Six Warriors

The Hero of Fire - (Jack)

"You mean you beat those assholes?" Daisuke asked excitedly.

"Yeah, you could say yes!" Jack also responded enthusiastically. Daisuke, Kazumi and Jack were in a great mood, but the mood changed completely when Hayato, their father, appeared.

"So you had to play hero, didn't you Jack?" Hayato spoke in a grim voice, "I had said, I had said that you shouldn't take such chances."

"Those vile bandits were no danger to me, Mr. Hayato, and besides, I never cared what happened to me."

"Bullshit! Don't talk like you're doing us a favor! Don't act like your intentions are noble! You did this to gratify yourself, didn't you? Hero, tsk tsk."

"Dad, Jack saved people today, don't talk like that!" Kazumi defended the boy.

"You say you don't care what happens to you, right? And about us, do you care? About the people in this village, do you care? You thought about the possibility of not being strong like you and after you're gone, we're gone will we be in trouble?" Hayato continued.

"I will not do such a thing, I will not leave this village until I rid you of these parasites" Jack replied confidently, "I know why you are acting like this, Mr Hayato, but you cannot fear the Blood Katana forever!"

"You will die! Like my brother! Like my son! Like everyone I cared about!" Hayato approached Jack and touched his shoulders, the man's eyes were teary, "I care about you Jack, but...you have to go."

"Dad! If he's gone, our hopes..."

Kazumi tried but Hayato cut her off.

"If he stays, he's going to die! And we're going to be punished for being with him! Jack, you have to go!"

"Very well, Mr. Hayato, I understand." Jack smiled and then turned away to leave.

"Jack, no you can't go!" Kazumi begged.

"Dad, you can't kick Jack out!" Daisuke appealed to his father.

"Hey!" Jack yelled at them, then grinned and held up his thumb like Rock Lee, "It's going to be okay!" And without saying anything else Jack propped his bag on his shoulder and left the Ryoshi house. Daisuke was sobbing and Hayato seemed to be holding back his tears. Kazumi looked mixed with sadness and anger.

Outside, walking on a starry night, Jack heard Kazumi calling him.

"Jack! Where do you think you're going? You promised me you'd rid this village of bandits! You promised!"

"Don't worry about it, Kazumi, as a very famous hero in my world says, I never go back on what I say!"

Just then Jack heard the trot of horses approaching. There were two men, each mounted on a horse they were armed and wore pieces of armor.

"The description that the villagers give to us fits. You're the one who hurt our g**g men, our leader summons you to a peaceful meeting, he gives you his Bushi word that he won't hurt you." said one of the men.

"He no longer has the right to use that word, Osamu is anything but an honorable warrior!" Kazumi screamed.

"Shut up, girl, or we'll cut out your tongue and give it to the dogs."

"Very well, take me to your leader." Jack replied with a confident smile.

"Jack, it could be a trap!" Kazumi warned.

"Everything is gonna be okay, Kazumi, now... I have to go."

Jack climbed onto one of the horses and hitched a ride with the men, not afraid of what would happen to him.

...

It was a large building, a big house, built in a style that reminded Jack of Japanese architecture. There was a kind of party going on there, several people sitting at some of those big tables where people sat on cushions on the floor, those tables were called chabudai, Jack figured it was something like that. There was food and drink all around the table, people, g**g members, laughed and talked and some women served the members from time to time. Jack was invited to sit at one of those tables. The seat at the end of the table was empty, but there were two men standing on either side of it, like they were personal guards or something. The one on the right was a slender guy, he wore some shinobi-style clothes and carried a ninja-to sword on his back. The one on the left was a big, burly fellow, wearing some kind of samurai armor over a dark blue kimono and carrying a large nodachi sword.

"Eat to your heart's content, don't worry." Said a man who was beside Jack drinking something from a bowl or something, he was a man with fine features, long hair in a greenish color and blue eyes which seemed unusual here.

"I'm just a guest, just like you. Yoku, nice to meet you, Jack."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know a lot of things... like I know you're nervous and looking a lot at the men standing. Let me talk about them, the one on the right is one of Osamu's trusted men, he's responsible for murders, espionage and money management, his name is Jinichi Sandayu, he is much feared and respected. On the left is Oda Yoshikata, a brute man, Osamu's number one bodyguard, an extremely strong guy, they say that with just one swing of his sword he can cut ten men in half. If you're intending to face these men alone, Jack, you can be sure..." Yoku gave Jack a sinister look "you're going to die."

Jack gritted his teeth, not knowing how to respond.

At that moment the bandits spoke something to each other, then rose and everyone bowed. It was the moment when the leader, Osamu Zenkokuna, had arrived. Jack felt a strong, powerful presence coming from that man, powerful and malicious. He appeared to be between the ages of thirty and forty. He had long black hair, oiled and pulled back in a ponytail, he had a scar that ran from his face to part of his forehead, and a black stubble. He wore a pink kimono, open in the middle, leaving his hairy, muscular chest on display. Over the kimono he wore animal skins, and attached to the belt he carried two long katana. He nodded and everyone relaxed again. Osamu rested his eyes on the man beside Jack.

