Chapter 19: The Unstoppable Blade

At an underground auction, several items were being auctioned off to buyers in hooded outfits. Everything, including the people, were a mystery. Since everyone was cloaked and masked, it was easy for Boruto and his team to sneak inside and stand in the crowd.

"What's the deal with this sword again?" Boruto asked.

"It's supposed to be very rare and historical," said Sarada.

"According to legend, a famous swordsman battled with it and ever lost. They said that it was imbued with special power that made it impossible for its owner to lose in combat," Mitsuki took over the explanation. "It was supposed to be just a legend, a story, but they actually found proof. The sword itself. It had been sealed away for centuries. If the sword exists, it means the stories must be as well."

"Which means it could play a vital role in uncovering lost events in history," finished Sarada. "It should have gone to a museum but these guys got their hands on it first. We have to make sure none of these guys get their hands on it and intercept the thief who's supposed to make an appearance tonight."

"What kind of thief announces himself?" questioned Boruto. "This smells like a trap."

"It could be, but we have to keep an eye out just in case."

The auction began and one item after another was brought to the stage and won my different bidders holding up round paddles. The last item up for auction was the sword in question and a bit of history went along with it to drive the bidding up.

"Legends says that the wielder of this sword will be unstoppable in battle. Its last known master fought countless opponents and never lost. The sword went up against hammers, axes and other swords and never broke. As you can see, it's in prime condition. No scratches or rolls on the blade. Though a legendary sword, dating back over two centuries, its has not rusted and looks quite new. The legend tells us that the sword is unlike any other and has a mysterious power that keeps it in battle-ready condition. It is said that it inherited its owners will to fight and is drawn to combat. It will serve its new owner well and together they will be undefeatable in battle."

Several hooded figures began to murmur in the crowd.

"Now, let's start the bidding at-"

The lights suddenly went out and there was a loud clattering sound near the stage. There was grunting and yelling and then someone yelled, "Thief!"

Boruto's head craned upward, seeing someone in a cloak running across the ceiling. A shinobi was the culprit. Sarada and Mitsuki saw them, too, and without a word they were out the door in pursuit.

Outside, they saw an empty dirt path hidden by large rocks and trees. The thief wouldn't be foolish enough to take the same hidden road they had taken to get here, which meant…

"There." Boruto pointed to the figure running up the rock formation above the building an disappear over a ledge. Boruto and the others quickly climbed the formation to catch up. The figure knew they were being pursued and tried to escape into the forest.

"Stop right there!" Sarada called out and threw a warning shuriken above their head. They didn't slow down even as the weapon grazed the top of their hood and sank into the tree in front of them. They kept going, alternating from running on the ground to leaping from trees.

Mitsuki's arm shot out and grabbed the figure's hood in an attempt to pull them back. The figure shook their cloak free and jumped aside. Boruto moved in to land a hit with his Rasengan but the figure flipped over his back just before it could hit. Boruto's attack hit the ground at the same time the figure righted themselves and landed a short distance away in a crouching position. They weren't running anymore.

Boruto turned around to see who the thief was. "Wait. Aren't you…?"

The white-haired man stood up, revealing his identity. It was Suigetsu Hozuki.

"What are you doing here?"

Acting as if this were a game of tag with a bunch of children, Suigetsu chuckled and cracked a smile. "What do you think?" He held up the metal case in his hand. "It's a hobby of mine. I collect rare and unique swords and this one is the rarest of the rare, making it super unique."

"You came for the sword?" Mitsuki had come to stand beside Sarada and Boruto, on guard but not in attack mode.

"Come on, you should know me by now," he said nonchalantly. "This sword was nothing but a fable people tell their kids. No one believed it really existed. But now, not only do we know it's real, the legends must be, too. A sword so powerful, it's owner never lost a single fight? Why wouldn't I be interested?"

"So you stole the thing from the auction to make sure you'd get it," Sarada concluded.

"There's no way I'm letting those yahoos get their grubby little mitts on this beauty." Suigetsu pulled the metal case containing the sword closer to his body. "Those guys got no idea what they have."

"Maybe the people interested at the auction did which was why they wanted it," said Mitsuki. "Any buyer wanting such a sword must be familiar with the legends and want it for any number of reasons. Even just owning a piece of lost history."

