A/N: Blows off the dust

Raijin leaned against a tree as he gazed upon a large field consisting of short, ankle high grass easily swayed by the most gentle of breezes. A glance upwards revealed a sombre, grey overcast as the area felt more chilled than usual, prompting the young man to let out a soft sigh as he shifted his attention to the side.

"So, you've arrived," he said quietly, at a tone just above a whisper.

Slowly, a man wearing a pale green garb rose up from the grass, poking only his clothed face above the countless blades.

"I'm sorry for making you wait, Raijin-sama," the person whispered while making what the thunderbolt assumed was a bowing motion.

"Do not call me that, I am not a person with such power, I am just a murderer and nothing more," Raijin said coldly, "I've long abandoned what little regale I had before pursuing this path, so I have no right to be addressed in such a manner anymore."

"My apologies," replied the person, who had a masculine tone in his voice.

Raijin shook his head while pulling down his hood a bit more, hiding his eyes with a layer of shadow, "Nevermind. Just tell me what you have to report."

"At once," the man said, "Unfortunately, I was not able to get a great deal of information from my sources within the regime, as many of the details regarding the Emperor's motives have been told to only his most trusted subordinates. I believe that not even a handful of people know anymore than we already do."

"Che…" Raijin muttered as he rubbed his eyes, 'Just what ARE that monster's intentions? This is definitely more than a simple walk down the street, but just what Taiaki's hidden agenda will turn out to be is beyond my grasp…'

The thunderbolt sighed as he put his hand back down, "Is that all you were able to find out?"

"No, I did manage to discover something most important," the man explained, "Apparently, the Emperor has hired an additional two mercenaries alongside the one you've fought. One of them is rumoured to be Tengu while the other is said to be a warrior almost of his calibre, possibly on par."

Raijin snapped himself around and fully faced the informant, "Are you certain!?"

"What I was told is that the man you fought confronted the second mercenary in a duel, and he was able to hold his own with little difficulty. Both of them were promptly stopped by the appearance of the Tengu," the man stated, "I will make another attempt to gain more information in another day, so hopefully if we meet again, I'll be able to confirm these rumours."

"Please do, if what you say is true, then we will have a great deal of trouble trying to execute our own goals," Raijin said gravely, "Now, do you have anything else to tell me?"

"I am afraid not," the informant said.

"Then we had best part ways for now," the thunderbolt replied as he slowly got up, "I wish you luck on your future endeavours, and hope we will meet again."

"I hope we will meet again as well," the man said as he watched Raijin hobble off, before standing up from the grass and reaching towards a bag fixed to the side of his waist.

He also reached for the cloth covering his face and pulled it down, before slipping on a red mask with a long, beak like nose.

"Yes…it will be a day I am looking most forward to," he said while pulling down his hood and letting his long, black hair fall down before tying it back into a ponytail, and walking off.

A/N: So it's been almost 3 years since the last update, and whether or not the gap will ultimately hurt or make the story better is yet to really show as I do remember a majority of things I had planned for the story, although one of the mini character arcs I had up my sleeve has been abandoned and is being reworked for Dark Wars, possibly canning the chances of a character I had planned to introduce ever appearing in here.

That said, today's long, LONG awaited update is once again Raijin focused, with a bit of "uh oh" at the end.