The Samurai's Assassin Read online

  “My father will be so happy – ” the cheerful words died on his lips as suddenly a scream filled the air and flames erupted from the roof of one of the houses in front of them.

  Instantly Tatsushi and Mayuko began sprinting towards the village and the boys followed behind quickly, grimly aware of the devastating events that were likely to play out before them. As they reached the burning house they saw that the village was larger than it had first appeared, stretching out before them with thirty or so buildings on either side of the road. A wailing crowd had gathered in a circle in the middle of the village, surrounded by a band of fierce looking samurai, mounted on horseback, brandishing spears at anyone who tried to break away. Every now and then a fresh scream cut through the wailing and Finn’s stomach turned as he thought of what they might be about to witness.

  “Mayuko! Tatsushi!” Finn shouted. “We should stay back. This is not a fight we can win.” But as he spoke most of the mounted samurai turned and began riding through the village in the opposite direction.

  Ignoring Finn’s warning, Mayuko and Tatsushi ran forwards towards the crowd and Arthur and Finn had no choice but to follow closely behind. Some of the crowd turned as the runners approached, and seeing Tatsushi and Mayuko they tried to block their way. But Tatsushi and Mayuko ran at such speed that people were knocked out of the way as they carved a path through the villagers and burst through into the open space that the crowd had been circling. Face down in the mud lay a simply-dressed samurai, his long hair streaking out into a growing pool of blood.

  “Father!” Mayuko cried, falling to her knees and clutching at her father’s back. An anguished scream burst from her chest as she realised that Hanzo Uchida was dead, and Finn found himself fighting back tears as he looked over at Tatsushi, who stood completely motionless, staring down at his father’s body with fury in his eyes.

  And then things got worse. One of the few marauding samurai who had remained in the village opened up a path through the crowd with his horse and came to a stop beside Mayuko.

  “Your father?” he said, grabbing her by the arm and hauling her roughly up onto the horse before she had a chance to respond. “Then you will come with me.”

  “Mayuko!” Tatsushi screamed, running forward in sudden desperation.

  Mayuko looked at her brother and shook her head almost imperceptibly. Tatsushi stopped in his tracks and the mounted samurai grinned down at him with a malicious glint in his eyes.

  “Remember!” he shouted, turning away from Tatsushi and addressing the rest of the crowd. “You are all alive because Kenji Kuroda and Hanzo Uchida made a deal. Hanzo Uchida was permitted to take his own life to spare yours but if you resist us in any way we will return and destroy you. Your lives belong to us now, do I make myself clear?”

  Nobody spoke. The rider turned his horse around and kicked it into a gallop, while Mayuko hung on. The samurai and Mayuko disappeared around a bend in the road, leaving Tatsushi to his grief, and Finn and Arthur to figure out how they would be able to control Tatsushi’s urge for revenge now that not only did his father lie dead in the mud, but his sister had been kidnapped right before his eyes.

  SEPPUKU

  Seppuku is a ritual suicide. Sometimes called hara-kiri, this is something that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.

  If you are a samurai then seppuku is a very specific way of killing yourself without dishonour. You sit down in front of a crowd, take a dagger, grit your teeth and cut your own belly open. Sounds too horrible to be true. If it hurts too much the samurai has someone standing behind them ready to chop off their head and put them out of their misery.

  WHY WOULD YOU DO IT?

  •If you are on the losing side of a battle you might do it to avoid being captured (and probably tortured).

  •If you have been disgraced for any reason you might do it to restore your honour, and protect the rest of your family from dishonour. The idea is that anyone capable of sacrificing themselves in this way has all of their sins wiped clean.

  •As a protest against a Lord who you think is wrong about something.

  •As the ultimate show of loyalty to your Lord when he dies.

  One explanation for the way Japanese soldiers treated captured enemy soldiers so horribly during World War Two is that they couldn’t respect enemies who had allowed themselves to be captured rather than committing suicide.

