Chapter IX

  “The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious

  into the direct, and misfortune into gain.”

  “The Art of War”

  ~by Sun Tzu~

  There were 100 students in my class, all of which were at least two years older than I. The good news was, this was my coming of age ceremony. My Genpuku. If I lived, I was Shinobi. The bad news was? The class lasts a year and about 80 people died in the last class.

  The setup was simple. Spy, steal, demolish and kill... Oh! And try not to die. The instructors started in on us immediately,

  "Listen up children! I want you to stand still! If someone hands you a package, take it!”

  After that several people walked out to us with bundles in their hands. I assumed they were the graduating class. There were only twenty of them left so not all of us got a bundle. One of the graduates looked at me as he passed. He just shook his head and laughed. Those that did get a bundle later found out it was the old students’ gear: ninja uniform, ninja-to, and shurikan, among other things. The rest of us were issued what we didn't have after the ceremony.

  The sensei gave us a pile of new weapons to work with: throwing knives, kamagusari, which is a sickle with a two foot handle and a six foot length of rope or chain attached to the handle and a heavy weight on the end. The shogue, a double bladed knife where the second blade makes a nasty hook to cover your fingers with a rope attached to the handle and a weighted ring at the far end. The metsubishi, which is a small wooden box that holds sand or some other blinding powder. Uchi-ne, wooden darts with feathers and metal tips. They did little damage but were much more accurate than the fukiya darts. And finally, the manriki-gusari, a six foot chain with weights at each end. We all practiced with them constantly.

  When they had given us all the equipment we would use they made us change into our new clothes. They were dark brown sets of shirt and pants with a belt. The clothes came with a black hood and tabi boots. The boots were pretty common in Giapan. They were just more practical for everyone living in a country constantly at war.

  Both the shirt and pants had maroon-ish stains on them in various places. Better to hide blood stains in the future apparently. Although I think some of mine were blood stains. There were some very suspicious holes in my clothing. The outfit did remind me of a man that stopped me one time as a child to ask me what I was doing.

  The clothing also had metal plates sewn into it to provide minimal protection from weapons. By their expressions I could tell the plated clothing was heavier than the other students had expected. It was actually lighter than what Grandfather had made me wear. Then we were shown where we would sleep. It was a large communal room in the dungeons. The bunks were secured to the wall in ten rows ten high. I was assigned the third row, second bunk.

  We were immediately ordered to store our things in our chest, which was anchored to the wall at the head of our small bed. I put mine away just in time to be rushed out the long passage by one of the Sensei. We entered and exited through a tunnel that passed under the gardens of Shiro Shotoku. Once there we were run for three hours through the woods. Every time someone fell out we were forced to loop back around and jog in place until they were able to rejoin us. I was in great shape but even I was almost sick a couple of times. This run would be done every morning.

  When we returned from this first run, we were formed up into ten rows of ten. We just stood there trying not to faint. Well, I was trying not to faint some of the others gave it up and went down. The Sensei were screaming at them and kicking their unconscious bodies but clearly, when you're out. You're out. When it became obvious that some of them may never rise an old sensei climbed the small steps to a commander’s stand at the head of our class.

  “Children!” All of theSsensei stopped yelling when they heard him. “I am Shishou Shi.”

  His name means, literally, Master Death. I already didn't like this guy. “It is my job to train you so that you may be the best ninja our House can field while culling the weaker ones from the pack. Over half of you will die this year. And not by my hand or anything my instructors do. The half that die will decide their fate all on their own. Look at your brothers and sisters on the ground!” There were a good fifteen kids on the ground in various states of exhaustion. “I can tell you from experience... Of having run this school for twenty years. That these pathetic looking... weak and worthless excuses for mononofu... Unworthy of even the simplest of tasks for our House... will be among the students who complete this course successfully.”

  What?

  He stared at all of us for a moment before continuing. “Of those on the floor, most will go on to be Master Assassins, while three or four will continue past that to Grand Master of Ninjutsu.” I literally could not believe what I was hearing. “When I was a student in this course, I was one of them.” He pointed to the, for all intents and purposes, dead bodies on the floor for emphasis. “Soon, ten of you will forget I said this. Ten of you will assume it was some kind of joke. And five of you will die this year because it was Inari's will for you to go and there is nothing anyone can do about that...” Inari is the rice god, the god of farmers and the god of mononofu. “For those of you still awake, go get some rest.”

  We were released to get cleaned up and bathe. In Giapan we cleaned up with soap and water first and then used the hot bath to relax in. I waited to go last to the baths as I do not like being rushed if I can help it. By the time I got to the tubs I was bathing with the fifteen who had been passed out during Shishou Shi's speech.

  One of them had just settled into the tub. “I am not going to make it.”

  The others seemed to agree with his assessment. I looked around at them. They didn't look special in any way but I knew enough to know Shi had no reason to lie. Once their self-destructive conversation ended I commented, “So no one told you what Shishou Shi said while you were all unconscious breathing dirt?”

  The girl to my left grimaced, “Who is Shishou Shi?”

  I smiled. “Apparently, he is the man in charge of this school.”

  The boy to my right asked, “I think we are all going to regret this, but... what did he say?”

  I laughed a little looking at them. “As I stood there, breathing heavily but otherwise fine, staring at you poor creatures passed out on the floor, he said a quarter of us will die this year but of the ones that will complete the course. You fifteen are all but guaranteed to make it.”

  All of them looked stunned. One of them asked, “How!?”

  `

  I shook my head and laughed. “I – have – no – idea.”

  “Do you think he was joking?”

  “His name is Master Death. I do not think he has a sense of humor.” I said.

  Their attitudes were much improved after our talk but I still did not know what it was they had that I did not.

  The sensei had several courses laid out in an underground complex below the town. The

  courses had everything from a three foot high wall to a three story tower with no ladder. The instructors ran us through this at least once a day for the first month. Rope climbs, wall climbs, swimming, underwater swimming with an air tube, hiding, sneaking, running and jumping. Lots of jumping.

