 Unsure of his fealty, Katagiri approaches Hori with his treachery, to which he crudely admits.Realizing that the Hazamas were victims of a corrupt system, Katagiri avenges them by stabbing Hori in the heart with a thin blade (the technique known as “the hidden blade”, which leaves almost no trace of blood—in the original Japanese version the technique is actually called "the demon's claw/scratch" as the entry wound it leaves is so small that it appears to be caused by a nonhuman perpetrator).Katagiri buries the blade at the Hazama’s grave as a form of atonement and relinquishes his samurai status.