“They were very good in some things and very bad in others. For example, I still do not know how they communicated with each other. I saw no hand signal queuing, and they made no noise, yet they changed formation and attack direction in unison. That was good. However, they used a mixed arsenal. They attacked with swords, used arrows, and then used smoke bombs to cover their retreat.”

  “Sounds about right,” Hanzo said.

  “Yes, but when was the last time you saw a ninja group not place their bowmen on the ends or high up to keep from hitting their own men? When they attacked us, they had to break off the attack to allow the bowmen to fire. It was like watching ancient tactics.”

  “Interesting,” Hanzo managed. “You said two things.”

  “Their technique with the sword was very dated. They used long slashing motions. This gave us time to use entering techniques and cut. Again, it was like watching my grandfather fight,” Yoshi said.

  “What are your thoughts?” Yagyu asked Hanzo.

  “I am thinking a dormant group, recently resurrected, using old tactics,” Hanzo surmised.

  “Why now?” asked Yagyu.

  “Because they have a deal with someone to replace the Metsuke,” Yoshi said.

  Yuki looked at her father and then at Yagyu. She saw the end of life as she knew it. “He’s right.”

  Chapter 9: The Tokaido

  The rest of the trip differed greatly. As Hideki expected, Jii had everyone leave the next morning and push on to Fujikawa and then into Akasaka. As traveling went, it was an easy day—just 3.6 ri to Fujikawa and another half a ri into Akasaka. Everyone was tired, the Yoshinobu from Jii’s constant push to Edo and the Yagyu from their bone-jarring push from Edo. All were glad for a rest.

  The first evening meal in Akasaka was much livelier than usual as Hideki, Jii, and Naga joined Musashi, Yoshi, Hanzo, Yuki, and Yagyu. In the morning Hanzo would depart accompanied by ten Metsuke to run down the new information provided by Yoshi on Fox Gang tactics. Yagyu would remain with the Yoshinobu, using the time to coach Naga and Jii on life in Edo. Jii was well-pleased with this decision. He felt ill-prepared to help Naga in this important area, readily admitting to little skill in the daily etiquette and protocols of castle life. Musashi proposed that Yuki take over security for Naga, freeing Hideki in the evenings to learn more swordsmanship. He then volunteered Yoshi to help round out Hideki’s education.

  “What can I teach him, Sword Saint, that he doesn’t already know?” Yoshi asked.

  Musashi turned to Hideki between bites of delicious sea bream. “Do you know how to pick a lock Hideki?”

  “No.”

  “Do you know how to blow in a door using gunpowder?”

  “No.” Hideki was feeling a little embarrassed in front of Yuki.

  “Do you know how to run and leave tracks that few can follow?”

  “No.”

  “Do you know how to see in the dark?”

  “No.”

  Then Musashi turned to Yoshi. “That should keep you busy until Edo, Shadow Man.”

  Yuki laughed at Yoshi’s discomfort at being Hideki’s teacher. Soon all were laughing.

  “I should have stayed an assassin,” Yoshi groaned. “It was easier.”

  After the evening meal, Hideki noticed many of the Yoshinobu men pairing up with the comfort girls of the inn. He saw Musashi accompanying a young girl back to the room he shared with Yoshi.

  “Sorry, Yoshi,” Musashi called over his shoulder. “You can sleep with the horses. I got a better offer.”

  Everyone had bathed and eaten, and the inn’s meager entertainment had been completed when Hideki noticed that the only ones sleeping alone tonight were himself, Jii, Naga, and Yuki. It appeared everyone else had found companionship.

  Twice Hideki had to fend off invitations. Girls liked his youthful looks, but he had declined. He was curious, but could wait. Remembering Jii’s admonitions on the subject, he thought such an important union had to be more than a minor financial transaction.

  From then on, the days ran together. Hideki was still in charge of security for the entire entourage, so his eyes were everywhere. One of the unusual things he noticed was Yuki asking questions of the strangest people along the Tokaido. If the entourage passed other travelers, they would move off the road and bow to the Tokugawa banner, remaining bowed until the last of the baggage porters passed. Yuki would move her horse over to a bowed wood carrier with a huge load on his back and ask him questions. When she would see a bowing female pilgrim in white, she would approach her as well. Hideki assumed she was gathering information from locals about the environs. When he mentioned it to Yoshi, he learned differently.

