Ikaruga (斑鳩) is a playable character in the first timeline of Senran Kagura. She makes her debut in Senran Kagura: Portrait of Girls.
Ikaruga is a 3rd-year Hanzo student and her class' representative. The descendant of a prestigious Ninja clan, she is formal and collected, but a kind older-sister type. Just don't make her angry.
Ikaruga looks refined with long, straight, black hair flowing down to her lower thighs and flat cut bangs resting on her forehead. Her slanted eyes are dark blue.
Her shinobi outfit consists of a white gold-trimmed jacket with six buttons and a few golden tassels strewn across. She has a Hanzou armband pinned to her upper left arm to signify her status as the class representative. She has a short gold-trimmed white skirt and boots of similar colors to her jacket, accentuated by black tights underneath.
Personality
Ikaruga holds the responsibility of being the leader of a five girls strong shinobi team. Usually a calm individual, she can become highly agitated by Katsuragi's lecherousness. Like Katsuragi, she hides her sadness behind her cool exterior, but the love of her fellow shinobi have helped to soften the pain of her wounds. Needless to say, she works excellently in a team. She also has a knack for cooking and enjoying traditional Japanese cuisine, going so far as to make her own dishes such as the Sweet Squid Ramen Roll (a combination of futomaki sushi, ramen, squid, and sweets).
Chapter 1 Section 1: Combat Practice
It’s a new day at the Hanzo National Academy. Inside the ninja room from within the school, Asuka is sleeping while her teacher, Kiriya, is teaching. Kiriya notices Asuka sleeping and tries to wake her up. After a couple of attempts, Asuka finally wakes up from her dream. Kiriya mocks Asuka by asking her if she finally found her path of the shinobi. Feeling surprised, Asuka asks Kiriya how he knows about that. Another student, Katsuragi, intervenes in the conversation and explains to Asuka how she talks in her sleep while also making suggestive noises. Asuka didn’t understand while the rest of her classmates, Ikaruga, Yagyū, and Hibari, either sigh or chuckle to themselves. Kiriya then tells Asuka to try and stay awake and to read up on Secret Ninja Arts to the class. Asuka nods as she begins reading.
As she reads out loud, Kiriya helps elaborate by reminding everyone what guardian they have. He then explains how to use Secret Ninja Arts, which can only be done by wielding the secret ninja arts scroll at all times. Katsuragi states how she keeps her secret ninja arts scroll under her skirt while Asuka keeps hers in her cleavage. Surprised to hear that, Katsuragi sexually harasses Asuka about wanting to check out her cleavage. However, Kiriya tells Katsuragi to not sexually harass others during class. With that said, Kiriya tells Asuka to continue reading out loud to the class.
As Asuka reads about the Super-Secret Ninja Art, she becomes confused about the fact that the description is short. However, Kiriya questions Asuka why that’s the case while saying that there’s a reason behind that. The reason being is because the Super-Secret Ninja Art Scroll is the school’s pride and joy and its content must be kept an absolute secret. Asuka begins to wonder what’s inside the scroll, but as she does so, the school bell rings. Kiriya tells the class that it’s time for basic martial arts instruction and that all students must meet him on the school’s rooftop. With that said, the students did as they were told and went to the school’s rooftop.
On the school’s rooftop, Kiriya begins explaining about how there are shinobi out there known as “evil shinobi”. The class nods while Asuka states that as good shinobi, they must work to uphold justice. Kiriya then states to the class that from the moment they set foot on Hanzo National Academy, they were shinobi and that he would like for all five of them to set aside their instincts as students. With that said, Kiriya believes that he worked the student hard enough for them to be prepared to face what awaits them.
The class nods as Kiriya begins explaining about the shinobi barrier. It is a shinobi dueling space that blockades off a space of a fixed size, impenetrable to the average person. While it can be useful to covert activities, the downside of using a shinobi barrier is since shinobi can sense its activation, you’ll give away your position.
The class nods again while Kiriya tells them that it’s time to begin practical combat training. He then explains to them that they’ll be fighting dummies he made himself. Since there’s no regular students around, he’s allowing all five of them to give it everything they got. With that said, Kiriya begins the training and disappears into thin air and the students begins their training.
Section 3: Street Sweeping
Later on in class, Ikaruga sees the other students all huddle up arguing about something. They didn’t respond but Ikaruga begins to get annoyed as she states how she would like to know what’s wrong. Still being ignored, Ikaruga raises her voice and tells everyone to be quiet and listen to her. Asuka notices Ikaruga and apologizes. With everyone finally giving Ikaruga their attention, Ikaruga asks again what’s the problem. Asuka explains how it wasn’t a big deal at first as they were wondering what to eat when they get home. No one was agreeing with one another and because of that, things escalated. Ikaruga understands as she asks Asuka what everyone wishes to eat. Asuka replies with her saying how she wants sushi rolls, Katsuragi wants ramen, Yagyū wants dried squid, and Hibari wants sweets. Ikaruga realizes how this situation is problematic, but as class rep, she decides to help find a way to resolve this predicament. With that said, Ikaruga went out to find the solution.
Outside, Ikaruga begins to search for the place to buy each food the other students were requesting. However, Ikaruga then realizes how all of the shops are closed for some reason. Suddenly, she notices how there are delinquents causing problems in the area as she sighs. Quickly, Ikaruga went after the delinquents to put them in their place.
Afterwards, Ikaruga manages to put together something from everything the other students were asking for as she begins to head back to the ninja room. In the ninja room, Ikaruga shows Asuka and the other her creation, which she calls “Sweet Squid Ramen Roll”. Ikaruga explains how friends should partake be happy to partake of the same foods together. However, Asuka begins to wonder how she should say what she wants say regarding Ikaruga’s creation in a delicate way. However, Asuka realizes that Ikaruga worked hard to gather everything for everyone, so she decides to give the Sweet Squid Ramen Roll a try. As she eats it, she begins to feel sick for a second, but then she begins to like it. Ikaruga was happy to hear it, but Asuka tells Ikaruga that she was in the mood for just a plain old sushi roll.
Section 4: Get Back the Purse
Inside the ninja room after Asuka meets the boy, the entire morning passes with a daze with Asuka thinking about that boy from earlier and how he confessed to her. Since no one has ever confessed to her before, Asuka doesn’t know how to react to that. Hibari notices Asuka not eating her lunch as she asks her what’s wrong. Asuka replies as she shakes her head and explains to her what happened to her earlier. Everyone is the room becomes stunned with the news as they begin asking Asuka for the details. Asuka begins telling everyone everything that happened.
Afterwards, Ikaruga wants to confirm to Asuka that this boy she encountered earlier was a baseball player from another school. Asuka nods and Katsuragi becomes impressed about the fact that Asuka was able get a nice catch. Hibari then asks Ikaruga about baseball in general while Ikaruga explains to her how pro baseball players are in par with any shinobi. Ikaruga turns to Asuka asking her what she’s going to do about this. However, Yagyū quietly reminds everyone that they are shinobi and that they mustn’t forget that. The ninja room went from being active to complete silence. Asuka states that she already knows and how she just wants to be a shinobi. She doesn’t even know how a date works to begin with or who that boy really is. With her mood now improved, Asuka begins to eat her lunch.
On the next day inside the ninja room, the morning classes’ ends and the ninja room’s door flies open with the sushi chef coming in with a burst of laughter. Asuka realizes that the chef was none other than his grandfather, Hanzo. Asuka was happy to see him while Kiriya bows his head to him. However, Hanzo tells Kiriya to stops since he’s now retired. Beforehand, Hanzo was a legendary shinobi that a lot of people respected. There has been rumors saying that Hanzo National Academy was named after him to honor him. However, no civilians know anything about him or his activities. With that said, Asuka asks Hanzo what he’s doing here at Hanzo National Academy while Hanzo explains how he figures he should make some lunch for her and her friends.
As everyone quickly gathers around Hanzo, he gives Asuka a bucket of sushi rolls he made himself and tells Asuka to pass them out to everyone. Everyone begins to eat the sushi rolls with smiles on their faces. Hanzo watches the students while smiling and then asks Asuka to come over for a minute.
Section 7: Hibari's Tutoring
In the ninja room, Hibari is apologizing to Kiriya while Kiriya explains to Hibari how difficult it is to take the particular class without a kunai, which Hibari forgot her own back at home. As he sighs, Kiriya tell Hibari that she’ll have to take supplemental lessons after school, which shocks Hibari since she was planning on eating banana crepes with everyone after school. Suddenly, Asuka intervenes and states that she and the other students are going to take those lessons as well. Kiriya asks her why and Asuka responds by saying how they’re all in this together since that’s what friends do. Kiriya understands and tell the students that the lessons will take place outside in the yard and whoever scores lowest will be remanded for additional lessons. With that said, the students went out and beings the lesson.
