Koinosuke washes out into a river as Shiro runs Bantaro to his mother's house. She works as a nurse and treats Bantaro. It turns out Bantaro was knocked out merely by the force of the sword since the blade never touched him. Jubei finally meets Bantaro and is relieved he is okay. Shiro confronts his twin brother, Hajime, who is the leader of the Ryujoji clan. Hajime wants to destroy Yagyu Jubei and rule with the sword. He goads Shiro, knowing Shiro secretly wishes to duel with Yagyu Jubei. Once again, Jubei throws the lovely eye-patch away where it falls in a river, right next to Koinosuke. Bantaro regains consciousness and starts acting like an idiot as usual. Shiro asks them to pretend the fight they witnessed, with Jubei turning into Yagyu Jubei, never happened. Bantaro doesn't remember a thing. Shiro claims to himself to be separate from the main Ryujoji clan as he has no interest in carrying on a 300 year old grudge against the Yagyu clan, yet he knows he wants to fight Yagyu Jubei. His mind is in turmoil. A strange, roughly drawn, character approaches Jubei's house and demands to fight Yagyu Jubei. For the umpteenth time, she denies to her challenger that she is Yagyu Jubei. Koinosuke shows up just in time and "just once more", Jubei puts on the lovely eye-patch and transforms. After the battle, the mysterious character runs off. Jubei tells Shiro, "I'm Nanohana Jiyu, aren't I?" Shiro tells her that she is also the reincarnation of Yagyu Jubei and that he will protect her at all costs. |