Hell's Paradise
A faint flower was blooming unnoticed by anyone
Not a burning red, but flickering serenely in red
I've been pausing for a long time dragging my past at my feet
If I break free from this ambivalence,
will I be able to bloom by its side?
The future is slipping away between my fingers
What mistake did I make to pay this price?
Always hurting myself
and hesitant even to a small joy
I want to stop now
The flower just bloomed in dignity
and that was all I needed to be happy
I just wanted to protect this one flower
Wishing to be strong, I
picked up the vulnerability I had once cast away
Can't break free from the ambivalence
In ambivalence, I become myself
Like rooting strongly into the soil
like swaying ephemerally to the wind
I'm slowly loosening myself to bloom
Hell's Paradise
Humans and Sages
The situation is complicated, but what we must do remains the same.
First, acquire the Elixir of Life.
Second, escape the island alive.
Let's begin by reviewing only the information we need.
We won't consider the mysteries of the island.
What's most important is how we'll escape the island.
So, how do we escape?
Mei-san knows.
Yes, yes. I see.
Horai is a massive citadel.
It's apparently modeled after the Epang Palace in China.
It was built to complete the Elixir and receive the first emperor.
In other words, entering or exiting the island itself isn't impossible.
However, there are monsters in the surrounding waters.
Their purpose is to ensure the island's creatures don't leave.
That's those big guys I saw.
Surely they're less dangerous than the Tensen.
Would humans on small boats stand a chance against monsters at sea?
Not even the greatest swordsman could kill or escape from them.
The assumption is that we won't be fighting the Tensen.
We'll quickly steal the Elixir while avoiding detection
and leave the island by boat.
Our goal is to escape the island.
There are boats and a sluice gate beneath Horai.
The monsters have been taught not to attack boats leaving from there.
A sluice gate...
That must be the presence I detected by the shore.
Do you know where the Elixir is?
Probably.
Rien and my research lab.
Either way,
we'll be passing through enemy territory.
We don't have much time, but we should prepare as much as we can.
So, Gabimaru and Yuzuriha...
Teach us your stealth techniques.
Who, me?
You mean my charms?
No, regarding tao.
We'll start with
Substitution
dampening your tao during substitution.
Why?
Those were Sen-chan's! Give them back!
Now, now, students.
A picture is worth a bunch of words, or something. Watch this.
See? It ends when you speak, though.
Dampening your tao is equivalent to dampening your existence.
It worked on the Tensen, so it's perfect for sneaking in.
Okay, everyone. Take deep breaths and focus.
Ow!
What was that for?
Your tao was agitated.
Keep your mind still, no matter what.
Tao works in a surprisingly physical way.
As in sumo wrestling or judo, forces can be deflected.
You can even turn an opponent's tao against them.
I even came up with a strategy that utilizes compatibilities.
The similarities between hua jin in martial arts and the rotation of tao
He's rather logical, isn't he?
strongly suggest that any force can be neutralized.
You mean he's just a nerd.
Start by dislocating your neck.
We can't do that!
Those who can't will be first to die.
That's how we trained in the village.
Okay, focus.
Don't react, no matter what's done to you.
Dislocate all the joints in your body.
Don't react, don't react.
Stop your heart without killing yourself.
Why aren't you guys tired?
Good tao control reduces exhaustion.
How come you have good control right away?
Who knows? Talent, perhaps?
I feel different since then.
I bet I could easily score a hit on you right now.
Those are fighting words, man-woman.
It's strange. At first, our statuses were different.
But if you're tired, we don't have to.
If you want a fight, I'm game.
But now, we're working together to achieve the same goal.
I can't believe I don't want anyone here to die.
If you fail to land a blow on me,
I'll make you wear a Chinese dress, man-woman.
I'll kill you.
The same...
Interesting. Can you even do that?
Kill me if you can.
Wait, wait.
Huh?
Let's assign groups first.
Fire
Blade Dragon, stand there.
What? Don't tell me what to do.
Don't argue!
Gabimaru, you, too.
Earth
Yuzuriha and Toma, stand there.
Yeah, yeah.
Nice braid, missy.
I'll kill you.
Fuchi.
Mei.
Wood
Fire
Earth
Metal
Water
We should know our tao's attributes for when we encounter the Tensen.
Sagiri, like me, your attribute is wood.
Wood
Gabimaru and the Blade Dragon are fire.
