The Ginga Legend: Weed's Story

Super Canine arc Episode five: The War On Futago Pass Begins

Before Weed and his army begun the war against Hougen and his troops, Weed was devising a strategy for the war with his closest comrades based on Akame's additional info. A bird he sent in before the battle was telling them everything they needed to know. Weed was able to understand bits and pieces of it, which had him attempt to figure out what it was saying. "I think it's saying... something about multiple groups?"

"Yes. Three groups to be exact." Akame added, explaining the rest to keep everyone up to date as fast as possible.

Jerome looked back at the army, which housing almost four hundred soldiers, was still barely up to half of Hougen's. "Even with the soldiers I recruited on my travels, Hougen still has us outnumbered. Going after one group at a time won't give us much of an advantage.

Akame sent the bird away after thanking it, allowing Weed to get to sharing the plan he devised from the spying his army did during their three days of preparing. They really managed to figure out everything during those days of spying too. "I noticed something about Kamakiri, one of the group leaders. His army is very unorganized. If we can take down Kamakiri, his soldiers should get confused."

"Key word being 'should'." Gin chimed in, having a good idea as to what Weed was suggesting. Actually, he felt they had the same idea. "If it's group division we're looking at, then we should do it in a way that helps our lack in numbers made up for with strength and strategy."

"So we'll need commanding officers for three groups. And I know just who to pick!" Weed started announcing the group, beginning with the Canine who at this point, indirectly declared himself the best recruiter of the group. "The leader of unit #1 is Jerome! Two hundred of our soldiers are yours. I'll be splitting the other seventy into the other two groups, but you should still make do with the remaining one hundred and thirty."

"Understood!" Jerome declared with a nod, knowing he would be able to play a big part in this war.

Weed then looked to Ken and Kagetora for the next unit leaders. "Unit #2 will be lead by Ken and Kagetora! This unit will consist of the dogs from Koshu and Mutsu." The dogs in that group nodded while announcing their willingness to contribute. Weed then started to announce his final unit leader. "The leader of unit #3 will be... Kyoshiro!" That surprised Kyoshiro a bit, since he and Weed were always conflicted on each others' ideals. "I entrust you."

Kyoshiro was even more touched however, despite knowing Weed also picked him for his leadership skills. "You really trust me to lead my own unit?"

"Yeah. A decent amount of our soldiers are yours. You've proven yourself to be a worthy leader." Weed encouraged, confident that Kyoshiro would be able to follow through. "I'm counting on you." Kyoshiro gave a thumbs up to show Weed he would give it his all. And with that, Weed gave him his unit dogs. "This unit will consist of the dogs Kyoshiro brought into the army, along with the dogs of Shoumen. Dad, Tanto, since you're leaders too, I thought I'd let you choose which unit you thought was best."

That prompted Gin to look at Hiro and Reika, glad he got to team up with them for this. "I hope you two don't mind being in the same group as me."

"Not one bit." Hiro assured Gin, smiling as he thought about getting back at Kamakiri. "Just don't stop me from meeting Kamakiri."

Reika looked at Hiro with a smile, glad that he was prepared to go into battle. "After all the training you've done, how could we ever?" Koyuki, Kotetsu, Mel, and Tanto all smiled to each other, agreeing that they would all be in the same unit. Since Hiro and Reika were in Kyoshiro's group, that's where Gin decided he'd be.

GB stepped forward, having a request in mind for the battle. "If it's not too much trouble, Weed, I'd like to be by your side in this battle."

"I planned on it." Weed responded happily, explaining what he'd be doing during the war. "GB, Rocket, Akame, and I will head to Gajou through that secret passageway, and try to take out Hougen."

Kotetsu had his own objection to that. "Weed, I hope you realize that even with your power, going with only four Canines is insane!"

"The passageway is narrow." Akame reminded Kotetsu, knowing that going in a small group would save time. "The less of us that go, the faster we'll be able to carry this out."

Weed then reminded the army of what this battle was for. "Let me just say this before we go into battle. This is the battle that will decide the fate of Futago Pass. And not just that. But also to prove that life is worth living. And so, I'll do everything I can to stop anyone from meeting their end in this battle!" Weed and Koyuki smiled to each other, hoping to rebuild Futago Pass together. After that, Weed turned around after that and pointed towards Futago Pass. "Alright, everyone. Let's go!" And with that, the army headed out to claim their victory once and for all.

