“Amida Buddha,” Hideki yelled. A fox had broken through his defense and was poised to thrust a straight sword into his ribs. Hideki saw it all in slow motion but could not stop the attack. Musashi was to his right and could not see the danger. He was going to die in a temple yard.

  The fox mask exploded as a throwing star broke open the mask and buried itself into a forehead. The fox dropped in a death spasm, a shuriken embedded in his forehead.

  There was a bright explosion in front of Hideki and white smoke everywhere.

  Musashi waved Hideki back and out of the smoke. The fox men had broken off the attack. When the smoke cleared, only the original seven scarecrows remained on the ground. The foxes had carried off their dead and wounded.

  Hideki finally dropped his sword hand but found he had no saya. He had destroyed it on a fox mask. He looked back at the couple. “Anyone hurt?” he asked.

  Yoshi looked down at the young couple. They were too afraid to answer.

  “No one hurt here,” Yoshi said.

  Musashi reached into the dirt at his feet and retrieved the wash towel dropped earlier. He inverted his katana so the cutting edge was skyward and ran the towel from the tsuba at the handle all the way to the kissaki at the tip, wiping the blood from his weapon. Hideki had never had to do this before, but he reached into his jacket top and extracted writing paper copying Musashi’s ritual.

  Hideki was shaking now. He wanted to talk about what had just happened but seemed to be a few seconds responding to anything. “Strange,” he said. “A moment ago I was reacting to everything going on about me. Now I can’t seem to coordinate my movements.”

  “Sit down, Hideki-san. Your weakness will pass. It is always the same the first few times,” Musashi counseled.

  “Here, drink,” Yoshi said, offering the full ladle.

  Hideki drank and drank. He found he could not get enough. When finished he stopped shaking and felt only numbness.

  “You did well Hideki-san,” Yoshi said. “I would not have believed this was your first fight.”

  Musashi slapped him on the shoulder. “You are a true warrior now, Hideki. All has changed. From this night on you will measure everything by the constant of death--yours and others,” Musashi said, adding, “I thank you for helping.”

  Yoshi looked at Musashi. “Musashi-sama, you do realize that entire attack was not aimed at you?”

  Musashi ladled a drink and gave it to Yoshi. “Yes, Yoshi, that became evident when they all went directly after our young friend here. It seems we all have some secrets.”

  “I’m sure I don’t know to what you refer, Musashi-sama,” Yoshi said after emptying the ladle.

  “I’m referring to a shuriken that came out of nowhere to save our young warrior a few minutes ago.”

  Yoshi filled the ladle and passed it back to Musashi. “It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I am just curious about a young samurai heading with his family to Edo for what I assume is the sankin kotai system of the alternate attendance which the Tokugawa shogunate demands. That is rather commonplace. What is unusual is to find a highborn samurai, steeped in classics and martial arts, who thinks of someone other than himself. I am very curious to see how long it takes for the Tokugawa powers to want him dead.”

  “Judging from tonight, not very long,” Musashi said. “It is time to enlighten us Hideki-san. We are touched by your courage and willingness to stand up to great odds. But if we are to fight beside you again, I think it is time to tell us who you are.”

  “I have told you, Takezo. I am Yoshinobu Hideki. I am on my way to Edo on the Tokaido with my family.”

  “You must be someone of great importance for thirty men to attempt to kill you in front of a temple,” Musashi said.

  Hideki glanced at Yoshi. He was quiet and looking on with interest. “I am just who I told you. I am nothing. But my brother is on his way to Edo to be interviewed to be the next shogun.”

  There was a loud clatter as Musashi dropped his sword.

  Hideki stooped to pick up Musashi’s sword. He had to do it with his left hand as his right still clutched his sword. He held the retrieved sword out to Musashi.

  “I know I have no right to ask, but would both of you like to travel to Edo with my family as my guests?”

  Musashi was still speechless as he took back his sword.

  “I will go with you Hideki-sama. I am tired of sleeping in the open,” Yoshi said.

  Hideki bowed to Musashi. “Onagaishemasu,” he begged. “I would not stain your soul by offering you a yojimbo position, but I think Jii and Naga would love to meet you both. Of course all your travel expenses would be paid.”

