The Tales of the Ninja Coder

After two days of observing his castle and watching the comings and goings of his guards, I think I have spotted a weakness in Lord Eizō’s defenses. If I can slip inside, I may or may not be able to kill Lord Eizō himself, but I can certainly sow enough discord and confusion amongst his troops to ensure that they cause us no trouble until it is far too late.

But there is that inconveniently-timed meeting with Clan Hekoayu this afternoon — every Wednesday afternoon, for four full hours. (Truthfully, there is never a “convenient” time for a meeting that long.)

If I were on time, instead of “on Ginsaku time”, I might be able to make a useful incursion into Eizō’s castle. I must get better about that.

I arrived at the castle yesterday morning, collected my weapons, and went out to Zaiseikyōiku to see how things were progressing. Imagine my dismay when I discovered that Sakito had killed the wrong targets. I gave him very precise instructions, but he apparently did not understand them.

Luckily, the people he killed will not be missed… or at least, their deaths will not be traceable back to Clan Noriaibasha. He has at least that much competence at his ninja skills.

But the people we do need killed are still very much alive. Snarling curses upon Sakito and his ancestors, I set about finding and slaying them…

…only to be visited by Makishi, who asked me to return to the castle for a meeting with Sakito, Kento and him, to discuss our progress in Ogaribamen and Zaiseikyōiku.

I was very good. I did not state, “Sakito is incapable of following simple instructions.” Instead, I simply reported that we still have people to kill, and I am taking care of that today, and I had been doing so before I was pulled back to the castle. After the meeting was done, I spent the rest of the day in Zaiseikyōiku, frantically hunting down and killing enemies.

I have more to kill today. Then tomorrow there is another of those strategy-planning meetings which will occupy the entire afternoon. Before it starts, I have sworn I will have all our opposition in Zaiseikyōiku cleared away.

That is why I am very busy.

I am back in Zaiseikyōiku, alternating between scouting and actual stalking. There are many enemies here, and Sakito and I must each be diligent in hunting them down. We have made a division: He is taking everyone west of Shiiteki Street, and I will handle the east side of town. It was not easy to decide on Shiiteki Street as the boundary line, but we surveyed the various gangs and rōnin and other foes in all parts of the town, and decided that the ones on each side of that border should prove roughly the same amount of difficulty.

The eastern side of town being closest to the docks, it is also where the highest buildings are, and where there is the most chance of rooftop action. I will be meeting with Makishi on Thursday to see if there’s any chance of any rooftop fighting in my future.

In the meantime, there was a rōnin from Heian-kyō who started off in Sakito’s territory. But he just crossed into the east side of town, and now he’s mine. I’m closing in behind him, and my kama is nice and sharp.

I have written before about Taka, the servant woman who works with the clan’s supplies and organization division. By her efforts, the Kokakumanzoku division has been effective, efficient and well-organized.

Also, she is a friendly presence at the castle — true, she is not from Iga Province, but she is from the nearby Kōga region. Having her around makes me feel like there is someone here who understands me.

But all good things come to an end. Taka is now leaving the clan, going to seek her fortune with a school in the capital city, one which teaches the daughters of noble families and rich merchants. I am not the only one saddened by this news; the entire division is sorry to see her go. Lord Mayoku, the noble in charge of the Kokakumanzoku division, issued a proclamation yesterday thanking her for her service, and expressing our deep regrets at her departure.

Tonight, there will be a tearful farewell enkai. I suspect many of the clan will have headaches tomorrow morning.

I arrived in Nagoya earlier today, went through the city gates disguised as a simple farmer, and then headed for the areas Furashi is known to frequent. Slipping my manrikigusari from its hiding place under my tunic, I quickly hoisted myself up to the rooftops and started scanning the streets for him.

After about a half-hour of surveillance, I spotted him leaving a tavern. I moved to intercept him, and was able to rendezvous with him easily. He appreciated receiving the message from Raitsu, and had only a brief verbal report for me to carry back, with no hurry needed.

Then, on my way out of the city, I heard the sound of a fray. And a familiar kiai… I darted through an alley, leaped over a wall, and found Ginsaku in fierce combat with another warrior. On his sleeve, I saw the emblem of the historic city of Fujiwara-kyō — not a place known for producing dangerous fighters, but this one was giving Ginsaku serious trouble.

So I stepped in, coordinated with Ginsaku, and we both finished him off.

Astoundingly, I went to Nagoya today, and nothing bad happened! I even got a chance to engage in some combat, when I had thought I’d be simply a courier! Truly, this is a historic day.

I have since returned to the castle, and had a meeting with Riki, one of the Nichiren priests overseeing the Saitekika campaign. But perhaps I can tell about that tomorrow.

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.

Now that I have settled in at Clan Noriaibasha, I should describe some of the other clan members. I cannot describe them all, for Noriaibasha is a mighty clan of thousands, but here are the ones I work with most often:

My captain is Kento, a ninja who is climbing in rank, and may be on his way to becoming a higher-level officer. I report to him on a regular basis. He assigns me duties, and I carry them out.

I and Kento and everyone under him report to Tsukimi, a Nichiren priestess of pleasant demeanor. She is in command of a platoon called the Keitai Team, which is theoretically assigned to activities in Kusatsu and its immediate environs — but in practice, we members of Kento’s squad perform operations all over Kansai.

There are a great many rooms, halls, and dōjōs within Castle Noriaibasha, and each clan member is assigned to one or another. This gives us a place to keep our uniforms, weapons, and whatever other tools we need to carry out our duties. (Just as we ninjas need a place to store our black outfits, masks, and shuriken, the priests must have a place for their robes and incense.)

I am assigned to a chamber with four others. (Like me, the others are assigned to Noriaibasha by other clans.) Nearest me is Ginsaku, another ninja with urban fighting skills who started at Noriaibasha one week after me. There are also Fumiaki, a priest of the Shoshū Buddhist order, and Chifumi, who is a junior priestess of the Tendai sect. Finally, another Shoshū priest named Jōichi is assigned to our chamber, but is often away at his devotions, or conferring with abbots and nobles.

Two other warriors on the Keitai Team are Akinori, a seasoned samurai who is skilled with both long and short swords, and Riki, an enthusiastic and likable young fighter who is generally assigned to Kusatsu.

There are a great many other priests and priestesses who guide various campaigns, and my assignments keep me constantly moving among them. This month, I am most busy with the Kanezukai campaign, which is headed by a woman named Risako. As I have already written, she and I have similar ideas about Harmony and the treatment of peasants, and we already have a strong working relationship.

Finally, I must mention Taka, the servant woman who works with the clan’s supplies and organization division. It is a mistake to think that servants are of no consequence.

Without her, who would clean my soiled ninja uniforms after a hard day’s fighting? Who would supply the tea that do many of us drink in such quantity? (Truly, I have noted that Clan Noriaibasha has quite excellent tea supplies.) And when we need to send messages, who would bring paper, brush-pens, and inkwells?

The “lowly” positions are ones without which any organization would collapse in days, just as the peasants include the garners who produce the food that feeds everyone in Nihon — even the Emperor himself. The list of Noriaibasha’s people would be incomplete without mentioning Taka.