The Tales of the Ninja Coder

There is urgent news today throughout Kansai: the Kao-no-Hon gumi has absorbed the small-but-popular Clan Soku-e. Soku-e is beloved by many artists, who are now wondering what will become of the clan. Those of us who watch larger issues, however, are concerned for other reasons: Apparently a great deal of gold was involved. This only serves to underscore how mighty the Kao-no-Hon gumi has grown.

I cannot worry about this right now. I have Naihō to deal with. But still, I cannot help but wonder about the future. Can anything stop the Kao-no-Hon? Possibly Clan Tokugawa, of course — but I sometimes wonder if that would be any better. The Kao-no-Hon gumi, I believe, has never followed the Way of Harmony. Clan Tokugawa once did, but they have obviously left that path. Which is worse? The ones who never followed the Way, or those who deliberately forsook it?

Regardless, the clash between them threatens all of Nippon. The war goes ever on.

Clan Hekoayu has identified a particular group in the territory we are planning to capture. They are called the Jōgehyō army, and they have a very unorthodox fighting style. They are skilled with kusarigamas, like me — and they are fierce and wary.

We may not have to enter combat with them. If we do, we may not be able to beat them easily.

My task is to try find out what our options are. if we determine that the Jōgehyō would be too much effort, then we will have to tell Hekoayu to change all their plans that involve that area.

Unfortunately, I have a meeting (yes, another meeting!) in less than an hour… so my scouting will have to wait until Monday.

In our meeting with Clan Hekoayu yesterday, they alerted us to the presence of a gang operating within the Tōzayokinkōza district in Bumonrokaki. They are called the Suraida, and it seems they are quite crafty and dangerous. Before we can complete the Saitekika campaign, we will have to remove them.

Clan Hekoayu says their warriors can do this, easily.

Of course, it falls to me to actually make it happen on Noriaibasha’s behalf. Whatever Hekoayu claims is possible, I must provide — but not necessarily today. I have not yet been given the order to eradicate them; for now, I simply have to ensure that I could do so, if the order were given.

As soon as I have time, I must go to Bumonrokaki and do some scouting. I must observe this gang and their ways, and learn their weaknesses, and be sure that I can slay them when the time comes. But this afternoon is full of more meetings…

I am no longer dealing with only one campaign. I had thought that my association with the Teitōken campaign was done, having pacified the city of Ichimen. Now I find that there is one final push happening this weekend. They may need a ninja on call, just in case they encounter any resistance that requires assassination or city operation.

Hence, I must hold myself in readiness, prepared at any moment to rush to the battlefield. I will serve, but I hope I am not called.

In the meantime, the Shiemesu Raisei campaign is becoming contentious. Ryōsuke wants to have everything complete within six weeks. The other warriors have all just pointed out that we are trying to learn an entirely new ryū, and we have no idea how long anything will take. We certainly do not wish to commit to an untried, unfamiliar strategy and claim that we will have such-and-so accomplished, and then discover that we can only accomplish half of it in the time allotted.

Ryōsuke is adamant about the six-week deadline. We will see what we can commit to — if anything.

Aside from that, there is a problem occurring in Settsu Province. I need to deliver a message and some small supplies to one of our operatives there. It will be an interesting case of courier duty, combined with some reconnaissance — when I am done, I should report back to Tsukimi on what I saw while delivering the message.

It will be a busy day.

As always, everything is in flux. Kento tells me that the training sessions to begin the Shiemesu Raisei campaign have been postponed by a week. This means that my schedule for next week is completely unknown. (But perhaps this means I will finally have some time to re-consecrate the temple of Inari in Hoshiakari — I have been laying some plans in that regard, and this may be the opportunity I need!)

All the Mōjin have been driven from Ichimen. However, every time we think the Ayamari are gone, more show up. I suspect there is some sort of secret Ayamari lair somewhere, with a hidden tunnel that allows the sneak in from outside the city. A pack of them surprised me during my battle with the rōnin from Mikawa yesterday afternoon. By the time I had dispatched them, the rōnin was gone.

I had already wounded him sorely. He may have died of his wounds later on, or he may have decided to leave the area entirely. Or he may come back to bedevil us next week. There is no way of knowing.

It may be just as well. This morning, it seems the younger brother of the bandit from Yoshino, who I slew over two weeks ago, has arrived to seek vengeance. Fortunately, he does not seem such a skilled fighter as his elder brother — but the Yoshino tactics allow him to fade back into the forest, and I cannot pursue without help from Seijun or his team.

Needless to say, they are all too busy right now. If only one of them would become available for assistance, I could finish off this last foe.

