Back In Black #3

From part I, "Neo-Saitama In Flames": "Back In Black" #3

(Previously, on Ninja Slayer: the electro-cybernetic metropolis of desire, Neo-Saitama, ruled by the brute karate of dark ninja presence, the Soukaiya. And, a demon of revenge who slays those ninjas... Some say that he calls himself, Ninja Slayer.)


[Not only did the investigation of the Marunouchi Amazingtallbuilding explosion get out of control, but now there is also a huge fire in the harbor district.] [By the end of the year, such desperate crimes tend to go up in numbers.] [And there are rumors about similar crimes, too.] [Amazingtallbuilding was an accident! Forget about the terrorist theories, it was the builders and the authorities trying to conceal their machinations...]
In the corner of a dark office, the only source of light is a single TV monitor. The silhouette of a man standing before it casts a monstrous shadow on the wall behind him. However, the most dreadful thing in the room is not the shadow, but the man himself. This murderer in a red-black suit, with the kanji "Nin" and "Satsu" on his menpo mask.
The red-black ninja holds a remote controller in his hand. Emotionlessly, he stares in the monitor. He zaps through the TV channels over and over again. [Some time is required to learn the exact nature of the harbor fire...] ZAP [The silent homecoming] ZAP [Following this riot, the citizens in some regions go up in arms] ZAP [They're way too slow! The current government...]
[Amazingtallbuilding] ZAP [What Christmas! At this rate, even you! Even you probably can't be sure about greeting the New Year!] ZAP [Rustlerustlerustle We are the progressive struggle organization, Ikki Uchikowashi. We are speaking directly to you.] ZAP [And for the children, Barikidrink Kids! Let's get on this ride as a family!] ZAP...
Scratch. At Ninja Slayer's feet, a face-down corpse, nay, a dying person, scratches the floor. "YEEART!" Ninja Slayer immediately turns around and steps on the dying ninja's head, crushing his skull. "SAYONARA!" The ninja explodes, scattering his ashes on the winds. Even now, the place is full of traces of a gruesome combat. The furniture is lying around in pieces, and the walls are covered in bloodstains.
Ninja Slayer's shoulders tremble, and he sighs heavily. His pupils contract and gradually start burning with red-black light, akin to a Bengal firework. [Next, Sasaki Noshirou=san. Isama Toushirou=san. Yume Kashibima=san. Yama Sugimoto=san. Yama Ringo=san. Fujikido Fuyuko=san. Fujikido Tochinoki=san.]
Ninja Slayer looks at the sliding veranda sasshi window frame, with its glass in cracks. [The family members, other relatives and acquaintances can call the following number..." Ninja Slayer kicks the floor and jumps into the dead of the night from the veranda. "Wasshoi!"
... "Doomo, Ninja Slayer=san. I am Rounders." "Doomo. Rounders=san. I am Ninja Slayer." "I can see through your karate... No one can break through my Handwatch Jitsu." YEEART!" "GWAAH!?" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH! SAYONARA!"
... "Doomo, Cypress=san. I am Ninja Slayer." ""Doomo. Ninja Slayer=san. How did an outsider learn about this place..." "YEEART!" "GWAAH!?" "YEEART!" "GWAAH! Wait! Tell me what you're after!" "Gugugu... YEEART!" "ABBAAH!?" "YEEART!" "GWAAH! SAYONARA!"
... "Stop! Ninja Slayer=san! You shall know about the consequences of killing me! If you kill me, you'll kill all the people indebted to me! It's Vital Link. They gave me the right..." "Gugu... Guhahaha! You're naive to think such nonsense would stop me. You shall still be slain! And with no harm to the economy! YEEART!" "ABBAAH! SAYONARA!"
[And now, the daily report of the Hell Battle Saberdog Yakuza clan case. 12 underlings, along with the boss... A horrible slaughter... 2 more civilians who were passing by...] [...A thug has broke into the Ikakome self-energizing seminar, killing the chairman and 7 participants of the seminar...]
[We got a follow-up report. What exactly is going on?] [Firefighting.] [Taking advantage of the commotion, the New Year robbers are...] [We got a follow-up report. The hideout of the New Year robbers has been attacked by someone... The fire in the hideout took lives of some of the mansion's residents...] [Space travel cafe, now open! Enjoy our space oiran and sweets! If space exists, it's here!]
..."Please stop I don't wanna die", a ninja murmurs with a faint breath amidst the flames. Ninja Slayer explodes with laughter. "Pitiful! It's so easy for you to kill others, yet you don't want to be killed, yourself! Indeed, indeed. This is your carmic retrubution, your ingaoho, so accept it and recite your death haiku! Guhhahahahaha!" "GWAAH!"

