AN: Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Sorry that it's taken me so long to update. This story ended up being much longer than I expected and I apologize for that. If you feel that it would be better if I broke it into two parts, let me know.

In the past, I've gotten tons of requests for a Batman and Dead or Alive crossover and now it's finally done, even though it more Ninja Gaiden than DoA.

The next update will be Gotham Tournament, which is close to done and hopefully I'll have it ready before the year is over. If not, then I wish guys a wonderful New Year. Let's hope 2024 will be a good one!

Batman and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics. Batman is created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.

Dead or Alive/Ninja Gaiden and all related characters are owned by Koei Tecmo Games.


CHAPTER 01: A League Divided

Seven Years Ago

His vision blurred a bit as he looked up, seeing the rays of the sun seeping through the dense shedding canopy above him. Flame red koyo leaves scattered and floated down around him like confetti until it met the dirt path that seemed to glow of an iridescent yellow.

And then followed another drop of red on the soil under him, then another and another, dripping at the ends of a crimson cascade that flowed from the cuts over his body.

With a grunt, he trudged on while ignoring the feeling of tiny needles as the mountain air brushed against his gashes, among the rest of his throbbing agony.

He knew he was surrounded as he noticed the flitting movement from behind the trees. In a flash they blitzed him, their blades slicing him all the way to his bone despite his best efforts to fight back. His limbs felt they were hanging by a thread and the blood loss was causing his head to spin but he forced himself to push on.

But before he could take another step, he saw a glint in the trees ahead and it was too late for him to react.

"AARGH!" he cried out as an arrow pierced halfway through his left thigh.

He dropped to a knee and steadied himself before he could fully collapse, with his free hand gripping the shaft. Just touching the embedded weapon was enough for body to be assaulted by waves of pain. With his labored breathing being forced through grit teeth, he noticed the movement behind the trees.

They watched him like circling vultures, ready to pick him apart bit by bit and leave him for dead if they so decided. But that was the one thing his reasoning keyed on: they could've killed him anytime they wanted but they didn't, they only maimed him. That meant that they sought to only force him to turn back, to scare him away. Unfortunately for them, he didn't scare easily.

And with that thought, he maintained his grip while pushing his thumb hard against the fletchling portion of the arrow until it snapped. After that, he pulled the arrow from under his thigh, biting back a scream as he did so.

High above in the tree branches ahead of him, a group of four watched as the young lad pulled himself up using a nearby tree as supported and began to limp forward.

"Resilient little gaijin, isn't he?" sneered one of them, a man with long white hair that flowed under a headband.

He glanced sideways towards the dark haired woman next to him. She was decked in ninja gear, with a fukumen over her mouth and her hair tied in a ponytail. In her hand was a longbow.

"Shoot another one, Omitsu. His right shoulder this time." the man ordered her.

Omitsu primed her next arrow, took aim and drew the string back. But before she could release it, another voice spoke.

"That's enough, Murai."

Murai and Omitsu immediately turned their widened eyes towards the other person with them, a person who clearly commanded authority and respect within their clan.

He didn't wear a typical ninja garb, his was white with metal plating around his collar and shoulders, two red rope sashes in cross pattern and secured with a buckle and a white fukumen covering the lower half of his face while his eyes and long hair, tied in a ponytail, were exposed.

Behind him was another man, older and blinded on one eye from an injury, crouching on different branch from theirs.

"Genjiro, signal your troops to fall back." the white-clad ninja gave his order.

Genjiro nodded and disappeared from sight.

"Have you gone mad, Jô-sama!?" Murai balked. "If we leave him, he'll soon be at our gates!"

Despite Jô being a Master Ninja and wielding such authority, Murai was the only one who dared to speak brazenly with him. They were family after all, with Jô being wed to Murai's sister.

"And then what? What could he possibly do? With him bleeding at the precipice of death? We should at least treat his wounds." Jô responded.

Murai's shock slowly contorted into outrage.

"You would bring an outsider into our village!? Unthinkable!"

In a fit of rage, Murai sharply turned back to Omitsu.

"Omitsu, fire one at his head! Put him out of his misery!"

"Murai! I said that's enough!" Jô barked.

Omitsu looked back and forth between the two Master Ninjas in confusion. Her loyalty was to Murai and she answered directly to him but Jô was the head of the entire clan and that fact caused her to be unsure about disobeying Murai. The uncertainty caused her to freeze with her arrow already nocked and ready to fly, until Murai yelled out.

"Omitsu! Fire!"

In a state of panic, she let loose her project that sped towards the boy's head. In that split second, the young man looked up just in time to see the arrow split in mid-air. As the splintered projectile fell harmlessly, both the lad and the ninjas laid their eyes at the steel kunai that embedded itself into the tree where the arrow was intercepted as it passed.

The two Master Ninjas turned their gaze to the tree where the kunai was thrown and spotted a young brown-haired, green-eyed ninja wearing a dark blue shinobi shozuku. Jô knew those green eyes all too well.

"Ryu…"

"Your son has violated his honor." Murai snorted.

However, Murai flinched at the sight of his brother-in-law's glare.

"Or perhaps he was trying to save yours." Jô said dangerously.

From that point on, the elder ninjas resigned themselves to watch as the intruder steadily continued on his path. They watched as he limped past the watchtowers until he upon a bridge extended over the side of a waterfall. The young man knew that on the other side, past the Torii gate, was Hayabusa Village; he was finally here.

But as he took one last step, his knees had at last buckled and he collapsed on his front. He grunted in defiance while trying to push himself up but his vision began to blur more and more, the last bits of strength fading. He internally cursed that he couldn't stop now, not when his destination was within reach, but his physical body just couldn't comply and then, neither did his consciousness.

"Jô-sama, shall I?" Genjiro asked.

"Yes." Jô nodded.

With the go-ahead given, Genjiro's party gathered around the unconscious young man before carrying him towards the village.

"This is a big mistake." Murai growled as the clan leaders entered the village along with the rest of them.

"He may be an outsider but even you have to admit that this boy's will and grit is nothing short of astonishing." Jô said. "The least I could do is grant him an audience."


Present day

It was a brighter night than usual. The moon was large, full and loomed almost menacingly over Gotham. Its white glow spread across the few patches of dark clouds and its radiance washed the sky clear of stars; not that there were many visible stars in Gotham's skies to begin with, what with the smog and light pollution.

Perhaps it was thanks to that moonlight that he had noticed them sooner.

They had been following and watching him throughout his patrol and for the most part, they did a good job doing so while hiding themselves in the shadows. At least, that's what he'd like them to believe.

He soon landed on one of the more spacious area of the district's roofscape, with him already reaching the conclusion that this would be their obvious point of ambush. Allowing his cape to curtain around his arms, Batman strolled up the center. And sure enough, they surrounded him.

It may have been because of their target not showing any sign of surprise or change from his stony expression that the interlopers paused with their weapons drawn; some armed with katanas, others with huge claws on both their hands.