  Musashi finally opened his mouth. “Hai,” he said and bowed. “I will travel with you as far as Edo. My sword is yours.”

  Chapter 8: The Visitors

  Jii’s eyes flashed his displeasure. “Urusai, Hideki! I have heard enough. If you weren’t wandering around the town unescorted we would not be facing this problem.”

  “That may not be true Jii-san,” Naga interjected. “Let us hear from everyone before we decide who we can trust.”

  “Very well. Bring them in,” Jii mumbled as he waved to the samurai page near the sliding wood and paper door.

  They had been traveling for four days. Musashi and Yoshi travelled together with the baggage wagons as Hideki wanted time and distance between them and Kyoto before he told Naga and Jii what had happened. He also wanted time for his cuts to heal. It was easy enough to stay away from them during the day, but at night when they expected him at the evening meal he had to devise an excuse lest Naga notice the bandages beneath his yukata summer kimono.

  Musashi and Yoshi did not complain. As Yoshi put it, “I’ve eaten better in the last four days than I have in the previous four months.” Musashi had to agree. Even traveling with the porters in the rear meant rice, daikon, and tea at least twice a day and sometimes three. There was sake in the evenings, but neither Musashi nor Yoshi drank more than two small cups a night as neither warrior wanted to dull his senses or his skills in case he had to protect their new young friend.

  Tonight the royal entourage had stopped in Miya, the forty-first station on the Tokaido. They had come fifty-nine ri in four days. Jii had been happy with their progress but not happy with the security. Several times he had been gruff with Hideki over the guards being lax or for not watching alertly enough. The closer they got to Edo, the gruffer he became. After the relaxing boat ride across the head of Ise Bay, Hideki had decided that it was as good a time as any to give them the news about the assassination attempt in Kyoto. Jii had decided to opt for the sea journey instead of the overland trek, thinking there would be less chance of ambush on the boats than on the road, and he had been correct. The cruise had been uneventful.

  Jii had been angry with Hideki for withholding such important information, then he had become angrier when Hideki had told him that two men had saved him and that he had offered them positions in the train. “Bukka!” Jii had yelled. “You know about kyodai goroshi and yet you place untried warriors in our midst?”

  Now, after the storm of Jii’s anger had passed, Naga asked, “Are they to be trusted Brother?”

  “I do not know, Naga,” Hideki said truthfully. “I only know that I trust them and if they hadn’t helped me in Kyoto, I would not be here.”

  That softened Jii’s anger. “Good men are hard to find Hideki. Good friends even harder.”

  A page moved back the door and motioned two men into the large room. Musashi bowed from his kneeling position before entering and bowed again from his knees once inside the tatami floor. He was dressed in a new kimono supplied at Hideki’s command. It was brown with a Yoshinobu mon of a plum blossom on the lapels. It was the nicest kimono that Musashi had ever worn.

  The second man entered and looked confused. He wore the same brown kimono, but where Musashi filled his out, Yoshi seemed to swim in his. The sleeves were too big and the hem dragged the floor. It gave him a comical appearance. He bowed too much. He was looking to Musashi for etiquette cues.

  “Come in gentlemen,” Jii said. “Welcome to our temporary quarters.”

  Both bowed again.

  “First of all, I want to thank you both for helping my grandson in Kyoto. My family is very dear to me. And I must say, if Hideki is to be believed, and he has always been a truthful boy, then you two were heroic.”

  “We three,” Musashi said. “Your grandson reminded me of a warrior I saw in the rain on the left flank of Sekigahara.”

  Jii laughed. “Ah yes, Musashi-san, I’ve heard you were there.”

  “I was on the losing side that day, Yoshinobu-sama,” Musashi bowed.

  “No matter Musashi-san,” Jii said. “The important thing is that you were on the winning side in Kyoto.”

  “Musashi-san,” Naga said, “we are pleased that you decided to travel with us. Your skill with a sword is renowned even in Kii.”

  “I can think of no better place for it than in defense of the government,” Musashi said.

