We see Oda Yae in a black kimono, standing over a pitifully small draped corpse--we can see the long braids done up in pink ponytail ties. In one hand she holds the Togakushi's kinjutsu scroll, in the other her cell phone.
She bites her thumb until she draws blood. Her hands clench, and she brings up the same photo of the little girl on the swing that we saw last episode. Elisa, she says, I'll avenge you no matter what.
[Incidentally, it's completely left out of the anime that Kouichi presents a paper at the conference on "The Relationship between Ninjutsu and the Laws of Nature": there's much derision as he walks onstage,
people saying that ninjutsu is imaginary and there's no place for such fantasy stuff at a science conference, which he hushes by tossing papers into the air and setting them afire with a jutsu before beginning his talk. He explains that along with taijutsu, ninjas use the more recently developed gogyou--"five elements"--jutsu
which uses the basic elements of all life: "ninjutsu is without a doubt a natural science," he says. It's cool stuff. =)]
In the parking garage of the conference center, Yae walks over to Miharu. Rokujou-kun, she says, are you worried about not telling Kumohira-sensei that Yoite person is here? He glances at her in surprise; please don't read my mind, he says.
She says she just felt like it, since he always seems to be thinking out solutions to everything by himself. To be liked by everyone or hated by everyone...I suppose indifference helps to keep that balance, huh? --Nosy, chatty old hag, he thinks resentfully and pointedly.
Oda-san says "someone with a unique heart like yours makes even mine shake in fear. Even though I should have the advantage..." Am I that weird? Miharu asks, and she says he has both an outer and an inner layer..and some people are rotten both inside and out...we see her flashbacks of the little girl playing on the swings, and then lying in a hospital bed.
She catches her breath. If you want to, you can go and tell Kumohira-sensei about that Yoite person, she says. He thanks her and gets up to go; she tells him to also take a message from her: "if you fail, I'll be sure to make all your heart's secrets public".
Upstairs, Yukimi is still fuming over Nowake's rudeness, saying he ought to know ninjas are more useful than muscle-man bodyguards. He tells Yoite that he's surprised he decided to come along, and says he'll be counting on him, even though it's a boring mission that's not nearly as much fun as mixing it up with those Fuuma guys. --Yoite looks up wide-eyed from his food, points and says "They're here."
Yukimi looks out just fast enough to see Miharu running across the floor below.
Thobari knocks out the guard at the door of Frosty's room, and tries to talk down his fears that the Frosty in the room is a decoy. Asahi, he thinks, I would never use your child as a reason to kill anyone, but I made a decision to kill as a ninja of Nabari...forgive me. He opens Frosty's door,
rolls in a blinding cartridge and leaps in under cover of its blaze of light; then something hits him, twisting his arm, and he hits the floor, and sees Yoite, and Yukimi with his gun to Miharu's head. A ninja ambushing in enemy territory, quite admirable, grins Yukimi. Miharu tells Thobari that he tried to tell him earlier that both Yoite and another Kairoushuu were here. The blinded bodyguards try to get Frosty out of the room
(still speaking English). Yukimi leaves Miharu and steps forward to train his pistol on Thobari:
Yoite takes this chance to tell Miharu that it seems the Kairoushuu are getting closer to finding the location of Kouga village. On our side, we have the leader of Togakushi village helping us; they'll trade us their kinjutsu scroll if we kill Frosty, Miharu tells him. [The Dangerous Kids Alliance swaps crucial information in the midst of a high-profile mission. Got to love it. =)].
Miharu's eyes flick up to Yoite's: once we have it, he asks, should I give it to you? Yes, he says, since we already have
two. --All right. [In the manga, Thobari/Yukimi AND Miharu/Yoite have extended hand-to-hand battles at this point: the older ninjas beat each other seriously black and blue, while Miharu uses that big wind-shuriken and the gogyou-jutsu with fluid ease; it becomes clear, however, that Y&T are fighting in dead earnest,
while Y&M are just sparring as cover while they talk. Yoite says Banten can keep the scroll.
As Y&T's fight winds down, Yoite says "our guardians have started to watch us--be more focused" and lands a blow that throws Miharu across the room; as Thobari scoops him up, he thinks dizzily, 'you're a little too focused.' =)]
Yukimi, still holding Thobari on the floor at gunpoint, notes that "pigtails samurai and four-eyes" aren't with him, and calls out that this guy's friends may be up to something--they shouldn't move yet. Shut up, retorts Nowake, heading into the corridor with Frosty. Yukimi orders Yoite to go with them and Yoite refuses. Yukimi, fast losing control of the room, levels the gun at Thobari and tells him the kid will get hurt if he tries anything, but Miharu is already clear of him and behind Thobari, telling him that
Oda-san is in the parking garage. Thobari is thinking hard: I didn't expect the Kira user to show up again; if I have to fight him there's no chance of winning, so we'll have to just escape and then go after Frosty. He shakes out a handful of small daggers and yells for Miharu to hide; no way. Battle ensues.