  CHAPTER 3

  As night fell it was a desolate party that sat on the bamboo matting of the Uchida family house. Tatsushi had barely uttered a word since the afternoon’s horrors, and the other villagers had given Finn and Arthur a wide berth with the exception of a kind old man who bowed and introduced himself as Ryu, Hanzo Uchida’s servant. From him the boys had learned that Tatsushi and Mayuko were now orphans – their mother had died giving birth to Mayuko. The boys had tried to engage Ryu and Tatsushi with suggestions about how they might go about recovering Mayuko, but Tatsushi was too consumed with rage to listen, and Ryu also seemed to be suffering with the news of his master’s death.

  It was only when a group of men from the village arrived at the house that evening that Tatsushi emerged from his shock and rage. The leader of the group stepped forward and bowed.

  “We have spoken with every family in the village and are all in agreement. If you wish Tatsushi then we would be honoured to follow you in pursuit of Kenji Kuroda. He and his men have committed a terrible crime and forced a good man to die. They cannot be allowed to get away with it.”

  “And what of the threat to return and wipe us out if we resist?” said Ryu.

  “What of it? We do not wish to live in fear of the Kurodas. We must resist.”

  “I promise you this,” Tatsushi growled. “I will kill that man the moment I next lay eyes on him.” The men nodded as Tatsushi spoke. “And you are most welcome to join me.”

  Finn glanced at Arthur, and then around at the group of villagers. They did not seem like warriors who could take on a band of strong and fierce samurai. In fact things seemed to be heading in the direction that Hanzo Uchida had warned against – an ill-considered, furious attempt at revenge that would inevitably fail. Finn knew he had to try and steer the group away from this course.

  “May I say something?” Finn cleared his throat and Tatsushi nodded. “If all the best men in the village go with you and you fail to kill Kuroda, the village will be defenceless.”

  “Go on,” said Ryu, watching him intently.

  All eyes were on Finn as he continued, “If you were to assemble a small group of loyal samurai from outside the village instead, there would be several benefits. First these men could remain here to defend the village should Kuroda return. Second if your group of samurai does find and fight Kuroda they may not be recognised and Kuroda may not retaliate by attacking the village should he defeat us. And third a small group with a mission to kill Kuroda and rescue Mayuko may have a better chance of success than a large group attacking his men head on. One man is easier to defeat than an army.”

  “I am not afraid of Kuroda’s men!” Tatsushi spat. “I’ll kill them all!”

  “Master,” said Ryu gently. “Nobody doubts your courage, but the boy speaks sense. What is it that you want to achieve?”

  “Revenge!” cried Tatsushi.

  “Then control your emotions!” Ryu snapped. “What use is revenge? Why did your father choose to die? Because he wanted to protect the people of this village. Now, think again. Why do you want Kuroda dead?”

  Tatsushi rubbed the back of his head and sighed. “I too want our people to be safe. We are not safe as long as Kuroda lives. And my sister…” here Tatsushi’s red eyes began to fill with tears again.

  “We will find her,” said Finn. “But that is why you must try to forget about revenge. Think about your goal and put your emotions to one side.”

  Tatsushi stared around the group for a long moment, then nodded his head.

  “My friend is right,” he said. “You men should stay here and plan our defe
nces in case the village is attacked again. Ryu, you must get word to Lord Kuruyama and tell him what has happened. It may be that once again the Kurodas are preparing to take on Lord Kuruyama and destroy him, just as they did when my father fought against them.

  With the Professor at his side, thought Finn.

  “I will set off at once,” said Ryu, bowing and leaving the room. The other men of the village followed until only the three boys remained.

  Finn gazed around the room as he had done so many times that day. The earthy smell of bamboo matting filled the warm air and the paper lanterns Ryu had lit as night fell cast a soft, warm light over the dark wooden walls. An open screen door let in the tinkling sound of water from the garden and everything about the place was so peaceful that once again Finn wondered how these people could be warriors.

