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.
The Massive Castle Rumbles
At last... At last, we're going, yes?
To Edo.
To Chiyoda Castle.
It stopped?
Namenba, look!
Yeah.
That's her, all right...
Hibiki.
Look.
Three of them.
Three over there, too.
We'll be in trouble if they call for reinforcements.
Got it.
You again?
That isn't a very friendly greeting.
You aren't going to thank me?
You helped us because you want something.
However, you did save us.
Let's go.
Wait.
Far more Rain are waiting around that castle.
Will you charge them,
just the two of you, without even knowing how many?
Nobody asked you.
No... Let's go.
Namenba-dono and I are of the same mind.
Let us ready our weapons and return.
We should tell Gorone, as well.
May I go with you to talk to him?
Nope!
We don't trust you.
Why do you always show up at the perfect moment, anyway?
It was the same at Edo Castle.
Doesn't every man want to show off for a girl he likes?
Let's go, Hachisu.
Yeah.
I see...
She entered that new Murakumo?
We were careless.
Utsutsu and Rui were there, but she lost them.
No, no matter how many we were,
if Hibiki really attacked us while under mind control,
no one could defeat her.
Except Hachirou...
The new Murakumo is moving, yes?
It's moving about half the speed that a man walks.
We can catch up quickly.
Then, wait.
Don't try to go on your own.
I know.
But it's our leader who was kidnapped.
I can't wait!
You guys...
Is it okay for you to be up yet?
I'm fine...
Just a little numb.
We were with her, and this still happened.
Even though we've spent our whole lives, told to protect our leader.
Wait for everyone?
Give me a break.
I can't bear to face them...
Don't try to act, based on fleeting feelings.
Let them, Gorone.
I think I feel the same way.
I'm worried, even if we can catch up quickly.
Since living together, they've never been separated from her.
Please.
Very well.
But you'll need more firepower.
I'll have it ready by dawn.
Edo Castle
That castle has appeared once more?
That is what the Kurokuwa messenger says.
And that it's moving.
Impossible...
How much can we believe in this "messenger"?
To the east...
He says it's heading east, to Edo.
Tenkai, were you lying when you said it was destroyed and disappeared?
I was not.
But I said nothing about the Joujinshuu themselves disappearing.
You would split hairs, even now?
Remain calm, Your Excellency.
Even if that castle is truly moving,
we have much time before it reaches Edo.
Before it does, I promise...
I can believe you, right?
That this time, you'll defeat them?
What's wrong?
Fascinating...
What?
I never expected the seeds of fate to change my life, as well.
But I will not let them lay a finger on it, as long I live.
On the peace that your ancestor Ieyasu-sama created...
These are all we've got.
Let's take it all.
We can't take them all. So many...
Let's take as many as we can.
I doubt we'll have enough, no matter how many we bring.
It's been a while, but I guess I'll go, too.
A silly joke.
Of course I can't, and wouldn't want, to go.
How about a persimmon?
No, thank you.
Take one, Namenba-dono.
Perhaps, someday, we'll have known each other for a long time.
How... did you know it was me?
Your face looks tired,
but there's no sweat on your brow.
You're trying to pass as a girl from the town,
but you don't quite pull it off.
Then, you are...
I'm sorry, but could you help me up?
I could see it on your face.
"I have to work with a weakling like this,
who can't even walk?"
I wasn't...
Okay, that's all of it.
If I'd been just a normal girl from town,
I'd have spent my whole life taking care of you.
Would that have been bad?
Yeah...
I would have been sick of it.
We really have known each other a long time.
It really is slow.
It's moving, but it's as slow as a turtle.
Yeah.
We can't use the robe to get inside from above?
We'd be too visible.
We'll enter from below and climb up the walls.
It's the only way.
Hachisu, we'll head around, to its front.
I'll take out any Rain that gets in our way.
It's begun.
No good?
Let's head back, for now.
You?
It isn't stopping!
No, I should have known it wouldn't be that easy.
And there's no end to the Rain, as usual.
That explosive is quite powerful.
Is that one of Gorone-dono's creations?
What are you trying to say?
We have no time to waste with you, right now!
But even that won't be able to stop the Murakumo.
Did you come to laugh at that?!
Now, now. Wait...
You want the leader of the Five Flowers,
Iga Hibiki-dono, back in your hands.
And I am the same.
I want Tadanaga-sama back, too.
If we want the same things, there is no reason for us not to work together.
How about it?
First, I'll scale the Murakumo's walls and find a way inside.
You two, follow me.
And we're supposed to help you until you're inside?
Yes.
Listen, if you get inside first,
you're going to help us find our leader.
Then, I shall ask something.
If you can find Hibiki-dono,
Namenba-dono, please be my woman.
Looks like quite the guy has fallen for you.
Hachisu,
we're helping that perverted monk! Let's go!
Roll the dice, roll the day.
And dream, and dream,
and then...
Someday, my body will rot.
That song is too sad to give you any coins.
I am uninterested in your coins.
You're with the Joujinshuu?
You still cannot remember my name?
It's Yasha Itaru.
Someday, I will have to kill you.
If I don't know it, I'll feel no sympathy.
Oh, how violent...
It seems you're in a hurry to head east.
Then, you've already heard, haven't you?
About the Murakumo.
Yes.
I shall take you there.
If you like, I can take you into the Murakumo, at once.
I've heard that nonsense many times.
I refuse.
You believe it a trap?
Are you afraid?
Pathetic...
Placing your own survival first, Kouga Hachirou?
You refuse to save Iga Hibiki?
What?!
Then, you didn't know...
Iga Hibiki has fallen into our hands.
You cannot look away from my mirror, can you?
Your eyes can do nothing against a mirror.
Unless you want to kill yourself.
Do not worry...
I shan't use Destiny's Passage.
That was Joujin-sama's order.
But I can change your desire to refuse me.
Now, come...
Do you not wish to save Iga Hibiki?
Hibiki...
Hibiki.
Hibiki!
Hibiki...
Preview
The world of man is a world of war.
But that young girl, with the deep sadness her eyepatch hides...
Everyone Gathers at the Battlefield
She almost never speaks.