Afterwards, Hibari was surprised to see that she won while Asuka was in last place. However, both Kiriya and Hibari realizes that Asuka lost on purpose. Asuka tries to hide the fact, but it only makes Hibari feel even worst. She begins to sincerely apologize as she states how hard it is being the shield for your friends. However, Hibari understands what Asuka was trying to do for her, which she appreciates. With that said, the two prepare for their extra lessons.
Section 8: Hebijo Assassin
After Katsuragi kicks the ball in half and scans her surroundings for enemies, Asuka asking her what’s wrong from the distance. She’s came into the room at some point. Katsuragi turns to Asuka and tells her that there’s nothing wrong. Asuka then points towards the unfinished ramen while telling Katsuragi how she’s late for class and the ramen is unfinished, so she knows something is wrong. Katsuragi gives up and tells Asuka that she’ll explain everything once everyone else arrives.
Once everyone is present, Katsuragi tells them what happened earlier. Hibari suggests that they should let Kiriya know, which Yagyū agrees to, but Ikaruga mentions how Kiriya is out on business at the moment, which everyone nods to as they remembered. Hibari then wonders what they’ll all do once the enemy attacks, but Yagyū quickly comforts Hibari by telling her that they’re not sure if they will attack. Katsuragi nods as she begins to think about how she wants to know how strong she really is and how she wants to fight someone tough. She also figures how the enemy will definitely come at some point due to Kiriya not being present at the moment.
Suddenly, Hibari notices a girl outside on the courtyard. Katsuragi was able to notice the girl’s thirst for blood up in the air. The enemy has finally arrived and the students quickly moved to the courtyard as a group. As they arrived, Katsuragi asks for the black-haired girl’s name. However, the black-haired girl asks them if they are shinobi students as she steps forward. The black-haired girl introduces herself as Homura, a shinobi student from Hebijo Clandestine Academy. Katsuragi recalls of the academy and how notorious it is while also mysterious. Homura asks them if they’re Hanzo students but Ikaruga tries to deny the fact that they are. However, Homura takes out a photograph of Katsuragi about to kick the ball while invoking a shinobi barrier. As Homura grins at the Hanzo students, she states how they’re still around after she invoked a shinobi barrier, clarifying the fact that they’re shinobi. Katsuragi asks Homura what if they are shinobi students while Homura replies by telling them to hand over the Super-Secret Ninja Art Scroll. However, Ikaruga tells her that they have no plans to do so. As Katsuragi grins and asks Homura what would happen if they don’t give it up, Homura laughs and draws a sword while saying how she’ll take by force instead.
Katsuragi’s interests piqued as she prepares for a fight, but Asuka tells her to step aside. Confused about whether Asuka and Homura are already acquainted, Katsuragi steps aside since she knows that shinobi battles are supposed to be one-on-one. However, another girl but with an expressionless look on her face walks up and tells Katsuragi that she’ll fight her instead. Katsuragi asks for the expressionless girl’s name as the girl calls herself Hikage. Quickly, Hikage takes out her knife and slashes at Katsuragi with Katsuragu managing to dodge at the last moment. Katsuragi then asks Hikage if she strong while Hikage replies by saying that she has to be. Katsuragi follows up by asking her why while Hikage tells her that if she’s not strong then she’s not following orders.
Katsuragi begins to smile as she’s finally able to fight a tough opponent. She then tells the rest of the Hanzo students to stand back as both herself and Asuka will handle both Homura and Hikage. The others does so as both Asuka and Katsuragi prepare for their first taste of real combat.
Chapter 2 Section 1: Katsuragi's Training
After the thrashing from Hebijo Clandestine Academy, the ninja room’s atmosphere becomes thick and heavy. Kiriya notices his students’ faces filled with despair. He isn’t surprised since there’s a world of difference between classwork and actual combat. Finally speaking, Kiriya tells his students that the principal told him what happened to them. He stops speaking right there not being able to find the words to continue. He begins to feel conflicted if he should praise them for managing to stay alive, which is noteworthy since what they went through was their first real battle. Suddenly, Asuka calls out to Kiriya with a despair look in his eyes. The looks reminds Kiriya of a former student of his that goes by the name of “Rin”. He then remembers that he’ll never let what happened in the past happen again. Finally, Kiriya was able to find the words to continue speaking by telling all five of them that if it bothers them so much that they’ve been defeated by Hebijo students, then they should all give up on being a shinobi and get out. As he said that, he begins having more flashbacks of Rin.
Kiriya tells his students again that they should just give up and get out if they’re going to let their defeat by the Hebijo student bother them so much. Suddenly, the change in the atmosphere changed in the ninja room. Ikaruga tells Kiriya about what he said sounds a bit harsh while Katsuragi follows up with a nod but with irritation. She then tells Kiriya how it doesn’t matter what he says about her, but how Asuka is still a 2nd year and she took on some serious competition while surviving, which isn’t a small task. Katsuragi then asks Kiriya to at least praise her for that. However, Asuka looks downward with the rims of her eyes becoming red. Kiriya wants to praise her, but she knows a half-hearted praise will only result in more sorrow down the road. Next, Kiriya explains how Hebijo is known for producing shinobi involved in politics and business while also having no qualms about very nasty work. The students remains breathless at Kiriya’s words. Kiriya continues by saying how they cannot be bargained or reasoned with and how they absolutely will not stop until they achieve their goal, which is much like their namesake, the serpent. Ikaruga asks Kiriya with a frown on her face if there’s no way of avoiding the conflict. Kiriya answers by telling her that they don’t negotiate and how they’ll attack. With that said, Katsuragi asks Kiriya what if they go on the offensive themselves. Sadly, Kiriya shakes his head slightly while explaining how even though that’s a nice thought, they don’t have any idea where the Hebijo Headquarters is located. The explanations causes Katsuragi to sink at his words. However, Hibari speaks up to break the tension by saying how Kiriya is now around, so they’ll all be fine while Ikaruga agrees with her. The statement causes relief to flood the students faces while Kiriya realizes that they all rely on him and how it’s true that he can help them, considering the students are still studying as shinobi and how they left their normal lives years ago. It’s only natural for all five of them to feel intimidated at fighting a powerful opponent.
However, despite all of that, Kiriya tells them that he will not be assisting them against the Hebijo, which stunned the students into silence. Both Ikaruga and Hibari pleads Kiriya with Hibari being on the verge of tears with the thought of Kiriya abandoning all five of them. However, with an authoritative voice, Kiriya reminds them that they’re shinobi students and they must always be prepared for the worst. Suddenly, Kiriya remembers what happened on Rin’s final examination.
Kiriya tells the students that those who rely on him during the fight with Hebijo should give up on being a shinobi and leave. He knows that if he helps them fight off Hebijo, it wouldn’t help them at all. The Path of a Shinobi is a harsh one. One must continue to fight, even with no help coming. Despite what Kiriya has said, there is one thing that he can do for those who seek to become a part of that world, which is teaching them not to be overcome with emotion. He knows that he can’t let Rin’s fate happen again. With that said, the students’ beings to listen to Kiriya’s words in silence. No one of them decided to move.
Suddenly, Asuka speaks up with her hands raised by telling Kiriya that she needs more training. Katsuragi follows up and does the same. Afterwards, the other students raises their hands as well. Hibari also tells Kiriya to work her hard. Despite what the students said, Kiriya is still feeling a natural doubt, but since their passion was so infectious, he smiles. With that said, Kiriya tells the students that he sees their resolves and then tells them to prepare for training. He knows that he can’t protect them directly, but he will teach them everything he knows since that’s the only way for him to protect them.
As the students prepare for their training, Katsuragi lets out a sigh. Ikaruga caught sight of Katsuragi doing so and asks her if she’s alright. Katsuragi asks her what she meant but Ikaruga tells her how she’s still feeling depressed. To hide her sadness, Katsuragi tells Ikaruga how she’s not bothered by the fact that Hebijo beat them. Ikaruga understands while Katsuragi apologizes while also thanking her for checking up on her. In return, Katsuragi suggest motorboating Ikaruga’s breasts. However, Ikaruga denies the offer, but she tells Katsuragi that if she needs someone to talk to, she can go to her. Afterwards, Ikaruga left with a Katsuragi sighing about the fact that Ikaruga was able to tell that she was depressed quickly. She then remembers the fight she recently had with Hikage and how Hikage told her that she’s weak. Katsuragi begins to wonder if she really is weak considering how Hikage made her look like a complete idiot. However, she decides to not let it get to her that much and decides to go and train as hard as he can to the point that no one can beat her.
