Everyone was staring at the dead body of Riki, the dog who had been the former leader of the Ōu Army, and the bravest dog of Ohu, in the army's opinion. Blood had been pooling from his wounds, and everyone had been upset, howling and crying over the loss of their leader. However, Riki's son Gin had been appointed the new leader of the Ōu Army, and Gin couldn't help but feel he was too young for the job despite being 2 years old now. Gin had no leadership experience, and he didn't know what leading a whole heap of dogs would be like. What would it be like? Young Gin had no idea, but he was traumatized that his beloved father was dead. Tears streamed down his face as he began to howl, showing his grief, the most possible grief one dog could exhibit. Gin would have his revenge on all  bears one day, and he knew he would no matter what, however, he felt his father would not want to see his son this way now. Gin missed Riki, and hadn't really known him. What would Fuji, Gin's mother think? She was still at the village, living her life as a pet dog, so maybe she didn't know the father of her offspring was dead after being killed by the bear Akakabuto. Gin could feel the temptation to run back and tell her Riki was dead, but Gin would be literally forced one day to have to stay here in the Ohu Mountains all the time, until he appointed a general, and the current general was still Sniper, that nasty Dobermann.

Just then, once the howling was cut off, Cross, the Saluki and mother of her and Ben's pups George, Ken, and Minnie, headed over to Gin. "I understand this may be a hard time for you, being Riki was your father." She said with pity. "It is a hard time." Gin agreed. "I'm worried my father may never be with me again, or my grandfather, who I never got to meet." Cross then let out a smile. "Dear Gin, Riki and Shiro will find ways to communicate with you, as spirits." She said. "The afterlife is a thing." Gin could then feel some hope. What if Riki and Shiro would be able to talk to him as spirits? The tora-ge akita felt some excitement as well. "Hopefully that will happen one day." He said. Eventually, everyone relaxed, and Ben looked over at Gajō, the rock fortress that could be put to good use now that Akakabuto no longer posessed it, being he was dead.

"We should use Gajō." Ben suggested, looking at his comrades. "Maybe place Riki's body in it so he won't rot out here." Kurotora tilted his head. "But Ben! Can't we just bury Riki in a makeshift grave?" He asked, a bit snappy. Ben sighed. "We can, but being buried in dirt sounds disrespectful to a dog who did a great job being the founder and boss of the Ōu Army." He said, in a curt way. "Ben's right." Gin said, stepping forward. "My father would want that, right? I think we should bury him in Gajō." Everyone began nodding in  agreement, but all Kurotora did was just snort and walk off. "We'll bury him when the moon is high up in the air and visible. For now, we will leave him in a cave." Ben said, looking at all of his comrades. "Yes, Ben." They all said before heading off. As Ben began arranging Riki's body for burial in one of the caves, Gin headed over to watch, wanting to pay his final respects to his dead father, who was probably in the afterlife now. "You're the new supreme commander, Gin. Don't you have other things to do?" Ben then asked, looking at the young akita. "Yea, I do, but I want to pay my final respects to Riki." Gin answered, and the Dane moved out of the way, giving Gin a chance to maybe say any last words to the great akita who had been the Ōu Army's founder and boss. Gin plopped down on his rump beside Riki, tears welling up in his eyes. "Dad?" He asked, looking down. "I know you may be able to hear me, wherever you are, so I just want to say, I won't let you down, and will be the best leader I possibly can." Ben cracked a small smile of approval as he watched Gin. He would be a great supreme commander either way. Gin then looked at Ben and nodded before heading out.

