It's the middle of the night, at the Kusanagi house, Tsubaki is currently asleep in her room, however, something doesn't seem right.
Tsubaki is moving a lot in her sleep, not only that, but she's sweating too, it seems she's having a nightmare due to her expressions.
In the nightmare, Tsubaki, as a child, is kneeling while looking at the dead bodies of her parents.
"Mommy? Daddy?" Tsubaki said, she moves their bodies to try and wake them up "Wake up mommy, why aren't you waking up?" She said.
Tsubaki continues to try and wake up her parents, but in the end, it is futile, they are dead, they will never open their eyes ever again.
Tears start leaking out of Tsubaki's eyes and she begins crying, falling on top of her parents' bodies.
She then hears footsteps and looked up, tears still leaking, in front of her was the one responsible for murdering her parents, the figure's appearance is hard to see due it being darken, though some parts of its body are noticeable: A tail, a monkey-shaped head, and it appears holding a weapon, a sword.
The creature looks at Tsubaki, making some strange noises as it raises its sword to strike her, Tsubaki covers herself as the blade reaches her.
"NO!" Tsubaki wakes up screaming, she's breathing heavily and sweating a lot "That nightmare again." She said, still recuperating from the nightmare she just experienced.
Tsubaki leans on her bed as she turns to her side, she spots a photo stand that has a picture of her as a child and her parents.
"Mom, dad, I hope you are watching, because I will become stronger…. I promise." Tsubaki said as she wipes a tear from her eye and closes her eyes.
The next day arrives, in contrast to the dark night she had, Tsubaki wakes up and yawns. She looks at her phone, looking at the time and chuckles.
"Heh, guess I woke up earlier than usual." She said before putting the phone away and getting out of bed.
She walks to the bathroom, turns on the facet and throws water on her face. After turning it off, she looks in the mirror, her blue eyes seemingly shine and she smirks.
"Looking good Tsubaki." She said before walking off the bathroom.
Tsubaki is sitting on the zataku drinking some coffee and eating some toast, she takes a look at her family's katana that has been passed down by generations.
"Dad really liked showing off that katana to the other clans." She said and reminiscences of the times her father shows the family's katana to others, earning the embarrassment of her mother and the laughter of Tsubaki.
Some time later after finishing breakfast, Tsubaki is putting on her usual casual clothes, after putting on her jacket, she's trying to find her hair tie.
"Come on, where's that stupid thing?" Tsubaki said while searching for it, while searching for it, she spots a blue ribbon "Huh, I don't remember buying this. Oh well, might as well try something new for today." She then uses the ribbon to tie her hair into a ponytail.
After that's done, she puts on her boots and leaves her home, ready to start another day.
"Need to make one stop first." She said as she pulls the summoning Seal Scroll, tosses it upwards and does some hand signs "Summoning Jutsu!"
After that, the scroll opens by itself, a blue light comes out of it as it flies in front of Tsubaki and forms the Azure Dancer.
The scroll falls and Tsubaki grabs it before putting it away, she then sits on top of her bike, puts on her helmet and turns it on before riding off.
Some time later, Tsubaki has arrived at her destination, a gravesite. She gets out of her bike and removes her helmet before taking a look at the location.
"Let's pay a little homage." Tsubaki said as she puts the helmet on the bike and goes to pick a bucket, sponge and ladle, she then fills the bucket with some water and start walking through the tombstones before stopping at two in particular "Hey mom, hey dad, it's been a while huh?"
In the left tombstone was written Kaede Kusanagi and the right tombstone was written Asagi Kusanagi, those are the tombstones of Tsubaki's parents.
A small smile appears on Tsubaki's face as she washes the tombstones with the sponge, after cleaning them, she fixes the flowers, these particular flowers being camellia, the origin of Tsubaki's name.
She then takes the ladle and pours some water over the stones, takes some incense out, lights them up and puts them on the stones, she then claps her hands together and stays silent for a bit to pray.
"Mom…. Dad…. You two must be proud of having me as your daughter, and I'm glad I had you two as parents. I won't disappoint you, I promise."
She opens her eyes and gets ready to leave, that is until she hears someone call her name.
"Kusanagi? Is that you?" She turns around and spots Hyuuga.
"Yasakani? What are you doing here?" She asks.
"I could be asking you the same thing." Hyuuga said. "Though, I can already tell what you're doing." He said, pointing his finger to the stones "I'm also doing the same, come here."
"Uh, okay." Tsubaki said as she walks towards Hyuuga and spots the tombstone in front. "That's…."
Yuko Yasakani, Hyuuga's mother, that's the name written on the tombstone.
"Yeah, that's my mother's." Hyuuga said "Guess we both came here to show our respect to our parents."
"Yeah…." Tsubaki said as she looks at the stone again and clasp her hands to pray.
Hyuuga looks at Tsubaki praying for her mother, he has an idea and walks to the tombstone of Tsubaki's parents and prays for them as well.
"I appreciate you're doing this Yasakani." Tsubaki said.
"Hey I didn't wanna be insensitive with you praying for my mother you know?" Hyuuga said.
"Still, thanks, that's a really nice thing for you to do." Tsubaki said. "If you don't mind me asking, how did your mother…. You know."
While hesitating a bit, Hyuuga eventually opens up, taking a deep breath.