  Acrobatics was a mandatory course in the evening. The instructors also spent a great deal of time on teaching us how to move. It was slow and subtle, so as not to attract the human eye to you. All of this while hearing every sensei yelling, “You cannot speak! You cannot scream! You have no mouth!” Over and over again like a mantra. They shortened our sleeping time to three hours instead of four. Well OK, I didn't suffer from this but most had trouble for the first month.

  What I had trouble with was that we were fed bland rice, fish and water only. The whole year I was there. That was boring. Exercise in the morning with more running, followed by rice and water. Fantastic.

  They started us on weaponry the second day by taking us to the shurikan target range. Our shurikan were large. They were about a hands breadth wide and weighed as much as a knife. The range itself was another large empty room, about 200 feet by 100 feet with pillars holding up the twelve foot high ceiling. Wooden dummies lined every wall except near the entrance. I went to the far end after I saw how terrible most were with their shurikan. I tried to look natural and blend so as not to attract attention to myself but one of the instructors caught me. I didn't know her name yet.

  "You! Throw that! At that target!" I threw and sunk it into the dummy's head. She stared for a quick moment.

  "Do it again!" I did. She looked at me calmly. "Shotoku Hiro?" I nodded. "Do not be ashamed of your skill. Simply practice.” And then she walked away.

  I continued to throw at the dummy, trying very hard to forget about the others. Soon though, one of the older girls noticed and had caused a crowd to gather around me.

  "How did you get so good?" she asked in harsh tones.

  "I had a sensei that taught me."

  She was quiet for a moment. "Well if a runt like you can do it, it cannot be too hard." She

  walked back to her target along with most of the other students. Most of the fifteen from the baths stuck around though.

  "Can you show us how to do it?"

  I nodded and showed them how they were holding it wrong. “Place it between your thumb and forefinger. Then just aim and throw it over handed like a knife at the target.”

  The instructors watched without comment. Near them were some of the graduates I saw at the ceremony yesterday. They all seemed a little curious. I could see them talking amongst themselves. The instructor that had yelled at me walked over to them and said something. I couldn’t hear what it was, but they all got quiet again. They spent most of their time laughing at the feeble attempts to use these things.

  The ninja that I was working with got much better in a short amount of time. We would practice together on most things after that. Two of them became my good friends that year. Their names were Goemon Ino and Fujibayashi Sanuro. They were both about two years older than I was but that did not seem to matter. I spent most of my time trying to get better with the bow and arrows. They had always been a weak point for me. When one of the instructors gave us ninja-to he sat us down to explain it.

  “It is said that a samurai's soul is in his katana. If you wish to destroy a samurai you simply steal his katana.” He drew the ninja-to and looked at it. While looking it over, he said, “You are not samurai... A ninja's soul is in his head and in his heart. To destroy a ninja you must stab him in the chest or remove his head.” He let that sink in a moment. “Let the Bandai preach about the beauty of life and war and what it means to be samurai... In Giapan, the victor keeps his honor. So, keep – your - honor!”

  We all nodded. He went on to explain the ninja-to was straight because it is easier to lean it against a wall and use it as a step. Then you just pull it up by a lanyard after you. A three foot step does not sound useful until you are trying to move without sound. Then it is of the utmost importance. The handle concealed two poisoned throwing darts. The end of the sheath, which was pointed to make it easier to dig into the ground when it was being used as a step, also was removable to reveal a small manriki-gusari chain.

  When the instructors gave us fukiya, the blow-gun, I showed my friends how I had learned to use it. Soon others began to join our little group. The instructors, as always, didn't seem to care. They had simple rules for the school, survive and succeed.

  I found out later, that the girl who mocked me at the target range was named Shotoku Shingan, and she was my nemesis from the beginning of the year. If I slipped, she was the first to laugh. If she slipped, it was usually because I tripped her.

  “You did that on purpose!”

  “Are you going to place blame when you fall in the woods on a mission?”

  I continued to run with the others. She would make light of my abilities. She would make light of my knowledge. She would mock my size. She would mock my skill. I hated her. But I never mocked her. That would be beneath me. Stepping on her hand accidentally when she was hanging from the second tier of the tower? That was not beneath me.

  “You are on my hand.” she gritted out. Trying to be quiet.

  “Oh! My apologies, Shingan san.” I moved my foot.

  “You are as inept as you are stupid!”

  The sensei noticed. “Quiet! You cannot speak!”

  Our first test came against the Etorofu House. These impoverished samurai were almost priests in their shunning of wealth. Their small island was the home of the Yamabushi, like Brother Yuri back home. The monks weren't bad when it came to a fight either. Anyway, just because a House shuns wealth does not mean all of its members do.

  Our target was a Shugodai of a Kokujin of the Etorofu. Apparently he had been a very naughty boy. He had been siphoning off his master’s wealth to his own discrete locations on the mainland in the Tiger empire. His Kokujin had his own people handling the money issue. Our job was to eliminate the Shugodai so as not to cause a loss of face for his lord.

  We sailed as a small group, only eight ninja, to an area where our sensei had chosen on the island of Etorofu. He wouldn't help us. Just observe our performance. Once there, he gave us a clear description of the target and where he could be found. We were to infiltrate Toshi no Shichirobei at the middle of the hour of the Rat which is from 11 pm to 1 am. Eliminate the target so it looked like an accident and then head back to the exit before anyone knew we were there.

  Shiro Shichirobei was a desolate castle, if you could call it that. It looked like a big stone block with a low wall for defense. The terrain was, well, barren. Small hills, not many trees and humid. I never wanted to come back here. This placed looked like a storage yard for Death. The sentries were few because the people were few. The Etorofu just don’t have that many samurai to call upon.

  We were broken into two groups of four. My group scaled the wall at the end of the hour of the Boar, just before 11 pm. I had the foresight to pick a place where the guards were busy talking to each other rather than actually watching. Sanuro, Ino and I had been joined by another student named Fujibayashi Tsugu. The four of us made it over quietly and unobserved. When we found shelter in the shadow of the stables we heard the alarm being cried by the sentries. Someone had been spotted.