On the way to the battlefield, Akame couldn't help but notice that a storm was brewing. The clouds in the sky were dark, and thunder was booming. Mel was a little frightened by it, but he shook his head to get it out of his mind, knowing that he had to be strong for Ohu today. Akame started to think to himself about what the storm could call for. Given that Akame was a Nature Specialist, it was natural for him to have deep thoughts about weather change during these times. 'There's a storm brewing. I wonder who's side it's going to be on.'

Akame looked up at the storm, holding onto hope that the storm was in favor of the Ohu army. 'To all of our friends who died in battle, please lend us your power.' As the thunder continued to boom, Akame looked forward, having one friend in particular he wanted to lend his strength of for this battle. 'Especially you, Jerome.' And with one final boom of thunder, Weed and his army continued to make their way to Hougen's base at Futago Pass for the battle of their lives.

Weed and the others had made it over the pit they had to jump over for the army to win at every angle. As the last soldiers jumped over, Weed and GB shared a moment. They wanted to make sure they spoke one last time just in case things went south. Weed was the one to start this conversation. "GB. Before we go into battle, I just want you to know. Ever since the beginning, I've appreciated everything you've done for me. I wouldn't have had anyone else by my side the way you've been."

GB smiled thanks to Weed's words, putting a paw on his head to express how much he cared for him as well. "I feel that same way about what you've done for me, Weed. If it weren't for you, I never would've become the Canine I am today." GB shared Weed's smile as he finished his part in the exchange. "You're like... the son I never had. Always pushing me to do my best. And loving me all the same."

Weed hugged GB after he said that, allowing the two to embrace for a few seconds before going into battle. After Weed pulled GB away, he had one final thing to say. "I think dad and I can arrange something to let you and Rocket live with us after the war."

"I can't name a thing I'd love more." GB responded, looking forward to this moment for after the war was over.

And with that, Weed got back on track with guiding the army through the battle. "Alright then. Jerome, Kagetora, Ken, Kyoshiro." The unit leaders stood tall as Weed spoke to them. "I'm leaving the rest to you."

Kyoshiro gained a crazy smile when looking at the other leaders. "You heard him, everyone! Don't die on anyone's watch!"

Before they all spread out, Koyuki ran up to Weed and took his paws. The two smiled at each other before Koyuki made an offer to Weed. "If we find ourselves cornered, I'll be ready to back you up."

"And I'll do the same for you." Weed assured Koyuki, knowing the two of them would defend each other without hesitation.

After Weed, GB, Rocket, and Akame headed off, Jerome got to leading his unit in their direction. "Let's go!" Jerome's unit charged in the direction they were assigned to enter in. Kagetora and Ken's group did the same in their own direction. As did Kyoshiro's unit in the direction they were told to go.

Weed's group of four made their way to the passageway and looked to the right for Kagetora and Ken's group. The two of them nodded and made their command to the army before heading off. "Let's go!" And with that, Kagetora and Ken's group charged in the direction they were assigned for the battle.

Weed watched in confidence, knowing that Kagetora and Ken would do their best. 'I'm counting on you.' Weed, GB, Rocket, and Akame made their way into the passage to get to Hougen as fast as possible.

Hougen was readying his Canine Spirit, making sure his Spirit sword in particular was as ready as need be for the battle. That is, until he sensed Canine Spirit power coming from underground. Kamakiri, who was nearby with his army, sensed this too. Both of them knew all too well that this was trouble. And Hougen was excited from the timing of it. "Not a moment too soon." It was then that Hougen and Kamakiri heard Kyoshiro's unit charging at them. He smirked as he realized what Weed had done. "So he split up his soldiers too. Still more for my collection."

Hougen laughed maniacally before Kyoshiro called out the first of his commands. "Everyone! Charge and scatter!"

The unit did as ordered, leading to Hougen raising his paw and calling forth his own command. "Everyone! Let's fuck them up!"

One by one, the soldiers all got into combat with the soldiers in Hougen's army. Some of them were able to hold them own, and some struggled. Kyoshiro managed to zip past one of the struggling Canines and claw the enemy's neck. After he fell to the ground, Kyoshiro continued charging forward. Two more Canines charged at him, and he simply elbowed one of them and kicked the other one to into him, making them both fall to the ground.

