Ninja Love: Saizo Kirigakure

Chapter 45

"Y-You!" Nobukatsu shouted at Kotaro with a mixture of fear and rage, "You are Kotaro, of the Fuma clan! Are you the one controlling the wind?"

My hair whipped around my face as I strained to hear Kotaro's reply. Instead of speaking, the white-haired ninja simply lifted his hand, and the roaring wind turned into a sudden, eerie stillness. The sounds outside the room became clearer, and I could hear the voices of Sasuke and Goemon drawing closer, and they suddenly appeared in the doorway alongside Kotaro. The ninja took one look at Nobukatsu and readied their weapons, advancing on him slowly. Kotaro, on the other hand, calmly walked over to where I was tied to the pillar, keeping one eye on Nobukatsu and his men the entire time. He untied me, and I rubbed my chafing wrists gratefully. Kotaro also placed a small pouch in my hands and whispered, "Antidote," to me before joining the other two men as they corralled Nobukatsu and his henchmen into a corner.

Nobukatsu seemed as though he was stunned into submission, though not a hand had been laid on him. I administered the antidote painstakingly to Saizo, and was just beginning to think that this would be an easy victory, when Oriku burst through the door, wild-eyed and breathing heavily. She glanced at the scene, and her face darkened. She had fought her way here, and I could tell that she would not be backing down any time soon.

"What are you doing?!" she cried, "Fight back for gods' sake!" her shrill voice seemed to break the trance in the room, and everyone sprang into action.

Metal flew against metal, and I was thankful that they stayed away from Saizo and I. Saizo was conscious, but still weak, and I had no weapons to defend us with. Fortunately, Kotaro, Goemon, and Sasuke subdued the others fairly quickly, and had just cornered Oriku when Hanzo walked in, followed by a lot of ninja that I didn't recognize. I subconsciously cradled Saizo closer to me, but was comforted when Hanzo gave me a smile of reassurance.

Nobukatsu growled ferally and tried to tear away from Goemon, but his strength was no match for the Iga ninja.

"How did you get in here? Where are the guards?" he demanded, hatred boiling in his voice.

Hanzo met his gaze coolly and replied, "We dealt with them accordingly."

I wasn't sure I wanted to know what that meant.

With the imminent threat dealt with, Hanzo turned to me.

"Princess, these are the Kurohabaki clan from Iwashiro, the Togakure clan from Shinano, and the Hachiyashu clan from Akino." As he spoke, certain ninja in the horde behind him bowed accordingly.

"With their arrival," Hanzo continued, "the ninja alliance is complete... we will all fight under your name." Hanzo gave me a respectful bow and I returned it, awed that this many ninja were willing to fight to defend their way of life. With that, Hanzo turned away from me to command the ninja.

"Tie them up!" he pointed at the group that Goemon, Sasuke, and Kotaro had subdued, and a group of ninja with a few coils of rope between them dutifully left the group and started working on tying up Nobukatsu and his followers.

Suddenly, Oriku lurched forward, an expression of sheer terror on her face.

"Please!" she cried out as Sasuke struggled to regain his hold on her, "Don't tie me up! I-I'll do anything you ask of me!"

Sasuke wrangled her back to him, and growled at her to stop squirming if she wanted to help, but she kept struggling, tears beginning to stream down her face.

"I had no choice in this," she pleaded, "I was under Nobukatsu's orders!"

Goemon tightened his grip on Nobukatsu as he began to try to work himself free to jump at Oriku.