glaring at them, the man that had just screamed covering his wound as blood dripped from it.

Unlike the ones at the front however, they did not wait for the Shogunate soldiers, as they simply let out a war cry while they rushed towards the enemy.

Due to the unforeseen situation, some backed away in the confusion, only to be struck from behind as well, for they had momentarily forgotten the ones at the entrance of the gorge.

It was only then that a realization had set in for most of the soldiers that were present, as they were attacked from both the front and the back.

They were tricked.

Goku's eyes remained glued to the reflection in the water, observing the battle that was transpiring.

To say he was impressed would be an understatement, as even as he had arrived here, he did not think the items that Kokomi had ordered to be brought along would be used in such a way, and whatever they were doing right now was certainly effective.

Even so, the fight bothered him.

There was no doubt the Resistance was winning the battle, but he could tell that in terms of individual strength, the Shogunate soldiers were much more proficient in combat.

That was because it was plain to see that half of the Resistance did not know how to properly handle their weapon, merely swinging it wildly relying on their physical strength alone.

He might have never used weapons beyond his Nyoibō, but he had fought many opponents that wielded weapons before, and from the rebels' movement alone, he could tell that it was anything but experienced.

Bothered, he decided the best way to get answers would just to ask their commander, "Hey Kokomi...not a lot of them have ever fought much before this whole thing did they?"

If she was surprised by his statement, she did not show it, instead continuing to focus her attention on the images formed on the surface of the water.

"You are correct. Many of the members of the Resistance have never fought before this, as they are just normal civilians that decided to take a stand against the decree."

"But it's been a couple of months already right? Shouldn't they have trained a lot by now?"

"Training? There are some, but our members are limited as it is already, so the most training they could get is on the battlefield. I've already tried to allocate the ones they are capable in terms of combat, as you yourself have experienced from those at Watatsumi Island."

Goku was silent, realizing that she was right. As inexperienced as some of the Resistance members that were fighting right now, they were still better at wielding their weapon than the ones that he had a brief encounter with.

It also meant that despite the advantage they had gotten due to Kokomi's plan, the fight was not clear cut on who would win at the end.

If they really needed the help, then maybe he should—

"Don't."

He stopped to stare at her in confusion, only to immediately notice something was different with Kokomi upon doing so.

The expression she held was unlike anything he had seen from her so far. Sure, the majority of them were proper and formal, but he had seen the glimpses of her opening up to him.

This was anything but that.

It was stern, almost unfeeling from how rigid her posture was. There was also not a hint of hesitation in her voice, as it was far more commanding than anything he had ever heard from her.

"I will repeat this again Goku, this is not your battle. Did you not promise that you will not interfere in any way?"

He did, but he was slowly wanting to ignore it entirely.

"They may not be well versed in combat, but many of them are here for their own reasons. Whether it is to oppose the current ruling of Inazuma, or because of the desire to protect their own livelihood. How could they not stand and fight for what they believed in?"

He got that. He could actually understand the reasoning for it, but he couldn't help but feel the frustration bubbling in him.

But what was he supposed to do?

This was not a battle to test his own strength, nor was it to satiate his need for combat, and this wasn't his battle no matter what angle he looked at it. Most of all, none of the people fighting here were bad or anything, just fighting for what they believed in.

So, even if he joined, what right was there for him to fight?

It was completely different, yet he did not like it.

Not one bit.

"The ground unit still hasn't reported back, it must mean they're meeting resistance more than expected. Quickly, we need to provide backup. Those who are able come along with me."

Gorou's pointy ears perked up upon hearing the voice of one of the Shogunate soldiers. From listening to the voices around, it appeared that Her Excellency's plan had been put into motion, meaning it was now his turn to do his part.

Arming himself with his bow in hand, he readied himself as he concentrated on hearing the footsteps in his vicinity.

He waited, and waited...until he sensed the number of people around him had been drastically cut down.

In an instant right after, he leapt into action as he burst through the door of the building he was hiding in until now.

None of the Shogunate soldiers nearby were able to react to his sudden appearance, and before they even could, one of them had been taken down from an arrow piercing them straight in the chest.

With the element of surprise at his side, Gorou took them out one by one as he ran through the upper area.

His role in Her Excellency's plan was not only to ambush the enemy from the back, but to reconvene with the rest of the Resistance as well.

Gorou stopped momentarily once he reached the edge, trying to assess the whole situation from above.

It would seem that the Shogunate soldiers that were running off were too preoccupied to notice what was happening behind their backs, as they were perfect targets for him and his arrows.