  I saw them corner a ninja and told my team we would have to help. Tsugu slipped away at that point. I didn’t notice and I don’t know what his reason was. We threw shurikan at the Etorofu. Mine and Sanuro's hit two unarmored samurai in their heads, dropping them. Ino's hit another in the thigh. He fell to the ground with a yell. The two remaining men turned to see us, and that gave the caught ninja time to slip into the shadows of the city and get away. The two Etorofu charged us. Sanuro threw caltrops after Ino threw a smoke grenade. We ran away to the sounds of them cursing our ancestors.

  Ino whispered, “Hiro, we have to get out of here. Our surprise has been destroyed.”

  I shook my head. “No. The Kokujin has asked us to do a job and the Koga do not fail. We will get into the castle and handle the Shugodai.”

  Sanuro pleaded. “But it will be obvious that it is not an accident. They know ninja are here.”

  “Yes, and those ninja have a man to kill.”

  I lead them through the city, occasionally stopping and waiting for guards to pass so we could move through the areas they had cleared. Once we arrived at the castle we set a fire in one building and ran to the far side of the castle walls. While everyone was running to look at, or deal with the fire, we slipped in. Then it was simply a matter of making it to the castle itself and scaling to the rafters of the second floor where our target lived.

  We waited for him in the rafters over his currently empty suite. There was a lot of shouting as we waited. Eventually things settled down. Time crept by until we saw a man come into the suite with several others and he was barking orders about the security of the castle. He fit our description. When he finished with his orders the others left and he yelled for a servant. The old man arrived and soon left to get his master's request for sake.

  While he was fuming to himself I pointed Sanuro to watch for anyone else that might approach the suite. Then I dropped down behind the man, slipped my left arm under his chin, pushed his head forward with my right hand and stepped back. The whole thing took just a fraction of a moment and then there was the snapping sound of his neck breaking. His windows were open so I drug his body to one and let him drop to the ground below. I rifled through his things and took his daisho and his money box. That way it would look like a ninja theft for money as the man was known to be rich.

  His body had landed in a deserted portion of the yard so it had not been noticed yet. We slid down the outside of the castle wall to the ground. We were cautious as we slipped out the far side of the Toshi and made our way back to our Sensei. He led us to our boat where we found dead bodies and one live ninja. It had been a long night. Eight ninja went into the city, four came out. We pushed off and helped the sensei sail us on towards the Koga lands. Sensei had us stow our hoods and that is when I saw that Shingan was the fourth to make it.

  Sensei asked as he stripped the dead and set their things in a box, “Shingan san, can you tell me why you are not dead?”

  She did not raise her head as she answered. “Because Hiro and his friends distracted the guards, Sensei sama.”

  “That is correct. Can you tell me why these four are dead?” He asked as he tied rope to the feet of the dead.

  She thought a long time on that. “I do not know.”

  He nodded. “Hiro, Ino, Sanuro, do any of you know why these ninja are dead?” as he tied stone weights to the other ends of the ropes.

  I replied, “I am not sure sensei. Tsugu was with us when we went over the wall but he slipped away when Shingan got into trouble. I did not see what happened to him.”

  He nodded as he started dropping bodies over the side of the boat. “Actually, you saw

  everything you needed to see in order to know what the outcome would be. The moment he left your side, I knew I would be doing this with him.” He emphasized dropping the first stone into the water as Tsugu's floating corpse was carried down into the deep. He continued to drop the other three stones and sat down when all was finished. He gave a sigh. “Now with all of that said Shingan, do you know why these four are dead?”

  “Because they did not work as a team. We all approached the wall on our own without thought.” She said with solid confidence.

  “Better. Now if you can change the way you behave on the next mission you may survive again.” He smiled. And looked at me. “Hiro!”

  I looked at my friends and back at him. “...Yes, Sensei sama?”

  “Where is the money box?”

  I looked at Ino. “Ino. The money box.”

  Ino replied, “What money box?” He said while holding the cumbersome thing under his left arm.

  “That money box!” pointed Shingan.

  Ino gave a sort of 'Oh that money box' expression as he handed it to me and I passed it on to Sensei. He opened it and sifted through it before giving a small whistle.

  “Nice trophy for you children. There must be almost 150 silver in there.” He said as he closed it and handed it back to me.

  I was puzzled. “Sensei?” I asked as I took it back.

  “There are no lords in the Bei-oshi, Hiro san. What you collect, you keep.”

  That night on the boat I tried to sleep, but something nagged me. I cracked my eyes slightly as Grandfather had taught me, so that they would not glow from any light hitting them. I saw Shingan just before she leaned into me and whispered, “Domo arigato.” and then she leaned down and kissed me! I enjoyed the kiss. It made me feel… different. Then she pulled away suddenly, “You're awake.” She sounded angry as she went back to her place on the boat. I couldn’t help but grin. She stuck with us after that, whether it be training or raiding. She fit in well with us. Most of the other students had broken up into little groups of friends also. Not that we didn't interact with each other, we just had our favorites.

  "What do you mean you haven't read the Dao!?" I said.

  Shingan replied coolly, "I wasn't aware it was required reading for an assassin."

  "It most certainly is!"

  Sanuro and Ino looked at me surprised. Ino said, "It is?"

  I frowned at him and shook my head.

  "Why have you not read it?" Sanuro asked her, but was interrupted by Ino.

  "Actually, I have heard that the more you read the Dao, the farther you are from

  enlightenment."

  Sanuro turned to him. "Then you must be very enlightened."

  I ignored them. "You are going to be a monk someday, if you live. Do you not think you should, at least, have a basic understanding of the book?"

  She thought a moment. "No. Because I am not going to be a monk."

  "Why not? It is a good reward after a life of toil and strife."

  "It is no reward for me, domo arigato."

  Ino took up the cause. "Why not?"

  "...I have my reasons."

  Ino scooted closer with a grin. "What reasons?"

  She shook her head. "You will laugh."