Oda-san doesn't know what to think when the elevator door opens and Frosty is there with his bodyguards. You don't think Kumohira-sensei was beaten, do you?--asks Katou. (We see her flashback: Nowake telling her that the new experimental drug will definitely cure her daughter, asking her to supply the pathology data, saying it's for the well-being of everyone.) She strides up behind him and hauls him off by the scruff: it's been a long time, Nowake Hideo-san, she says.
---Things start to happen very fast. Thobari and Yoite both spot a lurking figure with a dagger behind
a pylon; Yoite points, and the figure's arm twists horridly out of shape--it's Katou. Katou-kun!--cries Yae.
They had another one with them? says Yukimi, and he rushes across firing a volley at Frosty and his bodyguards, yelling at
Yoite to get over to him. Thobari tells Miharu to keep back, but he sees Yae creeping from cover to get a bead on Yoite,
and pushes past Thobari, calling "Yoite, look out--she can read people's thoughts". Thobari is startled. Yoite turns and
points at Yae as she rushes him; he tears a bloody gash, but she smiles, saying "I've already obtained everything you
hold in your heart". [In the manga she includes a few of his thoughts--'who's the bastard that made me into this?' and 'if what's before my eyes is the real world, I'd rather never have existed'--before thinking that his mind is so complicated it's forcing her to lose control.]
He stares at her, stunned: she says that she understands his exhaustion and despair, and that it's OK if he just disappears.
Yoite ramps up the power:
she sees the ground underfoot melting, space distorting, thinks that she's being overloaded and tries to bolt as the pillars behind her explode.
'Obtaining
the heart'? Izunashingan?--thinks Yukimi, and he yells for Yoite not to kill her--she's someone important that they need,
from Togakushi. Yoite, trembling, tries to check himself, presses a hand to his face--the fluorescent lights explode, row by row.
He can't hear me, thinks Yukimi--realizing that Yoite is fighting in blind panic. Frosty's guards fall in sprays of blood and Frosty clutches at his chest.
Nowake's hand splits open and he howls in pain. Yoite, stop! yells Yukimi urgently. Stop using Kira so recklessly, you'll
die!
Miharu recalls Yoite's words in the bamboo forest, knows that if the Kira user dies here Team Banten is doomed,
and rushes forward, shouting "stop!". Yae
falls with a bloody leg wound; Miharu takes a bleeding rip in the hand as he intercepts a Kira blast. Miharu holds up his dripping hand and Yoite folds to the floor, gasping.
Thobari, binding up
the hand, sternly tells Yae to stop reading minds so casually--a person's mind and soul are their life, he says.
Yukimi approaches Yoite, who says in a shaking voice "don't you dare touch me". Is he scared? Yukimi wonders. Even a cold-blooded shinigami has moments when he feels fear?--out loud, the older ninja says "even if you wanted to kill that woman, going beyond the mission is something I can't
forgive." He draws his gun.
Yae confronts Thobari and Miharu: if you won't do it I will, she says, and then I'll reveal all your secrets. She closes in on Frosty, who's huddled on the floor surrounded by dead subordinates.
Coward Nowake, who took shelter behind a car, cries out indignantly that Mr. Frosty is a Very Important Person, and it'll be a huge problem for the nation if she kills him. So?--says Yae. Thobari grits his teeth,
thinks that Oda-san shouldn't be made responsible for this, catches up a shard of shattered pillar and launches himself past her to reach Frosty first. But Frosty raises his hands, pleading with Thobari to spare his life,
and bows to the floor in a submissive gesture; and--you knew it--good-hearted, merciful Sensei hesitates. And when Frosty rises from his bow, he's drawn a gun. Die, you bastard! he snarls at Thobari, aiming at point-blank range.
Thobari has one second to think how tired he is of his own naivete--
Everyone stares at him. He walks out into the garage, calm as glass. The request has been fulfilled, he says; what shall we do now, Oda-san? Oda slumps dizzily and is caught by Katou. How could this happen?--
wonders Yukimi. Behind him, Yoite gets to his feet and catches Miharu's eye; Miharu gives the slightest nod, and Yoite turns and
walks out of the garage. [--Dangerous Kids Alliance for the win. =)] --Hey! cries Yukimi, and rushes after,
pausing to call back defiantly that their withdrawal
doesn't mean the Fuuma have won, and they'd better be protecting that devil child with their lives. Thobari drops to his knees, trembling, but Kouichi--who is absolutely running the show at this point--tells him the job still isn't finished, and points at cowering Nowake. He smiles,
observes that since Sensei is shaking like that he probably can't use any illusionary techniques, and says "I'll do it."
"Please look into my eyes, Nowake-san," he requests sweetly, and his pale albino eyes glow fluorescent red. Do you know why those men on the floor died? Because I killed them, replies Nowake in a dull mesmerized voice.
That's right, says Kouichi, picking up his limp hand. You used the fact that he's constantly being targeted by assassins.
In order to take over his position--he unwraps the gun and places it in Nowake's hand--you shot and killed him with this gun. You paid off the security beforehand, and told them to kill any guards he brought with him, resulting in the deaths of his entire bodyguard. You understand?
I killed them, agrees Nowake in a shaking voice, paid them off and had them killed.--Yae bites her thumb till blood runs down her lip. It's the punishment you deserve, she says.
