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Author's Chapter Notes:
HONOLULU, OAHU, HAWAII
(DECEMBER 1, 1962)
* * * * *

It had seemed like such a simple plan. Watanabe would bring a knapsack, containing two million dollars in old one hundred dollar bills, to the Hachiman shrine in Little Tokyo.* He was to give the knapsack to a six foot-tall betto named "Kusanagi;" the betto would give him the Golden Dagger-axe of Hsia Jie; and both men could go their separate ways after ascertaining the authenticity of what they had been given. Yet, just as Watanabe and the aforementioned betto were about to do that,...

...a dozen HPD officers suddenly came rushing in!

Ten of the police officers (all of whom appeared to be Chinese-American) brandished .38-caliber Smith and Wesson revolvers. The remaining pair were armed with twelve-gauge Remington pump-action shotguns. And, the barrels of these weapons were all aimed, in a perfect circle, at Watanabe and "Kusanagi."

"Is there a problem, officers?" asked the former.

"Yeah," replied one of the shotgun toters: "We received an anonymous tip that some stolen property was about to be fenced, here. And, by gosh, didn't that turn out to be the case?"

"May I ask whom this property was allegedly stolen from?"

"Red China! So, now, here's what's gonna happen. The big bald guy is gonna slowly bend down; pick up that leather bag; and then put that gold-plated meat cleaver inside it. Meanwhile, you're gonna give that knapsack to my partner! After which, the two of you are gonna kneel on the ground. Hands behind your heads, and legs crossed at the ankles."

"Kusanagi" slowly complied. But, just as he nearing the completion of his instruction, he suddenly threw the bag up in the air, while simultaneously yelling:

"BANZAIII!"

As he yelled this, he lunged for the policeman nearest him. Tackling the latter to the ground, and consequently knocking the wind out of him. Meanwhile, Watanabe had gone into a half-crouch. From this position, he flung a trio of Superballs, outward, with each hand! Each of those Superballs hitting a policeman in the forehead (including the two shotgun toters), and rendering them instantly unconscious.

Unfortunately, that still left five policemen on their feet. And, even as "Kusanagi" threw the revolver of the one he had knocked out towards Watanabe, the hammers of those other revolvers were being cocked. Ergo; none of the guns' owners saw the four ninja who grew to normal human-size, after jumping out of the leather bag while it was still in mid-air!

"KIAIIIIIIII!" they shouted as one.

Four of the policemen turned as one, too. As a result, they each got hit on the left front side of their necks with a drug-tipped tonki dart (hand-flung with the same speed as a shuriken). And, as expected, each of them slumped to the ground in a narcotic stupor.

The sole remaining policeman now found himself surrounded. And Watanabe said as much, out loud.

"So, you might as well as surrender, peacefully," he added: "...and tell us who sent you."

The "policeman's" only response was to grin, before shouting:

"Soo Ming! Fu Ching!"

Following which, he ate his gun.

Watanabe looked at "Kusanagi."

"I take it he wasn't one of yours?"

The ersatz betto shook his head.

"Most likely a member of the Bear Eagle Tong. Arch-enemies of the Earth Tigers since the days of the Manchurian-founded Ching Dynasty. Hence, the inverse of the usual tong oath, which traditionally calls for a restoration of the _Ming_ Dynasty."

While "Kusanagi" was giving this explanation, Watanabe silently observed as each of the four ninja took a spray can out of their respective duffel bags. Each spray can emitting a fluorescent green mist that subsequently shrank each policeman whose face the mist settled on!

"Don't worry," remarked "Kusanagi" with a grin: "We're only going to 'question' them."

Following which, each of the four ninja shrank down to one inch tall, and climbed into the knapsack containing the two million dollars. "Kusanagi" disappearing with the latter in a literal puff of smoke.

tbc
Chapter End Notes:
*Hachiman: Japanese god of war.

Betto: an assistant monk at a Shinto shrine.

HPD: Honolulu Police Department.

"Soo Ming/Fu Ching" ("Destroy Ming/"Restore Ching"): reputedly, a Chinese tong's membership oath is the other way around. As a way of reminding all members that most tongs allegedly started out as rebel pro-Ming loyalists, following the 17th century conquest of China by the Manchus.
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