Fragments Of Shinobi

Just outside the school, Satoshi examined the object he had used to kill Naoki.

It was a strange dull shard of what was once a sword, but Satoshi didn’t know this.

However, the man he passed had caught a glimpse of the shard.

“Hey, can you explain what’s going on in your school?” Wataru asked.

Satoshi quickly hid the black glistening shard in his cloak pocket, and shook his head before running away.

“Damnit Wataru. You can’t let him get away with that. It's ancient history," he said to himself.

Wataru followed the kid slowly, eventually coming to a dead end alleyway.

“I DIDN’T DO IT!” Satoshi said, panicking.

“Woah, settle down there. I just want to know what happened,” Wataru tried to say politely.

“NOTHING HAPPENED! GET AWAY FROM ME!” Satoshi insisted.

“I’m sorry if I’ve startled you. I came here as a part of a special team tasked with finding artifacts, and I was told one happened to be at your school.”

“YOU’RE JUST TRYING TO GET ME TO CONFESS!” Satoshi yelled, retrieving the shard in his hand, and pointing it at Wataru.

“GO AWAY! OR ELSE I’LL HURT YOU TOO!”

Wataru stepped back, waving his arms while trying to settle the boy down.

But Satoshi began to step forward, advancing on him now.

“You think I did it…don’t you? You’re going to tell them all,” Satoshi said in a much more calming, yet deranged tone. “I can’t let you leave…”

Satoshi then charged forward, hoping to cut Wataru with the shard as he did with Naoki.

Wataru panicked, and ran backward, but then stopped.

In exhaustion, Satoshi had tripped over his own feet, and fell onto the ground. Beneath his chest, the shard had impaled his heart, killing him instantly.

“Hey kid…are you okay?” Wataru asked as he rolled Satoshi over, examining the wound, and cringing at the sight.

He threw up.

That night, police would find Satoshi dead in that alleyway, with an open wound, but no shard sticking out of him.

Wataru had it in his own pocket.

He fled the scene at a quick pace. It would hours before anyone realized, and by then he’d be miles away from here.

He couldn’t report it to the police. Would they really believe a kid fell on his own device?

All they would need to do is look up his history, and they would discover he only wanted the shard, drawing the conclusion he killed Satoshi for it.

It wasn’t his fault anyways, he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Accidents happen.

Once he was home, he would never have to think about this again.

Wataru called for a taxi, and got inside it with several other 3 other cloaked figures, with two in front, and one in the back by him.

They drove for a little while together.

After a while, Wataru got a text on his phone from his boss.

He had just told him the shard was in his possession, so his boss’s reply was fast.

His boss’s reply read:

“Hey Wataru! Good news! Daimyo Kitsune contacted the Kyoto museum today, and has offered to purchase that shard from us for an extraordinary amount. Reply back with your location, and he’ll meet you there himself!”

“The Daimyo? Kitsune? This seems like a lot to happen all at once…” Wataru had nearly begun to sweat as he thought this. He would be fine though.

Soon he would be home, and enjoy some ice cream.

The car then pulled over.

Next to him, the other passenger held out a gun.

“Tell Kitsune to meet us here. We’re holding you hostage, and he’s going to pay us that money,” a robotic voice demanded.

Wataru noticed one of the figures up front now held out a hacking device, and there was a blue antenna blinking.

These men had hacked his phone, and read his text.

Wataru had no choice but to obey their demand, and texted his coordinates.

Not too long later the sun had since settled, and snow had begun to trickle down from the sky.

A car had pulled up alongside them, and had begun to roll its window down.

Inside it, Kistune was behind the wheel.

“I’m here for the delivery,” he said in a calm and raspy voice.

Immediately the three occupying the car with Wataru retrieved guns, and began to fire on Kitsune’s car as he started to speed away.

“You said you were going to take his money!” Wataru reluctantly shouted, as the car chased Kitsune in pursuit.

“Change of plans! We want 'em dead!” the robot’s voice yelled.

They sped around corners, with bullets spraying wildly in every direction, hitting everything but Kitsune’s car.

Suddenly a rocket flew out from an adjoining helicopter above, striking a skyscraper ahead, and causing pieces of rubble to fall down.

