1 Prologue

The darkness was cold and spacious, most people would experience immense grief in such a setting, but not Sakon nor his brother, Namikasha. The pit pat of blood dripping echoed throughout the stillness of the night and each small sound pulsated in Sakon's ears. Even after you killed a man there were still ways for him to get under your skin. Sakon's eyes narrowed as he made out seven silhouettes. Men who had sought to claim he and his brothers' heads, men who met their end. Namikasha shifted in his sleep, jolting Sakon's back a little. The two always slept back to back when they were on the road, you never know what might be lingering in that cold darkness. Namikasha was sound asleep. His hands gripped his blade, Eclipse. Sakon slowly shut his eyes and fell to sleep.

Sakon and Namikasha's mother died during child labor, and their father died in combat while fending off the people from the North. The two, known as the Setaki brothers, took to their lives in mastering the art of the blade. Now as both were in their late twenties they had gained infamy for their controversial styles of combat. Namikasha paired with Eclipse had created the inverted shadow techniques. His blade would glow blue at the rims, showing his focus during combat. Sakon paired with darkness created the besieging shadow techniques. His blade made a sound unlike any other of this world when it moved. Some say that the sound represented imminent death. The two were referred to by many names: Kage, Oni, Kami, but the most common was, Kishin.