Episode 7

**Where Does Justice Lie?** (正義はどこにある, *Seigi wa Doko ni Aru*) is the 7th episode of Shinobi no Ittoki anime series.

## Synopsis

Suddenly, ninja leaders from all across Japan are summoned to a Ninja Grand Council. Yumika, Tokisada, and Kozo attend. Koga's Acting Chief also appears. Then, Goshogawara, head of the NSC, reveals the purpose of the Grand Council...

## Summary

Yumika decides to tell Ittoki about Iga's secret Ninja Core. Its sealed away and only the Iga chiefs know its location. Once his name is added to the registry scroll of the Iga ninjas, he will be a true Iga ninja.

The summer break is almost over and while with the girls, Ittoki wonders when do you start feeling like a ninja. Kosetsu states that one day, you just realize you are. Kozo comes and informs Ittoki that the academy is temporary closing due to large absence by students. They receive news that there will be a Ninja Grand Council which can only be convened on command of the head of the NSC. The leaders of all prominent villages are called to form a high council of 13 ninja clan heads and decide the future of all ninjas in Japan. Its been 70 years since the last Council.

Hayato informs the NSC members about the upcoming Council and that they should be more vigilant due to all village head gathering at one place. Shione feels she is being led by the nose as Hayato didn't share his plans with them. She joined NSC to do the right things, but now she can't even say what is right. Hayato tells her to focus on her tasks until she figures what is right.

The Iga ninja, represented by Yumika and accompanied by Kozo and Tokisada, are the last to arrive at the Council meeting. Hayato starts the meeting, but Kozo sees that there is no one from Saiga. Housen then explains that Saiga is now under the umbrella of Koga and thus Saiga had withdraw from the meeting and will follow all Koga in all decisions. Kozo also sees that Tamayo from Bizen isn't there, but Samon Katori. Housen also shares that the Fuma are also under their umbrella. Kisuke Ninokuru explains that their Fuma chief can't be their, so he is here as his proxy. Yachiyo Mochizuki laughs stating that Kisuke is the leader and they have been doing this for 500 years.

Hayato decides to start right on the point and reveals that the peace is threatened by Koga. Kurodo Dazai laughs, thinking its due to thing between Koga and Iga, but Hayato explains that Koga's actions affect the whole country. He explains that it started with Saiga becoming their subsidiary and that there are no records of any Saiga working at any of Koga Holdings' officially registered facilities. Instead, most of the Saiga members had suddenly vanished. There are also frequent cases of small scale villages which are never heard from again. At Ninja Academy, the voluntary withdrawals far exceed the normal numbers. As Koga denies all this, Hayato wants to hear from the Council members if Koga had acted against their village. Everyone denies any problems, including some that seem hesitant to say it. Yumika states she still haven't talked. She denies any allegation of Iga being responsible for Kishinmaru's death. Additionally, she provides photo evidence that Koga are developing a new ninja tool weapon and that they are targeting Iga's secret Ninja Core. Yumika states they are using a fake vengeance as a pretext to invade Iga, however Iga is prepared to destroy its secret Ninja Core. Other asks if she is sure about it, but Yumika explains that the core was used to achieve peace, however, if its the reason to ignite another war, they will destroy it to prevent it. Kisuke doesn't believe her and thinks she is trying to fool them as steal, scheme, kill, sneak are shinobi's true desire. Yumika states those are way of the past. They are not in the ninja glory days and don't need military might or scheming, but to protect the people's harmony. Samon from Bizen then stands and states they have experienced Koga aggression. The Kusonoki house has been scattered and the small branch family villages has fallen. They can no longer fight and his grandmother took her own life, seeing the steady collapse of the village. Iboro from Hachiya, explains that they make their livings through entertainment. But its a fickle industry and Koga used unreliability and fragility against them. As a result, Iboro alone is supporting the entire village. One by one, majority of the members stand up and say they have experienced Koga aggression. Hayato then states that the village chief must take responsibility and decides to arrest Kido on suspicion of violating the Ninja Ordinances.

Kido willingly accepts the arrest. Housen asks Hayato if they found the murderer of Kishinmaru, but Hayato explains they are still investigating. Genji then enters stating they found evidence that Kishinmaru was killed by Iga. He proceeds to explain that due to jamming they didn't had the security footage. However, they manage to extract fragments. He shows a blurry video, but explains that it managed to record audio as well and that each village ninja cores has specific frequencies and wavelength, and the audio matches Iga's core. Genji then wants to arrest Yumika, and she also decides to come willingly while stating they haven't done anything wrong and will prove their innocence. Before leaving, she tells Tokisada to tell Ittoki to take care of Iga.

Later, Kozo and Tokisada tell everyone of what happened. Ittoki then requests that they gather all Iga members. Meanwhile, Enbi speaks in front of the Koga ninja that the Iga ninja was arrested for her actions against Kishinmaru. As this is an action of war against them, Enbi wants Koga to mobilize and annihilate the village of Iga.

Hayato tells his team that they will be handling the interrogation of Iga and Koga leaders, as he has different task. Shione complains about Hayato not trusting them again, but he tells them to act on their own justice. Later, Hayato watches the blurry video that Genji provided and wonders why he kept it for so long before showing it. He then notices something on the video, but gets stabbed from behind by Genji, using Koga's latest ninja suit model.

All Iga members had gathered. Ittoki explains that due to the situation, they need to choose a new acting chief and proposes himself. Everyone accepts, although Ittoki notes its just until his mother returns. Meanwhile, Genji goes to Yumika and tells her that he sentences her to death.

## Characters

* Ittoki Sakuraba
* Yumika Sakuraba
* Kirei Kisegawa
* Ryoko Suzunone
* Kosetsu
* Kozo Moriyama
* Tokisada Kaga
* Kurodo Dazai
* Yachiyo Mochizuki
* Kisuke Ninokuru
* Nishina Amadeus Yoshinaka
* Kido Minobe
* Housen Ban
* Enbi Takamine
* Hayato Goshogawara
* Shione Kozuki
* Genji Karajishi
* Reiha Tsuge
* Enya
* Iboro
* Benkeimuso
* Samon Katori
* Mandara Samuragochi
* Juzen Jiraibo
* Suzaku Ban