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In that very moment. In a dojo far, far away, under a hanging scroll with the word "Dragon" embroidered in bold mystical katakana, wearing a ninja suit embroidered with dragons, an old man, lost in meditation on top of a stack of cushions, abruptly opens his eyes.

◆Intermission◆

◆Resumption◆

"Grandfather?" A beautiful girl, sitting in the same pose nearby, looks up at the old man. The old man growls. "Such evil!"
The girl gives an anxious look. The girl's bust is ample. "Evil?" "Yukano! Get the ox cart ready!" "At such hour?" The old man nods solemnly. And mutters. "What kind of omen is that?" The old man wrinkles his forehead, deep in thought. He can no longer ignore this as an instantaneous noise in his thoughts.
Even now, Dragon Gendoso feels this unidentified evil, running through the air akin to a weak electromagnetic wave. He feels this distinct swoosh whenever two ninja souls meet. However, a sensation this strong... Moreover, it does not come from around here, but probably from somewhere far away! How worrying!
"ROUOOOOON!" That moment, a loud roar shakes the air from the dojo garden's side. "Is it ready!" Gendoso retains his sitting posture while jumping off his 1 meter tall stack of cushions, lands on the tatami with a somersault and cartwheels out in a single motion. "YEEART!"
Behold, the garden! Dragon Gendoso's newbie ninja students desparately pulling at the sacred ropes, trying to rein a ferocious buffalo, even larger than an elephant. Behind the buffalo, a two-wheeled red vehicle with a tilled roof is strapped to him. Yukano sits in it with a nervous look. It's an ox cart!
"ROUOOON!" "YEEART!" Gendoso tackles the veranda with his hands and jumps 10 meters high in the air! After spinning three times in mid-air, he smoothly lands in the ox cart's rear seat. Gendoso considered the implications of Yukano sitting in the driver's seat. However, he did not scold her this time. "Let's go, Yukano!" "Yes, grandfather!"
"To Neo-Saitama!" Gendoso ordered. Fittingly, the evil atmosphere seems to come from that city of avarice! "YEEART!" Yukano grabs the reins and shakes them. "ROUOOON!" The buffalo strikes the white sand with his hoof and takes off! "AIEEE!" The nearby newbies get out of the way with a roll!
Right out of the gate, the ox cart runs down the Shinto shrine-like hill with frightening speed. If one gets out of the dojo premises, it's difficult to tell it apart from many jinja shrine ruins in these mountains. "ROUOOOON!" "Go! Before it's too late!" Gendoso's eyes burn as he says so!
In the old days of Heian period, the ninja nobles used ox carts to steal enemy princesses. A huge buffalo would trample mortal soldiers and spearmen, blast away the ninja-horsemen, and break through the castle gates as the embodiment of brute force. In modern Japan, the buffalos are no longer so huge. Still, even now, a few gigantic breeds like this one do exist!
"..." A Soukai ninja, Cautious, kneels down before footprints of a ninja amidst the fallen leaves. "Would you look at this." He carefully looks around and finds more footprints. A dojo is somewhere around here! "Finally!" He found it! The bounty! He is about to express his joy. But then, "ROUOOON!" "What, ABBAAH!?"
Looking back at the ashes of Cautious scattered on the winds, the ox cart goes on with even greater speed! The destination is Neo-Saitama... What is going to happen with them there...?