  “My father never searched for a fight,” said Tatsushi, noticing Finn’s puzzled expression as he studied the peaceful environment. “He lived in peace but was always prepared for combat if it should find him. Come, let me show you.”

  He led the brothers across the hallway and into a small room at the centre of the house, and as they stepped across the threshold it was like entering a different world. Arthur’s jaw dropped. The weapons that lined the walls were beautifully crafted, elegant and looked exquisitely dangerous. Long spears with slim wooden shafts adorned with pretty ribbons were topped by razor-sharp slicing blades and thrusting points. Ornately carved, well-oiled bows stood waiting to be strung in one corner of the room. Four crested helmets with hideous face masks grimaced insanely back at them from a shelf, beneath which were piled various pieces of deep-red armour. But for all the fascination that these items held, they were but minor distractions from the main focus of the room. On a simple table against a blank wall a sword was cradled by two small wooden props, its gentle, perfect curve a thing of supreme beauty.

  “My father’s,” Tatsushi murmured, lifting it off the props and sliding it out of its lacquered sheath so that it gleamed in the light of the lanterns. “This is the sword that will kill Kenji Kuroda.”

  The reverent silence that followed these words was broken by the sound of footsteps outside.

  “Tatsushi,” it was the voice of Ryu, the old man. “Tatsushi are you still here?”

  “In here,” the boy called and Ryu entered the armoury.

  “I have some very important news – very bad news,” the old man began, pausing for a moment as he noticed the sword in Tatsushi’s hand. “I did not reach Castle Kuruyama. I met some of Lord Kuruyama’s servants on the road. The Kurodas have already struck and Lord Kuruyama is dead – poisoned.” Finn looked from Ryu to Tatsushi and saw the blood draining from his new friend’s face all over again.

  “Kenji Kuroda was a guest in the castle and has taken it over from within,” Ryu went on, rubbing a hand over his brow. “The servants I met on the road told me that they overheard him plotting – he has dispatched a band of samurai to kill the most dangerous warriors loyal to Lord Kuruyama – those were the samurai who came for your father today but Kenji Kuroda was not among them. When he has killed the samurai he most fears, Kuroda will announce himself as the new Lord.”

  Tatsushi nodded, teeth clenched. “Then Finn was right – fighting a pitched battle with the samurai would have been pointless. We might have rescued Mayuko but Kuroda would have sent his men back to the village and killed us all.”

  “So what are we going to do?” asked Arthur.

  Tatsushi looked around the room at his companions in turn, then down at his father’s sword still resting in his hand.

  “We will do everything by stealth,” he said. “First we will pursue Kuroda’s samurai. If they are looking for men loyal to Lord Kuruyama then we know the villages they will be heading for. We will free Mayuko without revealing ourselves and then head to Castle Kuruyama, where we will find a way of killing Kenji Kuroda.”

  “But if we free Mayuko – ”

  “Then eventually Kuroda’s men will come back to this village,” Tatsushi finished the thought. “And kill everyone. I have thought of this. But for now they have their mission to kill those loyal to Lord Kuruyama and they won’t waste time on us as long as there are still samurai living who remain loyal to him.”

  “I must warn those who Kuroda will be targeting,” said Ryu. “Then the Kuroda gang will take longer to find them and there will be some men left to rise up and make sure that if Kenji Kuroda dies he is replaced by someone we can trust.”

  Tatsushi nodded, and the two swiftly listed the men whom the Kuroda gang were likely to be searching for. Ryu refused the offer of a weapon to take with him on his quest to find the men, saying that he would arouse less suspicion if he remained unarmed.

  “I too remember William Blade,” he said to Finn and Arthur. “He fought alongside Master Hanzo Uchida and helped Lord Kuruyama defeat an army raised by Kenji Kuroda’s father. He was a very brave man. I hope that you can help us now, just as he did then. And Tatsushi,” he said, putting an arm around the boy’s shoulders. “Your father has taught you all the skills that you will need. It will not be easy to reach Kenji Kuroda now that he is in the castle, but you can do it. And your chances will be even better with Mayuko at your side. Find Mayuko and the four of you will not fail.”

