The Way Of The Sword (17 page)

After a few moments contemplation, Sensei Yamada gave a resigned shake of the head and dismissed Harumi back into line.

‘Can no one provide Sensei Yamada with a satisfactory answer?’ demanded Masamoto, glowering at the trial participants who knelt before him. His indignation at everyone’s failure to solve this third trial was marked, a fact conveyed by the reddening of his scars. ‘Are you telling me that there is not one student in my
dojo
who can demonstrate intellect and insight worthy of a samurai?’

He was greeted by shamed silence, the entrants’ disgrace growing with each empty second.

Jack joined the others in bowing his head. Despite the fact that, thanks to Yori, he could fold a paper crane, frog or goldfish with practised ease, the solution to the riddle remained elusive. When his turn had come, Jack’s suggestion was that
origami
taught patience, but Sensei Yamada had reluctantly shaken his head in response.

‘Very well. I now open this trial to all trainee samurai of the
Niten Ichi Ryū
,’ Masamoto announced, ‘not just those vying for entry into the Circle of Three. So, what does
origami
teach us?’

The rest of the school suddenly stiffened to attention as his eyes raked the students for a solution. No one dared move in case the irate Masamoto thought they had the answer. The tension grew unbearable, dishonour now tainting everyone who failed to respond.

Just as Masamoto appeared ready to explode, a small hand raised itself among the sea of shamefaced samurai.

‘Yes, Yori-kun? You have an answer?’

Yori meekly nodded his head.

‘Then step forward and take part in the trial.’

Yori approached in quick hesitant steps like a dormouse seeking a bolt-hole.

‘Please, Yori-kun,’ invited Sensei Yamada, his wrinkly face warm and welcoming in contrast to the fearsome expression of Masamoto, ‘reveal your answer to me.’

The hall fell silent as the entire school strained to hear Yori’s words.

Yori finished his explanation, every word a secret in his sensei’s ear, then stepped back and bowed. Sensei Yamada studied him a moment, twisting his grey beard through his fingers. Ever so slowly, he turned his head towards Masamoto and nodded once, allowing a wide, gap-toothed smile to spread across his face.

‘Excellent,’ said Masamoto, his thunderous mood dissipating at once. ‘At least one trainee warrior here has the aptitude to think like a true samurai. Yori-kun, enlighten your peers with an answer worthy of the
Niten Ichi Ryū
.’

Yori looked startled. Quiet at the best of times, he quaked under the pressure of addressing the whole school.

‘Have courage, young samurai. Speak!’

Yori’s voice came out in a petrified squeak, ‘Nothing… is as it appears.’

He swallowed hard to regain control of his voice.

‘Just like a piece of paper can be more than a piece of paper in
origami
, becoming a crane, a fish or a flower; so… so…’

‘A samurai should never underestimate their own potential to bend and fold to life,’ continued Sensei Yamada, taking over before Yori completely stuttered to a halt. ‘To strive to become more than they first appear, to go beyond their obvious limits.’

Yori nodded gratefully, finishing in a small voice, ‘This is what
origami
teaches us.’

‘The Gauntlet is your last trial,’ announced Sensei Hosokawa, pacing the
dojo
floor in front of the entrants who knelt respectfully in a line. ‘It is a test of courage, your final chance to prove yourselves worthy for the Circle of Three. Judging by the previous trial, you all have a great deal to prove.’

The
Butokuden’
s training area was empty, giving no clue as to what was involved in the Gauntlet.

‘Your goal is to walk from one end of the
Butokuden
to the other,’ he continued, indicating a route that ran straight down the centre of the
dojo
.

That didn’t seem too hard, thought Jack, glancing at Yamato who appeared to be thinking the exact same thing. But Akiko gave them both a dubious shake of the head, indicating that there was definitely more to this challenge than a mere walk.

‘The Gauntlet is your Trial by Sword, so you should carry your
bokken
. If you can run the Gauntlet and reach the other end, you will pass the test. I now ask all participants to leave the
dojo
.’

Jack and the others hesitated. What was so different about this trial that they were required to leave?

‘NOW!’ commanded Sensei Hosokawa.

A moment later, they were on their feet and marching from the
Butokuden
.