Kyoshiro continued charging at a reddish brown dog, who looked excited to fight him. As the two charged at each other, Kyoshiro aimed a kick, only for the brown dog to duck underneath it. He aimed a roundhouse kick at Kyoshiro, who grabbed it and used it to kick the dog back. He blocked his strike, causing him to drag back on the ground, but still keep his balance. Kyoshiro was already enjoying the skill level that came from this fight. "Not bad, Buruge. I guess betraying my army did some good for you after all."

"Thanks. But don't think flattery is going to help you live." Buruge recommended, and that was when Kyoshiro heard Hiro call out Kamakiri's name.

"KAMAKIRI!"

Kyoshiro looked in Hiro's direction, where he hadn't started fighting Kamakiri yet, but he was closing in. That got him thinking about how Hiro wanted to take on Kamakiri by himself. He decided that he would do the same thing with Buruge, since they had history as well. With that, Kyoshiro made his new command. "The rest of you lot! Stick to other soldiers!" He then stared forward, looking psyched to face Buruge one on one in a full battle. "I'll make this quick."

And with that, Kyoshiro and Buruge charged at each other with Kyoshiro showing off his speed to take control of the fight. He managed to get behind him, and even allowed Buruge to turn around. That was so Kyoshiro could turn around himself and make his next move. He tapped into his dog-like instincts and started throwing snow and dirt directly at Buruge by digging at the ground. When Buruge tried to evade this, Kyoshiro was revealed to have already gotten to the side he was on. This stunned Buruge as Kyoshiro kicked him across the face.

Kyoshiro's kick send Buruge dragging across the snow, and he regained his balance as Kyoshiro dashed at him and punched him in the gut. This caused Buruge to cough up blood. After he did, Kyoshiro started to get cocky and smiled at his stance in the battle. What Buruge did next caught him by surprise though, as he actually started laughing to himself. "Interesting tactic." And he ended up punching Kyoshiro himself, which sent him back as his hind paws dragged on the ground.

Kyoshiro started charging his Canine Spirit, knowing he would have to be ready for any more surprises. "You're one tough bastard." Buruge stared Kyoshiro down as he started to charge up his Canine Spirit as well. "It's no wonder you're known as the demonic warrior Buruge!" Buruge didn't say anything before dashing at Kyoshiro, who dodged his fist and uppercutted him into the air. He then jumped up and ground pounded Buruge towards the floor. Doing so caused him to crash down, allowing Kyoshiro to land gracefully as he stood in front of him.

This time, Kyoshiro was less surprised when Buruge started laughing. He simply allowed him to stand up and comment on the day he was thinking about. "This brings me back to when I was fighting to become one of Hougen's generals."

"So you've gone up against Canines as strong as I am?" Kyoshiro asked, wondering how strong Weed would have to be to stop Hougen. "Hougen must be leagues above me then. And to think Weed struggled against Genba." Just then, Kyoshiro found himself struggling to move, which confused him once he noticed. "What the hell?" When he saw Buruge laugh again, Kyoshiro expressed how he was getting annoyed by it. "You laugh too much for someone who's working for Hougen."

"Says the dog tied up by snow blended wires." Buruge pointed out, and Kyoshiro became stunned before using his Spirit to scan the wires. It was true. The wires were tied to him and they were blended into the snow. Kyoshiro was being held down by them, and the strength of this proved Buruge to be a Conjuring Specialist. While this would normally be an advantage for Kyoshiro, his time with Buruge away made that slip his mind. And as a result, Buruge was able to pin him down without much struggle, scaring the other Ohu dogs nearby who were pinned down.

Buruge was holding Kyoshiro down with a strong paw on his chest. He then started charging what looked like a Spirit blast. Kyoshiro tried to break free, but the spirit energy was too strong. During this process, Kyoshiro remembered what Weed said to him just before the army left for battle. 'The leader of unit #3 will be... Kyoshiro! I entrust you.' Remembering those words led to Kyoshiro flashing back to the moments he had with Weed.

