Back In Black #4

From part I, "Neo-Saitama In Flames": "Back In Black" #4

(Previously, on Ninja Slayer: The ones who rule Neo-Saitama's underground are Soukaiya's ninjas. However, right now, there is a presence of a mysterious killer who takes down one ninja after another. That person's name is Ninja Slayer. Hatred and murderous intent build up, about to lead him down the path of madness and indiscriminate slaughter, but...)


The aged ninja, Dragon Gendoso, and the red-black ninja, Ninja Slayer, bow to each other and assume the karate stances. For a few seconds, they stood perfectly still. The corpse of the giant buffalo looms behind Gendoso. Diagonally behind it, hiding behind a tree, is Yukano's appearance, having safely escaped from the ox cart.
This park that was once an oasis in this office district has now become the epicenter of hellfire. Grass, flowers, trees, corpses of people and clone yakuzas, all is devoured by flames, and as the wind sends sparks flying, the tentacles of heat and fire stretch towards the nearby areas. That is unclean fire that cannot be easily doused by automatic sprinklers.
"Gugugugu... Pleased to meet you, Roshi Ninja=san. I am Ninja Slayer." With the fire roaring behind his back, Ninja Slayer squints his eyes. The black smoke from the fire rises to the sky, blocking the few feeble rays of light that pierce the smog and covering the surroundings in darkness. "...It seems you are not possessed by a ninja soul... You senile dog."
"Before you stands the Arch-Ninja of the Dragon Ninja Clan." Dragon Gendoso cautiously keeps his distance. "Who exactly are you?" "I am he who slays the ninjas... All ninjas... Gugugugu." Ninja Slayer chuckles. "There will be no exception for you!" "Such evil," Gendoso moans.
"Grandfather!" "Stand back, Yukano," Gendoso stops Yukano without taking his eyes off Ninja Slayer. "This is no longer combat that your strength can affect. Don't jump head-first into the fire!" Yukano clenches her teeth, but abides. "The fear I have felt has been on the mark. Ninja Slayer=san... I shall exterminate you!"
"All bark and no bite! Know your place, dog!" Ninja Slayer kicks off! "YEEART!" "YEEART!" Ninja Slayer and Gendoso's chops collide, shaking the air around them with the impact. As the pupil of the left eye keeps expanding and contracting, tears of blood evaporate into red-black steam. Ninja Slayer's neurons are in total disarray.
"YEEART!" "YEEART!" "YEEART!" "YEEART!" As he keeps trading overwhelming karate strikes with Gendoso at one-inch distance, Ninja Slayer's sensation of time begins to slow down, akin to mud. As he fights with his enemy, he looks at a different silhouette in the flames. Of a salaryman screaming in agony.
(Did you lose your composure in the middle of a fight, making a face like that! Fujikido!) Ninja Slayer screams at the salaryman's silhouette. That is an internal dialogue overlayed on the actual scenery. (((Naraku. Hear me, Naraku Ninja.))) The silhouette grips his chest. (((This person is not a Soukaiya ninja...)))
"YEEART!" "YEEART!" "YEEART!" "YEEART!" Ninja Slayer and Dragon Gendoso throw roundhouse kicks one after another. It is showdown of dreadful karate, with each hit being able to blow the opponent's head off. (Such folly... The Soukaiya don't matter. There are no exceptions for ninjas. All of them are prey to be hunted!)
"YEART! YEART! YEEART!" Gendoso throws a triple palm thrust! "YEART! YEART! YEEART!" Ninja Slayer blocks them all! And the fourth palm strike! "YEEART!" "YEEART!" Gendoso dodges with a backflip! "YEEART!" Ninja Slayer throws a suriken!
(((Something is... Wrong... GWAAH!))) The moaning silhouette is gone as the suriken is thrown through it! (Shut up!) Even as he tries to chase Gendoso with a flying kick, the silhouette's moans overwhelm him. (Such hesitation is poison that weakens karate! Only I know the means to avenge your family! Kill the ninja!)
(((Slay the ninja!))) (Indeed!) Ninja Slayer has put his own lamentations under control of his consciousness. (((Fuyuko! Tochinoki! The detestable enemies who killed my family!))) (Those are ninjas! Soukaiya is the lair of ninjas, which means that we must destroy them. There is no need to worry about anything else!) (((Slay!))) (Indeed!)
"YEEART!" Gendoso strikes with his elbow while spinning in midair! "You're in the way! YEEART!" Ninja Slayer answers with a kick. Gendoso takes the hit, flying to the side. "GWAAH!" "Weakling!" Ninja Slayer laughs. The pleasure of karate and joy of slaying a ninja breathe life into his neurons.
"YEEART!" "GWAAH!" A keri-kick hits Gendoso off the ground! "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" And another one! "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" Another one! "GUGUGUGUHAHAHAHAHA!" Ninja Slayer's roaring laughter leaks through the fangs of his bizarrely transformed menpo! Both his eyes are burning red-black! "Ninjas! Shall be slain!"