"Use your head, Mitsuki. This is an underground auction. The word 'legal' is tossed around so carelessly here. It's not very accurate." Suigetsu looked annoyed though his body language suggested he was giving a lecture he didn't have the stamina for. "It's not like any of these guys can show it off. What good is it to win the auction only to keep it hidden so no one can see it? Or even use the damn thing."

"He has a point," muttered Sarada. "Buying an item at an underground auction pretty much makes it impossible for the person to even brag that they have it without drawing unwanted attention to themselves."

"Exactly," Suigetsu said, pointing at her in recognition. "Either it'd be in a box hidden in some guy's closet or under the floorboards. It'd be better off with me than collecting dust on some guy's mantel. Stuck on some shelf where only he'd know about it and never use it or even show it off."

It was a waste. For someone to own a sword and never use it for anything other than decoration. He was a collector but at least he used his collection for their intended purpose.

"Swords are meant for combat. They're forged with the intent to be wielded in battle. They're weapons, not some lame decoration." Suigetsu smirked, holding the case up again. "I'll treat this thing the way it deserves. After all these years, it's probably itching for some action."

Boruto braced himself for a fight. "You're planning on using that thing on us?"

Suigetsu lowered the case with a sigh and rubbed his neck with his other hand. "Ah… I don't really wanna fight you guys. Not because I don't think you're worth it, it's that I don't have the time. Besides, I'd probably be in real trouble if I tried to fight Mitsuki. Don't wanna get chewed out by his parent…"

"Well, we're on a mission," said Boruto. "Either you give us that sword or we fight and take it back."

"Ah…" Suigetsu sighed again. "I really don't feel like it… Can we make it a raincheck?"

Mitsuki looked from the case to Suigetsu, getting an idea. "How do we even know it's in there?"

"Huh?"

"The sword. How do we know it's in that case. Of better yet, how do you know it's in there? You did grab it in the dark."

"You think I'm new to this?" Suigetsu said, getting annoyed all over again. "I'm more experienced than you are. I think I know what I'm doing. You trying to insult me?"

"I'm just saying."

"I know what I grabbed and it's the sword." He gave Mitsuki a condescending smile. "I am a shinobi, after all."

"You did get the case with the sword in it, maybe," Mitsuki went on. "But there's no guarantee the real sword is really in there."

"Huh?" This time it was Sarada who looked at him in surprise.

"You said it yourself that this is an underground auction and legality is tossed around carelessly. You said the people running the auction didn't know what they had, but maybe they did. Maybe they knew how valuable it was and never planned to auction it off. Maybe they replaced it with a fake sword. They have the real one and that one's the fake they swapped out. It is a legendary sword. One thought to be nothing more than a fable. Would any of them even know what it looked like to measure its authenticity? It's not like you've seen it, so how would you know?"

Suigetsu clenched his teeth and growled. "You think I don't know that? You think I don't know swords, even legends? I'd know the real deal when I saw it. And this is the real deal."

"You can't prove that," said Mitsuki. "And like I said, it's just a legendary sword from centuries ago. No one has actually seen it and can verify. A hunch isn't the same as proof. It could be a different sword and not the one they claim it to be."

Snarling, Suigetsu opened the case then and there, revealing the sword.

The foam interior housed a magnificent double-edged blade with a horn-like guard. Below the guard was a red jewel, matching the one on the pommel. Between the round red jewels was a handle wrapped in tight leather cords. For a sword said to be centuries old, the blade shone like that of a freshly made sword without a speck of rust or chipping. The only thing that looked aged about the sword was the leather around the handle which was worn and frayed.

"It is the sword of legends. The stories go that the blade never took damage from any attack. It always looked new. Just look at that shine. It was said to be a double-edged blade with red jewels…" Suigetsu removed the sword from its case and threw the empty container at Mitsuki's arm which had stretched out to retrieve the sword. "Don't think I didn't know what you were doing. Nice try, though."

Mitsuki pulled his arm back to his side without a word.

Holding the sword with his right arm, Suigetsu marveled at the blade in the starlight. "Mm. It really is magnificent." He lowered it to his side and smirked at the young shinobi. "And it's all mine now. There is no way I'm giving it up to be sealed away under some guy's bed or brought to a museum where it can be gawked at by a bunch of bodies and never used."

Mitsuki's eyes widened, staring at the sword in Suigetsu's hand.

