The humble spy was on his hands and knees before the mighty Lord Hoko. “Is that all? Is that all you are able to tell your lord?” The spy nodded and Homaru dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
This was troublesome indeed. His enemy was now able become one with the wind for an instantaneous strike. This ruled out killing him in personal combat, for surely he himself could never move that fast. But what did that leave him? His armies where massive, and he had followers in every major city, but surely a siege on the Wolf’s Lair would fail.
Homaru could not comprehend how or why Okuri could be so powerful. He-he and his brothers-they seemed…..gifted. As if some superior force looked upon them, saw the potential for them, and imbued them with greatness beyond the limits of mere mortals. The question is, who was this superior being?
Was it a god? No, it couldn’t be a god. Gods created servants faithful to them. Okuri answered to no one but himself, and thanked no one but himself (and a few of his accomplices) for his victories. Gods created beautiful things, things that are loved-like himself, he thought-certainly not things like Okuri. No, the only thing that would help someone like Okuri was……a demon. No doubt this demon manipulated Okuri like a puppet, hiding in the shadows. Or perhaps it was the demon that was the puppet.
A new idea occurred to him. What if the demon was…inside him? Not manipulating, but not being manipulated…..the 2 working together to ensure survival? The demon would grant him far more power than he would ever need to merely survive…..and Okuri would use it for his own purposes! That villain!
Homaru stared at the clay jar in his hand. He had been told that it contained the mighty Phoenix Demon, but how it could fit in such a tiny container eluded him. Maybe it was a lie thought up by Madara to test his faith again. And if he wasn’t, perhaps this demon could help him. What he needed to do suddenly became clear to him. Okuri could never be defeated on his guard. He would need to be ambushed.
