The sky over the Earthrealm cracked.

  Not with thunder. With presence.

  Seven streaks of Tamashkii energy pierced the clouds, splitting the veil between worlds like arrows shot from the hands of gods. The Shingan stood at the center, his cloak swaying in the breeze, eyes set not on the sky—but the world below.

  Behind him, the Death Phantoms emerged one by one.

  YuYu.

  Uta.

  Kenzo.

  Daisuke.

  Subaru.

  Toshiro.

  A ripple of silence passed between them.

  The Shingan didn’t need to shout. His aura commanded attention on its own.

  “You,” he said, pointing at YuYu. “You’re with me.”

  He turned to the others.

  “The rest of you… fan out. Find Kuroda’s cores. Bring them to me intact.”

  Uta vanished first, folding into distortion.

  Kenzo cracked his knuckles, then shot off toward the city.

  Subaru and Daisuke moved in unison, while Toshiro lingered a second longer—until the Shingan gnced at him.

  Gone.

  Now only two figures remained in the sky.

  The Shingan.

  And YuYu.

  CUT TO: SETAI OFFICE — EARTHREALM OUTPOST

  The Setai command center buzzed low with static.

  Old tech. Cracked monitors. Stacks of spiritual logs yered over clunky radar terminals. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked.

  A junior operator turned to the acting commander. “Sir, we’ve picked up… seven spikes in Tamashkii. High-level. Possibly captain css.”

  The commander blinked, stepping closer. “Seven?”

  He tapped a few buttons, pulling up a heat map.

  “Either seven captains are having a reunion near a shopping mall… or we’ve got a big problem.”

  An advisor looked up. “Didn’t Captain Koharu say she’d only be arriving with Lieutenant Ayase?”

  The commander’s face hardened. “Exactly. So if this is seven…”

  The room trembled.

  A faint rumble from the east.

  The commander didn’t flinch.

  “They’re here.”

  From outside the base, a voice echoed faintly:

  “This realm is even filthier than I remembered.”

  The operators froze.

  Then a second voice followed, clearer. Firmer.

  “Thank you for your cooperation, we’ll handle things from here.”

  The doors opened.

  Koharu stepped through, Ayase a step behind her. Her coat fluttered once before settling, and her eyes immediately scanned the room.

  “You’re early,” the commander said.

  Ayase raised a brow. “Not by much.”

  Before the commander could respond, Koharu’s eyes snapped toward the window. Her gaze sharpened.

  The air shifted.

  “…It’s them. They’re here.”

  The commander stepped forward. “Your detection range is truly something else, Captain.”

  She didn’t respond. Only pointed toward the monitors.

  One of the junior Setai operators activated the dispy.

  Seven Tamashkii signatures.

  All violent. All recent. Two prefectures over.

  Koharu gnced at Ayase.

  “Seems there’s nothing to investigate after all.”

  Ayase nodded.

  “We’re heading out.”

  In the next instant, both vanished.

  The room went silent.

  The commander exhaled.

  “Prepare the countermeasures.”

  “If she’s preparing to fight then…..we’re going to need them.”

  CUT TO: HAYASHI MANSION — EARTHREALM

  Knock.

  Knock.

  Knock.

  Knock.

  A Hayashi warrior—mid-twenties, buzzed hair, light scars on his forearms—walked down the hall toward the entrance.

  “Who the hell knocks like that…”

  BOOM—!

  The door exploded off its hinges. He leaned back just in time as it bsted past him, embedding in the wall behind.

  Dust filled the air.

  And when it cleared—

  YuYu stood in the doorway, grinning wide, leg still raised from the kick.

  Behind him, the Shingan stepped forward, gaze unbothered.

  “I wanted to be polite,” he said coolly.

  YuYu ughed. “But we’re probably gonna have to kill some of them anyway, so what’s the point, right?”

  From deeper inside the mansion, voices rose.

  Footsteps.

  Three more Hayashi emerged, weapons not yet drawn but clearly ready.

  One stepped forward.

  “How dare you disrespect our house like this.”

  The Shingan chuckled. “A house?”

  He raised his eyes to the cracked stone gate behind him.

  “You call this home? You were banished from your home. Now you hide—from the very people who once sought to guide you.”

  “Power like yours… wasted in exile.”

  Another Hayashi scoffed. “Don’t tell me we’ve got an Itsutsu fanboy in the building.”

  The others joined in.

  “So this is what the Chūkan churns out now? Lapdogs for a madman?”

  The Shingan’s eyes darkened.

