Jin rushed back to the castle, and he was the only ninja that returned. The others may still be on the search, if they were not all hunted down already. Jin was feeling slightly regretful about what he had done, ashamed at coming back here while the job was not yet finished. However, shame was fine, but regret on the other hand, he believed he shouldn’t feel.

  The enemy was strong, more skilled. It only was proven more by how she easily slaughtered those other ninjas. As long as that person was helping the targets, for whatever reason that may be, there was no way they could get to them without severe casualties. It would only cause unwanted deaths. His superior, Katsuo, had encountered those people before, so he would understand Jin’s decision.

  Jin entered the gates, and there were way fewer guards than before. A lot of them were sent out to search for the young lord’s killers. As he was heading for the castle entrance, he paused in place when he saw that his master and head of the Nightshades Clan, Seiji, was at the courtyard. With him was Jin’s superior, Katsuo. They were talking to each other as soldiers stood before them.

  Jin was feeling hesitant, he didn’t intend to meet his master so soon. He meant to speak with Katsuo first to tell him about the situation. But he had to report what he discovered now. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward, approaching the two of them.

  Just as the soldiers left, Seiji turned towards him with a sharp gaze. He seemed baffled as to what Jin was doing here.

  “I believe you were sent to find the culprits, Jin.” He spoke in a stern tone.

  Katsuo looked at him with a puzzled expression. “I didn’t expect you to be back. Did you get them?”

  “Judging from how he looks, I doubt it.”

  “Jin, you’re wounded.”

  His wounds were nothing compared to what would have happened to him. Kneeling before the two of them, he lowered his head deeply with clenched fists.

  “The others are still on the hunt,” Jin said.

  “Then why are you here?” Seiji asked. “Your wounds are not too fatal that it prevents you from moving.”

  “Yes. I retreated.”

  “What?” Seiji slowly stepped forward, giving an ominous air about him. After what happened, of course everyone would be on edge. “Have you turned into such a coward, elite student of mine?”

  “...” What he did was indeed cowardly.

  “You ran back here while your brothers are still out there working, hunting.”

  “Y-Yes, but I fled for a reason.”

  “It better be a good reason.”

  “Yes… It is… I fled because we were faced with a powerful foe.” He slowly raised his head to look at his master and his commander. “Master, I told you about a girl who beat me. The one I told you that might be your match. She is here.”

  Seiji raised an eyebrow. “Again with this…”

  “She inflicted these wounds on me. I was utterly powerless to resist. Many of the other ninjas perished at her hands. I only survived because of them… Because…” He lowered his head with a bitter expression. “Because I ran away…”

  “You used your brothers’ lives to save yourself? Do you feel no shame?”

  Jin couldn’t answer.

  “I will only acknowledge strength when I see it. Because sometimes, there are those that say one is strong, but turns out they had just become lax in their presumed strength. Negligence causes weakness.”

  “... Yes, master. However, this is a different case. She really is. I saw it with my own eyes.” He raised his head, looking his master directly in the eye. “She slaughtered several ninjas that came at her all at once. They stood no chance at all. They could not even damage her.”

  “I do not reject the idea that she is strong. But I dislike people who overestimate. Just as we throw our daggers, we must be precise.”

  Jin was never precise when giving descriptions of her. Saying that she was as strong as the master was merely presumptions. Still, he believed in his instincts.

  “Yes, master. But please heed my words. I suggest you withdraw the ninjas.”

  “Don’t be absurd. We can’t just withdraw all ninjas for one person.”

  “... Not one person, but… I believe she is not working alone.” He turned to Katsuo. “Lord Katsuo, it’s not just that girl Estelia, I believe I saw one of her allies attacking the soldiers. They’re helping the representatives of Nishinoa.”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “Are you sure?” Katsuo frowned.

  “Yes.”

  “That is surprising… They’re related? How?”

  “I do not know.”

  Katsuo glanced away for a moment, pondering deeply. “This is not good. We need to withdraw not only the ninjas, but the soldiers. I think they’ll only stop the defense when they’ve hidden.”

  “Katsuo, what is it?” Seiji inquired.

  “Lord Seiji, I also suggest we withdraw our forces. At least for now.”

  “Yoshio will not like it if we do such a thing. So explain yourself.”

  “I have not faced the girl that Jin faced, but I believe his judgment. That girl cannot be underestimated, even her allies.”

  Jin noticed that Seiji remained silent, intently listening. As he thought, he would listen more to someone he had more respect for. Katsuo was a high-ranking individual with tremendous skills. Seiji knew just how strong he was.

  Katsuo continued, “Back in Mahana, we came across people from the continent in the north. I knew the moment I met them… They are… dangerous… My instincts that were honed facing monsters kept warning me.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Whatever they are… They’re monstrous. I won’t be surprised if they match you, or even surpass you.”

  “...”

  “If they are protecting Miss Miyako, then we cannot win. To prevent loss of life, we must withdraw the normal soldiers and the ninjas. Or at best, if they found Miyako, leave them be for the time being. A plan dealing with them must be formulated.”