  SAMURAI WEAPONS

  SWORD

  The standard samurai sword has a blade that is just over two feet long. It is curved and so is naturally suited to slicing, though thrusting is still possible as the tip is usually pointed. It is made of steel and is much lighter than European swords, making it easy to carry and to handle in battle. It is of more use in a duel than from horseback in a battle, but every samurai has a sword. In fact they have two, because they also keep a second, shorter sword, tucked into their waistband.

  SPEAR

  As the samurai ride horses into battle, spears are very important. From horseback a long spear means you can reach your enemy on the ground, and from the ground a long spear means you have a chance of knocking a samurai off his horse. The steel tip can be up to three feet in length, and looks more like a sword than a spear-head.

  BOW

  The Japanese bow, or yumi, is quite unusual. It is over two metres in length so has a very long range. It is incredibly strong as it is made from strips of wood and leather, laminated together. The grip is not in the middle, but about two thirds of the way down the bow so that the bottom is much shorter than the top, which makes it easier to use on horseback.

  KUSARI-FUNDO

  This is one of many types of chain weapons used by the samurai. The simplest are four-foot lengths of chain with weights at each end. They can be used to entangle your opponent’s weapon, allowing you to leap forward and strike with a second weapon, or else you can use the weight on one of the ends of the chain to crush your enemy’s skull.

  CHAPTER 4

  The three boys walked through the night in silence. Ryu had headed on horseback in a different direction, hoping to overtake the Kuroda gang and forewarn a string of villages that they were likely targets. Tatsushi, Arthur and Finn, meanwhile, were making their way to the village where they thought their enemies were spending the night and where they hoped they would find Mayuko. The air had cooled, and the heavy atmosphere of the previous day’s storms had lifted completely.

  “Tomorrow it will be autumn,” said Tatsushi at one point, and Finn laughed. Everything seemed so clear-cut in medieval Japan. One day summer storms, the next day autumn. “It’s good,” Tatsushi went on, puzzled by Finn’s laughter. “The typhoon has passed. We may be able to travel by boat.”

  Finn stopped laughing. The idea of getting back into the ocean did not appeal to him, and a glance at his brother told Finn that Arthur felt the same.

  “Why would we want to travel by boat?” Arthur asked, a nervous quaver clearly audible in his voice. “I thought we were going to the next village.”

  “Don’t worry brothers,” Tatsushi replied. “I do not mean the open sea. There is a narrow inl
et that we can cross by boat. It will save us several hours of walking. We won’t be on the water for long, and we won’t be on it at all if the sea is not calm.”

  There seemed little point in arguing, and the boys followed Tatsushi off the road and down a muddy, tree-lined track until they saw flashes of moonlight dancing on the black sea.

  “We can cross,” said Tatsushi curtly when they reached the shore. There was a cool breeze blowing in off the water, which was choppy but nothing like the heaving, churning mass that had nearly drowned them the day before. Looking out they could see lights on the other side of the inlet, and though it was difficult to gauge the distance, it certainly did not seem far.

  “Follow me,” Tatsushi instructed, and he stepped into the water and began wading along the shore until his path was blocked by a tree that thrust out across the water almost horizontally. The boys followed Tatsushi into the water and it was only when Tatsushi began fiddling with a rope that the boys saw a small wooden boat moored to the other side of the tree.

  “How many secret boats do you have?” Arthur asked, impressed.

  “Only this one. Mayuko and I made it one summer when we were younger.” Tatsushi’s voice faltered slightly as he said his sister’s name. “We used to play in it and she said we should hide it here. I never thought I would need it for anything important...”

  “We will find her, you know,” Arthur reassured, resting a hand on Tatsushi’s shoulder.

  “Yes we will,” said Tatsushi, and something about the intensity of his voice frightened Finn. He was beginning to see the fire beneath Tatsushi’s calm exterior, and the idea of it erupting did not seem so unlikely after all.