Wrested Zanto the Razor from Ginkaku Uneri, the Lord of Gekoku Castle.

And so Sento the Legion from Meisai Tsuruga, the Mistress of Triad Shrine.

In just three months, Togame the Schemer and her bodyguard, Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, had managed to sequester three of the Twelve Possessed, those masterworks of legendary swordsmith Kiki Shikizaki unattainable by even the Old Shogun, despite his tireless efforts. Bidding adieu to Izumo, the duo planned to make a brief stop at Owari Castle, seat of the Owari Bakufu─it was the following month, in the fourth moon1 of the year.

They were in a tiny village on the outskirts of Suo─on the east coast of present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture. A fishing village, nothing more, and on the way to nowhere─not even an inn to lodge them. Unsure of whether namedropping the bakufu would do them any good out here, they chose not to disclose their identities, posing instead as wayfaring entertainers, only passing through, and pleaded with the village leader to let them spend the evening in his storehouse. He bought their story─and why not? With Togame’s striking hair of white and garish costumery, and Shichika’s outsize yet slender, toned physique, they certainly looked the part. Togame privately decided this would be their standard explanation going forward.

Midnight.

Sprawled out on the straw mats2 lent to them by the village leader (a kind man who seemed to harbor no suspicions and could have won his rank out of sheer goodness, a rarity today), Shichika, eyes closed, heard the door of the storehouse open.

Togame was back from her excursion.

“Wake up, Shichirin.”

“I’m not asleep.”

When called, Shichika opened his eyes. He had only closed them for a spell, and truly wasn’t sleeping. He was a katana. Togame was his master.3 How could he fall asleep before she got home safe? Lying down was the most rest he needed.

He had been waiting for Togame.

“Ah. Well then─”

Togame closed the door behind her, walked right up to Shichika, and tumbled to the floor to join him. He saw this coming, and just before her head made contact, stretched out his arm. It was a bit too muscular to make for a good pillow, but Togame was not about to complain.

“I’m so…tired.”

“Seems like it. You should have said something. I could have helped.”

“Ha. As if I need a scheming lesson from you, Shichirin.”

Though forceful, her words lacked spirit.

Such was the extent of her fatigue.

…By the way. “Shichirin”4 had recently been decided as Shichika’s new nickname. Sparing you the details─this decision resulted from a back and forth much like what you read at the start of Book Two. Shichika had plenty of doubts about this one-sided decision (“How am I anything like a ceramic charcoal stove?”), but at this point, he gave up without a fight. Besides, knowing Togame, it probably wouldn’t last.

Anyway. While he had been raised on an island no one ever visited, in a ramshackle hut compared to which this storehouse was a serious upgrade, it surprised Shichika that Togame, born the daughter of a mighty daimyo and having risen to the rank of Grand Commander of Arms, would settle for lodgings little better than sleeping outside5─in short, he was worried, for once, about her comfort─but Togame seemed fine.

After all, a lot needs to happen for the daughter of a daimyo to become Grand Commander─if you consider for a second what she must have gone through, perhaps sleeping in a storehouse was nothing special.

Point being, this was a woman who pursued her goals by any means necessary.

“We’ll leave in the morning, after thanking our host.”

“Huh?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“Oh…”

After such a long pause, Shichika was surprised to hear Togame speak.

“What’s the rush? I thought we were going to stick around6 awhile, until we heard more─you know, about Hakuhei Sabi.”

“It seems─the chase is over.”

“What?”

“The other day I noticed someone following us. Believe it or not, they came right up and handed me a formal challenge─proving my suspicion Sabi wanted us to follow him.”

Togame sat herself up and produced a letter from her kimono. Without much of a flourish, she handed it to Shichika, and retreated to a corner of the storehouse to untie her obi. She was worn out7 from her excursion, and had been on the mat by Shichika only to rest, with no intention of going to sleep fully dressed. As a matter of fact, she would have had a hard time sleeping─with all those extra layers, it was a wonder she could even walk. When it was time for bed, she had to take them off.

“A challenge…to a duel? From what I’ve heard, that sort of thing is rare these days.”

“Sabi is a walking anachronism. Anyway, read it over.”

“Easy for you to say. I can’t read hiragana.”8

“Oh, is that so.”

Togame was working on shedding her layers.

Although it was night, the storehouse was well-lit by the moon and stars; but Togame showed no signs of embarrassment or shame as she doffed layer after layer of sumptuous silk. The Schemer and the Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu had been adventuring together for four months. By now, the bold line delineating private life from business had faded into obscurity, making the distinction blurry and irrelevant.

“Shichirin─”

“What.”

“My hair keeps tangling. Come hold it up.”

“Sure thing.”

He sat up from the mat, as he was told, and stood behind Togame as she undressed, gathering her white hair in his hands.

……

He looked utterly subservient.9

Regardless.

Whatever she had gone through, Togame had been born into nobility and secured herself a high rank in the bakufu. It made sense, to a degree, for her to handle Shichika, her bodyguard, this way, but Shichika’s comportment, showing no signs of resistance or lust,10 was seriously unnatural. Being raised on a desert island did not adequately explain why he felt no desire.

But that is why─thought Togame.

That was why.

Putting aside his first adversary, Komori Maniwa, and his second, Ginkaku Uneri─this was why Shichika had been able to kill off his third opponent, Meisai Tsuruga, even though she was a woman.

It’s only human─we approach those of the same sex and those of the opposite sex11 in different ways. Same goes for when a swordsman makes a kill. No swordsman can kill a woman in the way he kills a man─at least, Togame had thought as much, until the month before.

Some would hesitate to kill the opposite sex.

And some would love to kill the opposite sex.

As a matter of extremes, everyone falls into one of these two categories.

But not Shichika.

He felt neither.

He had slain Meisai─just like the other two.

Talk about extreme.

And even if he was not totally without desire─blaming his behavior on a lack of, or perhaps even a low sex drive did not seem entirely off base. Since the owners of the nine outstanding swords among the Twelve Possessed were not all necessarily male, this detail was good news12 for Togame─

And yet it raised another pressing question.

This man─this sword.

If he saw no difference─had no preference between men and women.

What exactly made him fall for me?

“So, what does this challenge say?”

“He makes his point with lots of formal language, but for your sake, I’ll summarize: ‘Let’s fight. Winner takes the Shikizaki sword.’”

“Direct.”

“Yeah.”

“But don’t you think that sounds a little fishy? The more I hear, the weirder this all sounds. This guy may be old-fashioned and direct─but look what happened last time. Remember when he scrapped his loyalty to the bakufu and ran off with the sword?”

Hakuhei Sabi. The swordsman Togame hired before Shichika, expecting him to carry out her Sword Hunt. He was the Strongest Swordsman in Japan─although after his betrayal, he had earned himself the name of Fallen Swordsman.

But all the same─Sabi was a master.

“His level of mastery makes the venom of the Shikizaki blades all the more potent─and pervasive. Venom courses through his veins.”

“Wow.”

“Even before he came into possession of the Whisper, Sabi was such an exemplary swordsman he had ceased to come across as human─so perhaps this was inevitable. It certainly makes sense.”

When they were entering Izumo, an emissary from the bakufu appeared before them─one of the Onmitsu, the ninja operatives whose standing in the government had plummeted thanks to the misdeeds of the Maniwa.

By his account, the Onmitsu had ascertained the whereabouts of Hakuhei Sabi─apparently, they were on a manhunt of their own, backing up the Military Directorate overseen by Togame. After losing face by association with the Maniwa, the Onmitsu were doing all they could to save their reputation.

But having a lead on Hakuhei Sabi, owner of Hakuto the Whisper, one of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki, did not give the Onmitsu the right to disregard Togame, whose Sword Hunt had been granted full authority13 by the shogunate. Indeed, this was the moment when Togame, having rounded up the Leveler and the Razor, was reaching for the Legion─eliminating Sabi was a task which should by rights be left to her.

Togame and Shichika were heading ever westward, from Kyoto to Inaba, and on through Izumo─from whence they journeyed down to Suo, where it was said that Hakuhei Sabi had gone into hiding.

Ever westward─

“It sounds like he knows we’ve gotten some of the swords.”

“At the very least, he knows about the Leveler and the Razor. And it’s been a month since Izumo─I wouldn’t be surprised if he had heard about the Legion.”

“Word gets out one way or another, huh.”

“Everywhere you go, some guy14 is running his mouth. And a swordsman the caliber of Sabi has no shortage of admirers, eager to be of service. Alliances are dangerous. His reputation as the Strongest Swordsman is enough to win their blind devotion…but Sabi is no master in name only. Frankly, I had hoped to see you face him at a later date…but no matter. I’ll cook up some kind of a scheme─just keep fighting, hard as you can.”

“You said Hakuto the Whisper was forged to be the lightest, thinnest sword around, right? One false move…an inch off course, and the blade shatters to pieces, making it impossible to block.”

“The Whisper is invisibly thin. It’s no use trying to explain. Until you see the blade yourself, its shape defies comprehension─as you say, it is extremely fragile…but that’s what makes it beautiful.”

“Beautiful? If it were a decoration, I could understand─but does it need to be so thin? It sounds like it was made to break. How am I supposed to capture it without a scratch─”

“I know that saying this I risk offending you─but this time around, I think you need to look beyond the sword. Hakuhei Sabi must not be underestimated… Even wielding the Whisper, his powers are unbridled and unfettered. Calling him the Strongest Swordsman in Japan is not a matter of opinion or infatuation─but a matter of fact. His swing and thrust are always sure, and I mean always. Dare I say that his attacks have never missed the mark, or even lapsed into the defense.”15

“And that makes him─the Strongest Swordsman?”

“At first glance, his ponytail almost makes him look like a girl. A pretty boy, for sure. But by his own account, he could even slice the noonday sun in half… Sabi was born too late. If he could have taken part in the Rebellion─but no. Even had he been born in the Age of Warring States, he would have been the greatest.16 He is a natural-born swordsman.”

Hakuhei Sabi was born after the Rebellion─and today, at barely twenty, he was still a boy, but to the bakufu, quite frankly─he was a terror. Perhaps the Onmitsu, who had seen their role usurped, felt up to the task, but they may also have been happy to unload this particular burden on Togame.

Then again, Togame had an interest in personally dispatching the scoundrel who betrayed her─so tasking her with the extermination of the Fallen Swordsman made the most sense. The problem was the timing.

This was not─the ideal time.

She had hoped to allow Shichika to accrue more experience first.

Experience─thus far on their Sword Hunt, Shichika had only battled three opponents to the death. While Togame had long stopped doubting his abilities, the idea of pitting him against Sabi for his fourth real fight… Well, let’s just say no amount of scheming would improve his odds.

But this was a chance she could not miss.

She could not let Sabi get away…not so long as he held one of the Twelve Possessed. And for that matter, Hakuto the Whisper. While she did not doubt Sabi’s skill, a sword that fragile─could easily be snapped in half, if things got even slightly out of hand. If Sabi so much as stumbled, the sword could be forever lost. It was a miracle the Whisper had remained intact for all this time. Togame had hoped to make it hers before any of the other Twelve Possessed.

“Judging from the wording of his challenge, it would appear that Sabi launched a Sword Hunt of his own. The venom of the blades has got the better of him. And yet the Onmitsu make it sound as if he’s only managed to obtain the Whisper. Assuming that he’s heard the talk about us, he can hardly be amused. His prowess17 will be hard enough to handle, without getting him worked up… Our best bet is to take advantage of the sort of swagger he can get away with, as Grand Master Swordsman, since after all, he─”

“Togame.”

Shichika cut her off. Having shed layer after layer, Togame was down to her slip18─he let her tresses gather on his forearms, and rested his hands on her shoulders, gripping her collarbone.19

“I know you’re excited, but stop complimenting other swords in front of me─I’m not sure how strong Sabi actually is, but I thought the Kyotoryu was supposed to be the strongest. As your katana, I have my pride. And I don’t need you prodding at it any more than necessary.”

“Ah, I see.”

Jealousy laid bare.

When Shichika was acting childish, he was difficult to handle. For Togame, it also made him easy to manipulate─at some point, however, she would have to fix his tendency to flare up when something rubbed him the wrong way.

But there was no time for that now.

They were underprepared.

After all the care she put into determining their order of attack─

“…No, not my collarbone. I’m weak there.”

“?”

“Ha-Hands off my collarbone. I’ll fall to pieces.20 Stop stop stop!”

“…? I was barely grabbing it. I was practically caressing you.”

“Even worse… No, nuhn, nuh.”

“Nuhn Nuh?21 Is that some rare, black-and-white beast from the continent? Are you okay? You’re kind of scaring me.”

“I’m fine, okay? Hold up my hair like a good boy. Seriously. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Okay? I’m sorry.”

Shichika found this strange, but did as he was told.

No skin off his back, but someone was grumpy.

“I don’t get it, Togame.”

“Like you can judge. You’re just as puzzling…but maybe I can find a way to put that part of you to use, when you fight Hakuhei Sabi. His comely22 mien holds even men in thrall.”

These willowy looks made his opponents let their guard down. None who saw him would reasonably assume he was the Strongest Swordsman in Japan. Even Togame, in their first meeting, assumed the stories she had heard must have been fabulations.23

She could not have been more wrong─

Sabi was without a doubt the Strongest Swordsman in Japan.

And barely twenty years of age─

“But Togame─isn’t this kind of a good thing? If Sabi is the Strongest Swordsman in Japan, and I beat him, that means I’ll be the Strongest Swordsman in Japan.”

“Yes, I suppose you would…but are you sure you want that title?”24

“As a swordsman─as a sword, what title could be better? All the more if it helps you.”

“Hmm…you surprise me. But know this,” Togame said. “No shortage of men have lost their lives to Sabi, after saying the same thing─so before getting too ambitious, you better figure out a way to stay alive.”

“Stay alive? How can I stay alive, unless I win?”

“That may be true─”

But winning was the problem.

The question of winning or losing was inextricable from that of life and death.

The fact that Shichika had not even considered fleeing was a sign of his dedication, or his stupidity. Hard to say.

Despite his foe being none other than the Fallen Swordsman─

“…”

While it may have been rude of Togame, or even insulting, to think these things─she was ill-equipped to stop herself.

She couldn’t help it.

After suffering the betrayal of Komori Maniwa of the Maniwa Clan─what if her second hire, Hakuhei Sabi, had not betrayed her or the bakufu─but become her loyal partner on the Sword Hunt? By now, how many of the Twelve Possessed would they have reaped?

The Strongest Swordsman in Japan─paired with her unparalleled intellect.

Three swords?

Would they have less─or more?

“…You can let go of my hair.”

“Okay.”

“Tie my obi.”

“Sure thing.”

When Togame had finally changed into her nightdress,25 they returned to the straw mats and resumed their earlier posture, with Shichika lending his arm for a pillow. For him, physical proximity was all about protection.

“So, what’s the plan? Do we accept the duel?”26

“We have no choice, at least provisionally. I have a handful of schemes in mind…that is, I hatched a few while I was out, but our only consolation at the moment is that one of them might work.”

“Might work…”

“I’ll work the details out along the way. I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

“You’ll think of something, huh… What do you mean by on the way? How far are we?”

“We aren’t exactly close─and we’ll need to take a boat.”

“A boat?”

“To Ganryu Island.”27

“Ganryu Island…”

“You’re the swordsman, whether you use a sword or not. Surely you’ve heard about the duel28 which took place on that island, over a hundred years ago, between a man bearing a great sword29 and another bearing two. He could not be any more old-fashioned.”

“…Or any more of a creep?”

Shichika sounded none too pleased to hear her picking up her praise of Sabi. Seeing his acid words to be a breaking point, Togame left it at that and resigned herself to sleep, but Shichika waited for her to fall asleep before letting himself relax.

And just before he did, he had a thought.

Hakuhei Sabi─Strongest Swordsman in Japan.

Does that make him stronger than sis?

Four tough months─and so much fun!

And now we end the introduction to this stage of their journey!

Thank you kindly for your patronage…but do I speak too soon?!

What about Hakuto the Whisper?!

And Hakuhei Sabi, the Strongest Swordsman in Japan?!

How will Shichika and Togame fare against this sudden turn of events─but then again, what turn of events is any less than sudden!

Ganryu Island, that romantic destination!

A one-off horror of a move!30

Behold, this purely odd piece of a period piece!

Tale of the Sword: Book Four ♪

Even calling them a trio feels a little off, since apart from being three men in similar dress, they were absolutely different from one another.

A little man with cropped1 hair.

A big man, hair hanging long.

And a middling man, whose hair was short.2

They all had different eyes and faces, each giving off his own impression─alike only in their masculinity, and their ninja garb.

This was no ordinary ninja garb. Cutoff sleeves, chains strung around their bodies─an ostentatious choice for ninjas, especially since these ones wore no masks.

However─it was all too obvious that they were ninjas.

The trio cruised ahead, nonstop. Even the way they traveled was abnormal.

The little man, the smallest of the three─

Walked with the other two perched on his shoulders─hard enough to do with children, and all the more with men who dwarf you by comparison, but his face showed no sign of strain.

Cruising ahead.

They were on the move.

On its own, this could be chalked up to superhuman strength─but the way the cropped-haired ninja moved defied pat3 explanation.

They were not traveling over land─

But over water─on the move.

Cruising ahead.

