Yumeha I: Demon Hidden in Lake Hamana!

Yumeha I: Demon Hidden in Lake Hamana! (夢破I 浜名湖に潜む魔王!) is the seventeenth episode of Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya.

Synopsis
Toha and Manabu head to Hamanako to prevent the discovery and use of a demonic armor, but face resistance from local ninja who believe them as the enemy.

Plot
The episode opens with scenes of a grueling battle, where a single man donning a dark samurai armor prevails over a number of ninjas, one of which recognizes the armor as "Maoh", the Devil King. At that moment, Tetsuzan awakens startled.

That morning, Toha and Manabu arrive to do their morning chores and find Tetsuzan meditating. He tells Toha of Maoh, a cursed suit of armor which is said to possess its wearer, and is currently sealed and guarded by the Hananin clan, at Lake Hamana. The nightmare Tetsuzan had the night before is seen as a bad premonition, and he tasks Toha with investigating the matter, by seeking out the leader of the Hananin, Genichiro Murakami, at the Hamana-ko Lakeside Plaza hotel.

As Toha is driving to Lake Hamana, the Black Saber sounds an alarm of overload in the trunk. Toha discovers Manabu stowing away, and the boy shows his foster brother a wad of cash from his savings, which would allow them to stay at the hotel rather than just camp by the lake. While initially having reservations about letting Manabu get in trouble, Toha accepts his help, and together they check in at Hamana-ko Lakeside Plaza. While initially everything seems to run as normal, after Toha and Manabu are led to their room, the concierge gives the hotel maid a silent sign. She runs off to a fishing wharf and informs a fisherman, who is identified as Murakami, that Toha is looking for him. Fearful that the newcomers may be from the Yoma Clan and seeking to take Maoh for themselves, he asks the maid, whom he calls Yumeha, to keep a close eye on them.

Afterwards, the entire Hananin clan converge at a clearing in the nearby forest, all decked in ninja garb. While Murakami speaks about the clan's duty to guard Maoh, one of the ninjas, Kurozaru, stands up and declares his wish to take Maoh for himself, desiring to make the Hananin name known to the World Ninjas rather than let it fade into obscurity. At that moment, Dokusai and the Yoma Clan make their appearance, and the renegade strikes Murakami down from behind, stating that he allied with them to get his hands on Maoh. With his dying breath, Murakami urges Yumeha to escape while the ninja loyal to him hold the Yoma Clan off.

After a brief scuffle with Benikiba, Yumeha runs into Toha, and starts fighting him, believing him to be with the Yoma Clan. Toha offers no resistance until he is struck with cherry flower petal blades, which force him to don the Jiraiya armor, causing Yumeha to finally realize he truly is from Togakure. Suddenly, a squad of Karasutengu led by Retsukiba corners them, while Kurozaru arrives on a motorboat demanding Maoh's location from Yumeha. She instead proclaims that she will be the one to wear Maoh so she can avenge Murakami, even at the risk of becoming an Asura. Jiraiya quickly uses his Jiraibuster to stall the enemies, allowing him and Yumeha to escape.

Afterwards, Yumeha gets Toha up to speed with the situation, and she tells him that she and Kurozaru were abandoned as children, and Murakami took them in, so she cannot forgive Kurozaru for killing their foster father. Toha tries to talk her out of getting revenge, but Yumeha is adamant about wearing Maoh to carry out her vengeance. She then escapes, and Toha and Manabu spend the rest of the day looking for her, to no avail.

Toha decides to call Tetsuzan and inform him of what happened, and the Yamaji patriarch informs his foster son that Yumeha might have headed for Higashiyama, where the Hananin's protector spirit is said to reside, while also warning him to be careful not to let Maoh come into Dokusai's possession. At Higashiyama, Yumeha is praying for her master and foster father, asking for forgiveness as she intends to go through with donning Maoh and killing Kurozaru in retribution. As she is leaving, Toha intercepts her, but she brushes him off, saying that it is her fate, and the words ring in his head.

The next day, Yumeha is traveling through Lake Hamana alone. Finding a spot where an underwater geyser seems to be erupting, she dons her Hananin garb and prepares to dive in as Kurozaru appears, having trailed her to Maoh's location. At the same time, Retsukiba corners her, allowing Kurozaru to dive into the Lake to retrieve Maoh, and he sends the Karasutengu to deal with her. She manages to hold her own for a while, until an attack from Retsukiba is deflected by Jiraiya, arriving on a jet ski and helping in the fight against the Yoma Clan.

Eventually, after crossing an underwater cave, Kurozaru finds Maoh and, in his elation, quickly goes to wear it; however, upon putting on the helmet, the armor's evil power quickly takes over him and the rest of the suit wears itself over his body.

While this is happening, Jiraiya and Yumeha are fighting off the Karasutengu together, until she realizes that the seal over Maoh was broken, as the armor, possessing Kurozaru, comes out. Jiraiya steps forward for a duel to the death...

To be continued...

Cast

 * Takumi Tsutsui as Toha Yamaji/Jiraiya
 * Megumi Sekiguchi as Kei Yamaji/Himenin Emiha (quick appearance)
 * Masaaki Hatsumi as Tetsuzan Yamaji
 * Takumi Hashimoto as Manabu Yamaji
 * Hiromi Nohara as Butterfly Ninja Benikiba
 * Ryo Nagamine as Star Ninja Retsukiba
 * Tamao Matsugi as Flower Ninja Yumeha
 * Koji Kawai as Genichiro Murakami
 * Bun Nakamura as Kurozaru
 * Dai Nagasawa as Tetsuzan Yamaji (voice)
 * Shozo Iizuka as Org Ninja Dokusai (voice)
 * Shingo Hiromori as Star Ninja Retsukiba (voice)
 * Ittoku Yamanaka and Toku Nishio as Bird Ninjas Karasutengu (voice)

Trivia

 * This episode aired alongside ' episode 31, '.

DVD releases
Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya Volume 2 features episodes 11-20.