Outside, the place is surrounded by police cars, and the ninjas meet in a park nearby. Thobari is thinking that Aizawa of course is right; as ninjas they should focus entirely on the mission. Kouichi pipes up cheerfully, "it seems everything went well, sensei." Thobari manages a smile,
says "all thanks to you", helps Miharu open his bottle of tea (the bandaged hand is making it difficult). [1]. I suppose I should be grateful that we can continue without my having to tell Miharu anything, he thinks, and I have no right to ask what Aizawa is thinking. Aizawa turns to Oda-san: you'll be sure to keep your end of the bargain, right?
[note who's doing the negotiations here] and she says it'll be sent to them even before she arrives back in Nagano.
Katou says that won't be necessary, and draws the kinjutsu scroll out of his jacket. But that's only a replica you made, says Yae. No, he tells her; it's been the real thing ever since
we arrived in Banten. What are you saying?--she asks, bewildered, and suddenly realizes that she can't read his thoughts--
A clear, jovial laugh is heard, and there's a swoosh of wind from nowhere. What's with these looks on everyone's faces, after completing a job?--a voice calls out. It's Fuuma Kotarou, standing in a tree overhead. He leaps to the ground and commends Katou-kun on his good work. What's the meaning of this, Fuuma-dono? demands Thobari.
The Fuuma master smiles and explains that the request for the assassination had actually been given to Fuuma village, but he thought it would be a great chance to get Togakushi to do it instead, since he'd recieved information that their village had been secretly researching the Frosty
Company. He pats Katou on the shoulder: we knew all this because our very skilled Katou-kun was there. --But he came to us half a year ago, protests Yae. --Yes, but the request was given to me a full year ago. Kotarou smiles, adding that Katou is very good at mind control techniques.
[Poor Katou does not look at all happy about this
public outing: he may be a double agent but his crush on pretty Oda-san seems to be genuine.] Was everything I've seen in his heart a lie?--thinks Oda, stricken, and he pulls away from Fuuma-dono to protest that his feelings for her are no lie, but she covers her ears, telling him to stop.
Fuuma-dono cheerfully says that the kinjutsu scroll will be held by the Fuuma for research purposes; the Banten group is welcome to come and see it any time, and they'll be paid as well, of course. Keep up the good work, everyone, he calls encouragingly, and he and Katou are gone in a spray of leaves.
In the train station, Yae tells Team Banten that she'll never use the izunashingan again; that Thobari was right in telling her that it was wrong to use the jutsu to control others or as a tool of revenge. I'm beyond saving, she says desolately, even more so than Nowake. Sorry to have caused any trouble.
--She steps onto the train; Thobari asks what she'll do now, and she's not sure. Miharu goes up to her and says "you've read people's thoughts for so long that you've forgotten how to talk to them, haven't you? Are you okay with that?"
She's still looking at him as the train pulls away. Her cell phone rings: it's someone from her office, excitedly praising her work--they saw everything on the news. We're all worried, are you all right? --I'm horrible, she replies; I'm too ashamed to face you guys again. What are you saying? the caller laughs, and she hears
the voices of a cheerful crowd gathered around the phone, all calling out "hurry back!" and "we can't wait to see you!" and "bring souvenirs!" She's overwhelmed; her eyes fill with tears as the train rushes on.
Footnote: [1] there's no trademark visible, but the square bottle with white cap looks a lot like those of Ito En,
a major Japanese and international purveyor of (very yummy!) bottled green tea.
...go on to next episode.
[In the manga, this began when Nowake refused to donate blood for her daughter's transfusion because it would have made him late for Frosty's physics seminar--so it's not really about Frosty's corporate evil at all. I definitely like
the anime plot better.]---Miharu and Thobari run in at one end, at the same time Yoite and Yukimi arrive, and all the confrontations are lined up.
Kairoushuu, says Yae, and Yukimi grins; that's right! you a friend of bed-head boy? Nowake looks around wildly and she crunches her heel into his hand, saying "you really don't remember, do you?" She sure remembers: overhearing a phone conversation of Nowake's, hearing him gloat "that woman thought we were helping her to the very end, she had no idea what medicine we gave her daughter"--even he thought it was cruel of the Frost Company to make securing a test subject for this dangerous drug a condition of his promotion, but he managed it and even secured the pathology data on the side effects. She recalls how he threatened her,
saying he had connections with bureaucrats and the mass media, and for a "common peasant" like her to say anything would be a waste of time. You made my daughter suffer and killed her, you hid your crimes and sins all for greed!--she cried at him. He tried to tell her that this research saved many lives, but she wasn't buying it.--and back in the garage, she tells him that she might feel differently if she felt even a trace of remorse in him, but no. Frosty will die because of him. The chief of Frost Japan gets in a quarrel with the CEO and kills him--good story, no?
She laughs and Nowake blanches as he realizes what she's said.
everyone freezes as the shot rings out--
--but it's Frosty who falls to the floor. The one who fired was Kouichi, stepping out of the elevator, his gun's grip wrapped in a handkerchief. He smiles and says that they're certainly making a racket down here.
..go back to Episode Guide mainpage.