Cruising─with no sign of strain.

Disregarding the waves and spray.

Treading the surface without aid─the cropped-haired ninja walked with his comrades riding on his shoulders.

He trod the ocean surface, stepping with his left foot, just before his right foot sank─like in the famous piece of juvenile sophistry,4 which claims that this is all a person needs to do to walk on water─but the scene was too abnormal for even such crude sophistry to explain. This trio was clearly abnormal.

How could men the likes of these be ninjas?

“…”

“…”

“…”

Ninja garb with cutoff sleeves.

Protective chains strung round their bodies.

No masks.

A crew who needs no introduction─these were Bosses of the Maniwa.

They worked better alone. Without a doubt, that much was true.

Nevertheless, as the Maniwa Clan was an organization, its members could only be expected to branch off into factions and segregate responsibilities. Why else would they need twelve Bosses? It simply took that many leadership positions to federate5 the various oddball ninjas who called Maniwa Village home.

Thus, the Maniwa Clan divided ultimately into twelve parts─but the Twelve Bosses grouped together into sets of three. Whereby, the Maniwa Clan was subdivided into four factions─or units.

Namely:

Bird Unit Maniwa.

Beast Unit Maniwa.

Fish Unit Maniwa.

Bug Unit Maniwa.

In this regard, Komori Maniwa, the first enemy Shichika fought, belonged to the Beast Unit, while Shirasagi Maniwa, cut down by Ginkaku Uneri, belonged to the Bird Unit, and Kuizame Maniwa, slain by Meisai Tsuruga, belonged to the Fish Unit.

To be sure, they worked better alone, but these groupings were not nearly as strict as they sound, and were mostly nominal. For example, while belonging to the Beast Unit, Komori Maniwa maintained friendly relations with the Bird Unit─yet the firm bond of the Bug Unit was famous throughout Maniwa Village. If only she had known better, Togame would perhaps not have described the Maniwa in such a way.

At any rate.

Chocho6 Maniwa.

Mitsubachi7 Maniwa.

Kamakiri8 Maniwa.

Such were the names of the three men.

Bug Unit Maniwa─of the Maniwa Clan.

“…I can’t wrap my head around it.”

This opener came from Kamakiri Maniwa─the middling man with the short hair.

“We’ve only been dealing with the Twelve Possessed, the swords forged by swordsmith Kiki Shikizaki, for a matter of months…but in that short time, three of us Bosses have lost their lives─I gotta admit, I find it hard to believe.”

“But we know the news is true.”

Mitsubachi, the big man with the long hair, riding on the other shoulder, thus countered Kamakiri. Among the trio, Mitsubachi was the only ninja carrying a sword. And not a ninja sword─but a grand longsword.9

“We’ve seen Kuizame, Shirasagi, and Komori killed one by one over the past three months─more precisely, they each failed in their scramble to obtain the swords. Those are the facts. If I could turn it all around, trust me, I would do so in a heartbeat… I wonder how the other six are faring. Far be it from me to speculate─”

“I can see how it might happen to Komori.”

Thus spoke Chocho Maniwa─the little man with cropped hair, who walked over the choppy surface of the sea, bearing the two others on his shoulders.

“Komori was an exceptionally talented ninja, but his ninpo was only suited for a handful of situations─depending on the circumstances, his powers could be more than halved.”

“He had a weakness for entertaining,” Mitsubachi said, as if the failing were his own. “He was the kind of guy who would lose on purpose, just to show his enemy a good time. Whosoever his foe may be, he always strived to leave them with a smile on their face. In the end, I suppose his playful nature got the better of him.”

“Komori is dead,” said Kamakiri, “but the repossession of the Leveler is what really stung the Maniwa.”

“Still,” continued Mitsubachi, apparently ignoring his comrade’s remark, “the murders of Bird Unit Shirasagi and Fish Unit Kuizame in quick succession make for a frightening series of events─don’t you agree, Chocho? No sooner did ‘Backwords Shirasagi’ and ‘Kuizame the Sand Trap’ set off to snatch the swords of Kiki Shikizaki than─”

“You mean no sooner than the Kyotoryu stopped minding his own business,” corrected Chocho. “Ever since that cheeky little Schemer hired the Kyotoryu to pick up where we left off, it seems like we’ve had nothing but bad luck.”

“…Cold feet?”10 asked Kamakiri. “You want us all to kowtow11 to Owari, and live life by their rules?”

“No way,” said Chocho.

“No regrets,” said Mitsubachi.

They answered almost simultaneously.

Three of their comrades had been wasted, but their tone was resolute.

“Still,” Mitsubachi added, “any more of these embarrassments, and our reputation will be spoiled─can’t you hear the Schemer laughing as we speak? At how the Maniwa have done no good since leaving her?”

“With three of the Twelve Bosses slain, who would see us any other way? We’re in a truly wretched state. But before long, we’ll knock her off her high horse.”

“Make no mistake, friends. The Schemer has nothing to do with us─she poses no real threat. Our concern should be the Kyotoryu. Putting aside the Leveler he grappled from Komori, since it had already been in Togame’s hands earlier─he had the strength to seize the Razor and the Legion, feats deserving of the highest praise.”

“The Kyotoryu─I’ve heard that name. Hero of the Rebellion, right? Back then, our parents’ generation had free reign over the world, though I’m not so sure that anyone would call them heroes.”

“Ninjas are never the heroes, in any generation,” said Mitsubachi. “But hear this, Chocho. Our enemy is not the Hero of the Rebellion, but his son.”

“And youth makes him more of a menace. It makes you fearless.”

“Come on. I’m nothing of the sort─I came along this time to watch, that I might learn from your example.”

“You sound so sweet. Maybe even saccharine,”12 Kamakiri snorted. “In that case, I guess we can break up your share? If we take down the Kyotoryu, we’ll soon be the proud owners of three more of the Twelve Possessed─exactly enough for each member of the Bug Unit, but if you insist─”

“That’s an entirely separate matter.”

Mitsubachi’s panicky correction met easy laughter─

Just then.

As they cruised over the waves, they saw an island in the distance.

A tiny island.

But this island─was their destination.

“Hey. We’re almost there, Chocho─they don’t call you ‘Flying Butter’13 for nothing. Even with two grown men on your shoulders, this trip across the sea was no more than a stride.”

“No matter how many times we do this, I never get used to the feeling─”

“Honestly, I’m tuckered out.” Chocho was openly complaining. “Lot farther than it looked. If I don’t take myself a fifteen-minute break once we make land, I’ll be in rough shape.”

Chocho finished strong, picking up the pace─the island looming ever closer. Amidst the final stretch, they slipped around to the eastern side, avoiding the sandy beaches, to keep themselves from being spotted by anyone onshore, and climbed from the sea up a sheer cliff.

“Onward!” said Kamakiri. “Let’s fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee, and prey14 like a mantis. Bug Unit Maniwa─it is not for us to slink shyly forth.”

But the fated Ganryu Island─this was not.

Not on any map, and only ten miles around, this island had no formal name. Even speaking of it in the same breath as Ganryu Island─which like Seiryoin Gokenji Temple, home of the Katana Buddha, on Mt. Sayabashiri in Tosa, was extolled as a holy site by swordsmen─was a grave mistake.

To but a handful of people, this nameless place was called Haphazard Island.

But why would the ninjas of Maniwa Village want to hunt for the Twelve Possessed, the masterworks of Kiki Shikizaki?

Remember, these were ninjas, not swordsmen. The venom of the Shikizaki blades had far less of an effect on them─and just because Komori ran off with the Leveler did not mean that all the people of Maniwa Village were ready to betray the bakufu. This is why the Maniwa Clan had so many Bosses─to prevent a dictatorial15 situation, where the entire village was subject to the whims of an individual.

And so the reason.

One of the Twelve Possessed would fetch the same price as a country─if they were able to obtain all twelve, they stood to win themselves an astronomical16 sum of money. Equivalent to obtaining access to a mountain rife with gold.

That would be enough─although, practically speaking, even three or four of the Twelve Possessed was plenty─enough to save Maniwa Village.

The village needed saving.

It was no longer the Age of Warring States.

The Owari Bakufu, administered by the Yanari Shogunate, had already lasted over one hundred and fifty years. This was a world of peace and order, and overall tranquility. In all of history, including up until the present day, never has a land ever stank less of blood, it is told. The last war you could even call a war had been the late Rebellion, twenty years before.

Peace and order. Tranquility.

These things are usually desirable─but favorable climates never fail to have a dark side.

Some can only thrive in wartime.

Some are bred for war and nothing more.

Warriors and samurai are obvious examples─but coverts17 like the Maniwa, the Iga, the Koga, and lest we forget the Fuma,18 who in the Age of Warring States were inextricable from the daimyo, typify the breed.

Following the ascent of the Owari Bakufu, the Maniwa, as Kamakiri said, struggled to remain relevant up through the late Rebellion─and in its wake, were only assigned sporadic work, tasks you could get away with calling chores.

Your average ninja adapts to the times for the sake of survival─but the ninjas of Maniwa Village were absolute outliers, who solely undertook assassinations, as experts in the field.

How can such grotesque specialists survive in times of peace?

How to make an honest living, when all you know is war and bloodshed?

The fact is─Maniwa Village was in dire straits.

Even the ninja tradition was under threat─just think how much invaluable ninpo had been lost in that hundred some odd years.

And ninpo was not the only thing they lost─in the preceding year, some villagers had even starved to death.

Just as a disused blade─can only rust.

Degrade, and disintegrate.

Their ninpo was no song and dance.19

Say what you will about the Maniwa being money-grubbers, it was far superior to being buried in the sod, among the grubs.20 They were far beyond the point where they could get by simply taking orders from the bakufu─if Maniwa Village resigned itself to being a dog on a chain, before long every last one of its residents would find themselves out in the cold.

Which is what brought them to the idea of a Sword Hunt.

This was their last chance─to undertake a task of such proportions.

As far as Kamakiri reckoned, Komori had accepted the invitation from Togame fully intending to stab her in the back─he was the ninja she had dealt with most, which must have given him plenty to be sore about.

Now that Komori was dead, he had no way of knowing.

But Kamakiri understood his feelings.

That woman─was up to no good.

He couldn’t say for sure, but he knew she was no good.

Even if Komori had never double-crossed her, and even if they let the opportunity posed by the Sword Hunt pass them by, the Maniwa and the Schemer were destined to break up. Which made this as good an opportunity as any.

Regardless.

For the Maniwa, this was a last hurrah.

Their last chance─for a last hurrah.

Gears were already in motion─not like they had any regrets, but if for no other reason, they had to follow through in order to avenge their fallen comrades.

Zetto the Leveler.

Zanto the Razor.

Sento the Legion.

Hakuto the Whisper.

Zokuto the Armor.

Soto the Twin.

Akuto the Eel.

Bito the Sundial.

Oto the Cured.

Seito the Garland.

Dokuto the Basilisk.

Ento the Bead.

Quite the coincidence that the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan were hunting down twelve swords─if each of them managed to collect one, the Twelve Possessed would soon be theirs. No individual ninja had come up with the idea for a fraternal competition between Bosses. It took that shape organically.

When they were through, they would divvy up the spoils based on how many swords each ninja had obtained.

You see, each ninja’s motivation to hunt down the most swords stemmed from a desire to provide for those under their command. It came from a place of human kindness─or at least ninja kindness.21 The challenge stimulated camaraderie and rivalry simultaneously. It was a splendid angle of attack.

(Of course, even those Bosses unable to land a single sword would not see their squads wind up with nothing.)

That said, this plan of action had a gaping hole─Kamakiri noticed it in hindsight, and anyone deserving of the rank of Boss had surely also noticed it by now. Their strategy could only reach its maximum potential if no other competition were involved.

But Komori yielded the Leveler to Togame.

Shirasagi, soon after his defeat, lost the Razor to Togame.

And from what they heard─Kuizame was forced to fight Meisai Tsuruga, then owner of the Legion, and the Kyotoryu at the same time.

Their plan was full of holes.

But there was nothing they could do.

How could they have known the Schemer had this ace up her sleeve? They never would have thought today’s happy-go-lucky, peace-loving bakufu ready to deploy a menace who could hold his own against the Maniwa─the worst they had expected was the likes of the Onmitsu─but they had been careless in their estimation.

She was a most annoying little Schemer.

What the hell were these schemes anyway─thought Kamakiri.

She better quit screwing around.

In light of the intelligence Chocho had gathered, Hakuhei Sabi─the Strongest Swordsman in Japan─was on a Sword Hunt of his own, operating wholly separate from the bakufu, and evidently things were not going so well for him─but the thought of what Sabi might accomplish if he got his act together chilled Kamakiri to the bone, despite being the veteran that he was.

So long as the ninjas were competing, they were vulnerable.

Especially now that three among their ranks had perished.

At present, the threat was not so much Hakuhei Sabi─the Strongest Swordsman in Japan posed no imminent risk to the Maniwa.

No, their concern at present was Togame the Schemer─and Shichika Yasuri.

Togame, who had fathomed the intentions of Maniwa Village, and Shichika, who boasted the power necessary to take down one of their Bosses─their powers combined, the two were a menace.

Each on their own would have been manageable.

But teamed up, as a duo, they were horrifying.

That horror had to be nipped in the bud.

Which is why Kamakiri had convened the Bug Unit.

Proposing that they hold off on the competition, to join forces and take this horror down.

Chocho and Mitsubachi instantly agreed.

Any of the other Bosses would have taken their time deciding─but the bond among the members of the Bug Unit was firm. Chocho and Mitsubachi had the utmost confidence in Kamakiri. If he thought a plan was workable,22 they were not about to doubt him.

By now, Togame owned three of the Twelve Possessed.

The agreement was that they would each receive a sword, regardless of their contribution─thus they joined forces and got things going.

But this did not mean going after Togame and Shichika, who had seized the Legion at Triad Shrine and were traveling ever westward─the trio let them go, and set off in the opposite direction─heading for the place that Shichika called home.23

In other words, Haphazard Island.

Togame the Schemer had no family, no intimate relation left alive. She may have won the rank of Grand Commander of Arms at a young age, but her origins remained shrouded in mystery. Komori had exhibited a keen interest in the Schemer and done some research─but before he had the chance to present his results, the Hell-Made was slain.

At any rate.

She was alone.

She had no confidant within the bakufu. No one around her with whom she maintained close relations. No one she could rightfully call a mentor, and no one below her she was watching out for.

Absolutely alone.

But conversely─unencumbered.

It was clear she took great pains to live that way.

Intentionally crafting a life without a human soft spot.

The average person could never pull this off, but she could.

Shichika, however, was another story.

Embroiled in his father’s fate, he had been stranded on that island and raised in apparent isolation from the world─he seemed, just like Togame, to have no intimate relation left alive, but no─

Shichika Yasuri had an older sister named Nanami.

More specifically: his father, Mutsue Yasuri, Hero of the Rebellion, who had lived with them on that island for nineteen years, had died about a year ago─which is why Togame had enlisted his son, Shichika, to accompany her on her sword quest─but his sister Nanami was alive and well.

When Shichika set off from Haphazard Island, he left his sister on her own.

So careless─thought Kamakiri.

So much for a life without a human soft spot.

He had gone and left behind the perfect hostage─a family member, and his closest one at that, as if begging for them to have their way with her.

Komori, the first ninja to venture to this island, had told Togame, “Dirty deeds are how we make a living”─and he was absolutely right.

The three ninjas of the Bug Unit were not so naive24 as to seek out direct confrontation with a combo as horrific as the Schemer and the Kyotoryu, who together had drubbed out all three of their enemies thus far, starting with Komori. But come what may, the Maniwa would not be going down without a fight. Especially if this was their last hurrah.

Kamakiri Maniwa. Mitsubachi Maniwa. Chocho Maniwa.

The three ninjas had arrived in Tango and cruised over the sea stretching from the Cliffs of Shinso, all the way out to Haphazard Island─to abduct Nanami Yasuri, and hold her hostage against Shichika.

“……”

And now Kamakiri Maniwa was alone─walking through the montane forests that blanketed Haphazard Island. Silent footsteps, not so much as a rustle in the early morning air.

The other two, Chocho and Mitsubachi, were hiding out among the cliffs where they had climbed ashore. If the Bug Unit had used a boat, someone would have noticed, and word would have spread to the bakufu─and Togame, which would have ruined everything. Without the element of surprise, a hostage scenario was hopeless. Which is why they had relied on Chocho’s ninpo, and walked over the sea, as far as Haphazard Island─where their maneuvers25 ended. Each Maniwa Boss possessed totally unique powers; if forced to fight in the same battle, they’d inevitably get into each other’s way─in short, “those guys work better alone.” Firm as the bond of the Bug Unit may be, they were no exception to this rule.

“Which one of you will be in charge of kidnapping the girl? Mitsubachi? Kamakiri?”

The tone with which Chocho addressed them made it plenty clear that he was wiped out from the journey over and could not be asked to go himself.

But when Mitsubachi timidly raised a hesitant hand─“I suppose that I could go…”

“No, I’ll go,” Kamakiri volunteered himself.

“Huh? You want to do it, Kamakiri? Aren’t you the go-getter, putting yourself out there.26 Not to belabor the point, but you better let Mitsubachi to do it─”

“How could a sister of the Kyotoryu not know the Kyotoryu herself? At the very least, I’m sure that she is capable of the same form of swordless swordplay. We simply cannot be too careful. I should go, since I’m the one of us whose ninpo is best suited for the battlefield. As per common practice.”