The first flashback was right after Weed and Kyoshiro talked about what he'd been through before starting his army. "I'm sorry about what I said before. I shouldn't have argued about something I didn't know about."

Kyoshiro saw that Weed's concern and empathy were both genuine. His level of empathy annoyed him, but he couldn't bring himself to dislike him. Not that he wanted to anyway. "You have a kind spirit, Weed." That surprised Weed, who looked back at Kyoshiro because of those words. "A naive one, but a kind one. Much kinder than me."

The second flashback had him trying to help Weed adjust to the idea of killing when needed. "It gets easier with time, Weed. I felt the same way you did after MY first kill."

"That's the problem Kyoshiro. I don't want to... get used to this." Weed explained, hating the idea of killing so much that it stopped fazing him. Kyoshiro listened as Weed took the time to elaborate. "Life is precious. All life. I don't want someone's life to go to waste if they want to change."

"Yeah, that's understandable." Kyoshiro admitted, despite finding it hard to see where Weed was coming from.

The third flashback was when Weed was spilling his guts about being a leader to Kyoshiro. It was then he realized just how much pressure Weed was under in his position. "I lost it!" Weed glared at Kyoshiro when admitting that his emotions were out of whack with this decision. "Do you hear me Kyoshiro!? I lost it! Because I watched a friend kill someone begging for his life, even ignoring my call to do so, and I lost it!" Weed stomped his foot on the ground, shouting at the top of his lungs as all of his stress erupted from his vocal cords. "I FUCKING LOST IT!"

After the flashbacks were over, Kyoshiro finally understood what Weed meant. 'Weed. I think I finally get it. It wasn't naivety alone that led to you thinking all life should be cherished. You were never saying I shouldn't kill at all.' It was then that Kyoshiro went Zokaken, shocking Buruge as Kyoshiro broke the wires and went for his chest. 'You just didn't want to risk me taking the beauty of life for granted!' After having grabbed Buruge's chest with his teeth, Kyoshiro grabbed him with his paw and readied a punch. 'You wanted me to cherish it!'

Kyoshiro's smile threw Buruge off, and what Kyoshiro shouted next, despite being related to Weed, made Kyoshiro proud to say. "What a great fucking guy!" Kyoshiro's words about Weed echoed through the sky as he landed a super powerful punch on Buruge's forehead. This sent him back at an intense speed and made him drag across the ground at a rough rate. After ten seconds, he'd finished dragging, but he was unable to stand thanks to his injuries. They were more than enough to keep him on the ground.

After that, Kyoshiro dashed up to Buruge, kneeling down to him as he lamented on the fact that he was defeated. "I've been defeated! I've never been defeated before!"

"I wouldn't know. I didn't get to see your win streak." Kyoshiro shot at Buruge, who growled at him before Kyoshiro spawned some Spirit energy in his paw. It was clear that a part of him was ready to kill Buruge. But he wasn't going to make the mistake of killing him without sparing a little mercy. Instead, he was going to offer Buruge a chance to turn his life around. Just like Weed would have. "Tell me, Buruge. If I spare you, and have our team heal you... would you leave Hougen's side and fight with us, or would you continue to support his cruel ways?"

Buruge scoffed, finding it bizarre that Kyoshiro would even ask that. "Is that even a question!? I'm with Hougen till the very-"

Without hesitation, Kyoshiro launched his Spirit beam at Buruge, and it was strong enough to not only cover him, but also evaporate his body. It was quite a big beam too, and it expanded in size during the first three seconds of it's firing. After five seconds, the beam evaporated, and it was revealed that Buruge's body did the same. Kyoshiro shrugged, figuring that was the answer he expected the most anyway. "Sometimes, the enemy can't even spare themself." And with that, Kyoshiro rushed off to help the rest of his assigned troops survive the battle.

During Kyoshiro's battle with Buruge, Hiro was fighting Kamakiri, who was holding him down with a conjured up snow rope. He threw Hiro over his shoulder while holding onto the rope, but Hiro wasn't about to be thrown around like a rag doll. He used a Spirit beam to flip himself over and land on his hind paws. After doing so, Kamakiri took notice and changed to a spin. However, Hiro was quick, and launched another Spirit beam to counter the spin. It took a few seconds. But thanks to his training in the Ohu army, he was able to overpower the swing.