Taking stock of their appearance, it was obvious that they were definitely not from Gotham. Ninjas, Batman realized, but none like he had seen before; their garb appeared to have a web-like design and their fukumen, which were more like a Niqab-style face veil, had a grey spider emblazoned over it.

"Now that you're all done hiding, think carefully and ask yourselves…"

Batman addressed them with eyes sharpened to a dagger's point.

"Is this how you really want things to go down?"

As if to answer, they all rushed at him.


In the dark craggy abode, a young boy in his early teens sat by the glow of a large monitor screen. He was dressed differently from his mentor but nonetheless just as recognizable as him with his red and green costume with the back and yellow cape, domino mask and his trademark circular badge with the 'R' symbol.

Robin wished he could say that he was down in cave 'on standby' in case Batman needed him, or say that he was keeping a ready eye on the Batcomputer on the lookout for a crime alert. Or even better, say that he was working on a case solo.

But instead, here he was with books piled up on the computer's console while he straining his mind to memorize a math problem.

"This bites." Dick grunted in frustration. "I should really be out there with him."

"Yes Master Richard, you have most tiredly said so three times already." a voice laden with a British accent droned behind him.

The one who spoke was Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's loyal butler and guardian, who was dusting the equipment on the side of the cave's platform as well as doing other 'Butler-y things', as Dick would put it.

"And for the third time, I shall once again reiterate that Master Wayne requested that you stay back and study. Your SSAT exam is a month away and Gotham Academy expects a high percentile." Alfred lectured him.

Though he was chiding him, Alfred was internally beaming with pride that soon the young boy would be graduating from middle school and entering high school. In the beginning, it was a bit of a challenge to enroll the circus boy into a place of education, considering his previous life, and now Bruce had gone a step further by planning to enroll Dick into the most prestigious academy in the city.

But seeing the boy's frown made Alfred's expression turn sympathetic and he approached him at his side to pat him on the shoulder.

"Granted, it may prove to be difficult with our line of work but that is precisely why you must take advantage of the time afforded to you."

"I still don't see why Bruce wants to put me in some stuffy private school. What's wrong with a public school?" Robin asked.

"He only wants what's best for you." Alfred sighed. "When he was your age, he didn't allow himself the opportunities you have."

From behind his mask, Robin rolled his eyes slightly while leaning back against his chair.

"Well, at least he was off traveling around the world training to be Batman, right? That must've been exciting." he said nonchalantly.

"Please don't romanticize such things! He wasn't even sure what he was training for!"

Hearing Alfred's sudden reaction caused Robin to look at him with surprised eyes.

"I implore you, Master Richard, do not take after him at least not in that regard. You can't imagine what it was like for a guardian: to have your charge wander the remote corners of the earth alone, involved in God knows what, not knowing if they would ever come back home alive."

The Boy Wonder felt awash with guilt as the older gentleman spoke soberly to him.

"Does he ever talk about it? I mean about his travels?" Robin asked tentatively.

For a moment the Wayne butler didn't reply but then cleared his throat and straighten himself, before answering,

"I'm afraid Master Wayne isn't so forthcoming as I'd wish him to be. During that time, he had kept correspondence from time to time through letters. The last one I received from him was from Shanghai when he said he would be departing to Japan, towards the mountains around Mount Miyama."

"He was in Japan?"

Alfred nodded.

"Oh yes, he spent three years there. As a matter a fact, that was where he was last before returning to Gotham."

"I wonder what was he doing over there." Robin couldn't help but muse.

The older man's own expression darkened. He was aware that Bruce wasn't the same after his parents' murder but he always felt that something was amiss after Bruce had returned. The young man who wrote that letter and the one who came back from Japan felt like two different people, like he had new mental scars to go along with his old ones.

And then there was that "souvenir" that Bruce had entrusted to him and refused to talk about.

"Whatever it was, I can't imagine it being anything good." Alfred muttered.


They were a lot more tenacious than he gave them credit for. Even after downing two of them, they still came at him without mercy and left his suit with a few nicks and tears as he tried to fend them off.

When they all tried to jump at him all at once, he was ready for them. Batman armed himself with a pair of smoke pellets and threw them at the ground just before they reached him.

Taking advantage of their blindness and confusion, the Dark Knight slipped out of their focus and attacked the nearest ninja by forcibly pulling his leg back and up to send him off balance while striking hard at his back. From there, he bounded from one ninja to the next delivering hard strikes to vital areas to send to the ground either unconscious or writhing in pain.

He had managed to incapacitate four of them by the time the smoke began to clear but the rest of the ninjas regained their bearings so he knew he was not out of the woods yet. Two, armed with swords, tried to gang up on him by slicing at his sides. But he stopped them by locking their blades in between the fins of his gauntlets before grabbing them at the back of their skulls to then bash them against the ground.

Just as he looked up, one ninja sprang up high in the air with the blade of his sword aimed downwards and ready to impale him. Batman quickly jumped back in the nick of time for the ninja drive the blade halfway into the concrete slab. Not giving the ninja time to recover, the vigilante immediately surged forward and drove his knee hard into the assassin's face; the crunching impact and blood indicated that he probably shattered the man's jaw bone as well as knocking out the majority of his teeth. Batman grabbed the ninja by his cloth just as his body was thrown back and whipped him around to strike another ninja behind him.

There was still no time to pause as Batman immediately reacted by jumping out of the way of a kunai that stuck itself on the ground where he stood. It wasn't an ordinary kunai, but an exploding kunai!

Batman drew his cape over his front to shield himself from the explosion but as he lowered it, he noticed three other ninjas readying more explosive kunais in their hands. He darted away as they rained them down on him, explosions trailing behind him.

However, one ninja attempted to cut him off by flinging another explosive kunais was towards his front. But Batman expertly caught the kunai in mid-fight, trapping the blade between his two fingers before flinging it back.

The three ninja's eyes widened in alarm as their own projectile struck the ground beneath them and they scrambled away just for the explosion to knock them off their feet.

Of the three, only one of them managed to pick himself up, although staggering in place. He looked to see Batman standing with unconscious and writhing bodies littered around him and with his cape curtaining around his body.

It was clear that he was the last one standing and couldn't believe that his fellow clan members were defeated so easily but nonetheless, he decided that he wouldn't go down without a fight and was ready to charge with his sword.

He wouldn't get the chance as just then, his skull was pierced by an arrow.

Batman and the remaining recovering ninjas looked up in surprise but by then it was happening too fast; a torrent of arrows rained down and impaled the remaining ninjas, killing them instantly. Batman, on the other hand, was spared from the onslaught.

On cue, another group of assassins landed on the rooftop in front of the Caped Crusader. They were armed with bows and arrows and garbed much differently from the ninjas; particularly with shemagh-style face masks with dark green hoods. They didn't attack him but he was still on his guard.

In the middle of them landed a feminine figure dressed similarly to them, their leader by the look of it. She steadily stood and pulled off her mask and hood.

To say that the woman was the pinnacle of exotic beauty was an understatement; her gorgeous sun-kissed skin and hazelnut eyes glowed against her long dark brown hair and highlighted her luscious full lips.