“I suppose, as Captain of the Bug Unit, the choice is yours─all I know is I’m too pooped to go myself. Mitsubachi, are you okay with this?”

“How could I say no to getting a piece of the pie for nothing?”

“Could you be any less ambitious,” asked Chocho, “or should I say, less motivated? It’s a miracle you made it as far as Boss.”

“I’ll leave my Blood Crystal27 behind─if things should go awry, the rest is up to you.”

“Go awry? Last thing I’d expect you to say, Kamakiri! Hahaha.”

As the conclusion of this conference, held just after they climbed ashore, Kamakiri left the other two behind and headed off alone. Already, he had noticed hints around the island and grasped the general whereabouts of the Kyotoryu’s big sister─Nanami Yasuri. Hyperdeveloped use of the five senses was a core goal in the education of any ninja, but the senses of the Bug Unit were exceptionally sharp.

Being unclear on what Nanami looked or acted like, he could not say for sure if it was her whom he was trailing, but assuming no one else was on Haphazard Island, he could not be mistaken. To ensure he went unnoticed, he moved carefully and cautiously, sometimes intentionally taking detours, and after about fifteen minutes28─

Kamakiri Maniwa found her.

Dressed in a white kimono, as if prepared to take her own life.29 A bamboo basket on the ground beside her. The girl─Nanami Yasuri─was foraging for wild greens.

He swallowed─his breath.

At the sight of Nanami.

Months earlier, when Komori came to the island, he had heard her speak but never actually seen her─which made this the first time a member of the Maniwa Clan set eyes on Nanami.

To Kamakiri.

She looked like─a corpse.

No, more like─a cadaver. A thing.

No longer human.

Neither like she was alive, nor like she ever was alive.

Her beauty, seemingly a fabrication, somehow both attracted─and kept one at bay.

Was it her warrior lineage?

Her island upbringing?

It was instantly apparent she was out of the ordinary, though it was unclear why.

“Yikes─good thing I’m the one who came… Chocho would have done alright, but young Mitsubachi would probably have lost his heart…”

Up until this point, Kamakiri had thought that the ultimate strategy would be to verbally persuade her, warning that there was no use trying to resist them, so as to make her a passive accomplice30 to the Maniwa─but this plan was scrapped.

Speaking with her was too much of a risk.

Surely neither Shichika, who grew up constantly beside her, nor Togame, as another woman, felt this way─but Kamakiri Maniwa was certain. His experience thus far as a ninja pointed unquestionably to this conclusion.

Lucky for him, she did not seem like much of a martial artist─she was too thin, and her skin was pallid. It seemed subduing her with violence was the proper way to go about the abduction.

Which was when he heard her cough.

She not only looked sick. She really was ill.

And yet─Kamakiri saw that as no reason to go easy on her.

“Mantis Talons,”31 Kamakiri said under his breath and lifted his hands.

The nails on all ten of his fingers began to grow at an alarming rate. In no time, they were nearly a foot long. These were no normal nails─they were fat and thick, and sharp as knives, becoming fit for use as weapons. When they were nearly two feet long, their growth finally subsided─but by then, each nail had assumed the form of a savage blade.

Which explains why he had no sword. Understandable.

Mantis Talons.

No further explanation necessary─this ninjutsu speaks for itself.

Kamakiri Maniwa was known among his friends as “The Head Hunter,”32 but he had no intention of cutting off Nanami’s head. He was aiming─for her arms and legs.

It occurred to him it was a shame to harm a girl so beautiful, but such sentiment was deadly. If he didn’t cut her up just shy of dying─he guaranteed unwanted trouble down the line.

“Hmph─”

Act fast. Don’t hesitate. Thinking is hesitating.

Enough nonsense, any more of her and even he was done for. Kamakiri Maniwa sprang out of hiding─pouncing on the slight frame of Nanami Yasuri from behind.

Haphazard Island, twenty years into the past.

Three figures─on the beach, standing at the water’s edge.

And two of them were children.

A boy and a girl.

The boy about four─and the girl a little older. The boy came across as ornery, while the girl was fair skinned and appeared shy─even weak.

Shichika Yasuri and Nanami Yasuri.

Brother and sister. Twenty years ago.

Shichika was already the taller of the two─

Anyhow.

The vivacious man of brawny build who faced them needs no introduction.

Indeed─it was their father, Mutsue Yasuri.

Behold,33 the Hero of the Rebellion.

And this was twenty years ago─just after the Rebellion, when Mutsue was in the best shape of his life.

This being a reminiscence, the picture is a little grainy, making it hard to see everything with satisfying clarity, but you could tell the man was not unlike his son─though strictly speaking, it was the opposite, since Shichika grew up to look much like his father.

In which case, did Nanami look like her mother?

Where was their mother anyway?

Regardless, this giant of a man turned toward his children, whose fates were tethered to his performance,34 forcing them to join him in his exile─and began to speak.

“The Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu─is going to be Shichika.”

He spoke as if each word was bitter.

“After all this, I have no choice but to step down─I’ll admit, I’m not without my reservations─but I would rather face fate with my swordly pride intact. From now on, I will fulfill my duty to pass on the Kyotoryu to the next generation, no longer training myself, but training you, Shichika. From now on─until the day I die, until my body fails me, until my blade crumbles into rust, I will subject you to a grueling regimen of training, hammering home every last teaching of the Kyotoryu─being stuck here on this island may have its limitations, but when you think about it, this is perhaps the ideal incubator─insulated from the noisy outside world, we can cultivate35 the Kyotoryu without distraction.”

The addressees’ reactions diverged.

It appeared that Shichika did not comprehend what his father was saying─to be sure, at such a young age, he was perhaps even too young to be called a child. He probably did not even understand they had been exiled. He had no sense of the life he was about to embark upon.

Nanami─was expressionless.

A face that gave no cues.

And yet, attentive father that he was, Mutsue was able to read Nanami.

Gently─nay.

Apologetically, he placed his mighty hand upon her little shoulder.

“Forgive me, Nanami.”

Considering her age at the time, it would have been normal for her to fail to grasp what her father was saying. But unlike her little brother, Nanami understood what he had said, what had been said to them.

Shichika had been chosen.

Which meant─she had not been chosen.

She had been left out─that much was evident.

Mutsue defended his position.

“My true wish was for you to take over the school─but that will not be possible.”

“…”

Nanami remained expressionless.

But she was only stifling36 her expression.

And thereby─stifling her sense of self.

“Try to understand,” Mutsue said. “There’s nothing I can do. At this point, the only one qualified to take over the Kyotoryu is Shichika.”

When she heard these words─Nanami shot a glance at Shichika, who stood beside her. Oblivious, dazed, literally sucking on his thumb, and staring at his sister and his father talking.

Mutsue noticed Nanami’s line of sight.

“Let’s make this absolutely clear, Nanami─don’t hold this against Shichika. This may sound harsh, but I can’t have you getting sore or teary-eyed about this. Honestly, I shouldn’t even be apologizing.”

“…”

“Make no mistake, you hear me?”

Mutsue let go of her shoulder. Nanami looked not at his hand, but at the shoulder where his hand had been─watching its warmth escape.

“When I say you’re not qualified to inherit37 the school, it’s not because you’re a girl, and it’s not because you’re sick. That wouldn’t amount to a reason. It’s just that I─no, not just me, this goes for all the martial artists in the world, from every discipline─Nanami, no one…”

Mutsue Yasuri, Sixth Master of the Kyotoryu, and Hero of the Rebellion─rued the very words he spoke.

“No one could raise a person of such unparalleled strength as you─”

No one grasped what happened.

There was no one there to witness it, and Kamakiri Maniwa, despite being the receiver of the blow, couldn’t grasp what had happened to him.

Next thing he knew─he was sent flying.

Every one of his ten nails had been snapped off.

And each of the broken nails─had turned on him and plunged relentlessly38 into his abdomen.

Causing him to slam his head into the tall tree behind him─and lose consciousness, never knowing what hit him.

“…Huh?”

Meanwhile─Nanami Yasuri, despite being the one who delivered the blow, had also to catch up with the happening. A bunch of freshly foraged greens in her right hand, she spun around, angled her head quizzically, and regarded the scene with disbelief.

Kamakiri Maniwa, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan, and Captain of the Bug Unit, a fearsome enough ninja to have earned the nickname “Head Hunter,” had used his ninpo and pounced upon her from behind─

For Nanami, however, this disturbance could be handled by mere reflex.

“…?”

If Hakuhei Sabi was now Japan’s Strongest─then twenty years prior, around the time when he was born, and before Mutsue Yasuri was banished to the island─without a doubt the title had belonged to her.

Certified by the Hero of the Rebellion.

At the time, seven years old.

Once39 the Strongest in Japan─Nanami Yasuri.

…

…

…

Kamakiri Maniwa finally came around.

And when the battle-hardened1 ninja, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan, and Captain of the Bug Unit, opened his eyes, he understood his circumstances instantly─he had been lashed upright to a tree.

His irons2 were the very chains that had been wrapped around his body─it seemed that while he was unconscious, they had been undone and repurposed. They bound his upper body, arms and all.

All ten of the nails that had been thrust into his body were removed─and furthermore, all ten of the wounds they made were treated, to stop the bleeding. It was his good luck that none of them were fatal─but no, this was not luck. He had not worn the chains, now lashed around the tree, for show; like armor, they had blocked his vital organs─in which case, the talons (however they had been broken off) could not have hurt him mortally. His wounds were neither grievous nor life-threatening─but did that mean…had the girl avoided his vitals─which is to say the chains when she repaid him with his nails? To ensure that all ten stuck straight into his body, albeit not lethally? Had she decided on this move instinctually? That was the only explanation, but in that case, you could hardly call it a decision…

He looked around.

No one there─having only just arrived, Kamakiri had no hope of orienting himself in the forest. At first, he thought that he was in the place where he had lost consciousness─but after a time, he realized he was not.

Judging from the position of the sun, it had been about another fifteen minutes…

“No use trying to finish3 yourself off,” a voice called out to him.

Nanami Yasuri. Approaching him head-on, taking her time.

She was like a cadaver─like something inanimate.

“While you were down, I relieved you of the poison you had stashed in your molar.”

“…”

So she had searched him head to toe.

In that case, she had rid him of the various secret weapons4 he had hidden in his ninja garb─which failed to bother Kamakiri in the least.

As goes without saying, he would never think to take his own life.

This was not a situation where such measures would be necessary.

He was alive─after all of that, alive.

He may have fallen victim to a bizarre counterstrike, but he nevertheless survived─which meant not all was lost. Far from it─a ninja did his best work in conditions like these.

“I was bringing home the greens that I had foraged─I rushed back, but I hadn’t thought you would wake up so soon. It seems I kept you waiting. Please accept my apologies.”

“…”

Nanami greeted him politely, not at all the way you would expect someone to confront an intruder─or assailant─but Kamakiri answered her with silence. It was best to play the docile captive, who sees no hope in fighting back.

“I really do apologize─but now I’ll need to torture you,” Nanami swiftly added.

Her expression was expressionless.

Kamakiri could surmise nothing from that face.

“While you were unconscious, by which I mean after I tended to your wounds, I took it upon myself to bring you here─because your friend is buried over there.”

Nanami spoke calmly, still expressionless.

If you looked in the direction she was pointing, you could see a boulder that did not seem to have wound up there naturally.

“…”

“My brother buried him. I believe he called himself Komori Maniwa. From what I hear, he dressed the same as you… I wanted to at least point out that I would bury you in the same place, after you die…”

Nanami lowered her hand and turned once more toward Kamakiri.

Expressionless.

“Now tell me. It’s not a bad place to die, in my opinion, but I’d prefer to let you choose.”

“Choose─what?” Kamakiri addressed her for the first time. “What am I choosing between?”

“Whether to die having talked,” explained Nanami, “or not.”

Her voice was free of doubt─and of any cruelty.

She made it sound like this was normal.

“It doesn’t matter either way to me,” she said.

Nanami took a few steps and reached down. She picked up one of the ten nails that had been snapped and thrust back into Kamakiri during their fight (such as it was). Ah yes. Using an enemy’s weapons to torture him…ravaging the body, while humiliating the individual. She had used the chains to lash his body for essentially the same reason.

Kamakiri was impressed.

Her sharpness in battle had all too literally sunken in─but now she was proving her worth as a tactician.5 You would never have thought she had been raised on a desert island.

But her brilliance─was not beyond manipulation.

She was fighting a ninja, but when she had the chance to kill him, she did not finish the job─and he would capitalize on that oversight.

While he may not prevail in a straight battle of wits─he was not about to be outcheated.

“Although I must say, I’m no expert at torture. It may be wrong of me to say so, but to be honest, you’d be doing me a favor if you died quietly─I don’t really have that many things to ask you, and I think I have a pretty good idea of things already.” Nanami scrutinized6 the talons she was holding. “Maybe I should check a few things first, though. Since there’s a slim chance you might be dressed alike by pure coincidence─you are in fact one of the Maniwa, correct?”

“I am,” admitted Kamakiri.

Now that she had brought him to the gravesite of Komori, it seemed pointless to lie or to be silent.

Pure coincidence─Nanami surely knew better. There was no way.

“And the Maniwa Ninja Clan…isn’t that a bit too long? How about I call you guys Maniwacs? It’s cute and fun.”

“…”

Regardless of her worth as a tactician, she and her brother were products of the same environment and had the same sensibilities.

Kamakiri had nothing to say.

You could say he let it go.

“Next, I’d like to ask what brought you to this island─but I think I already know.”

He was here to abduct Nanami Yasuri, and hold her hostage from Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu─to mess up7 the Sword Hunt he was on.

And to steal whatever swords they had landed.

“In fact, seeing you is a relief. You could even say I’m glad you came. Having the Maniwacs show up on the island─is solid proof that Shichika and Togame’s Sword Hunt is proceeding according to plan. Otherwise, why would you bother coming all the way out here? I knew the time would come, sooner or later.

“Four months,” Nanami said as if to herself. “I wonder how many swords they’ve rounded up by now.”

It was not an actual question, but Kamakiri answered anyway. “Two. Factor in Zetto the Leveler, which they grabbed before they set off, and that makes three.”

“Sounds like they’re taking their time. But I guess Japan is a big place. Maybe that’s how it goes…”

She was disappointed?

It seemed she had expected them to have more swords by now. This despite the fact that rounding up two of the Twelve Possessed, those masterworks not even the Old Shogun could obtain, was plenty cause for celebration in its own right.

She was a mysterious woman.

Kamakiri had been misled by his first impression of her.

This woman─was dangerous.

This went beyond her skill and spirit─she was a fundamental menace.

“I have yet to meet─or actually even see your brother, but if he is the new master,8 does that mean Shichika is even stronger than you?”

“Huh? Oh, no─I’m not sure. It’s been about a year since we had a match9─and besides…” Nanami dodged the question, “I share the Kyotoryu as you probably suspect, but only because I’m of the Yasuri bloodline. As for whether I’m a swordsman, I’m not sure what to say.”

“…That move you used back there against me─was that not the Kyotoryu?”

“As a matter of fact, that was the Ominaeshi,10 one of our defense moves. It’s a type of dattojutsu. Basically, you break the enemy’s sword and turn it against him. I was acting on my reflexes, and used it on you ten times over, for each of your talons─but hold on, why am I the one answering the questions?”

She sounded sarcastic, however accidentally.

“Well then─where was I.”

Nanami had taken over. On with the questions.

“How many of you came this time?”

“What makes you even ask that?”

How had she noticed there was more than one of them?

That he was joined by Chocho and Mitsubachi…

“What a weird question! I’m obviously here alone─our village hardly has the manpower to send a crew of ninjas to kidnap a single girl. Of course, if I had known how powerful you were, I would have come with ten or twenty others.”

“But kidnapping me can’t be your sole objective─I’m sure that’s just the first step in your plan. In which case, there’s nothing odd about you coming as a group. Since Shichika has three swords, you could divide them perfectly, if there were three of you.”

“…”

He could not risk responding.

This was a trap.

She was just guessing11 so she could observe his reaction─true, she had pinned it down,12 but as she herself was surely aware, her words and her conjectures had nothing to back them up.

“It would help things if you gave me a number and told me about each ninja’s ninpo.”

“…”

“Oh, by ‘help things,’ I mean it would help me, not help you stay alive. Just making sure there’s no confusion.”

“…”

“Actually, this is sort of embarrassing, but just now, after bringing home the greens, I got lost along the way back─and wound up on the overlook. As far as I could tell, there was nothing like a vessel anywhere onshore,” Nanami said, pausing between her phrases. “Not like I can see the entire ocean from up there, but it sort of made me wonder─if maybe you guys used your ninpo, to make it here without a boat.”

Merely conjecturing, she was nailing bullseye after bullseye─Kamakiri took pains not to show any reaction.

Nanami added nothing more.

Silence took over the forest─but not for long. Nanami, holding the talons, took another step closer to Kamakiri.

“Let me tell you something about my brother.”

“…”

“Way back when, he used to bite his nails─I told him to cut it out because it was bad manners, but he wouldn’t listen, just kept on biting them. His thumbnails, in particular, were all chewed up13─so one day, I peeled off all his nails for him.”

