Editing Cute Kunoichis:Volume1 Chapter6 (section)

===5: Once More===

Why he could not bring the others with him could not have been more obvious.

First of all, Oniyuri was powerful. There was no guarantee they could win even if they worked together to fight her and, even if they managed to win, who could say how many of those beautiful girls would have bubbling lava dumped over their heads in the process. He could not force that choice onto them.

And second.

He knew it made him dumb as could be, but even after losing everything, Sugiyado Souha still could not imagine defeating Sagami Oniyuri while she continued to crawl through the darkness. He could not imagine killing her and just moving on.

He wanted to save her.

After all, what was different about her from other people? What made her different from Kuhou Ouka, Hanasawa Bara, Nantou Hoozuki, Shizukuma Asagao, Shirazaya Guren, Shirazaya Suiren, or even the ordinary girls who walked through the city eating ice cream?

After his final mission, he had hoped to become an instructor and that dream had come true.

It was too late to start working to protect people once the action had already begun, so he wanted to make sure they were prepared in advance. He wanted to give them the skill they needed to survive.

But.

However.

He had also wanted one more name on his list of students: Sagami Oniyuri. No, she was the reason for it all in the first place. He had met a fundamentally misguided girl on the battlefield and he had wished for a place that could teach her what was right. He had wished to give her a chance at a real life. That was what had motivated him in everything he had done since.

He felt like he had reduced the number of girls like Oniyuri since then. Now that Ouka’s group could laugh together as friends, they would not have to wander the world with such a dark look in their eyes.

But that did not mean he had saved Oniyuri herself.

He had long since given up on that.

He had bit his lip and hoped that carrying an impossible dream would at least give him the drive he needed to accomplish other important things.

But now she had reappeared before him.

She was once more within arm’s reach.

Now was the time to risk his life.

He would not have another shot at this.

So after sending his irreplaceable students and other acquaintances away, he had searched through his apartment.

He had needed to face his past.

He had needed to face what a foolish, inexperienced, and dazzlingly bright person he had been back then.

This battle was too much to get by using the Fierce Fang air-pressure kunais he had come up with to compensate for his scarred body. But another weapon slept in this room. He had never been able to actually throw it out and had even kept up with its maintenance.

He owned a ninja sword called Salvation & Punishment.

The blade was contained in a black scabbard wrapped over and over in a long, long decorative cloth. The sword was slightly longer than a normal katana and it had no curve.

Including the scabbard, it weighed 8.7kg.

Meanwhile, his upper limit was 10kg. His normal clothing weighed 1kg, so even if he left behind all his other ninja gear, this was cutting it close. In a risky battle when any kind of unexpected thing could happen at any time, a leeway of 300g was simply not enough.

That ninja weapon was only useful when he was planning to only fight a 1-on-1 battle with a specific opponent.

“I know it’s presumptuous of me to ask this of you after so much time.”

He had a self-deprecating smile on his lips.

His fingertips wandered as he nervously reached out.

He had completed the ritual he had tasked himself with.

And he opened his mouth.

“But just once more, will you help me save that girl?”

He grabbed it.

His trembling hand held the symbol of his former glory.

While feeling the weight of Salvation & Punishment like it was the weight of his own life, a single ninja finally set out for the final showdown.

He would reach out to a girl trapped at a dead end, offer her what he had, and give her a different path in life.

That was all he hoped for. As a teacher.