Flame of Recca

A boy named Recca Hanibishi is obsessed with being a ninja. After an accident, a girl named Yanagi Sakoshita heals him, and he declares her to be his princess, and pledges to be her loyal ninja. After an encounter with Kage Hōshi, he learns that he has the ability to control fire.

Fūko Kirisawa is irritated by the fact that Recca became someone's ninja just because he felt like it, and accepts the Fūjin, an object that enables its user to control wind, from Kage Hōshi. The Fūjin, however, is rigged with a mind control orb that enables Kage Hōshi to manipulate Fūko's thoughts. Fūko then arranges to meet Recca on the school grounds after dark to fight with him. Recca is at a disadvantage at first, but is saved by Domon Ishijima after the latter is informed by Yanagi of what was happening. Recca eventually resorts to using his power to control fire to combat Fūko.

Recca and Domon manage to defeat Fūko and destroy the mind control orb, and they learn that Kage Hōshi cannot be killed. The next day, Tokiya Mikagami confronts Recca and states that he knows of what occurred the night before, but Recca acts oblivious. Shortly after, it is revealed that Tokiya is pursuing Recca because Kage Hōshi led him to believe that Recca may have connections to the men who murdered his sister when he was a child. He eventually confronts Recca in the park, and attacks him with Ensui, a sword that manipulates water. As Recca is about to be killed, Yanagi rushes in to try to stop the fight, and Tokiya is shocked upon seeing her because she looks just like his deceased sister.

As Yanagi appears, Tokiya withdraw from the fight and Yanagi manages to heal Recca using her powers. Feeling down because he let Yanagi saved him, Yanagi recommend they goes to the amuzement park. On the way to buying some drinks, Tokiya appears and take Yanagi to Mirror House. Recca then confronts Tokiya in order to save Yanagi, after a fierce battle, Tokiya admit defeat. It is also revealed that Kage Houshi is actually Recca's biological mother, and make them fight each other to strengthen their power.

Recca meets a teacher that knows a lot about the Hokage Ninjas. Yanagi is kidnapped by people from Kurei's Uruha [his Death Squad], including a greatly skilled but rather innocent swordschild named Koganei.

Yanagi wakes up to find herself in a huge bedroom. She meets Koganei, who has washed her clothes and tells her he did not mean to hurt her, but that he must follow Kurei's orders. It is revealed the Kurei's 'father' has ordered the kidnapping of Yanagi, because she has the innate ability to heal and he thinks this can help him achieve immortality. Kage Houshi appears and encourages Recca to fight for Yanagi's release. Recca, Domon and Fuuko team up to go for this. They head to Kurei's mansion, but are met by a stone statue called Maria that shoots lasers at them, upon entrance.

Recca, Domon and Fuuko realize that Maria is too fast for them but, taking advantage of the time she needs to occasionally recharge her laser, they defeat her. They are met by a doll controller in the next room that turns all of them into 'dolls' she can control.

Katashira Reira gains control of Fuuko's body and begins to attack the other two. During this, Reira uses the moment to gain control of the boys. Stuck in her control, Reira tortures Fuuko with Primera until she begins to laugh. Fuuko learns the secret of the doll controller and stops her, ultimately defeating the duo. Kage Hoshi is then seen trying to convince Tokiya to assist Recca and company. Meanwhile, Kurei gives order to let lose a dangerous character that is locked up in a cage on the second floor.

The group goes up to the second floor with new friend Ganko to meet Seiko. Seiko who was locked up because he was too dangerous is now stopping our team from getting to the fourth floor where Yanagi is. Domon steps up to the challenge, and declares he'll face Seiko alone. Seiko is at first taken down, but after the use of his elemental weapon, creates a rock armor and pulverizes the group. It's then we learn that Domon is given Saturn's Ring from Kage Hoshi, and with its aid manages to defeat Seiko. As the episode closes, Tokiya makes his appearance at the mansion.

Fuuko, Recca, and Domon are holding up a wall when Tokiya appears and taunts them. He destroys the wall and then begins to battle with Koganei who was waiting from the group on the third floor. Tokiya engages Koganei, and allows the rest of the group to run on to the fourth floor where they meet Kurei. After getting their attention, Kurei tells Recca about their past 400 years ago and how both were sent to the present time when they were infants.