  All three of us looked appalled. I said, "We would never. You have our word."

  "No. They are my reasons."

  "But, you have our word." Sanuro said.

  After a moment she gave in. "...They shave their heads."

  There was a short pause before we rolled on the floor with laughter.

  "You promised!" she screamed.

  She was very angry, which just made it that much funnier. I managed to get the sensei to agree to letting me have a copy of the Dao. I read to my friends a few times each week. I would ask them questions on the Dao, much like Grandfather used to ask me. We continued this way practicing and reading together for another three months. We were six months into the class and we had already lost twenty students. Ino looked very concerned when we found out we were to go against the Mito family of the Bandai House.

  "This doesn't look good." Shingan stated when she saw his expression.

  "Why are you so depressed? It's just another raid." I asked.

  "My father is a samurai whose master travels to the Bandai lands all the time. He talks to many of the Mito when they pass through. He says they are very competent."

  "Has he ever fought one?" She was being rude again. She liked being rude.

  "No. But you can tell a lot about a man from the way he carries himself."

  Sanuro chimed in with, "Yes. One would think you an idiot when he first sees you. So you have proven your point to me," he smiled.

  I listened to the whole exchange that followed, laughing. The sensei lead us to the wall of

  Toshi Towada, after our briefing in the woods. We went over as one and managed not to be detected by the city guards. There were eight of us that night. Our class crept through the back streets of the city to the castle walls. We crossed it in groups of two. This too went well.

  We all waited in the gardens for the signal that was to come from the castle. When we saw the woman open and close the windows to the courtier’s room three times, we moved. Tonight's mission was one of distraction. We were not informed why it was needed, just that we should make a scene. We heard the alarm get sounded by the watchmen.

  "Well, here it comes." said Ino.

  "Fearful are we?" replied Sanuro.

  Ino looked at him and said. "Oh you're talking like a big mononofu now."

  I laughed at them. Shingan piped up with, "Where should we go to start?"

  I answered her. "I don't recall the enemy ever having a problem finding us before."

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  "Yes but Ino said these samurai were really good. Which translates as, “The morons probably won't check the gardens."

  Ino looked offended. "Are we going to talk all night or do our job?"

  He ran off towards the edge of the gardens; a Mito saw him and the game started for us. The distraction went well, at first. Everyone danced around the samurai with grace, and the Mito were in a quandary as to how they should respond. They finally sent detachments to hunt us down. These we harassed and wounded. We tumbled all over the city that night.

  My friends and I had led many of the Bandai away from the castle and out into the city. Everything went well until we were dodging a party of them in the merchant district. We ducked down an alley in order to buy some time when Ino was cut down by a guardsman hiding in the shadows. He grunted and fell before our eyes. The mononofu grinned, happy at his success. He felt safe in his heavy armor. He was wrong. A few moments later his body lay in the dirt with three shurikan buried in his forehead. Ino was dying. His back had been slashed and his spine severed. We drug him into the shadows that had hidden the samurai. The other hunters ran by a moment after Sanuro brought Ino's legs in.

  "Where are you?"

  Shingan held his hand. "We're right here, Ino."

  "It was fun, eh?" Samurai do not cry. But we weren’t samurai. "My father said they were

  good."

  He laughed a little then his face relaxed. I thought he was going to say something else at first. He had wanted to spy on the Okayama and bring back their secrets, like Goemon Kamitanto did with the Shikoku. But instead Goemon Ino died in a dark alley of Toshi Towada. He never screamed.

  We sat there hurt and stunned until we heard the horn calling us to leave. Sanuro wiped his tears away and stood up as he threw Ino across his shoulders. I pulled my sword and a dagger as I led the way out of the city. Shingan had done the same as she brought up our rear.

  The walk home was a quiet one. Ino was the only student we lost that night. The Sensei was actually sad for us. He commented that Ino was one of the five for Inari. A ninja who did what he was supposed to do but died anyway. That evening as we tried to sleep, Shingan crawled over and lay next to me. All I could do was hold her while she cried quietly. I was pretty angry at Inari on that walk across the Honshu lands. My friends worked to bring me out of it. Not Shingan and Sanuro as they were too devastated, but the other four survivors, Izanagi, Ebisu, Kinsen, and Roko. They loved Ino as well but were trying their best to improve our moods. None of us knew what would help. We missed our stupid friend.

  So there we were, in the dead center of the Honshu, angry and beaten, when we saw it. Night had set an hour ago and the glow from the village was very obvious. Sensei wanted to get closer in case it was a problem that could affect us. Best to know. As we approached we heard people screaming and the fire looked like it had engulfed half of the small village. Just then a man in tattered clothing and covered in ash came running up to me from the village.

  He grabbed me by the shirt as he begged, “Please you must help us! The Doshin cannot last much longer!”

  I spoke to him. “There is nothing we can do. We are just beggars.”

  “No! Please! He and the Komono will die! She will kill them and destroy our town!”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “The Jorogumo!” That is, a large, scary, and very powerful, spider/woman/demon. “I don't know why she's attacking us but she's destroying everything!”

  I looked at the man and sighed. Sensei stepped towards me. “This is not our fight.”

  I looked at him as I dropped my pack. “I am only required to let my enemies die.”

  I removed my sword from where it was hidden in my bedroll. The man's smile was enormous. I put it on my back and looked over my shoulder at my friends; they were doing the same. Sensei shook his head and dropped his pack as well. The peasant was pouring thousands of thanks over us and we hadn't done anything yet. When we pulled out our hoods and slid them over our heads his smile faded and his eyes became very large.

  I squatted next to him and said, “Stay here where it is safe until we return.”

  He nodded many times. The eight of us took off sprinting to the town. Sensei was able to

  just hop to the top of the first building. The rest of us scaled it quickly and squatted at the top. In the street below us we saw bodies strewn everywhere. One that used to be a Komono lay melting from the inside out because of her poison. The Jorogumo was thrashing around and trying to kill the last two people in the town. Everyone else had run away. Only the Doshin and his last Komono were there attempting to stop her and her rampage. The other side of the street was on fire and the heat was intense.