Despite Batman's aggressive glare, he couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat, as it always did every time he saw her.

"Hello, Beloved." she greeted, her husky voice like honey to his ears.

"Talia." he acknowledged, though not so amicably.

She sauntered up towards him as two of her assassins had their arrows pointed at him while the others checked the corpses of ninjas to confiscate any weapons or belongings.

"I told you this once before: I don't tolerate blood being spilled in my city." Batman told her tersely.

"I did you a favor." Talia laughed in an incredulous condescending way. "The Black Spider Clan are relentless and would die for their mission. They would have hunted you down until their last breath."

"Black Spider Clan?"

"An ancient ninja clan spanning thousands of years, it's said that they are descended from the bloodline of Fiends from the times of legend."

"I don't want a history lesson, I want to know what are they are doing here in Gotham."

He fixed a scrutinizing gaze on her.

"Them and you. Are you picking up the pieces from where Ra's has left off?"

That seemed to have struck a nerve and her expression suddenly shifted from its previous warmth into frigid resentment.

"After you killed father, the League has been left in shambles. Sadly, there wasn't much pieces left to pick." she spat out each of the last three words.

"I didn't kill him. He did that on his own."

"Destroying the Lazarus Pits was as good as condemning him to his death!"

She snarled and got into his face but he didn't budge, nor did his stoniness falter.

"Then maybe he shouldn't have been running away from his own mortality in the first place."

At first, Talia seemed to be at a loss for words but then she closed her eyes exhaled a long breath and looked at him again. Her face had softened again, all traces of anger had vanished from her eyes which then sought to implore him.

"I didn't come here to argue, Beloved. I came to warn you."

"About what? Them?" Batman asked gesturing to the lifeless ninjas.

"No." she shook her head. "The Black Spider are merely part of an alliance. There are other forces targeting you and you must be careful."


"Hit me with another one, Al."

Alfred now stood opposite Robin by the Batcomputer with a thick study guide in his hand and a complete befuddled expression on his face. He was pretty much finished with his Butler-y duties and decided to help the young ward study, even though he found the study material beyond his comprehension.

"Alright then,…find the value of three X cubed plus four X squared plus X minus five, when X is equal to minus three."

The British gentleman voiced it out in such a confused tone that it was like he was unsure if he was reading it right.

The young boy on the other hand understood the problem and wrote down a quick calculation on his note book.

"Is it minus fifty three?" he asked.

"Ah, just a moment…" Alfred blinked before turning the pages to where the answers were. "Yes, that is correct. Is this what they are teaching children of your age?! I can barely make head or tails of it!"

"I can explain it to you, if you want." Robin offered with an impish smug smile.

"Heaven's no! I think I'd rather mop up the droppings in the cave again."

Dick chuckled.

"Anyway, I think I'm on a roll here. Keep 'em coming."

"R-right, right, ahem." Alfred awkwardly cleared his throat before reading out another one.

But as he did, something caught Dick by the corner of his eye. He looked off to his side towards the darker corner of the cave but saw nothing. At first, he would've just thought nothing of it but there was lingering feeling that put him on edge and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

He didn't know if it was his instincts from his circus days or his experience as Batman's sidekick, but he could've sworn that he saw something. And so, he focused his gaze and he finally noticed it: movement and the glint of metals!

"What must be added to each of the numerator and the denominator of the fraction 7/11 to make it equal to-?"

"ALFRED, LOOK OUT!"

"Eh, what?"

Robin quickly tackled the Butler out of the way of several arrows that embedded into and cracked the large monitor they were next to. They tumbled to the floor before rolling themselves upright in alert as hoards of ninjas poured out from the dark corners of the cave. They were dressed similarly to Talia's group of assassins but their uniforms were colored dark red instead of green.

"What on earth!?" Alfred exclaimed.

"Get behind me!"

Robin ordered him as he pulled out a pair of rods from his utility belt that extended into escrima sticks.

One of the ninjas lunged at the Boy Wonder with a sword ready to chop at him but Robin scooted back quickly before flipping forward in the air to strike the ninja at the back of his head with one of his sticks. Continuing his forward momentum, Robin sprung off the downed ninja and did a split kick in the air to counterattack two other ninjas who tried to slice at him.

When he landed, Robin quickly blocked two swords from another pair of ninjas with his escrima sticks. He held on the block until he pushed one of the blades down to deliver a boot to the ninja's face. With that arm freed, Robin focused on the other ninja by striking the escrima stick against the back of his knee to throw him off balance and on his back before finally taking him out by slamming both sticks against his face.

As the Boy Wonder continued to fend off the group of intruders, a feminine shape was discreetly watching them all from above. Unnoticed by everyone, she hung by one of large stalagmites at the roof of the cave; her head hidden by a hood and ninja mask, save for her light red eyes and lavender bangs.

"Surrender or the old man dies!"

Robin froze from his state of battle and looked behind him to see Alfred being held hostage and at sword-point by two ninjas. The boy internally cursed himself for his own carelessness, silently yelling how could he let them slip past him!? Or had they been there this whole time waiting for an opportunity?

It didn't matter at that point how much he questioned it, for he glanced around him to see the rest of the ninjas slowly approach and surround him. And the ninjas that he had downed earlier were beginning to recover and join their comrades. Robin knew that he was at a loss.

And so, with a released frustrated breath, the Boy Wonder dropped his escrima sticks and held his hands in the air.

Of course, the ninjas he had defeated didn't take kindly to their humiliation and one of them quickly charged and kicked Robin at his back, causing the boy to yelp out as he was knocked on his hands and knees.

"Master Richard!" Alfred yelled out in concern.

The ninja mercilessly stomped one foot on the boy's back and held a sword to the side of his neck while Robin remained defiant as ever, with the white eyes of his domino mask narrowed and his teeth grit.

"That's enough! You will step away from the boy or be punished!"

A voice rang out that had the timbre of age and authority, such authority that the ninja that stood over Robin immediately retreated with fearful wide eyes and knelt down. The rest of the ninjas parted way to allow the person who was obviously their leader to approach.

Up above, the woman focused her narrowed eyes as the events unfolded.

All while Robin wondered just who were these guys anyway.


"They call themselves the League of Shadows."

"A splinter faction?" asked Batman.

Talia nodded.

"That's right. There are those in the League who were dissatisfied with Father's leadership, blamed his lack of ruthlessness on his downfall. Their leader was my father's mentor and second-in-command, a man who has seen this world longer than he has but hasn't let that dull his violent edge."

The Dark Knight's eyes narrowed.

"Who is this leader?"


"F-forgive me, Sensei." the kneeling ninja apologized.

Robin looked ahead a see a man strolling towards him, with hands behind him and walking in between the rows of his loyal ninjas.

He was an elderly man with oriental features, bald top with long white hair and beard. Garbed in a red padded zoroye with gold trimmings. It was a look that Dick found himself comparing with those typical old kung-fu masters that he'd seen in the movies.