‘Wait in the courtyard until you are called for,’ ordered Sensei Hosokawa before re-entering the
dojo
and closing the large wooden doors behind him.

‘What do you think he’s got planned?’ asked Yamato as they stood shivering, ankle deep in the snow.

They could hear the sound of movement and the shuffling of a multitude of feet.

‘Perhaps he’s setting up an obstacle course,’ Jack suggested.

‘Or releasing a
gaijin
-eating tiger!’ snarled Hiroto, laughing with Kazuki.

Jack turned to confront them, his nerves already on edge with the forthcoming trial. The Trial by Sword was Jack’s last opportunity to prove himself. His only chance.

‘Save your energy for the Gauntlet,’ advised Akiko, ensuring her
bokken
was secure on her hip. ‘Sensei Hosokawa hasn’t been drilling us hard without good reason.’

Jack backed down and tended to his own
bokken
.

‘HIROTO-KUN!’ summoned Sensei Hosokawa from within the
Butokuden
.

Hiroto’s laughter died at the mention of his name, his narrow lips suddenly drawing tight with tension. He strode valiantly across the courtyard, but couldn’t disguise a shudder of nerves as he approached the entrance. As soon as Hiroto was inside, the
Butokuden’
s doors slammed shut with an ominous thud. Outside, the rest of the participants waited and listened.

For a while, they heard nothing but the light patter of snow falling around them from the cold grey sky. Then a thundering
‘KIAI!’
broke from the
dojo
, followed by the sound of fighting and a loud scream.

A moment later there was deathly silence.

The entrants looked at one another in shock.

They waited, expecting to hear more, but no further sound came from Hiroto.

‘YAMATO-KUN!’ Sensei Hosokawa beckoned, opening the doors and breaking the silence.

Yamato took three deep breaths, then made his way across the courtyard to the hall. Jack gave him an encouraging look, but he barely acknowledged it. Yamato was already in the moment, utterly focused on the unknown trial that awaited him.

Once again, the doors closed.

The hush from within the
dojo
was unsettling and Jack was reminded of the calm that preceded the most violent of storms.

All of a sudden the air was punctuated with screams of
kiai
, shouts of combat and the soft dull thud of
bokken
against flesh.

This time, the battle seemed to stretch on and on before a great guttural cheer exploded from the hall.

Then Sensei Hosokawa’s voice issued forth.

‘EMI-CHAN!’

‘Good luck,’ said Jack.

Emi smiled warmly at him, but her eyes belied the fear she really felt.

‘Remember what the painting in the Tiger Room said,’ Jack added, hoping to reassure her.
‘If you don’t enter the tiger’s cave, you won’t catch its cub
.’

Emi disappeared inside the
Butokuden
.

‘When were you in the Tiger Room at Nijo Castle?’ enquired Akiko, her voice slightly strained. ‘We didn’t visit it during the tea ceremony.’

‘No. I went back.’

‘What? Just the two of you?’

‘Well… yes,’ mumbled Jack. ‘I wanted to see more of the castle.’

Pursing her lips, Akiko nodded curtly and glanced up into the sky, concentrating on the snowflakes as they fell and settled upon the ground.

A single
kiai
from Emi was heard within the hall and it was not long before the next participant was summoned. Several more entered before Sensei Hosokawa cried, ‘AKIKO-CHAN!’

Jack offered her a reassuring smile, but she was staring straight ahead as she strode over to the entrance. He hoped she wasn’t upset that he hadn’t told her about his second visit with Emi. But why should she be? He knew there were things that Akiko didn’t tell him.

In the courtyard, the snow continued to fall, settling upon everyone’s heads and shoulders. Jack heard Akiko
kiai
several times above the cries of battle, but just as he was wondering how far she had got, an ominous silence descended upon the
Butokuden
.

The dwindling group of entrants tensed to hear whose name would be called out next.

Eventually only Jack and Kazuki remained. They ignored one another, the tension of the Gauntlet getting to both of them.

‘KAZUKI-KUN!’

Kazuki straightened his
gi
and headed confidently towards the entrance.

‘Good luck,’ said Jack on the spur of the moment.