  We looked to Sensei and he gave the nod. I dropped to the street and bounded over to the

  monster from her left side. I had readied my shogue and threw it across her neck. I waited for the hook to make it just over her head before I pulled the rope and sunk the hook into her. The spider hissed in pain and moved to attack me. The Doshin and Komono were stunned at what they saw. My friends sent three more shogue into her from other sides while the rest hacked at her limbs with their ninja-to. The Doshin came back to his senses and began to slice into her head while his man went back to piercing her with his spear.

  Just then Sensei came flying over the back of her and landed just behind her head, sinking his ninja-to into her neck. She howled, if that could describe the sound. Sensei forced his sword to the right, slicing through half of her neck and then forced it back to the left. At the same time the Doshin gave a mighty swing at her head sending the huge thing flying across the street. The bulk of her body just collapsed to the ground after that.

  The Doshin and his Komono stood ready for us to attack, as they did not know what we would do next. We recovered our weapons while Sensei just squatted atop the beast and stared at the Doshin. After a moment he flicked the blood from his blade and signaled us to leave. We sprinted back to the safety of the woods. Just before I stepped out of sight I looked back at the village, and then slipped into the dark.

  The peasant was gone when we got back to our things. Once we were repacked and back on our way Sensei walked up next to me and asked,

  “What did you see when you looked back into the town?”

  I smiled. “They were praying.”

  He smiled at that. When we returned to Shiro no Shotoku we found out the story of our

  adventure had spread. The story was that the spirit of the woods saw the people being destroyed by a jorogumo so she sent eight ninja to kill the monster. The Honshu changed the name of the village to “Ninja's Grace” and the citizens planned a celebration every year to commemorate the event. Shishou Shi was very proud.

  A month later we were informed that we had another mission. We were going to the

  Shikoku lands. The House Daimyo had a pretty serious problem. The House merchant had

  managed to take control of his finances and now he had no choice but to do as the man commanded. This was a very embarrassing situation for the Daimyo. He needed the merchant removed immediately.

  The three of us walked for over a week with our sensei to get into position. As was normal for us, we spoke to no one and didn’t stay in any towns. We slept in the woods and were resupplied by Koga agents along the way. Eventually we crossed by boat from the Imperial town of Shira and headed into the mountains of the Shikoku. It wasn’t until we were just outside of the city that our sensei told us the man's name, description and where his home was located. The city we were outside of was Toshi no Tokushima. These were the samurai who used Niten-Ichi, the two sword style of fighting.

  All we had to do was kill the man. We slipped over the wall and crept through the shadows of the city until we reached the walls of the castle. So far so good. We scouted a good spot to cross over. It was a cold night so most of the guards were gathered around the wood heaters. Once we crossed over we moved very slowly to the castle itself. Sanuro scaled the side with a rope to lower for Shingan and me. Once he was in place he lowered it and we followed him up. We recovered the rope and left it in the rafters of the fifth floor for us to use when we had to leave. We eased our way around the outside wall, being careful not to wake the sleeping people in the rooms below. Our orders were for Sanuro and me to back up Shingan when she went for the kill.

  When we reached his room, Shingan slid down to the floor while we covered her. She pulled her ninja-to and moved towards our sleeping target. When she was half way there I saw some black smoke come down from the ceiling behind her. It took me a moment to snap to what it was. Just before it reached her I dropped from the rafters and knocked her out of the way just as the shinobi swung his katana through the space where she had been standing. He tried to counter swing into me but I had rolled away and back onto my feet. Before he could decide who to attack, I saw another ninja-to burst through his chest. Sanuro had just enough time to duck out of the way as another shinobi tried to stab him the same way Sanuro had just stabbed his partner. Sanuro did get cut but I leaped in to parry the shinobi's strike. As we continued to fight the merchant woke up.

  “Who is there?”

  Was all he got out before Shingan had thrown a knife into his chest. Sanuro sliced the shinobi's leg which gave Shingan the opening she needed to take his head off. There were two samurai stationed outside the room the whole time, but since no one sounded the alarm, they never knew anything was wrong. The man would have been better served by good yojimbo. One of the things I got from my father's story of the ronin attack was that he was screaming for help the whole time. His job was not to be stoic. It was to keep his master alive. These men were ninja and as such had too much time in training on, “You cannot speak! You cannot scream!”

  Anyway, we bound up Sanuro's cut with a strip of sheet from the merchant's bed. I checked the dead ninja but all they had were weapons. No notes or money or anything that might give a clue as to who they were. They both had some kind of tattoos and other markings on them but I was not sure what they meant.

  Sanuro's wound was not too bad of a cut, he got out of the way just in time, but it would take some time to heal. Once he was ready to move we went back up into the rafters and back to our rope. Down the rope, recover the rope and stow the rope. Then finally the slow creep back to the castle walls. Amaterasu was starting to rise. We, a little less slowly, made our way to the city walls.

  The “up and over” went cleanly and we met up with our sensei again. He was very interested in the shinobi. I described the markings they had but he did not seem surprised by any of them. We quickly made our way to the boat and cast off as soon as we got there.

  Sanuro said, “Shingan, be sure to let me know if you see Sensei preparing any ropes and stones, OK?”

  Sensei laughed with us. “It is not that bad of a wound, Sanuro san.” he replied.

  Once we made land and walked to our next hide for the day, Sensei removed his shirt. He had strips of silver on his back that resembled wings and odd scars all over his chest and arms along with multiple tattoos. He asked me over to compare his markings with what I saw on the shinobi. I did not see their backs but his chest was very similar. I told him what I remembered as being different and he wrote it down in a log.

  Later, Sanuro asked, “How did you know to shove Shingan out of the way? I was still sitting there trying to figure out what that smoke was.”

  “My sensei set me to follow Daimyo Tetsuya one time. I got caught by a man

  who appeared after some black smoke came down from a tree.”

  “Was Tetsuya mad?” asked Shingan.