  “Metsuke” is all Yoshi said.

  “They can’t all be spies,” Hideki said in disbelief.

  “Yes they can. And they are.” Yoshi confirmed.

  “How do you get a ninja to walk like that last wood carrier?” Yoshi asked.

  “You give him to a wood carrier while he is still a boy. He spends a couple of years learning the wood carrier life, picking the right trees, cutting the wood, carrying it to market for the real wood carrier and after a couple of years, the ninja boy is now a wood carrier and can blend in anywhere as such. The boy’s father or uncle retrieves him after the prearranged time and he goes back to his real family to learn more of the ninja trade,” Yoshi explained. “It is not magic, Hideki. I have known ninja who are the best potters, the best roofers, the best carpenters in the country.”

  Hideki just shook his head. “Unbelievable,” is all he could manage. “So I suppose you spent time as a courier?”

  “Among other things,” Yoshi said.

  “Life is a lot more complicated than I imagined,” Hideki mused.

  “Then you are learning,” Yoshi grinned.

  Yagyu rode with Jii and Naga in the middle of the column. They were always talking and laughing. Yuki rode up and down the column and always had a smile for Hideki. When he saw her, his heart raced. When she smiled at him, he could not help but blush. He did not want to. He wanted to be self-assured like Musashi and just nod in her direction when she came by. However, try as he might, he would always feel his face redden.

  In the evenings, before bathing and the last meal, Musashi would train Hideki in the way of the sword. Musashi was a difficult taskmaster, and it was not long before Hideki had bruises all over his arms and shoulders from the master’s bokken. But he did not mind. He was learning at a completely new level. It was different learning from a master. A master could show you the technique and the bunkai behind it. Understanding the rationale behind a technique made all the difference in learning. He was learning things he could get nowhere else. Therefore, he ignored the bruises and stayed with the teachings. He did complain about one thing, but only to Yoshi.

  “Why is it that when Musashi instructs me, he talks in riddles?” Hideki asked. “He is not like that at any other time.”

  Yoshi smiled. “I believe the Sword Saint is trying out his concepts on you to see if anyone else will understand.”

  “You know, you’re going to tease him one time too many times with that Sword Saint title and find your head separated from the rest of your body,” Hideki warned.

  “I think I am the only one who can get away with it,” Yoshi laughed.

  “Whenever he is demonstrating a movement, he is economy of motion. I get it right away. But when he starts explaining why, he starts talking about rhythms, and greater circles, and spheres and gibberish that I don’t understand,” Hideki explained.

  “Put up with it,” Yoshi advised. “I think you will find no finer instructor for pure combat usefulness.”

  “Yes, no doubt. But what do all the fancy concepts mean?”

  “I think our Sword Saint will write his concepts down someday. Right now he’s taking what he knows in his head and trying them out on you, one chapter at a time. Now pay attention,” Yoshi said, changing the subject. “See how the gunpowder laid out on this flat rock reacts when I ignite it with the flame from this candle?”

  “Looks like a mini festival with sparks and smoke,” Hideki said.

  “Now look what happens when we take the same amount, bind it in paper, and ignite it with this fuse,” Yoshi said while running for the cover of a large tree. “You might want to join me here.”

  A loud and powerful explosion sent Hideki flying backwards.

  “Can you hear me Hideki?” Yoshi yelled at the prostrate form of his friend.

  “Only barely,” Hideki managed.

  “Do you have all your body parts?” Yoshi asked.

  Hideki managed to come to a sitting position and check his limbs. “Yes, I think so.”

  “Good, then that was a successful training exercise in the use of gunpowder,” Yoshi said to his pupil. “Any questions?”