Nanami spoke─approaching one step after another.

“After that, he never bit his nails again. He was basically an infant, and this was part of growing up, so I don’t mean to compare what I did with torture─but for you, I thought I might try the reverse.”

Kamakiri gathered from her natural, even seamless movements what was coming next, but had no chance to clamp his lips. Stopping right before the tree where she had restrained him, Nanami took the talons...hard and sharp as daggers, and poked the tips─into his mouth.

“Have a bite.”

“…”

As part of his ninja training, Kamakiri had learned to withstand torture. The idea of slipping a sharp blade into the supple oral cavity was nothing new to him; she could have done far worse. On the spot, he could imagine five methods more horrific. All the same─the sight of Nanami’s placid face as she executed the procedure was far more terrifying than the act. Normally, torture is exhausting to perform. It places an oppressive burden on the soul, threatening your composure…

But this girl─had unbelievable nerve.

She must not be─normal.

“What’s wrong? Just pretend you’re a kid again─and chew your nails like a good boy. It may hurt your tongue a bit, but who needs a tongue if you won’t talk?”

“Ah, wait─understood…”

His words said one thing.

But in his heart, Kamakiri was beaming.

He had won.

Nanami had an odd mind, capable of horrific things, but at this point, that mattered none to Kamakiri. With Nanami close as she was, the conditions─

Kamakiri flipped over his wrists, spreading his ten fingers.

Ten fingers, missing their nails.

His upper body, arms and all, was held fast to the tree, but he was not exactly hogtied.14 He may not be able to move his arms─but his wrists, barely clearing the chains, were free enough to use.

You needed to tie a captive’s arms behind him.

It appeared that after breaking off his arsenal15 of nails and stripping him of all the weapons16 on his person, Nanami had relaxed, thinking he lacked any means of recourse─but no.

She underestimated his Mantis Talons.

Kamakiri was able to shoot out new nails repeatedly. Sure, he had his limits─but breaking off or tearing free his nails just once was not enough to leave him weaponless!

“What have you understood?”

“Ah, I mean, I’ll talk, about our ninpo─ninpo─Ninpo─”

But Kamakiri’s cry became a battle cry─

“Mantis Talons!”

Kamakiri shot out his nails.

Unable to give them time to fully form, they were somewhat lacking in thickness, but he made sure the tips were plenty sharp. Aiming straight for Nanami, he grew all ten nails at max speed.

Giving him ten spears.17

Yet─

“…”

Nanami─with a slight twist of the hips, dodged all ten of the talons. No clean break, the ten nails tore through her kimono, nearing her skin and plunging deep. At first glance, it appeared that she had moved too late, but not so─in shifting slightly, she had intentionally caught the nails in the cloth of her sleeve. By dodging him with such precision, she had barred the nails from further action. Thanks to her kimono, all ten had been taken out of service.

Of course, this was no more than a precautionary measure. In other words, she could comfortably dodge Kamakiri Maniwa’s ten nails regardless─

Thus evading his attack, Nanami jammed the talons down his throat. Their tips tore through the back of his windpipe─into the trunk of the tree behind him.

In the end, Kamakiri Maniwa, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan.

Chose the latter─and died without talking.

“Phew…”

She was spent.

Twisting her body on tiptoes,18 Nanami drew back to free her kimono from the second set of talons─and let out a sigh.

She could sigh with the best of them.

“Not like I thought torture could make a ninja talk, but I have to hand it to him. Even when I tried to nail19 him down, he simply wouldn’t crack─hmm. I’d better assume a few more of them are here─but Shichika.”

Realizing how tattered her kimono had become from Kamakiri’s nails, Nanami smiled.

A resolutely evil smile.

“Only two more swords in all that time─lazy boy. When he comes home, I’m giving him a thrashing.”

Without warning, the Blood Crystal set upon the cliff cracked in two.

“…”

“…”

Chocho Maniwa and Mitsubachi Maniwa looked up with sober eyes.

The crystal had been left in their safekeeping when Kamakiri Maniwa set off to snatch Nanami Yasuri. Peculiar to Maniwa Village, the Blood Crystals were precious and scarce, and as a rule, only entrusted with Maniwa Bosses. Carried close to the heart, these artifacts took on the spirit of their owner, in whose absence they could serve as beacons of distress.

And when the crystal broke─that meant its owner bit the dust.

“It appears that Kamakiri─has been slain.”

“Sure does…”

On the outskirts of Haphazard Island, hiding out among the cliffs, awaiting the return of Kamakiri, their reaction was─utterly calm. As ninjas, they had learned to override21 their emotions; when a comrade died, they would never make a scene.

But overriding your emotions─is not the same as having none.

Suffering the death of Kamakiri, who was not only Captain of the Bug Unit, but a dear friend, Chocho and Mitsubachi could hardly be expected to feel nothing.

Their expressions may not have changed─but something in the air between them had.

“I mean,” said Chocho, “not to sound like Kamakiri, but I can’t wrap my head around it. How could he lose to her, when she isn’t even master─just a normal girl? I can’t imagine anyone who could withstand his Mantis Talons. Even Kuizame, that diva,22 tipped his hat to Kamakiri. Ninpo aside, he was experienced, and formidably so. No matter how you look at it─I can’t believe that he lost.”

“The Blood Crystal is not infallible,” noted Mitsubachi. “Sometimes it remains intact even when its owner dies, and there have been cases where it crumbles, only for its owner to return alive─for now, though, we should act as if Kamakiri has been beaten. The very sentiment that you expressed, Chocho, your confidence that Kamakiri could not lose, may have been what made him slip.”

“Slip? Kamakiri, of all people?”

“I highly doubt it─no matter the battle, he has never been one to misread an opponent. The idea of him slipping is ridiculous. In which case, there can be but one explanation: that woman is a capable opponent.”

“…”

“At the very least, we should assume as much─since neither of us, Chocho, can expect to outdo Kamakiri on the battlefield.”

“Showing up to take a hostage, only for the hostage to take us down─no way. As it stands, we look like a bunch of stooges. Idiots, even. But it sounds like the Kyotoryu is absurdly23 strong─which explains24 how they could round up two of the Twelve Possessed in such short time.”

“Perhaps the girl is even stronger than her brother─no?”

“Not a chance─if she’s so strong, why didn’t she join the Schemer on her Sword Hunt?”

“I’m sure she had her reasons. The Schemer is known to be disliked by other women. That may have been enough.”

“Come on. Don’t be silly.”

Chocho had himself a laugh─and stood.

Bewildered by this gesture, Mitsubachi asked him: “Wait, what do you intend to do? I thought I─was the next in line.”

“No, I’ll go, I’ve gotten all the rest I needed. Not tired anymore…”

“But considering the circumstances, I think my ninpo would be far more potent, Chocho. Your ninpo is a bit too─unmediated.”

“Hear this, Mitsubachi. I cared for Kamakiri.”

“I felt the same.”

“And I care about you too. It’s not like you mustn’t ever die on me─but if any member of the Bug Unit is to live through this, it should be you. You’re still so young.”

“Come now…”

Hearing such a thing from Chocho, who was not one to talk about his feelings, Mitsubachi was at a loss for words.

Chocho, seeing this reaction, laughed with gusto.

“Kah kah kah. Have some sense and let an older bug take the stage25─if the Kyotoryu’s big sister is as powerful as you think, I have a better chance of stopping her. Find yourself a perch and watch us fight. If I should lose, learn from my mistakes, and capture her yourself.”

“…”

After the loss of Kamakiri, premier fighter of the Bug Unit, this was their best strategy. The more they knew about their enemy, the more effective Mitsubachi’s ninpo would be.

“But what about you, Chocho?”

“Please. I’m not about to sacrifice my life. Why would I suddenly start behaving like a normal ninja? Who knows? Maybe I’m just talking sly, angling to take the prize, lad.” Chocho laughed some more: “Kah kah kah.”

But then his face went serious.

“Listen, Mitsubachi.”

“…I’m listening.”

“When this job is over, I’m getting married.”

“…”

He was sealing the deal on his death.26

Not like anyone had forced him. It was all on him.

“In this line of work, we could die anytime or anywhere. For a while that held me back─but whether we win or lose, this job will be my last. I’ve decided.”

“Oh, I see─and the bride?”

“Someone we both know. Don’t tell me, perceptive as you are, you failed to notice? One of the Twelve Bosses. Oshidori27 Maniwa from the Bird Unit─”

“Oshidori…haha, wow. I bet she’ll whip you into shape.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

“Well, Chocho, sounds like it’s time to settle down and be a family man.”28

“Guess so. But you know what, whenever I’m alone with her, she’s so damn cute… I’ve never told you this before, Mitsubachi, but I was born down south. I’m not originally from the village─she loves me all the same. I can safely say that I’m the bug I am today because of her─funny, with a girl from the Bird Unit and a guy from the Bug Unit, you’d expect a more predatory relationship. Well, I guess you could say she had a hungry heart…”

Chocho was lapsing into reverie.

What on earth had gotten into him?

“Whew, oh boy─”

He was on a roll. Patting around his ninja garb, he found a cigarette, imported from the western lands,29 but caught himself─

“Whoa, whoa. Almost forgot I quit.”

He split the cigarette in half.

Yep. That settled it. He was a goner.30

“Oshidori said I had to, or she wouldn’t marry me.”

“Ah, o-okay, I see. But─” While the full extent may have been lost on Mitsubachi…he tried to save his comrade, perhaps a bit too late. “Chocho, as great a story as this is, maybe we should leave it.”

“Huh? You sure?”

“Yes, I think I get the gist. I’ll leave it to you─but I’m a ninja too. I’m not trying to play second fiddle. If something happens, I’m not coming to the rescue.31 Don’t expect me to help you out. If you get your butt whipped─”

“Fine by me. If things go awry, I’ll do my best to drag them out. That way you can learn as much as possible.”

With that, Chocho retrieved half of the Blood Crystal; wearing a rueful visage, he tossed it to Mitsubachi.

“What’s this about?”

“Bug Unit forever. Even in death, our bond will not be severed.”

“Well, well. Chocho, you’re a pretty good guy after all.”

Mitsubachi sounded uneasy, as if this sudden burst of goodness, from a man who hitherto had shown no taste for decency, were another sign of his impending death. Chocho looked embarrassed.

“Cut it out.”

The man stuffed the other half of the Blood Crystal in his ninja clothes.

Slipping it into the left side of the garment. By his heart.

…Foreshadowing his survival, just barely, at the last moment─Chocho set off32 into battle.

Not twenty years into the past─but one.

Just after Mutsue Yasuri, Sixth Master of the Kyotoryu, the Hero of the Rebellion─and father to Shichika and Nanami breathed his last. A week after burying33 Mutsue, Shichika challenged his sister to a match.

Nanami would tell Kamakiri Maniwa that it had been about a year since she and her brother had a match, making that the last time they fought each other─but in fact, it was also their first fight. Their father Mutsue had strictly forbidden Shichika from sparring with Nanami.

In other words, to date it was the one and only time that Shichika took on Nanami─so how did things play out?

Simply put, there was no winner.

Looking out for his sick sister, Shichika set a time limit for the fight─and within the allotted time, no winner was decided.

You could say that it was basically a draw.

None bore witness to the battle, but if any had─and were asked to make the call,34 whoever so tasked would have declared Nanami the victor.

The difference in ability between Shichika and Nanami was so great there was no contest.

The fight was not exactly undecided─she merely stopped before things went too far.

Like an adult humoring a child.

No─perhaps it was more like a puppy playing with its owner.

Nanami fielded every one of Shichika’s attacks─but never returned the favor, for the duration of the match.

Shichika expected his sister, up against him, to behave this way─but thought that if he pushed her hard enough, she would eventually fight back.

He thought wrong.

As it turned out, Shichika failed to get a rise out of Nanami. For nineteen years, he had been training without rest, through rain and wind and snow, but after all his effort, he was not even at a level where his sister felt the need to hit him back. Offense was out of the question, but she opted against even defense moves like the Ominaeshi.

Shichika, who based on looks alone seemed sure to win, wound up flat on the ground, which was as far as things went─ending the fight, the first they had engaged in their entire lives.

“You did pretty good,” Nanami told her little brother, when they were through. “Not as good as Dad was at his best, but you’re getting closer all the time. Keep it up─no slacking. Spare no effort.”

As one might imagine, Shichika was extremely sore about his loss─it took about a week for him to rally.

And why not.

After spending nearly every waking moment of the last nineteen years in training, he had failed to land a single swing against his sister, whom he had never seen practicing at anything, not even once.

Enough reminiscence35─

Nanami rejected the idea wholesale.1

A curt refusal.

Come what may, I’m staying on the island─

I can take care of myself─

So long as I live, I am not leaving this island─

Please don’t pay me any mind─

Firm.

In this respect, Togame and Nanami were perhaps too much alike. When dissenting, they became so entrenched2 words could never do it justice. Shichika stood quaking3 off to the side, unable to speak up.

Knowing firsthand how strong his sister really was, he agreed with her─but then he almost always did, regardless of the circumstances.

In the end, Togame cracked.

Not so much cracked─as bent.

She was not beyond sympathizing with Nanami’s aversion to let others call the shots (this being yet another way that they were alike)─case in point, it had been Nanami, and not Togame or Shichika, who made the first move when Komori Maniwa blitzed the hut.

Shichika, the current master of the school, and Nanami, head of the house, had a tacit understanding that Nanami was stronger than Shichika─stronger by far. It was the sort of thing that went without saying; but while Togame was not privy to the facts, she trusted that Nanami could at least take care of herself.

She would not be a burden4 on her brother.

At least, not in the short term.

It was decided─and three whole months had passed since Togame and Shichika set off from Haphazard Island, leaving Nanami behind.

Which brings us here.

“Looks like I got myself lost again…” muttered Nanami.

She had no idea─where she was.

Absolutely no idea.

While little time had passed since she had finished off Kamakiri, she should have been home at the hut by now, but somehow, she was still stuck in the mountains. Somehow─despite having spent twenty years living on the island.

So easily disoriented.

One of her many weaknesses.

Born sickly, Nanami moved at an unusually slow pace that only spurred5 her tendency to lose her way. Playing off of Togame’s habit of comparing her own strength to that of shoji paper, we could say that Nanami, head of the Yasuri family, and once the Strongest in Japan, was slow as a snail.

No wonder Shichika never asked his sister to help with the chores.

“I figured I would head home and eat dinner before looking for the ninjas, but at this rate it probably makes more sense to start looking for them now,” Nanami said to herself. She had given up on going home. It would mean missing a meal, but she ate so little anyway. Were she to skip meals6 for a day or two, the difference would be negligible.

Plus, she no longer had a little brother on the island making her eat against her will.

“Still, this is tricky business… Forcing ninjas out of hiding is easier said than done… I’d be better off standing out in the open, and letting them find me…”

Nanami was working out her strategy.

Of course─having been raised on this desert island, Nanami had no experience in action, no experience on the battlefield. Just like when her brother fought that other Maniwac, Komori, this was her first engagement where her life was on the line. All the same, her manner and her bearing were the epitome7 of cool.

Her face the same as it had been when she was foraging for wild greens.

Not intoxicated by the thrill of battle─nor rattled by the horrors of battle.

Simply working out her strategy.

“But it looks like that won’t be necessary…”

Nanami stopped moving entirely, focused on the space before her.

“I’m not hiding,” she called out. “Come out and show yourself.”

For a while there was no response─but at length, a man stepped from behind a tree.

A short man with cropped hair.

“How’d you notice I was here?” he asked Nanami. “Could have sworn I was perfectly still.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that one.”

Heard it over and over.

As a kid─before they came to the island, or she was even seven years old.

Could have sworn I was perfectly still?

She’d heard that pompous line again and again.

“I’m the one who should be asking you─so long as you’re alive, what makes you think you could ever be perfectly still? If you’re standing there, you’re standing there.”

“Hah. So you won’t enlighten me.”

Interpreting her remark in a way that was completely at odds with how she had intended it (although Nanami, unprepared to explain herself, was probably relieved to have been misunderstood), the man dropped the point, and instead assumed position and gave his name.

“I am Chocho Maniwa, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan─here to carry you away.”

“What a charming way to greet8 a woman. I never thought the day would come when somebody would speak those words to me.”

Nanami grinned.

The aforementioned evil smile.

“Allow me to introduce myself─although if you’re here to carry me away, you must already know. However, as a matter of course─my name is Nanami Yasuri, head of the Yasuri family.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I wonder if I could trouble you to fill me in on something. A little while ago, I was assailed by someone wearing the same ninja garb as you─what was his name?”

“Huh, he didn’t tell you?”

“Afraid not…”

“Hmm, that’s not like him.”

In actuality, Kamakiri Maniwa had no chance to offer up his name before Nanami took him down; and subsequently, during torture time, the atmosphere was not exactly conducive to self-introductions─meanwhile, Nanami totally forgot to ask him who he was─although Chocho could hardly be expected to deduce as much.

He was as yet unaware.

Of the power of the woman before him.

But what could he have done─Nanami Yasuri possessed a strength that was not to be kenned at first sight. It was nonpareil, belonging to a whole other dimension from the showy kind of strength─

“His name is Kamakiri Maniwa.”

“Kamakiri… That explains,” she said, “the way he used his nails for weapons.”

