Asakomi

In the dark of night the Kouga gather around the ninja scroll. Kagero believes Gennosuke was tricked by Oboro as she must have been aware of what her men were doing. She accuses Oboro of planning to attack Gennosuke all along. Hyouma disagrees, however, he feels that the plotting must really have been done by Tenzen and that it’s possible Oboro didn’t know. Kagero takes strong offense that Hyouma would defend Oboro in any way.

Gyoubu interjects that he doesn’t care about Oboro, the important thing is that the Iga’s morale will be lower now that they’ve seen Gennosuke’s devastating power and they should take this opportunity to attack them while they’re down.

Through all of this Gennosuke is silent. My hope is that he is feeling torn because of his feelings for Oboro. My fear is that he is taking in everything his comrades are saying and trying to come up with the best strategy to slaughter the Iga. Perhaps the truth is that it’s a combination of both.

When Gennosuke finally speaks he asks Zaemon to bring him a pen and paper. As Zaemon hurries off to do his leader’s bidding, Gennosuke gives him his condolences about Okoi. Zaemon says that he, too, is sorry that Okoi is gone, but states that they must stay strong.

Gennosuke cautions his subordinates not to let an old grudge cloud their vision. They must look deeper, to the real reasons behind the conflict. And eventually, everyone must have the opportunity for a new beggining.

We then see the continuation of the meeting of the Iga. They are all horrified at what Oboro has done to her eyes. Oboro tells them of a meeting between herself and her grandmother, Ogen, where she spoke to her of the strange power of her eyes. She encouraged her not to be ashamed. However, her eyes are not a ninja art, which to Ogen makes them even more terrifying. Oboro’s power could tear apart even her fellow Iga and lead their clan to ruin. Ogen urged Oboro to apply the Dark Seven ointment to her eyes if that terrible day ever came, which would seal her eyes for seven days.

Tenzen chastises Oboro for what she’s done, but she maintains that it’s the right thing to do and that she is very aware of what is at stake. She refuses to fight against Gennosuke, and declares that if she doesn’t seal her eyes she would feel tempted to seal the Iga’s techniques if she saw them fighting Gennosuke.

Tenzen is seriously pissed, but before he can say anything more another Iga interrupts, bringing an object that was left at the gate - the Ninja scroll. On it Koshiro’s name hasn’t been crossed out, which means the Kouga know that he didn’t die. As they try to determine why on earth the Kouga would return the scroll, Tenzen’s hands tremble as he reads a letter that accompanied it.

It’s from Gennosuke, who indicates that he has no desire to fight and only wants to learn the reasons behind the fighting. He states that he will go to Sunpu to meet with Ieyasu and Hattori and learn the truth behind the broken peace treaty. He lists the Kouga who will join him and details the route that they will take. Then he declares a warning: If the Iga take this opportunity to strike the Kouga camp, upon his return Gennosuke will annihilate them. He then invites the remaining Iga to join him at Sunpu.

Tenzen crumples up the letter and declares that the Iga will indeed go. Nenki and Hotarbui are sent ahead to locate the Kouga group and monitor them.

The next morning the Kouga continue on their journey, making sure that they are not followed. Gyoubu asks Hyouma why Gennosuke returned the scroll. he believes they have more than enough reason to fight - revenge. Gyoubu personally wants revenge for the death of his parents at the hands of the Iga.

Hyouma assures Gyoubu that the only reason Gennosuke returned the scroll was because he’s sure the Iga will come to Sunpu with it, so eventually it’ll be back in their hands. Suddenly Gyoubu goes off on his own, determined to find the Iga.

We then see Kagero cleansing herself at a stream, staring forlornly at Gennosuke. It’s so obvious that all her ill feelings for the Iga are nothing more than an extension of her jealousy toward Oboro. Later on Hyouma and Zaemon even discuss her feelings for Gennosuke. Apparently when she is um.. having a good time, she ends up killing her lovers. Yikes ^_^V And then comes my favourite Baslisk line so far when Zaemon says, “When it comes down to it, all women are scary.” Ahahaha.

Nenki and Hotarubi hurry through the rain to catch up with the Kouga and Nenki silently curses Tenzen for looking down on him.

Gennosuke broods about Oboro. It seems he may be worried that she’ll try to kill him. Kagero enters and makes some small talk.

Zaemon and Hyouma continue to talk about her. At Sunpu Zaemon was told that she should find a partner soon to have a baby girl of her own. Why is it important for her to have a baby, specifically a baby girl? I guess that may be revealed later.

Kagero throws herself at Gennosuke and tries to kiss him, making his face have those bloody lines on them. It looked kind of like Okoi’s blood draining ability, but I don’t think it’s quite the same. He uses his power on her to make it stop and they both fall to the ground. Kagero says that she wants to die there with Gennosuke. But he tells her if she wants to die she needs to wait until they’re done killing the Iga. She morosely states that her ability only works on men. I’m sure she means she doesn’t want to kill anyone except Oboro.

She then asks him if he can take care of Oboro. He doesn’t hesistate to say that he can. At first I thought she was asking if he could care for her in a loving husbandly way.. but that’s just the romantic in me hoping that Gennosuke is a good man who honestly loves Oboro. I realized later that when she said “take care of” she means, “kill.” And the fact that he replied yes with such ease makes my heart sink. At the same time, I wonder if it’s just a cover. He’s working awfully hard to prevent more fighting between the clans. My girlish heart wants to grab hold of this small piece of knowledge to say “See! He does love her!” But only time will reveal his true motives.

Hotarubi’s snake infiltrates the room and lunges at Kagero. Gennosuke cuts off its head, but as it dies it spits poison at his face. Zaemon and Hyouma rush in only to find that now Gennosuke’s eyes have been “sealed.”

Nenki sends Hotarubi to warn the others that Gyoubu may be after them, then he proceeds to attack Gennosuke and Zaemon. But ha ha, the poison didn’t work. Gennosuke uses his ability and hangs Nenki by his own hair. The episode ends with Gennosuke seeing pictures of all of the ninjas, ending with Oboro whose face now has a kind smile.

Friggin. Awesome.