Ninjago: The Purple Ninja - Book 2

Prime Empire: Chapter 8 - The Maze of the Red Dragon

Translations (Japanese).

Anata no kōun o oinori shite imasu: I wish you the best of luck on your journey. 

Mata michi ga majiwaremasu yō ni: May we cross paths again.

I am Okino. Samurai of Terra Karana. My entire existence I have sought to fulfill my duty, guiding my masters across the dangers of Terra Karana. I have failed many times. But now, I have masters truly worthy of my honorable efforts. I will not fail them!

The Ninja and Okino walk into the maze with ease, keeping an eye out for any more Red Visors and Red Drones who would attack them on their way to the maze. Once inside, they stop walking, with Okino ahead of them. "We must stay together. The Maze of the Red Dragon has many twists and turns."

Jay scoffs with a wave of his hand. They - except Nya - had been through a maze before, back in the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, where they were met with mirrors that showed their future selves, and icicles that grows whenever you slice through it. 

Not to mention they had to fight a possessed Lloyd in the maze. 

"Pfft! No problem. I'm great at mazes."

"This might be harder than the ones you're used to on the backs of cereal boxes." Cole reminds him, making Jay scowl at his best friend. 

"Also, you said you were great at mazes back at the tomb of the First Spinjiztu, if I recall correctly." Katarina says while crossing her arms across her chest with a smirk. 

Jay's smile reappears. "Oh yeah, I did. And you said I'm great at everything."

"That's because it's true, Jay."

The Ninja and Okino walk along a path of the maze, where it led them to a clearing with four statues similar to the ones back at Milton Dyer's house on Dyer Island. 

"Huh. Those statues look familiar." Cole says, pointing to one of the statues. 

Nya nods. "Yeah. He's right. Those are just like the statues we saw at Dyer Island!"

Cole's eyes widen at the memory. He shudders with fear a moment later. "Oh, yeah! The ones that shot lasers at us-!"

Just on cue, the statues started firing lasers at the group. Okino gets out his sword, while the Ninja equip their weapons. "Go! Quickly!" The team use their weapons to block the lasers and send them back towards the statues, which dispawn when hit with their own lasers. 

Just as they were about to continue down their intended path, one last statue standing turns his glowing red eyes towards the team. Jay stands in front of the group protectively and uses his digital kusarigama to send a slash projection at the offending statue. "Gotcha!"

The statue dispawns, and the team breathe a collective sigh of relief. The team un-equip their weapons as Okino explains, "They are many traps here. You must always be aware of your surroundings."

Lloyd nods. "Good safety tip. Right, guys?" The rest of the team nod their heads in agreement. Lloyd turns around and was about to take a step forward, but Okino brings his arm out and stops him. 

Lloyd looks at Okino, confused, until Okino looks at him directly in the eye and uses the tip of his katana to press down on the ground's panel. A long spike that was the same color as the ground shoots upward, causing Lloyd to take a step back in surprise. 

More spikes shoot up from the ground as well. Once Okino lifts his katana off the panel, the spikes immediately disappear. Lloyd breathes another sigh of relief. "Thanks, Okino."