  Sensei replied, “No. He was quite impressed with the boy,” as he continued making notes in his log. He looked up to see me staring at him with a stupid expression on my face. “I was still in the tree.” he commented.

  Once we got back to school we found that Daimyo Uwajima Ryu had begun an extensive search to find the assassins who cruelly and viciously murdered his merchant in cold blood. In reality, his searches coincided with the villages and cities of the Shikoku lands where his merchant's ledgers said he had conducted business. Ryu's payment to my House was on time and double the amount promised.

  Shishou Shi had an Onmyoji come in to heal Sanuro. Even so, it still took a week for him to be whole. Once he was back up and ready to go Shi gave us our next mission.

  “Hiro, you are to take your two friends and go to the ’Loyal Koga‘ tea-house in town.”

  I was a little concerned.

  “Once there, steal the apron of Shotoku Taiki, the owner.”

  Huh?

  “You have until dawn tomorrow to complete this most difficult task,” He said sternly.

  “...OK?” I said.

  Then he bowed and left.

  We turned to each other and Sanuro spoke. “So I know why I am so confused by this ’mission,’ but why are you acting like it's odd?”

  I looked at him and scratched my cheek. “My sensei and I lived in this town for over a year. I ate at Taiki's place probably twice a week in that time. I know the man. I can just go and ask for his apron.” I shrugged.

  Shingan said, “I think Shi knows that. This sounds like a break.”

  “Why would they give us a break?” I asked.

  Sanuro nodded. “Because they didn't know there would be shinobi waiting for us with the

  merchant... We should be dead.”

  I grabbed a few coins from our stash and walked my friends out of the school and up the road to Shiro no Shotoku. I showed them a few of the sights as we walked but wanted to get to Taiki as soon as I could. When we walked in I dropped a silver Genbo into his jar. That always got his attention. He looked up with a slight smile.

  “Domo arigato, my... Hiro?!”

  I smiled and bowed to him. “How have you been Taiki sama?”

  “Very well but even better now! How have you been? I have not seen you in years!”

  “I have been busy.” I slightly turned and gestured to my friends. “I would like to introduce you to my friends, Shotoku Shingan and Fujibayashi Sanuro.”

  We finished the introductions and, since he had plenty of help on the floor, we walked with him to his office so we would not have to be too proper.

  Once there I explained. “Taiki, I cannot give too many details, but I need your apron.”

  He thought a moment. “Well it will cost you your first born male child.”

  I looked at him. “Please don't tell me it has sentimental value.”

  He shook his head. “No. I was teasing. My wife has sentimental value. This thing is just an apron.” He took it off and handed it to me. “You can't tell me why you need it?”

  “No, but I can make it up to you. Do you still serve that fish stew you are famous for?”

  I saw Shingan and Sanuro become very interested once I mentioned food and the word

  “famous.”

  “I do.”

  “We will pay double.” I smiled.

  He had his staff bring us tea and food. It was exquisite. It was the best damned food I had ever tasted! I know I have said that before but I seem to eat “damned” food quite often. It was particularly true that day as I had nothing but bland rice, bland fish and water for the last seven months so what did I know. Or care.

  The conversation was very good as was his tea. We spent half an hour talking and getting

  caught up on things. I was in school and did not know that Yoshio married Nihonto recently. Then he adopted little Wajima as his heir. Whatever anger the old Wajima troops had been harboring was dissolved with those two actions. Usagi's two boys had been living here since the war. Yoshio had taken them in as his wards. Having heard all of this, I really wanted to see how Yoshio and his family were doing.

  Once we were well past the half hour mark I made our excuses and said goodbye to Taiki.

  Shingan asked, “Where to now?”

  I replied, “To see Shotoku Yoshio apparently.”

  And I started walking towards the castle. I assume they were stunned as it took a few moments for me to hear them running to catch up to me.

  Sanuro said, I assumed to Shingan, “This show-off is lying and going to get us killed.”

  I smiled and kept walking. When we got to the castle gate I spoke to the sergeant.

  “Gunso sama, I am Shotoku Hiro.” I bowed and he returned it. “I am here to see my friend, Shotoku Yoshio.”

  “Oh I remember you, Hiro san.”

  I was a little concerned by his tone of voice. I think he was one of the men Grandfather used to have me practice my tailing on. But he quickly called for a servant to lead us to our Daimyo. It did not take long. A servant in fine kimono came sprinting to us to escort us to the Daimyo. My friends were very quiet as we walked to the top floor of the castle to Yoshio's personal suite. The weather was cool so the windows were closed and the braziers were going. We found Yoshio and Nihonto playing with Wajima in the main room. They looked very happy. He motioned for us to sit once our introductions were completed.

  “Well. It did not take love long to blossom with you two after all I see.” I stated.

  They both gave a small laugh before Yoshio replied, “I knew it! This was your plan all along.”

  I smiled. “I see Wajima-ko has mastered walking now.” They had been rolling a ball to each other and Wajima would walk after it. He still could not talk but he was very good for a three year old. Yoshio rolled the ball to Sanuro who caught it and waived it at the baby.

  “Yes. He looks to be very capable.” Yoshio said sarcastically in an almost baby voice.

  Nihonto asked, “And you Hiro sama, how have you been?”

  I saw my friends look up with mild confusion while I gave a small grin. “Nihonto sama, I think after your marriage you can start referring to me with a more accurate title.”

  She acted as if she was thinking a moment before saying, “I do not agree, Hiro sama.”

  Shingan being rude by nature said, “OK. I have to know. What is that all about?”

  “It is an ugly story.” I said.

  “Not that ugly.” stated Nihonto. “During the War of the Wolf, Hiro sama, spared the life of myself and my son here. I am in his debt.”

  “Oh! You are that Nihonto.” said Shingan.

  “Is it really so common of a name?” asked Nihonto.

  Shingan bowed quickly. “Forgive me, lady. My father is a poor samurai from a far island. I am not used to actually meeting nobility.”

