The emperor twitched his nose. There was a lot more to lose than gain. Trust? No. Choice? A heavy sigh escaped the lips of the emperor. “Can’t you help me get out of here? I mean, if you can do it for yourself, you can do it for me.” Honda’s eyes darted around. “The governor is still here.” He closed in on the emperor. “You told me taking revenge for your family is the way to show the people of Yahuza how much you can fight for them. I still see him here, I know you are not a coward. You are a man of your word. This is the best time to take him out.” He took a step back. “But if you do not mean the words that come out of your mouth, then we can find you a way out.” A slight smile played on his lips. The emperor’s gaze fell. His head dropped. Choice? No.“Fine. Tell my daughter I love her.”“And your wife?” The emperor clenched his jaws. “Tell her… tell her I will die for her.” His eyes twinkled with a tear. Honda nodded.Honda dashed through the echoing sounds of steel clashing a

“Yeah, Zoa has been asking me to confess. Tanya… Tanya, I do not know where she stands. She apologized about something but…”“But what, Kakashi? What did she apologize for?” “I don’t know what it is.”“What? She apologized and you have no idea what her apology was about?” “I don’t know.”“You have to be careful Kakashi. Where do you think you can run to? He is inside you.”“What if… what if I kill myself?” Kakashi raised his gaze. His eyes lit up.Jiro shot a glare at Kakashi. “Don’t be foolish Kakashi. Killing yourself is not going to change anything. Have you not learned anything? The trapped ashes of Zodiac entered you. No one ever survived it till now. Do you think he dies with you even if you kill yourself?”“At least it will take another one thousand years before it gets to survive in another host.” Kakashi’s head dropped with a heavy sigh. “That is not how it works. It could be less than a decade from now, but why would you even think of such? Why would you think of killing

Kakashi snapped his fingers as his eyes lit up. “What?” Jiro tilted his head, his face crossed with serious doubt about whatever Kakashi was about to say. “Maybe that is not a bad idea.” Kakashi crossed over the books in his way. “You said this half is in your hometown, right?”“Mm-hm,” Jiro agreed, his breath steadied. “Have you seen it?” Kakashi’s footsteps floated in excitement towards Jiro. Jiro shook his head. “Okay. But they must have. You were told about it, yes?” “Where are you going with this?” Jiro stared blankly at Kakashi.“They told you about something they have. This means they must have seen it. If they have seen it, which means…”“They know it.” Jiro completed Kakashi’s words half-heartedly. A grin touched each end of Kakashi’s jaws. Jiro turned his face to Kakashi. “When do we begin?” “We have to find a way to leave here first. That is going to take a lot of effort.” Jiro’s optimism resigned. He took a seat on the edge of his bed. “The gate is wide open.” Kakas

Kokohashi glances over his shoulders, his neck extended to scan for any spies coming after him. He strode ahead, beating the followers after him - in his head – for pace. He broke into a half run just before he got to the canteen door. He barged in and slammed the door close behind him. His eyes darted around the hall for a few seconds. His search paused as his eyes locked with the girl all by herself. A few pairs of eyes followed his urgent footsteps in the direction of the lonely girl at the corner.The chair scraped the floor as he dragged it out noisily, sinking into the vacant seat before Tanya. “Why are you all by yourself? Where are your friends?” “I was enjoying my own company,” she said to the commander, her head facing down.“That may be true, but I have seen Zoa today. And if I didn’t know better, I would say she is...angry at someone or some people, for a reason.” His keen gaze scrutinized her face as she raised it slowly, a flicker of secret flashing through her eyes. “

“There is a lot we can do to stop this. You know how I get with family. I could have taken a step, made a decision, and taken him out. This is not my kingdom. This is not my place. I cannot make these decisions without you. I need you to understand what is happening. He took my wife with him. He ran away with her after leaving me to die on the battlefield by myself. He took her and caged her. He dragged her around like a… like a slave.” The emperor’s face scrunched up, waves of disgust crossing his face. “I cannot let that go unpunished. He has to pay the price, he has to,” The emperor closed in on Master Yonda. “This is a battle against us. We are a family, we are together. It doesn’t matter what happens, we have to fight this together.” “I understand how you feel, dear friend. I do. But this is not a raider or any man. He is the governor of Shibuya. The ruler of this province! There is no way we are taking him out like it is nothing. There is too much at stake. Please, understand m