Omen of a great evil.
Kanao was sound asleep, her small body barely moved under the covers.
Kanae smiled, and gently closed the door behind her, as Shinobu fluffed her pillow one last time before climbing into her futon. “Oyakata-sama’s doctors work fast. Do you think we will hear from them tomorrow? Nee-san?”
“I’m sure we will,” Kanae replied. “But for now Shinobu, you shouldn’t worry about that. You should get some rest.”
“Your right,” Shinobu said, nodding. “We got a lot done today, and we…” she trailed off, as an involuntary yawn escaped her. She lay her head on her pillow, and closed her eyes, and her heart swelled with pride as Sasori’s words replayed in her head.
“You were a good student.”
He had never been so open with her before... “Akatsuki… Orochimaru…”
“Sasori-san had an enemy…” she thought to herself. “Someone even worse than him… Orochimaru…. ”
~
~
~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In her dream, Shinobu found herself gliding weightlessly, moving with a surreal lightness as though she were part of the sky itself. She drifted effortlessly, arms stretched like wings, caught in a warm current that lifted her higher. The vast starry night around her pulsed with a gentle brightness, and she felt herself almost floating between girl and butterfly, fluttering gracefully with a barely-there touch upon the world below.
Kanae, along with Kanao, Aoi, and the others from the mansion, glided beside her, their faces bright, eyes filled with laughter that seemed to echo softly around them. Each movement was effortless, and for the first time in a long time, she felt utterly free.
A gentle wind brushed against her cheeks, cool and fragrant, carrying the sweet, rich scent of blooming flowers. The pleasant scent kissed her nose as she inhaled, letting the floral perfume fill her, grounding her in a sense of peace she’d long yearned for.
Yet, just as she started to feel one with the air, moths, horrible little gnats flew past her in a swarm. Her delicate wings were ripped through as the demonic bugs sliced at them with their sharp ones.
She felt herself drop. The air disappeared beneath her, and gravity took hold.
Shinobu tumbled, the blue sky above her fading into a rushing river below. She plunged into the water with a jarring splash, her weightlessness vanishing into freezing darkness.
The current seized her, dragging her along with force she could not resist. She struggled, but the water carried her, turning the dream into a nightmare as visions began to emerge along the banks. She saw her parents massacred, the shadows of the demon that had shattered their home, the frantic struggle, and then the silence that had swallowed everything. She cried out, but nothing answered her back. Not even the echo of her own voice, as though no words had left her mouth at all.
Her breath quickened as she floated past another scene… along the river bank, Kanae, wounded, her face pale and contorted in pain as her blood, breath, and life left her. Shinobu tried to reach for her, but her arms felt paralyzed, locked at her sides, as the current continued to tug her mercilessly onward. All of the friends she had lost… all of Kanae’s dear Tsuguko, who were crushed by the ruthlessness of the demons!
The river’s water abruptly plunged into a vast pit, and Shinobu felt herself tumbling down, spinning in dizzying circles, for what felt like an eternity. She hit the ground hard, the impact jarring and rough. As she lifted her head, her eyes fell upon a massive, glistening maroon scorpion, its pincers sharp and massive, glinting with a sinister sheen. It loomed in the shadows, towering over her, its dark gaze fixed on her with an intensity that made her blood run cold. She stifled a scream, stumbling backward as her heart hammered wildly.
She turned and ran! She knew she was dreaming! Yet she couldn’t wake! She could only run. She didn’t feel herself move, but she no longer sensed the red arachnid behind her. She curled up against the walls of the cave and shivered…. And then she heard a hissing…. She was afraid to open her eyes, but her survival instinct after years of fighting override this fear.
Her wisteria orbs fluttered open in the darkness, and before her, she beheld, a great, white, terrible serpent.
Its scales pale as moonlight, and a ghastly smile on its mouth! Every instinct within her screamed to run, but her body felt rooted, as if she were bound by invisible chains, her legs frozen.
The serpent coiled, prepared to strike, and it’s smiling mouth opened like a gate to Jigoku. Shinobu tried to cry out, but her voice was lost. Just as the fangs came close, the barbed tail of the scorpion lunged at the serpent with ferocity!
The terrifying maroon scorpion scuttered into the fray, grabbing at the snake with its pincers. The serpent dodged the scorpion’s stinger, retreated and hissed! It struck at the scorpion, who retreated in turn, only enough to evade, and continue it’s aggressive attack.