Recca has a flashback to the past, caused by Kurei's revelation. He awakens to find that he, Fuuko, Domon and Ganko have fallen into Mokuren's lab, where plants attack. Meanwhile, Kogenai shows off the versatility of his Kōgan Anki weapon in a series of attacks against Tokiya. He disarms Tokiya, yet waits for him to retrieve his blade in an effort to show off all five forms. In the end, Tokiya uses a fake image of himself created with water to catch Kogenai off guard and win the battle. Back in the lab, the group encounters Mokuren, a psycho with the ability to manipulate plants. Recca bludgens him with stereo equipment, and when Mokuren transforms, Recca sets him on fire, winning the battle. The group heads for the elevator, where Kurei is waiting in ambush.

After rescuing Yanagi and destroying Kurei's mansion, Kage Hoshi invited Recca and his friends into her secret hideout carved in the face of a cliff. Kage Hoshi reveals to them that her real name is Kagero, and that she is Recca's true mother. While Recca refuses to believe, she tells all of them the truth of 400 years ago: Oka, the Hokage clan's leader and a flame master, had two sons: Recca with his wife Kagero, and Kurei with his mistress Reina, making Kurei and Recca half-brothers. Kurei, who exhibited flame powers as a child, was slated to inherit the clan leadership, but it was soon discovered that Recca also possessed the same powers. According to prophecy, only one member of the Hokage clan can use the powers of flame in each generation, and when there are two of them at the same time, one of them is bearing a cursed flame which can lead to the end of the clan's existence. The clan elders determined that Kurei was the one with the cursed flame, and sentenced him to death, but was spared upon Kagero's request. Meanwhile, while Kagero was telling them all of this, three members of the Uruha under Kurei's orders was spying on them, having discovered the hidden passageway towards the hideout, and was planning to attack them all unaware.

Kagero continued on with her story: Kurei, in an attempt to please his mother who has fallen out of grace with the rest of the clan, tried to kill Recca, giving him the prominent scar on his cheek, but was stopped in time and was subsequently imprisoned. Meanwhile, the warlord Oda Nobunaga was preparing to attack the Hokage, with the hopes of stealing the Madogu and use their powers to conquer Japan. The Hokage clan, out of fear that the Madogu will fall into the wrong hands, decided to fight Nobunaga's soldiers without using them, but were overwhelmed by sheer numbers and were all defeated. Kagero, in a last desperate attempt to save her son, used a forbidden spell to open a time portal and send Recca into the future, at the cost of being immortal. However, Kurei, who was able to make his way out of his prison during the destruction of the village, found them and tried to get to Recca, and was sent into the future as well. Mikagami was able to sense the presence of the three interlopers while Kagero was telling her her story and they all proceeded to engage them in combat. It turns out however, that they are not able to use their Madogu well, and they were all able to defeat them quickly. One of them, however took Kagero hostage and was about to kill her (pointlessly, as she is immortal), but Recca was angered by this and unconsciously summoned Nadare, his first flame dragon, to defeat him. After the battle, Recca finally acknowledged Kagero as his mother and tried to check if she was alright, but found out that he is unable to touch her, as the forbidden spell that Kagero used ensured that mother and son cannot make contact.

Recca, Domon, Fuko and Tokiya all decided to train during their summer break in case Kurei confronts them again later on. Before leaving, however, they decided to meet at Recca's house, where Recca introduced Kagero to his adoptive father and thanked him for looking after him for all those years. Yanagi, who was worried about Recca's safety, decided to accompany him in his training, much to his chagrin. Meanwhile, Fuko and Domon decided to train using the Madogu they acquired from the battle at Kagero's hideout. After a month, Recca was able to tame two of the flame dragons, while Mikagami, Fuko and Domon got more proficient in using their Madogu. Their reunion was interrupted however, by Genjuro and Jisho, who sent them an invitation from Kurei to join the Urabutou Satsujin, the most dangerous martial arts tournament in history.

