The Tales of the Ninja Coder

I have spent nearly the entire weekend in Kusatsu, learning my way around. The town is a somewhat odd one. I have a map, with some extra notes, that I got from another operative I know in Fujiwara-kyō. Unfortunately, it seems some of his information is out of date. This has caused me some substantial delays in my reconaissance of the town, but I am now back on track.

This evening, Akane came to visit me here, bringing fresh, home-cooked yakisoba. Dinner was short, but tasty, and made better by her sweet company. Now, I go back to slinking through the alleyways, determining where the best lurking places and most hazardous roofs are.

I hope to be able to undertake missions here soon — at least on my own behalf, if not for employers. This town is rapidly gaining strategic importance in Clan Te-no-hira's ongoing skirmishes against the armies of Toyotomi, and Clan Tokugawa's recent entry into the area has only increased the friction there.

On that note, I have a long journey ahead of me tomorrow morning, as I am going to talk with some fighters in Toyotomi's army. It would be a position that would require much travel every day, and I'm not sure if I could deal with their excessively Buddhist ways... but there would be many advantages. I must at least speak with them; I would be a fool to pass up this opportunity!

 
I have performed an extremely useful task for Clan Nettobuku, which will make life much easier for all of the clan's ninjas whenever we need to work in Nagoya, the chief city of Oda's lands. After much sneaking and infiltration in the city guard's headquarters and even in the regional lord's castle, I have secured some of the special grappling hooks that can gain a purchase on the city's rooftops. The city guard keeps a very tight grip on these hooks, and the penalty for being caught with them is death by torture.

But with these hooks on our manrikigusari chains, Bunmei, Jimon, Benjirō and I can go anywhere in the city, instead of being restricted to the streets and alleyways — and the city guards' many checkpoints. True, the rooftops themselves are still steep, slippery, and dangerous. But we will persevere.

My reward for bringing these valuable items back to the castle? The Nichiren abbess, Jīya, demanding to know about my plans for wintertime holidays, so she can plan the most auspicious times for company meditations. "I needed to know this yesterday!" she said. Truly, it is good to have one's efforts given the proper importance.

As further improvement of my day, I then attended a meeting in which Jimon taught the rest of the warriors about his new kata, which will be important to our work in the central provinces of Kawachi and Yamato. Of course, Jimon's kata are very pure examples of the Living Stone style. Perhaps I am simply overreacting to a slight overdose of Living Stone (and maybe also to Jimon himself), but his latest kata remind me uncomfortably of the Sturdy Pillar ryū that so annoyed me at Clan Iwinaga.

And, beyond that, Jimon... is not the best instructor. A good instructor can make difficult and complex matters simple and easy to understand. Jimon's presentation is disorganized and cursory, and may actually make simple matters seem more difficult than they truly are. He admits that he will not be writing any instructional scrolls, and that we all will simply have to study the movements on our own.

But no matter. I will study, and I will learn what is good in the Living Stone ryū, and I will not let what is bad in it cause me to reject the entire path.

And tomorrow, I will use the special Nagoya hook to track down and slay a merchant in Nagoya, a man who it turns out is aiding both our Ātosugijei and Reki enemies. I will keep my skills sharp, and when the new year comes, I will find a better clan.

 
Clattering over tiled roofs, my chain whirling at him with every opportunity... heavy weight on one end of the chain, and the vicious Mūtou hook on the other end.

He's cautious and clever, but now that I'm hot on his heels, he seems pretty worried. Apparently one of those guys that relies on stealth over combat expertise. Now he's hoping his fleetness of foot and skill on rooftops will save him...

Too bad for him. I'm better at fighting than he is — and I'm just as good at rooftop agility. He leaps from one roof to another, but he isn't ready for me to cast my hook at him while I'm in mid-leap. And once I've caught him, it's all over.

One less Ayamari to trouble the world.