Dust swirled around them, and Shinobu watched in awe, as the violent clash of pincers and fangs filled her vision with a dark, nightmarish chaos.
At last, with a gasp, Shinobu jolted awake, her breath coming in short, ragged bursts. The nightmare faded into the soft reality of her room, Kanae's warm hand resting on her shoulder, steadying her. The familiar touch pulled her back to safety, grounding her as she struggled to shake the haunting visions from her mind.
“Shhh, its okay now,” Kanae cooed. “It was just a dream.”
Shinobu allowed herself to relax. “How embarrassing,” she breathed. She realized she must have been calling out in her sleep, which had woken Kanae. She hadn’t had a nightmare that caused her to do that in years.
“There is no need for you to be embarrassed,” Kanae said gently, as she stroked her hair. “Thats what big sisters are for.”
***
Shinobu and Kanae sat side by side in the seiza position. Across from Ubuyashiki Kagaya. Though the sisters knew that the medicine would be bitter (no matter how sweet they tried to make it,) Kagaya drank it down as if it were water. “We hope that this new medicine will ease your symptoms, Okayata-sama,” Kanae said hopefully.
“I have faith that it will do more than that. I may live to see Kibutsuji Muzan’s downfall, thanks to your good work, my dear girls.”
The two sisters smiled modestly, and bowed. Shinobu did not let it show, but she was ever mindful of Sasori’s presence in the other room. This was hardly uncommon, as Sasori was often called to the master’s house. Kagaya’s respect for the puppet master was known to all Hashira, despite all of them even Tengen being wary of him. So there was no reason to want to talk to him today. Yet, underneath the fact that everything had been going so well lately, the feeling of something wrong continued to nag her. “Its just the dream I had last night,” She thought.
As she and Kanae exited Kagaya’s room, and prepared to depart, it was Sasori who wanted to talk with her instead.
“Hashira, Girl, a word please.”
The sisters stopped, and turned around. Sasori seemed happy… a second surprise in the same instant. He was wearing a maroon, Kimono, and smirking. “You’ve both been very helpful to me since I found myself here in your world,” he said smugly.
“Are you going somewhere? Sasori-san?” Kanae asked.
Sasori nodded. “You will never see me again.”
“I know its none of my business,” Kanae began, “but-”
“It’s your puppet body, right?” Shinobu asked, her voice controlled, the apprehension held back.
Kanae turned around, and looked at her sister with concern, as Sasori nodded, his smirk widening. “I have fused my core with the soulstone ore. Unlike last time, it will be impervious to a blade, and capable of withstanding the heat of the sun. I will write to your master if I find something that interests me, and I will get some of those upper moons into my workshop. Once this procedure is complete, I’ll be able to do it easily, with no risk to myself, and having members of the corps nearby would only result in danger to themselves... Being transported to this world of yours, was a blessing.”
Shinobu opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.
“I am happy to hear you found your time with us beneficial,” Kanae said, not knowing how else to respond.
Just then, they heard another pair of small feet against the gravel of the master’s yard. The Kocho sisters turned around, to see Muichiro, still dressed in his black funeral Kimono, his new sword nevertheless at his side.
“Hi guys,” he said when he saw them, a weary smile on his face.
“Muichiro,” Shinobu breathed. “We didn’t expect you back so soon. I’m… I’m sorry we couldn’t come with you, and for your loss.” Kanae nodded, and gave Muichiro a gentle smile.
“It's okay,” he said, his voice still a bit cracked. “Its not like I went alone. Tanjiro went with me, and Kanroji-san was already at the swordsmith village. Besides,” Muichiro was smiling. “I’m happy I got a chance to remember him before he died. Tetsuido-san was…” Muichiro trailed off.
“Is that the sword he made for you?” Sasori asked.
Muichiro looked up and blinked. “It is,” he said. “Tetsuido-san passed before he gave it to me, but at the funeral-”
“Let me see it,” Sasori said, holding out his hand, and motioning with his fingers.
“Umm… okay.” Muichiro stepped forward, and handed Sasori the blade. “P-please be careful with it okay?”