Kazuki glanced back over his shoulder, a grim smile on his face. ‘You too,’ he replied with uncharacteristic camaraderie. ‘We’ll need it.’

Then he stepped inside and closed the doors behind him.

From the shouts that ensued, Kazuki seemed to be doing well, but Jack’s body was too stiff with cold for him to care whether Kazuki succeeded or not.

‘JACK-KUN!’

Summoned at last, he tried to rub some warmth back into his bones. He didn’t know if he was shaking more from cold or trepidation. He gripped the hilt of his
bokken
in an attempt to steady himself.

Stepping through the doors of the
dojo
, he entered the Gauntlet.

Jack dared not move.

Down either side of the
dojo
were lined the students of the
Niten Ichi Ryū
, appearing at first glance to be a ceremonial welcoming party. They formed a narrow corridor of samurai, stretching from the entrance to Hosokawa himself at the opposite end.

At various points behind these two rows, Jack noticed the other Circle of Three entrants. All of them looked thoroughly beaten, some nursing bruised limbs, others bloody faces. Jack spotted Akiko halfway down the hall. She didn’t look too injured, though she clutched her side, wincing in pain as she shifted to get a better view of Jack.

‘Welcome to the Gauntlet,’ greeted Sensei Hosokawa from the far end of the hall. ‘Please join me so we can begin.’

Jack took a wary step forward.

Nothing happened.

He glanced to one side, eyeing a burly student from the year above. The boy ignored him.

Jack made another move, but the two rows remained stock-still. Perhaps they
were
just a welcoming party, with the Gauntlet starting only once he reached Sensei Hosokawa. Jack began to walk towards the sensei, but the moment he did, a shout of
‘KIAI!’
erupted from behind him.

Jack heard the
swoosh
of a
bokken
.

Instinctively he ducked, the wooden sword barely missing his shoulder. Jack spun round, unsheathing his own
bokken
to protect himself against any follow-up attack. The student from the year above had been the culprit and was now bringing his sword back down on to Jack’s head.

Jack countered, blocking the strike and swinging his own sword across his attacker’s gut. The blow winded the boy, bending him double. Jack kicked him hard in the side and the boy fell to the ground.

But no sooner had Jack dispatched his first assailant than a girl broke from the ranks and thrust a wooden
tantō
at his stomach. Jack leapt to the side, parrying the girl’s assault with his hand and knocking the knife from her grip. Slipping to her off-guard side, he brought his own weapon round in a low arc. The girl jumped to avoid it, but Jack raised the blade at the last second and caught her ankle. The girl was swept off her feet and landed in a crumpled heap upon the floor.

A faint rustle alerted Jack to an attack from behind. Two students were bearing down on him. They struck simultaneously, one sword at his head, the other at his stomach.

With no time to think, Jack dived beneath the two
bokken
, rolling between his assailants. As he passed through, he struck the knee of the boy to his left, hobbling him. Flipping back to his feet, Jack followed through with a back kick that caught the other in the kidneys, dropping the boy like a stone.

As more assailants stepped from the ranks, Jack continued to fight his way down the centre of the Gauntlet, fending off attack after attack. All his extra training was now paying off. Each sword movement flowed into the next, the
bokken
gliding through the air in a series of controlled arcs and executing strikes with devastating accuracy.

But with each new wave of attack, Jack became a little slower, a touch weaker. A sense of dread consumed him as he realized that he wasn’t
meant
to complete the Gauntlet unscathed. The Gauntlet wasn’t about testing his skill with a sword. It was about his courage and spirit to survive against all the odds.

Jack was now three-quarters of the way down the hall and had levelled with Kazuki, who bore a nasty gash on his left cheek. His rival watched Jack’s progress through hooded eyes, one of which was swollen half-shut. The only other entrant who had got as far as him was Yamato, but it seemed no one had reached Sensei Hosokawa.

With the end in sight, Jack rushed forwards, but was confronted by a girl wielding a
bō
. The girl twirled her staff like a whirling dervish and prevented him from passing. By the way she moved, Jack could tell she was as quick as a cobra, and the reach of her weapon gave her a distinct advantage over Jack’s
bokken
. Jack couldn’t even get close. He dodged and weaved, but was unable to land a single strike.