"The other travesty would be if some idiot bought the thing at auction and tried to melt it down to forge a new sword or harvest it for parts." Suigetsu growled with disgust. "Such an idea makes me sick to my stomach."

By this time, Boruto and Sarada had both noticed what Mitsuki was staring at and tried to get Suigetsu's attention. "Suigetsu. The sword."

As they were saying this, Suigetsu sensed that something wasn't right and looked away from them to the sword in his right hand which had begun to quiver and shine.

"Ah?" Suigetsu's eyes widened as he saw the leather cords around the handle slither up his arm and constrict it like a snake. They wove around his fingers and wrist, preventing him from dropping it even if he wanted to. They wound up past his wrist, coiling under his elbow. "Wha- what's this? What's happening?"

He took a step back, holding his arm straight out, trying to be rid of the thing. It wouldn't leave him and there was nowhere to retreat.

"I- I can't get it off!" Suigetsu was starting to panic, clawing at the cords around his arm, desperate to free himself. "I- I can't liquify my arm! I can't get it off!"

From some reason, Suigetsu remained solid. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't turn into a puddle or make even one part of his body liquify. He was stuck with nowhere to go.

Suigetsu started screaming, hunching over, holding his arm. The cords had burrowed into his flesh like worms looking for a home. Tiny drops of blood dripped onto the grass, but the shinobi's eyes were drawn to something else that was red. The jewels on the sword began to glow. They flickered to life like electric lamps functioning on reserved power. When Suigetsu let out a loud cry of pain, the jewels lit up at pull power.

At the same time, Suigetsu grew quiet and dropped his arm. Still hunched, Suigetsu drew slow deep breaths one after another until he was fully composed and stood up straight. He slowly turned in their direction with malice in his eyes.

"Suigetsu?" Boruto asked quietly.

"Ah… You still want to fight?" Suigetsu asked. "I'll gladly take you on."

Boruto instinctively reached for his kunai.

"You mustn't!" Mitsuki grabbed Boruto's hand and held it away from his belt. "We can't fight him!"

"Why not?"

Mitsuki looked at the man standing before them, the sword's cords wrapped around his arm like a riding glove. "Because that's not Suigetsu."

"What are you saying?" asked Sarada, taking a step away from their opponent.

"That's him but not him at the same time." Mitsuki looked in the sword's direction. "I understand now. The legend states that the sword was imbued with the wielder's will to fight, but that's not true, is it? It's the other way around."

"You mean…?"

Mitsuki nodded. "The wielder inherits the sword's will to fight."

Boruto looked at the sword and at Suigetsu. "You mean that sword has a will of its own? It's telling its owner to fight?"

"More like making them fight," Mitsuki clarified. "A sword that never fails in battle and an unstoppable swordsman. The truth is that the sword just wouldn't let its owner lose. All those fights were sought out by the sword itself to slate its devotion and hunger for combat."

"Then… is that the sword talking or Suigetsu?"

"Both," answered Mitsuki. "He's inherited the sword's will. He wants what it wants."

Boruto looked at Suigetsu, trying to make sense of this. "A minute ago, you said you didn't want to fight us."

"I've changed my mind," said Suigetsu. He turned the blade in his hand, getting it in the proper position for a swift diagonal slice.

"Well, we changed our minds, too. We don't want to fight."

"Th- that's right," Sarada agreed, quickly getting on the same page as her teammates. "We don't have the will or skills to fight you."

Suigetsu took a step towards them, cracking his neck. "Too bad."

"Wait, wait!" Sarada held up her empty hands. "We're unarmed, see? It wouldn't be fair."

"Then slaughter it is." Suigetsu took another step closer. "This blade has not tasted blood for centuries. Time to quench its thirst. And… I want to test it out."

Suigetsu didn't care about fairness. He just wanted to swing.

With the reflexes of a serpent, Mitsuki wrapped his arms around his friends and pulled them into the trees, retreating. He set them down on a branch and urged them to keep running.

"We can't fight him."

"We can't let him keep that sword, either," complained Boruto. "If the sword's what's brainwashing him, then we need to get him away from it."

"Boruto, it's attached to his arm," Sarada pointed out as if it were obvious. "Did you see those leather cords dig into his flesh? We don't know how far they go. They might not have stopped at his bone. They could be in his brain for all we know."

"We can cut off his arm or something. I mean, if we have to."

