The Tales of the Ninja Coder

Akane and I have successfully reconsecrated the shrine of Inari. We have even strung a new shimenawa around the premises.

Happily, we were done in time to visit the wonderful local restaurant, which makes some of the best okonomiyaki in all of Kansai. It was quite delicious!

The following day — yesterday — I went back to Castle Noriaibasha. Nobody seems to have noticed my absence the previous afternoon, or if they did, they didn’t mind. Over the past two days, the Teitōken campaign has been slowly and painfully winding down. Every time I think things are done, they find one more pocket of resistance. These are rarely in the city; Seijun’s team has been quite busy rousting out foes in the forest. But occasionally, a message of great and terrible urgency tells me to proceed to Ichimen and find such-and-so target.

Tonight should be the end of this. We are already a day past deadline. I have spent part of the day reading the scrolls and maps pertaining to the upcoming Shiemesu Raisei campaign; that should occupy much more of my time tomorrow.

For now, I have an appointment to meet an old friend in the capital for a sushi dinner.

I promised Kento I would go to Ichimen on Saturday and battle the Ayamari more. But as I prepared to leave Hoshiakari, a villager came running: “The oni is in the shrine! Again!”

Again? After only one day? And in broad daylight, for once? This was not its usual style. Cursing and moaning, I went to the shrine. Sure enough, there it was, as large as life and as ugly as ever. Its iron-sheathed club flashed toward me, and the battle was joined!

I had only a small jō staff, but I was fueled by my rage and frustration. I struck hard and fast, dodging the monster’s blows. One swing left it off-balance, and I dealt it a mighty blow on the side of its head. It fell down dead at my feet, and then its shape blurred and shrank down to the visage of…

…a wizard of the Hakka clan! Those who invade others’ territories by guile and duplicity, only to deface and destroy! This is an enemy I was very glad to have killed.

But has the oni always been the Hakka, wearing a mystical disguise? Or is it truly the case the Hakka simply heard about Hoshiakari’s oni problem and decided to exploit it for his own ends?

Regardless, the shrine must be re-purified and reconsecrated. I have plans for that operation, but they will take some time to put into effect. The Teitōken campaign is still absorbing too much of my time and energy.

On Thursday afternoon, I was busy in Ichimen when I received an urgent message from one of the Nichiren priests. He and Haruna and some of the others had come across a problem in the ongoing Kanezukai campaign. I had fought in the early stages of that campaign, back in the fall. They needed my help with an enemy lurking in ancient, cramped Fujiwara-kyō. The time I had to spend on that was time I couldn’t spend in Ichimen on the Teitōken campaign.

That may be part of why I got to the castle on Friday morning to find a message from Seijun, asking: “There are still a great many Ayamari in the city walls of Ichimen. Are you having trouble? Do you require aid?”

This is not the first time he or Kento has asked me if I needed assistance with this phase of the campaign. But this time, I found that even more of them had flooded into the city since I left on Thursday night. I finally gave in and said yes, please send another ninja to help.

After a while, Kento showed up with Satonori, and instructed me to give Satonori a quick orientation in the streets and alleys of Ichimen. The rooftops are somewhat more complex terrain, so he will be handling the kama work on the ground while I deal with the remaining chain-wielding enemies. If the situation is still dire on Monday, Kento will see if Haruna can assist us, too.

Did that resolve matters? It turns out — no, it did not.

As I was battling on the rooftops of Ichimen, a message came from Hoshiakari: The shrine of Amaterasu was under attack, yet again, by the usual oni. Yes, in broad daylight. The creature is becoming bolder!

There was nothing I could do while busy fighting on Clan Noriaibasha’s behalf. The news simply weighed on my mind until sundown, when I left to go home. Akane and I went to the shrine in the dead of the night, surprising the monster with the suddenness and fury of our attack in the rainstorm that was going on.

As usual, the oni escaped at the last moment. I must find a way to purify the shrine once and for all!

In the meantime, this week has been long and difficult, and I am a very tired ninja.

I received a message from General Wāro recently, asking if I would give a good report about him to a clan that is considering taking him in. I told him that of course I would do so. On Tuesday night, I was supposed to receive a messenger from his prospective new clan, who would ask me my impressions of the General.

Instead — as readers of my brief messages will already know — a runner came from the other side of Hoshiakari. “There is trouble in the shrine!”, he cried. “Noise and disturbance! Can you help?”

So, instead of dinner with Akane, I laced up my tabi and rushed through the woods to the shrine. I hoped to find nothing more than a few bandits — or, even better, perhaps a vagrant simply looking for food. But in my heart, I knew better.