Just as he was about to take aim however, he quickly moved to the side as a spear came out of nowhere.

"It's the rebel! He's revealed himself!" the soldier yelled out, alerting the few that were still in close vicinity.

Guessed he would have to run as he shot arrows on his way back.

He had no issues with this arrangement.

The battle was going as Kokomi had predicted.

Though there were some Shogunate soldiers that had escaped in the midst of the battle, it was still within her expectations, as she knew that before long, the ones at the upper area would be joining in to bolster the enemy's side.

The Shogun's army would likely use one of the bridges to move into the entrance the Resistance were holding themselves up at, hoping to catch them off guard from above.

In one of the many images she saw, there were indeed already some of the Shogunate soldiers approaching the bridges connecting to the entrance of Tatarasuna.

Unfortunately for them, she had already foreseen this, as she gave the signal to begin the next phase of the plan.

To her left, Goku remained silent as his thoughts were occupied with not only the battle, but of something else as well.

"ARRRGH!"

Those were the general screams of the Shogunate soldiers, who suddenly lost their footing on the wooden surface they were standing on just a moment ago.

That was due to the fact that there were members of the Resistance that had been hiding in the shadows ever since the fighting began, awaiting for the moment the Shogunate soldiers stepped onto the bridge just to cut it off at the last second.

This, in turn caused the Shogunate soldiers to fall onto the ground below, and at the same time cutting off the way to reach the Resistance army.

The fall of the height was not nearly enough to finish the Shogunate soldiers off, but it was deep enough to leave injuries on them.

And to those that had not fallen, the Resistance members had readied their respective bows, and began firing arrows towards them.

They were clearly inexperienced, as most of them did not hit their intended target. However, they didn't need to as the action alone was enough to force the Shogunate soldiers to back off, as the possibility of being hit by stray shots were very real, until they quickly came to the realization that it would be faster if they join the others on the ground level than finding a way to get across.

Gorou flipped into the air as several arrows went right under him, only to grab ahold of them at the very last moment.

The instant he landed, he quickly released successive shots to each of his attackers, none of them missing his targets.

Without looking back, he ran off onto one of the bridges that was towards where the Resistance were fighting, as there were already Shogunate soldiers following on his trail.

But just as he reached the middle section of the bridge, he was greeted by a number of Shogunate soldiers that seemed to notice him at the same time he did them.

Despite enemies on both sides, Gorou merely continued forwards despite the situation he was placed in.

And just as the Shogunate soldiers were about to meet him head on, they noticed forms of small crystals surrounding him, but disregarded it almost completely, believing it was just the trick of the eye.

One of the soldiers performed a quick forward stab with their polearm, knowing that there was limited maneuverability for Gorou to get around it considering the narrow bridge they were standing on.

Gorou simply jumped into the air as he dodged it completely, before letting out a roundhouse kick to the soldier, sending the foot soldier off the bridge.

By the time he did so, the enemies behind him had caught up to him, with one of them leading the charge.

That was, before they were sent flying backwards, causing the others in the back to stumble from the sudden impact.

It was almost unnoticeable, as only Gorou could sense them, but small crystal-like rocks lingered in the air around him, their purpose not only to defend him, but to also attack his enemies.

He did not give the ones that had just tried to attack from behind any notice, as he was far too focused on the task at hand.

Drawing the arrow in hand, geo energy began to gather at the tip of the arrow, its light slowly concentrating into something brighter.

Though the soldiers continued to approach him from both sides, they were unable to reach him as no matter how they tried, they could not arrive at striking distance due to the bits of geo structure protecting him.

Then, Gorou released his grip.

The arrow flew right into the middle of the group in front of him, its trajectory not on any of the soldiers, but rather the ground beneath them.

The ground exploded upon impact, breaking the formation of the enemy.

He immediately followed up by releasing several more shots, disarming them of their weapons, before gathering strength in his legs once more.

Gorou dashed right past them within the time span of a few seconds, only to stop once he reached another bridge.

...as he found that it had fallen.

It took him only but a moment to remember that this was due to Her Excellency's plan, and out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that there were soldiers underneath sprawled on the ground, with a bit further away where he could see where the bulk of the fighting was.

Well, at least it wasn't difficult to know what he needed to do.

Goku felt himself struggling to stand in the exact same spot he had been at for the past few hours.

Not because he was adverse to the violence that he was being shown, nor was it because of some sort of moral dilemma he was having either.

Honestly, even he couldn't tell why it was so hard for him to do so.