  “You speak of him like he was unhinged.”

  “…He showed the way. And none of you followed.”

  He stepped forward.

  “But…….I will.”

  “Now—show me Kiyosada Hayashi.”

  Silence.

  A different Hayashi stepped forward. “We haven’t seen Kiyosada since we were banished. No one knows where he is.”

  YuYu narrowed his eyes.

  “…Heartbeat’s steady. Can’t tell if he’s lying.”

  The Shingan studied him. “…There’s truth. But only half of it.”

  “If the man himself is gone, then at the very least…”

  He stepped toward the entrance.

  “You have his work.”

  From the shadows, the youngest Hayashi—the same boy from the shrine—stepped forward.

  “I won’t let you touch Kiyosada’s work.”

  The Shingan sighed.

  “I thought you’d say that.”

  “…I truly do hate unnecessary violence.”

  YuYu rolled his shoulders, neck cracking audibly.

  But the Shingan raised a hand.

  “Not yet. We don’t want to ruin the pnet before the cores are found.”

  The Hayashi’s eyes narrowed.

  “Worried about destruction?”

  He drew his bde.

  “Don’t be.”

  “We’ve got a pretty good barrier.”

  He lunged.

  YuYu grinned—and matched him.

  YuYu was instantly sent back by the Hayashi. He slid back and ughed.

  “You’re fast. I like the fast ones.”

  YuYu vanished—and reappeared behind him.

  “But it’s still nothing compared to Daisuke.”

  He swung down—CLANG! The Hayashi raised his bde behind him and blocked.

  He turned, eyeing YuYu.

  “I don’t care who you or this Daisuke fel are. I am Yo Hayashi. The man who will put you down.”

  He adjusted his stance.

  “The Hayashi Bde will simply cut down anything or anyone.”

  His Reibaku fred.

  YuYu’s eyes widened. He jumped back, mind filling with rage.

  “You think I haven’t faced off against that style before? I’m the one Itsutsu trained personally! How dare you even THINK to imitate the true Hayashi Bde!”

  His stance shifted. His Reibaku lit up, wild and alive.

  “Now let’s see if you can handle my Hayashi Bde.”

  Just as their bdes were about to meet—

  CLAP—!!

  Both were smmed downward as a Tamashkii shockwave rippled through the air like a divine hand striking the earth.

  A figure descended.

  Cloak rippling.

  The Shinsei-Gai on his back bore the kanji for the number ten.

  Ayase.

  The Shingan raised his brow. “The Jumōnban followed us all the way here. How honored I feel.”

  He gave a small bow.

  YuYu growled. “Forget bowing—!”

  He unched again—but Ayase caught his wrist mid-charge, spun, and hurled him out the door.

  Ayase cracked his knuckles. “Man… feels good having full reign.”

  He turned to the Shingan.

  “I counted seven of you. Why are only two of you here?”

  The Shingan’s smile returned.

  “That is not your concern.”

  Ayase smirked.

  Then footsteps. Slow. Heavy. But approaching.

  Then a voice.

  “Oh, I think it is.”

  The air froze.

  A pressure entered the field that didn’t belong to any of them.

  Like history had entered the room.

  Everyone turned.

  That long pink hair. Those stern glistening eyes. The sakura blossom shape on her Reibaku’s hilt.

  Koharu stepped forward.

  The Shingan’s eyes narrowed. His Reibaku fred slightly.

  He straightened his posture.

  “Do you truly wish to ruin this realm simply to destroy me?”

  Koharu smiled lightly.

  “As much as I hold disdain for this realm, its destruction is not what I seek.”

  “Besides… I know you heard the boy. There’s a pretty good barrier up. But if that is truly your concern…”

  She motioned toward Ayase.

  Snap.

  A second barrier fred around the first—tighter, heavier, yered like folded steel.

  The Shingan stared.

  “…Stubborn to no end.”

  He moved forward.

  YuYu reappeared, stepping beside him. “Let me handle her, boss.”

  The Shingan held up a hand.

  “No. Find Kiyosada’s work. I’ll handle this.”

  YuYu grimaced. “Mannn…”

  He vanished.

  CLANG—!!

  Ayase caught him again, bde-to-bde, sparks flying.

  “Don’t leave so soon. We’re just getting started.”

  YuYu growled—and they cshed.

  Ayase put a palm to the back of YuYu’s Reibaku, and shot a wave of Tamashkii into it.

  YuYu tried to ssh downward but he couldn’t get his Reibaku to move.