This gave Hiro the power time he needed to bring Spirit to his hind paws, and he set his sights on Kamakiri as he did. Before Kamakiri could react, Hiro dashed so fast towards him that he almost managed to land a strong bite on his balls. Kamakiri barely managed to dodge him in time. The dodge led to Hiro grabbing the rope with his teeth instead. He took advantage of this and use the Spirit energy on his teeth to break the rope. This freed his front legs and allowed him to get back into the fight.

Kamakiri growled before calling out Hiro's tactic, as much as he expected him to have it. "I still don't know how you can have a technique like that! Don't the balls taste awful in your mouth!?"

"You get used to it after a few snatches." Hiro stated, and then he stared Kamakiri down as he had a question in mind for him. "Before I take you out, Kamakiri, there's one thing I want to know!" Kamakiri stared Hiro down as he asked it. "Do you remember me?"

That confused Kamakiri quite a bit. How could he remember anything about Hiro other than his reputation. "You mean besides the fact that you like castrating people?"

"I never said I liked it." Hiro clarified, and then he asked his question again with some elaboration. "We met once before, Kamakiri. You're the one who cost me an eye." Hiro pointed to his missing eye to make his point. The vertical slash on it did ring a bell with Kamakiri. Hiro then dashed up to him and held a Spirit orb up to his chest to keep him busy. "Perhaps you remember the name..." What Hiro said next led to Kamakiri realizing what Hiro was talking about. "Yukimasa?"

This led to Hiro and Kamakiri flashing back to one fateful moment: One where Kamakiri slashed Hiro's right eye when he was only a puppy. When Hiro looked back up in fear, his father, who'd just gotten knocked down by Kamakiri's force, lunged at him at full power with Spirit. Kamakiri quickly noticed this and grabbed Yukimasa's paw, blocking his kick while charging up a Spirit blade of his own. Hiro watched in horror as Kamakiri stabbed his father in the chest with the Spirit Blade. His cry of fear and sorrow was heard as he watched his father lose his life. "FATHER!"

Once the flashback ended, Kamakiri gave a cruel grin, much to Hiro's disgust as Kamakiri remembered that fateful day. "So that's why you were so eager to fight me. You wanted to avenge your pathetic father!" Hiro aimed a Spirit powered punch at Kamakiri, who dodged it and grabbed his arm while pointing something else out to Hiro. "Oh how I love being the bearer of bad news." His look to Hiro showed how confident he was with Hiro just growling at him. "Weed struggled against me before unlocking the Zokaken. How could you possibly beat me now?"

Hiro started charging his Spirit before Kamakiri threw him over his shoulder. Hiro rebounded and jumped off of a tree, dashing past Kamakiri and dodging a kick he attempted to land on him. After Hiro landed behind Kamakiri, he made one thing clear about Kamakiri's prediction. "That was more than a month ago, Kamakiri. We've had plenty of time to get stronger since then."

"Perhaps. But that applies to Hougen's forces too." Kamakiri pointed out, spawning a Spirit blade as he prepared to finish Hiro off. "If you were only coming here to stop me specifically, then I'm afraid your efforts were in vain."

"We'll see about that!" Hiro shouted, creating some Spirit powered armor around his front paws and arms, showing that he took the time to practice Spirit skills in Conjuring. Kamakiri took this into account before he and Hiro dashed at each other. Kamakiri slashed at Hiro, only for him to dodge his slash and use his armor to send his blade upward. This caught Kamakiri off guard, and it gave Hiro the time to punch his gut three times, which made him step back. Hiro then aimed a roundhouse kick, but Kamakiri blocked it and aimed a sword stab.

Hiro got stabbed right on the ear as he made his dodge, managing to spin and kick Kamakiri in the back right after. This sent Kamakiri towards a tree, which he slashed upon arriving towards and went right through. He jumped off of the tree right behind that one and jumped off of it, grabbing the tree he slashed off. Hiro launched a Spirit beam at him as soon as he threw the tree towards him. He hit Kamakiri in the leg once he started flying before jumping up to evade the tree.