"It sickens me to see such potential stagnating away under Wayne's thumb. Don't you see that all that fool does is hold you back?"

The Sensei spoke as he finally stopped in front of Robin who looked up at him from the floor.

"Your skills may be lacking now but you're still young." Sensei told him as he stroked his beard. "You can be molded, hardened, strengthened! In time, you can be unstoppable."

Despite being faced with their leader, the Boy Wonder began to formulate a plan in his mind. If the guy was going to do the whole 'Darth Vader bit' then that would give him time to prepare a surprise attack. And so, with a trick he learned from Batman himself, Robin concealed a hand with his cape and took out a flash pellet from his belt.

"Discard the Bat and join my side." Sensei proposed to him with a point of his long fingernail. "And I guarantee to make you into the most powerful conqueror this world will ever know!"

"Lemme get back to you on that." Robin said before he threw the flash pellet on the floor between them.

As the blinding light caught everyone in the cave by surprise, Robin made his move by launching a kick toward their leader…Only to find his ankle gripped firmly by the old man's hand. His white eyes widened in shock, realizing that the Sensei had closed his eyes in time and was unaffected by the flash. The aged warrior slowly opened his eyes while his lips curled in a cruel smirk.

"I have centuries worth of experience, boy. Did you actually think your childish tactics would work on me?"

With that, the Sensei mercilessly threw Robin by his foot towards one of the Cave's machines where the young hero cried out as his back impacted hard against the metal.

Alfred flinched and looked on with worry, seeing the boy painfully pushing himself back up with a slight stagger.

"Guh,…can't…blame me for trying." Robin gasped and weakly grinned before charging back into the fight.

With his arms folded coolly behind his back, the Sensei dodged every punch and kick that the Boy Wonder threw at him, making him perplexed how an old man could move with such speed and fluidity. After Sensei avoided another kick from him, Robin changed things up by quickly taking out two circular blade disks from his utility belt and launching them at him.

Sensei simply angled his body with next to no effort as the projectiles sailed past him. Robin tried to take advantage by catching him by surprise but the Sensei quickly intercepted his punch by grabbing his fist.

Robin couldn't even react as Sensei yanked him forward and kneed him hard in the gut, then used his free arm to strike the back of his head with his elbow before raising his leg over the boy's hunched body and then delivering a downward kick that slammed Robin against the ground.

Still holding Robin's arm, Sensei held him down with his foot against his shoulder blades.

"A shame that you reject my offer, whelp. You could've actually walked away alive."

The old master tightened his grip on the boy's arm.

"Now, tell me where is the Seiryu Tsume." he demanded.

"Guh-…gesundheit."

CRACK!

Dick's screams of pain echoed throughout the cave causing Alfred to gasp in horror. The old butler attempted to rush to the young ward's aid but alas, he was stopped by the ninjas who held him.

"The Dragon Dagger!" Sensei grilled him. "Tell me where it is or I will break another limb!"

The poor lad said nothing, only panting in pain as tears leaked out from his mask. Sensei mercilessly dropped his limp arm, ignoring the pained gasp from him.

"Hmph. Useless." Sensei spat as he was about to grip Robin's other arm.

"STOP!"

Sensei looked over towards Alfred who continued to yell at him in outrage.

"For god's sake, stop! He's only a child! I'll give you the bloody thing myself!"

"Smart man." Sensei smiled evilly as he let Robin go.

The League of Shadows leader gestured his to let the butler go and Alfred marched toward the Batcomputer while maintaining a firm glare, only softening when he flicked a concerned glance towards Robin as he passed him.

Despite the embedded arrows, the screen still worked apart from a little flickering and some color lines. Alfred entered a command before taking off his glove and pressing his palm against a reader. With a hiss of smoke, a small cylindrical structure rose from the ground adjacent to the computer and displayed an ornamental Tanto with a slightly curved blade that was the color of cobalt.

Sensei's eyes lit up while Robin was surprised seeing the displayed weapon and the fact that Bruce had it hidden here this whole time.

But while everyone in the cave had their sights transfixed on the blue Tanto, they didn't notice that Alfred had discreetly pressed a button below the Batcomputer's console.


"So I take it they want me out of the picture."

The winds began to blow across the rooftop landscape, causing Batman's cape as well as Talia's hair to rise and sway gently in its currents. A signal of a coming storm perhaps.

"But then why send some some ninja clan after me? What's in it for them?" Batman asked her.

The daughter of the Demon's Head lightly crossed her arms and stepped a little closer. Her underlings had at this point removed all the corpses of the Black Spider ninjas and retreated to the far end of the roof behind her to stay on guard. At the moment, Talia felt it was just her and him now.

"I'm afraid it's more complicated than that, Beloved." she said. "Although Father has heard of the Black Spider clan, the League had never interacted with them until now. My informants have told me that there's a higher organization is involved."

"You mean someone brought them together?"

Talia nodded.

"Yes. Apparently the Black Spider's numbers have reduced after a crushing defeat from their enemy, much like the League itself."

It sounded like somebody saw the fragmented remains of two armies and decided to piece them together like a mercenary group but if that was true, then it called to question if he was being specifically targeted in the first place. Batman couldn't help but wonder if Talia was telling him the whole story. Something about whole situation stunk to to him.

"What do 'they' want? Really?" he asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Surprisingly, she didn't seem offended by his question. She turned her side to him, took a few heavy steps and stared forlornly at the distance.

"To be honest, I don't know." she sighed.

He regarded her for a moment.

"You look tired."

"Because I am tired, Beloved. Even after his death, I still live under my father's shadow and I'm barely able to hold on to his legacy."

"Talia…"

She looked back towards him when he addressed her.

"Ra's is gone." he told in a softened tone. "He has no more power over you. Instead of holding on to his legacy you should let go of it and forge your own. One without blood and death."

Her eyes slowly lit up in hope and her lips parted before she turned fully to him.

"Will you help me?"

"What?"

Talia walked up right to him and placed an affectionate palm over the side of his head.

"Come with me, my love. Help me create my…OUR legacy."

"What are you saying?" he was taken aback.

Undeterred, she put her other hand over his shoulder in an imploring manner.

"With you by my side, we can reforge the League in your own image. The resources at your disposal would be invaluable to your mission, you will not only be able to stop crime in Gotham but the whole world! No more killing, no more pain, no more loneliness."

He had to admit, on paper her proposal was enticing. Even if they did disband the League, its members would only go on to become killers or maybe seek out another leader like the Sensei. But if he reformed them,…if he used them to make the Batman something more,…

And if he had her by his side…

"I want us to walk together side by side towards brighter tomorrow." Talia voice now became a whisper. "It has always…been…my dream…"

Her eyes fluttered close as she slowly brought their faces together, her lips parting invitingly and her sweet breath caressing over his own parting mouth.

Batman couldn't remember when did she move her body so close to him, or when her hands held on to his head to pull her closer to him, or when his own hands traveled to the small of her back and her shoulder blades. All he knew was that he was allowing their lips to drift closer and closer until they were about mere millimeters apart.