"It's not that simple," Mitsuki said, still taking them through the trees. They never stopped moving for an instant. "According to legend, that sword never lost in battle. I don't think it's that its owner was just that strong. I think the sword wouldn't let them lose."

"Because they inherited the sword's will," Boruto said, thinking he already knew the answer. "Seigetsu didn't want to fight until that sword attached itself to him. Now he does."

"It's more than that," said Mitsuki. "It's not a competitive spirit so much as it is the sword refusing to yield. The stories say that the owner never lost a fight, no matter how strong the foe or how many they took on at once. I think it's because the sword kept fighting and made its owner do the same."

"Are you saying the sword is using its owner like a puppet?" Sarada asked. "I thought it was just the sword's will they inherited. You're saying it's speaking through them, too, and Seigetsu's actually possessed?"

"Not exactly. That's still Seigetsu, just with the sword's will. A sword wouldn't have the same thought process as a human or the emotions. It wouldn't be able to communicate through spoken words, so I'm sure that's just Seigetsu interpreting for the sword instead of the sword actually speaking through him."

"Just get to the point," said Boruto. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that if a person is determined enough to do something, they'll push themselves past their breaking point. If the sword wants to seek out combat and Suigetsu's inherited that will, it means he'll keep fighting even if he's not physically up for it."

Sarada nodded in understanding. "I see. In other words, its owner could have been crippled by injuries but the sword forced them to keep going. No sleep, no food. Just combat."

"Yes. And the sword probably pushes its owner even farther to the point where they appear inhuman. For instance, what if someone tries to attack them from behind but they block it? Maybe the person wasn't that flexible but the sword willed them to move their arm though it dislocated to block the hit?"

"The sword made them fight past all injuries and twisted their body so much that it actually damaged its owner."

Boruto shook his head in disbelief. "But no one can push themselves that far. It doesn't matter how determined you are. You can't will your body to move if it just can't do it. There's just no way this sword is making them move their body unless it's puppeteering them. Eventually, the person's body would just give out and they'd die."

"Maybe that's what happened," said Mitsuki. "All those stories… They never mentioned one person doing all this. Not the same one person."

"It could have been multiple owners," Sarada realized. "The sword might have been host hopping. Using up one person's body until they couldn't battle anymore and then getting another one."

"If we get too close, that sword will cut us in half. Even if we could defeat Suigetsu, the sword can attach itself to one of us and continue its goal."

Boruto tried to think of a way to beat and unbeatable sword. "Hey, wait a sec. When that sword was found, was it with a skeleton?"

"Why are you asking?" asked Sarada.

"Because if the sword was by itself, that means it's not unbeatable," Boruto explained. "It must have detached itself from its owner somehow and ended up sealed away. There must be a way to do that. That way we can not only beat the sword but we can also save Suigetsu without one of us becoming a victim."

"That's brilliant," said Sarada. "Only problem is we don't know how. And I'm not sure if the sword was alone or not. They never mentioned it on the news."

There was a swift whooshing sound before a tree in front of them collapsed, cutting off their path. The shinobi stopped short on a branch and looked below to see Suigetsu standing with the sword at his side. He had sliced that large tree in two with one strike. The sword truly was powerful.

"Come fight me," Suigetsu called up to them calmly. "If not… I'll come to you."

"It's going to be hard not to fight him," said Sarada. "He's not giving us much choice."

"He also doesn't seem to care if we're armed or not. When Sarada played helpless, he was still going for it," said Boruto.

"If he doesn't care about fairness, it'll be impossible to trick him or reason with him."

"There you are!" came an angry voice.

Suigetsu slowly turned around to face the angry men gathered around with weapons of their own. They were the security force from the auction. They had been searching for the thief all this time and finally found them thanks to the noise from the falling tree.

"Return that sword at once!"

Suigetsu blinked and turned his whole body in their direction, ignoring the shinobi in the trees.

The men raised their weapons threateningly. "You got some nerve! Get him and get that sword back!"

Suigetsu rotated the sword in his hand, getting it into the optimum attack position.

"Don't fight him!" Sarada called down to the men. "It's dangerous! Get out of here!"

The first man charged in, deaf to Sarada's warning. Suigetsu bent his knees and a second later, the man was on the ground covered in blood. It was so quick, none of them saw what happened.