Hiro jumped onto the tree and then jumped off of it, and straight for Kamakiri, who was ready with his blade. Hiro blocked the slash with one of his armor pieces, only for Kamakiri to prepare a Spirit powered kick to land on Hiro. He landed one so hard that it caused Hiro to cough a bit of blood from the force. Kamakiri then aimed another sword stab at him, only for Hiro to grab the blade. Kamakiri was stunned. After getting hit like that, Hiro wasn't backing down. This was further insinuated by Hiro's vicious glare. "Do you still think my efforts are in vain?"

Hiro clenched his fist as hard as he could, shattering the Spirit blade and causing the energy to go back into Kamakiri. The amount of strength Hiro showed with that one move stunned Kamakiri. Was Hiro really holding back this whole time? "How did you do that!? You're supposed to be weaker than me!"

Hiro then punched Kamakiri in the gut immediately after that, and then he headbutted him to keep him from countering his attack. Kamakiri aimed a Spirit blast at Hiro, who dashed behind him and ground pounded him towards the ground. He didn't hesitate in preventing Kamakiri from bouncing back. While Kamakiri was able to regain his balance and drag on the ground, Hiro simply got too quick for him. He landed a brutal blow on his leg with a full power kick, one that took all of Hiro's spirit to pull off. It led to Kamakiri's leg breaking in that instant.

Kamakiri let out a pain induced howl after that, but Hiro wasn't done. He punched Kamakiri in the face, and then landed so many punches and kicks on him that he was unable to react with the limbs that weren't broken. Hiro's final three strikes were a punch in the gut, an uppercut to the jaw, and a low sweep that caused Kamakiri to lose his footing entirely on his working paw. It was right then that Hiro set his sights on Kamakiri's balls again, and went in for the kill.

This time, Hiro's strike was successful. He managed to bite Kamakiri's balls off, and render him completely helpless to fight back. The cries of pain were all Hiro needed to hear. As he looked down at Kamakiri, he listened to his pain filled screaming. "IT HURTS EVERYWHERE! I SHOULDN'T BE LOSING BLOOD IN THIS FUCKING SPOT!" As he continued to scream, he called out Hiro for hiding his true power. "YOU ONE EYED PIECE OF SHIT! YOU WERE HOLDING BACK BEFORE!?"

Hiro turned in Kamakiri's direction as he explained why him not picking this up sooner was on him. "Of course! Use your head, Kamakiri! I'm in the same army as Weed and Gin! Did it not occur to you that they might have trained with me when possible!?" Despite Kamakiri's screaming, his eyes widening said enough. And Hiro continued charge up his Canine Spirit as he kept speaking to Kamakiri one final time. "Every time I trained in the army, I reminded myself of what I would do to you after defeating you. That includes after learning Weed's philosophy."

Hiro aimed his paw at Kamakiri, continuing to charge up his Spirit energy in the process. "I think it's safe to assume you won't be up for switching sides. Anyone who's met your narcissistic ass could tell that just by listening to you talk." Hiro still had vengeance in his eyes, but thanks to the influence of the Ohu army, he was able to balance it out with the positive trait he got from his Spirit specialty: Protectiveness. Now, he was also doing this to protect all of Ohu. "May your cries be signs of justice."

Hiro then blasted Kamakiri with a full power Spirit blast, hitting him hard enough to push him further into the ground, and cause his death after ten seconds. Hiro stayed for a bit to make sure that Kamakiri was dead. Once he knew for sure that he failed to sense his Spirit energy, he turned around and headed back to the battle. And as he did, he smiled when looking up at the sky. 'Father. I've done it. You can rest easy now. As for me... I have an army to assist.' And then, he dashed off as fast as he could to continue helping the others in the fight.

Meanwhile, Koyuki and Kotetsu were fighting off against some of Ohu's soldiers as well, kicking two of them into each other and smashing their heads against each other as well. Mel also joined in, having kicked another soldier into the two Koyuki and Mel were fighting, causing them all to be knocked out. He ran up to them and hi pawed them before Koyuki gave him a command. "Mel! Rise up into the sky and see if anyone else needs our help. We'll take over down here."

"This puppy's gotta fly!" Mel shouted as he dashed up into the sky, scouting for anyone else who needed the trio's help in the battle. On the way up, another soldier dashed at him, and despite it making him shell-shocked, he managed to block his strike before punching him in the face and stunning him. Kotetsu dashed up and grabbed the soldier as Mel continued scouting. "Thanks, Kotetsu!" He then managed to spot Kagetora and Ken struggling elsewhere on the battlefield and called down to Koyuki. "Koyuki! Kagetora and Ken look overwhelmed from up here!"

