The Way Of The Sword (34 page)

‘
CALL
YOURSELF
A SAMURAI!’

Masamoto could no longer contain his wrath.

He had kept a cool head when they discovered Jack and the others in the reception room. He had calmly organized a search party for Dokugan Ryu as well as extra protection for the
daimyo
. He had held back while arranging the students’ safe return to the
Niten Ichi Ryū
. He had even maintained his composure while Jack had explained the reason for hiding the
rutter
in the
daimyo’
s castle.

But now he bellowed at Jack, who lay prostrate on the floor of the Hall of the Phoenix. Jack quivered with every forceful word Masamoto uttered, each one cutting as sharp as a
katana
blade.

‘You sacrificed your friends, violated my trust and above all endangered the
daimyo’
s life, all for the sake of your father’s
rutter
!’

Masamoto glared at Jack, fuming with pent-up anger, seemingly unable to express the fury he felt. With each passing moment of raging silence, the scars on Masamoto’s face grew redder and redder.

‘I could forgive you for the lie, but how can I overlook this? You made the
daimyo’
s castle a target for ninja!’ he said, almost in a whisper, as if he was scared the violence in his voice would lead to violence in his hands. ‘I thought you understood what it meant to be samurai. Your duty is to me and your
daimyo
. You’ve broken the code of
bushido
! Where was your loyalty? Where was your respect? Had I not proven by my guardianship that you could trust me?’

Masamoto had tears in his eyes. The idea that Jack couldn’t trust him, and might not respect him, seemed to disappoint the great samurai the most.

‘
OUT
OF MY SIGHT!’

Jack sat upon the bough of the old pine tree in the corner of the
Nanzen-niwa
. Hidden in darkness, he kicked despondently at the tree’s wooden crutch, lashing out harder and harder until the branches shook.

He looked up at the night sky, wishing it would swallow him up, but the stars gave him no comfort either. They just reminded him of how lonely and lost he was. The tide was turning in Japan and foreigners like him were no longer welcome. Not only was he being alienated by the country he lived in, but he had estranged himself from his only protector. He had turned Masamoto against him.

He had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

Dragon Eye had finally got his hands on his father’s
rutter
.

Jack cursed his stupidity. His failure.

He had failed his father’s memory, for the
rutter
was no longer his.

He had failed his little Jess, for he had lost their only heirloom, the one thing that could help him return home and secure their future.

He had failed his friends, for he’d proved incapable of protecting them.

Jack had lost everything most precious to him.

With his head in his hands, sobs wracking his whole body, Jack wondered whether he should leave the school now, or wait until the morning.

‘All is not lost, young samurai. Don’t despair.’

Jack glanced up, still weeping. He hadn’t even heard the old man approach.

Sensei Yamada leant upon his walking stick, gazing at Jack with concerned affection while pensively twirling the tip of his long wispy beard around one bony finger.

‘A storm in the night, that’s all,’ he said, the gentle kindness in his voice seeking to allay some of Jack’s grief. ‘In time, his anger will pass and he will see you for the samurai you are. All will be forgiven.’

‘How can that be? I’ve betrayed him,’ lamented Jack, the words cutting so deep into his heart he swore they drew blood. ‘I’ve disrespected him. Broken his trust. Gone against the very
bushido
spirit he lives by.’

‘Jack-kun, you breathe
bushido
.’

The old Zen master laid a hand upon Jack’s arm and patted it lightly. ‘Come with me,’ he said, guiding Jack out from the darkness of the pine tree and into the pale light of the waxing moon. ‘A walk will clear your mind.’

Jack followed blindly by his side as if he were a ghost, not really there, but listening nonetheless to the counsel of his sensei.

‘I cannot condone your lying to Masamoto-sama about the
rutter
, but you’ve proved your honesty by confessing of your own free will,’ began the Zen master, flicking a stone from the path with his stick. ‘It was unfortunate that you chose the castle in which to hide your precious logbook. You hadn’t thought through the consequences of that decision properly.’

Jack solemnly shook his head.