"You son of a…!" Another man came charging him along with a second. They attacked at once but Suigetsu easily deflected their blades and swung his, slicing them in half. Another came and Suigetsu plunged the sword into the man's chest, pulling it out to stick in the other man who came to avenge the rest.

The one left standing dropped his blade and held up his hands in surrender. "Look, man, just take the sword. Don't hurt me, ok?"

Suigetsu spun on his heels and decapitated the man's head. As the body hit the ground with a loud thud, Sarada covered her mouth with her hands, horrified. The whole ordeal took less than a minute. None of the men stood a chance.

Standing among the corpses, Suigetsu looked from one body to the next almost disappointed. "It was too easy. A sword like this deserves a better opponent. A challenge." He looked into the trees at the shinobi. "Shinobi would be good to test their skills."

"Not us," assured Sarada, not trying to hide the tremble in her voice. "We're no match for you. We're just kids. Right, guys?"

Suigetsu wasn't convinced. "The son of the Hokage, daughter of Sasuke. You're telling me you have no skills to show off in battle? I don't believe that."

Boruto wasn't one to shy away from a fight but this was a battle they couldn't win. Unwilling to risk the lives of his friends, Boruto had to find a way out of the situation.

Thinking quickly, Boruto created a bunch of clones and sent them down to distract Suigetsu while his friends made their escape.

None of the clones stood a chance. Despite their best efforts to disarm Suigetsu, he easily defeated them all. Several he cut in two with one swing. Another clone lost its head and a different one was stabbed through the chest despite being in Suigetsu's blind spot. It became all too clear to the real Boruto that they truly didn't stand a chance at defeating him.

When Suigetsu pursued, Boruto tried again with a different tactic but once again, his clones were eliminated. Ambushing him wasn't going to work, overwhelming him with bodies wasn't going to work. Even Sarada's clone splitting the ground to get Suigetsu off balance didn't work. She was killed instantly along with two other clones standing nearby for protection.

If they faced Suigetsu themselves, they wouldn't survive.

"We can't even hold him down," Boruto told them once they got far enough away. "I've tried getting that sword away from him a number of different ways and none of them work. If we face him for real, we're dead."

"He'll seek out people to fight, armed or unarmed." Mitsuki looked at something below the hill they rested on. "If he's still following us, we've just led him to a village full of people."

"They're all in danger." Sarada stood up to get a better look at the location. "We have to evacuate them."

"Why?" asked Mitsuki. "It wouldn't make a difference. Either they get slaughtered in their homes or on the road. If we go down there and have them evacuate, Suigetsu will cut them down as they flee."

"Mitsuki's right," said Boruto. "They'd be out in the open."

"But they can't stay there if Suigetsu is going after anyone whether they're armed or not."

"I know, but…" Boruto understood Sarada's intentions but there was nothing they could do that would prevent them from being killed. Unless Suigetsu never reaches the village. "We just have to keep him away from the village. We can lure him somewhere else."

"How?" asked Sarada. "He might not follow us. And if he does, we're dead. Then he'll go after the village and anyone else that comes his way."

"Well, maybe. Maybe not." Mitsuki looked at his teammates. "I haven't seen Suigetsu take a single drink from his canteen and there's no water around here. I have yet to see a single stream. He gets easily dehydrated. Unless he gets water of some kind soon, he won't last much longer."

"We can't just let him die."

"First, he'd be unable to move," Mitsuki clarified. "The sword would probably push him past that point but still. It'll come down to when Suigetsu breaks. It might be sooner than most people. I suppose the question is how long the sword can maintain their influence over a person. Can it make a person run on two broken legs and if so, for how long?"

"Mitsuki, we have to try to save him."

"I'm not saying we can't. I'm saying there's a chance we could before his body completely gives out, but we don't know how long the sword can maintain its hold on a person or to what extent."

"I get what you're saying, but…" Boruto looked around. "Where is Suigetsu? He was following us, but I haven't seen him catch up."

"You don't think he's already at the village, do you?" Sarada asked with worry in her voice.

Suigetsu dragged his feet through the grass, finding his knees feeling very weak. He could barely support his own weight but the desire to fight was just too strong. It came over him so suddenly and hadn't gone away. It might have been strange to some people but to him it made sense. Cutting down those men felt good.