That was when a particular alarm sounded from the earpiece. He knew this signal very well and the extreme situation it was designated for.

His eyes flew open in shock and in an instant, Talia found herself being shoved away and his cape almost swished against her face as he turned and ran towards the edge of the roof before jumping off. It was so sudden that she had to blink before running up the parapet to find him gliding away with his cape spread.

As she looked on with a scowl, her underlings joined her at her side. The reality of their circumstance became painful clear to her: the dream that she had just shared with him would only be that, a dream. For as long as Gotham and its people exists, they will always be apart.


One of the Sensei's Shadow ninjas approached the raised pedestal with tense trepidation and reached his shaky fingers towards the weapon's handle.

The Sensei wanted to make sure that there wasn't any booby traps and as luck would have it, he had 'volunteered' this particular ninja to put himself at risk and retrieve the Tanto.

The chosen ninja was prepared to die for their cause, much like the rest of the League of Shadows. However, that didn't seem to alleviate the dread he felt as he enclosed his fingers around the handle and pull the weapon from its resting place.

Nothing happened.

Relieved, the ninja quickly hurried back to his master before kneeling and presenting the weapon to him with both hands. Sensei picked up the Tanto and inspected it, hovering a critical eye over the gold dragon design and the blade that was strangely blue in color.

"The Seiryu Tsume, at last." he finally grinned in satisfaction. "Only 3 keys remain to awaken the Supreme Creator Fiend."

While the elderly warlord continued to admire the weapon, Alfred was kneeling by Dick's side to treat the boy's broken arm with his medical expertise and the emergency kit he kept inside the cave. With the arm secured with a splint and plaster, the Butler then took off Robin's cape to use as a makeshift-sling.

Both he and Robin were of course held at weapon-point by a few ninjas surrounding them, cutting off their means of escape.

As he was finishing the last touches, Alfred glared at the Sensei. He knew that Bruce should on the way here thanks to the emergency signal but even then, he was aware that the situation wasn't ideal.

"Now if that will be all, you can kindly take all your men and sod off!" Alfred barked at him.

Rather than being outraged, the old villain looks back at him with an evil smile.

"I'll be happy to oblige, Mister Pennyworth. As a matter a fact, I was hoping you'd be joining us."

Alfred blinked in confusion before the ninja behind him at the back of his head and knocked him down.

"Alfred!"

Robin called out in worry before the rest of the ninjas held him down too.

"Secure the area and take these two to the rendezvous point." Sensei ordered his underlings.

"At once, Sensei."

The ninjas held up their hostages and began to herd them away while the rest of the assassins spread out to no doubt prepare a deadly welcome should the Dark Knight return.

Unfortunately the plan would go awry; for at that moment, a feminine figure landed in a crouch behind one of the ninjas, causing him to turn around at the presence.

"Huh?"

SLASH!

With lightning speed, the woman brought up a pair of kodachis with golden butterfly-wing themed handles and slices through the ninja's arms like a hot knife through butter. Just as the man staggered back, screaming in agony as blood gushed out of his stumps, she brought down one of her blades and tore through his sternum, effectively turning his screams into a dying gurgle.

Needless to say, the League of Shadows were caught off-guard and they all turned in alert to face this new interloper.

Before one of the ninjas could react, she slid towards him and kicked at his foot to send him off-balance. In a continuous motion, she spun her legs up into a stand while slicing at the man's torso. The kunoichi then jumped up while tucking her legs and spring-boarded off his body, sending the bleeding ninja staggering back until he tumbled over of the platform railings to his death.

While she was in the air, she turned her body around as landed towards another ninja who yelled in alarm.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTAC-!"

He didn't get to finish, for the woman slashed into him as she landed.

"My word!" Alfred exclaimed while Dick looked on with a mix of Astonishment and horror.

Sensei on the other hand furrowed his brow in annoyance he watched the kunoichi dismember and kill five of his men one by one with a bounding flurry of lightning fast slashes.

After finishing off the sixth one by slicing off his leg and impaling him, she jumped and flipped in the air to avoid another ninja who charged at her from behind with his katana. The kunoichi then landed on his shoulder with her shapely legs wrapped around his neck before she drove both her blades into his eyes, deep enough to kill him.

When she vaulted off the dead ninja on to the floor, she didn't have a moment to pause because suddenly, she noticed a fast movement approaching her.

She blocked using her kodachis resulting in a loud CLANG! and a spark from the Seiryu Tsume that the Sensei used to slash at her.

The old warlord didn't let up, continuing to attack her with a series of slashes, kicks and punches. The woman blocked and parried most of them and tried to counterattack but the Sensei either expertly avoided her slashes or deflected them with his spiked gauntlets.

Using both his gauntlet and the Tanto, he locked one of her kodachis and twisted it out of her grip before delivering an elbow to her chest. The woman staggered back in pain before she yelled and tried attacking with her remaining kodachi. But he easily disarmed that as well before delivering a hard punch right to the side of her face.

She reeled back, seeing stars. And before she could even recover, he launched a powerful kick to her gut, sending her flying back until she impacted against the cave wall.

The kunoichi fell to her knees, gasping and panting. Just as she pushed herself up she felt her throat being grabbed and then found herself being slammed against the wall again.

"So the Mugen Tenshin have sent their Hajinmon bitch, have they?" Sensei asked.

After saying that, the old man suddenly tightened his grip on her windpipe and caused her let out a strained yell as she struggled to get free from his vice like grip.

"Pathetic."

He sneered as he brought up the blue bladed Tanto for the kill.

"I never imagined that we would have our encounter here. Pity it would be our last."

But before he could stab her, he was suddenly alerted the 'wrring' of machinery and the distant sound of a car's engine.

He grit his teeth in frustration and then pulled the woman forward to slam the back of her head into the cave wall and knocked her out. After she fell to the floor, he strode towards his remaining troops and their two hostages while giving out his firm order.

"We leave. Now!"

Soon after the Batmobile skid to a halt over the circular platform, the canopy slid open and Batman quickly jumped out with such urgency that he didn't even wait for the circular platform to fully rotate around.

"ALFRED!? DICK!?" he called out in a panic.

He rushed towards where the Batcomputer was and halted at the sight of the carnage and dead bodies, muscles tensed with his breath trapped in his throat as he quickly swept his eyes around.

There were no sign of Alfred or Dick, or anyone alive for that matter.

Swallowing the dread he felt for his family, Batman approached the situation analytically and knelt to look over one of the deceased ninjas. They were garbed similarly to Talia's ilk but were colored red instead of green and that left him to conclude that they were probably with the League of Shadows faction that Talia told him about.

Did that mean it was she was somehow involved? Perhaps deploying one of her loyal lieutenants here while she was conversing him with on the rooftop?

That theory was immediately snuffed when his hearing picked up a faint soft groan coming from the far end of the area by the cave wall. Sure enough, his sights landed on the prone kunoichi and he approached her. It seemed that she wasn't associated with the other ninjas considering how different her garb was and the fact that she was left behind. But on the other hand, he couldn't be sure.