Certainly, he could just break his promise and interfere with the battle outright. It wasn't an exaggeration to say he could stop this whole fight on his own.

But what would be the point of that?

He thought hard about what Kokomi had said beforehand, on how he needed to see this battle with his own eyes.

He already came to a decision earlier on what he had wanted to do after this battle between the Resistance and the Shogunate, but now...he was indecisive.

Would he just be as selfish as ever if he did whatever he wanted? Won't his recklessness cause things to become worse?

He could remember an instance where in his anger at the death of his best friend Krillin, he had outright ignored his master just for the sake of revenge.

It ultimately worked out, but if it weren't for a set of circumstances at the time that might have been the end for him.

Kokomi, for her part, merely glanced at him from time to time, though her focus was mainly on the battlefield.

Still, she could tell that this battle was bothering Goku, as he was visibly frustrated with what was going on, an expression she had never seen from him.

From the looks of it, it did not seem like he abhor the fighting, nor was he disgusted by either side. In fact, his disposition seemed to be the same as before.

It looked more like he was trying to restrain himself from coming to a decision of some sorts.

She did not speak about it however, as she believed that it was something he personally needed to deal with on his own.

Both of their thoughts were interrupted as they saw a new development occurring on the battlefield.

Though they held the advantage at the beginning, the members of the Resistance were slowly being overwhelmed as more and more Shogunate soldiers arrived at the scene.

It was only thanks to preparation before the battle were they still holding the line.

But just as their formation was about to be broken apart by the Shogun's army, something unexpected occurred within their midst.

Several Shogunate soldiers fell over as arrows struck them from above, and as the members of the Resistance turned to the source, they were awestruck by what they saw.

General Gorou descended from above, only to use the cliffs as footholds by jumping from one side to another, until finally arriving onto the battlefield himself.

He had but one thing to say to his fellow soldiers, "The tide of battle is in our favor!"

"So...that's Gorou?"

"That would be correct. With his arrival, the battle is about to come to a close," Kokomi stated, a sense of finality from the tone of her voice.

Once again, Goku did not understand what she meant by that, but he simply shrugged and continued looking back on the fight.

With Gorou now entering the battle, Goku saw that the spirits of the Sangonomiya soldiers had been uplifted, like a new burst of energy had sprung forth from within as they suddenly all fought back even harder.

Goku was amazed at seeing such a scene, but more than that...it reminded him of something important.

"Fall back! It's time we finish this!" Gorou ordered as he swung his arm around, signaling them on what he was about to do.

The members of the Resistance did not think twice before doing as their general said, though that did not mean they were still not fending off attacks from the other side

Seeing the rebels backing off, the Shogunate soldiers took it as a sign that their side was winning, and proceeded to rush towards the Sangonomiya rebels.

But that was not the reality of the situation.

Two arrows soared above the heads of the Shogunate soldiers, heading towards both sides of the gorge.

As they landed on them, an explosion of geo energy burst forth, creating a strong enough force to cause parts of the cliff to collapse.

Chunks from the cliffs fell off in the form of boulders of varying sizes, which was the exact location the majority of the Shogunate soldiers were standing right under.

Many of the Shogunate Army backed away in response, but there were just as many that were too entranced in finishing off the rebels that they did not see the boulders coming either.

Thus, the rocks fell, crashing onto many of the Shogun's Army.

Gorou did not relent, as he continued to release more concentrated shots into the cliffs, causing more boulders to fall off.

This continued on, with some members of the Resistance assisting in his endeavor in their own ways.

Then, they stopped.

Gorou assessed the situation, as his ears perked up, picking up any sort of movement in their vicinity.

There indeed were from the Shogunate's side, but most of them were subdued, unlike the intensity they were showing just a moment ago.

He did not let his guard down, only continuing to listen in to his surroundings. The others followed suit, none of them loosening themselves even for a moment.

That was, until he heard the sounds of footsteps slowly fading away, and from what he could gather, were less than half of the troops they had fought just now.

That meant the rockfall had its intended effect.

Gorou let out a breath that he did not know he held onto for a while now, before turning to the other members.

They were dirty, most of them left breathless and injured in so many areas that some were having difficulty standing, but they had won.

He signaled this victory by striking the ground with his left fist, forming a war banner made out of geo energy.

"We are victorious!"

All the members of the Resistance gave a loud cheer to their general's proclamation, relief and excitement filling the air for having bested the Shogun's Army.

Kokomi heaved a sigh of relief, as she checked the situations of various locations from afar.

Though there were injuries, it was fortunate that no one on the Resistance's side had lost a life today, but the same could not be said for the Shogun's Army.