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A lightning flashes, painting the stained-glass-like tatami room in monotone for an instant. In that moment, the light reveals an intimidating figure sitting on a throne of piled tatamis, the oirans embracing him, and two ninjas kneeling before him.
"...Quite itchy." After the man on the throne slaps an oiran with a folded fan, she stats scratching the nape of his neck. The white-haired emperor of the intimidating, princely menpo and double suit, after murmuring so, looks down on the two ninjas. "It seems that the insects are skittering about right after the conflict's turmoil."
"The nerve of the lot." The one who interrupted him is one of the kneeled ninjas. "If we leave these insects be any longer..." "If we leave them be, then what?" The emperor glares at him. The ninja does not finish his sentence, but does not avert his eyes. At his side, an obsidian-colored ninja humbly keeps his silence.
The emperor's name is Laomoto Khan. He is the great leader of Soukai Syndicate that rules Neo-Saitama from atop this Tokorozawa Pillar. That fact is intimidating enough to make an average ninja soil their pants. However, the two present ninjas are unfazed... They are two ninja warriors who possess that much karate!
"With Laomoto=san's absolute power, Soukai Syndicate rules Neo-Saitama", the jet-black consultant says with no sign of terror. "Despite that, those who dare test that absolute power are allowed to exist. And I can bear it no longer." Laomoto laughs through his nose. "Don't say it like that. Dominant=san. Did you hear that from someone else?"
"You know, do you not?" Dominant replies. "Dealing with everything that bothers your highness, even though it's obviously never anything major, is also an important role of us Six Gates." Dominant glances at the obsidian ninja next to him. In that glance is a slight nuance of restraint.
"Do you want to your first battle to be against a bug?" "It is exactly because they are bugs that we should not worry about it," Dominant nods. "If Six Gates make their move and, for argument's sake, happen to lose... As unlikely as it is... wouldn't that show you in a bad light? But if it is me, then it's nothing but my first fight. That's a good position to disregard any failure." "You have a way with words."
Laomoto seems to enjoy this conversation. "Did Gatekeeper=san give you lessons in eloquence, as well?" "Indeed. Karate is not the only thing I received from him." "...Darkninja=san!" Suddenly, Laomoto points his fan at the obsidian ninja next to him. "Do you have an opinion on this matter?"
"I have nothing in particular to say," Darkninja answers emotionlessly. As he wears a ninja helmet, one cannot read his emotions on his face, either. "Perhaps a single word to add. Indeed, Dominant=san is a wielder of great karate," he says gracefully. "..." Dominant glances at Darkninja. Laomoto squints his eyes.
"Very well. In that case, do entertain me!" "As you command." He stands up and bows. From turning around to leaving the room, every move Dominant makes is perfect. "Are you interested in Dominant=san? Darkninja=san." "...As an enemy." "Muhhahahaha! That's the kind of person you are!"