Section 3: Intercept Hebijos
Outside, Ikaruga is training as hard as she can with her weapon, Hien: the Flying Swallow, which is her family’s heirloom. As she sheathes Hien, she realizes how her swings are becoming lackluster as her endless training is tiring her out. Despite that, Ikaruga feels that she can’t cut corners in dealing with the Hebijo. However, she knows that pushing herself when she’s not at her best will only cause her harm.
As she walks back inside the ninja room, she sits down quietly while settling her thoughts and breathing. She begins maintaining Hien with respect and care when suddenly, Asuka and the others walks into the ninja room. They all exchange a friendly “good morning” and then a lively conversation begins. Despite all of the hardship and rigorous training they all go through, Ikaruga is impressed with Asuka the most since despite what happens, she never loses her bright and cheerful expression. She greets everything with a smile. While Ikaruga also goes through the same difficulty to keep her classmates organized as class representative, she begins to wonder if Asuka should lead the team instead of her.
As Ikaruga begins to lose herself in her thought, Kiriya walks into the classroom. He tells the class that he’ll be teaching them genealogy as part of the day’s lessons. Quickly, Katsuragi complains to Kiriya about how they should be focusing on training instead of family trees. However, Kiriya lets out a sigh and explains to her that breaks are a crucial aspect to training. With that said, Hibari questions Kirya what they’ll be doing with genealogy while Kiriya explains to them that they’ll be making a shinobi family tree to see if they have any shinobi ancestors while learning what they might have inherited from them. Suddenly, Asuka raises her hand and asks Kiriya how far back they should go, which Kiriya answers by telling them to start from the earliest shinobi, up to themselves. Asuka nods with enthusiasm as she quickly makes her shinobi family tree, which consists of three generations: her grandfather, her mother, and herself. Asuka then explains how her mother is a shinobi like her grandfather, how her father is a civilian who wasn’t completely happy with Asuka becoming a shinobi. However, Asuka wishes to be a powerful one, just like her grandfather. As Katsuragi and Yagyū writes in silence, Hibari begins to moan about how she has to write down everyone from her long line of shinobi. Suddenly, Kiriya asks Ikaruga what’s wrong as Ikaruga stops writing. Ikaruga apologizes as she notices that she’s almost finished making her family tree. However, when she thinks about her family, she’s reminded of her older brother. He is studying business management, following in the footsteps of their father. In truth, however, he wished to become a shinobi.
Ikaruga finishes her family tree by writing down her own name at the end. Her family tree is simply a straight line, from the head of the family, to herself. However, her brother’s’ name wasn’t included. His name would be where Ikaruga’s name is at if he was a shinobi. With that thought of feeling a burden of what happened in the past, Ikaruga’s eyes begins to well. Asuka notices Ikaruga looking upset and asks her what’s wrong, but she tells her that it’s nothing while forcing a smile.
As time went by, it’s now lunch time. The breeze was nice, so the students decided to eat outside for a change. As they begin to eat, Hibari is bothered by how Yagyū is eating dried squid again. However, Yagyū tells Hibari to not make light of the dried squid. As Ikaruga prepares her multi-course meal, she realizes that she forgot the tea. She tells the others that she’ll be back as she heads back to the ninja room to get the Japanese tea set.
As soon as she entered, she begins to sense another presence nearby. Ikaruga demands the being to show themselves when suddenly, a man carelessly appears before her. It was Ikaruga’s older brother. Her older brother tells her to settle down. Ikaruga notices how unwell he looks compare to the last time she saw him. His hair is unkempt and his skin is sickly pale. As her older brother tells her that it’s been a long time since they’ve met, Ikaruga notices how he’s holding Hien in his hand. Ikaruga calls her older brother Murasame and wonders what he’s doing in the ninja room. Murasame begins to wonder himself as he smiles cynically. He then states that Hien belongs to him and he’ll do what he wants with it. As Ikaruga tries to remind Murasame about the decision their parents made, she decides to close her mouth for Murasame’s sake. However, what’s been said already only made Murasame’s eyes darken with hatred. Murasame then states that while he can’t wield Hien, it’s still the family’s heirloom, so it should have no business with someone that doesn’t have the family’s blood. The remark scathes through Ikaruga’s bone as she reminds herself about how she wasn’t born in the same family as Murasame.
Ikaruga was adopted into the family to succeed them in the Path of the Shinobi. Murasame begins to say how Hien is rightfully his as he grinds his teeth in anger. As he holds Hien in his hands, Ikaruga begins to think that if she wasn’t around with her family, her step father wouldn’t have considered adoption from one of his distant relative and Murasame wouldn’t have been hurt. This entire situation is the reason why Ikaruag was looking sad when she was making her family tree. As much as she wants to apologize to Murasame, it wouldn’t matter. Regarding the passing down to Hien is another issue since her step parents expressively told her not give Hien to anyone. With that in mind, Ikaruga tells Murasame how sorry she is while also telling him to give back Hien.
As Murasame lets out a boastful command of telling her to get it from him, Hien was already in Ikaruga’s hand. Murasame becomes confused with what just happened and then realizes that Ikaruga is now wielding Hien. This only made Murasame angrier as his face becomes bright red and he takes out his chain sickle from his breast pocket. As he begins swinging the chain and advances forward, Ikaruga tells him to stop. However, her words didn’t reach Murasame as he tells her how she was placed in sixth during a local chain-sickle tournament at his elementary school. The weighted chain flies out and wraps around Ikaruga’s body. However, due to Ikaruga’s intense speed, Ikaruga manages to escape while leaving an afterimage of herself in place of her. She lets Murasame know where she is and then tells him to take care as he pulls the rope from the ceiling. The floorboards below Murasame drop opens and takes Murasame to the shops district directly. Afterwards, he pulls the rope again, closing the trap and causing the floorboards to revert back to their normal pattern. Ikaruga clenches Hien tightly in her hand as she slowly begins to cry.
Suddenly, Asuka calls out to her from the distance, which helps Ikaruga snap back into reality. She then asks Ikaruga what’s wrong since she’s been gone for a while. Ikaruga replies by saying that it’s nothing as she quickly wipes her eyes. As soon as they were about to leave the ninja room, Asuka stops her and decides to show her a family tree from her desk. Ikaruga then realizes how the particular family tree consists of everyone from the shinobi class on one line, listed as family with Ikaruga as the mother, Katsuragi as the father, and Asuka, Yagyū and Hibari as the children. Asuka then explains how the class is basically a family, so she decided to add them into the family tree. Suddenly, Ikaruga began to cry again with tears falling out of her eyes. She likes that she also has another family, her shinobi class. Suddenly, Asuka begins to feel flustered as she asks Ikaruga why she’s crying. Ikaruga explains to Asuka that she’s happy for what she did as she thanks her with a smile on her face.
Later on during the day, Asuka begins to feel tired from training all day, but she knows that she can’t complain because of how important it is for her to get stronger. She then begins to wonder why the Hebijo girls have to be so focused on fighting to grow stronger while also wonder if there’s no other way.
Suddenly, a shinobi barrier appeared. Asuka begins sensing a couple of enemies around the area. One of them being Homura as she walks up to Asuka and tells her how no one will be able to interrupt them. Homura tells Asuka to hand over the Super-Secret Ninja Scroll once again while also threatening to slaughter the entire student body. Asuka begins asking her why she would involve innocent people into their quarrel while Homura explains to Asuka how shinobi are awful by nature. Asuka then tells her how that isn’t the Path of the Shinobi. With that said, Homura asks Asuka what the Path of the Shinobi really is from her perspective. However, Asuka tells her that she doesn’t know yet, but she will once she does one day. Homura then tells her that she wouldn’t be able to since she won’t be walking out alive according to her while also telling her how she’s not alone. Asuka begins to wonder what she can do when suddenly, the rest of the Hanzo students steps in to help her. With that said, the group went on to take down the mob.
Afterwards, Homura is impressed with the show the Hanzo students performed as she suggests a one on one match between the Hanzo students and the Hebijo students. Asuka accepts the challenge of fighting Homura one on one while Homura tells her that they should fight in an open space, which is beneficial for Asuka since she won’t have to worry about the other students. As Asuka asks her where, Homura gives her a letter for her to first, which consists of the locations each participating student must go to. With that said, the Hanzo students prepare themselves as they spread out and head for the five specific locations for their one on one matches with the Hebijo students.