  The days went like that. Hideki was in heaven. He learned all the things Musashi said he should know and much more. Occasionally, Hideki’s sword bearer, Aoki, would ask to accompany him to Musashi’s practice sessions. One day, Hideki relented and let him come. Before Musashi arrived, Aoki tossed Hideki a bokken and challenged him. It was obvious to Hideki that Aoki thought they would have a match just like the old days where his boyish enthusiasm and larger muscles would get the better of Hideki. He waited for Hideki to set up, and then charged with a slashing shomen attack from overhead. Hideki could not believe what he was seeing. A month ago, such an attack by a larger opponent would have terrified him. Now he felt disdain. He waited until the full force of the attack was committed, slapped the wooden sword slightly to a new downward trajectory, and then, keeping his sword high, caught Aoki under the chin along the cutting edge of the wooden blade, lifting him off his feet to come crashing down on his back with the breath knocked out of him. As Aoki was sucking in air, Musashi arrived.

  “Been showing off, have we?” Musashi asked.

  “Not really sensei. More like getting even.”

  While Aoki was trying to fill his lungs, unsuccessfully, he was turning a bright blue. Musashi reached down, grabbed Aoki’s obi, and pulled him slightly off the ground. This created a small vacuum in his lungs and air flooded in. When he had lost his blue color, he attempted to stand but was a little wobbly.

  “He got lucky,” Aoki said to Musashi.

  “No, he could do that to you ten times out of ten. You see, he has outgrown your level of swordsmanship, and if you’d used live blades, you would be without a head now.”

  Aoki started to respond with his normal pompous manner, but something about Musashi’s cold eyes stopped him. “How do I get better?” he asked, respectfully.

  “Now that is a good question and an indication that maybe you are trainable. Find yourself a good sensei and dedicate your life to the way of the sword.”

  “Will you train me?” he asked.

  “No,” Musashi stated firmly.

  Aoki knew it was better to leave than to pursue this line of questioning. He left.

  “Don’t tell me that was a friend of yours,” Musashi said.

  “I don’t think he was ever a friend, but we used to train in the dojo together with me getting the lumps,” Hideki confided.

  “He’s a bully. It is written all over him, and that bull-like charge is child’s play to overcome,” Musashi said.

  “You saw that much sensei?” Hideki asked.

  “Yes.”

  “You were right that night in Kyoto. Killing with your blade changes a person forever. You look at everything differently. I felt contempt for Aoki when he attacked me with such an obviously inferior technique,” Hideki said. “I am no longer the young boy in the dojo that Aoki remembers.”

  “No you are not. Moreover, with your superior knowledge comes responsibility. You must learn not to put yourself in situations that could lead to your need to fight,” Musashi chided.

  “Yes, I see that now. For a moment, I wanted to see what it would be like to travel back to a more innocent time. Do not think too harshly of Aoki. He’s a young man trying to prove himself, but he doesn’t have the advantage of having good friends like you and Yoshi to teach him,” Hideki said.

  “Hideki, why do you think you have Yoshi and me as friends?” Musashi asked.

  “Well, my brother may be shogun?”

  “Bukka! Yoshi is staying away from his young wife and has broken a sacred vow to help you. I have temporarily given up my life’s journey. We did this gladly because we see in you the future of the country and we want you to have the best possible chance to walk your path,” Musashi said.

  “Does that mean you will take it easy on me this lesson?” Hideki asked.

  “Never.”

  Aoki never asked to come back to the training. It was just as well. Hideki did not like sharing his new friends with anyone. Not every eighteen year old trained with a professional duelist and an expert assassin.

  Yoshida, Maisaka, Fukuroi, and Kanaya were the next four overnights. Seven more and they would arrive in Edo. While in Kanaya, Hideki noticed a subtle shift in security and a great many other things.

  Kanaya lies nestled in a crevice of one of those foothills. It’s a wide, sandy flat protected by a broad river. Just beyond the flat is a jumble of foothills. The entire flat area was once a riverbed; now the river flows through the center of the flat and offers a panoramic view of the mountains beyond. The river is deceptively deep. Standing on the bank, the water seems shallow enough to wade across. Porters lined both sides of the river. All ages of men squatted along the riverbed, stripped to their fundoshi, awaiting customers to help across for a price. The porters knew where to step. The pilgrim did not. There were deep holes beyond a man’s head scattered throughout the riverbed. To walk in the wrong place could bring death, especially if you could not swim.

