Growing more comfortable with his ninja training, Taro embarks on a perilous mission to reunite with his mother at the fortified headquarters of a sect of warrior monks. Taro quickly learns he has fallen into a perilous trap devised by the resurrected Lord Oda and sprung by Oda’s minions, Kenji Kira and Yukiko. As Taro’s confidants fall away, he grasps for his last hope: a golden ball rumored to control the world. Lake brings back the slicing and the sneaking of the series opener but adds guns to the array of blades. The gore quotient is ramped up a bit, with massive battles, plenty of blood-sucking and a fleshless zombie. With more lore than necessary woven through, the pacing drags. At the same time, Taro’s character development becomes crammed with back story and relationship connections that slowly overwhelm the tension. Sinister without excessive exposition, Kenji and Yukiko make fascinating, cold-blooded killers, but neither they nor ninja action can fully overcome the bloated narrative. (Horror. YA)