Section 4: Ikaruga vs Yomi
At the location Ikaruga went to for her match, she calls out for her opponent. A woman that goes by the name of Yomi slowly walks up to her and apologizes to her for making her wait while also calling her a princess. She then tells Ikaruga not to be tense since it’s not a trap while also telling her how much she loves her western-style outfit and wonders if her parents bought it for her. Ikaruga asks Yomi what she meant by that Yomi tells her how nice it must have been growing up with no end of love and affection, being able to never want for anything. As Ikaruga’s begins to lose her patience, she tells Yomi to get the point. Yomi apologizes again as she tells her that she’ll be killed in the location they’re in. She begins to feel a bit bad for Ikaruga, but school orders are absolutes. With that said, the two prepare for their one on one fight.
In the middle of it, Ikaruga tells Yomi that she can’t win the fight, but Yomi questions her. Ikaruga replies by telling her that she has no intention of killing her from the start. Yomi appreciates the concern but she tells Ikaruga that she has to kill her. Ikaruga asks why and Yomi explains to her that since she’s a princess, she has to die because all princesses must die. Ikaruga tells Yomi that it’s not a worthy reason as the two prepare to continue their fight.
After the fight, Ikaruga begins huffing and puffing but Yomi was unfazed by the damage Ikaruga inflicted on her. Ikaruga questions Yomi why that’s the case, but Yomi laughs at how Ikaruga’s strikes couldn’t faze her, even though they were elegant. Despite that, Yomi considers her mission a success. Ikaruga doesn’t understand but Yomi tells her good bye and to rest a little while. Before she can do that though, Ikaruga questions Yomi why she’s letting her go despite saying that she’ll kill. Yomi explains to Ikaruga by telling her how those that sneer at bean sprouts will die by bean sprouts. As she leaves, Ikaruga wonders what Yomi is planning on doing.
Chapter 3 Section 1: Summer Mistake
On a train ride to the beach, the Hanzo students are playing a game of cards. As Yagyū chooses the right side instead of left, it reveals the joker instead of the ace of diamonds. Katsuragi looks down at Yagyū triumphantly while Hibari becomes disappointed. It was time for the losers to pay the price according to Katsuragi. As Katsuragi advances forward towards Hibari while laughing evily, Yagyū steps in and tries to convince Katsuragi that she’ll pay the price instead. However, Katsuragi explains that since the card game was a team battle, if one person loses in that team, everyone in the team is responsible. With that said, Katsuragi approaches both Hibari and Yagyū and flicks both of their foreheads as hard as she can. As Hibari complains about the pain she received by Katsuragi, Yagyū looks at the joker card in her hand and slowly starts to crush it. Quickly, Katsuragi grabs Yagyū’s hand and tells her to not destroy the cards and to not be a sore loser.
Suddenly, Ikaruga intervenes and tells them to be quiet to prevent them from disturbing the other passengers. They all took a quick glance around and notice that all of the passengers were staring at them. Katsuragi quickly apologizes and takes her seat. As they settle down, Hibari states how they might have overdid it a little as she sticks out her tongue playfully. Suddenly, they all began to smell the scent of the ocean as the train leaves a tunnel. Asuka peers out of the window and notice the ocean while stating how they should smell the salty air around them. While Katsuragi agrees, she states that she prefers the scent of young women as she begins to press her nose against Asuka’s body. Asuka demands Katsuragi to stop the sexual harassment while feeling embarrassed but Katsuragi insists that she smells nice and how she’ll take three cups instead of two. Suddenly, Hibari decides to join in on smelling Asuka, but then Ikaruga intervenes and tells all of them to be quiet as she raises her voice. The entire car was silent and all eyes were on Ikaruga. Ikaruga quickly apologizes to everyone.
In her mind, Yagyū recalls that they’re not going on a mission but instead, a genuine vacation on the beach. She then recalls how confused everyone was when Kiriya told them to go on a vacation. In a flashback, Yagyū questioned Kiriya why they should go on a vacation given what’s going on with them at the moment, but Kiriya responds by telling them how there’s no better time. Yagyū then figured what Kiriya meant by his statement considering how in the future, the battles will grow more intense, so it would be wise to grow memories as regular students first.
Yagyū then recalls of the day when the Hanzo students went to their designated spots to fight the Hebijo students. Hebijo’s plan was to distract the Hanzo students while keeping Hanzo Academy defenseless in order to obtain the Super-Secret Ninja Art Scroll. However, when both Hibari and Yagyū came back from their fight in a panic, they found dozens of lesser Hebijo shinobi lying defeated in the courtyards. Near them was Asuka, Ikaruga, and Katsuragi. Hibari asked them if they were the ones that took them down, but they all shook their heads. They then reminded them that Kiriya wasn’t participating in the battle between Hanzo and Hebijo. Suddenly, a loud voice appeared saying that the enemy have been vanquished. The Hanzo students looked around but couldn’t find out where the voice is coming from. Asuka then yells out to the voice, telling it to show themselves to allow them to express gratitude. The voice calls themselves Daidouji and how she’s a shinobi of Hanzo. The Hanzo students then gave each other glances and recalled Daidouji being a legendary senior with unusual power. She was ready to take the final exam on her freshman year, but for some reason, she never graduated. Instead, she repeats her senior year endlessly.
As Hibari tries thanking Daidouji while still looking for her, Daidouji states how she’s not affiliated with them, causing Hibari’s faced to be clouded over with anxiety as she asks why she helped them. Daidouji then tells them that she’ll explain why once they all obtain true power. With that said, Daidouji’s voice disappeared.
As the Hanzo students begins to change into their bathing suit in the dressing room on the beach, Katsuragi steps out with enthusiasm and announces the annual swimsuit inspection. The first to come out was Yagyū as she’s wearing a frilly pink-checkered bikini. As Katsuragi examines her, Yagyū starts becoming uncomfortable. Suddenly, Asuka comes out of the dressing room with a towel around her as she tells Katsuragi to stop being a perv. Katsuragi quickly calls foul on Asuka as she approaches her and immediately tears off Asuka’s towel, revealing a multi-colored striped bikini. Katsuragi then examines Asuka and was liking Asuka’s figure to the point of wanting to tear off the bikini as well. Next, Ikaruga steps out of the dressing room, wearing a simple, dark brown bikini as she tells Katsuragi to stop her nonsense. As Katsuragi examines Ikaruga and expresses how much she likes the way Ikaruga looks, Ikaruga ignores Katsuragi and briskly moves to the beach. Lastly, Hibari cheerfully leaves the dressing room, wearing a frilly ruffled pink-polka dots bikini. Katsuragi compliments Hibari as she appears to be on the verge of fainting due to Hibari’s looks. Yagyū was about to lose it, but then she notices how she’s wearing the same color as Hibari, which made her feel a little happy.
Afterwards, Asuka tells the group that they should all go swimming as she runs towards the water. Katsuragi and Hibari follow suit, but Yagyū decides to walk slowly as she’s enjoying the warmth of the and on her feet. She then sits down on the sand as she watches the others play on the surf. She begins to think about the amount of training they would all be doing starting tomorrow, and then they’ll be fighting the Hebijo students once again, but then she feels how good it is to take it easy for a while as regular students. Suddenly, Yagyū notices Hibari waving at her. She asks Yagyū to come and join them and Yagyū nods as she gets up, wipe the sand off her butt, and then went for the ocean.
Later on, Asuka entrusts Hibari with the key to the dressing room while Hibari nods and tells her how she’ll keep the key in a special hiding spot. With that said, the two go back to playing in the water. Meanwhile, Haruka manages to find the key Hibari hid. When they were all finished playing, Asuka asks Hibari for the key. However, Hibari couldn’t find the key anywhere. Asuka notice someone selling their clothes past the beach. Quickly, the group hurried to get their belongings back.
Afterwards, while Hibari was happy they got their belongings back, she feels guilty about losing the key in the first place. She then wonders why no one is angry at her at all. Meanwhile in the distance, Haruka was annoyed about why no one was angry at Hibari for what happened. She then figures that she’s going to have to do something about it herself personally.