Used. Past tense.9

“Did you kill─Kamakiri?”

“Yeah, after he assailed me,” answered Nanami. “Since I’m assuming you guys have a legitimate reason for abducting me, I have no particular intention to plead self-defense. I buried him in the same place as Komori Maniwa, who came to this island and fought my brother.”

“…I see.”

Chocho looked solemn.

Nanami had not been expecting this reaction.

In fact, she had coolly acknowledged the ordeal it would have been to dig a hole and bury the corpse, and instead left Kamakiri where he was, chained to the tree trunk, his throat skewered10 with his own talons, but the time had come and gone for volunteering such truths.

“…”

Whatever. She would get there sooner or later.

She planned to follow through on what she promised.

At this rate, she already needed to bury a few ninjas─including this one─at the mentioned site.

It made sense to do it all at once.

Keep things simple.

“Oh…that’s right. I meant to ask you, Chocho. Would you mind telling me how many of you are in your party?”

“Huh?”

“Your party─how many of you came to the island? I tried torturing Kamakiri a bit, but he wouldn’t tell.”

“And why would I tell you something he wouldn’t?”

“Ah,” Nanami conceded casually.

Chocho’s response was only natural; having directed Mitsubachi to watch the coming battle from a distance, it was best not to convey that there were ninjas in the wings. For her part, Nanami was asking him now because she had learned from her experience with Kamakiri. Torturing a ninja, even if he stood no chance, would get her nowhere─

And as it turns out, she got what she needed.

His retort sufficed to convince her that there was at least one more ninja. This was less to blame on Chocho being less experienced than Kamakiri, and more about whether she asked beforehand or afterwards.

That said…exactly how many ninjas remained?

There could be one…or maybe two, or three…or perhaps many more…

“Since you killed Kamakiri, I’m not about to treat you like a lady. I’m coming at you no holds barred,11 with everything I’ve got. I may even have to kill you─if that’s what it takes, I’m happy to oblige.”

“Oblige? Does that mean you won’t be taking me hostage?”

“Taking you hostage would be ideal, but I came equipped with a Plan B.12 I’m sure that the sight of your corpse would fire up your brother plenty.”

“Makes sense,” said Nanami. “Now you’re sounding like a ninja.”

“Don’t expect me to hold back─I’ll hit you with every fatal move13 in the Maniwa playbook. But don’t think I’m not open to surrender. If things ever get too rough for you, just say the word. Unlike that scoundrel Kuizame, I’m not one to take a life for no good reason.”

“Whatever works.”

“Hm─”

With that, Chocho entered into a stance.

It was kenpo.

Nanami had been casually observing the ninja, who wore no sword and was not visibly armed─but lo and behold, he practiced kenpo. In which case, he needed no weapons.

Karate─no, that stance…

“Don’t even bother guessing─this is Maniwa Kenpo. It stems from a completely different source than your garden-variety style of unarmed combat.”

“Maniwa Kenpo…”

“Although at this point, the bugs in my squad are the only ninjas left who use it─what’s wrong? Why aren’t you poised to fight?”

“…”

“I’ve heard about the Kyotoryu─swordplay without a sword. Basically, a kind of kenpo, right? Where the fist is wielded like a blade. I never mentioned it to Kamakiri, but I was hoping I would have a chance to fight you. In an age where everyone has started using weapons, there’s something nice about the Kyotoryu. Showing up with nothing but yourself. As a student of kenpo, I hope you’ll give me a few pointers.”14

It made sense that Chocho had this history, since he was the only member of the Bug Unit to show up with an advance understanding of the Kyotoryu. His words, while a touch taunting, surely also came from the heart if he truly planned to fight her emptyhanded15─but Nanami was unresponsive.

Positively no response.

She stood perfectly upright, hands hanging at her sides, feet normal, shoulder-width apart. To anyone, she would have looked unprepared for battle.

“…What’s wrong? I meant I’d wait until you took position.”

“I heard you─but I’ve never actually assumed a stance before.”

“…?”

Chocho looked bewildered, as if he couldn’t parse Nanami’s reply. Of course he couldn’t─his reaction was only natural.

“Do you mean to say the Kyotoryu has no forms?” he asked, baffled.

It hurt to ask.

But he was wrong.

A brief review of the tale of the Sword Hunt thus far will reveal that Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, boasted a variety of moves. Form One, the Suzuran, Form Two, the Suisen, Form Seven, the Kakitsubata─

And for each form, a Fatal Orchid.

That was supposed to be the essence of the Kyotoryu.

“This is what makes me an outlier to the school. But Chocho. Don’t you think that all these stances─are a waste of time? Having to take position whenever something happens can only slow you down. Plus, like you are right now, you end up giving away whatever you’re planning to do next.”

“…!”

“I hate to say it, but I can see right through your mysterious Maniwa Kenpo─just from the way you’re standing.”

Freestyle.16

In every martial art, the ultimate and ideal state─is a natural posture.

And Nanami─embodied this ideal.

She was truly, absolutely natural.

Then saying she had yet to take position would be nonsense. Could it be that from the instant that she noticed Chocho and stopped moving, she’d been continually prepared for battle?

“If I had to give this stance a name, it would be Kyotoryu Form Zero: the Ichijiku─”17

Nanami made her move.

Slow steps, one at a time.

Edging closer toward Chocho and his clenched fists─

“Huh…whoa…”

Her pace─too slow for Chocho to bear.

Just as Kamakiri had predicted when he saw her.

All it took was their curious exchange, and now she had him.

“Ahhh!”

When the distance between them had been reduced to half─Chocho lost his patience and leapt forth. Closing in with a single bound, and jerking up his rear foot, he put all of his weight behind a spinning kick to Nanami’s face─

Whoosh.

As if all her sluggish movements were an act, Nanami deftly dodged his strike─and then.

“Kyotoryu─Hinageshi.”18

One of her arms, which had drooped so heavily you would think the nerves were severed, sprang to life. Swiping upwards with the blade of her hand, flicking her wrist─

“─!”

The modest-sized ninja blew away─but Nanami was the most surprised. Which made sense. The Hinageshi was supposed to rip the enemy in half; unlike the Ominaeshi she had used on Kamakiri, it was not supposed to send him flying. Heck, even the Ominaeshi relied on the enemy’s own strength, using it against him─short as he may be, Chocho’s build easily outmatched Nanami’s. Her sickly body lacked the muscle to have up and thrown him.

Nor had Chocho leapt back of his own accord.

She hadn’t felt even the least─resistance.

“Hmph─”

Midair, he executed the strangest move. Bounding off the skinniest branch of a nearby tree, he switched direction─sending himself back toward Nanami. As he descended, he thrust out his right hand, a counterstrike─

Instinctively Nanami rolled backwards towards safety.

Chocho’s body flipped over, and he landed on his feet.

He gave her a sidelong glance.

“Nice dodge.”

Tossing her a couple words of praise.

Throwing her a bone.

“Maniwa Kenpo mixed with Maniwa Ninpo─rare is the foe who can dodge the combination from the outset.”

“Ninpo─”

“Harlequin Butterfly19─my movements ignore the laws of gravity,” he explained triumphantly, as if to make up for his earlier discomfiture. “I can carry anything, no matter how heavy, and even a branch as skinny as that serves as a foothold for me. You can hit me as hard as you want, but you’ll only send me flying.”

He was simply too light─to be knocked down.

That explained things.

With ninpo that can obviate20 the laws of gravity, even crossing the sea with two grown men riding on your shoulders would be a simple feat.

“Are you saying that my hand never actually hit you, that the draft my hand made sent your body flying through the air?”

“Yeah. You could say that I’m invincible to all conventional strikes─ because I’m physically impervious to them.”

“How flippant21 of you to call it kenpo, when you use such an oddball technique─you’re even bolder than I thought.”

“Call me bold, if you please, but you can blame it on the ninpo. How about it? If you’re going to surrender, now’s as good a time as any, before I come at you for real.”

“Didn’t you start off for real?” Nanami shot down his overture.22

Having witnessed the Maniwa Ninpo in action, she was far from impressed.

Her comportment nettled Chocho.

“Do you not understand─the awesomeness of my ninpo?”

“I do, without you trying to convince me. Am I correct you used this trick, your weightless footwork, to carry your friends over to our island? That would make your mission all the more covert─harder for the bakufu or for me, on the island, to detect.”

“…”

“What I really think is awesome─is all the time you must have spent learning how to do this. No trifling effort, I’m sure, you must have given it most of your life…”

Nanami spoke slowly, between sighs.

“Same goes for Kamakiri. I think he called it Mantis Talons. I can only imagine how much time it must have taken him to condition23 his body to do that… This goes beyond the successes of your individual training. It must be a Maniwa Village tradition, a body of knowledge perfected over countless generations─the mere thought,” Nanami said. “The mere thought─makes me jealous.”

“…Huh?”

Disregarding this confused reaction from Chocho, Nanami continued.

“You guys are the ones who don’t understand─what not being allowed to make any effort feels like… No matter what I do, I won’t get any praise. Every success, every win is dismissed as inevitable. Know how that feels? No, you have no idea.”

With that─

She began to make her way again toward Chocho.

Walking the exact same way as earlier. Slow steps, natural posture.

As if her first clash with his blend of ninpo and kenpo had not impacted her strategy in the least─she moved closer to where he stood.

Chocho was perplexed.

He didn’t get what she was doing.

He didn’t get this woman─not her words, and not her moves!

“Wanna die? Be my guest!”

As Nanami approached him, for the second time, Chocho lost his patience and sprang forth, also for the second time.

But so what.

If there was one thing he got about this woman, it was that she could not counter the Harlequin Butterfly!

“Rahh!”

Summoning all his energy─and erasing his weight, including that of his ninja garb, Chocho leapt into the sky. Paddling the air, he traveled vertically, climbing through the branches of the trees, even springing from the leaves that he shook free─and when he reached top speed, he plummeted!

Not breaking form, even as he fell, Chocho aimed straight for Nanami!

Aimed.

But she was not where he expected her to be─Nanami Yasuri was not there beneath Chocho’s fist.

“Whuh?!”

Then where was she?

Nanami Yasuri was right in front of Chocho Maniwa.

Facing him.24

Describing them as “facing” one another makes them sound poised for battle─which they were, only midair.

Chocho was floating, and so floated Nanami.

“Huh?! Wh-What the─”

“I knew it. The Harlequin Butterfly─it’s all about the footwork. It seems obvious now, but your weight doesn’t actually disappear…”

Time to clear something up.

Twenty years prior─Mutsue Yasuri, Hero of the Rebellion, had named25 Shichika, not Nanami, the next Master of the Kyotoryu. Then, for nineteen years, Mutsue had conveyed the teachings of the Kyotoryu to Shichika alone─in other words, Mutsue taught Nanami nothing.

Not because of her sickly constitution.

And surely not because she was a woman.

She was simply too strong to learn anything from anyone─

Not only did Mutsue refuse to teach Nanami, he barred her from all manner of exertion. She was not allowed to train in any way.

Her strength broke the mold.

Her strength broke the rules.26

Not only as her father, but as a swordsman, Mutsue saw it as his duty to contain her.

But then─

What of the Ominaeshi she had used on Kamakiri.

And the Hinageshi she used just now.

She was a proven master─but how? If she had never been educated in the Kyotoryu, how could Nanami attain such mastery? But the solution to this paradox was all too simple.

She had been watching─all this time.

She had been watching─all the way.

As her little brother practiced. As her little brother trained.

While Shichika Yasuri─exerted himself.

She had watched the matches between father and son, at times unsubtly,27 and at times from the shade of a tree─never missing a moment, as if stricken with envy.

For nineteen years, Shichika had trained without rest, through rain and wind and snow─and for nineteen years, through rain and wind and snow, Nanami, at rest, had been watching.

Watching.

And learning.28

Studying someone else while they were training, you could learn whatever they were learning, only better─but Nanami had gained the ability to watch and learn with unreasonable precision and facility.29

Considering how she had been forced not to exert herself, her ability was inexplicable─an expression of her genius.

To coin a phrase, distance makes the eye grow sharper.

If she saw something once, she remembered every detail.

But if she saw it twice, it was hers.

And the proud and ostentatious Chocho Maniwa had twice already wowed Nanami with his Harlequin Butterfly!

“What, n-no way…”

“Really, I’m jealous, even envious─that you guys can get so serious practicing at no more than this.”

Midair, Nanami reached out her hand.

So sluggishly her movements made no draft─and grabbed the collar of Chocho’s ninja outfit.

Gripped it, and hard.

“Ah!”

“If I’m grabbing you like this, so you can’t get away─no draft can deflect my attack.”

They say first-rate martial artists have a firm grasp of the shortcomings of their techniques. And the weak point of the Harlequin Butterfly was not lost on Nanami, who now embodied it firsthand─

“You’ve made it clear that you won’t talk─and I’ve seen all I need to see. I’ll finish you off soon enough. Don’t worry, I’ll bury you all in the same place.”

Chocho opened his mouth─about to speak.

Perhaps to beg for his life.

Or maybe only to scream.

“Kyotoryu─Tampopo.”30

Before any sound could leave his lips, Nanami’s spear hand pierced his beating heart.31 In a single instantaneous motion, coming without warning─she’d drawn in the hand gripping his ninja garb to facilitate her spear hand’s rending encounter with the left side of his chest.

She could do without a wind-up or any other prefatory movements.

She was freestyle, this was Form Zero─the Ichijiku.

The two of them fell together to the ground.

Harlequin Butterfly thusly interrupted, they made a violent landing. The impact made Nanami wince─

“N-No way…”

Hacking up phlegmatic blood, Chocho regarded Nanami with utter disbelief.

Shocked at her ability to emulate his Harlequin Butterfly? Not so.

No, quite simply─her spear hand stunned him cold.

“No way a hand─can pierce through someone’s heart… Bullshit, unbelievable. Not only that, my chains…”

Nanami had speared through the chains wrapped around his body as protection─especially for his heart. Even the shard of the Blood Crystal, a remnant of his late friend Kamakiri, which Chocho had slipped into his costume as a last line of defense─was shattered.

Swordless kenpo.

A spear hand driven like a true katana, only more menacing and destructive.

This was the Kyotoryu!

As if reading what was on his mind from his face, Nanami withdrew her spear hand from his ribcage─and let him see her gory fingers.

“The Tampopo is a grappling move,32 a normal spear hand unleashed while you are pulling in the opponent. And when I say normal, I mean normal. It might be able to break flesh, but common sense dictates that it could never go all the way through─unless maybe you’re as strong as Shichika. What you just witnessed, I learned from your friend Kamakiri.”

If you looked closely.

Nanami’s fingertips─were sharp and pointy.

Nay, not her fingers, but her fingernails.

They had grown into talons.

“Wh-Whuh, whuh─”

“He only showed me this move once, and only for an instant, which is why I only got two inches out of them. Maybe if I try again, they’ll grow a little longer.”

No ninja yields to torture.

Nanami had known this from the start─in which case, why had she bothered chaining Kamakiri to a tree?

And declined to tie his arms behind his back?

And finally come so near as to provoke him to attack!

“Ah, ahhhh…”

Chocho─lamented as he writhed.

Writhing in horror─or in rage.

Or perhaps, these were the spasms of a body on the verge of death.

“F-Fending off our Maniwa Ninpo that easily… After all our training, which you can’t begin to imagine─impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible!”

“I know─that’s why I’m jealous. You guys get to try your very best at such trivial pursuits. I bet you’ve never pondered the sorrows of people who can do anything, but are unable to give it their all.”

Exhausting what little strength he had, Chocho Maniwa made as though to cling on33 to Nanami, but she dodged him, deft and swift─noticing the blood sprayed34 on her kimono as she walked away.

Then─she eyed the body of Chocho, whose life was going up in smoke, without the aid of nicotine.35 All too disinterested, Nanami let out one of her deep sighs.

“Well now…this fight was being watched─but from where? Someplace with a clear view of here…”

Who knows─but if, in the words of Togame, Hakuhei Sabi was a man who had been born in the wrong era, then Nanami Yasuri was a woman who should never have been born.

She had done nothing to reach the top.

Skills that other martial artists acquired only after coughing up their share of blood1 were hers from the beginning, through no toil whatsoever.

Her strength broke the mold.

Her strength broke the rules.

Surpassing2─what we know as strength.

Which is why the gods punished her.

For being far too superior─

All things considered, he had the option to do otherwise─most people, arriving in these circumstances, would certainly have opted to retreat.

He never had expected the sister of the Kyotoryu to be so powerful─“Kamakiri the Head-Hunter” and “Flying Butter Chocho” had met their end one after the other. Mitsubachi may have been a Boss, but he was far less of a ninja than either of the two. He would have done well to back down.

Frankly, Mitsubachi would have, if he could have─after all, their plan to snatch up the sister of the Kyotoryu was in shambles. If they’d known she would be this strong, they’d have chosen a different strategy─and perhaps never come here in the first place.

Hence it would have been perfectly rational to back away for now, and reassess his course of action.

But here is where the fact that they had sailed out to Haphazard Island with no boat backfired3─with Chocho perished, Mitsubachi had no way of returning to the mainland on his own. On an island so densely forested, he could have chopped down trees and built himself a raft, but work like that takes time.

And she already knew that he was here.

