It was a cold, rainy day in Akuza. The date was March 18th, 2022. It had been one year since Danso had become the Red Samurai. The job, not even a job, it was more of a responsibility, was tiring and gruesome. Sleepless nights ruined Danso's mind. That day was not like the other days, however, it was something different. Danso sat on top of his usual skyscraper, and did not have lenses back then, so he just used his ability to check the heat of people around him.
Checking the entire city was tiring, but he had to do it. How many people would get hurt if he weren't there? Only God knows. That was Danso Narahara's thought process.
Eventually, Danso, while patrolling the city, found a crime occurring near the slums. The slums were at the southernmost part of the city, and it was the home of many mob bosses. The slums were a complex maze of lanes, alleys, and houses that made finding his targets almost impossible. The houses of the slums were all grey color with rusty roofs and cracked walls that were all past their warranty. The houses were tightly packed together, and from Danso's perspective, the slums were nothing more than a cage.
Of course, what can these innocent people do? They were humans with a horrible luck to be born in this world and especially in this part of the world. Money, education are nothing more than a hope or a dream for them. Most of them wear the same clothes over and over again just to save costs on clothes. Skipping meals is a common occurrence there, as they cannot afford it. How could they live a good life? The only way was to work for the Growler.
The crime that Danso had caught a man doing was stealing from a woman who was in ragged clothing and could do nothing but watch as she hid her children in fear. Danso rushed and unsheathed his sword, and sliced the man and returning the money to the woman. He waved a friendly bye to the kid, who smiled and left.
"Who are you? I've heard of you before!" asked the woman.
"I am the Red Samurai," said Danso.
Crimes like these were common in the slums. The few who refused to work for Growler would get exterminated or would have to live in poverty for the rest of their life.
As Danso took a patrol run throughout the city, he saw other similar crimes occur, and he stopped them all. These crimes were minor, for example, one man was trying to steal from another person's house, so Danso just hit the neck of the man who was trying to steal, knocking him out.
Another crime was a bit more brutal. A man was about to stab himself while multiple Growler's henchmen were watching. Danso walked in and sliced up and knocked out all of the henchmen with his Sword Art of the Dragon: Dragon's Breath. As Danso approached, the man started to cry. Danso put his hand on the man's shoulder and gripped it, and threw the knife away from him.
"Life is precious, so cherish all that you have," said Danso.
"What?! You don't even know half the things I and the entirety of the slum go through! How in the world can you know!" screamed the man as he pushed Danso away.
What the man said was true. Danso was raised only living as a weapon for honor, or in simpler terms, a samurai, but at least he didn't live without comfort in his free time. Every single minute for these people was like a true disaster in their lives. Death might be more liberating than living for them.
Danso's expression turned very serious under the mask. Even though the man couldn't see Danso's face, he knew something had changed in him due to Danso's body language. Danso walked towards him as the man picked up the knife again in fear, his sweat falling to the cool stone ground, while he was shuddering and shivering. Danso gently removed the knife from his hand.
"I promise soon this place will be ten times better than it was alright" said Danso.
"How can I trust you?" asked the man.
"You could trust me because I am a human like you. You don't have to, I couldn't care less. I'll still help the slums and this filthy city. You could say this is my curse," said Danso before walking away, taking the knife permanently this time.
"A vigilante…He's just like us, but something's different about him. I hope he keeps his word," said the man, getting up and running back home.
Danso continued scanning from on top of the rooftops to check for crimes. Slowly, day by day, he was going to fix these people's lives, but he knew that one day…He had to face the man at the top. The Growler. Danso knew he was ready; if he could beat henchmen with a mere swing of his sword, he could at least keep up and fight. Then he saw a person with a black suit with a metal chestplate on top of the light suit that was made for momentum.
The chestplate also had an engraved star on it, and the ninja-looking man had daggers or kunai and an axe behind him. Danso followed him, feeling that following him would lead him to more trouble that could be avoided.
Danso followed him for minutes, jumping across rooftops and going through mazes of lanes and alleys. Eventually, the man stopped, and Danso quickly hid behind a huge trash can. As he peeked out to see where the man went, he felt a slight poke on his shoulder. Danso, underneath the mask, as the man kicked him on the knee, forcing Danso to fall with one knee, and while he was on the ground, he did a sweeping kick, knocking the ninja off-balance.
Then he dodged a kunai and moved backwards, creating space between them, trying to talk.
"Why were you following me?" asked the ninja.
"You looked oddly suspicious, so I wanted to see what you were up to," said Danso.
"I've heard of you, The Red Samurai, that's the name, isn't it?" asked the ninja.
"I see I am famous," replied Danso with a hidden smirk.
"Oh, don't flatter yourself, the only reason why you're even relevant is because I hadn't appeared yet," said the ninja.
"Oh really? Now what's your name?" asked Danso.
"I am the Knight Ninja. If you had expected me to tell my actual name, then you truly are an idiot," said the Knight Ninja.
"I guess you exceeded my expectations already," remarked Danso.
The Knight Ninja made a hand sign and put his finger over his mouth. He blew the wind, and that made Danso fly over to the wall. Some men came out of their houses and complained about the ruckus. Danso apologized and ran back towards the ninja.
"Just leave me alone, you can have my autograph later," said the Knight Ninja.
"I just want to see how ridiculous my rip-offs are," said Danso.
Danso and the Knight Ninja continued to share blows, and they were fairly on par with each other. They didn't use sorcery or Sword Arts; instead, they were just fighting normally. Until Danso sliced the man's arm.
"Life and Death Magic:- Healing," said the man before jumping back towards Danso.
Danso blocked all the kunai, but the ninja just teleported behind Danso.
"Boo," said the ninja.
The ninja then kicked Danso on the neck, and Danso was sent flying sideways. To avoid getting hurt, Danso used his sword as a repelling stick and pushed off with his sword when the sword stabbed into the wall like a rocket.
"Passive Sword Art of the Dragon:- Fire Punch," said Danso.
Danso's fists glowed in a bright red flame as he punched the ninja, burning some of his face mask. The ninja growled and attacked back, this time unsheathing his axe. The ninja made a hand sign with his left hand while holding his axe in his right.
"The axe must be a Holy Steel Axe if he is going to supply soul energy to it," thought Danso.
Danso got ready to absorb the attack by deflecting the axe and landing a kick straight to the thigh. Of course, this was a plan, and his plans do work, but this time, Danso was not sure whether it would or not.
"Elemental Magic:- Lightning Bolt," said the ninja.
The ninja's left hand's fingers became covered in lightning as the hand looked like it was in a bag, and the bag was lightning. He lunged at Danso, and he blocked the attack and used his ignition flame to light his sword on fire.
The ninja did the same, lighting his Axe with lightning. They both clashed, and the soul energy sparks exploded, causing both of them to be sent flying. Once Danso woke up, he found the ninja and helped him up, and they both looked at each other while lying down and started to laugh.
"I so won that fight," declared the ninja.
"In your dreams," replied Danso.
"Give me one piece of evidence on how you won the fight?" asked the ninja.
"I was the one who helped you get up when you were pushed back due to the soul energy spark," explained Danso.
"That doesn't count," said the ninja.
"Sure it doesn't," replied Danso.
This was how Danso Narahara/The Red Samurai met Hiroshi Yamamoto/The Knight Ninja for the first time.