"The old man told me that the Yasakani clan has its own share of enemies throughout history, even in the modern times, hostility between some clans was still a thing." Hyuuga said.
"True, I heard stories of how some clans still have a conflict between them even in this era." Tsubaki said.
"Yeah, while my mom was away from home one day, she was attacked by a rival clan, they hurt her badly, when we arrived, we saw how hurt she was. The old man…." Hyuuga took a deep breath "I had never seen him that angry before, he attacked them, filled with so much rage that his flames got super hot, to the point he almost burned them to death."
Tsubaki gasps in shock, this brings back a memory of the time when Riku was attacked by the Yokai Nobusuma, and how Hyuuga was filled with rage, so much rage his flames got stronger.
"But it was too late, my mom died due to her injuries, her death affected my family, especially me, to the point I swore to never be involved with ninjas again, because I believed they were the cause of my mom's death." Hyuuga said, wiping some tears from his eyes.
"Y-Yasakani…." Hyuuga looks at Tsubaki and flinches a bit, noticing tears coming out of her eyes.
"Are…. Are you crying?" Hyuuga asks.
"Oh, I'm sorry it's just…. Hearing that made me a bit emotional." Tsubaki said while whipping her tears "I'm really sorry for your lost Yasakani, to have your mom's life been taken by someone, I relate to that a lot."
Hyuuga felt a lot better with Tsubaki here with him, despite how much the two banter and bicker, they care for one another, which is why it makes him happy that he gets to relate with Tsubaki.
"Hey, Kusanagi, thanks, really." Hyuuga said in a sincere tone.
Hearing those words cause Tsubaki's cheeks to get red, not used to seeing this side of Hyuuga. He himself was affected by this, Hyuuga scratches his left cheek embarrassed, not used to showing a more vulnerable side to others, his cheeks were also red.
"No problem, that's what friends do, care for one another." Tsubaki said. "I also should thank you for praying for my parents."
"Well, since you were praying for my mother, it was only fair I did the same." Hyuuga said "Speaking of, I'm curious, how were your parents?"
"Oh let me tell you, they were amazing." Tsubaki said. "Mom and dad were some of the most well-known ninjas in the modern days, when not on duty, they stayed at home to take care of me." Tsubaki explained "My mom and dad used to work at a flower shop, one thing they both share is their love for flowers, that's also the origin of my name."
A flashback shows Tsubaki as a child alongside her parents in their flower shop "Sometimes they brought me to the shop so I could help it out. My knowledge of flowers was rather limited at the time, but I did my best to help them."
"My mom, Kaede Kusanagi, was a very gentle and caring mother, she also had an interest for fashion, she even helped me with buying clothes." Tsubaki said "As for my father, Asagi Kusanagi, he was…. Eccentric to say the least."
"Sounds a lot like my old man." Hyuuga said, earning a chuckle from Tsubaki.
"Your father really was similar to mine, minus the constant fights you two have." Tsubaki said.
"Hey it's the old man's fault, though I won't deny my part in it." Hyuuga said.
"My family has a katana that was passed down through the generations, let's say it's our treasure, our Sacred Treasure you could say." Tsubaki said, Hyuuga staring at her in confusion before figuring out what she meant.
"Oh…." Hyuuga said.
"Yep, anyway, my dad…. Let's say he loved to show off that katana to other clans, when there was an opportunity, he would show off how cool that katana was because it has been part of our family for generations." Tsubaki said.
"Guess it's natural for dads to be weird." Hyuuga said, earning a playful punch from Tsubaki "Hey you know I'm right!"
"Yeah, but you didn't have to say it out loud!" Tsubaki said. "Now it's your turn, tell me about your mom."
"My mom huh?" Hyuuga said, trying to think of what words to use to describe his mother "My mom was also caring and gentle…. But she was scary when she's angry."
"Wait, really?" Tsubaki said, tilting her head curiously.
"I'm not kidding, when my mom got angry, it wasn't just any type of anger, she didn't even scream or show anger in her face, she just…. Smiled while speaking in a gentle yet scary tone." Hyuuga said, groaning a bit remembering the times his mom showed a tranquil fury.
"Wow yeah, that is terrifying." Tsubaki said "Just imagining gives me chills."
"You wanna know what's funny? The old man once said that before he and mom got married, she used to be kinda like me, very emotional and would get angry at the slightest things." Hyuuga said.
"Yeah, I guess that explains a lot about you." Tsubaki said.
"Yeah it does…. Wait, hey!" Hyuuga shouts after realizing what she meant, causing Tsubaki to giggle and Hyuuga to just sigh "How do I always fail for this?"
"You wouldn't fail for my tricks if you were a bit brighter." Tsubaki said, earning a glare from Hyuuga.
"Oh why you….!" Hyuuga starts pursuing Tsubaki, who is laughing while running from him.
Despite the tension between the two, they genuinely care for each other, and seem to bond over their love for their parents.
Some time later, Tsubaki walks to her bike and before she sits on it, she hears some motorcycle noises and Hyuuga appears, riding the Red Striker.
"Let's hit the road, shall we?" Hyuuga asks, revving up his bike's handle.
"I'm in." Tsubaki said, putting her helmet on and sitting on her bike.
The two ride their bikes together, it looks like they are also racing each other, with Hyuuga trying to get in front of Tsubaki, only for suddenly, she appears jumping above him and landing in front.
