Asukasa, Japan

"So, your going to America?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah. We've recently developed a problem." Her best friend/main rival Homura replied.

"Is this a 'Haruka pissed somebody off again' problem?" Katsuragi asked.

"Unfortunately, no. Our situation right now is a quite a bit more dire than that." Haruka replied.

"What happened?" Ikaruga asked.

"Somebody found us." Mirai replied.

"What?! How?!" Hibari exclaimed.

"We're not entirely sure. All we know is that whoever it is, we found out that they're currently hiding in America." Yomi explained.

"What happened?" Yagyū asked.

The day before...
Crimson Squad Hideout

Crimson squad was currently doing their own things. It had been a rather uneventful day, which was unusual for the girls. After their defection from Hebijo Academy, a clandestine school for training Evil Shinobi Women, and rescue by their friends/rivals at Hanzō Academy when they were nearly sacrificed to a Yōma, Homura and her friends fled to and hid in a cave, which they made their home... and they actually managed to make it kinda homely.

Due to their defection, they're now branded as Renegade Shinobi, meaning that they had been marked for death. This meant that there would be Shinobi on both sides of the spectrum that would try to hunt them down and kill them. For this reason, Homura and her teammate Hikage were currently sparring outside the cave.

Meanwhile, their little friend Mirai was inside writing her web novel 'Rapunzel the Shinobi', a series that she was working on, despite having Murasaki as it's one and only reader.

Yomi was simultaneously experimenting with bean sprouts (as usual) and cooking lunch for the Squad.

And finally, there was Haruka, who was engrossed in her work in the basement... they honestly didn't know whether that was a good or bad thing.

After Mirai finished up the last bit of her novel, Yomi finished cooking lunch, and Haruka completed her work, the three decided to watch their friends spar.

"Their still going at it." Mirai said.

"Well, Hikage is quite tenacious, and our dear Homura is always willing to go all out." Haruka replied.

"Look at them go. It's like watching two blurs going at it." Yomi said, a hint of awe in her voice, even though she knew how skilled her friends were.

Homura and Hikage kept going at each other. Hikage threw three knives at Homura, who deflected them with ease. Homura then charged at Hikage and swung her her left swords down at her. Hikage managed to parry the attack, putting some distance between her and Homura. Homura then slashed her right swords at Hikage's side, which Hikage managed to block with her big knife. Homura then attempted to sweep Hikage's leg, but Hikage managed to step away. The two then attempted to jab at each other with their blades. They both stopped as their blades were an inch away from the other's face.

"How about we call that a draw?" Homura asked.

"Sure." Hikage said in her usual emo tone.

The two then put away their blades and headed towards the entrance. They then sat down at their makeshift table. Hikage got changed into more comfortable clothes and prepared to serve her friends.

"It smells real good, Yomi." Homura said.

"Actually, Hikage cooked most of it before you asked her to spar with you." Yomi replied.

"Oh. Well, it still smells really good." Homura said.

Hikage then set the food on the table and watched as her friends dug in. Seeing them enjoy just about every bite made Hikage feel just the tiniest shred of happiness, which was enough for her to crack a tiny smile.

Timeskip

Crimson Squad sat there groaning in satisfaction with their meal.

"That was delicious." Mirai sighed with a hand on her stomach.

"So... what now?" Yomi asked.

"Ooh, there's a new movie that's come out that I really want to see!" Mirai exclaimed excitedly.

The rest of Crimson Squad all looked at each other.

"So, who'd like to go with her?" Hikage asked.

"Um... actually, I was wondering if we could all go see it?" Mirai asked, poking her fingertips.

Her friends then looked to each other and shrugged.

Timeskip

Crimson Squad exited the movie theater together and headed back to their cave.

"That was actually quite enjoyable." Haruka

"One of the last samurai going to the American west and teaming up with an ex-outlaw to save a town from the outlaw's old gang? It's an interesting concept." Homura said.

"On paper, it sounds kind of ridiculous. But they managed to make it pretty good." Yomi commented.