She steadied herself, as it was an occurrence she was all too used to by now. Though the members of the Resistance cheered on victoriously, an important action that was needed to keep spirits high, she busied herself in checking the aftermath of the battle.

Satisfied of the enemy's retreat after several minutes of observation, she turned to another issue at hand.

Goku.

But as she looked on at him, she recognized his expression had changed tremendously from before.

No longer was there a look of frustration, but one that was gazing at something...perhaps somewhere beyond.

Even she could not comprehend what his line of thoughts were right now.

"So, this is what you guys have been doing for so long…" he said, almost to the level of it being a whisper.

"Today is one of many battles. Whether it's in the past, the present or in the future, it will only continue until one side has won completely and utterly."

He remained silent, and turned to a direction. When she followed his gaze, she realized that he was looking in the direction that would lead to Narukami Island, eventhough both of them could not see it from such a position.

"Hey Kokomi, is there like a lot of people over there or something?" he asked, wanting her to verify his guess.

"...If you go straight from there, then you'll eventually reach Narukami Island, where the most lively and prosperous area, Inazuma City lies."

Goku did not hesitate as he got straight to the point, "Is that where this Raiden Shogun is?"

She did not give a reply, because she was hoping that her silence would deter him from heading there.

There were too many complications to consider when one goes to Inazuma City, especially to foreigners from another land, or world in this case.

Though she remained unspoken, he was able to see through her expression that implied he was correct in his assumption.

"Guess I got it right huh? Then that's where I'm heading out next," he said, a newfound determination in his eyes.

Kokomi took a step forward, "Goku, I understand your intent, but going directly to the Electro Archon is not only dangerous, but it would most probably solve nothing of your situation."

"Maybe, but seeing everyone here trying their best, I guess in the end, I just want to do what I think is right. Plus, all of you fighting for a reason like that...I don't like it one bit."

He then gave her his usual grin, one filled with confidence, "Don't worry Kokomi, I just wanna go and talk with her, that's all. It ain't like I'm planning to fight this Raiden Shogun. Hehe, do you think she'll help me out of here when I get there?"

Though he said that, Kokomi could tell that he was not oblivious to the other possibility from such an exchange.

"Yosh, I better get going then. Who knows how long until I get there?" he said as he turned her back towards her.

She needed to stop him, this wasn't a matter of him being an asset or not to the Resistance, but simply her genuinely not wanting him to go towards an untimely end.

It would be a regret she did not want to have.

But just as she was about to grab him by the hand, he turned once more to say one last thing before he left, "I'll see ya later Kokomi. I'm definitely coming back here once I'm done, cause I still got things I wanna do back at your place."

The way he remained unworried despite the predicament he was heading towards rendered her motionless, momentarily forgetting to speak altogether.

That moment did not last as he rushed off at a speed she could not catch up to, as all she could do was outstretched her hand, only to catch nothing but air as he disappeared into the night.

"Your Excellency? Did I miss something? Was whoever that just took off that a guest that I've been hearing from the others?"

The voice of Gorou cut in, with the other members joining in from behind.

There was a slight falter as she faced Gorou, but she was nonetheless able to return to the air befitting that of the Divine Priestess, "We can discuss it at a later time. I believe we need to treat your wounds first."

There was a formal smile to it, but Gorou could tell that whatever had just occurred bothered her on some level, one that he had never seen before.

AN: This chapter was hard to write, not so much in terms of I don't know what to do with it, but because of the whole thing being a group battle, something that I mentioned last chapter I am horrible at and because of Goku's characterization. After reading this, some may feel Goku is out of character, since he shouldn't be bothered by a lot of things, or be so indecisive. After all, he remains constant in how he's always carefree and nonchalant no matter the situation.

But I don't think Goku is always like that, he definitely has moments where his other emotions will show, like the time he admitted to being scared of fighting Raditz or the fact he was crying seeing his grandpa for the first time since his death. This is also a world that he has no idea of, nor has he ever met a situation that wasn't so clear cut on who the big bad is at first glance. Of course, I also think he would bounce back from it just as easily as he does a lot of things, which is why once again I will say I will not apologize for this decision.

Moving to another thing, the dome barrier surrounding the Mikage Furnace or lack of it. It is stated that it only happened during the civil war, not before. It is also because a certain organization wanted to prolong the war, meaning there is enough leeway for me to say it has not happened yet. Whether or not it will happen in the future, who knows?

Regardless, thanks for reading and for the reviews so far, I've been enjoying them whether they are long or short.