  “Conveying that order to a force spread out will take some time. Are you certain about this?”

  “Yes.”

  “... Very well. I will withdraw the ninjas for now, but the soldiers remain. Change the order to just finding the culprits. Have the ninjas report to me. I want to make a confirmation.”

  Katsuo nodded. “A wise choice, Lord Seiji.”

  “And you, Jin. Get yourself healed.”

  ***

  It took time before they could convey the new order to the ninjas to retreat back to the castle. Jin, now recovered, was waiting for them to come back, along with his master. However, as gradually the ninjas returned, they started to notice something strange.

  There were fewer ninjas returning than they had expected. And Jin was becoming increasingly worried by the minute. They sent not only? the graduates of the school but also the students. Despite being students, they were not exactly complete novices. They would pose a challenge to their opponents. However, what if they faced a harbinger of death?

  When the ninjas stopped arriving after some waiting, Jin’s fears were confirmed.

  “What is this?” Seiji slowly stepped forward, his sharp eyes narrowed. “Is this all…?”

  In the end, there were fewer ninjas that had returned compared to those that originally left. Only about half of them returned. Ninjas were unlike soldiers, so losing this many ninjas was unthinkable. As they hide mostly in the shadows, death among ninjas of this number in one day was utterly uncommon. So their master was both shocked and baffled.

  “Where are the rest?” Seiji asked one of the ninjas.

  “I… I do not know, Master.”

  “I saw some of them were dead, Master. But I do not know how many exactly.”

  “Impossible…” Seiji looked at the section ?where the students were. Their numbers had dwindled, reduced by a little more than a dozen. Many of the ninjas with promise were gone. “Who did this?!”

  None of the ninjas answered. That was because all that had seen her perished, even the elites they sent to the field. Only Jin survived the encounter by sacrificing the lives of his allies.

  “Did no one see how it all happened? How could someone track and kill so many of my students?”

  Seiji was outraged, what Jin had warned him about was almost true. A dangerous element was in the city, one that truly threatened them.

  Katsuo arrived just in time to witness Seiji’s confusion and outrage. “This is not good. If someone as powerful as them is protecting that girl, we would only bring destruction amongst ourselves.”

  Seiji glanced at Katsuo from the corner of his eye. “Is something that absurd possibly true?”

  “I told you, they are monsters. They warned me once, and I withdrew. Because I knew provoking them was not worth it.”

  “The murder of the young lord, we cannot put it aside. Absolutely not.” Seiji clenched his katana. “I will see the situation myself. Come with me, Katsuo, Jin.”

  With that, Seiji quickly sprinted away. He moved so fast that they were caught off guard. Katsuo and Jin traded looks before moving to catch up to the master ninja.

  Jin and Katsuo went through the gates and ran through the streets.

  The master ahead of them turned his gaze back to Jin. “Jin, lead me to where you encountered the girl.”

  “Y-Yes, master.” Jin ran faster, moving ahead of the group.

  He was feeling a bit anxious seeing that the master had to go see and confirm things himself. But it was understandable. One couldn’t just easily believe something so absurd. Because all they knew, they were among the most powerful on the island. For someone to just waltz in and easily wreak havoc on their forces, it was hard to believe without evidence.

  Eventually they arrived at the place where Jin had seen the girl, Estelia, last. There were several bodies that littered the street. Seiji slowly approached and looked around.

  He knelt next to a corpse. “Their weapons… They have no stain of blood. They couldn’t hit whatever killed them.” He checked the wounds. “The cuts are clean, not a sign of struggle. The attacks were swift and true. Whoever killed them, she is skilled in using the blades.”

  “The way she kills is almost reminiscent of ninjas, isn’t it?” Katsuo said.

  “There is a little variety. We ninjas are not both graceful and brutal.”

  “Graceful and brutal?”

  “The way the blades struck is very clean. However, some deaths have signs of brutality in the way she ended their lives. As if it’s a sign of displeasure or resentment.”

  To think he could make sense of her just from the deaths here.

  “If she was able to kill so many, then she moves fast,” Seiji continued. “Extremely fast…” He stood up and suddenly jumped to the rooftop.

  “What are we going to do about her, Lord Seiji?” Katsuo asked.

  Seiji looked into the distance. “Many of my students died… They stood no chance.” He suddenly moved to another rooftop and started running.

  Katsuo and Jin jumped to the rooftops and followed after him. Once they caught up, they saw him checking ?a dead body on a roof.

  “... Struck from behind. She evaded the sharp senses of those I trained…” A ninja’s senses were sharpened to detect other stealthy enemies. That was to counter the ninjas of other islands. For a ninja to be caught off guard was surprising in itself.

  “Lord Seiji.”

  Seiji glanced at Katsuo before standing up. “I’m curious.”

  “Curious?”

  “Someone with a skill similar to us ninjas, someone from another land. A master of her craft. I’m very interested in meeting her.”

  “Is that so…?”

  “At any rate, let’s withdraw our forces for now to figure out a way to handle this. I do not want the streets to be filled with dead bodies of our people.”