Ideally, Nanami assumed that Chocho and Kamakiri were the only two ninjas on the island, and that Chocho was the last of them─but no such luck. If there were two of them, there could be three. He could not allow Nanami to attack him from behind while he was laboring to build his raft.

It seems that his way out had disappeared.

The option of retreating snatched away.

Whether he liked it or not, he was fighting.

And if he was fighting, he had to act fast. The battle between Chocho and Nanami─or to call a spade a spade,4 Chocho Maniwa’s defeat─had been awful to behold, but in the fashion of a true Maniwa Boss, he had not gone out without a fight.

Allowing Mitsubachi, who had been watching from a distance, to glean some useful information.

When it was over─Nanami knelt down, almost collapsing. Whereupon she started coughing and retching aggressively.

Chocho had failed to do her any harm.

Even that final lunge, where he burned through his remaining energy, had been easy enough for her to dodge─in which case, this was more about her constitution.

Nanami Yasuri had no stamina.5

And to boot─her body was in awful shape.

You could say she was in tatters─

So pale and fragile, it had been a sight to see her unveil such a fury, but although she had not let Chocho hit her even once, this level of exhaustion─did not befit a martial artist.

The fact is─even if Togame the Schemer had been privy to Nanami being so much stronger than her brother, she would likely have not chosen her to join her on her quest. Nanami could not sustain her strength, which made her poorly suited for the journey.

Nanami’s infirmity6 was fatal.

Even if she won─she could not win forever.

And Mitsubachi Maniwa knew as much.

In which case, he only had to keep it coming.

After fighting Kamakiri and Chocho, she had no chance to shake off her fatigue─by now it had to be consuming her feeble body. To ensure the sacrifice his comrades made was not for nothing, he needed to make haste.

It was just like Chocho had said.

Bug Unit forever. Even in death, their bond would not be severed.

Yet what a shame─thought Mitsubachi.

If only three, or even two more Bosses had come along, surely they could have carried her away, strong as hell as she may be. But five or six of the infamous Bosses of the Maniwa Clan setting off to kidnap a single woman was unthinkable. Unacceptable. Even three was pushing it.

And so, as the last remaining member of the Bug Unit, Mitsubachi had no choice but to battle Nanami Yasuri, imprudent as it may be.

This wasn’t supposed to be a battle to the death. It wasn’t…

He’d assumed it was part of the groundwork,7 the prep work8 for seizing the Mutant Blades from Shichika Yasuri and Togame the Schemer.

Assumed.

“…”

All the same, Mitsubachi was not so foolhardy as to confront his foe triumphantly; he could not beat an enemy who both Kamakiri and Chocho had failed to beat, not when she had assimilated9 their ninpo.

Kamakiri’s Mantis Talons.

Chocho’s Harlequin Butterfly.

Mitsubachi had seen her use both, and perfectly, when she dominated Chocho─it was unbelievable, but judging from what he had heard them say, this woman could adopt10 the moves of her opponents.

He could understand her learning the Harlequin Butterfly─that much was understandable. It was a question of how you walked. Mitsubachi might not be able to cross an ocean, but he could keep it going for a few steps. The Mantis Talons, however, were another story. They demanded conditioning of the physiology.11 How could she make it look so easy, like it was nothing?

What a nightmare.

Komori Maniwa, another of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan, had mastered a move called the Body Melt. It let him morph his flesh to mimic others. But while it allowed him to copy their appearance, their physique, and their abilities, it stopped short of acquiring their moves.

Could this woman do just that?

Chocho paid for the information with his life.

He had to believe it.

He had to accept it.

Physically speaking, this fight would be one-on-one, but it felt like he was up against Kamakiri and Chocho, in addition to Nanami. Essentially, it would be three-on-one. As a Maniwa Boss, Mitsubachi had an aversion to direct confrontation, but this went beyond style. Who wouldn’t have been scared of her?

Good thing she was raised on a desert island. With eyes like that, if she’d seen the outside world…

The thought gave him the chills.

Confining her to the island was the right move.

In truth, Nanami had attained those eyes because of all those years trapped on Haphazard Island. Mitsubachi had it all wrong, confinement had fostered her abilities─but either way.

I have to make a sneak attack.

Finishing her off before she even saw him was the only way. Lucky for him, his ninpo was perfectly suited to this purpose.

Blunderbuzz.12

In this move, Mitsubachi flicked caltrops off his thumb as fast as bullets. This use of a ninja weapon ordinarily used when making an escape spoke to Mitsubachi’s ingenuity. Flicking a caltrop is not easy─but Mitsubachi boasted one-hundred-percent accuracy. Lest we forget, he was the only member of the Bug Unit brandishing a sword, but in his mind, the blade was only meant for backup.

They called him “Mitsubachi the Sharpshooter.”13

And the Blunderbuzz─a long-range attack─was his jam.

Its range approached two hundred feet.

Compared to the Mantis Talons and the Harlequin Butterfly, the Blunderbuzz was less theatrical, but in those days, anyone who could attack from a distance had an extreme advantage. And unlike any firearm,14 the Blunderbuzz neither stank of gunpowder15 nor made a sound. When Nanami approached Chocho, who could have sworn he was perfectly still, she easily noticed him once she got close enough. By extension, at any greater range…

That woman wouldn’t be able to spot me.

Here the Bug Unit’s honed senses came in handy.

Unlike Komori Maniwa’s Star Cannon, which was considered a success if even half the shuriken made contact, the Blunderbuzz was a targeted-assault16 smart missile.17 So long as he fired his caltrops from an undetectable distance, not even she could dodge them. However, you could literally never be too careful with this woman. It was entirely possible that while fighting Kamakiri and Chocho, she had acquired their honed senses. He would shoot her from behind, at the limit of his range─a full two hundred feet away.

His missiles could never miss.

He had the utmost confidence in the precision of the Blunderbuzz.

But the distance would rob the caltrops of their lethality. While they may bite her skin or pierce her flesh, they would never find organ or bone. Feeble as she may be.

Hence the poison.

He would dab the tips with poison.

Not a lethal toxin, more like a tranquilizer. It would be unfair to say it was a cheap move for a ninja, when his enemy was so exceptionally strong and got that way without putting in the effort.

He would have been happy to apply a fatal venom.

To kill her and be done with it.

She was almost too demonic to be of use to him alive. He rightly doubted whether she would be effective as a hostage.

But that would go against both Kamakiri and Chocho’s dying wishes─as the last remaining member of the Bug Unit, it was his duty, come what may, to win this battle.

Even if two of them were dead, should one of the three survive, they could claim victory.

The way life goes─for a ninja.

He would live to seize the Shikizaki blades from the Schemer and the Kyotoryu!

“Kamakiri, Chocho─I hope you’re watching this.”

Flat on the ground, like a sniper,18 he prepared his caltrops. Extending one arm long, like the barrel of a rifle19…

Setting his sights on Nanami Yasuri, slowly approaching, two hundred feet away─after her fight with Chocho, she’d left his body where it had fallen and wandered off─Mitsubachi Maniwa aimed at a spot just above the sash of her kimono.

One-hundred-percent accuracy─meant your mind had to be a steel trap.20 His certainty that he could never miss was in and of itself a kind of handicap. Wielding these poisoned caltrops, he could off himself by accident if they pricked his fingers or his palm in his excessively firm grip.

He only had one shot.

With the poison, he need not focus on her vital organs. Anywhere he hit would be sufficient. If he aimed for her torso, he would never miss─but if somehow he did, she would notice the direction the projectile had come from, and instantly close in. Sickly as she may be, she had mastered the Harlequin Butterfly. There would nary be time to ready21 the next caltrop.

Considering how adroitly she had speared her hand through Chocho’s chest, this woman had no qualms about killing. Raised here on the island, she was obviously not a veteran fighter, but her strike had been sure, as it must have been too when she slayed Kamakiri.

Thus.

One-hundred-percent accuracy was not enough.

He had to stop her─with a single shot.

But do I have what it takes?

Of course I do.

I’m a Boss─same as Kamakiri and Chocho.

“Blunderbuzz.”

Summoning the pride of the Maniwa.

A caltrop slathered in nerve agent soared through the air─heading for Nanami’s back.

The last of three.

This time, deep into the past.

Not one year─not even twenty years.

But further back.

Before they were marooned.

Nanami Yasuri was bedridden.22

Her body was burning, consumed with pain. But for all her suffering, she could not so much as bend her pinky finger. Noise crashing through her mind without relief, she could not even open her eyes. As if the pain of the entire world were trapped in her tiny frame.

She could die any time.

She heard the doctor say so, at her bedside.23

He must have thought Nanami was unconscious.

Any time. Still… the doctor went on.

Shaking his head, voice filled with wonder.

I don’t understand why she hasn’t died. How is the girl…alive?

Here her memory cuts off. Static, like a sandstorm, fills the screen─roaring snow, as if the thing were busted. But eventually, the picture comes together24─into focus.

Poor thing.

A voice came through the noise.

The voice of a woman.

Nanami knew immediately this was her mother─her mother was beside her. What happened to the doctor?

And her father.

And her brother─where did they go?

Where was everybody?

Everybody but her mother.

You poor thing.

She spoke like she was talking to herself.

Maybe she was talking to herself.

At this point, no one could possibly believe that Nanami was still conscious. Nanami, herself, whose entire body was beset with pain, failed to understand why she had not lost consciousness.

What a relief it would have been to lose awareness.

Or even die.

If only.

What an incredible relief.

My poor little baby.

The same thing─over and over.

Poor thing, my baby.

If only you could die, it would be over.

Poor thing.

Her memory cuts off again. Fog darkens all─but remember, her fever was so high that she could not open her eyes. Her memory lacked any visual component. Just voices. Whether her mother was even really there, she could not say. Her ears could have been hearing things,25 in the throes of her pain.

She was not even sure this was a memory.

Moreover, her mother… I wish I could forget everything about her─because of her, we wound up stranded on this island. It was her fault.

Enough reminiscing─

Tearing her kimono, its barbs26 bit into the skin of her stomach.

It was already too late to act. Mitsubachi Maniwa used a special kind of caltrop for the Blunderbuzz. Each of the arms was fashioned like a fishhook. Once in, they were not easy to remove. Unless you were extremely careful, they would snag your fingers. And while she dillydallied27 with the barbs─the poison would course through her veins.

Nanami staggered, almost falling.

She just managed to catch herself, but her gait was clearly wobbly.

“…”

And yet─she took pains to pinpoint where the caltrop came from. Her gaze was calm, not what you would expect from someone who has just been sniped.28 Since she was normally so pale, it was impossible to tell whether the poison was working, but doubtless it was spreading from her stomach through her body.

“Is someone…there?”

In answer to Nanami’s feeble cry, Mitsubachi Maniwa stepped proudly from the stand of trees.29

Brandishing another caltrop, just in case.

Poised to fire again if Nanami did anything suspicious─this caltrop of course being poisoned like the first.

“I am Mitsubachi Maniwa─one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan.”

“Hi. I’m Nanami Yasuri.”

Compared to Mitsubachi, Nanami was terse. Had her tongue been snared30 with poison?

“I see you’ve taken care of my two friends.”

“Yes…” Nanami spoke slowly, scanning the area around her. “I gave them a proper killing─Kamakiri and Chocho?”

“Ha ha ha.” This made Mitsubachi laugh. “You can stop looking around. I’m the last one─but in the state you’re in, one of us should do just fine.”

“Is this…poisoned?”

“Yes─poison.”

Mitsubachi was ready for action─he held himself like he had won already, but spoke with his sight31 trained squarely on Nanami.

“Don’t worry. It’s not strong enough to kill you. Just enough to make you sleepy. I suppose Kamakiri and Chocho mentioned that we’re not interested in you─we want your brother. Specifically, the Mutant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki he’s collected.”

“…”

“Trust me, part of me would love to kill you, but that would soothe my own regrets32 only, for haplessly letting my friends get murdered. To settle the score for Kamakiri and Chocho, I have to obtain those swords.”

“You…talk too much.” Unsteady as she was, Nanami backed away─and by leaning on a tree, she kept herself upright, without ever taking a knee. “So it’s when people have the upper hand that they tend to wax loquacious.33 And I suppose ninjas…are no exception.”

“…?”

Was her remark a nod to how Kamakiri had refused to speak, even when she tortured him? To Chocho’s refusal, before their battle, to convey how many more ninjas remained? To be sure, Mitsubachi had said more than strictly necessary. But what of it? At this stage, it wasn’t as if he were divulging any secret. To begin with…

“Your point─is just common sense. You made it like it’s some novel insight,34 when it’s not.”

“Please understand─over the last twenty years, I’ve met only a few people… I’m still confused by human behavior. There’s so many things I’ve never had a chance to do.”

“You sure are brave,”35 said Mitsubachi in a low voice. “It may not be lethal, but this much poison should at least have shut you up by now─maybe I should slip you another, for good measure.”

He aimed his caltrop.

Made a show of it─to terrorize her.

They were about ten feet apart.

Weak as she may be, she was still standing, which made it risky to get any closer. Not when she could come at him with the Mantis Talons or whatever else.

But ten feet─was plenty close.

At that range, the Blunderbuzz would murder anybody. If he did not exercise the utmost caution and restraint, the caltrop was liable to blow straight through her belly.

“Was that─your ninpo?”

“Yeah, it’s called the Blunderbuzz.”

“Ha…haha.”

Nanami smiled─a pained and artificial smile.

Weak as she may be, it was an evil smile.

“You’re fine with─showing me your ninpo?”

So she knew he’d watched her fight with Chocho─the way she said it made that clear, but at this point it was irrelevant. “In your condition, I’m fine with you seeing whatever you want. Even if you were a genius of unparalleled, unmentionable ability, you could never execute the Blunderbuzz.”

Ready, aim─his sights were set.

“Unlike Kamakiri’s Mantis Talons or Chocho’s Harlequin Butterfly, this move demands that you have caltrops─even if you learned it, you couldn’t use it, since you have no ammo. Don’t tell me that thanks to an unshared character detail,36 you happen to have some caltrops up your sleeve.”

“…”

“You think you’re so strong, Nanami Yasuri─but in your sorry state, the threat is empty.”

“When did I ever say I was strong?” Nanami blustered. “It’s just that you guys─are weak.”

“Hah, I’ll take that as another empty threat… Look, if you’re done needlessly resisting, I promise to stop needlessly harassing you. If you’ll be a good girl and let me hold you hostage from your brother, I have no reason to bother you. I’m a man, after all. I’d hate37 to mar your pretty skin.”

“Thanks─so much.”

After Nanami spoke─she moved.

Or rather, went to move.

She was about to make a beeline for Mitsubachi, when she was stymied by a stealthy Blunderbuzz. Had it not stopped her, it would certainly have tripped her from the outset, the only question being whether her body would have made it to his feet─but Mitsubachi did not even let her falter forward.

Her second caltrop to the stomach.

Savaging her kimono, ravaging her skin, and digging deep into her flesh─the blast slammed Nanami back into the tree.

“Guh…”

Such was the breath that leaked from her throat.

Completely losing her posture, and apparently unable to remain upright, she slumped down by the roots of the tree.

Her bleary, vacant38 gaze─cast upon Mitsubachi.

“… … …”

“Looks like I finally shut you up,” the ninja said, declining to prepare another caltrop. Why bother? Besides, even if the nerve agent was nonlethal, three doses would be going overboard for anyone, especially somebody as sickly and infirm as Nanami. If he were to hit her again, he’d need to wash off the poison─

No, he had a better idea.

In a single breath, Mitsubachi drew the longsword at his hip.

“… … … …”

Nanami was breathing violently. Still, the flashing blade failed to elicit a reaction. This time, her eyes were open, but she could have been unconscious─at the very least, Mitsubachi believed, her thoughts were thick as mud.

Poison and illness will take down even the greatest.39

No doubt.

“You might be behaving now, but when the poison wears off, we’ll be back to square one.40 Let’s be real, you pack more of a punch than me. So how about─while you’re still sleepy, I cut off both your arms, to make sure you never punch again?”

“…”

“I doubt that it will even hurt. I’ve no desire to torment a downed foe─the poison works wonders as a painkiller. And don’t hold this against me. It’s your fault, for being so strong…so strong, that I’m in no mood to at least spare one arm. I can’t take any chances─”

Mitsubachi raised his longsword and approached Nanami, hunched down by the tree roots. She remained unresponsive─even seeing Mitsubachi with his sword on high.41

“Haaa!” the ninja bellowed─and let his longsword fall. Ready to chop straight through her arm, into the tree trunk at her back!

“…?!”

He chopped through.

Something.

But the thing his sword chopped through─was indeed the tree. The blade slashed the trunk clear down to its roots, but that was all. While it is true that esoteric tricks of swordsmanship exist for cutting not the target, but the thing behind it, Mitsubachi Maniwa, who never claimed to be a swordsman, could hardly pull such a stunt.

In which case, what of Nanami Yasuri?

When Mitsubachi cleared his head enough to think this far─it was too late. A sharp pain ran through his shoulder. He looked─to find a caltrop buried past its barb.

Savaging his ninja garb, ravaging his skin, and digging deep into his flesh.

“Whah, ugh…”

Nearly falling to his feet from all the pain, Mitsubachi summoned enough strength to turn around─whereupon he saw Nanami, slouching─not leaning against anything, or propped up against anything, and definitely not in any kind of stance… But then again, she had a name for standing this way, with her arms hanging at her sides:

Kyotoryu Form Zero─the Ichijiku.