The Team Hokage decided to participate in the Urabutou Satsujin. Upon admission, however, they realized that they have to place a predetermined wager to enter the tournament, which turned out to be Yanagi, whom Koran Mori, the tournament organizer, wants because of her healing powers. Team Hokage was first hesitant, but Yanagi volunteered herself, saying that she trusts them all that they will not lose the tournament and let her fall into Koran Mori's hands. Before the tournament's opening ceremony, Recca decided to go out for some rest and fresh air. Outside, he met Kukai, a laid-back monk who is also participating in the tournament under Team Kuu.

The fight between Hokage and Kuu begins with the match between Daikoku and Mikagami. But before the match, Tokiya walked away from the ring to refuel his Ensui in a nearby fountain. He recalled what his master/grandfather, Meguri Kyoza taught him on how to use the Ice Crest Sword for revenge by saying the words, "The path of Revenge is hard road in life. This sword requires blood of its opponents and soon, you’ll be covered in blood." When the match began, Tokiya began dodging Daikoku's staff attacks. The former also asked a logical question on how to stop a fan without turning off the switch and touching the blade. Near the end, Daikoku uses his bo's 1000-attack technique.

The second part of Tokiya's match with Daikoku continues. In this episode, Recca explained what Tokiya really meant in the previous episode, by stopping the fan by pointing towards the center of the fan to stop rotating. Which Tokiya exactly did to Daikoku's bo which led to the Hokage fighter's victory. The next match is between Minamio (Kuu) and Domon Ishijima (Hokage). Domon began giving attention before the match which the audience find uninteresting such as making poses and carrying a radio as well as intentionally getting hit by Minamio. It is revealed that Minamio's body is made of rubber which is impervious to any attacks. The secret was a Madogu inside his mouth called, Nan which ability is mentioned earlier. Near the end of the bout, Domon used his Kuchibashi-oh which chains bound and defeated Minamio and emerged Domon victoriously. However, Tokiya said that Domon used the Madogu too late which made the latter fall unconscious as well despite saying "I won!" which resulted in a draw. (NOTE:There is a comic relief in this episode. When Kukai requested for paper from Saicho, the referee thought that the Kuu leader was about to make an announcement. However, Kukai used the paper as a tissue to blow his nose. He even asked the referee if she wanted to keep it as a souvenir). The bout between Fujimaru and Fuuko begins. The episode ends with Fujimaru countering Fuuko's darts and starts throwing sickles at Fuuko stripping off her long sleeves.

Fujimaru stripped Fuuko Kirisawa during the match and called her ugly. At the end of the match, Fuuko warned the audience if there is someone like Fujimaru, she would make their lives as a living hell. Later, Saicho apologized for Fujimaru's perverse behavior and gave a paper bandage to Fuuko's arm and give his jacket to her.

The match between Saicho and Recca begins. The former tells Hanabishi that he can only fight for 10 minutes since he had a heart condition (which revealed to be an injury caused by stabbing by one of the rebellious Kuu students). Throughout the fight, it is revealed that Saicho's Madogu, Shikigami (animator) can produce paper made of a magical barrier that cannot be easily burned. Some of the artworks made by the Kuu fighter include a deflecting force field (Nuno Zarashin), a paper sword (Kami No Ken) and as well as a crane of a thousand paper birds. In this bout, Saiha, the second flame dragon shows his true power in a form of a flame sword. At the end of the match, Recca challenged Kukai despite Hokage's victory.

Recca challenges Kukai however, the referee protested since regardless of the result, Team Hokage still wins. However, Kouran Mori appears in the screen and decided to make some changes. He proposed that all of the previous fights will be discarded, and the winner of the match will advance in the next round. Recca provokingly accepts the proposal. During the fight, Kukai warned Recca that he only has to hit the Kuu master 3 times in any method, after which, it could mean certain death for Recca. Nobody was able to comprehend what Kukai really meant except Daikoku who had a flashback of what happens afterwards. But Recca was reluctant and attacked Kukai with Nadare. Kukai deflects the fireballs with his hands. However, he missed one. Recca has two hits left, so he decided to use Saiha against Kukai but avoids it. Recca kicks Kukai in the face but later gets up and laughs. Now the young ninja only has one strike left. This time, Kukai will not move. If Recca knocks Kukai out, he wins. But if Kukai still has the strength to fight, Recca dies. Daikoku warns Recca not to do it, but Hanabishi was still persistent and gave Kukai a mighty punch. Kukai gets up and activates his madogu, Oni, a demonic necklace that activates after the user is hit three times, turning the possessor in to a perfect killing machine. Both Kagero and Genjuro explained this fact. Kukai began beating Recca up badly. Minamio, who was shocked told his teammates that everybody has a lust for killing just like everybody else, even a gentle and serene teacher like Kukai. He also told that the Urabutousatsoujin is based on killing as a sport. In the end of the episode, Kukai prepares to smash Recca's head.

