The Tales of the Ninja Coder

I have slain the Kanhyū gang — every last one of them. They turned out to be undisciplined rabble, easy prey for my kama. Things are finally coming to completion in Ichimen. They are doing so with great difficulty and struggle, but they are doing so nonetheless.

Seijun has found what I sincerely hope will be the last major problem: Just outside the district of Denyūmado, there is a village called Denshūken, where a strong mercenary and a warrior of the ever-present Shimasu clan are both lurking. I must go there and kill both of them before our plans can succeed.

Later, if I have the time, there is a rōnin from the ancient town of Sakurai who is searching out our operatives. And a pair of mercenaries from Hikone that I must kill.

But that seems to be all. Seems. It is greatly to be hoped.

I will be very active for a little while longer, but I think I can see a time of rest afterward. May Bishamonten grant that it is so.

After a couple of hectic and bloody days, I’ve gotten things largely squared away in Ichimen. The Keshimasu and Soroemasu gangs are both completely destroyed. The evil merchant who was causing trouble in Migaku and Keishutsu turned out to be an easy target. The Mitsugao gang, with their operations in three different districts, were much more difficult, and the Hikone mercenaries were… well, a single trained warrior can be a much harder opponent than a pack of undisciplined gang rabble.

But I have slain them all. (There’s always the chance the Ayamari will move into the power vacuums I’ve created. But that’s a problem for next week, not today.)

I still have to clear some enemies from Denyūmado. The Shimasu clan, a perpetual bother.

For now, I am sitting on the roof of an inn in central Denyūmado, eating a tasty sushi lunch and scanning the streets below me. Seeing the movements of the people, looking for the Shimasu clan crest…

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of lying in wait for someone. Especially when you think you’ve got their moves figured out, and you think you can take them… but you’re not quite sure.

I’m at the gate between Ichibanyōshi and Keishutsu. I came in across the rooftops, having seen the Hikone mercenary step away to a nearby noodle restaurant for his lunch. My kusarigama is ready; my Jeikyū hook is sharp.

I’m lurking in the upper curve of the gate when he gets back. My vantage point is beautiful. I can watch as he prepares to shake down another traveler for gold…

Then I drop on him.

The chain goes around his neck; the hook entangles his already-drawn sword, and I yank, hard. Follow up with a roundhouse kick, to be sure. The mercenary’s would-be victim is stunned, motionless. I put one finger to my lips, just in front of my mask, and softly say, “Shhh.”

I quickly untangle my chain from the mercenary’s body. With my tanto, I cut off his insignia patch, then also cut his purse away from his belt and take it with me. Hooking my chain back into the top of the gate, I start climbing out of sight. Just before vanishing, I tell the terrified onlooker: “You can scream for the city guard now.”

While they’re distracted, I’ll be heading for Shiryō-no-Hako to take out the Mitsugao gang. Soon, they’ll wonder just how many ninjas they’re dealing with.

A friend has been visiting from Edo for the past few days. Last night, Akane and I had dinner at a fancy restaurant in the capital with him and his childhood friend, a samurai woman named Beniko. During the meal, the conversation turned to the difficulties of recruiting skilled fighters.

Akane said, “Oh, I know! Have her try the Three-and Five Strike,” and so I told Beniko what the requirements are. One of the nice things about it as a warriors’ test is that it doesn’t bother to state what the warrior’s movements, footwork, or other technique should look like. It simply specifies what you must do to the target. This means it will work with any weapon at all — even though I’ve been testing manrikigusari fighters, I could still ask Beniko to perform it with her katana and have the test make sense. So we briefly stepped out into the restaurant’s ornamental garden…

And she performed it beautifully, with hardly any hesitation. There are a couple of aspects of the Three-and-Five Strike that are a bit tricky — the first time you try to do it. But that mistake teaches you how to do it properly, if you have any skill or training at all.

Beniko’s execution, however, was nearly flawless. Each time she was about to make one of the standard mistakes, she spotted the problem ahead of time, and simply worked it into her motions. It was a joy to behold.

Once again, I see that a true warrior can do a Three-and-Five Strike easily, and it is absolutely not too hard to use as a test for Clan Noriaibasha.

On Monday, I spoke to the Keitai Team about the tactics and fighting styles of the Ayamari and the Hakkā clan, and how we can most effectively defeat them. Some of the measures we should take are things that the samurai would have to do in the forests and hillsides, but there are some important things we city fighters should be aware of, too. The other warriors seemed to appreciate my knowledge.

One in particular, named Satonori, had many other useful points to add. I have not mentioned him before, but he is skilled, and he has obviously been studying Hakkā tactics.

In the meantime, my week is flying by far too quickly. Seijun has alerted me to a series of enemies in Ichimen. I must identify and neutralize them by next Friday. Today I’m scouting, discovering who they are and where they’re located. Then I can strike hard and fast, and mop them up quickly. But that will have to wait for next week.

This weekend, there is a major celebration in Iga Province that Akane and I must prepare for. I’ll be leaving Ichimen earlier than usual. Then when I return on Monday, I’ll have to be as efficient and deadly on the rooftops as I’ve ever been before. 頑張ります！

I have lately been studying Living Stone kata using the manrikigusari. Very few chain-fighters even realize that you can use it in a Living Stone style. The more advanced warriors among us know that it’s possible, but I myself haven’t bothered to do so. Well, except back when I was at Clan Nettobuku, where Jimon and Bunmei insisted on doing everything in the Living Stone ryū… but that was when we were using the Mūtou grappling hook, which made it much easier.