  Like everything in Japan, this enterprise was organized. No one would quote a price until the headman was located. Hideki found him and negotiated a price. It took a while, but the Yoshinobu entourage got across safely. By the time they reached the village of Kanaya most of their wet clothes had dried.

  Yuki had developed a routine of which Hideki approved. She would personally supervise the cooks of the inn housing Naga and then accompany the meals to Naga’s room. The dishes were placed before everyone. However, on Naga’s tray were extra empty dishes. Then the girl who carried Naga’s food would dish out a small amount into one of the empty dishes and eat it. If there were no dire consequences, she departed. Then Yuki would take a small bite out of each dish going to Naga to ensure the bowls themselves were not poisoned, after which she would present it to Naga and he and everyone else would eat.

  Yoshi, Musashi, Jii, and he would take this evening meal with Naga, but at Kanaya, Hideki noticed that Yuki and her guards started to control access to Naga. After the evening meal, Hideki would make his rounds, check on Jii to see that he was comfortable and then do the same for Naga. In Kanaya, he checked on Jii, bid him goodnight, and moved to Naga’s wing. He got there just in time to see Yuki enter his room. This was a late hour for her to be calling on Naga, but Hideki thought it was probably to discuss some security measure for the next day. Therefore, Hideki knelt down to wait. He waited almost an hour before he convinced himself that she was not coming out.

  Hideki felt heartbroken. He had thought she liked him and that she was the one for him. Nevertheless, she had chosen his older brother. Well, what should he have expected? Naga may be the next shogun. What was he going to be? Who knew? But it made him jealous and a little angry. For the first time on the journey, Hideki had a hard time sleeping.

  The next day, Hideki was too busy getting the entourage moving to pay Naga too much attention, but he noticed Naga to be in a very pleasant mood. They came to Shimada, the twenty-fourth station on the Tokaido. The Oi River was waded using porters as the previous day. Before noon, they were in Fuji-jeda where Hideki oversaw the exchange of porters and horses. Fuji-jeda was the place where Hideki talked to the station officials to get the porterage fares recorded. Then the fearsome climb to Okabe was upon them. Here the Tokaido shrunk to the width of two men. Mountains rose up on both sides, covered in dense forest and thick ivy vines. Along the right side, a torrent of rushing water sought the valley below. Only a stone retaining wall prevented the plunging creek from eroding the Tokaido into nothingness.

  By evening, they had attained the high ground and found the little village of Mariko. After getting everyone into the inns, the horses unpacked and stabled, and the security set, Hideki moved to confer with Jii and Naga about the next day’s start. He moved to the room assigned to his brother and found Yuki kneeling outside arranging a tray with cups of tea.

  “Simasen,” Hideki said as he started by.

  Yuki rose quickly and placed a hand on Hideki’s chest. “Gomen nasai, Hideki. Naga-sama is not to be disturbed. Why don’t you come back later?” Her smile was radiant.

  Hideki could not believe his ears. “Until you are my sister-in-law, and I doubt seriously that such will ever be the case, no one but Jii and Naga tell me where to go,” Hideki snapped as he grabbed his sword handle.

  Yuki stared into his eyes. “You would draw on me, Hideki?” she asked.

  “If you do not want to have to display those well touted martial skills of yours against my weak blade, ninja, you will step aside,” Hideki said.

  Yuki stepped back and bowed. “Gomen nasai, Hideki.” Then she turned and walked away.

  Hideki announced himself at the door. Naga’s voice granted him access.

  Hideki slid the door back and stepped in. He closed the door with a little too much force, walked up to Jii and Naga and sat down.

  “Brother, you smell like horses,” Naga complained.

  “Yes,” echoed Jii. “Why have you not bathed and changed?”

  “Because I am the only one doing any real work around here,” Hideki snapped.

  Jii’s tone changed. “What is wrong Hideki? We were just discussing the change in you from the wild boy to a responsible man on this journey.”

  Hideki felt ashamed. “Gomen nasai,” he said. “I just didn’t expect to find my path barred from my own family by your personal bodyguard,” Hideki said, glaring at Naga.