Hanzō immediately stood down. With a gasp, he pulled his hand away from his sword. “What do we do? Kill the boy?”

There it was again.

First answer always. Kill the boy.

Koichi’s gaze went to Ryuichi’s unconscious body. “We don’t know who his parents were or are. We might not be able to kill him. We could just make them angry.”

Hanzō cursed under his breath. “Masaru. That’s why he chose him . . .”

“Probably, but Masaru doesn’t seem to know anything about the kid either.”

“How could he not?”

That was the question that Koichi kept coming back to. “There’s a lot about this boy we don’t know. But the one thing I’m certain of is that he needs to be specially trained. His powers are incredible.”

Shadowlings were exceptionally rare. Those who could walk in both worlds, who could communicate with the darkest of powers . . .

It was why Hanzō had allowed Masaru a place in his castle. The ronin inari had been banned from his shrine for treachery, and since then had sold his skills to the dark kami.

While Hanzō didn’t exactly trust Masaru, he trusted the kitsune’s greed and self-preservation.

Hanzō gaped at Koichi. “Special training? He absolutely cannot mix with the others—not after what you just told me, and not when we know nothing of his origins. Or loyalty. Can you imagine what he could do to the students here? Not to mention the rest of us?”

Indeed. If Ryuichi could win over someone’s shadow, he could control them. Turn them against each other. Do all kinds of evil.

Or good. But good was seldom practiced by those with such skills. It was too easy to become corrupted.

“I know, but what if he’s the key to ending the Shadow War?”

That got Hanzō’s attention. He knelt by Ryuichi’s side. “Do you really think that?”

Koichi shrugged. “The kami are angry. Every day more darkness takes over. They are searching for the Kage-taro. What if this boy isn’t just a Shadowling? What if he is the one they’re seeking?”

Hanzō shook his head. “The Kage-taro is a myth.”

“Then why do they seek him?”

“To curry favor with the Ryukage. You know the Kage are insane—they’re searching for the Kage-taro to placate a monster who’s bent on our utter destruction.”

“But what if there really is a son hidden in our world?”

Sighing, Hanzō brushed the hair back from Ryuichi’s cheek. “Impossible. It’s as much a lie as the Kagi-Mori. And even if it wasn’t, such a boy would have been hidden better than this. He’s a Shadowling . . . a scary trifle and nothing more.”