  Yoshio returned her bow. “Shingan, you would have to try much harder than that to offend either of us. We are both very much in Hiro's debt. Me more so than my wife.” He smiled. Shingan sat up and relaxed a little. He looked at me. “What is it I owe you now, Hiro san? Two?”

  I nodded. “Two...” I quickly pointed at him. “No, three!” He looked at me questioningly. “The Nihonto thing.”

  “You are counting that for both of us?!” He exclaimed.

  I nodded. “Absolutely. And you should be grateful it is not four, for Wajima there.”

  Nihonto had just kissed the baby and rolled the ball to Shingan. “Hiro sama, I gave birth to the boy and I do not even count him as another debt.”

  “Well that is too bad because your debt just went up to two, my lady.” I replied.

  Yoshio shook his head. “Now I remember why I do not like you,” He said to me.

  Sanuro chimed in with, “We do not actually know him, my lord.”

  We all laughed. We visited with them the rest of the day. Nihonto showed us around the castle and introduced my friends to the people we met. Though a little too cool in the evening, the gardens were still lovely. When Yoshio rejoined us, after some business he had to attend to, I pulled him aside.

  “I wanted to ask you for a favor.”

  “Anything. How can I help.”

  “Have you ever been to the ’Loyal Koga?’” He shook his head, no. I smiled. “Good.”

  We had a great visit but when it finally became late enough, we made our goodbyes. We had some more drinks in town before returning to school where we handed our sensei the apron.

  “Was it a difficult task children?” she asked.

  “Shingan replied to her, “Yes. It took us all day, Sensei sama.”

  The sensei smiled. “I heard. Go take up practice with the others. Based on what happened on your last mission I know there will be more coming.”

  The training continued for another week before we got word our next mission would be a

  distraction at the capital, Teikoku Toshi no Kyoto. The sensei told us to distract the guards of the

  Palace, nothing more. We had no idea of what the distraction was for. There were 44 of us left in my class. All of us were going.

  We packed our things and left in small groups. From what I could tell the groups would range in size from three to five. We were chosen for our teams based on who we worked best with. Friends basically. So mine was Shingan, Sanuro and me. We pushed it and got to the Toshi walls on the third night. Each team located their own entry point and waited until the next night to go in.

  That night, Shingan, Sanuro and I moved into position and awaited the signal. Once we heard the sound of an owl from our sensei, we slipped over the wall. The city walls were easy. They were very old and had many holes with few sentries to guard them. This was the peasantry’s part of the city. The castle walls however were in perfect shape and had guards everywhere. And they were wide awake.

  We scouted the area and Shingan found a corner where the heimin had built their homes

  against the wall. She threw and hooked her grappling hook to the top of the wall and motioned us over. We scaled it in the shadows and slipped on top of the wall. Then it was an easy matter of sliding down the inside to the ground. We realized we were in the merchant area of the palace. So we moved over to the royal sector of town where relatives of the Emperor lived. We found a large home belonging to the Toba family with many samurai on guard. Good enough.

  Sanuro decided to play bait. He took off for the main entrance while Shingan and I waited. When he came running back we saw he had pulled about seven mononofu with him. We threw shurikan at them; I hit mine in the arm while Shingan killed hers. Sanuro hit his in the neck, the man wasn’t wearing any armor. The others charged us and we lost them in the shadows of the courtyard. Sanuro dropped some caltrops to slow them down. Soon we heard the alarm sounding and more guards were coming. We threw smoke bombs, mostly to get rid of them.

  After that we slipped over the dividing wall to the next home and did it again. We kept this up until the fourth house looked to be ready for us. We instead fought two Imperial guards atop the wall of the palace and sneaked through the outer city to another location of the palace. We scaled the wall to the servants’ section of the palace and crossed it to the palace itself. Once there we located some Tenno samurai and assaulted them with more shurikan. They were the samurai of the Imperial family.

  The alarms were already sounding and this really brought trouble. Shingan thought he saw some shinobi maneuvering towards us. He had never claimed that before so Shingan and I looked at each other.

  “We need to go,” we said together.

  We hopped out of the palace and back across the merchants’ sector of town. None of us saw anymore ninja so we began to harass samurai there. We attacked and retreated until we were down to nothing but our ninja-to. This game of cat and mouse had gone on for an hour, and we were exhausted.

  Shingan said, “When is he going to give the signal?”

  I replied. “I don’t know. Keep running.”

  We had just turned a corner when twenty samurai of the Asuka, a family of the Emperor’s

  House, came up fast from the other end. Sanuro threw his manriki-gusari chain from his ninja-to, as we turned to run the other way. I didn’t hear the tetsubo war club being thrown or it's hitting him in the head. He must have been knocked out, because when we found a hide spot Shingan noticed he wasn't with us.

  “Where is Sanuro?” she asked.

  I looked around; I could see some very happy mononofu near the corner. “They have him.”

  She just looked at me. I signaled for her to follow me but she grabbed my sleeve.

  “They said we leave captives behind. The assassins will deal with him.”

  “He is our friend.”

  “I know but we have orders.”

  “Then go.”

  I left thinking she wasn’t coming. I was slipping along the wall of the inner city when I noticed her behind me. The main bulk of the Asuka went past without seeing us. When we got to the door where they had taken Sanuro we found only two guards there. That’s when we heard the signal horn to return. Shingan looked in the direction of the horn. I looked at her trying to read her emotions.

  “You coming?” I asked.

  She thought for only a moment and then nodded. I had her follow me down the shadows of the wall, then across the short distance to the house whose courtyard we were in. We crept slowly back towards the samurai without a sound. Once there, I shoved the nearest one into his friend knocking them down. I jumped to the far one and crushed his exposed throat with my hand, as Grandfather had taught me. Shingan had driven her ninja-to up under her guard's helm, they both died quietly.

  We slipped into the door and closed it behind us. We were standing alone in a kitchen. We listened for any noise. When none came we moved across the room and through the door on the far wall. We entered a hall and headed towards its end. Soon we heard them questioning Sanuro. He hadn’t talked yet. There were eight guards around him in the main hall. Some Asuka stood in front of him asking questions; they had removed his hood. Shingan whispered to me.