"I never realized how similar Samurai Films and American Westerns were." Hikage said.

"They can't be that similar in real life, right?" Mirai asked.

"Doubtful." Homura replied with a small chuckle.

Homura then thought she noticed someone watching them out of the corner of her eye. When she subtly looked over, she saw a man who appeared to be watching her and her friends from the other side of the street. However, she then saw that he had a beer bottle in his hand and watched as he slurred a curse at somebody and collapsed in the middle of the sidewalk.

Having her concerns eased, she returned her attention to the conversation that she and her friends were having.

Timeskip

By the time Crimson Squad returned to their hideout, the sun was setting. They completed their chores for the day, then decided to spend the rest by simply talking to each other.

Mirai was talking about her web novel and how it was going. Haruka pitched a few... 'ideas', which Mirai politely turned down. Yomi then went into a ten minute spiel about bean sprouts, as usual. And Homura recalled her previous battle with Asuka and commented on how the latter was getting stronger.

Eventually, three of the five girls were ready to head to bed.

"I think I'll go to bed now." Mirai said sleepily.

"It is starting to get late." Haruka said with a yawn.

Four of the five squad members looked over and saw that Hikage was already gone.

'Must have already gone to bed.' Homura thought.

Mirai and Haruka went off to bed. Homura and Yomi, however, we're wide awake.

"You're not heading to bed?" Homura asked.

"Not just yet. I have a few more bean sprout experiments I want to conduct." Yomi replied.

Homura smiled and sighed in slight exasperation. Of course Yomi would stay up late for bean sprouts.

"You know what? I'll help." Homura said.

"Really?!" Yomi asked excitedly.

"I don't have anything better to do... at least, not this late in the day." Homura said.

Yomi then grabbed Homura's hand and ran out of the hideout with the latter in tow.

Timeskip

"And that should be enough. Now all that's left is to let them grow." Yomi finished.

Homura sat there with a bead of sweat rolling down her head and spirals in her eyes. Yomi didn't notice and giggled as she brushed dirt over the bean sprouts. They both got up and stretched.

"Alright then. I'm off to bed." Homura said.

"Agreed. This took a little longer than I thought it would." Yomi replied as she yawned.

The two then began heading inside the hideout. Homura, however, suddenly stopped and turned her head slightly, as she thought that she had heard something behind them. Yomi looked back to see her friend was bothered by something.

"What's wrong?" Yomi asked.

"Do you hear that?" Homura asked.

Yomi listened closely to see if she could hear whatever it was that Homura was hearing. It didn't take very long for Yomi to hear the faint clanging sound in the distance. It almost sounded like the familiar sound of blade clashing with blade.

"What is that?" Yomi asked quietly.

...

...

...

BANG

"What was that?!" Homura exclaimed.

Suddenly, Hikage came flying out from the woods and landed on her back. Homura caught her as she and Yomi looked to the woods and see a large group of shinobi appear out of nowhere.

"Shinobi... TENSHIN!!!" Homura and Yomi shouted.

They were then briefly covered by a bright light. When the light receded, it revealed the two in their shinobi attire.

Hikage got up and readied her knives, but Homura stopped her as Yomi engaged the enemy shinobi.

"We'll take care of them for now. Go wake up Mirai and Haruka." Homura said.

Hikage responded with a single nod, then ran towards the hideout. One of the enemy shinobi threw a kunai at Hikage, but Homura used her swords to deflect it and charged at the enemy shinobi. She then slashed at the shinobi with such speed that said shinobi didn't have time to block the attack.

As the shinobi fell down behind her, dead, she moved onto the next. Meanwhile, Yomi swung her sword at three shinobi that had charged at her. Due to the size of her sword, their dead bodies were sent flying in different directions. She then narrowly dodged a shuriken that was thrown at her. She looked to her right and saw a bunch of smug shinobi lined up perfectly. When she saw this, however, she simply smirked.

