Chapter 30

## Infiltration

**Chapter 30** is titled "Infiltration."

## Short Summary

Hachimaru responds to Sanda's honesty and decides to help him, but it costs him the support of the other Samurai present. However, they are motivated by Captain Sen to work together to take down Benkei. As the Key Hunter prepares his backup plan, the Samurai group makes their way to his ship, hoping to stop him before he kills them all.

## Long Summary

After the more experienced Samurai refuse to acknowledge Kotsuga's humble request for aid, Hachimaru decides that his willingness to bow his head with true apology is a hallmark of a real Samurai. Kotsuga remembers all the times Hachimaru has bowed to others, and is moved by his response to his request. However, the other Samurai have made up their minds that he is the enemy. Unwilling to trust Kotsuga, they tell Hachimaru that they will not stand with him if he helps someone they won't trust. Having seen all of Kotsuga's secrets, Hachimaru sticks up for him anyway, arguing that he won't lie anymore. The Samurai acknowledge his virtue and skill, but as he's still a novice, they refuse to heed his words. He makes a final argument, one only Ann catches is from his personal experience: no one can mask the desire to avenge one's father.

Before anyone can respond, a voice asks for forgiveness for digging into their backgrounds to find their names. Hachimaru and Ann recognize the one speaking as his opponent from earlier, but the other Samurai recognize him by reputation as **Sen the Silent**. He officially introduces himself as an agent of the Galactic Ball Federation's Elite Special Forces sent to apprehend Benkei. Approaching Kotsuga, Sen is able to recognize him as Yoshitsune's son, displeased that the child of such a prominent Samurai is a petty criminal serving Benkei. Sen tells Kotsuga that even though he is small time criminal unworthy of being monitored by law enforcement, he will not excuse his actions. Nevertheless, he decides to consider helping him in exchange for his intelligence on Benkei. Hachimaru tells Sen about the data on his Key, who responds by outing him as Daruma's student, something that shocks the other Samurai.

On Yoshitsune's old ship, Benkei is preparing his last ditch plan to harvest the Samurai Keys in his sights: blowing up Kenka and capturing the Samurai that survive the planet's destruction. As he has the ship repair his crippled body, the ship's AI informs him that his master's Key will take twenty minutes to interface with the ship. Benkei resolves to unleash Angular Warheads on the planet to ensure no Samurai escapes.

Planetside, Hachimaru connects his Key with Sen, who searches Benkei's memories and finds his plan to use Angular Warheads. He sees that his plan is to blow the planet apart, and capture the surviving Samurai as they regenerate from the blast. The other Samurai present are disturbed to hear that Angular Warheads, outlawed weapons that the Ususama School has been buying on the Black Market, are in play. Hachimaru is unfamiliar with the term, so Sen's ally pulls up a video of an Angular Warhead being used to wipe out a planet. Some of the Samurai consider fleeing, but Sen explains that Benkei's ship is shielded against such a blast explosion, but the stealth field he put up for the battle royale will keep them trapped in the Warhead's blast radius. The only way out is to stop Benkei from firing a Warhead. To do so, they must get to the ship's cockpit and take Yoshitune's Key from the ship's control device. The only saving grace they have is that it takes twenty minutes to link Yoshitsune's key.

Taking charge, Sen tells everyone that they will infiltrate the ship, take down Benkei, and recover Yoshitsune's Key. To increase their odds, he decides to form two groups to infiltrate from different locations, and use their Keys to communicate while he helps with navigation. He sends the four Samurai from the battle royale to take one route as *Team Alpha* while he leads Hachimaru, Ryu, Kotsuga, his associate, and the Princesses down another route as *Team Beta*. Satisfied with Sen's plan, they agree to cooperate. Hachimaru is annoyed that they're willing to listen to Sen over him, so one of them explains that they believe in Sen's wisdom, and will only cooperate with him because of his master's reputation. This reminds him of how important his master is. After outfitting the non-Samurai with spacesuits, the teams head to the ship.

On the way to the ship, Ryu asks whether Kotsuga wants to be addressed by his alias or his real name. He decides to be called Sanda again, but Ryu forgets his name immediately, which makes him think about what his real name is. Ryu asks if he has any secrets left, and Sanda tells him that everything he hid has been revealed, which pleases Ryu. When asked why, he explains that transparency makes a partnership feel real, and that he felt jealous that Hachimaru knew all his secrets. Moved by his words, Sanda promises to find out Ryu's real name for him one day. Ryu is glad that he was right about him being a good person, but he forgets Sanda's name again, annoying him. Eventually, Teams Alpha and Beta reach their infiltration point, and Sen declares their mission underway. However, the ship detects their arrival and alerts Benkei to their presence, who prepares to take their Keys.

## Fights and Events

* Sen's full identity is revealed.
* Kotsuga decides to return to using his true name: Sanda.
* Angular Warheads are introduced.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Hachimaru
* Kotsuga
* Daruma (Ball Form)
* Ann
* Ryu
* Furuta (Flashback)
* Ata (Flashback)
* Sen
* Benkei
* Ushiwakamaru
* Hayataro