  “There are too many.”

  “We have to free him. If he talks…”

  “He won’t talk.”

  “I have seen torture. They will make him talk.”

  She nodded her consent so we slid to the back of the room and came up behind the samurai at the back of the room. We had put these mononofu between us, and their lord, who they faced. We took a deep breath together and drove our blades under the shikoro of two of the armored men. We had enough time to kill two more before the remaining four noticed their comrades falling to the ground. Their lord screamed the alarm and started to run from the room as the samurai turned to fight.

  “Ninja!”

  Two of the Asuka still held Sanuro with his arms behind his back. The man closest to me swung his katana for my head. I rolled forward under his swing, bringing my ninja-to up under his thigh guards and through his groin to his abdomen. The man made a gurgling sound as he collapsed. Shingan had pulled her shogue and thrown for the retreating nobleman. As the hook sailed past his neck she pulled hard on the rope. She had to cartwheel quickly to her right to avoid the rushing samurai. She fell onto her back in mid roll; the weight of the lord’s body had jerked the rope from her hand causing her to be flipped backwards. I stepped towards her man and put my blade into his kidney. He fell screaming. I had just enough time to hear the lord choking to death on the blood in his throat before I had to duck an attack from another armored Asuka. This man had let go of Sanuro's arm to attack me.

  Shingan had rolled away from her last assailant and gotten to her feet. When my attacker swung for her head she stepped into his attack, blocking his unarmored arm with her sword, and then drove her elbow into his neck. As he fell choking, she turned to the guard who held Sanuro’s right arm. Sanuro pulled his left leg back, and kicked the knee of the guard in front of me. I heard the snap of the joint as the man fell screaming. I took the opportunity to drive my blade through the samurai’s face.

  They had managed to dislocate Sanuro's arm when they captured him. Shingan had finished off the one she hit in the neck while I was ‘fixing’ Sanuro’s arm. I grabbed his hand and lifted his arm until the joint popped back into it’s socket. It made a disgusting thunk kind of sound and Sanuro looked as if he might pass out. He was not happy as I bound his hurt arm.

  Sanuro’s gear was in a pile on the floor so Shingan collected what there was and we all ran for the kitchen door. We managed to clear the house wall just before the reinforcements came.

  “Why am I the one to get hurt every time?” Sanuro asked.

  “Shut up and run.” Shingan replied.

  “Every single time.”

  “Shut – Up.”

  Next was a simple matter, ha ha, of dodging through a large city to the walls. We were almost caught more times than I can count but we did manage to weasel our way through and around until we made it. We had to fight two guards when we were passing through the last dilapidated wall of the heimin quarters, but the three of us managed to out-maneuver them as a team. We slipped out of town and into the fields to our sensei.

  He came up to the rally point soon after we did. He watched us for a long time as we took care of Sanuro’s arm.

  “I did not expect that, children.” he said.

  I looked up at him. “A Koga is the best of friends.”

  It took him a moment but then he laughed very hard.

  We started the long walk back home. It took us a few extra days though. The Emperor was looking for us with determination but our sensei led us through his forces to safety. I never mentioned how Shingan didn’t want to help Sanuro. I figured she had made up for it. After that we were informed that the two shinobi we had killed in the Shikoku lands had been of the Iga House. Because of this our Daimyo had twelve spies waiting outside of their palace the night of our distraction. The Emperor himself was deemed as being in danger, and all of the Iga had rushed to the palace to protect him. This allowed our spies the time they needed to raid the Iga's home for information.

  The last month of training came soon after. We all looked forward to it because we did not know what happened in the last month.

  It was filled with ancient ceremonies meant to infuse our bodies with special ‘talents.’ How well you performed in the Bei-oshi determined how many of these talents you were given. All of us had our wrists, ankles, forearms and calves tattooed in the old script of Giapan to help our chi increase the strength of our attacks as well as improving grappling and climbing. That one was granted to anyone who graduated the class.

  If your performance was better than “just survived” then large chunks of flesh were removed from your back and replaced with what looked like quicksilver wings to grant you the ability to fall as light as paper. And if your performance was exceptional then you had the soles of our feet branded to grant you the ability to walk on water. Finally, if you went above and beyond anyone's expectations then scarification was performed on your back, chest, arms and legs to allow you to turn into a black mist.

  All of these gifts could be acquired by any Koga ninja over time.

  We did not know it but the moment we not only survived the two Iga but actually defeated them, my friends and I were guaranteed the full smorgasbord of delights that the Bei-oshi had to offer.

  It was the most painful thing I have ever experienced. I'm pretty sure the Gaijin Khan could hear our screams on the mainland and they no doubt made him smile. Once that hideous experience was over, the sensei trained us in how to use our new given abilities. But eventually the last night of the Bei-oshi was upon us. Before graduation we said our goodbyes. We told each other where our families lived and how to get in touch with each other if needed. In the back of our minds we thought we would not see each other again. It was a melancholy night. I remember thinking how funny it was that I thought as “We” now instead of “I.” Shingan found me before the night was over.

  “Domo arigato, Hiro san. For everything”

  Then she kissed me again. She always was a little taller than me but I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close anyway. I went to bed with many new thoughts that night. The next morning, when the new class arrived, we all walked out with our ninja gear to give to them. The last 44 of us did make it to the end of the course. As I walked out to the new class with my friends I saw a boy about my build. As I walked up to him one of the new boys spoke up.

  "I don't think you are going to make it, little one."

  He was speaking to me? I didn't have time to respond as one of the sensei hit him across the face, as they had done to us so many times before.

  "You do not speak!" I continued to walk towards the boy as the others watched me, shocked.

  "Here Shotoku san, if I can pass, you can pass." He bowed and accepted my gift; he was too scared to go through the formalities of the giving. It was then that I saw Grandfather. I went and collected what little I had. I kept my Ninja-to, one should remember who one is, and I walked to my master.

  "Have you eaten rice today, Hiro san?"

  "I have not, Grandfather."

  He smiled.