This week has been very busy. There are Ayamari all over Ichimen, just like there were last week. I eradicated at least a dozen last week, and left for Iga Province feeling good on Friday. Then, over the weekend, something happened. I don’t know if our scouts found a new squadron of Ayamari that they’d missed before, or if the foul rabble sneaked in under cover, and actually hadn’t been present before.

Either way, I am desperately trying to kill them all. It is slow going, because something has gone wrong in the armory. We must have gotten a shipment of substandard steel for our weaponry, because my blades constantly need re-sharpening, and my chain’s links keep coming loose. I keep having to return to Castle Noriaibasha and wait while the smiths repair and resharpen them.

I have also had some of my time and energy taken up with attending the rites of initiation that induct me into the clan, and reading and signing various scrolls of welcome and suchlike. Between the ceremonies and the armory visits, I have spent very little time in Ichimen… It’s no wonder the Ayamari are flourishing there.

I will not be in Ichimen or Sakai tomorrow, for there is a grand festival weekend in Iga Province. I have already informed Kento that I will be away. And Monday is the day of rest decreed by the Emperor.

I shall try very hard not to worry too much about the situation in Ichimen. Not until I return to Castle Noriaibasha on Tuesday. I can only hope our enemies will be easier to slay when I am better rested.

I knew I’d have to fight this guy some day. The Sōtō Zen monks have now identified him as a major obstacle to our Path. The day is today.

He is a rōnin from Hikone, skilled in rooftop fighting, and a master of the Bright Square tactic. I know I should be worried but… honestly, I’m kind of looking forward to the challenge.

This is the late part of the campaign, where all our careful planning turns to chaos. All military campaigns go this way eventually. And any conflict that you avoided in the beginning eventually becomes inevitable. The toughest foes become the only ones left.

And defeat them you must, or you will never achieve victory.

My kusarigama is sharp and my tabi laced up tight. I’m off to the rooftops of Ichimen, to find this enemy who lurks — according to the monks — in the Shiryō-no-Hako district. It may take until Monday before I find him, but when I do… one of us will fall.

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!

Back at Castle Noriaibasha, bright and early as the new year starts. Last week, the castle was almost silent as people enjoyed their holidays and vacations. Today, everyone is back. The castle bustles with activity as people return to their old tasks.

I have much to accomplish in Ichimen. Seijun the samurai is clamoring for some neighborhood, any one, to be cleared of underworld elements so that he can bring in his troops and have Nayumi start her work. I think Keishutsu will be of the most use to them, if only I can remove the Mōjin fighters that still plague it; after that, I have hopes of liberating Ichibanyōshi from its gangs.

My previous plan had been to finish off the chain-wielding thugs in Kakunin Shiken first, because the Kakunin Shiken district borders Ichibanyōshi. There is much travel between the two neighborhoods, and I fear that the chain-fighters will try to step into the power vacuum left by my removal of the Ichibanyōshi gangs. But the samurai can’t deal with Kakunin Shiken at all. They can deal with Ichibanyōshi, once I’ve gotten rid of the gangs.

This means I may as well clear out Ichibanyōshi now, deliver it to the samurai, and then take care of Kakunin Shiken in parallel with the samurai’s Ichibanyōshi efforts. I just hope this decision doesn’t come back to haunt me later.

I have been busy in Ichimen, even as the winter becomes colder. The Keishutsu district remains solidly in our control, and the gangs of Miseru-Kakusu remain in disarray. I have moved on, to the neighboring districts of Kuraberu-no-Hako and Shiryō-no-Hako. I have also spent much time in meetings with Seijun and Rajan, the samurai who will be waging battle outside the city. We have agreed on how we will coordinate our efforts, and they have introduced me to Nayumi. She is another samurai who will be assisting them.

In the meantime, the nobles and priests continue to argue about what our strategies should be in those areas.

We are now fully committed to striking using the Bright Square strategy. But Jōichi’s plan involved capturing certain warehouses with the Floating Word technique. And Floating Word is completely incompatible with Bright Square.

There is consternation in the high towers of the castle, as the nobles are becoming aware that this campaign will probably not be done on time. I see messages going back and forth, as they ask Kento how we will capture the warehouses. “What tactic can we use, if Floating Word is not available to us?” Kento has just gone on winter holiday, however, and he will not return until next week.

In the meantime, I am sneaking through Kuraberu-no-Hako and Shiryō-no-Hako, trying to identify all the people I might possibly be asked to kill. As soon as the nobles figure out what to do and who the enemy is, I intend to present them with those people’s heads.