"What the?" Hyuuga said, confused, then he looks behind and sees a ramp of ice "Hey that's cheating!"
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know using ninjutsu was against the rules." Tsubaki said in a sarcastic tone before accelerating.
"Oh you wanna play this game huh?" Hyuuga said "Well, two can play this game!"
Tsubaki continues to ride, unaware that Hyuuga is plotting something due to how far she is from him.
Suddenly out of nowhere, Hyuuga appears side-by-side with Tsubaki, it looks like the world goes into slow motion as Tsubaki stares at Hyuuga, who has used a ninjutsu to accelerate the speed of his bike, with flames coming out of the exhaust.
"What the hell?" Tsubaki said in slow motion, Hyuuga is just laughing at her and as time resumes back, he runs past her, leaving a trail of fire behind him "Yasakani! Why you little….!"
"Why didn't I think of this before, this is awesome!" Hyuuga shouts in excitement, realizing how using ninjutsu to boost his own bike is a brilliant idea, he's so excited he performs a wheelie.
"That idiot, he's gonna get himself hurt like that." Tsubaki said, she accelerates her bike so she can catch up with him.
With Hyuuga, he continues to accelerate the Red Striker, seemingly not paying attention to the road in front of him as he arrives back at the city.
He turns his head around, smiling as he sees that Tsubaki is very far away from, and when he turns to face the road, his eyes widen as he spots something in front of him, a large tree branch.
"What the?!" Hyuuga shouts, he presses the brake handle to stop the bike, but he can't in time and hits the branch, falling off his bike as it disappears in red light.
Tsubaki arrives and notices Hyuuga on the ground and stops her bike.
"Yasakani, are you okay?" Tsubaki asks, despite hitting on the branch, Hyuuga manages to get up a bit.
"I just hit a tree branch, what do you think?" He said.
"A tree branch?" Tsubaki said as she gets off her bike, removes her helmet and goes to help Hyuuga get up.
"Thanks." Hyuuga said, removing his own helmet and the two see the tree branch.
"That's weird, what is a tree doing in the middle of the city?" Tsubaki said in a very confused tone.
"Guess mother nature decided to do some redecoration of the place." Hyuuga said. "Though something about this tree doesn't feel right."
Hyuuga moves to touch the tree, though Tsubaki notices the branch is slightly shaking the moment Hyuuga touches the main body.
'It reacted the moment Yasakani touched it, does that mean the tree is alive.' Tsubaki sees that some of the civilians have also noticed the tree and are looking at it 'Not good, if that tree is alive, then these people are in danger.'
Hyuuga continues to touch the tree, not noticing the tree branch that is still shaking from his touch. Tsubaki turns around and her eyes widen, she spots the tree branch, now pointing at Hyuuga, the tip of the tree looks sharp enough to easily stab through his skin.
"Yasakani, on your left!" Tsubaki shouts to get his attention.
"What?" Hyuuga said as he looks to his left, spotting the tree branch moving to try and stab him "What the?!" He shouts and moves out of the way, managing to avoid the branch though it makes a small cut on his right arm and it hits the ground, stabbing right through it.
"Yasakani!" Tsubaki shouts "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but what was that?" Hyuuga said, his left hand on top of the spot where his arm got grazed.
That's when the tree starts shaking even more, its appearance changing to something more humanoid.
"It's…. Changing?" Tsubaki said.
This causes panic as the civilians run away in fear, leaving only Hyuuga and Tsubaki as the tree has finished changing its appearance.
A humanoid tree-like creature with a body made of wood, its right arm is slightly bigger than the left one and resembles a tree branch. One particular aspect of this creature are white marks across its body, including the head, with each mark having three black spots that makes it look like a face, and it has a shimenawa rope around its waist.
"The tree is a Yokai?!" Hyuuga shouts as he and Tsubaki look at the tree's true appearance, the Yokai Kodama.
"That Yokai, why does it look so familiar?" Tsubaki said. "I feel like I've seen it somewhere…."
"Not time for that Kusanagi! Look out!" Hyuuga said, snapping Tsubaki back to reality as she dodges the Kodama's tree branch arm.
The Yokai tries to hit her again, Hyuuga quickly grabs the arm, managing to hold it in place.
Taking that opportunity, Tsubaki does some hand signs to perform a ninjutsu.
"Ice Ninpo: Ice Ground!" Tsubaki puts her hands on the ground, ice appears below the Kodama's feet and freezes it in place "Fall back Yasakani!"
"On it!" Hyuuga said, letting go of Kodama's arm as he punches it away and the two ninjas leap backwards "Ouch!" Hyuuga swings his hand in pain. "Anyway, guess we got a Yokai to deal with."
"Yeah, let's chop this tree in half!" Tsubaki said as she and Hyuuga pulls their Ninja Drivers and puts them on.
They pull their primary Seal Scrolls, Hyuuga spinning his, and press their button.
[Hebi!]
[Cho!]
They then insert it on the slots of the Drivers as the large scrolls appear behind them and each perform their respective transformation poses.
"Henshin!" Both shout in unison and spin the cornua, opening the scrolls of the Driver and the big ones.
[Henshin no Jutsu!]
[Moero, Hebi!]
[Hyouketsu, Cho!]
They transform into Kamen Rider Orochi and Kamen Rider Tsurugi respectively, getting ready for battle.