Carefully, he turned her body over and he was taken aback when the noticed the strands of silky lavender hair flowing over her forehead. It was an unusual hair color, that's for sure. But more than that, she looked so familiar to him for some reason.

He wouldn't get the chance to ponder on it leisurely; for, at that moment, her crimson eyes suddenly flew open and she reacted by lashing out her leg and striking Batman against the side of his head.

With a grunt, he lurched back but quickly put his guard up as she came at him again with a series of rapid open-hand strikes followed by another kick. All of which were blocked with precision as he took note of her fighting style.

He continued to evade and block her attacks until the moment she launched a high kick. That was when he finally made his move by first blocking it with his gauntlet, then grabbing her ankle, locking it in his underarm before rushing in to both sweep her leg off while simultaneously grabbing her wrist to pull her arm behind her back as he slammed her front to the ground.

The woman struggled to escape from her position as Batman firmly held her down.

"Looks like Genra has taught you well after all,…" he spoke. "Ayane."

Her eyes widened in shock.

Seeing that she ceased her struggling, Batman let go of her and backed away, allowing her to slowly turn around and stood up to face him.

And then finally, the Dark Knight slid back his cowl over his head to reveal his face to her.

"Bruce-san…" Ayane breathed in almost a whisper.

The kunoichi detached her face mask and let it clatter to the ground before pulling back her hood to reveal fully her neck length lavender hair that had her fringe and bangs fall over a purple bandana that she tied around her forehead. Her pretty face was also in full view, complimented by lush lips and cherry colored eyes.

"She's…grown." Bruce remarked to himself.

To Bruce, that was one hell of an understatement. The last time he saw her, she was just a teenager. And now, he sees that she has fully blossomed into a woman ripe with curves.

As a matter a fact: her breasts, which back then were already pretty big for her age, seem to have grown larger since then. Their size and roundness were perfectly accentuated by the impractical yet enticing purple bustier of her outfit.

Bruce averted his eyes with a frown. It was inappropriate to think of her this way. After all, he had known her as a child.

"It's been so long." Ayane spoke as she took a step.

But Bruce remained as a stone wall.

"Why are you here?" he asked her coldly.

"Huh?"

He met her eyes with a sharp glare.

"I had made myself very clear to you people, that the Mugen Tenshin and the Hayabusa clans were to keep their affairs out of Gotham."

His harshness caught her off-guard at first but then her fond nostalgic feelings faded away in the place of bitterness as the memories of him parting ways with them returned to her. She scowled back at him and nearly spat in disgust.

"Tch."

And then spun her back to him to walk away.

"I don't recall any promises being made." she huffed without looking at him.

She walked over to her two butterfly-handle Kodachis and as she picked them up, Bruce continued to grill her from behind.

"What happened to my comrades? Where are they?" he asked with a hardened edge.

A part of him was suspicious if Ayane had anything to do with Dick and Alfred's disappearance but he also knew that the facts wouldn't line up if she did. And a smaller part of him really didn't want to have her as an enemy.

"The League of Shadows have them." Ayane said as she sheathed her two weapons before turning back to him. "And they took the Dragon Dagger too."

"What?"

Bruce quickly swiveled his head towards the Batcomputer where the pedestal was raised. Sure enough, he noticed that the blue blade Tanto was missing.

"Is that what all this is about?" he asked in disbelief. "But why? The only reason I brought it here was because Jô-sensei asked me too, as keepsake."

Or more accurately, Bruce had only accepted the artifact as a mere courtesy. It was his way of honoring the years of being under his tutelage despite how it all ended.

"Show's how much you really know." the purple-haired kunoichi smirked at him condescendingly and then spoke again.

"The Mugen Tenshin have always known that the Seiryu Tsume was a sacred relic and the Shadow's leader…the one they call Sensei, I overheard him refering to it as one of four 'keys'."

"Then Jô-sensei was using me!?" Bruce asked angrily.

If this dagger really was somehow important, then it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Jô Hayabusa used the pretense of gifting it to Bruce as a means of keeping it safe.

The very notion of that brought Bruce's blood to a boil; he was not only tricked but also had a big target painted on his back and it was because of that, Alfred and Dick were captured.

But then a question arose in his mind: Why WERE they taken if the dagger was all that the League of Shadows were after? They already got what they wanted.

It didn't make any sense.

He remembered Talia's words. 'There are other forces targeting you'. Were they kidnapped to bait him? Why him? To avenge Ra's?

"No, it's nothing like that!" Ayane's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "I don't know why Hayabusa-sama entrusted you with the Seiryu Tsume but there must be a reason."

Ayane's features softened at this point.

"Bruce-san, there's something else you should know. It's about Ryu-sama…"

He felt himself stiffen at the mention of that name.

"He's gone missing." Ayane told him.

"That's none of my business."

Ayane couldn't believe her ears. As she looked towards the man who's expression remained unreadable, she half expected and half hoped that he would take it back. But he remained silent and with each second that ticked by, she felt her anger rise more and more.

"How dare you! You're the closest thing he's ever considered as a brother and you turn your back on him like this!" she rounded on him.

"He turned his back on me first." Bruce responded.

"Only because you're a coward! You don't have what it takes to be a true ninja!"

"And what does it take?" Bruce asked, gesturing towards the corpses. "Killing and slaughtering?"

"Yes!"

In her frustration, Ayane suddenly brandished a kunai with a large purple flower at its handle and charged at Bruce with a yell. However Bruce saw the attack telegraphed and easily grabbed her wrist before she could plunge the kunai into him in an overhead fashion.

He didn't need to hold her wrist too tight as Ayane didn't resist nor attempt to strike him again. As a matter a fact, she barely put any effort into the attack. The lavender-haired kunoichi was normally a fearsome and disciplined warrior but just then, in a rare occurrence, her action was more of an emotional outburst an anything else.

Bruce somehow knew that too.

They were close now, crimson eyes fixed upon his blue ones as her large chest heaved along with her panting breaths that he could feel caress against his face.

Gently lowering her arm down, Bruce spoke in a low raspy tone that sent a shiver through her body.

"I'm not afraid to take a life, Ayane. But that's exactly why I choose not to."

Regardless of what he said, Ayane felt her cheeks burn and her heart hammering from their proximity. Against her better judgment, she remained transfixed by his face.

It had been four years since she had last seen him and he was just as unbearably handsome now as he was then.

She chided herself for displaying such weakness and reminded herself that she wasn't a child with silly girly crushes anymore. And yet…

"Why?" she questioned herself. "After all these years, I thought I had forgotten. So why do I still feel…?"

"Ayane!"

The moment was broken when a high pitched feminine voice pierced through the cave. Bruce and Ayane quickly turned towards the direction of the source, which was surprisingly where a giant T-rex statue stood tall and imposing.