  “Well said, Musashi-san,” Jii said. “And what of our friend here in the large robe?”

  Musashi looked to this right at Yoshi. Yoshi then realized that he was the center of conversation and bowed.

  “Yoshi desu … a courier for Abe Courier Services, Lord” Yoshi said.

  The room was fifteen tatami by fifteen tatami. It was a large square. Naga and Jii set at the head of the room facing Musashi and Yoshi. One page was at the entrance of the sliding doors. Along the walls, three armed samurai sat with sheathed katanas in their hands. Hideki sat between Musashi and Naga, a little outside the circle. Jii was opposite Yoshi. Both Naga and Jii had their katanas within reach and a wakazashi thrust into their obi.

  “Raise your head, Yoshi,” Jii said. “I want to get a good look at the man who saved a temple girl from rogue police.”

  Yoshi raised his head and looked at Jii. Then his gaze ran to Naga and lingered there.

  “Where are you from Yoshi?”

  “From a small mountain village in Shiga prefecture, Lord.”

  “And what brought you to Edo?”

  Yoshi looked confused for a minute. “Hunger, Lord,” he answered.

  “Well you look very young to be traveling all the way from Shiga to Edo by yourself, Yoshi,” Jii observed.

  “My uncle got me the job, Lord,” Yoshi said, bowing.

  As soon as Yoshi’s head went down, Jii grabbed his wakazashi with his right hand in a lighting fast draw and sent the short sword flying at the back of Yoshi’s exposed neck. With his head still down, Yoshi rolled to his right, bringing his eyes up, keeping them focused on this new enemy. When he was right side up in a kneeling position, he drew a shuriken throwing star and stared at Naga’s forehead. The armed guards reacted to Jii’s actions, unsheathed their swords, and moved toward Yoshi.

  “Matte,” Jii yelled. Everyone froze. “Well, why didn’t you use those stars, ninja?” Jii asked.

  Yoshi put them back into his sleeve and sat down.

  Jii turned to Musashi. “Did you know he was ninja?”

  “I suspected as much,” Musashi answered.

  “So why would you let a ninja into the presence of the next shogun?” Jii asked.

  Musashi looked Jii in the eye. “First of all, it’s not certain that he is going to be the next shogun. Second, and most important, I watched Yoshi’s skill first hand. I watched him save Hideki’s life with a shuriken. He could have killed Hideki or Naga anytime in the last four days. Of course, if I’d seen any indication of such, I would have killed him.”

  Yoshi looked at him. “That’s my defense?”

  “Sure,” Musashi said. “But I think the truth is a little more complicated.”

  “Keep talking. You’ve got me boiling in oil now,” Yoshi muttered under his breath.

  “I think you are an unusual ninja. You are very skilled,” Musashi said, nodding to the short sword sticking in the tatami. “Knowing when something is about to happen is pretty spooky, even for a ninja. There is no way you could have known that attack was coming unless you have attained a high level of awareness.”

  “Mu shin,” Jii prompted.

  “It might be the bushi no mind, Yoshinobu-sama, but I suspect something else. I watched him deflect a surprise jutte strike with the end of a jo and not look up once.”

  Jii nodded in agreement. “You are thinking haragai?”

  “Yes, I believe our friend here is a master ninja from one of the old schools,” Musashi said.

  “Thanks a lot, Sword Saint. Now you have me being skinned alive before boiling in oil,” Yoshi muttered.

  “But what is every bit as extraordinary as Yoshi’s awareness is his sense of justice,” Musashi declared. Everyone looked puzzled. “He could have killed Hideki anytime he wanted. I believe him to be so skilled that he could kill Naga and Hideki now and be out of this room before he is wounded.”

  “Who is your target Yoshi?” Jii asked.

  Yoshi looked Jii in the eye. “My target was Naga-sama.”

  The guards stepped toward Yoshi.

  “Matte,” Jii said. “Why isn’t he dead?”

  “Because I wanted to meet the man and the brother who think ‘there is no wrong too small to right and no right too small to defend,’“ he said, mimicking Jii’s voice.