Kukai teaches Recca the true meaning of life and death during a battle. Near the end, Homura appears to Recca which led to Hokage's victory over Kuu as well as Kukai returning to his gentle normal self. NOTE: In the end of the episode, it is revealed that despite in demonic state, Kukai was still aware of his actions. He admitted to his teammates that Recca was too tough for him and he almost killed Hanabishi the last time.

Koganei joins the Hokage team after learning that they do not have enough members. NOTE: Fuuko and Domon were fallen by Kurei's trap.

After Koganei defeats Shiju, Genjuro suggested to change the format of Round 2 as single elimination where the loser gets eliminated and the winner keeps fighting.

The episode begins with Koganei about to be absorbed by Mokuren. The former eventually accepted defeat. Recca was about to fight Mokuren but Kagero asks that if Recca fights Mokuren, what will happen to Koganei? Mokuren will be burned alongside Koganei who was inside the human tree. So Tokiya decided to fight Mokuren. During the fight, Mokuren's branches grow after being cut by Tokiya. Kagero revealed that the source of Mokuren's power comes from the Kodama madogu implanted in Mokuren's face. Near the end of the fight, Tokiya pierces his sword to the ground where Mokuren interpreted it as an act of submission. In reality, he froze the entire ring to freeze Mokuren as well. He eventually finds and rescues Koganei due to the fact of heat conductivity where metals react first in freezing temperatures (which in this case, Koganei's golden cross gave Tokiya the signal of the former's location). Tokiya emerged victorious

Mikagami was supposed to fight Menou, a school girl, but forfeited due to the injuries caused by Mokuren. So Recca fights Menou who also wields an implanted Shikigami in Menou's hair. Saicho, who also uses a Shikigami also explains that despite having the same name, they have different abilities. Saicho's madogu (made by Koku) is used to animate paper objects. While that of Menou (made by Kaima) is implanted and uses the user's hair as a deadly weapon. Near the end of the episode, it is revealed that Genjuro was behind the trapping of Menou's father so Recca and Menou teamed up to defeated Genjuro to save Menou's father. Recca manages to do so and Menou accepts defeat. At the end of the match, Recca finally gets to face Genjuro.

Recca faces Genjuro into a fight after defeating Meno Sakura. During the match it is revealed that Genjuro first used the illusion technique that Kurei used. At the end of the fight, Genjuro angered Setsuna, the 4th Karyu who burned him alive.

Team Hokage faces the beautiful but deadly Uruha Sound/Oto. In the first match, Domon Ishijima faces illusionist Aki who uses the madogu Kotodama which enables the user to create illusions that only the opponent can see. The illusions include Aki stripping, a giant snake, snowy weather, flower and flames all over Domon. Mikagami tried to stop Domon's match but is prevented by Recca which led the two men having a rift. Luckily, with his mental fortitude, Domon was able to repel the Kotodama's spell and emerged victorious. Mikagami objected Recca's happiness for Domon's win because he almost let Domon die which made the conflict worse. At the end of the fight, Neon called a double bout (i.e. 2 vs. 2 Neon and Miki vs. Recca and Mikagami)

Team Hokage agreed to Neon's suggestion in having a double bout since if Team Hokage loses the next 2 matches, Fuuko Kirisawa will win by default and the match will end in a tie. During the fight, Recca and Mikagami had a rift because of Domon who later intervened during the match and stopped the argument but ended up losing his win against Aki. The duo worked together to win and defeated Miki. Neon then released the sealed energy from her madogu the Fukyo Waon and tried to play the last tune, the Requiem (song for the dead)

Recca asked Neon why was she protecting Kurei despite being a merciless killer. Neon told a story about Kurei's sad past and why Neon became a Jyuushinju. Recca tried to summon Madoka, the barrier dragon and try to save Neon despite being their enemy.