Before the two could make the first move, Kodama roars and thrusts its right arm onto the ground.
"What's it doing?" Orochi asks, his answer came in the form of tremors underground.
"Jump!" Tsurugi shouts.
Both ninjas jump high in the air and from the ground, several tree branches emerge everywhere.
The branches appear to be after the duo as they use the surroundings of the city to leap away.
"These things are homing after us!" Orochi shouts.
"Whatever you do, don't let them near you." Tsurugi said "Those branches look sharp enough to pierce through our suits!"
"As if I would let these things get close-Oh boy!" Orochi said as he avoid getting stabbed by some branches "That's it, I'm cutting them down!"
Orochi summons the Hebi Dual Blade and slashes through the branches, managing to cut them into pieces.
"Good idea!" Tsurugi said, summoning the Cho Katana as she removes the scabbard and slashes through the branches as well.
Several pieces of cut wood fall from each slash, almost like a rain of wood.
"There's too many of them, I'll light them up!" Orochi said, he uses a nearby wall as a platform and kicks it, propelling him away as some branches go after him.
He then turns around and does hand signs.
"Fire Ninpo: Fireball Strike!" Orochi creates a fireball and tosses it at the branches, exploding on impact and burning the branches.
"Nice plan Yasakani!" Tsurugi said, she tosses her sword onto the ground, sticking onto it, and she uses it as a platform.
As the branches start approaching her, Tsurugi perform some hands signs.
"Ice Ninpo: Butterfly's Frost!" Tsurugi moves her hands forward and launches a construct of butterfly wings that upon hitting the branches, they are frozen before shattering into small pieces.
After that is done, Tsurugi kicks her sword with her ankle, causing the sword to flip upwards as Tsurugi lands and she grabs the sword.
The two Riders reunite to deal with the Yokai now that they have destroyed its branches.
"Play time's over pal, it's your turn!" Orochi said.
The two then start approaching the Yokai, that is until Tsurugi spots some of the pieces of the cut branches shaking.
"Yasakani wait! Something's not right!" Tsurugi said.
"What?" Orochi said, not paying attention to what she said.
Suddenly, from the cut pieces, large branches burst upwards, one almost hitting Orochi, who manages to avoid them by leaping backwards.
"What the hell is going on?!" Orochi shouts in shock.
He got his answer when the branches all transform into Kodamas, each with different black spots.
From behind the masks, Orochi and Tsurugi's eyes widen in shock.
"It multiplied?!" Orochi shouts.
"More like new ones grew from those pieces we cut." Tsurugi said.
"Great, just what we needed, reinforcements!" Orochi said.
In front of the two was the army of Kodamas, with the main one behind all of its copies, then, it swings its right arm forward with a grunt, this causes the army to charge forward towards the two ninjas.
"Oh crap, here they come!" Orochi shouts as he and Tsurugi get in battle positions.
The battle became a lot more chaotic than usual, while they weren't strangers to fighting more than one opponent, this time, they were facing a whole army of enemies.
Orochi swings the Hebi Dual Blade to cut through some Kodamas, one of them manages to hit him from behind with its branch arm, causing sparks to fly on impact.
"Why you!" Orochi shouts in anger as he tries to slice the one that damaged him, but because they were all too similar, minus the different locations the black spots, he couldn't find the one that did it "If I can't find the one that hit me, might as well go for the rest of you!"
He swings his swords wildly in many directions, this proves to be a somewhat good strategy, as due to Hyuuga's unpredictable fighting style, the Kodamas don't know where he will hit and thus, don't know exactly how to counter him.
With Tsurugi, she's not having an easy time either. Though used to fighting multiple opponents, especially while training, this is the first time she ever faced a larger number of Yokais.
She swings her Cho Katana, slicing through them while trying to avoid getting hit herself. Compared to Orochi, she's having an easier time due to the size of her sword, which is managing to hit her enemies without issue.
'There's an awful lot of them, if this keeps up, we'll be overwhelmed by sheer numbers alone' Tsurugi said in her mind, as she prepares a way to counter them, she hears Orochi's shouting while swinging his sword wildly.
"Take this! You also take this! Every single one of you stupid trees are getting cut today!" He shouts, already annoyed and angry at the Yokais.
Noticing the way he fights gives an idea to Tsurugi. She removes the Cho Scroll from her Driver and inserts it into the slot of the katana.
[Hissatsu no Jutsu!]
The blade of the katana is coated in icy blue energy as Tsurugi sheaths it on the scabbard and gets ready to execute an attack.
"Super Ice Ninpo!" Tsurugi shouts as she presses the trigger of her sword and unsheathes it.
[Cho! Iaido no Jutsu!]
"Butterfly's Flash!" She performs a wide circular slash that releases energy waves, hitting the Yokais and the ones that are hit explode afterwards, interestingly unlike most Yokais, the army of Kodamas doesn't have a soul leaving their bodies and imploding afterwards.
Orochi inserts the Hebi Scroll on his sword's slot, which he has changed to Futaken Mode, and the blades are coated in flames.
[Hissatsu no Jutsu!]
"Super Fire Ninpo! Orochi holds both halves of the Hebi Dual Blade and spins in place, the more he spins, the more flames he generates "Serpent's Twin Drive!" A large tornado of fire is formed all around Orochi, striking through the army as they are sent away and explode upon crashing into surfaces.
