The Tales of the Ninja Coder

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.

This week, I was fighting for the Yaneura-gumi. My friend Meiun-no-Neko, who came with the Nanban traders and stayed to join the Okibi-no-Hito-gumi, knew of the Yaneura-gumi's need for a warrior, and sent messages to put us in contact with each other.

The odd thing is, the Yaneura do not use poisons. So I spent the whole week working with a non-poisoned ninja-to, and even with a jō staff (again with no poison; there are few poisons that will work on a jō's wood).

Now I am done with my assignment with the Yaneura, and getting back to a project I am doing for my own happiness. There are problems in Yumehaba and Seinikki, a pair of villages on the borders of Iga Province that I and many of my friends spend much time in. So, as I return to creeping about the back alleys of these villages, I find that I must re-apply the poison on my manrikigusari. It's an interesting feeling...

In many ways, it feels good. A poisoned weapon is much more reliable; when you strike someone with it, you don't have to wonder how much damage you did them, or how long they'll keep fighting you for.

All that I attempt goes awry. Have I angered Bishamonten? I must certainly go to His temple and make offerings, for every step I perform in the Pagoda Bearer style today is off balance, or malformed somehow. A bitter, evil wind is blowing from the northeast, the demon gate that lets evil in.

I must make offerings. I must re-sharpen my sword. And I must continue to persevere. The enemies that now seem so invincible — soon I will find a way to slay them. The ninja endures; the ninja perseveres.

I have not made a report for quite some time. As I wrote before, my time with Clan Nettobuku is done, and not by my choice.

I returned to Castle Nettobuku to inform Commander Kobushi and Lord Tai of my decision, and to take my leave of the other clan-members. Everyone seemed sorry to see me go. (Jimon was not there that day.) Daigo, in particular, seemed quite stunned and somewhat upset.

Kobushi and Tai were both pleased by my professionalism, and promised to give good report of me to any other clans that might ask. They say that the campaigns Nettobuku has engaged in, and the skills required of me, have been completely different from what I originally was told. As true as this may be, however, I feel that the ability to adapt to unexpected and changing circumstances is a necessary skill for a ninja. My failure to do so disturbs me greatly.

Shortly after leaving the castle for the last time, I became ill, and spent two weeks recovering. Since then, I have been in Henshukoku, practicing my skills.

I have reconsecrated the town's shrine to Bishamonten. I have cleared out some space in the yard of the house I share with Akane, and set up some practice dummies that I can use to practice strikes against. The yard now qualifies as a small dōjō of its own, set up for practice of both sansetsukon and ninja-to kata as well as the weighted chain. (I'm still in good shape with the chain... but I've gotten very rusty at using the Pirōto-style hook, which is far more popular than the Mūtou-style that Nettobuku favored.)

I have set myself a training regime, and I spend part of each day doing kata and drills. I have been converting one of my ninja-to kata into the Living Stone style, for a firm grounding in the Living Stone ryū is an absolute necessity. I have also been learning the art of poisoning my weapons, and adapting my kata to take account for the poison's effects.

And I go every day to Yagyū, to spend time in the inns and hiring halls where messengers from the martial clans and armies come to recruit skilled warriors for Nihon's never-ending battles and war campaigns. But right now, everyone is preparing for o-shōgatsu, so there are no messengers to be found. I can only hope that things will improve once the holidays are over.

 
We are done with our Hitotsu Nanako campaign. Astonishingly, all of the territory we planned to take... we have actually taken, successfully! Usually, there is some left over at the end of a campaign, but not this time.

Commander Kobushi is proud of us. I feel that my own efforts contributed very little to our victory. Practically every kill I made, and every target I slew, required far too much time spent in trailing, sneaking, and laborious covert-entry.

Tomorrow, we will have a day of meetings with the Nichiren priestesses and the high lords, to review what we have achieved. The next day, we will plan our strategies for the upcoming Hitotsu Hakko campaign. On Friday, we start combat operations.

In the meantime, today is to be spent practicing more acrobatic techniques and defensive rolls, in the Arusupekku style that Benjirō has just explained to us.

I must continue to study hard and increase my skills this winter. I am tired of feeling like an amateur.