Original subtitles

There were people who loathed one another.

Their corpses withered in the fields, their souls soaked in blood...

And their bonds were broken by blades...

Collapsed in the darkness, their sincerity wails...

"My beloved, please die... "

"My beloved, please die..."

Clouds shroud a night with a waning moon quivering in the haze

A cruel trap involving a pair of crucified fledglings

Oh, since smoldering feelings lie firmly in their hearts...

...destruction!

Gently as the water, severely as a flower

pierced with a trembling blade

Even when I shut the fated tears deep within my eyes

my eyelids still remember you

"Divine Ancestral Mandate"

"Sunpu Castle"

So the Iga are leading, nine to six?

Yes...

So four of the Kouga have already been slain...

"Hattori Kyohachiro" Yes.

"Hattori Kyohachiro" The first to disturb the dew were the leaders of both sides...

The first to disturb the dew were the leaders of both sides...

...Kouga Danjo and Iga-no-Ogen.

They killed each other by the Abekawa River outside the castle.

Right after they left...

What of their remains? Surely-

Yes, well...

After their deaths, they were both...

...so I left them as they were.

I see.

Still...

The Iga Tsubagakure Group, which bears the fate of Takechiyo-gimi,

has the upper hand...

A mere two days have passed since the nullification of the pact.

This may well end sooner than anticipated...

Mataemon-dono.

There is still no telling how things will play out.

This is not a war between ordinary people...

Yes...

Those people truly were demons...

Don't worry...

It'll only hurt...

...for a second!

I'll kill you...

...Kouga scum!

To think I'd ever see eye-to-eye with Iga trash!

Simply thinking about it gives me chills...

Ordinary sword fighting would be child's play to them.

Tell me, who were the first ones to fight to mourn their lost leaders?

Right. A large man who looked very unlike a shinobi,

and a hunched-over old man.

My word...

However, neither was aware the pact had been nullified

or that Danjo and Ogen were dead.

They called it a game.

Don't write me off as some tub of lard!

Time to learn that even games can end with fatal results, Josuke!

The truce between Iga and Kouga disgusts me to no end!

What are you, a windbag?! You spineless freak!

Hey, stretchy old geezer! Who're you calling a spineless freak?!

Got you!

Seems you have more of a spine than meets the eye, old man.

It is proving rather difficult to break yours as well.

--Here I come! --Here I come!

A-an old man who can freely stretch his limbs?

So, how did it end?

They were stopped by Danjo's grandson who was for some reason

with a Tsubagakure in the mountains at the Kouga-Iga border.

They called it a game, but left unchecked, one would have died...

This fight over succession...

To these two clans, who have long-held grudges with one another,

it has become an unparalleled chance for a justification for war!

Hotarubi! Koshiro's sickle!

What?!

Jimushi...

...Jyubei!

Why can't we catch up?!

I suggest you release the scroll in your mouth...

Otherwise...

...you cannot expel the spearhead in your throat.

Isn't that right...

...Jimushi!

Tenzen!

There is no need for two of the same scroll.

The Kouga scroll was burned?

Yes.

So the fact the one carrying it was killed

means the Kouga still do not know the war has begun?

That is correct.

Then that would explain why the Kouga failed to take the initiative;

they do not know that the anti-war pact was nullified.

But that means...

You do not appear happy, Mataemon-dono.

Quick thinking and scheming are the very essence of war.

Moreover, they are not warriors.

They are diehard spies.

Damn it!

Where are you?!

Udono Josuke is slain...

What's going on?!

That was a close one!

You're horrible, Akeginu!

What if I had died?

--Water! --Now talk, Amayo!

Why would you try to kill Gennosuke-sama

when the Kouga and Iga are on the verge of peace?!

T-the Hattori family's... anti-war pact...

...has been annulled...

What?! The Hattori family's pact?!

And?!

In short, the Iga... and Kouga...

The Iga and Kouga?!

The Kouga and Iga are what?!

Having a ninpou war!

I let my guard down!

W-what are you doing, Rosai?!

What is it?! What's going on?!

The wall spoke!

T-the wall!

Come out!

Intruders!

It's over! Strike them down!

Iga clansmen. Have you gone mad?!

You Kouga are the mad ones.

That was quite the welcome you gave us.

I simply ordered the capture of suspicious men.

It's very clear how the Kouga do things now!

Should you ever be mad enough to visit Iga Tsubagakure in the future,

know now that you'll be as warmly treated as we were here!

That is the extent of what I have witnessed.

I have arranged for my men to send word of any new developments.

The war is most likely becoming even more ferocious as we speak...

Speaking of ferocious...

The women's war in Edo is becoming more ferocious all the time...

2nd-generation shogun Hidetada-sama's eldest son Takechiyo-sama

is backed by his wet nurse, Ofuku-dono...

And the younger brother, Kunichiyo-sama,

is backed by the shogun's consort, Lady Oeyo.

Moreover, they have conflicting backgrounds...

The war is already a disease, as they involve guardians and statesmen

to further their deep-rooted antagonism.

Last winter, someone made an attempt on Ofuku-dono's life,

Kunichiyo-gimi was attacked at night not long after,

and just recently, Takechiyo-gimi's tisane was poisoned,

but without care for her own safety, Ofuku-dono sucked it out

with not a moment to spare...

These uproars know no end. What will become of Edo?

Worry not.

I understand the dice I have thrown.

Yes, sir!

--Measures have been made in Edo, as well. --By which you mean?

I sent Tenkai in.

As men are forbidden to enter the inner palace, I found a priest

and placed him among the women to lay down the law.

So, let us wait until the ninja war is concluded.

What is it, Kyohachiro?

Don't tell me the war is already over?

N-no...

The war has changed its location to Iga Tsubagakure...

There is some conjecture in here that I cannot verify, but...

Halt!

Got him!

There you are!

Must be one of the Ten!

A return gift will save some face for me!

Speak obediently...

M-my hand won't come off!

W-wench!

D-damn you!

Take this to your grave!

A Kouga girl has been captured?

What?!

Damn you!

I must say, you impress me, Kouga girl...

But this is the end!

W-why you!

I need to find more skin!

What?!

Tried some trickery, did you?

Do not make light of me, girl!

Such ominous intensity...

Kyohachiro.

Yes.

Koshiro! Please don't kill Gennosuke-sama!

At present, of the ten for each side, the Iga group has seven survivors,

and the Kouga has five.

In regard to the anti-war pact's nullification,

the Kouga now know.

Now then, I will take my leave...

Where are you going?

I assigned my men to watch for me henceforth, but...

...you now wish to view for yourself?

Yes.

Very well.

By your leave.

Iga Tsubagakure...

Kouga Manjidani...

Those elite twenty...

They might have been useful for the attack on Ozaka...

The mist of sorrow softly touches these lips blotted with red droplets

The mirror in the sky beautifully illuminates the distance in the night

Giving more than a passing thought to the myriad of showering stars

gently, the cords of a deep bond firmly, firmly bind them

Those beautiful eyes that sparkle with a lazuline hue...

Even if they wind up closed by a harbinger from the darkness,

since no one can steal the bridge of connected dreams

they still reflect the limitless tomorrow

"Next Episode"

Alert eyes are shut, together with hope.

An honest spirit wriggles between affection and suspicion.

When the "light of death" shines in the abyss,

the howls of death throes will blame and torment the wandering heart.

The five Kouga. The seven Iga.

A deadly ninpou war trip on the Tokaido Road.

On the next Basilisk~ Kouga Ninpouchou-

"Helpless Pebbles"