Wataru watched as both smoke and tons of debris crashed in front of the car carrying Kitsune, now too late for it to come to a complete halt, it smashed into the blockade, compressing and killing anything inside.

The car Wataru was in, and the helicopter above came to a stop nearby.

The air transportation hovered patiently above, while the three cloaked figures inside the car with Wataru got out, and stepped forward towards the crash site.

Each of them had carried some sort of assault rifle.

Meanwhile, inside the car Wataru had been shaking anxiously, now gripping the shard tightly in his hand.

“THIS DAMNABLE SHARD HAS CAUSED ALL OF THIS!” Wataru shouted, pressing both hands against it, and cutting his hands deeper the more he tried to smash it, until finally it completely burst into millions of tiny fragments that slipped out of his grip, slicing up his arms.

Suddenly Wataru’s eyes rolled back, then returned.

He then joined the 3 other cloaked members outside the car, concealing his hands as he walked.

These figures cautiously approached Kitsune’s wreckage, watching as the trunk then flung open as two blankets were tossed out. They fired upon each, littering the blankets with bullets that bounced off.

The helicopter from above suddenly exploded. The flames fell down to the ground, now where all 3 figures were all sliced, killing them instantly. Their blood trailed around in the snow.

Only two figures were left now.

Wataru stood facing the other, who was about 10 feet apart from where he stood, while fiery debris landed around the pair, painting the perfect scene.

The man across from him wore a suit, had white hair, a bandit mask that didn’t cover his white eyes.

From his bloodied sword hung the symbol of a fox that dangled down.

“You cannot win. I am unbeatable, and your only viable choice is submission. Surrender, Kitsune.” Wataru’s voice was deeply low, noxious, and clearly aided by some fabrication, while not his own natural voice.

He said this as he studied the emblem attached to the sword, intrigued with its glamor.

“The days today are beginning to feel less like yesterday, and more like tomorrow, Shinobi.” Kitsune’s raspy voice was calm and confident as he held out his sword towards the robed man.

Just like two samurai dueling centuries ago, both men were encircled and ready to fight.

“Just who are you? The ringleader?” Kitsune then asked, relaxing his posture.

“I’m no stranger to people wanting me dead, nevertheless, your presence is peculiar.”

“We are Shinobi, just as you declared. Our eternal presence only guarantees impending victory. Your blemish, as well as those similar to you on this earth shall be eradicated, and replaced with excellence!”

Shinobi raised his arms in the air, revealing the dripping blood as his cloak’s sleeves fell.

“Tsunami would admire your self-harm and proclamations. Fortunately, I am not him, and I will end you before you get to meet him yourself. Draw your final breath, Shinobi!” Kitsune shouted.

Shinobi reached to his chest, and from it he pulled out a black kunai.

Yet before he could do anything with it, Kitsune’s katana had already dug into Shinobi’s chest.

Shinobi stuttered, reaching to his chest as Kitsune pulled out the sword.

“Let your ambitions rest alongside your troubles, friend,” Kistune said, watching as Shinobi tried to stop the bleeding.

But then his wound had healed completely!

Suddenly, a wound opened up on Kitsune’s chest, causing a streak of blood to stain his white suit.

“Shi-Shinobi! My vision fades, what have you done?!” Kitsune struggled to say.

Kitsune limped away, though he was soon joined by a familiar face, as Akuma supported his movement.

She had arrived after surveying the scene from a nearby rooftop.

“Akuma, I-I can’t breathe…” Kitsune said as he fell against the ground.

“Flee…”

“Master!” she shrieked, pressing her hands against his wound in a worthless attempt to seal the wound.

Quietly, the last of Kitsune’s life force has left him without another noise.

Kitsune had died without Shinobi landing a single blow!

“NOOOOOOO!!!” Akuma screamed.

She withdrew her own sword, and turned to Shinobi, who had still been standing where he was.

Akuma then paused, and knelt down, dropping her sword as she did so.

For she now gasped as Shinobi’s hood had been removed, revealing her master’s face now present instead of Wataru’s.

Shinobi approached Kitsune’s dead body, and removed the mask, tying it around his own face, which made him look identical to Kitsune once more.