Section 3: Infiltrate Hebijo
Outside of the emergency room in the hospital, everyone, including Kiriya, is waiting for the doctor to come and give them the update on Yagyū’s condition. Hibari recalls the doctor telling them beforehand that Yagyū was hit by a poison-coated bullet, causing her life to be at risk. As Hibari blames herself for what happened to Yagyū, Asuka mutters to Hibari and reassures her that Yagyū will pull through while Katsuragi agrees. However, Hibari continues to blame herself and wants to take responsibility. She begins to wish for someone to just tell her that it’s her fault, but everyone has been kind and understanding, causing her to feel even more miserable. Suddenly, the group begins to hear footsteps approaching down the hall. As they stand up in unison, a female nurse runs in. Kiriya asks her how Yagyū is and the nurse smiles saying that the operation was a complete success. Everyone is in relief. Due to Yagyū needing to sleep off the anesthetic for the rest of the day, they all decide to leave and come back tomorrow. Before they left, Hibari tells the group that she has an errand to take care of and that they should go on without her. Asuka asks why and Hibari explains that she needs to buy something and that she’ll be back. She then turns around and runs off.
Section 8: Hibari's Location
Meanwhile, Yagyū has finally arrive at Hebijo Academy. She wonders where Hibari is with frustration. The receiver in her ear emits a small beep. Earlier, she let Mirai go but without her noticing, she planted a little plant called a remora flower onto her back. The remora flower is good for camouflage and it has a tracking device within it. Suddenly, the beeping from Yagyū’s receiver starts beeping rapidly. With Mirai coming closer, Yagyū decides to conceal herself within the shadow of a tree. Shortly after, she notices Mirai with Homura, but there was no sign of Hibari. She waits for them to go away. She recalls seeing Haruka and Hibari together a while back. She could have get her from there but due to her current condition, she wouldn’t have survive. She then pulls away the fabric from her skin while noticing how the area that’s injured is dark red. The fight with Mirai she had earlier caused the wound to reopen. She decides to wait until Hibari is alone before she can rescue her. However, she begins to grind her teeth while feeling disappointed in herself. She begin to regret what she said to the others earlier since she didn’t expect to be in that particular predicament.
After dealing with Mirai, she placed the receiver in her ear. The beeping started becoming fainter as Mirai gets farther away from the shinobi hospital. As she prepared to leave the hospital, the others came in with Asuka telling her that she needs to rest. As Yagyū surveyed their faces, she grew exceedingly angry. She then asked them why they let Hibari go all by herself. Everyone stepped back as they couldn’t respond to that question. Yagyū figured that Hibari would do something so reckless in a situation like what happened before. Yagyū then tells everyone to stand aside. Ikaruga asked Yagyū what she could possibly do in her condition. Yagyū knew that in Ikaruga’s voice, she was concerned, but mostly, she decided to think that it was meddling. Katsuragi then protested telling Yagyū that she can’t find her by just blindly searching. With that said, Asuka states that they should all search for Hibari together since she’s their friend. However, Asuka’s words only annoyed Yagyū. Yagyū then asked all of them that if they’re Hibari’s friend, why did they leave Hibari alone. Asuka had no retort as she simply hung her head. Yagyū then tells them that she doesn’t don’t need friends how they’ll just get in the way, so she decided to push Asuka’s hands away and go and look for Hibari by herself. She heard Asuka calling for her but Yagyū didn’t look back.
Thinking about it now, Yagyū feels that she went too and how the blame wasn’t all of them. She feels that it was also her own fault for being wounded. If Yagyū wasn’t injured, Hibari wouldn’t have done what she did. However, Yagyū knows that she can’t sit back and do nothing. She then bind a strip of fabric tightly around the wound to stop the bleeding as she bites back the scream of pain. Yagyū feels that she can’t be without Hibari as no one could ever replace her. She’s scared of being alone and she was always scared of being in true solitude. The feeling reminds Yagyū of her deceased sister. She loved her so much but she died without warning, which crushed her deeply. There were times where Yagyū would be distracted by thinking about her little sister.
Suddenly, without paying attention, an enemy attacked Yagyū. Yagyū quickly dodges at the nick of time. In front of her was a solidarity lesser shinobi, demanding Yagyū to tell her what she’s doing at Hebijo. The shinobi then whistles, calling forth twenty all circling Yagyū. Yagyū begins to wonder what her choices are due to her current strength. She then begins to pull out grass with anesthetic properties and chews on them, despite being bitter while also taking out her umbrella and got in a stance. If she gets out alive, she wishes she could apologize to everyone about what she said earlier while also wishing she could talk to Hibari one last time. Despite her regrets, she puts them to aside and get ahold of her breathing. Once it was at the right pace, Yagyū begins attacking the shinobi.
One by one, the Hebijo shinobi fall to the ground, but more was still coming towards Yagyū. With how quickly Yagyū is moving, her wound begins reopening. As she loses more blood, Yagyū begins to feel faint. However, despite how she feels, all she could think about was getting to Hibari. However, she finally got to her knees with no strength left. The Hebijo shinobi circile around her. As they prepare to attack, Yagyū closes her eyes, feeling that they will never open again. While doing so, recalls something in her past. She begins imagining Hibari.
Suddenly, without paying attention, an enemy attacked Yagyū. Yagyū quickly dodges at the nick of time. In front of her was a solidarity lesser shinobi, demanding Yagyū to tell her what she’s doing at Hebijo. The shinobi then whistles, calling forth twenty all circling Yagyū. Yagyū begins to wonder what her choices are due to her current strength. She then begins to pull out grass with anesthetic properties and chews on them, despite being bitter while also taking out her umbrella and got in a stance. If she gets out alive, she wishes she could apologize to everyone about what she said earlier while also wishing she could talk to Hibari one last time. Despite her regrets, she puts them to aside and get ahold of her breathing. Once it was at the right pace, Yagyū begins attacking the shinobi.
One by one, the Hebijo shinobi fall to the ground, but more was still coming towards Yagyū. With how quickly Yagyū is moving, her wound begins reopening. As she loses more blood, Yagyū begins to feel faint. However, despite how she feels, all she could think about was getting to Hibari. However, she finally got to her knees with no strength left. The Hebijo shinobi circile around her. As they prepare to attack, Yagyū closes her eyes, feeling that they will never open again. While doing so, recalls something in her past. She begins imagining Hibari.
Suddenly, Yagyū hear the sound of a sword striking a knife as she opens her eyes. There, she sees Asuka, Ikaruga, and Katsuragi. All of the Hebijo shinobi were neatly dispatched. Asuka turns to Yagyū with an innocent smile and tell her that even though they’re in her way, they decided to follow her anyways. Ikaruga draws closer and begins inspecting Yagyū’s injury. She then apply basic first aid to stop the bleeding. Yagyū then asks all three of them why they followed her. They all gave each other a glance and then Asuka tells Yagyū that they’re friends. That’s why. She recalls how she effectively told them that they’re not her friends anymore, but she couldn’t hold a candle to Asuka. Yagyū realizes that she can’t compete against someone that pure of spirit and thinks that maybe she can save her from her own stubbornness.
Asuka then asks Yagyū to fill them with the information on Hibari and the Super-Secret Ninja Art Scroll. Yagyū told Asuka what she knows and then Asuka decides to go and save Hibari on her own. When it comes to infiltrating the castle keep, it would be wise to infiltrate it alone. As Asuka departs for the keep, Yagyū quietly tells Asuka to please take care of Hibari because you’re her friend, so she can count on you. Asuka looks back and gives Yagyū a thumbs-up.
Chapter 4 Section 1: The Grey Area
Back at the ninja room in Hanzo Academy, Katsuragi tries to cheer up Hibari by being as cheerful as possible, but Hibari’s still down in the dumps. The group have realize that Hibari has been acting strange ever since she got back from Hebijo. Ikaruga then tries cheering her up, but it was no use. With Hibari not acting like her usual self, the mood has dropped. Suddenly, Kiriya walks in as he looks exhausted and sighs. He then tells everyone that he would like to have a moment with Hibari alone. Katsuragi tries to ask Kiriya what they’re going to talk about, but Kiriya didn’t reply. The group left Kiriya and Hibari by themselves as they left the room. Once they were outside, Asuka, Ikaruga, and Yagyū went in separate directions. Katsuragi understands how the others feel, so she decides to be by herself as well.