Then there's water, metal, and earth.
Each of these attributes influence the others.
Restoration
Hindering
Restoration
Hindering
Enhancing another's tao is called restoration.
Weakening it is called hindering.
Do we know the Tensen's attributes?
I do.
I remember.
Wood
Fire
Earth
Metal
Water
Ju Fa, fire.
Tao Fa, wood.
Zhu Jin, Ran, water.
Gui Fa, metal.
Mu Dan, Rien, earth.
If your tao hinders your opponent's, your attacks will be effective.
But in the opposite case, you cannot win.
Abandon everything and run.
I assigned groups based on compatibility.
One group to secure an escape route, and one group to acquire the Elixir.
Speed and stealth are key to the Elixir group.
It should be a small group proficient with tao.
Wait, are you for real?
The Elixir group's way more dangerous!
No objections.
The escape group will need people to secure a boat beneath Horai
and open the sluice gate.
Three people for each task should be enough.
Sensei...
It's just, well...
It's all right, Nurugai.
I haven't forgotten.
Okay.
According to the bonsai guy...
Not bonsai.
You want to leave the island, too, right?
Yes.
Then instead of waiting for the Elixir group, you could leave before us.
Wait.
Huh?
Are you sure this is what you want?
What?
Gabi!
Exactly. The Elixir group is just so danger...
Do you want to leave the island?
Isn't there something you want to do first?
You could've escaped the island by yourself.
But you didn't.
We didn't get to hear the whole story last time, but tell us now.
I'll translate.
I think what Rien doing bad.
Killed lots and lots.
Why Grandmaster Shufu not stop them?
I want to leave island. Everything scary.
But I want to see Rien and Grandmaster one more time.
Want to ask why they changed.
They used to be nice.
They were nice, but then...
So you'll put yourself in danger to speak with the Tensen,
and then what?
Then...
Then I want to leave island and live normal life.
Let's protect our normal.
Peacefully and honestly.
I know it's dangerous, but just want to look.
See them again.
Then let's go.
If you just want to look, that might be possible.
But...
Otherwise, your normal will never begin.
Let me handle the journey.
I promise I'll take you to your destination.
Now the sage's ritual is complete.
So, was there any purpose to this grand ritual?
Who knows? We've always done it.
New doshi and anyone allowed to enter the castle performs it.
That's much better.
Shall we introduce ourselves again?
I'm Tao—
Don't speak your name.
This livestock isn't worth it.
Simply being in the same room as it makes me want to puke.
Likewise, you weed.
You should've killed me then.
I can see your movements now.
Stop.
That man is a research subject and my guest.
I will not allow you to harm him.
Come, Chobe.
Where are we going?
I'm going to examine your tao in great detail.
This place is pretty elaborate.
It's a feng shui design.
Extensions and renovations are made
according to tao singularities, or dragon holes,
and the paths it follows, or dragon veins.
What?
You'll understand eventually. You have a knack for tao.
I was powerless against that guy before,
but I'm different now.
I've clearly adapted to it.
My power has grown.
That's why I can tell how dangerous this guy is.
They're different from the rest of the Tensen.
I need to learn more about their weaknesses.
I can't beat them right now.
Not right now, anyway.
This is my research lab.
What is this thing?
Banko, the Waitanhua Flower.
Tan is tao extracted from humans who have become flowers,
but only a meager amount can be extracted from a single human.
But Banko can refine large amounts of tan at once.
However, it is difficult to preserve tan,
as over time, the flower's tao completely consumes the human's tao.
Even Banko will wilt eventually,
before I achieve the quality and quantity I seek.
Which is why I want your rare tao.
Assist me.
They want a huge amount of tan... for what purpose?
Are they going to turn Toma into this thing?
That's it. Those undulations in your tao.
I've seen countless humans until now,
but your waves are different from all the rest.
They're beautiful.
Don't worry.
I just want to study you.
I won't kill you.
I'll only use a part of you.
Since you'll regenerate, it won't be a problem.
Naturally, you'll train in tao use as well.
That will produce greater results for my experiments.
Bring it on.
You must be joking!
We're sneaking in tonight?
We should be sleeping tonight.
A shinobi strikes when the time is right.
Unlike you, I'm human.
I think it's good idea.
Flowers close at night.
Our tao weakest then.
And we should probably act before the new arrivals catch up to us.
