(dub) Episode 5 - Shinobi No Ittoki

"I'm not going to kill you," Ittoki said, his voice steady for the first time. "Because if I do, someone else will come for me. And then someone will come for them. I’m done being a spoke in your wheel."

Kousetsu watched from the trees, a flicker of something—perhaps hope—crossing her features. The cycle hadn't broken yet, but for one night, in the heart of a simulated forest, the wheel had stopped turning. Shinobi no Ittoki (Dub) Episode 5

The battle that followed was a blur of high-tech gadgetry and ancient martial arts. Haruka was faster, his movements honed by years of brutal Koga conditioning. But Ittoki had something the Koga lacked: a reason to live beyond the kill. He didn't want to conquer; he wanted to protect the small, quiet life he had left behind. "I'm not going to kill you," Ittoki said,

Here is a story expanding on the themes of that episode, focusing on the weight of heritage and the "cycle" that traps these young ninjas. The Weight of the Blade I’m done being a spoke in your wheel

Ittoki looked down at his hands. They were trembling. "Is it always going to be like this? Just because our ancestors hated each other, we have to spend our lives trying to kill each other?"

"The Iga heir," Haruka sneered, spinning a kunai between his fingers. "A boy playing dress-up. Do you think that suit makes you a ninja? You’re just a relic of a dying clan."