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"YEEART!" "YEEART!" "YEEART!" "YEEART!" "YEEART!" "YEEART!" "YEEART!" "YEEART!" As Sharptooth delivers multiple deadly palm thrusts, Ninja Slayer dodges them with multiple backflips. The two of them move from one side of the rooftop to the other in 3 seconds.
"YEEART!" Sharptooth chases after him! The cyber-fangs spring out of his wrists and aim for Ninja Slayer's heart! "YEEART!" Ninja Slayer averts the stab with the sideway motion of his palm and strikes Sharptooth's chin with his other palm. "YEEART!" Sharptooth can do nothing but get out of the way.
"YEEART!" As he spins out of the way, he throws a roundhouse kick! This is a ninja kick that exists in a different form in capoeria, Meia Lua de Compasso. "YEEART!" Rather than avoiding the attack, Ninja Slayer lays down and jumps at his chest! "YEEART!"
"Is that," Sharptooth opens his eyes wide. Ninja Slayer grasps his neck with both hands. Sharptooth witnesses the moment when Ninja Slayer loses his human self and his eye starts burning with light akin to that of a Bengal firework. "Gugugu... Guhahahaha!" Is that!" "YEEART!" Upside-down!
Ninja Slayer dramatically drops Sharptooth backwards. But even after he falls down, he does not release his neck! "YEEART!" "GWAAH!?" The two roll off the rooftop in a two-colored blur, akin to a striped candy, straight into abyss! "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" Namusan! And the two of them fall down!
As the two spin round and round, right under them... A green park built in the middle of a business district! As the night gives way to the brisk of dawn, the morning sky dyes the two combatants in the backlight's shadows. "YYYEAART!" KRAAAASH! "SAYONARA!" As the shock from falling down and spinning over and over goes through his entire body, Sharptooth explodes, scattering his ashes on the winds!
"AIEEEE!" The salarymen who were going to work through the park are shocked by this Jigoku-like presence falling down from heavens and scream in terror, fleeing in random directions. Even though it is in their nature to move in orderly queues without colliding with each other, they still react to such unexpected situations like any regular human being.
"ZAKKENNAKORAA!" "SUZZO ORAA!" As if to respond to his fall, one after another, clone yakuzas jump out of bushes and ponds of the park and point their chaka-guns at Ninja Slayer. "It's over. You rabbit pretending to be a hunter," another ninja is mocking him from the tree branches.
"Gugugu," Ninja Slayer's laughter rumbles in his throat as his Bengal firework-like eye looks at the ambushers, the fleeing civilians, and finally, the treetop ninja. "Gugugugu... Seems like you have finally learned to use your head a little. But it's still nothing but desperate street smarts of disorderly mob. Such meaningless effort." "Doomo. Ninja Slayer=san. I am Pavement."
As soon as Pavement bows, he takes out a deadly ninja bow and aims it from atop the tree. "Doomo. Pavement=san. I am Ninja Slayer." As soon as Ninja Slayer bows, he starts rotating in place akin to a top! Pavement frowns! "Mow him down!" """ZAKKENNAKORAA!"""
"Guguguhahaha! GUHHAHAHAHAHAHA!" As he laughs, Ninja Slayer starts spinning even faster! The ground at his feet is scattered around, red-hot from friction! Smoking hot! "YEEART!" And from the center of this rotation... Countless surikens! Gouranga! This is the suriken-throwing mystic art, Helltatsumaki!
BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM... Clone yakuzas follow Pavement's orders, mercilessly showering Ninja Slayer with bullets. BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM... "GWAAH!" "GWAAH!" "GWAAH!" "GWAAH!" "GWAAH!" But the ones who fall over dead are clone yakuzas themselves!
The surikens thrown by Ninja Slayer all around him not only repelled the bullets, but also pierced each clone yakuza in their foreheads and hearts, killing them on the spot! What a dreadful attack! And so, "ABBAAH!" ABBAAH!?" "AIEEE!" "ABBAAH!" Oo, Namu-Amida-Butsu... Even the slow escaping salarymen...!
"GWAAH!" Pavement is stabbed in his shoulders and knees by the surikens, hampering his timing of taking out deadly ninja bow. "HAHHAHAHAHAHA! Amusing! Amusing!" Ninja Slayer's evil howling laughter echoes through the park at dawn! "Y... YEEART!" Though Pavement hesitates, he got his ninja bow! Hasshi!
"YEEART!" Ninja Slayer puts his right hand in front of him, catching the arrow between his index and middle fingers. And then throws it back with frightening speed. KABOOOM! On the middle of its way, the arrow explodes, spreading mustard gas. No effect! "GUHAHAHA! Doku Jitsu, is it! Let me see it one more time!"
"Who... Who are you!" Pavement shouts as he releases another arrow. Two surikens stab his eyes. "GWAAH!" The surikens are wrapped in red-black flames. The fire burns through Pavement's eye sockets, burning his brain to a crisp. "SAYONARA!" An explosion scatters his ashes on the winds! "HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Perish! Ninjas shall perish!"
The morning park is now devoured by flames. Because of the friction from Ninja Slayer's surikens, the trees, the grass, even the dead bodies catch fire. "GUGUGUHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ninja Slayer bends backwards and laughs. As he laughs, tears start flowing down his face. Tears of blood.
Those are tears of his human self. Tears of anguish. He has put himself above the dead salarymen. (((Fuyuko. Tochinoki.))) Ninja Slayer, Fujikido Kenji wails. "Indeed! Ninjas are the enemies of your family! There will be no end to their deaths!" Ninja Slayer, Naraku Ninja howls with laughter.
(((Fuyuko. Tochinoki.))) "Indeed!" Fujikido's grief is forcefully pushed away by Naraku Ninja. It becomes the fuel for the red-black flames. Fujikido is still seeing the nightmare of that day in Marunouchi Amazingtallbuilding. His suffering does not end. That inner fire slowly destroys Ninja Slayer's mind and body.
But that is fine. It will be much better if one discards everything. Amidst Fujikido's endless agony, a desperate answer starts to flicker. His ego will sooner or later be devoured by the great stream of Naraku Ninja's hatred, becoming the foundation of new vengeance. But that is fine. It will be much better... Ninja Slayer's hands become wrapped in red-black flames. Where is the next enemy!
Ninja Slayer looks around. The trajectory of his eye burns through the air akin to a laser pointer. A large silhouette can be seen through the flames. Ninja Slayer assumes a half-sitting posture. He prepares to strike. "ROUOOOON!" As its howl shakes the air, a gigantic buffalo jumps through the flames! "YEEART!"
Ninja Slayer leaps, aiming for the spot between the buffalo's eyes. "YEEART!" With no hesitation, he pierces the buffalo's skull with his palm! "ROUOOON!?" Buffalo thrashes as his brain fluids are scattered around, trying to brush off Ninja Slayer. "YEEART!" Ninja Slayer thrusts even deeper!
"YEEART!" Behind the buffalo's back, a shadow jumps out of the ox cart, landing right on the tip of the buffalo's horn and looking down on Ninja Slayer. Ninja Slayer's eyes are full of joy. A new enemy! "YEEART!" Ninja Slayer pulls out his hand and climbs up in an instant!
"YEEART!" That shadow... a petite old ninja strikes Ninja Slayer with a fierce chop. "GWAAH!?" Ninja Slayer is struck in the neck, slammed down to the cobblestone below. "YEEART!" The old ninja jumps down while rotating in midair, landing three tatamis away from Ninja Slayer.
"Ha... Ha..." Hellish steam comes out of Ninja Slayer's bizarre transformed menpo as he shakes his head and stands up. The old ninja gives the monster a stern look. The buffalo's large shape inclines, falling sideways with thunderous sound. The old ninja gives the aisatsu. "Doomo. I am Roshi Ninja."

(From part I, "Neo-Saitama In Flames": "Back In Black" #3: The End. To be continued in #4)