When Katsuragi went back to the ninja room, everyone’s standing at the door, looking confused. She’s surprised that Kiriya isn’t finished talking to Hibari. She then begins to strain to hear them. Kiriya asks Hibari that if she feels responsible for what happened, she should try and retrieve the Super-Secret Ninja Art Scroll. However, Hibari didn’t say a word. Katsuragi begins to feel that the conversation has been like that the majority of the time. She then decides to head inside the ninja room, disregarding Kiriya’s wish to speak with Hibari by himself. Kiriya asks Katsuragi who told her to come in but Katsuragi responds by telling him that he’s not getting anywhere. Yagyū then walks in and tells Kiriya that they would like to participate in the discussion while Ikaruga and Asuka walks in as well. Ikaruga then tells Kiriya that if it involves the Super-Secret Ninja Art Scroll, it’s a problem for all of them while Asuka agrees. Beaten down by his own students with words, Kiriya understands and tells them to take their seats. He then stands on the podium, looks out at all of his students, and then tells them that due to the Super-Secret Ninja Art Scroll not being in their possession, all shinobi studies at Hanzo Academy are suspended. The announcement causes all of the students to look pale. This also means that no shinobi school would accept them. Asuka then asks if it means they can’t be shinobi, which Kiriya nods to. Asuka begins to slump but Katsuragi gives Asuka a big slap on her back. Katsuragi then tells the others in a firm voice to cheer up because all they have to do is get the scroll back from Hebijo. Deep inside, Katsuragi knows that she can’t give up on being a shinobi since it’s the only way for her to reunite with her parents. With that said, everyone except for Hibari became motivated to get the scroll back. Katsuragi asks Hibari what the problem was and then Hibari asks Katsuragi how exactly are they supposed to get the Super-Secret Ninja Art Scroll back from Hebijo. Katsuragi replies by saying that they just have to beat them, but then Hibari begins telling them how the students at Hebijo are similar to them since they study just as hard and they look out for one another, meaning they’re not bad people as they thought. Just by saying that, Hibari looks like she threw up something she was holding back for a long while. She looks like she’s about to cry. Hibari then asks what’s the difference between a good shinobi and an evil one and why do they have to fight each other.
The Ninja Room goes quiet as Katsuragi didn’t have anything to say. She never thought of Hebijo as anything other than opponents before. Now that Hibari mentioned that, it all makes sense to Katsuragi that what’s considered good and evil is all a matter of perspective. She then remembers how even though renegade shinobi are “evil”, Katsuragi’s parents aren’t bad people since they did what they felt was right to protect her. She also now understands how Hebijo is the same since they’re doing what they feel is right. Hibari starts to say how she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do after learning all of that. Suddenly, Asuka broke the silence and asks Kiriya for a favor. Kiriya asks what it was and then Asuka asks Kiriya to let her train. Kiriya wonders what Asuka is thinking while Katsuragi begins to think that Asuka has an idea and wants to show Hibari through training. She also begins to think that overtime, Asuka has turned into a real leader type, so she’ll let Asuka do as she pleases.
Section 4: Ikaruga's Training
In the training area where Ikaruga is at, Ikaruga notices that she hasn’t completed her preparations yet. She knows that her shinobi classmates are like family, so she must protect them with her life if she must. With that said, she begins her training.
Afterwards, Ikaruga’s power increases. Ikaruga swears that as class represenatives, she won’t let any of her classmates die in battle.
Chapter 5 Section 1: Hebijo Battle Plan
Night has fallen completely. Kiriya stands at the entrance of the shinobi village, waiting for his students to come back from their training. Little by little, footsteps are drawing near. Kiriya notices his students are all present and they’re shining more brightly than before. He even notices how Asuka mastered the Yin Scroll and everyone else’s blood boiling from the training they went through. As Kiriya spreads his arms and welcomes them, Asuka, Katsuragi, and Hibari approaches him while Yagyū and Ikaruga stand back, but their facial expressions was filled with joy instead of reserved. Asuka tells Kiriya with confidence that they’ll be going to Hebijo now. However, Kiriya shakes his head and tells them that they have a vacation day tomorrow. The students look at Kiriya confused while Asuka asks him why. Kiriya explains that before a decisive battle, you should spend the day before doing what you like. Right as he said that, the students’ faces become clear and determined. With that said, the students nod to one another and leave simultaneously. As they leave, Kiriya heads to the dressing room.
While arranging the equipment, Kiriya suddenly hears Asuka calling him from behind. He looks back surprised seeing all of his students. He realizes that he couldn’t feel any signs of their presence, to the point where he believes that they’ve become advanced enough to utterly deceive his perceptions. He begins to think about how far they’ve, to the point of showing a wry smile. Asuka tells Kiriya with no uncertain terms to not worry as they’re going to settle the fight with Hebijo Academy. However, Kiriya still feels worried that they all might die. But Asuka tells him that even if they die, they have no regrets since they’ll die as the shinobi they’ve always wanted to become. The others nod in agreement. Suddenly, an image of Rin appear in Kiriya’s mind as he wonders if she was the same in regards to dying as a shinobi. In the end though, Kiriya feels that he’s right back where he started. He still can’t get over Rin’s death. With spirit, Asuka tells Kiriya that they’ll all come back alive and safely. Kiriya looks at all of his students and notices how they’re no longer young girls of students, but adult shinobi. Something within Kiriya’s heart begins to grow lighter. Kiriya begins to understand and decide to trust them. If they come back alive, Kiriya feels that he could finally get over Rin’s death. With all of that talking, Kiriya realizes the morning sun peeking out from over the mountains.
Asuka tells everyone to huddle up. As they did, they all place their hands down in the middle and Asuka tells them to beat Hebijo and come back in one piece. All of their fists lift in the air as the sun climbs high, shining down on them. The curtain for the final battle has risen.
Section 4: Haves & Have-Nots
At Ikaruga’s location, Yomi greets her by still calling her a princess. Ikaruga demands Yomi to step aside, but Yomi wasn’t surprised at all. Ikaruga then ask Yomi why she irritates her while Yomi replies by telling Ikaruga how she won’t understand her hatred for the rich. Ikaruga asks Yomi to elaborate on what she means and then Yomi tells her that she’s an orphan and how her parents died. Ikaruga still doesn’t understand so Yomi continues by saying how she had no money and then asks Ikaruga if she knows about the slum. Ikaruga nods to the question and then Yomi tells her that she grew up at the slums while also telling her that she hasn’t forgotten the pain of not knowing when her next meal was coming as she wanders the streets. She tells Ikaruga how one day, she saw her and her family at a fancy restaurant on TV while also hearing how Ikaruga’s father was talking about donating a lot of money to help the poor overseas. Yomi was wondering why Ikaruga’s father wanted to donate a lot of money to help the poor overseas instead of those in Japan. Ikaruga tries to correct the misunderstanding, but Yomi continues by telling her how she have money fall into her lives while she has to work in order raise enough money to live. Next, she asks Ikaruga if she can understand what it’s like to go hungry, live on the streets, and picking through garbage. With that said, Yomi declares that the fight they’re about to have is a class warfare. Ikaruga understands and tells Yomi that if she cannot forgive her, then she’ll fight her. However, she will not go silently. With that said, the two begin their fight.
Afterwards, Ikaruga is victorious as she declares the fight to be over. Yomi tells Ikaruga how her parents died suddenly before she finished elementary school and how she was all alone. Only recently, Yomi found out that her parents saved up an inheritance in order for her to live a decent life before passing. Ikaruga becomes surprised while Yomi continues by saying how she decides to use that inheritance to donate to the poor in Japan. As a Hebijo elite, her tuition and basic living expenses are covered. Ikaruga begins to wish that she could talk with Yomi some more. Despite that, Yomi tells Ikaruga that it wouldn’t accomplished anything while also telling her to go and keep her pity. Ikaruga tries to reason with her, but Yomi demands her to just go. Ikaruga understands and tells her that she should be okay since the wounds aren’t fatal. As Ikaruga leaves, Yomi becomes glad that she’s not around for her final moments as she believes her pity is far bitter than death. Right before she uses the poison, Yomi tells herself that she’ll be seeing her parents soon.
Section 6: At Battle's End
As Ikaruga is cutting through one Hebijo shinobi after another, she’s still thinking about what Yomi told her. She then realizes Hien growling as she uses it while also noticing how Homura is looking down on everything on the castle keep. Having mastered the Super-Secret Ninja Art Scroll, she feels she can look down on the entire world. She realizes that Asuka has yet to arrive and she knows that it’s Asuka’s fate to fight Homura, not hers. Ikaruga decides to see it that her comrades are still safe from the enemies. She also realizes that at some point, Asuka became the heart of the group, meaning Ikaruga’s role as class representative is nothing but a facade. However, Ikaruga is fine with it since the class rep position is selected by seniority. With that said, Ikaruga has decided to make it so Asuka can fight with a clear mind. A good sum of Hebijo shinobi appear in front of him as they kneel, knowing that they’re aware that she defeated Yomi. Suddenly, she notices a black luxury car pulling up at high speed while being surrounded by Hebijo shinobi. Ikaruga tells the car to stop while a man in a suit comes out with a questionable expression. The man states how Ikaruga is a Hanzo student and how Homura is the only Hebijo elite left that hasn’t been defeated. The words filled Ikaruga with relief. The man thinks that it’s pathetic that he poured in a lot of money into the school and the results aren’t in his favor. Right when he said that, Ikaruga begins to feel anger building up within herself.