He then broke off the kitsune symbol attached to the sword, and gave it to Akuma, which she held tightly.

“Stand, new Daimyo of Kansai,” Shinobi simply said.

Akuma did as told.

“It appears I am Shinobi now, for how long, I am not sure.”

“Protect Xion Mizuno. One of the many parts of me wishes him dead, while another part wants him saved,” Shinobi said to Akuma.

“Yes master,” she said softly.

“Meet with the others to discuss this new shard. Perhaps I will too.”

“Complete your training, and the trials of Inari. Expend the yokai to its fullest. Conceal your emotions.”

“I’ll always be watching you,” he smiled.

“Yes master,” Akuma tried to smile.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xiomazu awoke in the present day, glancing to his side in a trance.

Near him, Sheru had swung down her sword, knocking the kunai off his neck.

The same kunai that Shinobi had pricked him with that sucked away his senses.

This freed him from the grip, and allowed him to break off.

It felt as if air had filled his dry lungs again.

Xiomazu had learned it all.

Shinobi was a combination of people that were killed by the shard and sword it originally formed.

This included two young boys named Naoki and Satoshi.

Possibly the remains of whoever was buried there, as well as those killed by it years or centuries prior.

But it also included Wataru, Xiomazu’s father.

He now noticed his eyes were wet, but he could not cry.

Shinobi also said earlier that his kunai tools stored souls.

That was true. He wasn’t lying.

He had heard Saeko’s voice in one of them.

The shard now resides within Kitsune, who killed his father and became Shinobi.

Shinobi could produce these kunai, and store different souls in them.

If he could do that, then he could probably store them in himself too.

But what bothered Xiomazu was that when Kitsune sliced his father, Kitsune died.

It was as if the attacks were reflected back on the user.

In that sense, Shinobi could not be killed.

For whoever killed him, Shinobi simply absorbed and became.

“RUN!!!” Xiomazu shouted, grabbing Sheru and pulling her back as hard as he could with him.

“I can’t allow anyone to attack him until we figure out how the hell we’re going to deal with that!” he thought, as Sheru joined him in stride.

They ran back to Donburi, who had still been fighting Akuma at this time.

Both Xiomazu and Sheru swung at her, causing her to jump out of the way.

Together, Donburi, Sheru, and Xiomazu stood with weapons ready.

“Are my actions not justified?” Shinobi asked, still standing where he had, and looking over the kunai on the ground.

He proceeded to produce more, tossing them all down, creating a pile.

“We can restore these remnants together! Your loved ones can be loved again by infusing their souls with inanimate objects, and creating new life from nothing!”

There were at least 50 kunai on the ground when he finally stopped.

“That gorilla guy you sent after us wasn’t anything remotely close to a human!” Sheru shouted back.

“If that’s what one result is, I don’t want to imagine what sick cruel creatures you’ve created!”

“Experimentation is but one more step away from success! We could all be immune to sickness and disease at the smallest cost of our original bodies. Isn’t that worth the risk!?” Shinobi proclaimed back.

“You killed my agents, and other people in that goddamn hotel. That’s the problem with your immaculate scheme you’ve got going there, Kitsune, Shitnobi, or whoever the hell you are. I ain’t ever gonna listen to someone who treats others like that!” Donburi puffed out heavily.

“Tell me, is there not someone you’d do anything for to see again?! That chance is worth pushing everyone over in my path, including the people in your path too,” Shinobi preached.

“It doesn’t matter! This isn’t right, Shinobi. Even if I understand your past now, and the sadness that ensues from it, life isn’t meant to be tampered with,” Xiomazu yelled.

“I want to bring many people back too, but I can’t. You can’t. Nobody can. Let all of the personalities inside that body you have know we won’t let you play with lives like toys.”

Xiomazu turned to Akuma.

“That man isn’t your master, Akuma. He’s a combination of other people trying to get you to do their work for them! They probably all want to live again too, but it doesn’t work like that!”

“Kitsune, or whoever he was before he put on that mask, will never be back again. I’m sorry.”

"Don't let him win, Akuma!"

"FIGHT!"