Shiba unties the victim, then he and Chihiro questioned the Yakuza boss about the Hishaku. Apparently, they first emerged four years prior and they engage in “small scale witchcraft.” When the Yakuza boss tries to tell Chihiro what he knows about the Hishaku his head and body explode after branches rip through him. Shiba uses some kind of spell to avoid harm, while saving the victim once again.
Shiba remembers the day, three years prior, when Kunishige was murdered by three sorcerers. Shiba had placed a protective barrier around the Rokuhira Workshop, which alerted him to intruders. When he arrives in a panic, he finds Chihiro cradling the lifeless body of his father. The sorcerers then stole the six enchanted swords Kunishige had retrieved after the war. The Katana’s are important for more reason than weapons that will be used against the innocent. The swords also represent the bond between Chihiro and his father, and like his father, they’re gone.
The first stolen katana emerges
Understandably, a heartbroken and enraged Chihiro vows to “cut them all down.” The Katana Chihiro possesses was the seventh one. The last Katana he forged. Shiba notes earlier that Chihiro has yet to master it’s technique but is about half way. While in Tokyo, Shiba learns that there was a sighting of an enchanted Katana.
Kagurabachi Chapter 2 continues to build the stakes. So far their are three sorcerers and six swords that Chihiro must deal with. It’s possible that all of the three sorcerers have also taken a sword, leaving three more to be handed out. Chihiro maybe over his head right now, especially using his Katana, His experience with fighting is limited and he’s ignorant of the magically potential of the Hishaku. He’s fighting blind and it might cost him.