The Tales of the Ninja Coder

A busy morning at the Yaneura-gumi's headquarters. The armies of Saiongaso have won a resounding victory over their foes — a victory which we were instrumental in making possible for them. In the meantime, Haruo is busy assisting two Nichiren priestesses with their negotiations with Clan Mōfō over how to proceed into the final stages of their campaign. They are all very concerned with how much we can accomplish; they do not want to promise anything we can't actually provide.

The elder priestess, Romi, is constantly sending messages back and forth to the Mōfō clan leaders. The younger one, Mariko, often comes to ask Teruyoshi and I questions like, "If we station you in a mountain pass like such-and-so, how many enemies could you hold that pass against? What if they had spearmen, not just swordsmen?" or "How many foot soldiers of Ayamari can you take down in a frontal attack on a wide-open city street?" or "If you had to hold an eight-foot-wide gate against any number of enemies for 6 hours, what weapons and supplies would you require?"

Truly, they are trying to plan for every contingency. Teruyoshi and I stay in the courtyard at Yaneura HQ, sparring and waiting for Mariko to come with interesting and imagination-firing questions. Sometimes, we are sent on brief sorties, but I think they want us to conserve our strength.

In the evenings, I try to stop by Kusatsu on my way home, and learn more of its byways. It turns out that Jō staff fighting needs some strange adaptations to work properly there, and I am still trying to accustom myself to the proper ways.

I and the other ninjas of the Totemo Akarui-gumi have been busy with work for Clan Kurudan. (Their full name is Kuruma-no-Danshaku, but sometimes it is useful to shorten things. "Kurudansha" also works.)

The Totemo Akarui-gumi has signed up another ninja, named Amon. He is apparently well versed in forest and wilderness fighting, especially using the Jōgesen-ryū. I have not met him yet, but we have exchanged messages and irogome, and he has been chasing down the Kurudansha's enemies in the forests of central Kansai even as I slay them inside the cities.

I have been most diligent in Ōtsu, working with kama, manrikigusari, and even with the sansetsukon when possible. But I have also made trips to Heian-kyō and even Naniwa when necessary, to ensure that no lingering enemies remain there.

However, this has all been very ad-hoc, undirected work. And the Kurudan clan has also hired another ninja, a man named Hōsei. He has been doing some other form of secret work for them, and the time has come to coordinate our efforts. So today, I and Amon will meet with Hōsei at an inn in Heian-kyō, and we will discuss more long-range strategy. Jinsei may be there, too.

We have gone back to another meeting with Clan Higatsuke. They are very active in the town of Ningu now, and establishing themselves as a major part of its power structure is crucial to their strategy.

This is unfortunate, because Ningu has very strict rules against carrying weaponry. They will allow the kama, because it is "merely a farming tool", and I have found that the guards can often be bribed to allow a length of chain and a grappling hook, if you wear a mountain man's clothes and claim to need it for survival in the nearby forested mountains.

Of course, with a length of chain and a grappling hook, one can get to the rooftops... and then, a great many things are possible. Even if one's opponent is an armed and armored samurai, dropping off a roof onto him with a kama can be startlingly effective.

Jinsei has observed something about Higatsuke's Lord Jun: "He always needs to be in motion, even if it is not towards the actual goal." If we needed to get to Edo (east of here, as we are near Heian-kyō), he would be unhappy if we debated whether to take the Tōkaidō or the Nakasendō, because we would not be moving... but if we set off to the west, he would be pleased with our progress.

However, his money is good, so I am willing to smile, nod, and go along with his plans. While I make a great show of "progress" for Lord Jun to keep him happy, Jinsei will work on getting him to look at a map and see the larger picture.