Sure enough, the oni had returned. The same one who bedeviled us last September, and then again in November. It crouched in the doorway, grinning foully at me.

And of course, not being a priest, I had no o-fuda. All I could do was attack with my ninja skills.

It threw off my chain with a laugh, and nearly clubbed me in the heart as I scrambled to dodge. A few quick acrobatic rolls got me out of range of its next few strikes, and I tried my ninja-tō. No use. I managed to use my kama to cut a mostly-straight branch from a nearby tree and use it as a bō staff. That at least gave me enough reach to stay out of the huge monster’s range.

The battle was long and grueling, but eventually I managed a solid strike against its wrist, and it dropped its club. As I assailed it with blows about the shoulders, it roared and then fled off into the night.

I must find a way to kill it, once and for all.

I awoke this morning to find the shimenawa at Amaterasu’s shrine broken, and the innards of the shrine scattered and disrupted. I shall have to stay awake some night soon, and do battle with the oni. This will not be an enjoyable experience, even for one who thrives on combat, as I do.

In the meantime, I am learning the ways of Clan Noriaibasha. There are a great many meetings, for the clan’s people need to coordinate their activities. Such a large clan can prosecute multiple campaigns simultaneously, and individual warriors split their time between the various campaigns. So unlike Clan Tenya, where I spent all my time clearing trails and supply lines to places like Kotobasatsuki, here I am constantly switching from one task to another.

And going to meetings to discuss each campaign I’m involved in.

Right now, the Rōba campaign has been taking much of my time, as I gut our enemies with my kama alone. But I have also recently been attached to the San-Nichikan campaign… and, in a meeting with Jōji, who is in charge of the Kirin project, I have learned more about the clan’s plans for the Kirin-dō kata that I have inherited from the departed mercenary.

There will be much for me to do. In the days to come, I certainly must describe these campaigns and the people of the clan.

But first, I must survive my encounter with the oni.

I visited the shrine of Amaterasu last night. For many hours, I kept watch, lurking and waiting to see if anything would appear. But even a ninja cannot remain awake forever.

Before leaving, I scattered a bit of rice flour around the entrances to the shrine, and some of the most likely avenues of approach. Then I went home, to sleep by Akane’s side.

I have now returned, and I see some very large footprints in the flour. Not merely the footprints of a very large man, either; not merely the prints of anything human. These prints are larger than even the mightiest sumo wrestler’s feet… and they have claw marks at the tips of the toes.

Kwannon defend me, I think I am dealing with an oni.

It has been a busy week with the Totemo Akarui-gumi. One of our clients is a group of monks, called the Daiyokaru temple. For them, I have removed some obstacles who were in the way of them setting up a new shrine in the mountainous province of Kawachi. To do that, I also had to learn the rudiments of the Shizuku-ryū fighting style. Then there was the clan who needed a mountain trail cleared, using some of my yamabushi skills.

(Due to the recent bandit activity around Henshukoku, my Shugendō has been getting quite a workout. I've even improved a few parts.)

But yesterday and the day before, Jinsei brought me with him to negotiations with Clan Higatsuke. They are a very small clan in Kamishichiken, near where Castle Iwinaga still stands... but they have very aggressive plans, and want to move quickly. They have many enemies to slay, in order to carve out a place for themselves. Lord Jun, who leads the clan, is a very energetic man, full of verve and enthusiasm. He can be slightly tiring to deal with in large doses.

We are awaiting some of the final orders before we start dealing with Higatsuke enemies who seem to have infiltrated their allies, Clan Ningu (an interesting clan of Hikone, which is expanding its own power). Until then, I hone my blades and maintain readiness.

 
Last night, I arrived home to find Henshukoku under attack by gaki, bedeviling my love, Akane. Though she fought valiantly to keep them from being able to harm any of the other people of Hoshiakari, she could not actually drive them off.

Luckily, I remember some of the ways of shugendō, and was able to send them flying far from our village. Still, it was a long and tiring battle, and the spiritual combat and chanting of shugendō doesn't make my blood hot like ninjutsu fighting does.

This morning, I hear yamabushis' horns blowing, far off in the wilderness. And when I investigate, I find that there is great unrest among the temples of Tenjin, and anyone who has any relations with Tenjin (that is, practically everyone in Nippon) must perform some purification and burn some incense to cleanse their shrine.

Since I am as close as Hoshiakari has to a priest, I must perform more of a yamabushi's duties, as soon as I have a chance. It's a good thing Clan Nettobuku gives me the opportunity to creep across rooftops a lot. (Speaking of which, I need to quit writing this stuff and get on the road to Fujiwara-kyō.)