Prologue

Itto Isamu sat kneeling on a mattressed floor in a room deep within Kumamoto Castle. The Kensai Master has let go of his consciousness. His mind is clear. A single candle lights up the room with ease. The flame is long and still.
Itto Isamu had mastered the art of meditation a long time ago. Through it he could see things no one else could. The past, the present, even the future. He could see through the deceptive nature of people and reveal their true intentions. Itto Isamu had sharpened his mind into a most useful weapon.
Sometimes, however, his mind showed him things he would rather not see.

“You betrayed me, master.”
“No.”
“Open your eyes. You should never have taught me your secrets. You knew this but you continued my training anyway. Why?
Isamu didn’t know how to explain his actions. How do you tell someone they were a sacrifice?
“Open your eyes, master. Your silence proves your guilt.”
“I need you to trust me,” Isamu pleaded.
“Open your eyes.”


Itto Isamu snapped open his eyes. His mind returned to his present surroundings.
A slight disturbance in the room broke the calm. The shadows cast by the candlelight came to life. He feels a presence in the room. A presence he has not felt in what seems like a lifetime.
It was Goda, the Red Ninja.
Isamu began slowly reaching for his Katana. The sword was resting next to him in its scabbard. “Goda,” Isamu spoke, his voice calm. “Only someone as bold as you would dare infiltrate Kumamoto Castle.”
“I disagree,” Goda replied from the shadows. “Only someone as skilled as me would dare infiltrate the Castle.”
“You always were overconfident in your abilities,” Isamu mocked, his hand almost upon the hilt of his sword.
“And you always were too slow, my old Master.”
Isamu felt the pain of an old wound cut open. “I failed you once Goda. I will not fail you again.”
“Then strike me down old man.”
Itto Isamu had had enough. Goda would die right here in this room, by the sword of a Kensai Master.
He visualised the attack. His sword would leap forward and strike in one fluid motion, almost of its own accord. He inhaled slowly. Then, he moved.
Isamu acted fast. Lightning fast. His reflexes were still razor sharp after all these years. He grabbed the handle of his sword, ready to attack. But something was wrong. There was no fluid motion. The sword did not strike. Instantly he felt a pinprick like pain. A burning sensation shot up his arm. He looked down at his wrist and saw two puncture wounds on his hand. He immediately felt nauseas. The room began to spin.
Isamu dropped his sword, its metal blade clanging on the wooden floor. Hunched over, he vomited.
“Quite toxic, isn’t it?” Goda said, his voice cold.
Toxic?
Isamu looked around, confused as to what Goda was referring to. To his utter amazement he saw a black snake slither away.
“This particular snake’s venom is extremely lethal,” Goda continued. “It attacks the nervous system of its prey. Causing death by paralysis. Soon you will lose feeling in your arms and legs. After that, your internal organs will shut down. Your lungs will stop breathing. Your heart will stop beating.”
Isamu looked over at Goda. He was standing in the shadows as he always did.
The black snake that had bit him slithered away slowly. It continued in the direction of Goda. It then slithered up his leg and around his body.
“But as you can see this is no ordinary snake,” Goda said menacingly. “And it possesses no ordinary venom.”
The snake curled around Goda’s body and slithered into his open mouth, disappearing from view. Isamu did not believe his own eyes.
He must be seeing things, Isamu thought. It must be the poison playing tricks on his mind.
Isamu vomited again. He could feel the poison tighten its grip on his body. He started to lose feeling in his limbs. “Goda,” he said, struggling to talk. “What have you become?”
The Red Ninja stepped out of the shadows and stood over the dieing Kensai Master. “I have become more powerful than you could ever imagine.”
Isamu looked deep inside Goda’s eyes. He was truly lost to the ways of evil. But Isamu could sense something else, something more dangerous than just blind malevolence. Goda's destruction had a purpose.
A wicked smile crept across the Red Ninja's face. “Yes old man. You can feel it. You know its power.”
Isamu shook his head in denial. It can’t be true.
Goda leant down and grabbed Isamu’s hair pulling his head back. “The Clan is back.”
“No! That’s impossible,” he cried, struggling in vain to get free from Goda. “We killed you. We eliminated you one by one. The Clan exists only in myth now.”
“The Kensai have become blind. Search your dieing heart. You know it to be true.”
Isamu could not bring himself to believe what Goda was saying. His former student had revived a great evil and Isamu could do nothing to stop him.
“Now tell me, my old Master, Where is the Sword of Souls?”
Isamu eyes widened in horror.
The Kensai were entrusted to protect the sword from evil. For one thousand years they had been successful. The Clan could not be allowed to posses such a powerful sword.
Itto Isamu was not about to betray his fellow Kensai. And yet he felt a strange urge to share this important piece of information with a sworn enemy.
Goda smiled again. “Interesting side-effect of the poison wouldn’t you agree?”
Isamu tightened his jaw, trying desperately not to blurt out the location of the sword.
Goda continued to revel in the demise of his old Master. “It turns out, that the venom acts as both a poison and as a truth serum. Quite a marvel of nature.”
Isamu tried to crawl away but he could barely move. “So you see old man. Before you die, you will tell me all your secrets.”