"Nice one Yasakani!" Tsurugi said, the tornado starts to disappear and after that, Orochi has become dizzy from spinning too much.
"No problem, I'm the best after all." He said while in a dizzy state "Did I get them?"
"Yes, but more are coming!" Tsurugi shouts, more Kodamas are arriving "Let's strike them all at once with the Summoning Scrolls."
"Oh right, we have those." Orochi said, managing to get out of his dizzy state as he joins Tsurugi.
The two pull their respective Summoning Scrolls, insert them onto the Ninja Driver and perform hand signs.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Both shout in unison and spin the cornua of the scrolls, opening them.
[Shokan no Jutsu!]
After the announcement, a large fiery serpent alongside an icy blue butterfly comes out of the scrolls and charges towards the Kodamas, the serpent burning some while the butterfly freezes some. The ones burn by the serpent explode while the ones frozen by the butterfly shatter into pieces.
"How did you like that?" Orochi said.
"Wait a minute, something isn't right." Tsurugi said, that's when they noticed the main Kodama had vanished. "It vanished?!"
"That bastard used the chaos to escape, dammit!" Orochi shouts in anger.
The transformation is canceled as their suits disappear, Hyuuga sighs in frustration.
"Guess we shouldn't underestimate the Yokais." He said, still frustrated over letting that Yokai escape "Don't you agree Kusanagi?" He said, but Tsubaki didn't said a thing "Kusanagi?"
She wasn't paying attention, instead she's thinking about the Yokai, trying to remember where she encountered it before.
"Hello? Earth to Kusanagi!" Hyuuga said, waving his hand in front of Tsubaki's face, finally getting her attention "What's with you? You've been like that ever since we encountered that Yokai."
"Sorry, it's just…. I feel like I've seen that Yokai before." Tsubaki said.
"Wait what?" Hyuuga said.
Tsubaki continues to try and remember where she found that Yokai, that's when her eyes widened in realization.
"Wait, I remember now!" She shouts "I remember when I encountered that Yokai!"
"Really?" Hyuuga asks.
"Well…."
A flashback starts, showing Tsubaki in her ninja uniform as she stands on top of a building "It happened a few weeks after the Yokais were released from their seal, even before the Rider system was created."
"I was sent on a mission to investigate strange disappearances that were occurring in a forest near the city." She said "The Sages said that this might be related to the Yokais, so that's why I was sent."
Tsubaki leaps from building to building and arrives at the forest.
"So this is where the disappearances are occurring?" She said "Gotta be careful and don't let my guard down, who knows what kind of Yokai is hiding here."
She starts walking around the forest to try and find anything that can help her. While walking, Tsubaki notices some objects on the ground, she spots what looks like a black cap, she crouches to grab it and sees a bit of blood on it.
"Whoever did this to them, didn't leave any bodies behind." Tsubaki said as she drops the cap and continues to walk, noticing other objects with blood on them as well.
Suddenly, loud screams are heard and Tsubaki rushes to where they are coming from. Upon arriving, she spots the lower body of a man and crunching sounds, the screams continue before they abruptly end.
"What the hell?" Tsubaki exclaims in shock at what she saw, she runs to where the man was last seen but doesn't find anything "Where did he go?" She looks everywhere to find a trace of the man, but nothing "Dammit!" She curses in frustration.
While Tsubaki is focusing on finding what is going on, she doesn't notice that the tree behind her is moving its branch and extending towards her back. The tip of said branch is sharp enough to pierce through her body, it then extends fully in an attempt to stab Tsubaki, though she quickly senses something isn't right as she moves to the side and the branch stabs a tree that was in front of her.
"Did that tree branch move by itself?" She said as the branch removes itself from the tree and tries once again to stab her, Tsubaki dodges again, the branch then goes to her face, but she quickly grabs it both hands as the tip gets an inch between her eyes "This isn't any normal tree, this must be…."
Tsubaki uses her right hand to perform a powerful karate chop, cutting the branch in half as the rest retract back and she tosses the half she's holding away. The tree in front starts shaking and changing its appearance, revealing its true form to be….
"A Yokai!" Tsubaki exclaims, the tree's true form is that of the Yokai Kodama "So those disappearances were indeed the work of a Yokai, and judging by those objects I found on the ground, and that poor man screaming for his life…. You ate them, didn't you?"
The Kodama snarls at Tsubaki, though she figures it was responsible for the blood stains it has on its body, she doesn't know how it ate them, but not like it matters, the only thing that it's on her mind right now is defeating it.
Tsubaki goes to make the first move, she rushes towards the Yokai and delivers a precise palm thrust, pushing it away. After that, she follows-up with karate chops and a kick, she manages to block a punch from its left hand, though that was just a distraction.
What she didn't notice was that, the Kodama's right arm has regrown and it swings at Tsubaki, hitting her on the face, then it hits her again and delivers a punch with its left arm, causing blood to fall from Tsubaki's mouth as she stumbles backwards.
"Okay, regeneration got it." Tsubaki said while cleaning the blood from her mouth.
The Kodama roars, then it extends its branch arm to try and stab Tsubaki, she manages to avoid some of the stabs, though one manages to graze her left arm.
Kodama then punches the ground with its left hand; from it, several branches emerge and go towards Tsubaki, trying to skewer her alive. She quickly reacts by performing hand signs.