"Hidden Ninpo: Sigmund!" She exclaimed.

Yomi then lifted her sword above her head. It was then surrounded by a pink aura and grew in size. Yomi then slammed the enlarged sword into the ground, which sent a shockwave, sending the bodies of the enemy shinobi flying a few feet.

Another shinobi charged towards Yomi whilst her guard was down, but Homura intercepted them.

"Hidden Ninpo: Resonate!" Homura exclaimed.

She then unleashed a barrage of slashes towards the shinobi, then lunged forward with her swords and slashed at him in an X shape, sending the dead shinobi flying into a tree.

Suddenly, a shinobi armed with sais dropped down from the tree behind her, his weapons poised to kill her.

"Hidden Ninpo: DEATHxKISS!"

A pink projectile came out of nowhere and hit the shinobi as he fell from the tree. His body was then slammed into another tree. Homura looked over to see Haruka in her shinobi attire.

She then threw three different vials at three different shinobi. The first tried to block it with his weapon, but whatever chemical Haruka threw at him, it melted the weapon. The second shinobi was hit with the second chemical, causing her to drop her weapon and look around with a blank stare, as if she suddenly forgot why she was there. The third shinobi was also hit, but he had suddenly lost control of his senses and roared as he killed his two comrades. He was then put down by Haruka's robot, which smacked him into a tree branch, breaking his neck.

While Haruka was congratulating her robotic pet, she heard the familiar sound of knives whizzing behind her head. She looked over to see who had thrown said knives and saw Hikage.

Haruka then looked over and saw a dead shinobi with three knives in his body.

"Thank you, dear." Haruka said.

Hikage nodded, then slashed two kunai out of the air with her big knife. She then briefly took a count of how many shinobi were in front of her. It was a somewhat large group, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

"Hidden Ninpo: Shanking." Hikage said monotonously.

She then licked her big knife, then put a smaller knife in her mouth, then held two small knives between her fingers. She then charged towards them and assaulted them with a barrage of slashes, killing them.

As Haruka, Hikage, and Yomi were fighting off the shinobi, Homura noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She looked over and saw someone standing on a nearby hill, watching the battle. Homura looked a little closer and noticed that she's seen the person before.

'That's the guy from the movie theater! I thought he was drunk! Dammit!' Homura cursed herself in her head for being so careless.

She then looked over to her friends.

"There's a guy overlooking us on the hill! Keep these guys off me while I take care of him!" Homura ordered.

"Hai!" Her friends replied.

They did exactly that as Homura ran towards the man. Homura rushed towards the top of the hill where the man was standing, and grabbed her swords to fight. However, when she arrived at the top of the hill, the man she had spotted was nowhere to be found.

'Shit! That wasn't a shinobi art, was it?!' Homura thought to herself.

Her question was almost immediately answered when she heard the click of a gun hammer being cocked back. She narrowly avoided three bullets, then turned around. When she turned around, she managed to get a better look at the one who had followed her and her friends to their hideout.

Homura would have found his choice of clothes odd, though with some of her friends' shinobi attire, that would have been the pot calling the kettle black. Though, that wouldn't be far off. He wore a black vest with white patterns on top of a black shirt, with black pants. His boots were black and had silver designs on them. For whatever reason, he seemed to wear spurs. On top of his head was a black cowboy hat. On his face was a dark grey bandana. To top it all off, he wore a black and silver belt which held the holster for his gun.

Homura then charged at the man with staggering speed. Even by shinobi standards, Homura was moving incredibly fast. That's why she was somewhat surprised when the man managed to grab her wrists and stop her attack.

The two grappled with each other for a few moments, until the man suddenly tripped over a branch on the ground. As he fell, he grabbed Homura by the ponytail, and they both tumbled down the hill away from the battle. Homura lost her left swords, but managed to hold on to the swords in her right hand.

When the two reached the bottom of the hill, Homura reached for the man, and he attempted to kick her hand. He missed, but his spur caught Homura's forearm. It wasn't anything bad, but it was just deep enough to draw blood. When Homura's arm recoiled from the injury, the man used the opportunity to try and get away.