So I have been studying, and yesterday I spoke to Ginsaku about it. A good thing I did, because he said he has been studying a scroll by a sage from Clan Yamazaru. Yamazaru was once the mightiest of the clans to come from the city of Ōtsu, in Ōmi Province, until they were eclipsed by Clan Tokugawa and its superior strategies. But Yamazaru is still a force to be reckoned with, and more importantly, they still have the esteemed Kurokkufōdo-sensei among their ranks. Kurokkufōdo-sensei was among the first to recognize that the lowly chain, despised by most fighters, could be a truly effective weapon; the mere fact that Ginsaku’s scroll is by one of Kurokkufōdo-sensei’s colleagues makes it worth taking seriously.

And so I am studying it, and learning. But soon I must rejoin Seijun and his samurai team in Ichimen; while they work in the streets, I must clear off the rooftops. With my chain. It’s just the sort of work I love.

In the meantime, I have a message from my contact among the Shomei-gumi this morning. He wants to know what is wrong with the warriors they have sent, and how they can be improved. I have told him, quite honestly, that knowledge of the kama is not enough. We need fighters who know how to use the manrikigusari, even if it has no grappling hook. We need warriors who understand the very basics of footwork, of attack and defense — the fundamentals of fighting. Far too many “fighters” know only one or two attacks by rote, and perhaps one block, and no dodges. And when they have exhausted those few moves, they have nothing left, no adaptability.

Yesterday, Kento and I met with Rajan, Seijun, and another of the forest samurai. Rajan has a scroll written by some warrior-sage high in the clan, describing some battle tactics which are supposed to ensure the safety of our warriors.

This scroll is very confusing, and at least one of the manrikigusari techniques that it calls for makes no sense at all. It’s a needless flourish which won’t make us any safer or assist us to strike the enemy harder.

Over and over again, the scroll says things which are completely unclear. Many times during the meeting, all five of us were scratching our heads and asking each other, “Do you know what that means? No? I don’t, either.”

Since these techniques were presented to us as “guidelines”, not orders, Kento made me very happy by saying, “I can tell you now: My ninjas will not be following these guidelines.” Rajan thinks the sage must know something we don’t, but even he must admit that he isn’t sure what it could be.

He is trying to set up another meeting, where the sage himself can explain to us why and how these techniques can help. We shall see how that goes.

In the meantime… today may involve another trip to Nagoya. It’s supposed to be a simple pick-up: just meet with our operative at a restaurant, where he’ll pass me a message that I must bring back here to the castle. But things have a way of going wrong in Nagoya. Wish me luck!

On Friday morning, I was lacing up my tabi and getting ready to journey to Castle Noriaibasha when I received a message from the Shomei-gumi. It seems my contact there, Kaisei, has left the group to pursue other ventures.

Luckily, with heralds’ groups like Shomei, “he has left to pursue other ventures” is not a code phrase for “he has gone to join his ancestors”. I am sure that Kaisei — who I found to be intelligent and pleasant, and with good taste in shōchū — is still in fine health.

But it does make me wonder about the health of the Shomei-gumi. When I first joined them, my contact was Megumi, who placed me with Clan Noriaibasha. Then she left and was replaced by Kaisei. Now I have an entirely new contact. Such rapid changes do not bode well.

Still, Noriaibasha is pleased with me, and will likely take me in as a full clan-member when my contract is complete. All I need to do is wait.

The Teitōken campaign proceeds. Every day, there is at least one meeting to discuss our plans. Sometimes, I simply meet with Seijun, Rajan and Nayumi to coordinate our tactics, but other times, Seijun and I must meet with the priests of the Nichiren and Tendai orders, and with some of the nobles, to discuss the overall campaign strategy.

That strategy continues to grow and evolve. We have captured perhaps half the territory of Ichimen, and already we are finding difficulties in holding onto what we have taken. Even though I eradicated our opposition in Ichibanyōshi and Keishutsu, we have found that now a group called the Norikaeru are moving into those districts —and expanding into the rest of Ichimen, no doubt.

I am still busy in Migaku and Shiryō-no-Haku. And I am bedeviled by the need to constantly go back and forth from battling in Ichimen to attend meetings in Castle Noriaibasha.

Seijun and I have warned the priests that we must take account for the Norikaeru. We can only hope they see how inharmonious this campaign is becoming.

Just after lunch today, we will test another warrior to see if he is skilled enough to join our clan. We need more ninjas and mercenaries, but I do not dare to have much hope.

We are still having trouble finding skilled urban ninjas at Clan Noriaibasha. Nippon’s endless war has taken its toll, and there is starting to be a shortage of able fighters. I have taken to asking applicants some very simple questions regarding the use of the kama and the manrikigusari, and asking them to show me one of the simplest possible kata: The Three-and-Five Strike.

Still, they fail.

Some make excuses. Some try to distract us with tricky weapon-flourishes and intimidating poses that don’t actually accomplish anything. Most simply go away in defeat. This kata is terribly simple. Any warrior should be able to perform it, with any weapon they know. Easily. Anyone who cannot would be a liability in any fighting force.

We finally have a scroll of introduction from a man who might be able to do more than flourish his kama and growl menacingly. He will come to the castle on Friday, and we will take his measure.

Also, my friend Marumi has sent me a letter of introduction to a friend of hers, a man who was once an ikebana artist, but has since been learning the ways of chain-fighting. Since Marumi is a very skilled warrior, I trust her judgement that this man could pass our entrance exams. But he has not responded to my letters.