Hell's Paradise (地獄楽)

I'm sure you had your own plans,

but it was all for nothing.

Whatever you do, don't fight the Tensen.

If we do, our plan will fail.

Gabimaru.

It's over.

Over?

What should we do if we actually have to face them?

Simply run away?

The moment that happens, the plan is over.

It's time for plan B.

Prepare yourselves.

Fight with everything you've got.

Once the Tensen are engaged, it's impossible to flee from them.

We will not run.

We won't give up either.

We will defeat you and leave the island.

Hell's Paradise

A faint flower was blooming unnoticed by anyone

Not a burning red, but flickering serenely in red

I've been pausing for a long time dragging my past at my feet

If I break free from this ambivalence,

will I be able to bloom by its side?

The future is slipping away between my fingers

What mistake did I make to pay this price?

Always hurting myself

and hesitant even to a small joy

I want to stop now

The flower just bloomed in dignity

and that was all I needed to be happy

I just wanted to protect this one flower

Wishing to be strong, I

picked up the vulnerability I had once cast away

Can't break free from the ambivalence

In ambivalence, I become myself

Like rooting strongly into the soil

like swaying ephemerally to the wind

I'm slowly loosening myself to bloom

Hell's Paradise

Hindering and Restoration

To be blunt, any effort to fight back is pointless.

Plan B? You mean using brute force?

No. I have an idea.

Sister.

You should return to our brother and the Grandmaster.

After all, our brother banished you out of love.

It saddens me to see you at odds.

If you still oppose the Waitanhua Flower, it is pointless.

The perfect tan—the Elixir of Life— will be completed soon.

Tan that does not turn people into trees.

What...?

We learned how to refine it with help from a human.

Our research on the Waitanhua Flower is complete.

We have no reason to fight anymore.

Now we need only acquire enough tan.

We need more higher-quality materials.

To that end, our brother has begun the ritual.

The Hekiji Fukusho ritual.

You're not yet aware of our brother's anguish,

but you could surely reach an understanding now.

But I want to see Rien and Grandmaster one more time.

Mei-san...

I missed everyone, too.

But I understand now.

I am different from rest of you.

Both dying and not being able to die are sad.

I came to see all of you.

I came to say goodbye.

I am leaving the island.

Then you leave me no choice.

Let us finish this first.

The ritual has already begun.

The last thing we need are the offerings.

In other words, all of you.

We know of only one way to win.

Destroy their tanden using hindering tao—

in other words, one with a favorable attribute matchup.

The situation changes according to the attribute of your opponent's tao.

For example, Gabimaru, your tao is strong against Gui Fa's metal attribute.

Wood

Fire

Earth

Metal

Water

But facing Ran, whose attribute is water, puts you in a difficult position.

Touching your opponent will weaken your fire tao.

Even if you destroy their tanden, it won't kill them.

In other words, you cannot defeat them.

And besides, they have far more tao than us.

What do you intend to do?

I have an idea.

Why did we have to encounter Gabimaru's worst matchup?

Sagiri.

What?

Take Mei and go to the room with the Elixir.

Yuzuriha and I will handle this.

What? Why me?

Ran's tao is water.

You're the only one with earth tao, the hindering attribute.

Gabimaru, not here.

Not rentan palace. No Elixir.

What?!

They're fast.

My sister is correct.

This is not the rentan palace.

It is my doin palace.

How?

But we confirmed the locations of the rentan palace, tan, and tao.

The tan of inanimate objects is far easier to manipulate than that of living things.

You simply command it to change shape.

The construction of the buildings and stone statues on the island.

Renovations based on feng shui are my responsibility.

Changing the castle layout to counter your intrusion was simple.

The tao of corpses behaves like that of inanimate objects.

I created the illusion that the tan was here.

Mei-san!

See?

Now be still, Sister.

We'll have to settle this here after all.

Gabimaru!

Yuzuriha!

Follow the plan!

Marvelous! Such lively flesh!

It's a shame, though.

With your tao, no matter how many times you hit me, you cannot kill me.

So this must be what you're really after.

It's possible to imbue weapons with tao, right?

Yes.

Then aren't ranged weapons better than melee?

They're safer, and it's easier to catch someone off-guard.

Maybe it's because they can regenerate,

but the Tensen leave themselves defenseless.

Yikes!

Why? I should be hindering!

As I thought, simply blocking their attacks takes a lot of effort.

Is this the effect of hindering, too?

But most of all, this is different from fighting Zhu Jin.

Why are they so hard?

I stretch my tao thin and bundle it together.

It makes it tough and supple, like muscle fibers.

Uh, in other words?

Their entire body is covered in hard tao armor.

If that coordinated attack was your plan, then it is pointless.

Unlike a suit of armor, tao has no gaps or blind spots.

This is harmony between muscles and tao.

True flesh.

Are all the Tensen this crazy?

Don't ask me.

We should remove that while we have the chance.

Ninpo: Stone Storm.

Gabimaru!

They're not just tough.

They know more actual combat techniques than Mu Dan.

At this rate...

Don't worry.

I expected this.

I've got the gist of it now.

Let's begin, Yuzuriha.

Yeah, yeah. Finally, huh?

I thought we were going to die.

Begin?

They haven't been executing their plan?

The amount and attributes of their tao hasn't changed.

They shouldn't even be able to damage my muscles.

Try all you want. The result will always be the same.

That seems to have worked.

We've tried the first method.

Now let's try the second.

Hell's Paradise

Yuzuriha

Gabimaru

Yamada Asaemon Sagiri

Gabimaru

The names of those who landed.

Rituals and curses require names.

We'll use their names for the Hekiji Fukusho ritual.

Then should we capture them and force them to tell us?

Gabimaru.

Gabimaru the Hollow, Tamiya Gantetsusai.

I remember all the names on the roster, including the criminals.

Not that I know who's survived.

My brother is among them.

We already fought you once.