Homura, however, threw a kunai at him. It missed and embedded itself in a nearby tree, but grazed the hair on the side of the man's face, which made him stop. While his back was still turned, Homura got up and quickly charged at him. Once again, he managed to keep up with Homura, surprising her, and flipped her onto her back hard enough to knock the wind out of her.

While she was on the ground, the man reached for something on his belt. Then, in the near blink of an eye, the man drew his gun, whipped around, and fired three shots by slamming the hammer of his gun with his palm. The bullets knocked three knives out of the air that were coming towards him. Both he and Homura looked over to see a semi-surprised Hikage.

Homura then gets ready to attempt to sweep his legs out from under him, but he then whistles. A black and white horse suddenly bursts out of the woods behind Hikage, which bumps into her hard and sends her to the ground.

The man then manages to get onto the horse as it sprints past Homura. Haruka and Yomi then appear, a little bit of blood on the latter's sword.

"What happened?!" Yomi asked as she helps Hikage up.

"Don't let him get away!" Homura exclaims as she points towards the man as he races of on his horse.

Haruka and Yomi then nod, and the four of them give chase. The man's horse was fast, and the four of them could just barely keep up. Haruka then threw a vial in the man's direction. It missed, and the vial shattered on the ground. However, there must have been something in the vial that the horse didn't like, because it suddenly reared onto it's hind legs and knocked the man off.

The man then got back up and turned around just in time to intercept a kick from Haruka, whom he then slammed into a tree hard enough to knock the wind out of her.

"Hidden Ninpo: Charge!" Homura exclaimed.

Homura then quickly charged towards the man and slashed at him. Much to her surprise, he managed to block the attack with his gun. She then teleported a little to the man's left and slashed again, which he blocked again.

She then teleported behind him. She had meant to slash him from behind. But, to add to the surprise that he was able to keep up with her, he then quickly drew his gun and fired. The bullet didn't do any damage to Homura, but it did knock her to the ground and leave her speechless. Not only was he able to keep up with a former elite shinobi, but he managed to move even faster.

He then heard a noise behind him and quickly turned around. However, just as he had turned around, Hikage had stabbed him with her big knife. It was a fatal wound that pierced the man's lung.

Hikage stared into the man's eyes, intending to make sure he died. The man dropped his gun, firing another bullet. Hikage could see the man growing weaker from the wound, which is why it surprised her slightly that he attempted to stab her with a knife that was as big as hers. He was putting up a good fight, as Hikage barely managed to keep it from her eye.

He then kicked her away, causing her to pull her big knife out of him. She threw a smaller knife at him, but only grazed his face, cutting the bandanna off his face.

He stumbled backwards, which left Homura, Haruka, Hikage, and Yomi in front of him. The four girls then heard the click of a gun behind them.

"Get down!" The voice of Mirai shouted.

The four girls hit the deck as their tiny colleague opened fire. Mirai filled the man's chest with bullets. She had emptied an entire magazine into the man, leaving gaping holes in his body.

Homura, Haruka, Hikage, and Yomi all got back up to their feet. The squad then looked at the man that they had just killed. He was somehow still standing and his head was hung, but the girls could tell he was dying. He then looked up to the girls, revealing his face. To their surprise, he was about their age.

He then gave them a creepy smile and let out a small chuckle as he stumbled two steps back before falling in his back, dying as soon as he hit the ground.

The girls then decided to take a quick breath.

"Was he the last one?" Homura asked.

"Yeah. We took care of the rest near the hideout." Hikage replied.

"Yes. But that still leaves us with two questions." Haruka began.

"Who are they, and why are they after us?" Mirai finished.

"That boy must have been an elite shinobi of some kind. It's too bad we had to kill him. He might have been able to give us valuable information." Yomi said.

"Was he? He certainly didn't dress like any shinobi we've come across." Hikage replied.

