The mid-size cottage had three rooms. One room consisted of the bedroom, the other one was a living room, and connected to that was the kitchen. It was an interesting sight to see, several soldiers sitting shoulder to shoulder almost as if they were part of the wall. In fact, they now took all the perimeter of the inside walls. The name for today's game was ambush: the seifugun had prepared well.

Jiro stood in the bedroom escorted by two soldiers. He simply stared down at the motionless body of the crow, who lied in bed covered in bandages all over. The two women hugged each other and trembled in fear, and the blind man stood still as a rock, with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.

The elite general's eyes went up and down, measuring the incredible amount of damage the legendary killer had taken. He would end her life right there, but he had orders that needed to be followed. They wanted to make an example of this, and hang her in public. That is, if she survived all the way back to the capital. The remaining question was what to make of these people he had found with the assassin. One was a blind man. Apparently he had bumped into the house yesterday, and was offered to stay. The other two woman were the rightful owners of the house.

Steps rushed in. "Kurosawa Jiro-sama," called a voice humbly. "Someone is coming. Alone."

He spared everyone in the room one last glance, and left the room with the soldiers standing on watch. He followed the man who had called him to one of the exits of the house, not before motioning the hidden troops to lay low and stand still. He came out alone, his guide had remained behind.

At the distance, a man with short hair walked towards the house. Jiro didn't take long to recognize him, not to mention his clothes were obviously Seifugun. He was Satoshi, another top ten general. His presence here was not something that Jiro was expecting, nor something he would welcome. He and his squad could easily turn the tables of the shinseidan ambush with an ambush of their own. What was the man doing here?

Satoshi walked until he was a few steps from Jiro. Satoshi was a grown adult, with skin traced with scars all over. The seifugun would say he should've died many times now, but he had always managed to survived, which earned him the nickname of Luck Devil. Satoshi was an imposing man, with firm, cold eyes, and bloodlust reeking from his being at all times. Yet he was a mere pawn. More precisely, Tenkai's. If he had come here, it was under Tenkai's command. Something was going on. Jiro could tell.

"What brings you here? Your timing is most... inconvenient," Jiro explained.

Satoshi sneered at that. "I come under orders. I'm to take the crow."

Jiro was already getting irritated. Not only could the shinseidan arrive in any moment, but now he would have to argue with this senseless puppet just because of irrelevant power struggles between Tenkai and Endou.

"And I was ordered by Endou-sama to bring her to the capital. She is to be executed," Jiro countered firmly.

Satoshi grinned again malevolent. "And she certainly will, that crow-bitch. But I will take her somewhere first." Satoshi started to walk towards the inside of the house, but Jiro raised his arm to stop him.

"She is my prisoner, Satoshi," he stated.

"Not anymore, Jiro," he replied sardonically, then licked his lips. His hand went for the hilt of his sword. He gripped it firmly, then let go. "Tenkai said you would be stubborn about it. In that case, I'll help you with your little killing spree, then, we'll take her."

"No," Jiro denied once more. "She will be taken where she's supposed to be taken. And..." He stopped. His eyes narrowed, scanning the surroundings carefully. Satoshi turned his head to the area Jiro was looking. "Ah, here come the little rats," Satoshi confirmed playfully. Jiro and Satoshi went inside the cottage. With several soldiers, and two elite generals, a small group of unsuspecting shinseidan stood little chance.

But Satoshi had other plans...