“Wh-Wh-When did you get behind─”

“Harlequin Butterfly,” Nanami answered quietly─taking the time to sigh. “…That, and some Kyotoryu footwork, for good measure. Not exactly instantaneous,42 but using both at once, I guess I can go pretty fast─that’s how. Oh, and another thing.”

Nanami held up her right hand and flicked her thumb smartly at Mitsubachi.

“What did you call it, the Blunderbuzz?”

“How…”

Considering the caltrop lodged into his shoulder─the time had passed for asking questions and being surprised by the answers. As should be clear by now, Nanami dodged Mitsubachi’s longsword almost instantaneously before countering─with none other than the Blunderbuzz!

“What, so you had a caltrop all along─conveniently enough? Did I just miss the part where they told us you have some on you?”

“You gave them to me─both of them.”

Nanami stopped flicking her thumb and showed him her kimono. The caltrops had torn through the fabric─but only one was there.

The other caltrop, the first Mitsubachi had unleashed, was gone.

“This Blunderbuzz─it’s great that you can attack from so far away, but it’s too bad that with each attack, you give your enemy your ammo.”

“Wha… B-But! Once they break skin, they should be almost impossible to remove! What about the barb─”

“You see…”

This time Nanami showed him her left hand.

Its nails─were much longer than they should be.

Almost like blades.

Mantis Talons─

“I gouged it free, skin and all.”

“…!”

Mitsubachi’s head began to spin.

The shock of hearing that Nanami had gouged into her own flesh was incredible enough─but there was more. If this was the same caltrop that he threw at her, then it was poisoned, and now that toxin was traveling through his body!

“H-How could… How did… When you only saw the Blunderbuzz─me, do it once…”

“Okay─not like this is a compliment, but that is not an easy move. I was aiming for the center of your back, but it strayed way up and to the right…and even this close, it had less force than I wanted. Surprisingly hard to do. I wish I could have seen it twice.”

“Gah, ahh─”

Words failed Mitsubachi.

Perhaps it was the poison, perhaps it was frustration43─

His body would not do his bidding.

No, wait, stick with it─don’t lose focus. The battle isn’t over yet. Nanami may have hit me with a caltrop, but she missed my vital organs, and after gouging out that caltrop with her nails, she’s gotta be in rough shape. I got a dose of poison, but she got double-dosed, far too much for a girl her size. I’m winning, no matter how you look at it─

“Huh?”

Mitsubachi Maniwa finally wised up.

The poison, what happened to the poison?

Not the Harlequin Butterfly, not the Kyotoryu footwork, and not the Mantis Talons or the Blunderbuzz─none of it should have been possible for somebody stung twice by poisoned caltrops!

She had been about to faint!

In so much pain─what happened to the pain?

“I faked it.”

Nanami spoke plainly, and unapologetically.44

“A poison that can’t even kill? That’s nothing for me. I knew you guys were trying to capture me alive. You never would have used a poison strong enough to hurt me.”

“Whuh…”

What the hell… Was she saying that she could have dodged both of the caltrops but let them hit her anyway? Was she insinuating she had feigned exhaustion just so he’d lower his guard?!

To see the Blunderbuzz up close and personal.

To get Mitsubachi Maniwa to talk.

Was she really telling him that she had tricked him, to make sure Mitsubachi was the third and final ninja on the island?

“Ugh…ahwah, ah, ah, uwahhh.”

Tongue-tied.

The poison certainly worked.

How could she call it nothing? That simply couldn’t be. Even if she was a genius of unparalleled, unmentionable ability…poison and illness will take down even the greatest! Indeed, after absorbing but a single caltrop’s share, Mitsubachi was in such pain he felt his body being torn apart!

“Torn apart…” said Nanami, using the nails of her left hand to gouge out the second caltrop, skin and all.

Gouging her nails into her own flesh.

No change to her expression whatsoever.

“That’s nothing─I feel that way every day.”

“…”

“Like you said, the poison worked wonders as a painkiller─pain and suffering are old friends of mine by now. A little more can’t hurt─literally. Even if it does itch a little.”

Nanami Yasuri─a woman who should never have been born.

She’d done nothing to reach the top.

Skills other martial artists acquired only after coughing up their share of blood were hers to embody, through no toil whatsoever.

Her strength broke the mold.

Her strength broke the rules.

Surpassing─what we know as strength.

Which is why the gods punished her.

For being far too superior─they saddled her body with a billion maladies.45 Her body was gratuitously46 packed with these afflictions, each plenty fatal on its own─and inviting a whole suite of complications47 that made her life gratuitously excruciating.

Yet her innate genius rejected the maladies.

Rejected poison, and illness.

Through all the pain and suffering, even on the verge of death, her body refused to die. She could not get any weaker, and was too feeble to function─but held out, living on the brink of death.

She should have died by now.

She should not─have been alive.

Her body possessed an outsize48 capacity to heal, keeping her billion maladies at bay.

The gouges in her belly skin─would soon be gone without a trace.

Mitsubachi understood now.

How despite her inexperience, she had been able to kill Kamakiri and Chocho─for her, pain and suffering, and likewise death, were old friends.

Dying and killing.

And being killed.

Had never been a big deal.

“Really, I’m jealous of you guys.”

Careful not to cut her palms, and playing with the caltrop she’d gouged out safely─she glanced at Mitsubachi.

“You guys can take your health for granted─that makes me incredibly jealous. I never asked for my abilities. All I’ve ever wanted is a healthy body, and a little room─to dream.”

Her body kept her dreams from coming true.

Her abilities rendered dreams unnecessary.

And either─she could have done without.

“Kah…aaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

All Mitsubachi Maniwa could do was howl into the sky with all his might. Crying out─for Kamakiri and Chocho; for Komori, buried in the island dirt; and for Shirasagi and Kuizame, who had sacrificed their lives at other locales on the Sword Hunt.

“Not over yet! I haven’t lost─you’re not the only person with an extreme tolerance for poison! I’m not done fighting─you’re not going to psyche me out! If you think I’m finished, you got another thing coming!”

“No─I’m pretty sure you’re finished.”

His desperate cry was lost on Nanami Yasuri.

“The caltrop that I planted in your shoulder─” she explained, “was dressed with more than just your poison. I freshened it with poison of another kind.”

“…!”

“I got it from the first ninja who attacked me─Kamakiri. He had it stashed in his molar… Looks like I had a few tricks up my sleeve, after all. Did you see that coming? A ninja, dying by the poison of his brethren. Quite the tidy ending, if you ask me.”

“Ah…ahh….ahhhh…”

A lethal poison─their Suicide Poison.

Which meant─he was already dead.

Out of his body, out of his mind.

Faced with inescapable despair, Mitsubachi turned pale.

And yet─pale as he was, he paled in comparison to Nanami.

Whose skin had such little color─she should not have been alive.

“I’d prefer to let you choose,” Nanami told Mitsubachi, who refused to break form, or perhaps was simply dumbfounded, and powerless to act─“whether to die by poison, or by the sword.”

“…”

“There’s a move that I’ve been dying to try out─I only watched him do it once before he left the island, and never actually tried it out myself…but you choose. Doesn’t matter to me either way.”

In response.

Mitsubachi Maniwa gave her a fake-looking smile─but answered without flinching.

“You can kill me with a sword,” he said. “If you kill me with our Suicide Poison, I could never face my friends… I’d appreciate if you would bury me beside them.”

“I would be happy to.”

Nanami tossed the caltrop like a piece of litter49─and arms hanging at her sides, totally natural, she slowly made her way toward Mitsubachi, who could only wait for judgment. He wasn’t interested in making any last-ditch effort50─why bother, with no friend left on the island to watch?

“The Kyotoryu has Seven Fatal Orchids─but with this move, I’ll give you all of them at once─it’s basically the eighth one, or the Last Fatal Orchid─”

Fatal Orchid One: Kyoka Suigetsu

Fatal Orchid Two: Kacho Fugetsu

Fatal Orchid Three: Hyakka Ryoran

Fatal Orchid Four: Ryuryoku Kako

Fatal Orchid Five: Hika Rakuyo

Fatal Orchid Six: Kinjo Tenka

Fatal Orchid Seven: Rakka Rozeki

“Kyotoryu─Shichika Hachiretsu!”

Flying like a butterfly, stinging like a bee, and preying like a mantis─they were crushed like bugs.

Since these battles had taken place on a desert island, it goes without saying that it was quite some time before the news made it to the mainland─but the sudden loss of three of the Twelve Bosses would have a major impact on the Maniwa Clan, and on the Sword Hunt being carried out by Togame the Schemer and Shichika Yasuri.

Reason being─

“…”

Nanami Yasuri─stood on the beach.

Her kimono smeared with blood and full of holes.

She had looked weak enough already, but now she looked ghastly51 and depleted─in her feeble state, fighting for her life three times in a row had been like walking a tightrope.52

She may have won three times in a row, but that did not mean that the battles had been easy. Mitsubachi had thought he could have licked her with the help of two more Bosses, but in reality, she would have been in trouble if even one more Maniwa Boss-level opponent had shown up. It was a miracle she was not hacking blood up this very moment.

She gazed over the sea.

Across the ocean─to the mainland.

To the nation of Japan─where her little brother and that Whitehaired Schemer were hunting for swords.

“I saw one, finally, after all this time─”

She eyed the longsword, in its scabbard, she was carrying in one hand─and let out a sigh from the bottom of her heart.

The longsword─of Mitsubachi Maniwa.

Indeed, Nanami had been watching.

She’d seen him swing the sword, aimed for her arm, and seen him slash the tree behind her clear down to its roots.

Seen it.

Seen what it could do.

“I’m supposed to be part of the Kyotoryu…but now I understand─how to use a sword.”

On this island where all blades were prohibited, nearly twenty years after Nanami had gained the ability to watch and learn, she had finally seen a sword in action.53

And not merely by coincidence.

Just as she had pretended to torture Kamakiri Maniwa to make him use his Mantis Talons─and just as she had provoked Mitsubachi to fire another Blunderbuzz─

Nanami had lured him into brandishing his sword.

Was the Kyotoryu stronger for being swordless?

Three months before the Bug Unit landed on the island, Komori Maniwa had asked something to that effect:

If the Swordless Swordsman took up a sword…he would have to be stronger than the same swordsman swordless.

By a strange twist, the dictum came true now, via the head of the Yasuri household.

Her genius─reached an even higher echelon of genius.

Then.

“Oh, Shichika… What Last Fatal Orchid? He can really run his mouth54… It has such a glaring weakness I have a hard time even calling it fatal. I should have told him, but you never know until you try… If I don’t warn him soon, he could wind up in deep trouble─actually, no.”

Nanami tilted her head, as if unsure of what to do.

And gazed off to the horizon.

Another deep, deep sigh.

She could sigh─better than anyone.

Then she muttered something.

Wearing an evil smile.

“There’s room for one more─on this Sword Hunt.”

A conspicuous duo showed up at an anchorage1 in Buzen, down in Kyushu. One dressed herself in garish finery, hair swinging on the sea breeze. The other was a mountain of a man, stripped to the waist, hair knotted at his neck─you would never find a stranger pair across all of Japan.

Togame the Schemer, and Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu.

They were staring quietly at the sea, looking like a couple of people who had accomplished something big. The way they held themselves intimated a maturity they had not possessed just recently, in Suo.

“Anyway, that was a pretty tough fight,” said Togame, starting things off.

“Sure was,” Shichika answered with feeling. “Now I know why they called him the Strongest Swordsman in Japan─probably my toughest battle yet. Hakuhei Sabi─I’ll never forget that name as long as I live.”

“Yeah─that was the closest2 victory imaginable. I would even go so far as to say that the sacred grounds of Ganryu Island have renewed their place in history…”

“I won by the skin3 of my teeth. If it wasn’t for your strategies, Togame, I probably wouldn’t be alive.”

“Come now, my schemes would never have worked without your moves. Although I have to say, I was not expecting things to actually go according to plan. You impress me, Shichika.”

“I fell for you all over again, Togame.”

“Come on, come on. What matters is, you faced off against Hakuhei Sabi, and won. Which means you’ve made yourself4 the Strongest in Japan, in deed and in name.”

“Strongest in Japan… Well, I can’t say it’s sinking in. I was stunned by all those moves that Sabi laid on me. From the get-go, that Imploding Ground5 of his blew me away. I never thought I would see footwork swifter than the Kakitsubata─”

“The move that struck me most was the Frightmare,6 where he stopped you with his guard and scabbard. They say that move earned him the title of Sword Saint, and now I can see why.”

“No way. It’s gotta be that weird move, the Flashback,7 where the sword’s length alters at will, really messes with the Kyotoryu─it’s hard to take your distance,8 even though the blade is held at a fixed position. Or maybe the Katana Jackpot,9 his own version of iainuki, so unlike Ginkaku Uneri’s Zerosen─it scares the crap out of me to think what would have happened if I hadn’t lost my footing at just the right time…”

“Yes, but that block he executed, the Bladeholder,10 where he read the cutting edge of your hand like an open book, was truly superb. For a second, I thought you were done for. For a boy of only twenty, built more or less the same as me, to move like that─you may have beat him, Shichika, but I dare say we enjoyed but a taste of what the Fallen Swordsman had to offer.”

“Yeah. To be honest, I don’t feel like I won─it just isn’t sinking in. I’m not sure I can even say that I got lucky, sad as that sounds.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Togame said. “All we can say is that we didn’t lose.”

“But obviously the best part was the Whisper Eureka,11 a move he could have only done with Hakuto the Whisper. Another of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki. At first glance, the only thing the Whisper had going for it was its beauty. I never would have dreamed a sword so brittle could have that kind of play or power. Some people say that any hunk of metal12 becomes a legend in the right hands, but this is another story─I feel like I finally understand the horrible potential of the sword.”

“So true,” said Togame. “Frankly, I never believed the legends saying Sabi could cut down the sun floating in the sky, if he so chose─but I’m afraid we underestimated him. With moves like that, he probably could have done it─regardless! regardless! Past is past, but at the end of the day, we took possession of the Whisper… And it was from Form Three, the Tsutsuji,13 that you unleashed Fatal Orchid Three: Hyakka Ryoran─this time I finally saw it with my own eyes! You faced off against Hakuhei Sabi, and you cut him down. That is something to be proud of!”

“I guess so. Otherwise, Sabi would never rest in peace─still, I can’t stop thinking about what he said before he died… After all, it was his last farewell. What the heck did he mean when he called me, or the Kyotoryu, a memento left by legendary swordsmith Kiki Shikizaki? What was that about the Kiki Pedigree14… Sabi called himself a reject15─but wasn’t the venom of the swords what made him stab you in the back?”

“Hard to say─the venom got him, to be sure, but Sabi had a way about him, and there may well have been extenuating circumstances we could never have imagined…and if we can go by what he said, those reasons will come to light for us along the way.”

“Yeah. Well, we managed to capture Hakuto the Whisper16 in pristine condition, no breakage or damage, not even a scratch─which means that we have four of the Twelve Possessed. Feels like the end’s in sight.”

“I know what you mean, but don’t get too excited, Shichika. Our journey has only just begun─since we’re already in Kyushu, why not keep the ball rolling and capture another of the Twelve Possessed.”

“Sure, makes sense. No objections here.”

They bumped arms, forcefully─proof a bond had formed between them, and of the kind only enjoyed by survivors of the same horrific battlefield. An aura of ennoblement wafting from them, their backs positively looking larger, Togame and Shichika left the anchorage behind them─

This time, heading for Satsuma.

Seeking Zokuto the Armor, a sword unparalleled in armor class.17

Its owner was the captain of a pirate ship─the Schemer and the Kyotoryu would be taken beyond the preamble of their Sword Hunt, and straight into the middle stages of the game.

Nevertheless, Shichika was unable to let it go.

Hakuhei Sabi, Strongest in Japan?

They had never seen his sister.

Nanami Yasuri, Head of the House of Yasuri.

In three months, she would appear before her brother, wielding one of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki─Akuto the Eel, said to be the most atrocious blade of all.

This concludes Book Four of Sword Tale. In no time flat, Shichika Yasuri and Togame the Schemer have made it through four months on the road. So much has happened along the way. As the plan is for a twelve-book series, we are now one third of the way along, or two thirds from the end. You can say the tale has only just begun, but it also feels like eight more books is not enough, as if the end is not so far away. I can’t get enough of take’s illustrations, so I almost want to make the series twenty-four books instead, but then we would run out of swords. I see publishing any book as a kind of miracle, and for the miracle to have occurred four times over is something that I shouldn’t take for granted.

Here’s hoping for eight more miracles.

Because she was waiting for something.

And in short time, she heard it coming from the ceiling.

“Your Highness─”

A disembodied voice.

Though hearing it directly overhead, the woman barely moved her eyebrows, losing none of the stiffness of her posture─not looking up. Her gaze seemed fixed beyond the closed-off paper doors─and it was vacant.

Or perhaps fixated on the inner world.

A gaze starved of humanity.3

“You’re late.”

These were her first words.

“You fool─I suppose you think it’s fine to keep me waiting.”

“My apologies. It takes time to get around the guards─”

“I’m not interested in your excuses. They will do nothing to quell my anger. I want results. Do yourself a favor and stick to the intelligence. The latest─on that nasty4 woman.”