Much to Bruce's surprise, a young pink-haired girl wearing a light pink and purple ninja outfit suddenly appeared on top of the Dinosaur's head. She was holding her fists up and lightly hopping in place in anxiousness.

"You have to come quick! Something terrible is happening!"

However in her frantic state, she suddenly lost her footing along the T-rex's snout and caused her to comically stumble forward while flapping her arms until she ended up tumbling off from the tip of the statue's nose.

"Ha…UU-WAAAH!?"

Time slowed to a crawl as she fell through the air towards them with wide crimson eyes. Bruce's own eyes widened when it occurred to him that her trajectory was heading straight towards him. Since he didn't have the heart to sidestep, she inevitably collided against him and sent them both on the ground.

The back of his head hit the hard floor sure enough but in contrast, his face was cushioned by a warm softness comparable to a marshmallow along with a sweet scent that made up for any other bodily pain.

It was then he realized that he was being smothered by a pair of large breasts, softer than any he had felt before.

"Ah-cha-cha-cha-cha…" the girl groaned as pushed herself up before then noticing the person under her.

"Aahh!"

She quickly scooted away, stood up and bowed profusely.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to land on you like that!" she apologized with concern in her voice.

With a grunt, Bruce sat himself up and it was then where he was able to get a good look at her.

Her silky salmon pink hair was tied into ponytail on the left side of her head with an elastic band that had a ball with a cartoony winking skull design.

As he was able to distinguish before, she was indeed short statured: With her standing at 4 feet eleven and with a youthful face, she could easily be mistaken as a teenager. It was thanks to her diminutive height that her breasts appeared bigger than they should be.

Despite her obvious association with Ayane, there was an air of innocence about her and in Bruce's mind, it made her stick out like such a sore thumb. Regardless, he decided to at least acknowledge her.

"Forget about it. At least I broke your fall." he told her as he stood up.

The girl actually giggled and with her hands cutely clasped behind her back, she looked up towards him, smiling like a ray of sunshine.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Honoka, what's your's-ACK!"

She was cut short when Ayane suddenly yanked her by the ear while sporting and incredibly annoyed expression.

"Owie…owie…owie…owie." Honoka whimpered as she was being dragged away.

"What are you doing here, Nee-san!? I told you to wait and keep watch until I returned!" Ayane scolded her.

"Nee-san?" Bruce wondered.

Honoka snapped into attention and remembered her reason for coming.

"Ah! That's right! The city is in danger! There are monsters appearing everywhere! It's scary! Real scary!"

This definitely caught Bruce's full attention and marched up to her, demanding to know more.

"What are you talking about!?"

The pink-haired girl turned to him, gesturing her arms anxiously.

"It's on the news right now! I saw reporters and cameras and everything!"

Without another word, Bruce strode past the two ladies and made a bee-line towards the Batcomputer. After pressing a series of keys, the screen flickered to display a news broadcast, albeit with some persistent glitches.

"…We're getting some truly frightening images here in the studio. For those of you who have just joined us, the Burnley District is in an absolute state of panic. We have received word that the Mayor has declared a city wide emergency and has reached out to the Governor for help,…"

As the news anchor delivered his report, two sets of footages were being showcased. One was a bird's eye view, obviously being recorded from a helicopter. The other was from ground zero, either from a news camera or perhaps somebody's phone.

It was past midnight and the people of Gotham were out of their homes, running and screaming for their lives as a menagerie of creatures ran amok and chased down to kill whatever human they set they sights on.

They were vaguely humanoid and all fleshy in nature with one group sporting very long bony claws with single reptilian eye on their face while others sets of eyes are symmetrically fixed on their shoulders and knees. They had a hunched over posture and they skittered across the streets despite lacking any visible feet.

Another group were larger than them, having horns and tusks growing out of their skeletal bestial heads and a bony fin-like protrusion growning from their forearms. They too had a hunched posture with gaunt yet muscular bodies and pairs of underdeveloped wings growing out of their backs.

The two kunoichis watched the broadcast from behind Bruce, with Honoka looking on in terror while Ayane's aghast eyes flashed with recognition.

"Fiends…" she voiced out.

"What the hell is going on!?" Bruce internally exclaimed.


Seven Years Ago

A pair of dainty hands wrung a cloth rag over a nearby wooden bucket, trickling the last possible drops of water before the cloth was used to dab against the young man's sweaty skin.

He was laid down on his back upon a goza mat, stripped to his underwear with the majority of his nakedness covered by wrapped bandages. Along with his fingers twitching and breathing uneven, his eyes darted back forth beneath his eyelids, indicative of REM sleep.

The vivid images flashed in his mind as they always did, the cold and darkness of that alley, the glint of the gun's muzzle, his father stepping forward.

BANG!

The echo of the gunshot, his mother's screams.

BANG!

The bullet piecing her necklace, the scattering of her pearls.

Their eyes were open, they wouldn't move.

Blood…there was so much blood…

"NO!"

Bruce suddenly shot up into a sit and elicited a gasp from his caretaker who had been kneeling by his side.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust while he panted and became gradually aware of the aches in his body. He didn't have an idea where he was but the environment looked like the inside of a quaint Japanese house.

Hearing the sudden shuffling next to him, he turned his head and his eyes met another's: chocolate brown, doe-like and with soft feminine lashes. They belonged to a beautiful young girl, with long raven black hair tied into a high ponytail, wearing the typical white and red garb of a Miko's.

She looked quite young, possibly in her early teens, but seemed to have quite a developed bosom for her age.

A light blush spread over her cheeks as she froze in place with wide uncertain eyes and her lips parted, like she didn't quite know what to do. She then quickly scrambled up to stand by the nearby shoji door and slid it open.

"Onee-sama! Onee-sama!" she called out.

"Nani no sawagida?"

Bruce heard a faint voice respond before a few seconds later, another girl poked her head in from the other side. She was equally beautiful but more mature looking, perhaps a little older than him, with her dark hair neatly cut and tied low behind her neck. Her clothes was also that of a Miko's.

"Ah! What are you doing up!? You should be resting!" she noticed him and rushed in out of concern.

It was a good thing too since at that moment, he was struck with a lightheaded feeling and fell back just in time for the girl to catch him. As she knelt by his side and steadied him, she turned her attention to her counterpart with the high ponytail.

"Momiji, get him some water. Hayaku!"

Momiji nodded and quickly went to the far end of the room where there was an earthen jar. After filling up a bowl, she returned to them and handed it the elder girl who tilted it against Bruce's lips.

Despite his fatigue, he was able to steadily drink. Although the last ounce of water went down too quickly and caused him to cough a little.

"Where am I?.." he croaked before looking at the older girl. "Who are you?"

"Please, you shouldn't strain yourself. My name is Kureha." she smiled warmly and then gestured to the younger girl in the room.

"And this is my sister, Momiji."

Momiji only remained silent as she sat seiza-style with her clenched hands on her thighs, bashfully averting her gaze while another blush spread over her face.

"Well, thank you to you both for taking care of me." Bruce said hoarsely while giving a slight bow.

