The Tales of the Ninja Coder

I have spent the past few weeks mostly scouting, lurking in alleyways and reconnoitering territories in Sanigata. On the rare occasions when I’ve found enemies who must be removed, it has been a simple task to slay them with my kama.

Aside from those few, occasional instances of combat, I have spent much time in meetings with Clan Hekoayu.

Yesterday, I spent hours doing kama practice, learning the hikichigaido maneuver, trying to understand it — or at least make it work correctly. Having reached the point where I can follow it by rote, I went back to Yokuaru Shitsumon this morning. There is a warrior there who I needed to kill, for the good of my clan.

After much waiting and lurking, I finally spotted him. Quickly, in my mind, I recalled the motions of the hikichigaido attack. As he drew close to me, I sprang from my concealment and attacked with my kama.

He blocked the first strike, but the hikichigaido is a two-part attack. With my left hand brushing across his eyes, I whirled and completed the maneuver… leaving him dead at my feet!

I was slightly surprised that it had worked. I was even more surprised to see two of his allies coming toward me — and one of them pulling a kusarigama from his belt!

It has been too long since I got to use my chain skills. I am afraid I may have gone a bit overboard… both of my attackers were on the ground in moments. I made a quick getaway, knowing that Yokuaru Shitsumon is now safe for our forces.

The only way that could have been better is if I’d had an excuse to use the rooftops. Sadly, Yokuaru Shitsumon is one of the small towns of Sanigata; there’s just no point.

The Shiemesu Raisei campaign proceeds, slowly. Sakito and I have subdued the opposition we found in the three towns in Sanigata — truly, there was very little opposition to be found. Nearly all we did was kama-work; I hardly even had a chance to get out my manrikigusari at all.

Since then, we have been slowly expanding out grasp to include a few other towns in the area. I have just eradicated a few enemies in a place called Keisai. Our next target is another small town called Yokuaru Shitsumon, where Sakito will take the east side and I the west side. (I have some hope that I might get a chance to use my manrikigusari there.)

In the meantime, Clan Hekoayu is becoming a greater and greater annoyance. We have met with them a few more times. More and more of my clanmates in our division are becoming quite disturbed at the way the Saitekika campaign is unfolding, under Hekoayu’s guidance.

Our branch of the clan is the Kokakumanzoku division. We are tasked with ensuring that the peasants in our clan’s territories are fed, sheltered, and not badly treated. We have noted problems with the long-range effects of Clan Hekoayu’s plans. They do not lay out any specific plans to oppress the peasants, but if we follow their plans, we can see that the peasants will suffer.

And we have raised these concerns, and Hekoayu seems disinclined to listen. Now one of our Nichiren priestesses, named Suzuha, is becoming a focal point for our unrest. She has written a letter to explain that this plan is disharmonious, and we must adjust our Way. Riki is trying to manage things as well, but he needs support.

There is little I can do. Stabbing or poisoning our allies would bring dishonor upon us. When I can, I speak up in meetings on behalf of the peasants, and of Harmony.

The Chiri-dō ryū is not a set of kata that one uses in a duel or small fight. Instead, it is the kind of grand, overarching strategy that arranges the sweeping movements of a full-scale fighting force across large territories and varying terrain.

It is quite unlike anything I have ever had to learn before, for we ninjas generally operate in very small bands, if not alone. It is like the teachings of the mainland general-sage, Sun Tzu.

In the meeting with Clan Eshidieru this morning, we spent much time examining all the particulars of how we can use the Chiri-dō style in our Shiemesu Raisei campaign… and it seems the Shiemesu Raisei campaign and the Saitekika campaign will have interlocking objectives, and each one will affect the other!

And I, along with Kento, Makishi, and Amon, am involved with both of them.

It is all very confusing, and it means I must be involved with meetings with Clan Eshidieru (who are teaching us the Chiri-dō and advising our strategies on the Shiemesu Raisei campaign) and other meetings with Clan Hekoayu (who are advising our Saitekika strategy… albeit somewhat unprofessionally on occasion).

I must find some way to keep my combat skills sharp. Or at least find the time for some kata in the yard.