"GRANDFATHEER!" It is that moment! From behind a tree that has burned down and collapsed is the woman named Yukano that accompanied Gendoso. With kunai in hand, she rushes towards Gendoso, with eyes wide open with desperation and respect for him. Ninja Slayer is startled. A half-baked ninja that didn't even complete her training! Did she come to die for nothing!
Through Ninja Slayer's red-black vision, he can confirm the disappointing weakness of this woman's soul. Ninja Slayer does not even notice Yukano's attack. With his claw-like hands, he easily grasps Yukano's face and lifts her off the ground. (((Fuyuko! Tochinoki!))) Ninja Slayer is startled once again.
This half-baked newbie's corpse is supposed to lie at his feet by now, with her head smashed like a tomato. Why is she alive. Why is she not dead! "Grandfather..." Yukano moans. (((Fuyuko! Tochinoki!))) "GWAAH!" As his hearbeat grows stronger, tears of blood overflow Ninja Slayer's eyes. He steps back. "GWAAH!"
While enduring intense pain that is about to tear him apart from inside, Ninja Slayer tries to think. What exactly stirs up this body, Fujikido Kenji! Ooh, Namusan... That answer, for this person... Naraku Ninja cannot see it! "YEEART!" Gendoso springs up and swoops down!
"GWAAH!" A heel drop following a forward midair spin, the so-called Dragon Hinokuruma Keri, lands square in Ninja Slayer's face! Dragon Gendoso does not let the staggered Ninja Slayer get away. While getting in, he sweeps Ninja Slayer's ankles. "YEEART!" "GWAAH!"
Ninja Slayer is launched in mid-air! Dragon Gendoso grasps Ninja Slayer's neck, with no intention of letting him go! "Fujikido! Fujikidooo! You damn foool!" Ninja Slayer screams. "The body..." "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" The spin! He's thrown down to the ground! "GWAAH!"
Gendoso's hand still holds his neck! He lifts him up, and spins once again! "YEEART!" He slams him to the ground! "GWAAH!" "Grandfather...!" Yukano stands up, still trembling. Gendoso chuckles. "Is this what they mean by the child on the back piloting the old one... YEEART!" He strikes Ninja Slayer once again! "GWAAH!"
"YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!"
Gouranga... Gouranga! Dragon Gendoso just won't release his iron grip! He throws again! He throws again! This is the basic arts of Ju Jitsu, polished over the years to the level of Hisatsu Waza! "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!"
Dragon Gendoso keeps on throwing. There's no way to escape it at this point. The match is over. The legend of a mysterious demon has been known in the Dragon Dojo. Destroying ninjas, trampling the non-ninjas, in time, becoming the manifestation of Death itself... Is this person really the incarnation of that demon? There's no way to know for sure. However, his own intuition tells him that he's correct.
If that is the case, it is Dragon Dojo's goal, Dragon Gendoso's job to stop him! "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" ... Meanwhile, as Ninja Slayer has been thrown an infinite number of times, his mind seems to endure. His eyes have now become those of a normal human.
Fujikido Kenji managed to suppress the evil intentions with his will for a second, and Gendoso's Ju Jitsu does not let it come out. He... Fujikido Kenji endures. Even though this situation is akin to a bullet train ride straight to Jigoku, his consciousness is clear. He shall not die.
If he dies, he won't be able to avenge his family. However, if his madness resumes, all that awaits him is a hollow dead-end. (((Fuyuko. Tochinoki.))) Fujikido apologizes to his wife and son. To his incompetense, this Ju Jitsu is akin to Fate itself bringing down the mallet. So he simply endures. "YEEART!" "GWAAH!" "YEEART!" "GWAAH!"
Gendoso's stern expression changes a little bit. He feels some sort of internal change in Ninja Slayer. "YYYEEAAART!" "GWAAH!" He slams Ninja Slayer down on his back... And no longer lifts him up, keeping him pinned to the ground. "GOBOOH!" Ninja Slayer coughs blood.
"Grandfather!" Yukano shouts. Although a burning tree falls down right at Ninja Slayer and Gendoso's side, it does not break Gendoso's concentration. As he keeps his left hand pressed against Ninja Slayer's chest, he lifts up his right hand. Beads of sweat come up on his wrinkled forehead, dripping down to the ground one by one.
"Suuu..." Gendoso takes a deep breath, "Haa..." and slowly exhales. Unbelievable force is gathered in his lifted right hand as it starts trembling. The blood vessels on the fingers inflate and burst, covering his hand in blood. "SUUU! HAAA!" Some archaeologists might've recognized this breathing technique by now! That is the "Chado" breathing!
Ninja Slayer is all eyes! He looks up at Dragon Gendoso! The two grim looks meet. "IE! MOTOO!" With an extremely mysterious Chado Shout, Dragon Gendoso brings down his right hand, striking Ninja Slayer's heart! "AAAAARRRRGH!"