As he did, he noticed a green Magatama jewel dangling from a beaded necklace around Kureha's neck. He didn't know why but he got a strange vibe and something about it drew his curiosity.

"It's called the 'Eye of the Dragon'." Kureha suddenly said.

Bruce flinched and looked up expecting to see her angry but instead she sported a kind, all knowing smile.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare." he apologized while looking away.

"It's alright. But If you don't mind me saying, I never thought I'd see a gaijin speak our language so fluently. Where did you learn it?"

His lips slightly curled in a wry fashion.

"Let's just say I had a lot of time on my hands."

He slowly began to frown when recalled Kureha's name for the jewel and then fanned his sights around the room while making some mental connections.

"Is this Hayabusa Village?" he asked.

Honestly, he felt like he didn't need to hear her answer. He was sure of it and he couldn't help but feel a sense of victory. He made it, he actually made it!

"Hai." Kureha nodded before her voice hardened with reproof. "You should've known better than to come here so recklessly. This village is fiercely guarded."

Bruce grunted as he raised his arm to inspect it. It was almost completely covered in bandages yet despite a stinging ache, he felt more or less fine.

"Hmrgh. Yeah, I noticed. I'm surprised I'm still in one piece though."

Kureha's expression turned back to her compassionate demeanor.

"The physicians here are quite adept at healing the most grievous wounds. But more than that, my sister had been tending to you non-stop since you've arrived."

She glanced towards Momiji and found that her sister was still being shy, keeping her head down. A mischievous twinkle then sparked in Kureha's eye as she leaned towards Bruce and whispered audibly on purpose.

"I think she likes you."

With a gasp, Momiji's head shot up with a blush so red that her face lit up like a Christmas ornament.

"O-onee-sama! Son'na koto o iwanaide!" Momiji squeaked at her before covering her face with her palms.

Kureha giggled while closing her eyes and place her hand over her lips. Even Bruce slightly curled his lips at the cute familial scene displayed before him.

But just then, the shoji door suddenly slid and moment was broken with the three of them having their attention drawn towards the door.

"So he has finally awakened."

The two sisters immediately rose, stood in attention and respectfully bowed towards the visitor.

"Hayabusa-sama." Kureha greeted.

Jô Hayabusa walked inside. He had already changed out of his white ninja uniform in favor of a white kimono and his fukumen had been removed as well, fully exposing his neatly trimmed mustache and beard along with the battle scar on his cheek.

"Please leave us. I wish to speak with him alone." Jô said, his voice firm and authoritative but not cruel.

"H-hai. Of course."

Kureha nodded and gestured to Momiji to follow her out the door. Momiji did as she was told but not without shooting one last lingering worried look towards Bruce before finally closing the door behind her.

A tense silence permeated the room as Jô slow and methodically sat himself down seiza-style, facing Bruce. Figuring that he should be respectful, Bruce pushed himself on his knees and seated himself in the same position facing Jô, despite the pain in his thigh and shins.

The silence carried on with Jô fixing a scrutinizing gaze towards the invader, trying to study him. Bruce didn't allow himself to be intimidated but as he patiently waited, he could've sworn he heard the hushed whispers of Kureha that sounded like she was talking with someone.

"Shonen…" Jô suddenly spoke, bringing his attention back to him. "Do you understand where you are?"

Bruce decided to not beat around the bush and give his answers as direct and succinct as possible.

"Yes."

"What do you hope to find here?" Jô asked him.

"Training."

Jô smirked in amusement.

"You wish to be Ninja, then?"

"To be able to fight like one, yes." Bruce nodded.

"Why?"

Bruce's face hardened and his eyes narrowed.

"So I can wage a one-man war and be strong enough to defeat my enemies."

The clan leader chuckled mockingly at him while shaking his head incredulously. He spoke again after calming down from his mirth.

"Listen well Shonen, I do not know how you came to find out about our village but our clan is centuries old, tasked with the most sacred of duties."

Jô's expression narrowed with anger and he spoke with a slight growl.

"This is not a tourist spot. We are not some school you can just stroll into, expecting tuition. We don't allow outsiders within our gates, let alone a western gaijin." he almost spat.

Once again, Bruce stayed his ground.

"Yet here I am." he said simply.

"Only because I allowed it. I was curious about you, I wanted to know if you really were as big of a fool as I thought."

The clan leader again chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

"You did not disappoint."

"I found out about this place from the Mugen Tenshin." Bruce suddenly said.

The room abruptly turned silent again and the young billionaire couldn't help but feel a little smug, seeing the amusement and color drain from Jô's face.

Jô narrowed his eyes and once again bore them into the young foreigner.

The Hayabusa clan was one thing but he knew that the Mugen Tenshin was a secretive and conservative sect. Very few know about their existence so he found it hard to believe that this young man was involved with them.

"You approached the Mugen Tenshin as well?" Jô asked him.

"Yes. It wasn't easy but I did manage get an audience with Shiden-sama."

Jô tried to feign ignorance.

"Shiden-sama?"

"The head of the clan."

"Sokka. And he…?"

As Jô trailed off, Bruce could sense the growing anger in his voice and acted quick to quell any misunderstandings. He knew that the Hayabusa clan has good relations with the Mugen Tenshin clan, and that the idea of them revealing the other's secrets could be considered an act of betrayal.

"Oh. He didn't give the location, I did the legwork on my own. He told that if I wished to train with the Tenjinmon, then I should seek out the Hayabusa clan first."

"Sokka…" Jô nodded. "It would seem that he wished to condemn you to your death."

Jô pondered for a few more minutes before he came to a decision.

"Tomorrow, I and a few will escort you back to the Mugen Tenshin village. I will speak with Shiden myself about having his men take you to the nearest road where you can be on your way."

Bruce furrowed his brows. This wasn't going according to plan and he made a desperate attempt to assert himself.

"Wait a minute, I didn't come all the way here just to leave empty-handed. If it's a question about money-"

"Wealth means nothing here, Shonen." Jô cut him off with a growl. "The path of the Ninja is a path of suffering. You can stay your own path if you choose but I cannot allow you to follow it here."

Bruce clenched his jaw tightly in frustration, feeling himself at a loss. Satisfied that the matter has been settled, Jô straightened his back and called out for someone without turning his head.

"Ryu. You may enter."

The shoji door slid open and young man about Bruce's age walked inside. He was wearing a dark blue shozuku that was missing its hood and mask, leaving his face uncovered. He was quite handsome with green eyes and short messy brown hair.

He was the same ninja who had saved Bruce's life.

"This is my son. He will be traveling with us tomorrow." Jô said.

With a serious expression, the man clasped his fist and bowed.

"Hajimemashite. I am Ryu Hayabusa."

In an action that surprised both the son and father, Bruce stood up with a pained grimace and then outstretched his hand to shake.

"Hi. My name is Bruce." he gave a weak grin.

Caught a little off-guard, Ryu hesitated before he slowly reached and clasped Bruce's hand, sealing an unexpected and unspoken promise of friendship.

TBC