We got more rest than we've been getting, so I'm okay with that.
Same. I want to get out of here ASAP.
It doesn't matter if we're tired.
I don't want to keep her waiting any longer.
We'll leave first and prepare the way for you.
Once we've confirmed the situation, we'll send a signal.
A red flame means stop.
A blue flame means...
Proceed as planned.
Let's go.
It's all about to end.
You knew from the start that this mission would be short.
We're leaving the island tonight.
Horai is divided into a vast interior and exterior.
We fought Mu Dan in the exterior.
There are several palaces for the Tensen in the interior.
Tensen's castle designed for their training.
Bochu palace.
For Ju Fa and Tao Fa, who seek immortality through intercourse.
Taisoku palace.
For Zhu Jin, who seeks immortality through breathing techniques.
Doin palace.
For Ran, who seeks immortality through physical exercise.
Shuitsu palace.
For Gui Fa, who seeks immortality through meditation.
Shuten palace.
For Mu Dan, who seeks immortality through tao of pressure points and organs.
In other words, the sages perform their own specialized research.
They share information.
I see.
Yeah, I see.
Finally, Elixir in rentan palace.
Rien's research lab.
But Rien not there at night.
Waitanhua closes at night. Can't do research.
Rien in main palace at night.
Grandmaster Shufu's castle.
There's one key point.
Whatever you do, don't fight the Tensen.
If we do, our plan will fail.
There's a problem with going at midnight.
The moonlight won't reach inside the structures.
We need to know the floor plans in advance.
But don't the Tensen repeatedly renovate their castle?
It's impossible to steal anything
if we don't know and can't see where we're going.
Actually, isn't that why you chose these groups, Gabimaru?
Yes.
We'll see with our tao, not with our eyes.
The tao of inanimate objects is faint,
but if you can detect it, you can identify their structure.
That's why those of us skilled in tao detection were chosen.
If tan is made from humans,
then there should be many corpses in the research lab.
Wherever we detect that tao the strongest is the rentan palace.
If it'll disrupt your tao, you don't have to look.
I'm fine. I'm used to it.
I'm fine, too.
They're so calm.
These are true shinobi.
If we dampen our tao inside the castle like Yuzuriha,
the guards won't notice us.
Even when we kill them...
If we're quick, the others won't notice.
They're so dexterous.
A few moments from now, we'll be leaving the island on a boat.
The Elixir is in here.
I don't sense any Tensen.
The structure is simple. It's sparsely decorated.
So you also thought to conceal yourself by dampening your tao.
R-Ran?
I thought you might've been behind this, Sister.
I'm glad you seem well.
How?
We received information from a certain man.
Roughly 20 people landed.
Half of them possess exceptional abilities.
In other words, like him, they possess exceptional tao.
Did you expose your allies because you couldn't withstand the research?
No.
They're not my allies. They're enemies.
Incredible! You're still sane after enduring Rien's research.
They're still hiding nearby.
They must plan to come here eventually.
How do you know that?
I can feel my brother's tao among them.
I can sense Toma's more clearly since I injured him.
They're probably Mu Dan's killers.
There are few opportunities to acquire this much tao.
We will conduct the Hekiji Fukusho ritual.
Capture the humans.
What shall we do with the newcomers, Brother?
Continue letting the doshi handle them.
They're heading this way.
There's no need to hunt them down.
I'll let you know when they're here.
Are you certain?
I told you, I can feel them.
But I have one condition.
Very well.
That's why we've been waiting here for you,
offerings for the Hekiji Fukusho ritual.
Hekiji...?
A ritual in which we gather high quality tao of all attributes
and offer them to the Grandmaster.
In other words, you're the offerings.
Your allies have probably been separated by now.
The Tensen will capture them ourselves.
One by one, we'll deal with you carefully.
That is the Hekiji Fukusho ritual.
I'm sure you had your own plans,
but it was all for nothing.
Whatever you do, don't fight the Tensen.
If we do, our plan will fail.
Gabimaru.
It's over.
On the other side, even today
Someone is unraveling, yet they still stand
A stab to the chest, this loneliness
Points and lines, breaking off and vanishing
My shattered mask
It's more than I can bear
But I must keep on living
Tomorrow awaits to greet me
It's endless
And so fragile
Is it better to believe hearts don't exist at all?
Radiant and soft
Was the hand
I squeezed back on that day