Sasori unsheathed it, and saw his face reflected in the white Nichirin metal… It reminded him of a gentle mist after one of those rare morning drizzles, when the Sunagakure was transitioning from the long summer to the short winter. The curve and sharpened edge honed to lethal precision. This blade was not only beautiful, but would kill as well. As light as a feather, and yet it held with a sturdy certainty… it was even more beautiful than what Tetsuido described, more beautiful than what was drawn in his notes.
This weapon had a soul. Sasori frowned… this was something he had long since forgotten how to achieve. He no longer felt sentimentality towards the puppets he made, only pride in their ability to kill. “This is a very beautiful sword,” Sasori declared as he sheathed it, and handed it back to Muichiro.
Muichiro, who had been uncertain of Sasori’s intentions, now broke into a smile, as he accepted his sword in return, and when Sasori noticed this, his expression briefly changed to one seemingly atypical of him. “Sasori-san, are you alright?” Shinobu asked, noticing how her dignified teacher’s mouth hung open for a mere second.
“I am fine,” Sasori said, recomposing himself as he put his hand to his forehead. He had sensed it… for a moment, when Muichiro took his swordback, there was a swell of something in that boy… a feeling he had tried to stimulate in himself with his very first two puppets… Sasori closed his eyes and inhaled. “That is sentimentality. That boy loved his swordsmith, and he has an emotional attachment to his sword because of it… I won’t have to worry about it anymore, after I turn myself into a puppet tonight.”
Muichiro smiled down at his sword. “Tetsuido-san may be gone, but the sword that he made for me is still here. In a way, it's like he's still here with me.”
“The art lives on after the artist” ... “Tell me,” Sasori asked, “what will happen to that sword when you die?”
Muichiro looked up at him confused. “What kind of a question is that?” He asked.
“Forget I asked” Sasori said with a derisive chuckle. “This kid likely won't live long enough to pass that beautiful sword on to the next generation. He has no family, nor does he have a protege. Eternal life is the only way to ensure The eternity of one's art.”
Sasori chuckled again, and began to walk away, patting Muichiro on the shoulder as he did. It was only then that Muichiro noticed the looks on the faces of the Kocho sisters. Shinobu opened her mouth to speak more than once, but closed it without saying anything each time. Kanae put a hand comfortingly on her back. “I can’t explain why Nee-san,” she said, her voice trembling, “but… I really don’t want him to go through with this… and at the same time, I know trying to stop him would be futile…”
“I feel the same way,” Kanae said tautly. “He’s convinced himself he’s found the answer,” her eyes filled with a mix of pity and frustration. “But It’s painful to watch.”
Shinobu looked down. “ It’s as if… he’ll be erasing himself.” she murmured. She turned around, and took a glance at Muichiro… The boy had missed most of their conversation, and was blinking in confusion.
"I don’t know what’s going on,” he said, tilting his head slightly, “but… why will he never see us again?"
Kanae turned to face her junior, unsure of how to answer him. “Sasori-san has his own goals, and our goals will still align, but once he is able to… well… he will no longer be working in conjunction with the corps. He's still going to hunt demons, but we can't really expect that he will stay in contact with us.”
Shinobu looked down.
“Hmmm,” Muichiro pondered. “I'm a bit disappointed then. I mean… I never talked to Sasori-san, because he’s scary, but he was becoming less scary, so I thought that maybe later, I’d be able to thank him for saving me…” Muichiro paused to think, “but if I tried to thank him now, I worry about what he’d say.” He looked down. “He probably won’t even remember. Sasori-san saved me, but Tetsuido-san was the one who taught me how to be a swordsman, first as my teacher and then as my swordsmith.” He offered a longing smile. “I miss him already, but I’m glad I got to-”
Shinobu took off.
She rounded the corner where Sasori turned, and continued in his direction. “I know its pointless to try and stop him,” she told herself. “I know he won’t listen to me, but I have to try”
She found him standing motionless. His back to her. He had stopped to look at something in the garden. “Good,” she thought to herself, and took a deep breath. “I must not show my emotions. I must show him that I am calm… Sasori of all people places no value on that.”
“Please excuse me Sasori-san,” she said in her light-hearted voice that was almost chirpy, “but I would be remiss if I did not say my piece. I do not doubt your capabilities in doing this, as you have already done it before, and an invincible ally such as yourself would surely be beneficial to us. As you know, I have a great personal desire to see Muzan defeated but…” She trailed off, suddenly having forgotten how to say what she wanted to say. But she was calmer. The beauty of the master’s garden. The smell of flowers, and the sounds of birds singing, and gentle water streaming, as the sun’s light was filtered through the leaves forming the perfect amount of shade. “All of these sights, sounds, and smells Sasori-san, won’t you miss them?” Sasori gave her no response.
