Chapter 9

Ryu wandered through the bright, shining, forest, now on his way back home.

Suddenly, a ruckus broke the delicate silence of Ryu’s peaceful journey. He pulled his mask over his face and rushed toward the noise to see what was going on. He stepped out into the clearing on the outskirts of his village, where kids should have been playing and his people should have rushed to greet him.

Instead, he saw an image of horror. A man in gold armor with a staff like that of the legendary monkey king’s stood with ragged soldiers kneeling at his feet. The villagers were screaming in terror at the havoc caused by the invading army. Two soldiers approached the commander with a scraped and shrieking woman writhing to escape their clutches. It was Hideyoshi Toyotomi. He had attacked Ryu’s village and had now captured his Mikoto.

“My lord, we have captured another. What shall we do with her?” The soldiers asked, struggling to keep Ryu’s wife within their clutches.

“Well, it seems you’ve found another villager.” Hideyoshi scoffed. “Let’s have a look.” He tilted her face upward and observed her for a second. “Well, well, and a beauty at that. Such a shame we’ll have to kill her.”

The two men dragged her away as she screamed her husband’s name in futile hopes that he may come to her rescue. An officer of Hideyoshi’s appeared before his master.

“My liege, we have cleared the village of peasants. What are my next orders?”

Hideyoshi pondered for a second before answering. “Kill the peasants and I want this entire village burned to the ground.”

“Yes, sir.” The officer nodded as he raced of to send the village that Ryu had once so loyally protected into flames.

I cannot let this happen! Ryu thought as he raced off to save his beloved village. He cursed under his breath at the thought of having to both save the villagers and stop the unit that was preparing to set the village ablaze.

Ryu leaped over a dirt road on the edge of the village and began dashing across the rooftops. He saw the officer from earlier commanding his troops to prepare the flame. They gathered fuel for the fire and piled it into the first house.

One of the men threw an armful of hay into the pile. Ryu leaped down from the roof and permanently silenced the man.

“Hey, you there!” Ryu heard the gruff voice of the officer, who had apparently been keeping guard of the place. He threw the man against the side of the building and cursed at him.

“I don’t have time for this!” He yelled, infuriated at the annoyance. He eliminated the officer and the rest of his men. He had to save the villagers.

Meanwhile, a child, about the age of ten, stepped up to the guillotine as the other villagers, tied with ropes watched in terror the fate that surely awaited them as well. His head was place on the block. Hideyoshi stared in amusement at the cruel punishment that he had brought upon the villagers. The rope was let go and the blade fell toward the child’s neck. A silver projectile zipped past Hideyoshi’s shoulder and planted itself into the wooden post, which acted like a pulley for the blade, pinning the rope to the post and stopping the blade inches above the child’s neck.

The villagers stared in amazement at their protector, perched on a rooftop behind Hideyoshi.

Looks like I just made it. Ryu thought with a sigh, staring into the crowd at his lovely wife, who was thankfully, unharmed.

“Kill them, kill them all! And get that accursed ninja!” Hideyoshi snarled.

With lightning speed, Ryu leaped down and was instantly swarmed by soldiers. He spun, slicing the men across their middles with his dagger, which was, unfortunately, not a close-combat weapon. Ryu used it mainly to silence guards. Ryu reached for his scythes, which he dual-wielded, as they were connected by a chain, dodging the oncoming soldiers and using the curved blade to slit their throats.

He came from behind to silence the men that tried to kill the captured villagers. He cut the bonds that held their arms together behind their backs. The villagers fought back against the soldiers. They may have only been villagers, but the young had been trained in the martial arts as they played “ninja” and the old had not lost their skills in combat. Once again, there was hope for Ryu’s people.

Ryu looked around at the villagers fighting off the foolish soldiers. They may have been trained in combat, but they lacked the spirit, which Ryu had taught his people never to abandon.

Suddenly, Ryu realized that his wife was not a part of this defensive strike. She was missing.

Ryu dashed through the narrow alleys of his village searching for his wife, Mikoto. He rounded a corner and saw a dark silhouette inside the second-story window of the general store. He rushed through the threshold and leaped over the counter and up the narrow staircase to the stockroom where he discovered that Hideyoshi had taken Mikoto captive inside the stockroom on the second floor.

“Well, if it isn’t Ryu of the Akechi army. Such a shame what happened, don’t you think?” Mikoto’s captor scowled.

“What are you talking about?” Ryu asked, confused.

“As you know I am one of Lord Nobunaga’s most trusted officers. When I heard that my Lord had been slain, I rushed right on over to Honnoji and eliminated Mitsuhide. My troops and I were on our way back to Shikoku when we came across this pathetic village.” Hideyoshi nonchalantly explained as he twirled his staff around. “But it seems that, now I’ll have to burn your little wife, here.” He stepped aside to reveal Mikoto lying on the floor, still tied up as she was during the execution.

“Mikoto!” Ryu shouted.

He rushed forth and attempted to attack Hideyoshi, but the warlord crossed his staff in front of him in defense, blocking Ryu’s attack. Ryu swung the other scythe by the chain and threw it toward Hideyoshi’s head, but its flight was impeded by Hideyoshi’s staff. Ryu ducked under Hideyoshi’s staff as he thrust it forth in hopes of striking Ryu’s stomach. He ran inside and severed the ropes that held Mikoto down. She stood and ran toward the threshold as Ryu distracted her captor.

“Oh no you don’t!” Hideyoshi shouted, spinning and striking her in the head with his staff, knocking her out cold at the doorway.

He took out a matchbox that he had taken from the fire unit and struck the match on the side of the box. He tossed it into a pot of oil, which the store usually sold for use as lighter fluid for bonfires. An explosion rumbled through the building and set the room on fire.

Ryu attacked relentlessly, but to no avail as Hideyoshi’s skills with a staff outmatched his own skills with the scythes. Ryu realized why Hideyoshi held such a high position in the Oda army.

Ryu realized that for a “hero” he lacked the necessary tricks up his sleeve that were needed for ninja of his caliber. He needed to assess the situation and come up with a way to overcome the odds. He needed to use the weapons on hand to rival Hideyoshi’s skills with a staff. He held the scythes by the middle of the chain and swung them together. To him, it seemed as though holding such a short weapon against a staff was out of the question.

Ryu swung the blades downward, letting go as they hit Hideyoshi’s staff. He thrust his foot upward, hitting Hideyoshi in the jaw. Hideyoshi thrust his staff forward, once again attempting to hit Ryu in the stomach. Ryu leaped upward and kneed Hideyoshi in the jaw, causing him to drop his weapon. Ryu picked up the pace, continually barraging Hideyoshi with attacks. Finally, he quickly grabbed his scythes and swung them hard and fast, digging them deep into the commander’s chest.

Ryu stared in silent contemplation before heading for the staircase. His fallen opponent struck another match and spilled the oil all across the floor. He lit the fluid and the entire room went up in flames.

Ryu turned at the sound of an evil cackle. Ryu grabbed Mikoto as the floor beneath him crumbled. Ryu held his wife close and ducked behind the counter as the entire store toppled, burying him in the wreckage.

Outside, the entire town was watching, having driven off the intruders. Slowly, Ryu broke through the rubble holding Mikoto tightly in his arms.

The entire village cheered and Ryu realized that he had done it. He had finally ended the war and his part was over. He could raise a family of his own.

Mikoto slowly awoke and stared deeply into her husband’s eyes.