"It's an honor to welcome you here to our humble get-together, Yoku, I hope you're feeling welcome." Osamu spoke in a deep, powerful voice. Yoku lifted the drink bowl in a gesture. After that, Osamu rested his eyes on Jack, "you really don't look like a warrior at all. The boy who defeated my men, they say you move like a master of the sword, and all this with a makeshift wooden sword. Impressive."

Jack said nothing.

"Okay boy" Osamu sat up, "tell me, what do you want?"

"Sorry?"

"A young man with your skills shouldn't have trained so hard without wanting anything, so I ask you again, what do you want? Power? Wealth? Women? Good food?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't really tell me that when you faced my men you were fighting for foolish ideals of justice!" Osamu laughed and his men followed suit.

"What you do with those people is wrong, I could do something to change it so I couldn't leave things as they were."

"What a noblest young man, what a nobility!" Osamu spoke mockingly and his men laughed.

"Yeah, I'll tell you what I want" Jack tried to smile confidently, but it mustn't have turned out as he wanted, he must have made a ridiculous face that looked like pain in disguise, "I want you and your men to leave from here and leave these people alone!"

"And then what, hero? We would do the same thing with any other village, and with another and another until we are satisfied, which is to say, never. Want to stop us? It's going to take balls to kill us once and for all."

Jack was in a cold sweat.

"I tell you what, hero," Osamu continued "notions of justice, honor, heroism, honesty, protection of the weak... I already followed all these concepts when I was a young man like you and when one day I was on the verge of death... I realized that I had misused my life with foolish ideals invented by the weak to put straps of idealism on the strong! The weak cannot defend themselves so they invent foolish concepts for the strong to protect them. The sheep teaching the wolves that it is wrong to kill sheep for food."

"Y-you're wrong..." Jack babbled.

"Then prove me wrong! Come on, ha, ha, ha! In raw and pure nature is where true wisdom lies, tell me, young man, in wild nature the carnivores, the strong, protect the herbivores, the weak?"

It could be said that argument was not Jack's strength, he found himself at a loss for words.

"I see I'm starting to convince you," Osamu drank sake from a gourd, "you're one of the strong, boy, you're not just prey for s*******r. The weak only serve as cattle to feed the strong, it's ours divine right to take from them what they cannot keep."

Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath, seeking the wisdom of the ancient wielders of his power, seeking an answer that would confirm his ideals of heroism and justice, not Osamu's ideas of selfishness and tyranny. The chosen one opened his eyes and looked seriously at Osamu.

"All that you said... may be true in your world. The world of selfish and despots... but in my world, the world of good and good-hearted people, your words are those of a demon. In the world idealized by you, there would only be chaos, death and bloodshed, a dog devouring a dog, but in my world and in the world of normal people, we cherish ideals of peace, justice and equality, honor beyond our life itself and our greed!" Jack pointed a finger at Osamu, "you're just a coward who mistreats those too weak to defend themselves, you're a coward for fear of losing your life in pursuit of an ideal, you're a coward for thinking yourself too important to sacrifice yourself for the common good, you have fear of dying because you thinks you're too important, your speech is just cheap selfishness!"

Jack only heard the noise of bowls scattering across the table, being overturned and falling, he had barely seen that guy Jinichi advancing against him with his sword raised and pointing at his neck.

"W-what amazing speed!" Jack thought, swallowing hard.

"Point your finger at our oyabun once more in front of us, and never see the sunrise again!" Warned Jinichi with contempt evident in her voice.

"It's okay Jini, let's not spoil our little party just because of that bloated idiot." Osamu motioned for Jinichi to stop.

"Boy, I gave you an opportunity that many would kill for, but you prefer to cling to your foolish ideals. I don't know if I respect you for that, or laugh at your face, but very well, I hope you have the courage to support your words when you're facing us. When you're on the brink of death, you'll know what I've said, but it's too late, unlike me, you won't have another chance. Do I hope those you are sworn to protect will at least be grateful to you, or am I mistaken? Would they have kicked him out of the house by any chance?" Osamu smirked, Jack frowned. "The world is selfish by nature, boy, remember that, those villagers will turn their backs on you soon when the opportunity arises if it gives them an edge or if it doesn't threaten their lives, and if they're strong enough they would act like me, they just can't. In the end, you, with your strength, want to be loved for your supposed acts of bravery, honor and heroism, but deep down you are also selfish, you don't do it for others, you do it for yourself, you do it to feel loved , is as selfish as I am, it's just a lot more hypocritical."

"Don't think you know anything about me, you thug!" Jack roared, slamming his hand against the table.

"Enjoy this last good meal, foolish hero, for it will be your last."

"I don't fraternize with tyrants and bandits." Saying that Jack got up and prepared to leave, which was a shame, as the food actually looked very good... of course he couldn't say that, it was going to debunk all his heroic pose.