Assassin's Creed Shadows - Lighting and Thunder, Part 5

https://youtu.be/lKEKCq4WVV0

Assassin's Creed Shadows - Lighting and Thunder, Part 5

Next: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ4XIiOKIDQ&list=PLhXWfAuBd5hm2npMgqYOLAZJ3X5BEKHEh&index=148

Intro to Animus Ego: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnJyI7xdYKs&list=PLhXWfAuBd5hm2npMgqYOLAZJ3X5BEKHEh&index=1&t=4s

The moment we agreed to walk the same path, I knew what had to be done. Not a simple promise, not a spoken vow—but the ancient rite of Iga. The Ikki. A bond sealed in fire, ash, and purpose. A pact that could never be broken.

We returned home beneath quiet skies. When I introduced Yasuke to Tomiko, something unspoken passed between them—recognition, perhaps, or the memory of old wounds. But this night was not about the past. It was about forging a future none of us could face alone.

I asked Tomiko to prepare the fire and gather the ceremonial supplies. When the flames rose, casting long shadows across the room, the air grew heavy with the weight of tradition. I spoke the words of unity, the words my father once spoke, the same words spoken by generations of shinobi before him:

Those who sign the paper and drink from the bowl bind themselves to a shared path. Through darkness and light, through loss and revelation, through pain and rebirth.

We have each known darkness. Some of us have become darkness. Yet here we stand—together—to carve a new path for the people and the land. To become a light sharp enough to cut through corruption.

One by one, we write our names. Tomiko burns the paper, stirs the ashes into water, and hands the bowl to us. The taste is bitter, earthy—like drinking a piece of the mountain itself. But this bitterness is the beginning. The sealing of our will.

Junjiro is the one who suggests the name. I speak of following the blade, as my father did. Yasuke agrees—the blade has carried him through destiny, loss, and revelation. So the name becomes clear:

The League of the Hidden Blade.
Kakushiba Ikki.

After the ceremony, I take Yasuke to the painting of the eleven Onryo. The strokes are bold, alive with menace. Three already bear my mark. Three lives taken. Three ghosts that follow me still.

Yasuke studies the painting in silence before pointing to one masked with ox horns. He recognizes the sigil—Bessho clan. Another trail. Another shadow to hunt.

He says Ise Sadaoki may hold ties through marriage, connections that could bind the Shinbakfu in ways I had not seen. Finally, he mentions contacts in Azuchi. A place where whispers travel faster than blades. A place where someone might know what Mitsuhide is planning next.

We part ways in the quiet of night. Yasuke toward Azuchi, Junjiro back to Tomiko, and I toward the path that waits for me beyond the trees. Though separated now, our fates are bound. The oath is sealed in ash and blood.

We are no longer alone.
We are the hidden blade given form.

#AssassinsCreed #Shadows #LightingAndThunder #Ikki #HiddenBladeLeague #Naoe #Yasuke #Junjiro
#ACShadowsStory #ShinobiLore #SacredRitual #IgaCeremony

#masumi #TongayiChirisa #JuneFukumura #HiroKanagawa #YoshiroKono #PaulinoNunes #KevanOhtsji #ErikaPrevost #EmilyShelton #NobuyaShimamoto #PeterShinkoda

Assassins Creed, Shadows, Lighting And Thunder, Ikki, Hidden Blade League, Naoe, Yasuke, Junjiro, AC Shadows Story, Sacred Ritual, Iga Ceremony, Masumi, Tongayi Chirisa, June Fukumura, Hiro Kanagawa, Yoshiro Kono, Paulino Nunes, Kevan Ohtsji, Erika Prevost, Emily Shelton, Nobuya Shimamoto, Peter Shinkoda