The man then asks Ikaruga what type of training she went through to become strong. Ikaruga then realizes that the man must be a Hebijo investor while also telling him that the thoughts of friends, schools, master, and families that raised that are what makes them stronger. Ikaruga then clenches onto Hien and tells the guy that even the thoughts of the Hebijo shinobi helped made them stronger. The guy frowns about the fact that no money was involved. As Ikaruga points Hien towards the guy, the guy asks Ikaruga if she’s going to kill him. Ikaruga begins to believe that if she were to kill that particular investor, it might collapse the entire Hebijo organization, thus causing the struggle between good shinobi and evil shinobi to abate. However, Ikaruga lowers Hien and tells the man to leave as it’s a sacred place for shinobi to do battle. The man laughs as he gets back into the car and leaves.
Ikaruga’s mind then drifts back to thinking about Yomi as she now feels that if Hebijo disappeared, the last refuge for people like her would disappear. Katsuragi then shows up and meets with Ikaruga while asking if she’s alright. Ikaruga nods while also pointing out how Katsuragi is alright as well. The two then laugh at one another softly. Suddenly, Katsuragi notices Asuka from the distance as she’s heading for the castle keep. She’s dispatching her foes quickly as she’s heading for Homura directly. However, Asuka has a mountain worth of Hebijo shinobi to deal with before reaching Homura. With that said, both Katsuragi and Ikaruga quickly moved to where Asuka is while they take down the Hebijo shinobi that got in their way. They finally caught up to Asuka as they force themselves in between Asuka and the Hebijo shinobi she’s fight. They begin to fight them as both Katsuragi and Ikaruga tells Asuka to go on ahead. However, Asuka looks troubled as she watches Ikaruga and Katsuragi hold their grounds against the Hebijo shinobi. Ikaruga then realizes that it’s not Asuka’s way to rush in headlong, heedless of those left behind, meaning her heart is set on the exact opposite. Ikaruga then begins to understand that that might be the power of sword and shield. With that in mind, Ikaruga orders Asuka to go on ahead as the class representative while smiling. Asuka smiles back and understands as she tells Ikaruga to leave Homura to her. With that said, both Katsuragi and Ikaruga cut through the wall of Hebijo shinobi while Asuka uses the advantage to get through. Eventually, she reaches the castle keep where she’s now face to face with Homura.
Section 7: Path of the Shinobi
After Asuka defeats Orochi, its body begins to melt away, leaving nothing but its echoing death rattle. A strong wind picks up and the debris shines in the light of the evening sun. All signs of its malice and hatred has disappeared. Asuka stands atop the mountain of rubble, clutching the two Super-Secret Ninja Art Scrolls. Asuka says to herself that everything is over ash she lets out a huge sigh. She begins to feel that all of her energy is leaving her body. As she was about to collapse, she begins to feel warm hands supporting her. One of the hands were Katsuragi as she congratulates Asuka. The other hands were Ikaruga’s, Hibari’s, and Yagyū’s. Feeling overjoyed about seeing her friends in one piece, strength returns to Asuka’s body. Ikaruga anxiously examines Asuka’s body to see if she’s alright, but Asuka insists that she’s alright. However, Katsuragi didn’t buy it and begins to feel up on Asuka. Asuka tells her to stop while Hibari tells Katsuragi to wait until she has more energy before she can sexually harass her, which Yagyū also agrees to. However Asuka states that she rather she didn’t wait until later. With that said, everyone begins to laugh. Despite how messed up everyone looks, they all still smile and laugh.
Suddenly, they all see similar figures across the mountain of rubble. They couldn’t see clearly due to the morning sun, but they know that the four figures are Homura and the others. Homura and the others looked at them as they then turn around and walk away. Hibari begins to chase after Haruka, but Asuka stops her by grabbing her shoulder and telling her to just let them go, despite Hibari crying in joy. Asuka then tells her that she’s sure she’ll see them again at some point. As they watched Homura and the others get farther away, Ikaruga wonders if it’s okay to let them go, but Asuka states that they’re not the enemy and that when they meet, it’ll be when they’re all shinobi. Ikaruga smiles at Asuka’s statement. Asuka then takes a deep breath and then shouts out to Homura saying that she will continue getting stronger and how they’ll meet again. She then wonders if Homura heard her, but then she saw Homura raising her right hand as a sign of acknowledgement. With that said, Asuka tells the others that it’s time for all of them to go back home to Hanzo Academy which everyone agrees to. They then come together smiling and begin walking. Their bodies feel heavier than lead, but their hearts feel light as feathers. The glare of the sunrise gently warms their backs while their shadows extend out before them to Hanzo Academy as if nothing is blocking their way. As Asuka looks down at those shadows, she begins to wonder if this the Path of the Shinobi.
Hebijō Clandestine Girls' Academy
During the Guren arc, she met Yomi for the first time whilst performing a charity Hero Show for the children of the slums. The name of this hero was KP Mask, the KP is an abbreviation of "Kami no ke" ('hair) and "Pattsun", uniformly straight cut bangs. In the English dub of the Guren arc, she was also known as BC Mask, standing for Black hair with low-cropped bangs. Despite her and Yomi's differences in both background and allegiance, the two became friendly outside of their shinobi lives. She battled Yomi one final time during the raid of Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy, prompting her new friend's defeat, which aided in summoning Orochi. Despite fighting her, she expects to see her again someday after the monster's defeat.
It is the night of the raid on Hebijo Clandestine Girl Academy to get back the Super-Secret Ninja Scroll. As the Hanzo group started gathering around in the thicket next to the main gate, Asuka is happened to see that all of her comrades have arrived. Katsuragi then jokes around about Asuka leading her to the enemies boobs for groping. However, Ikaruga spoke and told Katsuragi to focus due to the situation at stake at the moment. Then, Katsuragi replied back to Ikaruga, realizing how serious, nervous, and stiff she is. She then suggested to help Ikaruga relax by smoothing out the rough spots, starting with her boobs. As Ikaruga demanded Katsuragi to stop. Hibari states how she's starting to get nervous herself. Yagyu then insists on helping Hibari out instead of Katsuragi for her own sake.
Asuka was happy to see how her own comrades are still the same as always, even though they're about the face their final battles with Homura and co.. Her smile then turned into a frown as Ikaruga asked Asuka what's wrong. Asuka explained that while it's nice to see everyone laughing and enjoying themselves, she's wonders what type of justice is she referring to whenever she says "For justice's sake, I will not abide you," before going into battle. She personally believes that it means fighting to protect everyone's happiness. Ikaruga and Hibari agreed. With that said, Asuka told everyone that it's time to go and get their Super-Secret Ninja Scroll back while showing Homura and co. what a good shinobi can do. She then wished everyone good luck and had everyone promise to come back alive. Afterwards, the team separated and went on their own to their opponents.
Naraku Chapter
Kagura Chapter
Deep Crimson Chapter
DLC
Deep Waist
Hipster
As the girls gathered around, reiterates about the fact that the city in grave danger while Ikaruga states how kids are hiding, adults are running around naked, and how the city is going to hell at this rate. Hibari started feeling scared going outside now, but Yagyu suggested that she'll hold her hand to help make her feel more calm. Feeling angry, Katsuragi hated how HEBIJO used Explosive Bust Force for evil, causing the world to go crazy. With that said, Asuka was determined to simply take down HEBIJO regardless, which shocked everyone. She understands the situation but she feels that they have a chance at beating HEBIJO. She then started explaining how professor Hanzo crystallized EBF into a new kind of power supply, called Bustnuda-X, which grants the Hanzo group the ability to fly.
Katsuragi understood and stated how she has to prepare herself now. Asuka questioned Katsuragi while Katsuragi explains how she can't let her underclassmen fly out there on their own. As the group decided that they'll all go together, Yomi showed up and saw how cheap their melodrama was, even cheaper than bean sprouts. She then went on by saying how both rich and poor desire milk and how HEBIJO will provide them with such with their breasts. Hibari believed that that doesn't makes sense while Yagyu helped her calm down by saying how Yomi is just speaking gibberish. Yomi then stated how after their titan breasts, there will be titan sprouts, causing small breasts to be obsolete. Ikaruga denied that while Yomi told them to defeat all five of us to prove themselves right.