‘However, I’m perfectly aware that your decision to put it in the castle was not done out of malice or with the intention of harming the
daimyo
. Your loyalty to your guardian and your respect for his life led you to believe that the lie was safer than the truth, and the castle more secure than the school. However misguided your intentions, you were trying to protect him, to do your duty. This is what Masamoto-sama will undoubtedly come to realize.’

As they reached one of the larger standing stones in the garden, Sensei Yamada rubbed its smooth surface.

‘You are headstrong like this rock, Jack-kun. Your boldness in your plans and belief in your ability to deal with problems by yourself is reminiscent of Masamoto-sama’s own youth. He too was a fiercely independent spirit.’

Sensei Yamada gave Jack a hard look, which Jack found difficult to meet.

‘This is why his emotions are so strong. Masamoto-sama sees himself in you. He’s not angry. He’s afraid. Afraid that he will lose another son to that demon Dokugan Ryu.’

Sensei Yamada led Jack out of the garden and across the deserted courtyard of the
Niten Ichi Ryū
. Each pebble reflected the moonlight, transforming the square into a great ocean that appeared to ripple as they drifted across its surface towards the Buddha Hall.

‘You believe you broke the code of
bushido
?’

Jack nodded his head, too upset to speak.

‘Well, you are wrong. What you accomplished tonight, and in every previous encounter with that ninja, proves you are a samurai beyond all doubt. Your courage in the face of such danger can only be applauded. The benevolence you show to others, alongside the compassion you have for your friends, is what binds you together, protects you. It is what keeps you fighting against all the odds. This is a truly honourable principle. The very essence of
bushido
.’

They began to ascend the stone steps of the Buddha Hall, and Jack felt heartened by his sensei’s wisdom, each step he took seeming to atone for another of his failings.

‘You have always done what you thought was right. This is the first virtue of
bushido
, rectitude. The goodness in your heart is the one thing Dokugan Ryu can never take from you. As long as you possess this, he can never win.’

‘But I’ve made an unforgivable mistake,’ protested Jack, ‘and I can’t take it back.’

‘There’s no such thing as a mistake, young samurai.’

Sensei Yamada ushered Jack inside the
Butsuden
. The great bronze Buddha sat silent in prayer, surrounded by a ring of flickering candles and the tiny red glowing tips of burning incense sticks. The temple bell hung motionless above the Buddha’s head like an ethereal crown, and Jack wondered whether one hundred and eight chimes would ever be enough to absolve him of his sins in the Buddha’s eyes. First, though, he had to answer to his own God.

‘Mistakes are our teachers,’ explained Sensei Yamada, bowing before the Buddha. ‘As long as you recognize them for what they are, they can help you learn about life. Each mistake teaches you something new about yourself. There is no failure, remember, except in no longer trying. It is the courage to continue that counts.’

Jack bowed and, in his despair, prayed for both Buddha’s and God’s blessing.

Sensei Yamada motioned for Jack to enter a side room of the
Butsuden
.

‘You may see her now.’

The small room was aglow with candles. Jack bowed his head and entered alone, the richly aromatic smell of white sage and frankincense wafting in the air around him.

Akiko lay upon a thick futon, dressed in a fine silk kimono of cream and gold, delicately embroidered with pale-green bamboo shoots.

Jack approached quietly and knelt by her side.

She looked to be asleep. He took her hand gently in his. It felt cool to the touch.

‘So your first dream did foretell our fortunes,’ she whispered, her voice hoarse but resilient.

‘You’re lucky to be alive,’ Jack replied, squeezing her hand affectionately.

‘Mount Fuji, a hawk and the leaf of a
nasu
,’ she laughed weakly. ‘Sensei Yamada was right, they brought us all the luck in the world. What more could we have asked for?’

An explanation
, thought Jack, but he let it pass. Now wasn’t the time to ask about her miraculous survival.