Finally, I have more to do! I must kill a couple of targets in a town called Futokōhō, very close by Kinyūiki. Then I have to do some scouting in the nearby town of Keisai. It shouldn’t be very hard, but at least it’s something to do.

Also, there may be a bit of rooftop work awaiting me in Kinyūiki. That will be most satisfying, after spending the morning and early afternoon doing scouting and perhaps a little kama work.

Off I go. Wish me luck!

This campaign is unlike most others. Instead of trying to capture territory and hold it, our true objective is to test out the Chiri-dō ryū, and see if we want to adopt it as one of our main strategies. To that end, we will be attempting to capture some towns and small cities in Yamato Province… but exactly which ones and how many is still a mystery, and we might not bother to hold them. It seems we will, at the very least, use a place called Kinyūiku as one of our targets. I have been performing preliminary scouting on it this week.

I seem to be the junior warrior in this operation. I will be reporting to Makishi (who I have mentioned before, a friendly fellow-ninja) until Kento returns from visiting his family, near the end of the month. There are a few samurai working in the plains and the wilderness; I know of Atsuhiko, but I am sure he is not alone. Above us all is Ryōsuke, who I believe is a major.

The Nichiren priest who is trying to coordinate all our actions is named Junsuke. So far, he seems pleasant enough. Assisting him is Amon, a friend of Kento’s. Another warrior named Eiki will also be involved, though I know not in precisely what capacity.

Ryōsuke is the major in charge of the warriors in this operation. He ranks above Kento, who is currently away visiting his family. Kento will not return until nearly the end of the month. Then, I understand, he will have the very interesting experience of being trained the Chiri-dō techniques.

I think Makishi and I will look forward to seeing how he feels at the end of that week.

In the meantime, we have advisors from Clan Eshidieru, the originators of the Chiri-dō style, who are continuing to teach us about its strategies. I keep receiving messages from Makishi as I scout Kinyūiku, asking me to join him and the advisors on the plains of Yamato as we observe how the Eshidieru advisors use Chiri-dō to organize large-scale battle movements. This makes scouting somewhat difficult.

Today is the last day of training about the Chiri-dō ryū. The previous days have covered the sorts of urban operations that Makishi and I will have to perform, along with the forest and plains strategies the samurai will be doing alongside us.

But today, the training is about how one would integrate Chiri-dō fighting styles with Shugendō. Though I once followed the way of the yamabushi, I have forgotten much… and I certainly do not perform any yamabushi duties for Clan Noriaibasha. Hence, Makishi and I have little to do here today.

We are writing scrolls of what we have learned so far. Next week, we must meet with some of the samurai and start planning out our strategies. This campaign will be long and hard, and it will involve a great many things we have never done before.

Luckily, it seems unlikely that I will have to use the strange, double-edged, straight sword from the mainland. That distasteful type of combat will mostly fall to the samurai.

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.

Only a week ago, it seemed this campaign would never end. But we seem to have run out of Ayamari. The group that seemed such an unstoppable tide before have now been exterminated. Haruna and Satonori have been detached from the Teitōken unit and sent to other fronts in the war.

Over the past few days, I have whittled down the Mōjin fighters, and they now seem to be gone, too. A pair of Sōtō Zen monks and the scout, Jun-ichirō, will verify that tomorrow morning. Even the bandit from Yoshino is gone. The Nichiren and Tendai priests are ready to proclaim this realm pacified and integrate it into our territories and power structure.

All that remains is to kill the rōnin from Mikawa. My last battle with him was inconclusive. He escaped into Ichimen, and is lurking… somewhere.

I have until Friday to find him. That will be my last day on the Teitōken Campaign; starting on Monday, I will be assigned to a new campaign called Shiemesu Raisei. I know very little of what this campaign will entail, as yet. I know that it will be another long one, like Teitōken has been (and unlike, say, Kanezukai was). It seems it will involve widely-spread operations ranging throughout Yamato Province, and maybe also in Ōmi and perhaps Settsu. Beyond that? The campaign’s specifics are still somewhat mysterious to me.

I understand that the first week will involve hours and hours of training in one of the halls of Castle Noriaibasha. I have my suspicions that the training will be tedious, and by the end of it, I will be itching to get outside, clamber across a roof, and kill a half-dozen people.