Kanjuro barely managed to dodge while holding Momonosuke and the flag, then fell from the sky into the sea.
An electric current instantly surged through him...
"Ah..."
In that instant, Momonosuke felt a stabbing pain course through his entire body, leaving him numb all over. Fortunately, that was all.
After swallowing several mouthfuls of seawater, the sensation of drowning made him desperately swim toward the surface.
Though he was still very young, Momonosuke's past experiences at sea had made him quite a capable swimmer.
In just a few seconds, he surfaced and greedily gulped down air.
But when he looked around, he could no longer see Kin'emon and the others on the sea, which flickered constantly with electric sparks.
Momonosuke's pupils contracted sharply. The courage he had only just managed to gather completely vanished at that moment!
Tears streamed from his eyes, and snot ran from his nose.
"Kin'emon, Kiku, Kanjuro, Raizo..."
Momonosuke could only call their names over and over, but there was no response at all!
"Why... why did this happen..."
Without Kin'emon and the others, Momonosuke could only rely on himself.
That meant he would truly be all alone from now on.
But he was only an eight-year-old child.
"Waaah..."
"Kin'emon, Kiku, Kanjuro, Raizo, where are you?"
"Don't leave me behind!"
Just then, he suddenly heard a faint, familiar voice. He looked toward the sound, his eyes widening as he frantically ran over.
It was Kin'emon!
No one knew how he had managed it, but Kin'emon was currently clinging with half his body to a small stone pillar protruding from the water.
However, he was clearly extremely weak and unable to move. Even so, he still tightly gripped that flag in his hand.
As though it were his very life.
"That's great! Kin'emon, are you okay?!"
Momonosuke