Mitsuki's parent would probably be cross with him if he killed Mitsuki which was why he didn't want to fight him in the first place. That and he had little interest. Now, however, that concern no longer bothered him. It would be fun to test Mitsuki's strength against his. If he killed him in battle, so what? It just meant that Mitsuki wasn't strong enough and unworthy. If his parent attacked him in revenge, Suigetsu could probably kill them, too. If he did, then they weren't strong enough to face him. If he didn't, then he would have found a worthy opponent. These were his feelings now. His understanding.

He felt tired but the thrill and lure of bloodshed was too great to ignore. He wanted to test his weapon. His sword and him were connected. He knew that and not just because it had burrowed into his arm. He felt something. Something so enticing it couldn't be ignored.

He stopped where he stood and looked at what was in front of him.

Boruto was blocking his path to the civilian village. It appeared he was alone, but Suigetsu didn't believe that. He suspected Boruto's friends were hiding somewhere in an ambush.

"W… What… do you want?" Suigetsu asked, finding it hard to speak. His throat felt dry.

Boruto could tell Suigetsu was dehydrated and in a weakened state. They had to stop him here before things could get any worse.

"You want an opponent?" Boruto spread his arms wide. "Then here I am. Fight me, Suigetsu. Son of the Hokage and a protégé in his own right. Sounds like a worthy opponent to me, don't you think?"

Suigetsu nodded. "Yes. Sounds good to me. Let's hope you put up more of a fight than the others did."

Just as Suigetsu began his sprint towards Boruto, three clones dropped down on him from above. Without even looking, his arm swung out and sliced all three of them before they could land a hit. It seemed the sword truly did have a will of its own and acted before Suigetsu could sense them. This was going to make fighting more difficult. Essentially, they were fighting two people.

Knowing to keep his distance, Boruto sent clone after clone at Suigetsu to tire him out and hope one of them could get close to the sword. Boruto hoped that if the sword attached itself to a clone, it would be easy to defeat it without having to sacrifice anyone. After all, they couldn't disarm the person it was attached to, given that it had burrowed into their flesh. Short of cutting off the person's arm, having the sword find a better host seemed like the best option available.

The fight went on for a while until Suigetsu was stumbling but his arm kept swinging deftly. Even if he was unconscious, he would keep fighting. The sword wouldn't let him stop. Boruto used as many clones as he could to throw at Suigetsu to weigh him down, thinking the sword wouldn't be able to take on so many at once. It pulled off impossible moves to the contrary, throwing off Boruto's plan.

At last, Boruto sent in two clones armed with Ransengans to hit Suigetsu from two sides at once. They flew at him from either side, their jutsu at the ready. Suigetsu managed to jump at the last second, twist his body and slice through both of them, one after the other. While he was in the air, another came at him with the same attack which he also blocked then sliced through.

A bolt of electricity shot out at him from Mitsuki who had joined the fight. It did little to slow Suigetsu down and he aimed his sword at the boy. More clones showed up, attacking the sword directly. Every one of them was cut down, except for one who gripped the handle of the sword and tried to pull it from Suigetsu's hand.

Mitsuki and Sarada pulled Suigetsu's arm in one direction while Boruto and his clones pulled in the other. The clones gripped the sword's handle, intent on becoming the new host but the sword would not budge from Suigetsu. That was when they saw they had little choice and used the sword against Suigetsu, pushing the blade into him.

"What are you doing?" Sarada shouted, seeing the wounds on Suigetsu's body.

The sword began to loosen from Suigetsu's arm. It didn't want a damaged host and started to detach itself from him. It wound its way around one of the clone's arms and was removed from Suigetsu.

Everyone tumbled back away from each other and the clone vanished the instant the merge was complete. The sword dropped to the ground and lay silently in the grass.

"That was a brilliant move," said Mitsuki to Boruto.

"Really smart, Boruto," added Sarada.

Boruto puffed out his chest proudly. "Yeah, well, I figured it would work. How's Suigetsu doing?"

Suigetsu was bleeding and unable to move but would survive. Sarada brought Suigetsu a drink of water from her canteen. "What do we do with the sword now? How do we carry it?"

Boruto and Mitsuki looked in the same direction but the sword was no longer there.

"Where'd it go?"

"You don't think it found a new host, do you?"

"Or got up on its own?"

The shinobi exchanged worried looks, anxious about the sword's whereabouts.