"Maybe we can still get some answers. Let's head back to the hideout and see if anyone survived. Maybe we can get something out of them." Homura ordered.

"Hai!" Her friends replied.

They then turned around to head back to their hideout to check for survivors to interrogate. However, before they leave, Haruka notices something on the boy's person.

"Oh? What's this?" Haruka said.

She then kneeled over the boy's dead body and took a small piece of slightly bloody paper out of his pocket. She then unfolded the paper and took a brief glance at it.

"It's some kind of note." Haruka said as she gave it to Homura.

Homura took a look at the note... then almost immediately sighed in both exasperation and slight embarrassment.

"Uhh... can anybody here read English?" Homura asked.

Mirai's hand then immediately shot up the way a kid's would when they wanted a teacher to call on them. The squad looked at her in surprise.

"You can read English?" Homura asked.

"Uh, yeah... is that weird?" Mirai asked nervously, her insecure side starting to show.

"No... it's just that we didn't know Hebijo taught English." Hikage replied.

"Well, they didn't. It was something I learned on my own time." Mirai said.

"Oh... well, here. What does this say?" Homura asked, handing Mirai the note.

Mirai took the note and read it aloud.

"'Mr. Graves, I will be blunt with this. I have been told that when it comes to tracking people down and killing them, you are the best in the state of Nevada. I have also been told that you are willing to take jobs that take you outside of the States. If this is true, I have a proposition for you: I offer you $10,000 to track down and eliminate a group in Japan known as Homura's Crimson Squad. If you need a place to start, I have associates in Japan that may help you. I would have simply hired them, but we did not part ways on good terms, so they may require some convincing.'." Mirai translated.

"Does it say who wrote the letter?" Yomi asked.

"No, it's unsigned." Mirai said.

"Well, that's unfortunate. But at least we know that whoever it is, they're hiding in this 'Nevada' place." Haruka said.

Homura then noticed that Hikage looked like she was deep in thought about something.

"Is everything okay, Hikage?" Homura asked.

"That note said that this Mr. Graves took jobs that took him outside the States. What does that mean? What are 'the States'?" Hikage asked.

"Hm... they could be referring to the United States. I think I actually remember seeing this Nevada place on a map of America on a globe." Mirai suggested.

The rest of Crimson Squad looked to Mirai incredulously. Even Hikage, though her reaction wasn't as noticeable.

"What? Some parts of my novel take place in other countries." Mirai said.

Whilst Mirai explained, Hikage took notice of the boy's gun on the ground.

She picked it up and examined it. It was some kind of revolver. It was black, with silver engravings and a pearl white grip.

She then looked and saw that her friends were headed back to the hideout. With the gun still in hand, she followed them.

Timeskip

Crimson Squad was gathered around a globe in their hideout. Mirai spun it towards a map of the United States, and they began looking for the place mentioned in the letter. They eventually found Nevada on the western part of America.

"Well, at least we've narrowed it down." Yomi said.

"Maybe, but it still isn't much. While I've never been to America, I have a feeling that a State is a rather large area of land." Homura replied.

"Not only that, but it's entirely possible that whoever sent the letter isn't even in Nevada." Haruka added.

"Still, the fact that we know that this boy came from there is better than nothing." Hikage said.

The five thought about it for a minute. Knowing that this Graves boy came from America was better than having nothing to go off of. Hell, the fact that they managed to find out which of the fifty states he was from was a miracle.

"She's right. We should see where this lead takes us and see what we can find out there." Homura said.

"Hai!" The rest of the squad replied.

Present
Somewhere in Asukasa

"And that's the basic gist of what happened." Homura finished explaining.

"So, you think whoever you're looking for might be in this Nevada place?" Hibari asked.

"It's possible. Though, we believe that it's more likely that we'll just find another clue there." Yomi replied.

"When do you leave?" Katsuragi asked.

"In three days. We already bought the plane tickets." Haruka replied.

"And all you have to go off of is an unsigned letter? That doesn't seem like much." Ikaruga said.