Team Hokage automatically advances to the Semi-Finals after learning that their opponent dropped from the quarter finals and faced Uruha Ma led by Magensha who defeated and killed the Jyuushinju Jisho. In the first match, Koganei faces Tsukishiro, who uses two madogus the Kaigetsu and the Oboro (Hazy Moon). Koganei figured out the Oboro's weakness by following the trail of blood and defeated Tsukishiro, but due to fatal wounds caused during the fight, Koganei lost consciousness and the match ended in a draw.

Recca faces the copycat ninja Kashamaru who wielded the madogu Nisebi (Fake Flame). During the fight, Recca was given a riddle by Rui (One of the Karyu) and was able to solve her riddle and created a fog illusion (in the forms of Gashakura, Jisho and an impersonation of Kashamaru himself) against Kashamaru. Recca emerged victorious. Tsukishiro and Kashamaru are then sent to the Majigen dimension. Recca was supposed to fight Gashakura who stated that Kashamaru applied sleeping potions to all his weapons.

Fuuko Kirisawa faces Uruha Ma's second-in-command, Gashakura. During the match, Kouran Mori interfered and set a laser in the ring's corners where Fuuko was hit twice

The true form of Fuujin is revealed and it is a cute little fox. Later, Fuuko challenges Magensha but ended up getting sucked in the Majigen.

An evil presence is stalking Yanagi, and he is another Magensha who is later revealed to be a fake.

Fuuko, Tsukishiro and Kashamaru tried to escape from the Majigen dimension and eventually found the real Magensha and Domon won the match. In the second part of the semi-finals, Raiha, who was supposed to fight Kurei withdrew.

Domon faces Noroi, a ghost that haunts the Bakuju madogu. Noroi tried to invade Domon's mind and body but thanks to Domon's strong spiritual capacity, he was able to repel the Bakuju's spell and emerged victorious. And at the end of the match, Kurei appeared.

Mikagami battles Kai who is suspected to be the murderer of Mifuyu. Kai was able to defeat Mikagami. But despite this, Kai declared that Mikagami was the rightful heir of the Hyomon Ken (Ice Crest Sword). And before he died, Kai revealed that the murderer of Mifuyu was their sensei and Tokiya's grandfather, Meguri Kyoza (In the manga, two men hired by Kurei were the true killers and Meguri arrive too late and blamed himself for Mifuyu's death. Also, Kai stabbed himself with the Hyoma En in the manga after the match). At the same time, Recca learned that the 8 Flame Dragons were Hokage ancestors and was forced to fight them again to regain their powers.

Recca faces the last Karyu in the desert, Setsuna and the old man reveals himself to be the 7th dragon, Koku. Back at the arena, Fuuko fights Mikoto, in order to avenge a little boy's father's death by her (Mikoto). During the fight, the Mikoto Fuuko was fighting was actually a robot. The real Mikoto appeared and later abused the referee who accused her of cheating because her madogu takes human form. Fuuko was eventually poisoned by the Dokumashin, a poisonous nail that contains the poisons from all over the world. Mikoto too was poisoned in order to release the Gendokugan (the antidote). Fuuko took one dose but was eventually defeated since Domon interfered. Back at the desert, Recca fights Koku and told Recca to combine the dragons just as he (Recca) fought Magensha. However, there are rules to be honored to successfully summon composite dragons. NOTE: This is the only episode in the anime where Recca is only a minor character.

Koganeis' fight with the Joker begins but the Joker gives up so Kurei can fight Recca. With Recca still not back from training the others battle Kurei four on one. Recca appears just in time to save Koganei. Recca and Kurei finally begin their fight. During the fight Recca simultaneously summoned all 7 dragons in order for Resshin, the 8th dragon to appear. But it turned out to be a whammy since he came to bear witness the fight between Recca and Kurei.

After Kurenai has been extinguished, Kurei unleashed his powerful flame, the Sacred Flame Ho-Oh (Phoenix). Resshin recalled that the Sacred Flames caused Kurei's harsh fate. It is revealed that Resshin was a spirit of Recca and Kurei's real father, Oka. During the end of the fight, Kouran Mori appeared with a puppet Kurei. Recca and Kurei faced the puppet and Resshin finally joins them to destroy the puppet. At the end, Recca emerged victorious.