other!" He said. "Why would Sniper want to kill him?" Kurotora then asked after his nephews fell asleep. "A warning, simple." Ben then said. "He wants revenge for what we did to him, after we chased him out." Chūtora being dead was a horrible thing, why him? Why a Kai brother?

"But why him? Why did it have to be a Kai brother?"

Moss' booming voice broke the silence and everyone turned around to notice the large, bulky mastiff. His young son Jaguar was by his side, nodding in agreement. "Why did it have to be a Kai brother?" He repeated. "Heh, maybe Sniper began hating them like Dad!" Jaguar then cast a glance at Moss and chuckled a bit. "Still immature as always, son." Moss said, rolling his eyes. "Laughing seems super disrespectful now." Hakurō then said, narrowing his eyes. "I mean, a dog is dead, and we're joking around?" Everyone who was laughing with Moss and Jaguar instantly lowered their heads in shame and apologized, and Gin sighed. "We have to make Sniper pay." He then said. "We won't kill him, but give him wounds for him to remember." Everyone nodded and chatted with each other about it, coming to an agreement. "What wounds?" Akame asked, raising a brow. "The worst will be a facial wound." Gin explained. "And we will tear off both of his back legs." Everyone was slightly stunned, and they all looked hesitant. "That's...quite a horrible thing to do, Gin." Cross said, narrowing her eyes. "Sure, he may be evil, and may have killed two of our comrades, but we don't need to do this." Hakurō, Kisaragi, and Kurotora narrowed their eyes at Cross. "It'll serve him right, though!" Kisaragi snapped. "Yeah, you're a petty female, you wouldn't let any males get hurt!" Hakurō taunted. "Hey! Enough!" Bill snarled, nipping at the ears of the huskies. "Don't you dare say such things to a brave woman!" Hakurō and Kisaragi rolled their eyes, and Cross looked at Gin. "Well, Gin?" Cross asked, tilting her head. "What will we do? Attack Sniper or leave him be?" Gin seemed to be now struggling with the choice, and he looked around, then at the sky, and then came to a decision. "While it may not be the best choice, we must do this. Puppies will stay here, guarded by Moss and Cross. They shall not see such violence." He declared. Moss and the Saluki nodded, and guided Tesshin, Shigure, Shōji, Buru, Dodo, Kagetora, Harutora, and Nobutora away to a cave, while Gin and the others headed off. "We'll find his current location, and ambush him." Gin said, before dashing off.

---

Gin and his companions were feeling confident about ambushing Sniper, or giving him his wounds, but Gin was also secretly feeling some doubt. What if something went wrong? What if Sniper secretly had gathered up some dogs to help him? After all, Sniper had been hungering for power, but as Gin and his friends searched, they smelled Sniper, Chūtora's "death scent", and that was all. "Corner the area." Gin whispered, nodding to his comrades. They all nodded back and did as told, searching for areas to corner. "And hide, so we won't be found by him." Gin and the others began hiding in bushes, moving around in the bushes to mask their scents, then watching and waiting. Akame would usually be up in the trees, so that was where he was. Just then, they heard Sniper, and noticed him walking along in a casual manner, seemingly not giving a care about what would happen to him.

"Odd, feels like someone's watching me."

Sniper felt an odd feeling that someone had been watching him, and he stopped to smell the air. However, what he smelled were not dogs, but bushes, as well as Chūtora's scent. Sniper had buried the Kai Ken's body somewhere he would never be found, unless someone managed to. "Great, he doesn't notice us." Ben whispered confidently. Sniper's cropped, black ears twitched, and he looked over at the bushes. Once he got a bit closer, Akame leapt from the trees, digging his teeth into Sniper's neck, while everyone else dashed out of the bushes, leaping for Sniper. Akame moved to the side of Sniper's face, trying to avoid the snapping of jaws, and he began tearing away, while everyone else went for the Dobermann's hind legs, tripping Sniper and causing some bloody wounds. Eventually, Sniper let out a yelp as blood began profusely pooling out from one side of his face, and it was super bloody and...graphic. His eye was missing, and only skin was visible. "Gah!" Sniper yelped, and he whipped his head around and looked at the dogs attacking him with the good side of his face, noticing Gin and the others attacking his hind legs. Sniper kicked up his legs, laughing. "Pathetic." He spat. "A ganin dog can rip off half of my face, yet a group of strong wild dogs can't tear off any limbs?" Just then, Gin got an idea.