Koyuki looked to where Mel was pointing and nodded, dashing up to them and elbowing the soldier Kotetsu was holding in the stomach. "I'll head over there and check it out. Kotetsu, you keep an eye on Mel, and make sure you both stand strong in the battle.

"You got it, sis!" Kotetsu assured Koyuki, ground pounding the soldier into the ground after Koyuki flew off. Kotetsu and Mel then nodded to each other before dashing towards the ground to continue fighting the soldier.

Koyuki made her way over to Kagetora and Ken, who seemed to have the most soldiers fighting them before Koyuki arrived and struck one with a dash kick. Once Kagetora and Ken saw her land before them, the former expressed joy as he started fighting off against another soldier. "Perfect timing, Koyuki! I guess everyone got scattered up pretty badly after the fight started!"

"You're damn right about that!" Koyuki called back, conjuring up a second dagger and using both of them to block the punch of a soldier who charged at her. She dodged his punches and kicks, also deflecting some of them before using her two daggers to stab him in both of his arms. She then stabbed both of his legs, kicking him back and allowing him to fall to the ground before Koyuki continued helping fight off more Canines. Kagetora and Ken were surrounded by dozens of soldiers, which thankfully got a little easier after Koyuki joined them.

Once Kotetsu and Mel came to help out in the fight, it got even easier. They still struggled, but five highly skilled Canines were much better at fighting dozens of soldiers than two. Now that less Canines were targeting them, Kagetora and Ken were able to handle the Canines they fought much more easily. Koyuki, Kotetsu, and Mel were able to take down quite a few themselves too. With every punch, kick, and Spirit attack, the five Canines were able to hold their own against Hougen's army with solid results.

Elsewhere, Reika was healing up some of Ohu's soldiers as Gin and Tanto held off the soldiers who came after them. They were near a river, and thankfully, there was a cave for Reika and the hurt Canines to stay in. Gin and Tanto were making quick work of every Canine who came at them. Gin was handling the ones on the right, landing a strong elbow strike on the one in front of him. That sent him flying, and allowed Gin to punch the next one right into the water. After jumping back, he started dodging the fast strikes of another soldier from Hougen.

Gin used his Spirit energy to direct the water upward, sending a strong lance of it directly at the soldier in front of him. That struck him in the chest area, causing him to start losing breath. Gin grabbed the Canine who jumped over that soldier and grabbed his fist before kicking him right against the stabbed soldier. He launched a powerful Spirit beam that destroyed both of them. After that, he looked over to Tanto while punching another Canine back with the back of his paw. "They aren't gonna stop anytime soon, Tanto!"

"Yeah, no shit!" Tanto called back, using her dagger to slash two soldiers in the neck before making another call. "They're not that tough, though! I can handle them by myself! You find Weed!"

"No! I'm not leaving you!" Gin protested, grabbing another Canine's fist and punching him back before continuing his words. "We already lost John to these bastards. I'm not gonna risk losing you too!"

"John didn't have Reika! We do!" Tanto pointed out, throwing another soldier at the next one Gin had after jumping up. Once she started standing next to Gin, she snapped her fingers, summoning a brief force field around them before continuing to convince Gin to join Weed. "Hougen's stronger than all of these guys combined. And Weed's set to face him once they engage in combat. If he dies, then everything we fought for will be in vain." Gin saw Tanto's point, and the last thing she said convinced Gin entirely. "I'll be fine. Be there for your son."

Gin smiled before taking a brief jab at Tanto's wording there. "Don't forget to be there for YOUR children too."

"I'll join you guys as soon as Reika's finished." Tanto assured Gin, who dashed off with Tanto getting rid of the force field just before he did. She continued to fight off the soldiers by herself, even jumping onto the water to get some distance. "Come on, fuckers! You never hear of water combat before!?" The soldiers started coming at Tanto, who started using the water to block their strikes as soon as they did. After that, she started combining the water with her regular combat. As expected, this helped her a great deal in her battle.

During this, Tanto thought to herself about how Gin would fare up. 'You'd better not plan to die on me either, gasbag.'

