The Tales of the Ninja Coder

 
I could try to describe this in ninja-speak, or I can just dump it in modern terms. Either way, I'll just use the established ninja names.

A week or so ago, Jimon was placed in charge of the front-end (urban-fighting) ninjas. Jimon is fairly new at my workplace. Like Bunmei and I, he's a pretty damn smart guy.

In fact, a large chunk of my distress comes from the fact that both Bunmei and Jimon are really smart guys. Either (or both) of them may honestly be smarter than me. They certainly have a hell of a lot of knowledge about Ruby, and Rails, and they're really well-versed in all kinds of cool-ass programming techniques.

Honestly, the two of them move pretty fast, and I'm really having trouble keeping up. I feel "old and busted", and like a tired, old dinosaur that's getting edged out by the newer, quicker creatures.

It doesn't help that Jimon is pretty good at pointing out when he thinks something has been done in a less-than-optimal way... but not nearly so prone to compliment something when it's done well. (Or maybe it's just that he actually thinks my stuff sucks. It would help if there were anything I'd done lately that I could point to and say, "I'm actually proud of that. I did a good job on that, and I know it.")

Half the time, I'm not sure what he's talking about, and I feel like I'm too stupid to understand. The other half of the time, I think he's just a really lousy communicator.

Regardless, I've decided that the best thing I can do is improve my own game. To the utmost. There's no sense in asking him, "Hey, do you just think I completely suck? Or are you great at slamming on stuff, but incapable of giving praise?" Nobody's ever going to respond well to that kind of thing. Instead, I should simply work to "lengthen my line", as Joe Hyams learned from Ed Parker. Improve my own skills, work on doing the best job that I can possibly do — and don't give a damn what anyone else is doing, or how well they're doing it, or even what they think of me.

That last bit is going to be the hardest part. I've always been a little too concerned with other people's opinions of me. But if I work hard enough on improving myself, maybe I can at least shut those doubts up for a little while.

 
It is no news to those of us in Clan Nettobuku that Bunmei is very busy lately, trying to move from his current home in a faraway village to a place nearer to the castle.

When I first joined Clan Nettobuku, Bunmei was the lead ninja among the city fighters. Recently, Jimon joined us as a third ninja.

Commander Kobushi just informed me that, since Bunmei is so busy, he has had to step down as lead ninja, and Jimon has taken his place. Apparently Jimon has prior experience leading teams.

It has probably not helped that I have been somewhat gruff and unapproachable while working, and I have not been shy about pointing out problems. I point them out so that we might fix them, but I am afraid this has been perceived as not very leader-like.

I am displeased, with myself as well as with the clan.

 
Arrived bright and early at Castle Nettobuku this morning. Captain Tomo was here even earlier.

The abbess Jīya has selected a variety of targets to begin the Hitotsu Goko campaign with. An increasing number are from the Ayamari-gumi, a gumi who serve no useful purpose that I can find. They exist merely to make others' lives more difficult. They are the dregs of society, and no matter how many of them we slay, there seem to always be more ready to take their place.

But there is also reconnaissance to be performed on the Meisabokkusu mercenaries, so I can analyze their weaknesses. And we warriors need to have some discussions about strategy and tactical planning. We hope we can find time for such a meeting today. It may not be easy, because Bunmei has to leave soon to travel to his far-away home.

 
Today, I was at Castle Nettobuku for nine hours. Seven of those hours, I spent in meetings to discuss the successes and failures of our most recent campaign, and to plan the upcoming campaign.

One other hour, I spent simply reading scrolls of possible battle plans.

Last night, when I realized that I had to return to the castle this morning, I started drowning my worries in sake. Today, when I got home, I immediately started drowning my accumulated stress in shōchū.

I think I am growing weary of Clan Nettobuku.

I became a ninja to creep across rooftops and kill people, not to spend all my time in meetings. But I left Clan Iwinaga and joined Clan Nettobuku in order to rise in rank and duties.

I am not unaware of the conflicts between these things.

 
There has been some upheaval in Fujiwara-kyō. A few months ago, I did a fair bit of work to gain the alliance of the Okane-gumi, an underworld merchant group who will help smuggle some of our supplies through. Now, it turns out that a new leader has come to power among the Okane-gumi. He does not wish to honor his commitments with our clan.

I have been in discussions with Iyona and Sakura of the Nichiren priestesses, who were trying to determine if there might be some other righteous action to take. We are now all agreed: The righteous action is to remove this dishonorable man.

I now have some work to do back in Fujiwara-kyō.

