Hanzo's Return : Case of the missing captains

The captains went missing one after another, and Hanzo lead the expedition to follow the thread of clues, but it lead them nowhere, they were unsuccessful. Upon his return, he could only show a face of defeat, the people mourned with him, a captain lost is a captain dead.

The priests of Gotei 13 prepared the ceremony for the captain's souls, many of them had gone, and now there were only a few left. The ceremony lasted for 7 days and nights, on the last night Hanzo himself lead the prayers for there souls.

After that it was back to business.

The investigation was long and hard, with many lives lost left to right, but there was one particular individual who was more than likely a suspect, but they hid it from Hanzo and he only found out after his return.

"Michael Shichirou?!" his tone was high and defensive, how could they keep something like this from him, Michael was his student and a good captain as far as a captains duty is concerned, but they detained him without his knowledge.

"How?" he asked his secretary who explained everything in detail, but something was not right, he felt it deep inside his gut, but he couldn't figure it out.

The recruit ran from the 7th division area to the headquarters, he was catching his breath from the long run, without saving any breath when he barged in the command center. "I need to speak with the captain and commander!" he demanded, pushing away the guards who stopped him, but he fought even harder.

This commotion was brought to Hanzo's attention, and he couldn't hold the temptation to look himself. The recruit was frantic, disoriented and fidgeting as if he saw something really horrifying.

"He's dead!! Someone killed him!" the recruit yelled, his hands were filled with blood. "I'm telling you, the Shogun is dead!"

This were the words that caught Hanzo's attention fully, he heard the recruit perfectly clear, and something that involved the shogun was his personal business.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" An angered Hanzo marched towards them, pusing several guards out of the way to confront the recruit himself. "Repeat what you say, and mark my words, if you're lying, I will kill you." It was not a funny joke, the Shogun is a respected figure, and having him killed is not an easy task, to have him killed is impossible, Hanzo was sure of it, anyone who could do it would have to be stronger than anyone of them them combined.

The recruit started crying, begging for mercy, begging for his life, kneeling before Hanzo, and holding on to his feet. "The Daishogun... the Daishoooouuu..." the recruit cried. Hanzo who was shocked fell on the ground, a feet away from the recruit who was crying still, he was catching a breath of air, but it pained him to do so.

The Daishogun, brother of the Shogun, and his best student, killing him, why would something like this happen, and at a time like this as well. But he could not believe it, not until he saw it for himself.

"Bring me to him."

If the Shogun wasn't lying there, face on the ground, his blood dried mixed with dirt, Hanzo wouldn't have believed it. But the recruit spoke only of the truth he witnessed, and his good friend was truly dead. "Who else knows of this?" was Hanzo's first question. The recruit replied. "Only you, sir." Hanzo turned to his men and gave them an order he didn't want to give, but had to. "Detain Minamoto." Hanzo wasnt sure if he made the right decision, but having the former 8th division captain cause a rampage would be something he didnt want happening. He was gonna keep this from her for as long as he could, until he could figure things out on his own.

His men left, only leaving him with the recruit. "By Minamoto sir, do you mean the Shogun's wife?" Hanzo ignored the question and proceeded with a question of his own. "Where did the Daishogun go?"

The least he could do was talk to his friends murderer, but the recruit was unwilling to do so. "I... I can't, sir, it's too dangerous for you." the recruit was right by all means, what could a dying old man do against a young powerful vizard who only just killed his master? But he saw the look on the recruits face, the recruit was scared to death, and the only way to relieve him from this fear is death it's self, something which Sanba never gave him. Which could only mean one thing.

"He's here." Hanzo declared, seeing the recruits only growing tension. Birds flew from the trees, a few seconds later, the recruit was already falling on the ground lifeless.

Hanzo could only witness the murder, his eyes wide on Sanba in shock. His reiatsu flared up, but Sanba kept his calm, it even made Hanzo wonder how he could keep his cool like that, after killing the Shogun. Hanzo calmed himself.

"You... What are you doing?"

Sanba only gave him an uncaring smirk. "The dead is dead after all, I merely set another soul free, I did justice here."

Hanzo felt his calm melt, but fighting Sanba would not do anyone good. "How could you do this to your brother, your leader, have you no shame on the Yukimura name?"

Sanba laughed this time. "I dont remember giving any honor to it either way, why should the opposite be any worst?"

This was when he saw it, the thread of reality snapping from one's thought, a thing he saw many times in war, this Shinigami was lost to them.

Hanzo then wondered when Haji came across this realization, maybe he realized too late, maybe just hours ago, and decided to make a move on it, but he was too late, and got killed. Thoughts flooded Hanzo's brain, trying to make sense of Sanba's new reality.

Sanba then walked away, slowly, as if mocking Hanzo. "I'm leaving now, take care old man."

Just like that, Sanba vanished, and Hanzo let him go.

He knelt before the dead body of his friend in question. "What would you have done if you were in my position?"