We look the same, but men call us monsters. If we shadows, which lurk between eras, are destined to die, then I shall fall with the cherry blossoms. Then, I shall fall with the cherry blossoms.
We still don't know who's behind it.
What is that thing, anyway?
Utsutsu Dreams of Hell
I still can't believe that a castle appeared out of nowhere!
This isn't just Kishuu's problem anymore!
They say that the former followers
of the Toyotomis, to the west, may rise up, as well...
How terrifying. They truly say that?
Impossible...
I am currently seeking to learn if it truly is "impossible."
Raise your head.
The lord has been feeling ill, of late.
Today, for once, he has felt better.
So know that you are lucky to see him at all.
Yes, sir! I am honored!
Wait, Hachirou...
Where are you going?
I told you not to be concerned for me.
But then, what just happened...
You cared about what happened to us.
True.
You could say that only a coward sees what is right and fails to do it.
The samurai love to say that, right?
Let's let Hachirou do as he pleases.
We still have a job to do.
Stay safe.
I slowed you down again, huh?
If you were slowing me down, I wouldn't take you.
I'm taking you because I want you to be useful.
True... I'll take you up on that.
They're here.
So it seems.
I guess drawing all the Rain away was impossible, huh?
Too many to explain it that way.
There was another unit.
Did Shichigen check before he gave the signal?
You're a man. Stop whining.
Take care of this.
It's more valuable than your life.
That's a crappy way for a woman to cheer a man up.
I'm not trying to cheer you up.
I was telling the truth.
Oh, no!
Saizou!
The stuff you were carrying?!
Whatever it was, it's not more important than your life.
Utsutsu,
show me one of your illusions.
I can reflect the illusions my eyes see into other eyes.
Even in this smoke, I can spread your illusions everywhere.
If you see one of my illusions, you'll be drawn inside it, too!
I'm not going to see it.
My eyes will.
How is that different?!
My eyes are just a passage.
There's no other way.
I'll do it.
Even if I start burning, don't stop.
I won't!
It worked!
Saizou?
Saizou!
How much time has passed?
Just a little.
There's still plenty of time.
I see...
I already see too much.
So as a rule, I don't look at things I don't need to see.
I don't even dream.
The opposite of me.
I can't see what I want to see.
So my dreams have only been terrible.
I'll get the cannon.
You stay here.
That illusion of yours was a nasty thing, though.
I can't imagine what had to happen for you to want to show someone that.
Father!
Father...
All the jet-black night, he comes to me in dreams...
Ever since I was very little,
I spent half the month in that dark storehouse,
with the mandala, unsure whether it was training or punishment.
What's wrong?
I want to see something prettier, even if just in my dreams.
You dream?
Yes, I do!
But they're scary dreams.
I'm sure that's...
Hell.
That isn't the poem's beginning.
"It seems my heart wants me to die of this longing.
All the jet-black night...
He comes to me in dreams, to keep my hopeless passion burning."
That's hard to understand.
Um...
The speaker falls in love with someone in dreams, and dies.
It may only be a love poem,
but there's an aspect of truth to it.
Dreams can kill.
Emotions can kill.
At their extreme, they become a ninja technique.
A technique that can only be learned in youth.
The time is coming.
Master it by the next cherry-blossom blooming.
What happens then?
The hour of destiny.
The time when you will no longer be young.
If you fail to master the technique,
all of this will have been for naught.
You will have to die.
That is the way of Dreaming Reality, Utsutsu.
I don't care! I'm not scared!
I see. You aren't frightened?
Think I'm trying to scare you?
Poor girl...
This is your Dreaming Reality?
Yes.
You would call that worthless technique Dreaming Reality?
This is the end.
I'm going to be killed...
Father!
My kimono has been soaked in oil.
These flames won't disappear until it burns to ash.
Father!
I cannot kill my daughter.
But do not mistake this for pity.
You must live with the fact that you killed your father, rather than yourself!
This hell will remain forever in your head!
Make that emotion into your technique.
Ninja Technique: Dreaming Reality.
Hey, let's go.
It's hard to believe this thing runs off whale whiskers.
That Hadaebou guy...
How much can we trust him?
A skilled shinobi in Tenkai's service.
What is there to trust?
Indeed...
What?
No, I was just thinking that we're similar.
Yeah.
We're both trying to see how much we can use the other for our own advantage.
Well, we'll be the ones to ultimately win.
I certainly hope so.
Either way, never lower your guard around him.
So the plan was to get yourself inside by taking advantage of this chaos?
Is that why you had all of them help?
Let's go.
Tch.
You suck.
You really thought we'd hit it the first time?
We have three bombs.
But this also told the enemy our location.
As we speak, the Rain will be heading for us.
Take care of them, when they do.
What are you doing?
I can't bear to watch.
Hibiki?
You, too?
We can't win without her power now.
So, an all-out fight, huh?
We'll keep watch around you.
What's that?
I fire it into that hole.
And your bomb will follow it.
Is that possible?
If you're good enough.
Run!
I thought the Rain would suffice to handle the likes of you.
l give you compliments for making me work, if nothing else...
What happened?
This is what that damned priest was talking about.
The technique to reverse time's flow.
The Inverted Halberd of Time
The Inverted Halberd of Time.
Is that really possible?
I'm starting to doubt what my own eyes just showed me.
I can't believe it.
But time really moved backward!
Then, that's...
Kujaku Tsuibamu?
Is this the one we're fighting?
The Five Treasures and Five Flowers were defeated by these people.
Hachisu, where's the cannon?
Right here.
Your Gorouza can still be used, right?
Of course. But how?
I don't know.
But it's all we've got.
We have to do something with it!
Hadaebou.
It's almost amazing how you never cease to be sneaky.
A compliment. Thank you.
And? What will you do when you're in the Murakumo alone?
Kill Joujin?
There are very few excuses that will allow me to pass, aren't there?
Let's hear it.
If it's entertaining enough, I will let you pass.
Tadanaga-sama was kidnapped by Joujin, perhaps.
Tadanaga was taken by Joujin?
Why?
That's what I'm going to find out.
But what power does Tadanaga have now?
He has no position, and no followers who admire him.
No soldiers, either.
What is it that Tenkai fears?
Why would Tenkai care if Joujin had him?
A horrible thing to say of such a man, but...
Suruga-sama is still Suruga-sama.
That will never change, no matter what.
I see.
Tadanaga is the grandson of the deceased Shogun Ieyasu.
The perfect puppet.
And your job is to save him before that happens, Hadaebou.
If you don't hurry, people will begin to make a fuss.
Yes.
We can't use a double forever.
If he cannot be saved, his life is to be taken.
That is what Tenkai told you to do, yes?
Preview
He looked and saw a sword.
Above it, he saw swirling clouds.
Thus, he named this sword Ama no Murakumo.
Murakumo Must Be Destroyed
Murakumo, meaning a "gathering of clouds."