"Ice Ninpo: Frozen Shield!" Tsubaki extends her hands forward and a large shield appears on her palms, managing to stop the onslaught of sharp wood as they hit the shield.
It shows some impressive resistance by tanking each hit, though Kodama's attack doesn't stop, so Tsubaki has to act fast. She grips the shield with both hands and charges forward, managing to fend off each attack, though she notices cracks appearing on the shield, one of the branches manages to pierce it and graze Tsubaki's left cheek, she winces in pain but keeps moving forward.
She gets closer and closer to the Kodama, then as she gets close enough, she rams the shield onto the Yokai, knocking it off balance as its branch attack ceases and Tsubaki takes that opportunity to perform a series of fast punches and kicks.
While she attacks the Kodama, the part of its arms that was previously cut starts to shake and it grows into a second Kodama, who charges at Tsubaki by tackling her onto the ground.
"A second? How?!" She shouts in disbelief as the two Kodamas stand side-by-side in front of her "Not that it matters, I need to end this quickly!"
Both Kodamas charge at Tsubaki, she dodges one and blocks the attack of another. The one behind her swings its branch arm at her, striking Tsubaki on the back as she's pushed forward, the other does the same and hits Tsubaki, causing her to fall on the ground.
"I'm outnumbered, if I don't do something quick, they'll kill me!" Tsubaki shouts as she slowly gets up and turns around, just in time as she sees the two Kodamas trying to stab her with their branch arms "Not this time!" She exclaims and rolls to the side, the Kodamas' arms get stuck on the ground "Sorry, but it's over!"
Tsubaki gets up as she backlips and performs several hand signs.
"Ice Ninpo: Butterfly's Frost!" Tsubaki extends her hands and an ice construct of butterfly wings appears "Freeze for eternity Yokai…." Tsubaki launches them at the two Kodamas, the wings strike them and they freeze. Tsubaki then rushes and performs a flying kick "Punishment!" The flying kick shatters the two as Tsubaki lands before looking from behind, noticing that only one spirit was flying away "Only one spirit?" She said, confused but decides to ignore it. "Anyway, I'll need to report this." Tsubaki said as she leaps away towards the Shinobi Temple, ending the flashbacks.
"Since at the time the Rider System wasn't invented yet, we could only destroy the Yokai's bodies, their souls were still around and could reform into new bodies." Tsubaki said.
"Yeah that makes sense, man I'm lucky you guys invented that thing because it's probably a pain having to do this dance over and over." Hyuuga said.
"Well it's not like you could take them in a fight anyway." Tsubaki said.
"Yeah you're righ-Hey!" Hyuuga shouts "I could kick those Yokais' asses with my bare hands!"
"Oh yeah maybe you could, but would you be willing to fight them again after destroying their bodies just so they appear in new ones?" Tsubaki asks.
"Of course!" Hyuuga said very confident.
"Really?" Tsubaki said, not convinced.
"Yeah! It doesn't matter if they keep coming back, I will keep fighting until they realize who they are messing with!" Hyuuga said in a very confident and cocky tone.
Tsubaki just watches as Hyuuga punches the air while saying a bunch of stuff, which sounds like nonsense to her, but she couldn't help but admire his determination and willingness to fight no matter what.
Hyuuga then notices that she's staring "What are you looking at?"
"Oh nothing, it's just…. There's something about that I can't help but admire." Tsubaki said.
"Like what?" Hyuuga asks.
"Your determination, you always stand up no matter how many times you fall, that is an admirable trait." Tsubaki admits.
"That's something my old man always said to me, no matter if a fight seems impossible, or if the odds are against me, I should never give up and abandon hope." Hyuuga said as he looks up, "For all the fights we get in, I can't bring myself to hate the old man, sure he may be weird sometimes, but I know he loves me, and I do too." Hyuuga said "But don't tell him I said that."
"My lips are sealed." Tsubaki said as she pulls an invisible zipper on her mouth.
"Good. Anyway, we still need to find that Yokai, that tree camouflage power is a dangerous one, and based on your story, it also eats humans as well." Hyuuga said "And I now just realized that it probably tried to eat me before."
"Good thing I was there to warn you, and yeah you're right, we gotta find this Yokai fast." Tsubaki said "And I think I know where we can find it."
"Really?" Hyuuga asks.
"A Yokai that can disguise itself as a tree so it can eat its prey without being noticed, where do you think it would be hiding?" Tsubaki said.
After thinking, the realization hits Hyuuga on the head as his eyes widen "The forest!"
"Bingo!" Tsubaki exclaims "Now let's get going, I just hope we don't arrive during its lunchtime."
Both Hyuuga and Tsubaki ride on their respective Rider Machine towards the forest, the likely place where the Kodama will be hiding, and to prey on whatever human it can find.
At the forest, everything seems normal at first, no signs of the Yokai, make sense since it's hiding as a tree among the others.
The issue comes with the blood-curdling screams coming from a distance, the sounds of flesh being pierced and crushed, the Kodama is currently eating someone.
Hyuuga and Tsubaki arrive in the forest, just in time to hear screams coming from a distance.
"Oh no, we are too late." Tsubaki said.
"Let's hurry, maybe we could save someone!" Hyuuga shouts, Tsubaki nods and both accelerate their bikes.