"It isn't. But what else is there to go off of?" Hikage asked.

"Didn't you say you have your attacker's gun? Maybe there's somebody here who can identify what kind of gun it is, or maybe who made it?" Asuka suggested.

"Oh, like that would help. Even if someone could tell us who made it or what kind it is, it wouldn't really narrow anything down much since pretty much one in every three Americans carry guns thanks to some government paper saying they can." Mirai stated kind of rudely.

"O-oh. Right." Asuka said in embarrassment.

Mirai then sighed.

"I'm sorry, that was kind of rude. Still, even if that would narrow it down, where would we find somebody here in Japan that knows anything about American guns?" Mirai asked/apologized.

Suddenly, the girls all heard a commotion beside them. They all turned to see a darker skinned girl helping someone put a bunch of items on a table whilst apologizing profusely.

The Hanzō girls then looked to Crimson Squad. And while the latter group was reluctant to let anybody else in on this, they also acknowledged that their best bet was to go one of the few Americans they knew.

The ten then went up to Matsuri, who looked up from what she was doing and saw them.

"Oh, hi Asuka! Homura! I didn't expect to see you here." Matsuri greeted happily.

"Well, we were just heading to the mall when we bumped into Homura's team." Asuka said.

"Oh. Well, in any case, it's good to see you!" Matsuri said.

"Yeah... however, that leads into why we're here." Homura said, gesturing to her team.

"Huh?" Matsuri asked curiously.

Homura then proceeded to tell Matsuri about how she and her team had been found, and about the ones that had attacked their hideout, most notably the boy in black. Matsuri listened in shock and a little bit of alarm.

"Wow... well, I wish you luck. I would like to help, but I'm not sure how I can." Matsuri said, facing away from Homura in embarrassment.

"Actually, you might be able to." Homura said.

Matsuri looked to Homura with a curious expression.

"We managed to grab our assailant's gun. Given that he was American, we were wondering if maybe you could recognize it." Homura said.

"Um... you do realize that the 2nd Amendment is part of America's Constitution, right? Every citizen is permitted to bare arms." Matsuri said.

"Yeah. But we were hoping that maybe knowing the model would help narrow down our search." Homura said.

As she said this, she pulled out the gun and showed it to Matsuri.

"W-well, I'm actually not too familiar with gun mod-" Matsuri began.

However, when she looked at the gun, her eyes went wide, and a small gasp left her lips.

Somehow, Homura didn't notice this.

"Yeah, we kind of figured. We just figured it was worth a shot to ask." Homura sighed, starting to put the gun away.

"Wait!" Matsuri exclaimed, surprising Homura.

Homura then handed Matsuri the gun.

Matsuri then observed the gun. She popped out one of the bullet casings and looked at it closely, before giving it to Homura. Matsuri then pulled the hammer back slightly and held the gun up to her ear whilst spinning the cylinder, before pulling the hammer further back and aiming it down an empty alleyway. She then pulled the trigger, but kept her thumb on the hammer, letting it move forward slowly.

Then Matsuri began to spin the gun with such expertise that the others began to think that she has had practice. She then put the gun to her hip, as if she were holstering it, before quickly drawing it again.

She then looked back to Homura with a surprisingly serious expression.

"The guy you took this gun from... you said that he dressed like a cowboy and was from Nevada, right?" She asked.

"Uh... yeah." Homura said, not knowing where Matsuri was going with this.

"And he specialized in tracking people down... then there's no doubt about it." Matsuri muttered.

"About what?" Asuka asked.

Matsuri was about to say something, but before she could, another voice called out.

"Matsuri! There you are! It's almost time to go!"

The girls then looked over and saw a blond girl with a drink in her hand.

Yoshimitsu then looked over and saw Asuka and Homura.

"Homura! Asuka! Hey, how are you?" Yoshimitsu said with a smile.

"Well... we could be better." Homura replied.

Yoshimitsu tilted her head in confusion and slight worry.