Shinobu’s gaze now drifted to the spot on the ground where Sasori was looking. A snake had shed its skin, and the old skin now lay perfectly intact in the garden. Shinobu knew all about snakes, both from her own studies, and from her lessons with Sasori, who used sarafotoxins to make his poisons more effective against humans. But this snake looked like none she had ever seen before. “How strange,” she bent down to pick up the snake’s skin. “It’s beautiful. Its from an albino snake, but its not kabamaru… Look at the head scales, the parietal scales in the back are undivided, but the frontal scales are keeled so roughly… I’ve never known such kind of snakes to exist in Japan. What do you think, Sasori-san?”
Sasori did not respond. His eyes were unblinking, and filled with rage.
“Sasori-san, are you alright?”
Sasori ignored her. He turned and began to march back in the other direction. “Of course thats not a Japanese snake! There are no snakes like that in this country!”
Shinobu was shocked… Sasori was visibly angry to the point where he was shouting. She ran after him.
Kanae looked on in bewilderment as the livid puppet master came into view, Shinobu right behind him.
Muichiro stood protectively in front of the flower pillar, his sword ready at his left side, and Sasori marched right past them. Kanae gave Shinobu a look that silently asked what had happened, but the look Shinobu returned was just as confused.
Shinobu and Muichiro joined Shinobu, as they followed Sasori. No one dared interrupt him when he threw open the door to the mansion, and marched in a silent rage, their footsteps echoing down the empty hall.
Suddenly, panicked with the realization that Sasori was approaching the beloved master like this, Muichiro took a low stance, and blitzed in front of Sasori to intercept him, prepared to draw his sword if necessary! Muichiro skidded around Sasori, so that he was now directly in front of the puppet master, only to find that he was now paralyzed! He couldn’t move, until Sasori walked past him, at which point, the puppet master released his invisible threads, and Muichiro stumbled as his motion returned to him.
Sasori flung open the door to the master’s room, where he lay in his futon, Amane lying beside him. “You’ve returned, Sasori-san,” he said as he sat up with some difficulty. “To what do we owe the pleasure.”
“Leave this place,” Sasori said. “Evacuate your wife and children. This location has been compromised.”
Amane, Muichiro, Kanae, and Shinobu all gasped. “How could you possibly know that!?” Muichiro cried, but when Sasori turned around, showing him his face, Muichiro cringed.
“Is it Orochimaru?” Shinobu asked, feeling her intuition had already revealed to her the answer.
Sasori nodded, and Shinobu felt the fear of what she knew she did not fully understand set in… she understood it enough.
“Who is Orochimaru?” Kanae asked both Sasori and Shinobu.
“Tch, you should do as I say if you don’t want to be caught by him,” Sasori said, shooting her a glare. “All you need to know, is that he’s not as merciful as I am, and in my current state, I won’t be able to protect you from him.”
“We have several other properties Sasori-san,” Kagaya said. “Do you believe that any of these might be compromised as well?”
“My advice; split your family. I don’t know whether or not Orochimaru is interested in your life, but he is not above killing the sick, women, or children. All I know is that this location isn’t safe. Knowing him, he’s taking advantage of Kibutsuji Muzan, and might just want to deliver you to him to show his new dog that he has plenty of treats. As for me, I’m going back to my laboratory. Once I’ve done what I was already planning to do tonight, I’ll be able to make any demon I want into a puppet, then,” and Sasori’s usually cold words now burned with a vengeful wrath “I will kill Orochimaru.” And with that he was gone. His rapid footsteps echoing down the halls of the mansion as he made his exit.
“Kanae, Shinobu, Muichiro,” Kagaya said addressing his three present Hashira. “Please return to the clinic and prepare to have the patients and staff evacuated as soon as possible.”
“But what about you Oyakata-sama!?” Kanae cried.
“One of us should stay with you!” Muichiro added.
“That won’t be necessary,” Kagaya said, as Amane helped him unsteadily to his feet, only for him to cough up blood.
“Oyakata-sama!”“Oyakata-sama!”“Oyakata-sama!” The three swordsmen cried in unison.