It looks like lady luck is on their side because they spot a woman cowering in fear as she's about to be stabbed by the Kodama's arm branch.
The two accelerate their bikes and ram through the arm, breaking it apart and saving the woman.
"Yasakani, burn them so they won't grow into new ones, I'll help that woman!" Tsubaki said.
"Got it." Hyuuga nods his head, Tsubaki dismount of her bike and go to the woman.
"Are you hurt?" Tsubaki said.
"T-That monster, it ate my friend….!" The woman said, almost crying.
"I'm so sorry, but don't worry, we'll take care of it." Tsubaki said to try and comfort the woman "Now get up, go somewhere safe okay?" Tsubaki said, the woman nod her head and starts running.
Hyuuga meanwhile, does some hand signs "Fire Ninpo: Fire Shuriken!" Hyuuga creates two shurikens of fire and tosses them at the two broken pieces, they burn into a crisp the moment the shurikens hit them "Now you can't call for backup!"
The Yokai roars in frustration over being interrupted and reveals its true form, its branch arm regenerating after being destroyed.
"Kusanagi, ready?" Hyuuga said as he puts on his Ninja Driver while holding the Hebi Scroll. "Henshin!" He shouts and transforms.
[Henshin no Jutsu!]
"Let's do this." Tsubaki said as she did the same "Henshin!"
[Henshin no Jutsu!]
The two transform into Orochi and Tsurugi and engage in battle against the Yokai.
[Moyase, Hebi!]
[Hyouketsu, Cho!]
The two ram onto the Yokai and push them forward with all of their strength. Both manage to bring the Yokai to an open field in the forest, giving them more space to fight.
The Yokai swings both arms forward, pushing Orochi and Tsurugi away as it extends its branch arm to try and stab them.
Both manage to avoid each strike, Orochi rolling to the side as he pulls the Hebi Dual Blade and tosses at the Kodama, the blade striking through it as sparks fly on impact, causing its arm to retract back.
"Now!" Orochi shouts as he gets up and rushes towards the Yokai.
Tsurugi nods as she summons the Cho Katana, changes it to Rifle Mode and starts shooting at the Yokai.
The shots hit it and Orochi takes that opportunity to strike it, swinging his sword at the Kodama, who is managing to tank Tsurugi's shots.
Orochi continues his attack, dodging a swing from its arm and counters with a roundhouse kick.
He tries to slash it again, but the Kodama avoids, causing Orochi to almost trip and when he turns around, he receives a punch from the Yokai, followed by another and another.
"Yasakani!" Tsurugi shouts, she changes the Cho Katana back, removes the sheath and charges forward.
She slashes the Yokai, causing sparks to fly, but then is hit by the branch arm, causing her to fall on the ground.
Orochi takes that opportunity of distraction to slice the Kodama, that is when something unexpected happens.
The Kodama raises its left arm, Orochi expecting to get punched again as he holds the Hebi Dual Blade in front, but then, the left arm morphs and changes into a hammer.
"What?" Orochi said in a shocked tone, the Kodama then swings his now hammer arm at Orochi, hitting him on his torso with enough strength to knock him away and cancel his transformation, and Hyuuga rolls on the ground.
"He canceled the transformation with one hit?" Tsurugi said in shock, she spots the Yokai trying to smash her with its hammer, but she rolls to the side, the hammer hits the ground, causing a tremor that knocks Tsurugi's balance.
Kodama then tries to smash her again with its hammer, she blocks the attack with her sword, though she could feel the difference in strength as the Yokai pushes forth the hammer.
Hyuuga slowly raises his head, blood is dripping from his head as he sees that Tsurugi is in danger.
"K-Kusanagi….!" Hyuuga said, despite the powerful attack he received earlier, he hasn't given up yet and pulls the Kuwagata Scroll.
Kodama is still pushing and the hammer is almost approaching Tsurugi, she spots some cracks appearing on her katana and her eyes widen from underneath the mask.
Suddenly sparks fly from behind the Kodama and it turns around to see what happened. The responsible for this was Hyuuga, who has transformed again and is now in his Kuwagata Form holding the Kuwagata Gauntlet in Shoot Mode.
"I got more where that came from you stupid tree!" Orochi shouts and he continues to fire at the Yokai, each shot hitting it and causing a lot of damage to the Yokai.
Tsurugi takes that opportunity to kick Kodama away as she gets up.
Orochi changes the Kuwagata Gauntlet to Punch Mode, removes the Kuwagata Scroll from the Driver and inserts it on the gauntlet's slot.
[Hissatsu no Jutsu!]
Fiery energy gathers on the gauntlet's pincers as Orochi rushes towards the Yokai "Super Fire Ninpo!" He then presses the trigger.
[Kuwagata! Ichigeki Ken!]
"Stag Beetle's Crush!" Orochi delivers a fiery slash with the gauntlet as he passes through the Yokai, sparks flying from the impact and the Yokai roars in pain "Now Kusanagi!"
"Yes, I will finish what I couldn't that day." Tsurugi said as she sheaths the Cho Katana and changes it to Rifle Mode. Then, she removes the Cho Scroll from the Driver and inserts it on a slot of the katana.
[Hissatsu no Jutsu!]
Icy blue energy gathers at the rifle's barrel and Tsurugi points it forward. In front of her, a transparent butterfly emblem appears.