"What do you mean?" Yoshimitsu asked.

Homura was about to explain, when Yoshimitsu looked over and saw the gun in Matsuri's hands.

"Uh, Matsuri? What's with the gun?" Yoshimitsu asked, concern lining her voice.

"Take a look." Matsuri said with a serious look.

She then held the gun out to Yoshimitsu. Yoshimitsu took the gun, but was a bit confused... that is, until she actually took a good look at it.

"Wait a minute... is this what I think it is?" Yoshimitsu asked, a similar serious expression on her face.

"Yeah, it is." Matsuri replied.

Yoshimitsu then turned to Homura and Asuka.

"Where did you find this?" Yoshimitsu asked.

Homura then explained the whole situation to her... again. Yoshimitsu listened intently as Homura explained everything. When Homura finished explaining, Yoshimitsu only had one question.

"Homura... may we see this letter?" Yoshimitsu asked.

Haruka then handed the letter to Yoshimitsu, and she and Matsuri read it closely. When they were done reading it, they looked to each other.

"As I said, there's not a doubt in my mind." Matsuri said.

"You think he was a Bounty Hunter? After all, this says he specialized in tracking people down." Yoshimitsu asked.

"Bounty Hunter?" Asuka asked.

"Maybe. But given the nature of this letter, I'm leaning more towards Outlaw." Matsuri replied, ignoring Asuka.

"Outlaw? What are you two talking about?" Homura asked.

Yoshimitsu and Matsuri looked to Hanzō and Cimson Squad, the n to each other. They both nodded, then turned back to the two squads.

"The man that attacked you, Homura... he was a Gunslinger." Matsuri said.

"Gunslinger? What does that mean?" Hibari asked.

"A while back, America's western states began to go back to the days of the 1800s. Outlaws took advantage of this, therefore the American government made the Lawmen to combat them, essentially making them the American equivalent of Good and Evil shinobi." Yoshimitsu asked.

"And of course they also have they're own version of Rogue Ninja called Bounty Hunters. Only they aren't marked for death." Matsuri continued.

"To put it simply, the Wild West was reborn." Yoshimitsu said.

"So, you're telling us that a large chunk of America decided to play cowboy?" Mirai asked incredulously.

"Pretty much. But don't worry, these Outlaws are far and few, and the Lawmen have been bringing them to justice since the whole thing began. You shouldn't have any problems." Yoshimitsu said with an encouraging smile.

Crimson Squad, however, noticed that Matsuri shifted uncomfortably as Yoshimitsu said this.

"Anyways, we should really be getting back to Maisen. You coming, Matsuri?" Yoshimitsu asked.

"In a second. There's some more things I want to tell them about." Matsuri said.

Yoshimitsu nodded in understanding, then turned and walked away. Meanwhile, Matsuri turned back to the two teams.

"I'm guessing you know something about these Gunslingers that Yoshimitsu doesn't?" Yomi asked.

"Yes... the American government is keeping the actual scale of the Gunslinger  conflict secret from the people living in the big cities to keep a panic from happening. But the conflict is bigger than what Yoshimitsu described. In fact, it's bigger than the conflict between Good and Evil Shinobi." Matsuri said.

This statement made the two shinobi teams widen their eyes in shock. After all, that was a hell of a statement.

"And to make matters worse, since these Gunslingers are public knowledge, they often don't restrain themselves when they fight." Matsuri continued.

"Meaning they can go all out without consequence." Ikaruga deduced.

"Yes." Matsuri replied.

This was slightly worrisome. If these Gunslingers were everything that Matsuri was talking them up to be, then they would be fearsome opponents. Since the world of Shinobi is meant to be a secret, they were taught to be reserved when fighting, even when they go all out. But since these Gunslingers didn't have to worry about such things, they could be as brutal or destructive as they wished.

"But, I do agree with Yoshimitsu on one thing: you should be fine. Your Shinobi  training should get you through just fine." Matsuri said with a warm smile.

