The Tales of the Ninja Coder

I have been silent for too long. I convey my deepest apologies.

For some time, I was busy in Kusatsu. The streets of Kusatsu are narrow and crooked, and the only way to achieve anything there is by using the Mōjo-ryū, as described by Clan Te-no-hira. But that clan's path is not righteous, as many have recently discovered. And, to my great sorrow, I discovered that their ryū is difficult and awkward for me.

So, in disgrace and defeat, I left Kusatsu. I may go back one day and try, once again, to accomplish some missions there. But in the meantime...

...I have had much to do in Hoshiakari. The local shrine of Inari was beset by bandits, and I had to expend too much time driving them off. Even now, I do not know if they might return soon.

But most of all, I have been in negotiations with Clan Tenya. They are yet another of the many upstart new clans of Ōmi Province, with operations both in Ōtsu and in Hikone (a town that has been the scene of much action lately). My knowledge of Hikone would be an asset to them, as would my rooftop and city-fighting skills.

I expect that we will reach an agreement soon. I have worries, but they will fade with time, as I learn the clan's ways. Perhaps.

(Later, I should write more of my worries.)

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.

The past 24 hours in Kusatsu have not been good. As the sun set today, however, I managed to escape the city. Since I have lately been active in the town of Seinikki, I found my way there, hoping for some rest.

I found very little rest, but I did at least stumble across a clue leading to one of the crime-lords who are causing unrest in the town. I was able to make use of a most effective new poison technique, and thus dispatched a half-dozen of the crime-lords' lieutenants.

They will now be alert to my presence, of course... but perhaps they may suspect it's another underworld organization, instead of a lone ninja. Either way, they will be hampered by the loss of those men.

In the meantime, the Yaneura-gumi wants me to come back to Heian-kyō again tomorrow, for "just one more day". Of course, that's what they said about yesterday. Before I left yesterday, Haruo mentioned that a fighter they'd hired before had apparently failed to kill a particular enemy, and they think the target trained in many of the same techniques as the ones I have already dealt with. So I have hopes that I can make short work of this one.