Weed and the others continued down the passageway, having gotten a decent amount of distance covered since they arrived. There were three Canines standing before them at the exit, and Weed took it upon himself to dash towards them. One of them fired a Spirit beam at his face, but he deflected it and dashed at him, punching him in the gut. He then kicked him to the side before dodging another Canine's punch and sending him into the wall with a counter punch. GB kicked the last one down, allowing Rocket to control the dirt from underneath him.

Rocket used the dirt to fling the last Canine into the rock wall, knocking him out and earning him a kiss from GB. "Couldn't have done that better myself, Rocky."

"Maybe after we stop Hougen, I can teach you how to get freaky with it." Rocket offered, earning a flirtatious growl from GB as a result.

Akame put his paws on the two of them to keep them focused on the mission. "Remember, guys. Hougen could be nearby at any angle." GB and Rocket nodded, running alongside Akame to catch up with Weed.

Weed had already reached the end of the tunnel, kicking a rock that was in front of him away and coming out into the open. When he got up there, he was confused to find that Hougen wasn't there. "What?" He started looking around as GB, Rocket, and Akame joined him one by one. "Hougen? Where's Hougen?"

The snowstorm made it harder to see what was going on, but Akame was able to use his Spirit to adjust to it quickly. He spotted Hougen nearing the edge of a cliff near Futago Pass. "Over there! By the cliff!"

Hougen sensed the presence of the four Canines nearby, looking back and smirking as he called over to Weed. "So Gin's little shit found me after all!? What a pity! I was hoping I wouldn't have to hear you preach to me until I turned eighteen!"

Weed started charging up his Spirit energy, making it clear to Hougen that he wouldn't be getting that kind of courtesy from him. "There won't be any preaching for you, Hougen! Today's the day you answer for all of your crimes!" Hougen couldn't help holding his smile as Weed stated his worst actions. "From eating all of those puppies, to what you did to Reika, to every innocent life you've taken!" Weed's rage was intensifying as his aura changed to orange, which caught Hougen off guard. "I'm tired of you getting away with your shit!"

Hougen softly laughed a bit, enraging Weed even more, and enraging GB, Rocket, and Akame as well. He made it clear he didn't plan on dying today. "A noble sentiment." And as he stepped back, Akame braced himself, knowing exactly what Hougen was about to do. "But you'll have to catch me first."

As soon as Hougen stepped over the ledge and fell down, Akame used the snow close to him to grab him by the ankle. This caught him off guard, and it led to him only cutting the snow loose when Akame threw him back onto land. Once Hougen started flying, Akame made it clear he wasn't about to let Hougen escape. "You aren't taking the easy way out of this one, Hougen! Whether you planned on escaping or suicide just now, we won't allow it! Your reign of terror ends here, and now!"

"Not quite, Akame." Hougen dashed up to the four Canines, charging his Canine Spirit as he shot back at his words. "It's your stand against me that ends today."

Weed dashed at Hougen as fast as he could, managing to hit him with an incredibly fast and strong elbow strike while pushing him back. Hougen managed to break out of his trance after five seconds, kneeing Weed in the gut and kicking him back. Once he regained his balance, Weed launched a Spirit blast at Hougen, who deflected it before dashing at him and kicking him towards the battlefield. He dashed after him as soon as the strike was landed. GB, Rocket, and Akame nodded to each other, rushing off to make sure Weed survived the battle.

In the middle of the battlefield, everyone had met up to assist in the final battle against Hougen's army. To everyone's surprise, Weed was flying onto the battlefield as a result of Hougen's kick. Thankfully, he managed to regain his balance and skidded across the snowy battlefield before staring down Hougen with a look of determination surrounding his eyes. Hougen landed right across from him, and he had a similar look of tenacity in his own. Once the two of them were staring each other down, they started charging up their Canine Spirit.

Weed knew this was it. The battle that would decide the fate of everyone in Ohu. Hougen was aware of this as well, especially when it came to his rule over all. They were both ready to put it all at stake to win the battle and claim what they believed to be the best life for Ohu. Weed for helping everyone live their lives the way that was best for them, and Hougen for ruling over all. One fought for the freedom for all life. The other fought for tyranny.

To be continued.