"Super Ice Ninpo: Frozen Monarch!" Tsurugi pulls the trigger and fires an energy shot from the rifle that after passing through the emblem, it becomes a large frozen bullet that once it strikes the Kodama's body, several ice spikes emerge from its back as it roars. "Freeze for eternity Yokai, punishment!"
The Kodama then roars and explodes, its soul appearing before imploding.
The two Riders look at each other and perform a high-five, glad they manage to defeat the Yokai, especially Tsurugi, since all she could do at the time was destroy its body.
Some time later, the two are leaving the forest, exhausted from the fight while moving their bikes by the handles.
"Man that Yokai sure was a tough cookie to fight against." Hyuuga said.
"Same, I'm just glad I finally managed to defeat it." Tsubaki said.
"I really hope we don't encounter any other enemy of your past that you didn't manage to fully defeat." Hyuuga said.
"Oh please, it's not like I fought against that many Yokais before…. I think." Tsubaki said, causing Hyuuga's eyes to widen.
"What do you mean you think?!" Hyuuga shouts and points at Tsubaki "Don't tell me there are probably more of these guys you fought in the past?!"
"Hey don't blame me, it's been a long time alright?" Tsubaki snaps at him "I don't even remember if I did or did not fight against some."
"I swear I better not fight against a Yokai and you suddenly remember that you fought against it before." Hyuuga said.
"Oh bite me!" Tsubaki shouts.
Hyuuga was about to open his mouth to say something, but he's interrupted by someone else's voice.
"Sorry for interrupting your conversation but, are you two by any chance Orochi and Tsurugi?" The figure asks in a polite yet threatening tone.
"So what, who's asking?" Hyuuga said as he looks at the figure, his eyes widen upon seeing it.
"Well you see, I heard you two had been fighting against Yokais for a while, and defeated a great number of them." The figure said "So, I wanted to see if you two are really that strong."
The figure in front of them is a Yokai, but this one has a very peculiar appearance. His body is black and white in color, and he looks like a mix between several animals: He has the head of a monkey, his arms and legs are of a tiger, the torso of a raccoon dog, and a snake-shaped tail. He's also carrying a black sword.
"Oh right, apologies for not introducing myself first. I am a Yokai named Nue." The Yokai, Nue, introduces himself.
"Nue huh?" Hyuuga said.
"You…." Tsubaki said, as she starts to recognize the Yokai.
"Kusanagi?" Hyuuga asks.
"YOU!" Tsubaki shouts in anger and rushes forward, transforming into Tsurugi.
"Kusanagi!" Hyuuga shouts to try and get her attention, but his words don't reach her as Tsurugi swings the Cho Katana at Nue, who easily blocks with his sword.
"Oh? I sense a lot of anger from you." Nue said "And judging from the way you react upon seeing me, that means I must have done something to you."
"You…. You killed my parents!" Tsurugi shouts.
"He what?!" Hyuuga shouts in shock.
"I did?" Nue said in a fake innocent tone "You'll have to be more specific, I have killed a lot of people, I don't even bother remembering their names or faces." Nue said in a sadistic tone.
"Their names were Kaede and Asagi Kusanagi!" Tsurugi shouts, she tries to slash Nue away, but he suddenly vanishes by turning into a dark cloud "Where did he….?"
"Those names sound a lot familiar." Nue said, reappearing behind Tsurugi "Oh, now I remember." Nue said as he slashes Tsurugi, sparks flying from her as she's sent away.
Nue transforms into a dark cloud again and reappears in front of Tsurugi, grabbing her by the neck.
"I remember once killing two members of said clan, and they were your parents? Oh now that's something." Nue said.
"You bastard!" Tsurugi snarls in anger.
Nue then pushes Tsurugi and unleashes a barrage of fast slashes on her, she grunts in pain from each hit until Nue delivers a powerful slash that launches Tsurugi away as she scream and knocks her out of her transformation as she falls on the ground, bleeding and injured.
"Kusanagi!" Hyuuga shouts as he rushes towards Tsubaki "Come Kusanagi wake up! Wake up!" Hyuuga said as he moves Tsubaki to try and wake her up.
"Oh don't worry my dear boy, she's just unconscious, I restrained myself from using all of my power you see." Nue said. "You should do something about her wounds, I'm really interested in fighting you two, I hope we meet again, and we will." Nue said as he walks away while laughing and disappears.
Hyuuga stares at where Nue was before he disappeared before looking back at Tsubaki.
"Kusanagi…. Dammit!" Hyuuga shouts with anger in his voice and punches the ground.
Meanwhile at the Kagami household, in the house's office, Fuuka is working on her computer, she's looking at information about someone, that person being Danzo Murakami.
"Let's see what I can find more about this guy." She said as she continues her research.
To Be Continued….
Next Time on Kamen Rider Orochi:
"She managed to find stuff about that guy?!"
"The heir to the Murakami Clan, Danzo Murakami."
"My sister got kidnapped!"
"Let every single dark emotion you have overflow, show me that power of yours!"
"Feast your eyes on the magnificent power gave to me by Master Danzo!"
"When we see a wall in front of us, a literal one in your case, we'll break through it!"
"Until I see your body full of cracks, I'll keep breaking through!"
Chapter 11: Ninpo: Forbidden Knowledge