Jack had overheard Sensei Yamada and Sensei Kano, as they laid her in the Buddha Hall to recover in peace, discussing
dokujutsu
, the ninja Art of Poison. The two sensei had both agreed that someone had helped her to build a tolerance against ninja poisons. Jack suspected the monk from the Temple of the Peaceful Dragon was responsible. He recalled how Akiko had appeared ill at New Year. She had told Kiku that it was something she’d drunk and then had gone straight to the monk for help. Had her condition been caused by trying to build up a resistance to such poisons? Akiko had a lot to explain, but for now Jack was just glad she was alive.

‘I’m so sorry, Akiko. I should’ve listened to you. Whatever Sensei Yamada says, I made a stupid mistake in not -‘

‘Jack, it wasn’t your fault,’ she interrupted, softly putting a finger to his lips. ‘The only mistake was Dragon Eye’s – he let you live.’

Akiko beckoned Jack closer, drawing his face towards hers.

Their cheeks touched and Jack felt her warm breath grace his skin. For that brief moment he experienced total peace, safe within her arms.

Whispering in his ear, Akiko said, ‘You have to get back the
rutter.
You must follow the Way of the Dragon.’

The following quotes and facts are referenced within
Young Samurai: The Way of the Sword
(with the page numbers in square brackets below) and their sources are acknowledged here:

1. [
Pages 6 to 8
] This old nursery rhyme, ‘A man of words and not of deeds’, is considered to originate from a play by John Fletcher (playwright, 1579-1625, a contemporary of Shakespeare) called
Lover’s Progress
(‘Deeds, not words’, Sc. 6, Act
III
).

2. [
Page 70
] ‘When tea is made with water drawn from the depths of mind, whose bottom is beyond measure, we really have what is called
cha-no-yu’
– Toyotomi Hideyoshi (samurai
daimyo
, 1537-98).

3. [
Page 71
] Tea was first introduced on English shores around 1652 by Dutch traders, who had only begun shipping it back to Europe in 1610. England was a latecomer to the tea scene.

4. [
Page 185
] ‘In a fight between a strong technique and a strong body, technique will prevail. In a fight between a strong mind and a strong technique, mind will prevail, because it will find the weak point’ – Taisen Deshimaru ( Japanese Soto Zen Buddhist teacher, 1914-82).

5. [
Page 224
] ‘Those here now, those gone before, those yet to come’ – based on a traditional Buddhist blessing and healing chant (anonymous).

A serious bow of respect and thanks must go to the following people who are all a vital part of the Young Samurai team: Charlie Viney, my agent, for guidance of the Young Samurai project on a worldwide scale and his continuing dedication to my career; Shannon Park, my editor at Puffin, for so ably picking up the editing sword from Sarah Hughes and making just the right cuts and suggestions; Louise Heskett, whose passion, dedication and enthusiasm are worthy of the greatest samurai; Adele Minchin and Penny Webber for launching a great campaign and overcoming the masses; and everyone at wonderful Puffin Books, in particular Francesca Dow; Pippa Le Quesne for early guidance and suggestions; Tessa Girvan at
ILA
for continuing to discover new countries in which to sell the Young Samurai series; Akemi Solloway Sensei for being such a generous supporter of the Young Samurai books (readers, please visit:
solloway.org
); Trevor Wilson of Authors Abroad for his sterling work in organizing my event bookings; Ian, Nikki and Steffi Chapman for their wonderful backing; David Ansell Sensei of the Shin Ichi Do dojo for his excellent tuition and guidance; my mum for being my number-one fan; my dad, without whom these books would not be so sharp; and my wife, Sarah, for making everything worthwhile. Lastly, all the librarians and teachers who have supported the series (you are my secret ninja force!) and all the Young Samurai readers out there – thank you for buying the book, reading it and sending me emails and letters telling me how much you enjoyed it. It makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Bushido

Bushido
, meaning the ‘Way of the Warrior’, is a Japanese code of conduct similar to the concept of chivalry. Samurai warriors were meant to adhere to the seven moral principles in their martial arts training and in their day-to-day lives.

Virtue 1:
Gi
– Rectitude

Gi
is the ability to make the right decision with moral confidence and to be fair and equal towards all people no matter what colour, race, gender or age.

Virtue 2:
Yu
– Courage

Yu
is the ability to handle any situation with valour and confidence.