“Please do as I ask.” He said in a weak, gentle voice.
“Nao!” Kanae cried, summoning her crow urgently, “Please go and find Himejima-san, and tell him to come to Oyakata-sama immediately!”
“En!” Shinobu cried to her’s, “Please find Kanao chan, and report back to me, and please hurry!”
Nao and En nodded in unison, and the two crows were off post-haste! Meanwhile, other crows had already begun to spread to sound the alarm. “I’ll organize a team of swordsmen and Kakushi!” Muichiro cried. “We’ll make sure all vital properties are evacuated!”
Shinobu still did not know how Sasori knew that Orochimaru was here, but she did know, that she didn’t want to meet him.
***
Kanae moved through the quiet halls of the Butterfly Mansion, her expression focused as she filled a small satchel with essentials. Shinobu, gathering a few vials from her worktable, glanced at her sister. They had already arranged for the transfer of their patients, and their nurses had already been evacuated, but there was still a lot more work to do. Kanae casted a sidelong glance and asked Shinobu, “What do you know of this ‘Orochimaru’?” Kanae paused, her lips tight. “Sasori-san’s face when he returned… I've never seen him like that.”
Shinobu paused, fingers tightening slightly on a vial. “He’s someone Sasori-san knew back in his old world… According to him, he and Orochimaru were a part of the same organization, a group called the ‘Akatsuki’ which only recruited the most elite fighters, but all of them were criminals. He betrayed this organization, and Sasori-san despises him. Thats all I know.”
Kanae’s brows knitted together, and she rested a hand on Shinobu’s shoulder. “How bad could he be? I know Sasori-san is capable of cruelty, but—”
“He is,” Shinobu agreed softly, choosing her words with care. “But Orochimaru—he’s different. I have reason to believe he’s crueler than Sasori could ever be. It’s not just ruthlessness; it’s how he uses people.” Her gaze darkened, a cold clarity in her eyes. “Sasori-san sees others as tools, but Orochimaru…” She trailed off, her lips pressing into a thin line. “Sasori-san is indeed cold and calculating… for someone like him to show such anger… I know Orochimaru hurt him in a way far deeper than what he told me…”
Kanae's expression hardened. “Someone who’d compromise our safety, who’d go this far just to hurt him?”
Shinobu nodded, her voice low. “Exactly. This is personal. And Sasori knows him well enough to fear what he’ll do.”
Kanae clenched her jaw but let her hand linger on Shinobu’s shoulder, their shared worry wordless yet potent. With a determined breath, she gave her sister a reassuring squeeze. "Then let’s finish up here and get everyone to safety.”
***
“Seal!” Sasori cried, as all of his puppets, and all of his work, were transferred into the open scroll at his feet.
Karasu, Black Ant, Hiruko, Yahaba, Kinuta, Enmu, and the others, all of them would be safely sealed. Sasori was not afraid. “I’ll just do it a bit early,” he said. He began painting the diagram on the floor, having added a drop of his own blood to the ink. He prepared to make the hand signs… but he couldn’t. His hands were shaking too much. “Damnit, what now!?” he cried in annoyance. He attempted to weave the hand signs again.
“The soul belongs exclusively to the user, and the one who takes it. A blade is only as good as the hand that wields it.”
“True,” Tetsuido had responded to him. "But a craftsman can only control so much. We pour ourselves into the things we create, yet once they leave our hands... they take on lives of their own."
“I never thought of it that way,” replied the puppet master. “I’ve only crafted my art for myself.”
“Whether you are crafting for yourself, or for another,” the old man had replied, “we are known by our work. I am 74 years old. When you get to a certain age, you begin to realize with more acceptance, your own mortality, and you start to think of how you will be remembered. The swords I’ve made… They’ll be here long after I’m gone.”
That conversation he had had with Tetsuido under that tree… why now!? “Stupid old man…” Sasori muttered, his teeth clenched. “What use is your work now that you're dead!? That brats reaction… it means nothing…” He took deep breaths to calm himself. He would perform this ritual now!
His ears then perked up, as he heard the calls of the Kasugai crows circling in the air over his home.
“THE SWORDSMITH’S VILLAGE IS UNDER ATTACK! THE SWORDSMITH’S VILLAGE IS UNDER ATTACK!”
Sasori cursed again. He sealed the rest of his supplies away, and prepared to depart.