With that said, the Hanzo group made their move as they went after HEBIJO, starting with Yomi.
After defeating Yomi, Katsuragi asked the others what they think about HEBIJO's way of thinking about titan bust supremacism. Ikaruga believes that it's an unconscionable ideology while Hibari believes that just because you call something "titan" doesn't mean it's better. However Yagyu doesn't mind a titan Hibari. With that said, Asuka decided that they should all stamp out titan bust supremacism. However, Katsuragi started having a bit of doubt about it. She wondered if HEBIJO is really wrong about their ideology. Ikaruga wondered what she meant by that while Katsuragi explains how she can see the attraction of the size and texture of a titan bust. As the others questioned Katsuragi some more, she then stated that it's complicated to explain. She then started going on about how size is justice and how great it is to be big.
Suddenly, Ikaruga slapped Katsuragi to snap her out of it while explaining how all breasts have their values, so they can't be replaced. Katsuragi just remembered that as she started freaking out. Now, Katsuragi's eyes are finally wide open as she apologized for losing sight of what she believed in. She then asked one of them to grab her boobs to prove that she's okay now. Yagyu passed but Hibari started squeezing them, which then had Yagyu telling her to stop. The groping helped Katsuragi feel energized when suddenly, Hikage appeared right before them.
Hikage asked them which is a better deal, a regular dish or a super dish. Asuka answered with super dish but Katsuragi quickly told Asuka to stop what she's doing by hitting her, causing Asuka to snap out of it. She then tried telling Asuka not to fall for Hikage's trick on converting her to titan bust supremacism. Asuka realized that as she thanked Katsuragi. Hikage then told them not to overthink it and asked again. Ikaruga then asked which choice is the simple one while HIbari and Yagyu states how they're fine with the regular size.
Afterwards, Hikage sighed as she finds fighting annoying, so she told them that she'll be waiting for them in the sky. With that said, the Hanzo group began to go after Hikage.
After taking down Hikage, Ikaruga was in deep thought while Hibari asked her what's wrong. She states how it's nothing, but Yagyu can tell she's thinking about something, so she told her to tell them. Ikaruga then told them about how she's worried about her brother, Murasame. At first Katsuragi didn't think that they would transform him into a giant since he's a guy, but then she asked Ikaruga if she's worried about to give him a titan "private". Quickly, Ikaruga denied that as she then wondered what would happen to him if she dies in battle. Katsuragi understood while Yagyu states how Murasame resents Ikaruga in general, but in actuality, he as a serious sister complex. Ikaruga then stated how he abandoned all hope and is now running around nude as they speak.
They then figured that if Ikaruga isn't around to watch over Murasame, it would be a problem. Katsuragi then figured that the real problem is actually Ikaruga herself while explaining how even though Murasame has a sister complex, Ikaruga have a brother complex as well. Feeling shocked and embarrassed, Ikaruga denied the fact, but then she remembered a few moments where it showed. Yagyu then suggested Ikaruga to go home if she's going to be worried about Mursame throughout the battles, causing her to be a burden to the group. Katsuragi agreed when suddenly, Ikaruga burst into tears while Mirai appeared right before them while hearing about the crying and the big bra crap.
Yagyu told Mirai that she misheard the last part while Mirai stopped caring since it didn't matter anymore. She then went on how they're now in the age of the titan bust, while Yagyu replied by stating how Mirai's cup size didn't even change after becoming huge. Asuka followed up by saying how it's neither titanic nor explosive. Right before Hibari followed up by saying how flat it was, Mirai threatened to kill all of them if they continued saying such things while also saying how her cup size will grow eventually and those that disagrees will die.
Yagyu understood but she decided to retort instead. Mirai dared them to try and do so as the Hanzo group went after her.
After defeating Mirai, Yagyu started laughing for some reason. The others asked why while Yagyu started feeling empowered by the Bustnuda-X. She then realized that she has to take care of HEBIJO first and then the world. Those who oppose her and the others would be killed. Ikaruga then began to convince Yagyu to step away from the dark side. Suddenly, Yagyu started getting a massive headache while Asuka starts thinking that maybe Yagyu is losing control of herself. Hibari then wondered what they should do to help Yagyu while Ikaruga wondered if the effect of the Bustnuda-X can happen to the rest of them as well. Suddenly, Yagyu noticed how her right eye is aching black and how her tentacles are telling her to defeat them.
Quickly, Asuka begun to sing about breasts, which helped Yagyu come back to her senses. As Yagyu apologized for what she did, Asuka told her that it was alright since the important this, she came back to them while also saying how music can work wonders to a person's heart. Suddenly, Homura appeared before them while singing about meat. She then noticed the Hanzo group and was happy to finally see them. Asuka was surprised to see how much Homura improved with her sonic attack, but Homura didn't understand what she was talking about while also saying how she was just practicing her singing. She then realized how Asuka just told her how she can't sing well, which Asuka admitted.
The blunt response angered Homura as she prepared to go and kill the Hanzo group while also serenading them. She then demanded all of them to come after her. With that said, the Hanzo group went after Homura.
After taking down Homura, they realized that they have one more opponent to fight, which is the mastermind herself. By defeating her, the world will be saved. Suddenly, Haruka showed up beforehand while stating how what they're going to do isn't going to happen. She then realized how angry the Hanzo group look while also realizing how she might have got carried away. Ikaruga then stated how her getting carried away is unforgivable. Haruka sarcastically started feeling scared while realizing that she can't please everyone. Feeling angry, Katsuragi told Haruka how much pain she caused on the Earth. Haruka asked why she asked that even though she was having fun, which is what they said and how that's all that matters. Despite all that's been said, Hibari doesn't believe that Haruka is a bad person. Yagyu questioned what she meant but Hibari believes there's a truth behind what she's trying to do. Katsuragi started noticing it herself.
Katsuragi then figured that what Haruka is trying to do is make a world where everyone doesn't fight over the size of their boobs. Haruka didn't say a word to that statement but Hibari states how it all makes sense if everybody becomes titan bust. However, if everyone becomes one, everyone will lose their charms. Asuka then states that since everyone is different, everyone has their own charms.
Haruka was impressed with how Hibari and the others figured out her true motive, but she still won't listen to those that oppose titan bust supremacism. She then told them defeat her by force in order to stop her. With that said, the Hanzo group went after Haruka for the final battle.
After the fight, Haruka reverted back to normal size. She stated how they were right about boobs being wonderful because they come in different shapes while also admitting that she was wrong about everything. However, Asuka disagreed while Ikaruga explained how boobs can bring peace and prevent war, so they should foster world peace through mutual appreciattion of boobs. Haruka was happy to hear that, but she states how she can't fly anymore as she starts descending to the ground.
Suddenly, Homura caught Haruka right before she shit the ground while saying how she can't have Haruka die because of how important she is to the HEBIJO group. Haruka thanked Homura for saving her while Homura told Asuka that they won't work together with them. She then explained how they'll come up with a new type of titan. Asuka asked what type, leaving Homura to think for a minute, until she decided on titan beef or titan beef stew. Asuka asked again what Homura is planning exactly, but Homura dodged the question by saying how their rivalry continues. With that said, Homura flew off with Haruka.
With the mission finally completed, the Hanzo group flew off to the Hot Springs to relax and enjoy themselves.
Burst
Insert Info here*
Gameplay
Her weapon is an heirloom Nodachi sword called "Hien", (lit. Flying Swallow). Her Ninpo utilizes the power of phoenixes.
The opening song of the Hanzo arc portion of the game. It is sung by Asuka (Hitomi Harada), Ikaruga (Asami Imai), Katsuragi (Yu Kobayashi), Yagyu (Kaori Mizuhashi), and Hibari (Yuka Iguchi).
Like a Beautiful Dance
Ikaruga's theme before transforming.
Flying Swallow Wakes
Ikaruga's theme after transforming. It also plays when you fight against her.
Enter KP Mask!
Ikaruga's theme when she switches to her alter ego, KP Mask.
Beyond the Light and Darkness
Deep Crimson
The Opening song of the game. It is sung by Asuka (Hitomi Harada), Ikaruga (Asami Imai), Katsuragi (Yu Kobayashi), Yagyu (Kaori Mizuhashi), and Hibari (Yuka Iguchi).
To Be the Wielder of Hien
Ikaruga's theme after transforming.
Pride of a good Shinobi
The theme that plays whenever you fight one of the Hanzo shinobi.
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