Fujitora's Acquaintance

On the road not far away, several passersby who happened to be passing through suddenly stopped. The leading man turned around and looked toward Fujitora. "I think I heard a very familiar voice... Is that you, Brother Issho?"

"You..."

A look of surprise suddenly appeared on Fujitora's face. Though he could no longer see the other man's features, he heard that familiar voice clearly. "You are... Heihachiro?!"

"So it really is you, Brother Issho..." The man called Heihachiro walked over.

Sengoku stopped chewing and asked, "Someone you know?"

Fujitora fell silent for a moment before answering, "You could say that... We both trained at our teacher's dojo. Back then, our teacher named us according to age. I was the eldest, so I was [One], while he was [Eight]."

"Since you're fellow disciples," Sengoku said as he looked at Fujitora, putting away the half-finished bag of senbei, "I can't see any deep friendship between you on your face."

"I don't recall saying he was my friend..."

Fujitora raised his face toward the direction the man was approaching from. "He is my enemy."

"Oh..." Sengoku said. "Sounds like there's a story there."

"Brother Issho, I never expected that after so many years, we would meet again... Heh heh, what happened to your eyes? I never thought anyone could injure them..."

"Heihachiro, I never expected to encounter you again either..."

"Wait."

Before Fujitora could finish, the man called Heihachiro interrupted him. He took a mask from his clothes and slowly put it on. "I discarded the name Heihachiro long ago. So call me by my other name instead... I am the Great Tengu."

Fujitora's expression grew grave. "You even discarded your name... It seems you have no regret whatsoever for what you did back then, you who killed our teacher..."

The Great Tengu