She then waved back at the two the teams as she ran to catch up with Yoshimitsu.

The two teams then looked at each other.

"I guess we should expect a hell of a fight when we find whoever it is that's after us, then." Homura said.

"Don't worry, Homura. It may be tough, but I'm sure we can handle whatever they throw at us." Asuka said.

This of course made Crimson Squad perk up.

"'We'? You're coming with us?" Yomi asked.

"Of course we are!" Hibari exclaimed.

"You seriously don't think that we'd let you do this alone?" Yagyū added.

"This isn't your issue. You don't have to get involved." Mirai said.

"But, knowing the five of you, you're not going to take 'no' for an answer." Hikage deduced.

"You're damn right we're not." Katsuragi said with a smirk.

"Well, if that's the case, then I suppose there's no point in arguing." Haruka said, almost chuckling.

"Then I guess we'll all see each other on the flight to America." Homura said.

"Yeah." Asuka said.

The two teams then nodded at each other, then went their separate ways to prepare for the journey ahead.

Somewhere in the deserts of Nevada...

A boy sat in a chair asleep, his feet kicked up on a desk and a hat laid over his eyes. He was woken from his nap, however, when he heard the sound of a door flying open and running footsteps nearing him.

He raised hand to his head and used his thumb to lift his hat slightly off his eyes.

"Hey! We've got a problem!" His friend exclaimed.

The boy then got up and followed his friend out the door.

The two then hurriedly walked through the town. As they did, the boy couldn't help but wonder what was going on. This town wasn't exactly peaceful. Trouble was always brewing here in one way or another. So much so that he and his friends became desensitized to it.

So what could be going on that's making one of said friends worried?

The two then rounded a corner, and the boy got his answer.

In the middle of the street, a woman had a girl tied up and gagged. She was on her knees and crying as the woman held a gun to her head. The boy then noticed the guns lying on the ground a few feet in front of her. The boy looked over and saw the rest of his friends holding various parts of their bodies.

"What happened?" The boy asked quietly, worry evident in his voice.

"Don't really know. People didn't seem to pay her any mind until she put a gun to that poor girl's head. We tried to take care of her, but as you can see, she managed to get us first. Thankfully she only nicked us." The boy's friend explained.

"She didn't want to kill you?" The boy asked as he eyed the woman in the street.

"She asked to me to get the highest ranking Lawman in town. Which, right now, would be you." The boy's friend replied.

The boy nodded. He then walked out into the street and towards the man, brushing dirt off of the small badge pinned to his chest.

The boy then stood ten paces away from the woman, who looked to the boy.

"What do you want, kid?" The woman asked impatiently.

"I believe I'm the one who's suppose to ask you that. You were the one that called me out, after all." The boy said, hiding the nervousness in his voice rather well.

The woman, however, rolled her eyes.

"Stop wasting my time and get lost boy. I called out Ranger Lydia Adams. Now you go-" The woman started.

"Lydia Adams been out of town for three days. And Sheriff Levy isn't here, either. I'm the next highest ranking Lawman in town. Which means you indeed called me out." The boy said sternly, cutting the woman off.

The woman raised an eyebrow at the boy's bravery as she holstered her gun.

"Is that so? Well, then... I gotta admit, you got some balls on ya, kid. I guess that also makes you the one that arrested two buddies of mine." The woman said.

"They shot and killed two men over a card game." The boy said.

"And that there is the issue. Now, since you're just a kid and I like you, I'll let you off with this warning: the Law isn't welcome here." The woman said.

"That's not for you to decide. This isn't an Outlaw State, and it will never be so long as I'm still breathing." The boy replied.

The woman then sighed, as she subtly moved her hand over her holstered gun. The boy noticed this and did the same.

The two then stared each other down, the only noises that could be heard is the wind as it blew dust towards the golden sky as the sun set in the horizon.

"That's a shame. I guess I gotta show another Lawman his place." The woman said.

Then, in the blink of an eye, they both drew their guns.

But only one gunshot was heard.