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Burning vigor coursing through Ninja Slayer's entire body wakes him up. A beautiful girl looks down at him. The source of the vigor medicine. This girl has put a ninja pill in his mouth. "YEEART!" He stands up. "NAAA!" The girl falls down on her buttocks. The place is dark and narrow. A back alley.
"This is..." Ninja Slayer mutters. "We are quite far away from that park," a solemn voice replies. As he slaps Yukano's shoulder, a small old man comes closer. "We managed to escape the fire of your combat." Dragon Gendoso. "Only hurricanes cause that much destruction." He stares down at Ninja Slayer.
He realizes that he is without his "Nin" "Satsu" menpo. "You lost it, as it was too damaged," Gendoso explains. Because it was in the way of the treatment, his ninja hood is also taken off. Ninja Slayer puts his hand to his heart. Although he was praying not to be dead, that doesn't seem to be the case, either way. "Why did you not finish me?"
"..." A few seconds of silence. Gendoso seems to try and explain, but cannot find the proper words. Soon, he replies. "I have sealed your evil ninja soul with my jitsu." "..." "Why did you decide to fight ninjas?" "Revenge," Ninja Slayer immediately answers. "Against the ninjas who killed my family."
"And so, you have decided to wage war against the Soukaiya ninjas," Gendoso says. "Because of your thirst for revenge, an evil ninja soul got inside you. Many unrelated people have died, as well. Perhaps even you, given enough time, would've shared their fate." "Me?" "Treasure the life that came back to you. Stay out of combat."
Ninja Slayer grips his teeth. Before long, he lowers his head. "I'm begging you. ...I'm begging you to instruct me. Anything is fine. As long as it lets me achieve revenge. I have... Nothing...!" He strikes the ground with a trembling fist. "Yukano." As Gendoso calls for her, the beautiful girl stands up. "Let's go." "...Yes."
"I'll only repeat this once. Stay out of combat. If you do, your evil ninja soul will lose its power over time. The combat will make you go mad. That is your ninja soul's greatest wish. To avoid spreading even more misfortune, stay out of combat and live an honest life. That is your best choice."
"...I...!" "May you learn to control your ninja soul." As Gendoso says so, he goes after Yukano and disappears. Yukano looks back before leaving, but Ninja Slayer does not raise his head.
The unholy fire burns in Neo-Saitama before being finally extinguished. The daily coverage of the Marunouchi Amazingtallbuilding explosion has been taken over by the reports of this New Year fire. The park, now filled with ash, is bustling with mappo and gumshoes, but... A single ninja manages to get in without being noticed by anyone.
That ninja, wearing a jet-black suit, suddenly crouches, carefully picking up something looking like a piece of fabric from the ashes. He stares at this red-black scrap for a while... Then nods and stands up. "Now... The hunt begins." The dreadful ninja, Dominant, takes his leave to pass down Soukai Syndicate's judgment.

(From part I, "Neo-Saitama In Flames": "Back In Black" #4: The End. To be continued in #5)