  “So what did you decide?” Jii asked.

  “That there might be hope for the country.”

  “Can I assume my grandsons are safe from you?” Jii asked.

  “They are safe with me,” Yoshi said.

  “Will your bosses know you have betrayed them?”

  “They will know eventually,” Yoshi said. “Initially, they will be amazed at my skill in becoming a part of your entourage. But as we get closer it will become apparent that my allegiance is to Hideki.”

  “Just to Hideki?” Jii asked.

  “Well, I have fought beside Hideki. I know what he believes and that he will die for his beliefs. Pardon me for saying so, but so far all I know about you is that you speak fine words and throw a wakazashi short sword very well.”

  “Well put, master ninja,” Jii said as he stood up and walked over to the spot where Yoshi initially sat and pulled his short sword from the tatami flooring. He sheathed his sword and called for the page to bring refreshments. Jii sat in front of Yoshi and poured him sake. “But isn’t changing sides frowned upon in the ninja clans?”

  “Very much so, Lord,” Yoshi said.

  “Won’t this have repercussions for your family in Shiga?” Jii asked.

  “Yes. That is why I’ve alerted them to move back into the mountains.”

  Jii continued to press. “How was this accomplished? You have been with us for four days.”

  Yoshi was warming to the task of being the center of attention among important men. “No ninja undertakes a mission without support and backup,” he explained. “I have left two messages that no one would discover except the man assigned to follow me and carry out my commands.”

  “What kind of messages?” Jii asked.

  “What do you think if you find five stones piled up on the side of the Tokaido, Lord?”

  “That some traveler has constructed his own jizo to honor a departed soul.”

  “In our clan, the five stones mean there is a message waiting at the next drop site,” said Yoshi.

  “How do they know what the next drop site is to be?” Jii questioned.

  “Prearranged, Lord; five stones means a drop at the next jizo on the same side of the road. Six stones would have meant the opposite side.”

  Jii looked over his shoulder to Naga. “Amazing what we don’t know, isn’t it?”

  “Truly, Jii, it is. Yoshi, what if someone happens onto the drop site before your pick-up man?” Naga asked.

  “Nothing will happen. The message is on a prayer paper and in code. No one will break it,” Yoshi said confidently.

  Jii turned back to Yoshi. “How many ninja in that clan of yours?”

  “We are a pretty small clan, Lord. No more than twenty men.”

  “Do you know who you were working for? Do you know who is trying to kill Naga?”

  “I believe them to be a large ninja group known as the Five Families.”

  “And this Five Families, how large are they?” asked Jii.

  “No one but the head of the Five Families would know that, Lord,” Yoshi replied. “But they are known to be large.”

  “What will happen when they find you have not killed Naga?” Jii asked.

  “They will send others to do the job, Lord,” he said. “But first they will kill me.”

  Jii stroked his face and looked into Yoshi’s eyes. “We don’t use ninja and therefore know little about them.”

  Yoshi nodded. “You need to get knowledgeable quickly.”

  “Why?” Jii asked. “Because the Five Families are still out there?”

  “That, and because those fox-masked attackers in Kyoto were no bandits. They were shinobi no mono,” Yoshi said.

  Jii looked at Naga and then to Hideki. He scooted on his knees over to Musashi and poured him a drink. “What is your judgment on all this, Musashi-san?”

  “I agree with Yoshi. They were ninja.”

  “Then we are at a disadvantage,” Jii said, then he addressed Yoshi. “I propose that you come to work for the Yoshinobu family.”

  “But won’t we have the Metsuke ninja when we get to Edo?” Naga asked.

  “Only if you are selected as shogun,” Jii reminded. “Otherwise it may be the Metsuke coming after us.”

  Jii turned back to Yoshi and bowed. “Onegaishi masu.”

  Yoshi bowed lower. “Please, Lord, do not bow to me. I am only a common person. I can pledge you my sword but I will have to talk to the village headman about the others. He may not want to go against the Five Families.”

  “Well, we’ll just have to settle for your sword now. What do we need to do first?” Jii asked. “Should you check the entourage to see if we’ve been infiltrated?”