20 Chapter 20 (1/2)
Hanzo and Shizuka finally reached Kyoto and the storm has already calmed. The akuma ninja notices the purplish mark on Shizuka's nape which means that the venom of the viper is starting to spread.
”You better go to the infirmary and let the bite mark be checked,” Hanzo said.
”B-Bite mark?” Shizuka stuttered with a blushing face.
Ignorant as to why she looks red, Hanzo cleared out, ”The viper's bite.”
”A-Ah yes, yes, the viper's bite,” Shizuka replied with an awkward laugh. She goes north even though she doesn't have any idea where the infirmary is for Kyoto is a new place for her.
”That's not where the infirmary is,” Hanzo remarked as he dragged her hand and heads east.
Shizuka, who had never been interested in men, is feeling butterflies in her stomach. It is a new feeling and she does like it, a little.
Back at the Shadow village, Kagura woke up with her full strength. The chief village immediately lends his ears when she reported every detail of their journey in finding Hanabi as well as their encounter with Hanzo.
”You shall rest and I shall summon you back in any moment. I shall send out some troops to search for Hayabusa,” Chief Haruno said before taking his leave.
Kagura clenched her fist for she could not just do nothing now that her Hayabusa is missing. She is not assured if he is alive or dead. She rises from her bed and heads to the temple hidden behind the waterfalls she is training on.
Upon reaching the temple, Kagura dressed into her ritual clothes and summoned her Seimei umbrella. With the Semei Umbrella opened in front of the temple and with the bells she is holding, she started the ritual to call for help from the kami. (deities in Japan.)
She rings the bells ten times simultaneously as she performs the ritual dance. She is very careful on every move, every turn, every wave of her hand in order to please the kami. She danced for thirty minutes straight that her legs and arms are starting to cramp, still she persevered as she remembers the scene of Hayabusa falling off the cliff.
When she is almost over, the water from the waterfalls rises up and enters the temple. Kagura stopped for she has finally finished and to her surprise, the kami had taken form. It is water in form of a dragon and it circled around her. She smiled for her hard work paid off.
”Your wish has been granted,” the kami said before it disappeared in thin air. Kagura felt the surge of power inside her. Her Seimei Umbrella had taken another form and she could sense stronger power from it.
Kagura notices her hair which was once silver but now, it is beautiful black. She couldn't wait, she couldn't wait to meet Hayabusa and be with him again. But first, she has to know where Hanabi is.
She closes her eyes and sharpens her senses. On the east, she could sense the presence of the two demons she released to look for Hanabi. From there, Kagura could sense Hanabi's aura. She started her journey back to the Amaterasu village.
As the horse gallops towards the Scarlet Village, Hanabi's presence becomes stronger. But Kagura felt a sharp pang on her chest upon feeling a familiar aura, Hayabusa.