The Battōga.

If he could, Gin could use the ancient skill to chop off Sniper's hind legs without problem, and if Sniper tried to attack him, Sniper would get injured either way, or maybe not. Taking a deep breath, Gin retreated into the forest. "Coward." Sniper scoffed, not caring he was missing one side of his face at the moment. However, Gin started charging, leaping up into the air and spinning, much to Sniper's shock. In an effort to maybe make Gin go away, Sniper prepared to kick him, but Gin spun along his hind legs, cutting them off. "GAH!" Sniper then yelped, falling to the ground. Everyone watched him, with no emotion.

"That's what you get for the crimes you've done." Gin snarled, his eyes narrowed. "I have no pity for you whatsoever, Sniper." Sniper looked at the akita in disbelief and began to limp away, using his remaining legs, his front legs, to carry himself forward.

---

Gin couldn't help but feel some confidence. Sniper was done for, no longer really a threat, but maybe he could somehow end up continue being a threat, but how? Gin just felt the Ōu Army was safe now that their biggest enemy besides Akakabuto had been defeated, and the rank of supreme commander was making Gin feel a bit braver now. He didn't really have to worry anymore, but there was one thing that was making him feel a bit nervous. To be honest, secretly, he wanted to have children of his own one day, so maybe they could succeed him. Gin felt that was something important that had to happen, but he didn't have to. Akatora was kind of old enough to have children, except he had died so he never got a chance. Sighing, Gin decided to get up so he could walk. However, when he was about to go for a walk, he was disturbed by something.

"Gin! Gin, Akame and I found something!" 

Gin turned his head around, only to notice Akame and John hurrying over to him. "Akame, John." Gin addressed them with a bow of his head. "What is it?" John nodded to Akame and decided to explain. "We found someone trapped in a snare, a pet dog." John said, rolling his eyes slightly. "Apparently a Kishu mix. May you come help us? We need someone like you to free her, but she's pretty aggressive, be careful." Gin nodded. "Of course." He replied. "Lead me there." John and Akame nodded and began heading off into the distance, Gin hot on their heels.

Once they had traveled for maybe 20 minutes, they came across a place in the village. There were cabins all over the place, and Gin was worried Daisuke, Fuji, and Gin's siblings lived in one of the cabins. However, not too far from one cabin was a Kishu Inu mix, a female, who was trapped in a snare and struggling to get out. "Good luck." John grumbled. Gin nodded to his friends and began heading over to the dog. "You got trapped in a snare, am I right?" He asked. However, the female growled. "You're one of those dangerous wild dogs!" She spat. "Get away from me!" Gin was stunned slightly by the female's behavior. Why was she so aggressive? Before the akita could continue, the Kishu mix bit him on the muzzle. "Get away!" She growled. "Let me at her." Akame murmured, and while avoiding the female's hostile movement, Akame managed to break the snare so the female could get out. "Thank you." She said, bowing her head in thanks. "What's your name?" Gin then asked, looking at the female. "Sakura." She replied, a bit defensively. "I'll take you back to your owner." Gin offered, and he ignored Sakura's protests if she tried, guiding her back home. "Thank you." Sakura then said, smiling. "Sorry if I was mean, I'm just a bit defensive and shy." Gin nodded and then headed back, following John and Akame. "Sakura seems interesting." John commented, and winked at Gin. "You may have found someone." Gin rolled his eyes. "She's young, only 1 year maybe, and I'm what, 4 years old now?" He said. "She still looks fine." John said. "You two can just be close friends maybe." Gin slowly nodded and looked behind him, raising a brow at the cabin Sakura hurried into. If she decided to head to the Ohu Mountains, Gin would maybe be in for a surprise.

---

It seemed to have been a few weeks, and Gin had noticed that the female he had recently met, Sakura, had not wandered by at all. Who knew if she did, honestly? What if she was secretly around somewhere, but had her scent masked?