  Ayase then pushed him back with a hard kick to the gut.

  YuYu crashed back toward Yo.

  Yo studied him. “You said Itsutsu trained you personally, yes?”

  YuYu fred his aura. “So you do have ears?”

  Yo clicked his tongue. “So his underling gets to live comfortably in the Chūkan… while the house that made it everything it is today gets banished to Earth?”

  He turned to Ayase.

  “Does that sound fair to you?”

  Ayase shook his head. “No. It does not.”

  “The way the Chūkan handled the Hayashi matter… was a blight on its history.”

  “Some still don’t agree—”

  “Of course they don’t!” Yo cut in. “But to still support that system? That’s the real problem.”

  He locked eyes with Ayase.

  “And if you still intend to stand with them… you’ve just made a new enemy.”

  Yo burst into the csh.

  Teleport—knee to YuYu’s ribs.

  Ayase followed up—but Yo swung at him, reckless.

  Three-way chaos.

  All vanished—then reappeared, circling. Watching. Ready.

  Yo grinned. “YES! THIS IS IT! COME AT ME WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!”

  YuYu cracked his neck. “Getting angry doesn’t make you stronger, you know.”

  Yo grinned. “You think so? Let’s put that to the test!”

  They all lunged.

  Across the room…

  Koharu and the Shingan moved.

  Not at full power.

  Not even in their forms.

  But it didn’t matter.

  Speed bent the light.

  Tamashkii warped the sound.

  Technique was repced by instinct.

  Every other battle froze.

  SHFFL. SHFFL.

  Koharu unched backward, preparing her Reibaku—but stopped. She sensed something.

  Setai boots whispered against the floor.

  A split second of hesitation.

  The Shingan’s palm struck.

  Koharu staggered, breath gone.

  But she whipped her hand—twisting Tamashkii in the air around the Shingan, condensing it like ropes. She smmed him into the dirt.

  He vanished.

  She felt him behind her.

  She vanished.

  Roundhouse.

  He hit the ground.

  “A Yūhō even faster than my own?” the Shingan coughed. “Truly the strength of the Chūkan’s finest…”

  “And you’ve shown me nothing to prove you belong on this field,” Koharu said.

  He stood.

  “Then maybe it’s time I show you something.”

  SHFFL. SHFFL.

  His Reibaku fred—a sick, pleading scream.

  Koharu flicked a speck of Tamashkii at him.

  His pressure alone disintegrated it.

  The Shingan smiled as he took a stance.

  “Now—create some ruin with me, my dear Captain.”

  They lunged.

  And then—

  BOOM.

  A blinding fsh of light.

  Tamashkii chains ripped from the air—snatching warriors mid-csh.

  Ayase stopped.

  YuYu stopped.

  Koharu stopped.

  The Shingan stopped—chains pulling at his veil.

  Uta paused mid-experiment.

  Subaru and Daisuke froze with cores in hand.

  Toshiro halted mid-attack on a random civilian.

  Kenzo blinked over a bowl of ramen.

  Failsafe.

  Everyone vanished.

  The mansion room that was just bustling with battle, now quiet as a feather.

  The Hayashis stood still.

  The silence was deafening.

  “…What just happened?” one of them muttered.

  The acting Setai commander stepped forward, hands raised.

  “I apologize for the chaos.”

  “We should’ve hit the failsafe the moment the readings came in.”

  Yo sneered. “Oh great. The Setai found us and ruined my fight. Guess we’re moving again.”

  The commander turned.

  “I’m not the commander. Just filling in while he’s away.”

  “And between you and me…”

  “I won’t be reporting anything I saw today.”

  The Hayashis blinked.

  He continued.

  “What you’ve been through… I won’t pretend to understand. But I’m not here to cause you more trouble.”

  He bowed.

  “Good luck.”

  He turned.

  “Let’s move, operatives.”

  The Setai vanished into the trees.

  The youngest Hayashi ran to the shrine, checking the papers, the seals.

  Still intact.

  He exhaled.

  “We’re fine.”

  One of the older Hayashi crossed his arms.

  “Even when we’re not there… they still throw their problems our way.”

  Another added, “This is all still tied to Itsutsu. You know that, right?”

  A girl leaned against the doorway. “Didn’t he have a son?”

  “…Did he?”

  “I remember Suna talking about him all the time.”

  “Oh yeah, she did.”

  She smirked.

  “I remember we used to call him Idiotari.”

  A pause.

  “I wonder what he’s doing now…...”

  CUT TO BLACK.