 
Tomo and I have both been inventing new Jōgesen kata (and refinements to the sansetsukon itself), and of course, we have now come up with incompatible moves. I got to the castle this morning and found a message from Tomo to all the warriors, saying he had devised some upgrades to our sansetsukon. (Now the chain links move a bit more smoothly, which is good.) I took a new one from the armory, and promptly discovered that it makes hash of the latest moves I'd been developing on Friday.

*sigh* This is one of the perils of having more than one warrior using the same armory. (Of course, the drawbacks of having only one warrior are far, far worse.) Still, I must now spend part of my morning adjusting my new kata.

And I do not know what to do about Jīya, the new Nichiren abbess. I can tell that she is simply trying to motivate the warriors, and lift our spirits...

But.

It is rarely necessary to tell a good warrior when he has been doing a good job. We know already. Perhaps priests and monks need such constant encouragement, but as a warrior, I know that if my enemies are dying and I am surviving, I am doing well. By telling me that I am doing well, Jīya merely makes me wonder if she thought I had any doubt about it.

Perhaps this annoys me so much because, deep in my heart, I almost always do have doubt. Couldn't I be killing them faster, or more silently? Am I retaining enough awareness of the clan's larger plans? Could I be using better tactics and strategy if I had studied with a respected warriors' school? Am I still "the junior one" on our team? These are all the distractions of maya, but they still plague me.

I wish she would simply leave me in peace, and let me go kill enemies. I have seen her telling Jimon similar things, and he seemed no more comfortable than I.

 
I have informed my compatriots in Clan Nettobuku that when a ninja is sneaking up on his target, it's kind of annoying when his clan-mates come and ask him questions. Hopefully my productivity will now increase a bit.

If we didn't have to spend so much time in the temple, chanting and burning incense and propitiating the ancestors and kami, perhaps we might have more time for slaying enemies. However, the priestesses and monks have pointed out that we must be righteous and harmonious, as well as ferocious and efficient.

It's just hard, when so many of the people we need to kill are city-dwellers. As always, my list of targets is large and growing.

(The appropriateness of the musical selection is purely a coincidence. Honest.)

 
While I've been working in Fujiwara-kyō, my fellow-ninja Bunmei has been quite busy in the modern city of Hikone. Now that I've gotten things fairly squared away Fujiwara-kyō, I'm off to Hikone to help out Bunmei with the situation...

...only to find that his recent efforts have so transformed the political and tactical situation there that I need to take some time just to learn my way around again. His work is quite impressive; there are dead bodies everywhere. I realize he is partly trying to make up for lost time from last week (when much of his time was taken up by caring for his girlfriend, whose foot had been hurt in an accident), but now I feel like I have fallen behind, and must catch up.

I will study his work, and catch up on my own tasks.

 
I am spending all my time running back and forth between Heian-kyō, the ancient capital, and Nara, where some of our contacts dwell. Bearing these messages in and out of the cities is an important job, requiring a ninja's stealth.

Tomo just found me on the road, and let me know that there is unrest in Heian-kyō. "One of our contacts there has been slain," he says. "Strangled, apparently by a chain weapon. We will have to track down the perpetrator."

This will probably involve a whole lot of rooftop work. Normally, I like working on the rooftops... but have I mentioned how the architecture of Heian-kyō involves a lot of really sharply sloped roofs, and some very shiny and highly-polished tile? It's slippery stuff.

This is going to suck.

 
A few days ago, Commander Kobushi sent a message to the warriors of Clan Nettobuku, saying, very roughly:

Here is a table showing, for each of you, how many enemies you estimated you would kill when we drew up plans two weeks ago, and how many confirmed kills you have over the past two weeks, and what the difference between these two numbers is. I know that you are all fighting very hard, and many of you have more kills than you have recorded. This is not intended to make you go out and get into more danger; only to inspire you to accurately record what you are doing. Without accurate information, we cannot make effective plans.

I looked at the table, thinking, "I must strive to do better. I will be very good about delivering accurate reports!" Then I noticed that, of all the warriors, my "difference" column is the smallest. Bunmei has a greater discrepancy than I do, and Tomo has an even greater one still.

Of course, this doesn't mean I can slack off. But it is encouraging.

Then yesterday... Iyona, the head of the Nichiren priestesses said she wanted to speak with me. Alone. (This has its own benefits, for Iyona is fair to behold.) But then she told me that I have been very enjoyable to work with, and that she is very pleased with the way I communicate with the priestesses about my plans and progress.

This may not necessarily mean that I am a very senior ninja, but at least I am reassured that I am a highly skilled ninja. It's always good to know that one is performing adequately, and not being eyed for potential dismissal.

Nonetheless, there are some enemies in Fujiwara-kyō that I have been delayed from slaying. I must remove them today; I am tired of their continued meddling in our clan's plans. I have sharpened my kama; my kusari is tested, with all links in good repair. Off I go!