---

Time had passed since Riki was laid in his tomb in the cave, and Gin kept being tempted to go inside, but he knew he couldn't at the moment. Riki would be placed in Gajō soon to where he wouldn't be visible to anyone except other Gajō-inhabiting creatures. Gin had been spending most of his time glancing at the cave Riki's body was in here and there, and he even peeked in once, only to see the dead body of his father with his scars and dried-up blood, dried-up blood all over his neck where a slit was. Gin had been mortified by the sight of seeing his dead father, and when he would go to look at his face, he had only seen closed, peaceful eyes, and he dare not open them. Gin had felt horrible for going in there, disturbing Riki's peace. As Gin looked around, looking for something to do, Smith had approached him. "Hello Gin!" The spaniel mix greeted the akita in his usual chipper manner. "Oh, hello Smith." Gin responded, smiling. "What do you want?" Smith sat down, scratching an itch on his feathered ears real quick before looking back at Gin. "You're suspicious of Sniper, right?" He finally asked. "Yea...so?" Gin replied, confused. "I saw Sniper around a few hours ago, and Hyena isn't with him. Odd, isn't it?" Smith explained. "Yea, that is odd." Gin agreed, looking down. "Usually Sniper always has him following him everywhere." Smith then froze for a moment. "I do recall smelling blood somewhere over by the river." He said. "I wonder if...do you think Sniper may have killed him!?" Gin froze as well, but the evidence Smith had provided made it seem true. "Maybe. Should we talk to Sniper about it? After all, he's the general, my general technically but he doesn't like that." He suggested. "You already know how Sniper's gonna react! He's a cold-hearted bastard!" Gin sighed. "Hyena was still a comrade, in my opinion. All Sniper was doing was using him as his minion and lackey." He said. "Maybe we should talk to Sniper. I saw him in his den near ahem Riki's former rock." Gin had been struggling with talking about his father's rock ever since he died, it just left a pang in his heart. "Let's go." Smith said, following after Gin.

Eventually, the 2 dogs managed to get to Sniper's den, and when they looked in, they saw the familiar figure of the Dobermann with his collar. Sniper peeked his head out, snarling. "Gin! Smith! You bastards! What do you want from me?" He asked, looking as if he was ready to tear out the throats of the 2 dogs. "We wanted to talk to you about Hyena." Gin explained strictly, trying to sound like Riki. "Why?" Sniper asked, his tone then changing to somewhat confused. "He was your minion, right?" Smith then asked. "Yea." Sniper replied, rolling his eyes. "But apparently he wanted to turn against me and show some bravery." Gin and Smith exchanged glances real quick before looking back at Sniper. "Smith told me he had smelled blood over by the river nearby." Gin said, narrowing his eyes. "Does that mean you killed him?" Sniper then froze, and his eyes widened. "Hehe, no, no I didn't!" He exclaimed. "I would never dare kill any of my comrades, especially my minions! Sure, Hyena was a coward, but he did everything I told him!" Smith narrowed his eyes as well. "Would it surprise you if it was Hyena's blood?" He then asked. Sniper then growled. "Maybe not." He said, his voice taking on a darker tone. "I'll tell you the story, idiots, if you two would just shut up, stop asking me questions, and listen." Gin and Smith quieted, interest clear in their gaze. 

"Alright, so. It all began at that river you hooligans were talking about, actually ends. I was fighting Ben over a cliff, don't ask why. I eventually pushed myself and Ben over it and we fell into a river. Hyena decided to interfere and began to fight me, much to my dismay. Knowing he was just a coward through and through, I killed him." Sniper explained, eyes narrowed. "Happy now?" Gin let out a small growl. "So you did kill him!" He exclaimed. "Yea, so?" Sniper asked, rolling his eyes. "Damn coward ambushed my chance of killing one of the dogs I hated." The Dobermann then looked at Gin and Smith. "And I would kill you both if I had a chance, but since Gin is the stupid supreme commander now, I can't do that." He snarled, glaring at Gin, who bristled at the general's words. "And don't even think about replacing me, or maybe I will kill you both. I already know two candidates you may have in mind." Sniper said before retreating back into his den. Gin let out a sigh. "Let's go, Smith. I think we may have some stuff to do." He said, heading off towards the base. Smith nodded, following his leader.

---

Gin had been bored during the day, and he tried to resist the urge to banish Sniper. That dog had gotten on his nerves badly, and he had wanted to banish him, so the Ōu Army could be safe. All Sniper was, was basically a dog with the desire to become boss one day, and lead the Ōu Army, and basically want to kill Gin. Gin had not forgotten the squabbles he had gotten into with the dog over the past, when Riki was alive, and not dead. "What am I supposed to do now?" He asked, looking up at the sky. Gin