Nasty woman.

She made the words sound bilious,5 and nearly spat them out─each foaming with gratuitous emotion. But the bile was solely in her tone. No change to her face, her gaze, her bearing.

“Mmh,” the voice hummed from the ceiling. “The Schemer is in Kyushu, bound for Satsuma─dare I say she may be there by now.”

“Satsuma. Which means─she must be eyeing Zokuto the Armor.6 Hmm, she seems to be getting ahead of herself.”

“Not without reason─already, she has managed to obtain four of the Twelve Possessed, those masterworks of Kiki Shikizaki not even the Old Shogun could make his own.”

Zetto the Leveler.

Zanto the Razor.

Sento the Legion.

Hakuto the Whisper.

The Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki─

“Indeed, vanquishing Hakuhei Sabi, the Strongest Swordsman in Japan, and capturing the Whisper must have earned them abundant experience points.7 It appears they had been planning an appearance at Owari Castle after capturing the Legion, but following their unexpected duel with Hakuhei Sabi, they shifted course to Satsuma.”

“Hakuhei Sabi.”

Finally─the woman smiled.

Or at least, her expression resembled a smile.

“Absurd to get carried away by such a victory, when he was the Strongest Swordsman in Japan only because I couched him so─but from the likes of her, I should expect as much.”

“My liege,” said the voice in the ceiling. “This is more than just an inconvenience. The Schemer is one thing, but that swordsman traveling with her─”

“The Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu?” the woman asked, scanning her memory. “Some call him…the Swordless Swordsman.”

“His name is Shichika Yasuri, and he is quite the warrior. He may be lacking in combat experience, having spent the better part of his life on a deserted island─”

“You’ve briefed me on that before, I get the gist─but how did things turn out? You saw him fighting Sabi with your own eyes. What was the fight like?”

“It was vicious. Hakuhei Sabi had the upper hand from start to finish─just hammering away at Shichika Yasuri. The Kyotoryu took advantage of an opening─without which, it would be fair to say he never could have won.”

“I should say not. I chose Hakuhei Sabi, imperfect as he is─to be the Strongest in Japan.”

“Yes, my liege,” the voice said from the ceiling, “but after facing off against him, Shichika Yasuri came away entirely unscathed.”

“…”

“And not just against Sabi. Since departing on the Sword Hunt, Shichika Yasuri has not been hit by an enemy attack. Not once.”

“Not even a scratch?”

“Not even a scratch,” the voice affirmed her prickled curiosity. “The iainuki of Ginkaku Uneri and the Sentoryu of Meisei Tsuruga both failed to wound him. The Kyotoryu has trained himself to behave like a sword, but what makes his school so powerful is not its offense, but its defense. And in the long term, defense clearly matters far more on the battlefield.”

“Exactly what that woman’s Sword Hunt needs,” she said, making her scorn apparent. “After being double-crossed twice over, by the Maniwa Ninja Clan and Hakuhei Sabi, she draws a fine lot? Some twisted fortune favors8 her─which makes it even more exciting to see what happens.”

“Huh?”

“Can’t you see─the next one of the Twelve Possessed her little team hopes to pilfer is Zokuto the Armor, more barrier than sword, the last word in defense.9 Not even after issuing his Pirate Ban was the Old Shogun able to obtain it; in terms of defense, it merits the highest certification. Defense versus defense─interesting to see what comes of that.”

“Sounds─like fun.”

The woman was surprised.

But then she laughed─like she was having fun.

“Yes─promises to be a great show. But if that woman lays her hands on a fifth sword, I may need to show up myself. To clarify who’s in charge.”

“Shall I…”

“Actually, let’s hold off. I’ll move when I’m ready. For now, just keep an eye on her. Let her get carried away.10 We won’t switch to an active role until she has her eighth, or even her ninth sword. She can take her Sword Hunt up and down Japan, but at some point, she will come back to Owari. Which is why I’m working─in the opposite direction.”

“But in the meantime, they could be killed in action somewhere on the Sword Hunt…”

“Fine by me. To be honest, the fact that she has managed to collect four swords─exceeds my expectations. Look how rapidly she took out Hakuhei Sabi, proving herself able to outstrip my predictions. It won’t be hard for her to keep things going, and I would prefer not to do anything too conspicuous.”

“Of course not… Best to leave the high-profile work to them.”

“But we must not be optimistic.11 Just as you say, we cannot be too certain of her capturing a fifth sword in Zokuto the Armor, let alone making it to eight. The Schemer is a gambler. She either wins big or loses everything─but success is not out of the question. Not when she views the Twelve Possessed of legendary swordsmith Kiki Shikizaki as nothing more than swords, or instruments for advancing her career─though if I were her, I’d be a bit more careful. Have you any other news?”

“Still no read on the movement of the Maniwa. As previously reported, three ninjas, Komori Maniwa, Shirasagi Maniwa, and Kuizame Maniwa, have shown up on the Schemer’s Sword Hunt, only to perish. The whereabouts of the other nine are unknown.”

“Ah… What is it with these ninjas─oh, my apologies. I forgot you were a ninja too. Anyway, forget it. And you may go now. Well done.”

“As you command,” the voice assented, but there was no sound after that, not even a scurry behind the ceiling─as if no one had been there, as if it had been a voice and nothing more. Mysterious.

“I wonder what will come of this.”

The woman─still kept a rigid stance and made no sign of moving. Standing alone, in the middle of the room─she appeared to be waiting for something.

What she was waiting for, however, was unclear.

And what about this third contender?

Something is rotten12 in Owari, but now it’s off to Kyushu!

To fight the pirates!

What kind of sword is Zokuto the Armor?!

Let’s find out! Unroll this scroll of swords!

The tragedy, the comedy, the tragicomedy!

Tale of the Sword: Book Five ♪

Rudimentary.

No more than a fence built in a clearing.

Nevertheless─a crowd had gathered around the space. Mobs outside the lattice─and two warriors within.

The Basket.

You guessed it─an arena.

Built rudimentarily─so that any damage could be easily repaired.

“Play fair. Ready, go!” the voice of the referee cried from beyond the lattice.

Not even the referee entered the ring─for the warriors, the interior of the Basket was sacred ground.

Sacred ground, belonging to them both.

A swordsman in a pale kimono.

Bearing in both hands a katana far too big for him─a gigantic sword, aimed at his foe. His face and eyes were virile,3 and his features wild4 in a way suggesting he was still in training─but even if he was a novice, his menace was inescapable.

His opponent stood across the ring.

At first glance, this did not seem to be a swordsman─no sign of a sword, nor blade, nor any kind of weapon.

No weapon.

None─but fully jacketed.

In armor.

And not the sort of armor5 donned for ages by the samurai; far closer to the variety worn by knights of old in Europe, no section of the body6 was left exposed. As goes without saying, the places where the joints articulated, and where the plates of metal met, were adequately covered by more metal. Gleaming a polished silver in the sunlight, it seemed a perfect monument to dignity.

This was a giant.

The gigantic sword his foe pointed at him looked no bigger than a normal sword, so giant was the warrior clad in armor─even without its threatening demeanor, face to face, its sheer size was enough to overwhelm, easily over seven feet tall.

They were facing off in an arena, and the swordsman cowered not at this disturbing figure─but clearly, also hesitated to step in closer.

“What’s wrong?” spoke the Armored Warrior, as if to poke fun at the swordsman.

His voice booming.

“Weren’t you going to slice my armor down the middle with your precious sword? Or does the sight of it make you want to run?”

“…nkk.”

The swordsman clenched his teeth.

Which only made the Armored Warrior poke him harder.

“What a disappointment. You call yourself the finest swordsman7 in the land, but you can’t even make the first move against an unarmed8 man─is this some kind of a joke? That unprecedented winning streak of yours, over five matches, must have been a fluke.”

“─Rahhhhhhhh!”

Rage overmastering his efforts to be patient, the swordsman lifted his gigantic sword and charged at his opponent─with abandon.9

His style of swordplay relied more on mass than moves─and on the strength needed to swing that mass through an opponent. It stands to reason that a massive sword is slow, but this swordsman could convert mass into momentum!

Yet─

“…Unbreakable.”10

The Armored Warrior countered in a not entirely unexpected manner─but not without an element of surprise. Faced with the charging swordsman, he charged too, the move that he so grandly called “Unbreakable” being no more than a body slam.

Right shoulder forward, leaning forward─charge.

And boy─was that charge fast.

It worked the same as the gigantic sword. Like all armor, it was a burden─but making matters worse, this suit of armor was intended for a seven-foot-tall giant. It should have been a pain to move, or even cart around in pieces. But once you got it going, the momentum was unstoppable.

Mere metal.

Sheer11 metal─heading for its target.

The hotshot swordsman, charging at him, had no time to escape─perhaps by then he realized that the Armored Warrior’s jabs had been calculated,12 but that ship had sailed.

The swords clashed.

Different heights.

And, notably, at different speeds.

As a simple matter of arithmetic,13 the swordsman was the one sent flying─his body savaged,14 muscles slashed through his kimono. After soaring through the air, he slammed down helplessly into the ground, the fact the ring was packed with sand no blessing.

The swordsman did not rise.

Perhaps─he would never rise again.

It did not appear that he was dead, but there was no need to confirm if he was conscious. It had only been a simple tackle, but his entire body glowed with blood. What could possibly have happened in the moment they were tangled?

What happened to the massive sword?

That attack intent on slicing through that suit of armor.

Some moments later, scraps of the weapon─rained from the sky. The massive sword had shattered and scattered to the winds.15 The striking blade, meant to crack that armor open, was instead, or maybe not even in stead,16 what cracked from the impact─and literally vanished.

“Match!” yelled the referee─as the crowds watching outside the lattice cheered. It appeared that people gambled on the fights held in the Basket; almost everyone was crying out and waving wooden tags. From the number of smiling faces, the odds must have been in favor of the Armored Warrior, although his unanimous support would make the payout miniscule.

Victory aside, the Armored Warrior was the favorite─the Star of the Basket.

Of course he was.

He was the captain of a band of pirates that ran this harbor town.

As a matter of fact─the band of pirates also ran the Basket.

“…”

“…”

Nearly all the spectators were cheering for the victor and waving their hands to make him look their way─except for a duo, whose arms had been crossed since the fight began, and whose eyes were fixed on the interior of the lattice.

A whitehaired woman dressed in a brash kimono─and behind her, as if to keep her safe, a tall man, stripped to the waist, with tousled hair.

“Hey, Togame.” Despite the din of the applause, the man addressed the woman in a low voice, speaking carefully. “He snapped the sword. What’re we gonna do?”

“I can see that, Shichika,” the woman called Togame answered the man, without turning. “It seems like you weren’t listening, yet again… That sword was nothing special. He blabbed on about how legendary it was, and it was fine, for a regular sword, but it is none of our concern. That guy played a supporting role. His job is over. Say goodbye. Our concern here─is the Armored Warrior.”

“Armored Warrior.”

“Right. His name is Kanara Azekura.17 Captain of the Armored Pirates─and your next opponent.”

“Hmm─”

Hearing this, Shichika took a closer look at the Armored Warrior in the ring.

And just then, the warrior looked his way; to Shichika, it felt like their eyes had met.

But this, of course, was an illusion.

He was too far away, and the warrior was only posing for the crowd─besides, the helm had no apparent slit for seeing─could this guy even see out of the armor?

“So I guess this guy…Kanara Azekura? Did he leave the Mutant Blade at home? Like, was this other guy so weak he didn’t need it? He didn’t look so weak to me.”

“Wrong,” Togame said. “The armor is the katana.”

“…The armor?”

“Didn’t you feel the lifeforce18 or whatever? Maybe we’re too far away. Zokuto the Armor, one of the Twelve Possessed, the masterworks among the thousand forged by Kiki Shikizaki. A katana built for defense, and patterned after western plate mail─it seems to have fallen into dangerous hands.”

Togame was disconsolate, but her smile showed that she would not be beaten.

“Lucky for us to see Kanara Azekura show off the Armor so soon after we landed in the harbor─Shichika. Let’s find a place to stay. I’ll explain the rest once we unpack. From there I’ll spin my scheme.”

This one has some significant developments towards the end, so I’d like to get the summary of what has happened “Thus Far” out of the way, as simply as I can.

…

…

Somewhere long ago, there lived a swordsmith who had magic powers. His name was Kiki Shikizaki. A lone wolf, attached to no tradition─“lone wolf” may be a bit too flattering, since in fact he was a heretic, rejected from his field.

But the swords he made were top notch.

They earned themselves the title Mutant Blades, and reigned universally over the Age of Warring States─causing warriors of the era to vie for their possession. Numbering one thousand in total, the Mutant Blades became synonymous with power and were hoarded by the daimyos as signs of status.

Eventually, the merry19 Age of Warring States drew to a close. The nation was united by the sword20─with the emergence of a single man who ruled over the land.

A warrior known today as the Old Shogun.

Yet even after he emerged as ruler from the Age of Warring States, he was unable to let go of his attachment to the Shikizaki blades, because of their venom. War was over; there was no reason to seek them out─but the end and the means had been reversed. The Old Shogun no longer sought the blades in order to win battles, but fought battles because he craved more blades.

The premier example of which was the Great Sword Hunt.

This legislation sought to collect every single sword in the entirety of Japan, ostensibly to build a giant buddha─all told, the Old Shogun amassed over one hundred thousand swords, and melted them to slag for the Katana Buddha─erected at Seiryoin Gokenji Temple, on Mt. Sayabashiri in Tosa. In the process, he effaced the regional dominion of the daimyos, before they ever had the chance to scrap their acquiescence for antagonism.

And yet─he failed to capture all the swords.

By then, twelve of the thousand Mutant Blades of legendary swordsmith Kiki Shikizaki were already well known for being masterpieces─and try as the Old Shogun may, he could not hunt down the Twelve Possessed.

Zetto the Leveler.

Zanto the Razor.

Sento the Legion.

Hakuto the Whisper.

Zokuto the Armor.

Soto the Twin.

Akuto the Eel.

Bito the Sundial.

Oto the Cured.

Seito the Garland.

Dokuto the Basilisk.

Ento the Bead.

He knew who owned them, and their whereabouts─but he was unable to wrest them from their owners.

Fighting and failing─twelve times over.

Because he launched multiple attempts per sword, and failed every single time, his actual record21 had to be far worse than 0 for 12. Even the Old Shogun, the ruler of the nation, was exhausted by these chronic failures─and when he died, his fiefdom was worth little over 50,000 koku.

Time went on.

Since the Old Shogun lacked a successor, the Yanari, known for their political dexterity,22 stepped in to govern─beginning the Owari Bakufu, in which the Yanari Shogunate controlled all of Japan.

Peace and Order.

These words were the Yanari trademark.

Inevitably, the swords of Kiki Shikizaki became less and less of a necessity─this should have been the case in the time of the Old Shogun, making it an obvious eventuality.

Swords.

Swordsmen.

Even warriors─were no longer a necessity.

They had been forgotten.

Wiped from the public consciousness.

This was a new world, built on peace and order.

And under the Owari Bakufu─it lasted well over a hundred years. But at a point when almost no one living had experienced a war, an incident occurred.

Or perhaps “occurred” is the wrong word.

Takahito Hida, Kaoyaku of Oshu and a trusted ally of the Owari Bakufu, incited the first nationwide conflict in more than a century─sending tremors through the government.

The power of the bakufu had been macerated23 after decades in the lukewarm spring of peace, allowing for the uprising to plow straight through the bakufu, until it was only a step away from being overturned. In the final estimate, it would be wrong to say the bakufu was victorious, since their victory brought on a legacy of trouble.24 Perhaps the Yanaris should not have touted “Peace and Order” and rather built their realm around the words “Trust No One.”25

Twenty years later.

Or after twenty precarious26 years with no clear strategy.

A certain Whitehaired Schemer made a proposal.

To hunt the last swords down.

The swords that even the Old Shogun failed to capture.

Those masterworks, the Twelve Possessed.

And make the nation face afresh the power of the bakufu─

Though suffering vicissitudes,27 the Whitehaired Schemer was doing precisely what she boasted she would do. From among the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki, she had captured Zetto the Leveler, Zanto the Razor, Sento the Legion, and Hakuto the Whisper.

From Komori Maniwa, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Ninja Clan, she had seized a katana so sturdy it could never bend or break─Zetto the Leveler.

From Ginkaku Uneri, the Lord of Gekoku Castle, she seized a katana with an edge so sharp it could cut anything in two─Zanto the Razor.

From Meisai Tsuruga, the Mistress of Triad Shrine, a katana that was impossibly a thousand swords in one─Sento the Legion.

And from Hakuhei Sabi, the Sword Saint, of late the Strongest in Japan, a katana so thin you had to squint to see it─Hakuto the Whisper.

Hunted each one down.

To do so, she had used a sword they call the Kyotoryu─a swordsman whose teaching forbade him the use of any kind of weapon.

The Seventh Master─Shichika Yasuri.

…

…

Which takes us to the present moment.

It remains to be seen whether or not this Sword Tale will end “Happily Ever After.”28 For the time being, the Whitehaired Schemer and the Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu continue their journey─

Right after the match was over at the Basket, they snuck back to the inn and headed straight for the outdoor32 bath. They had traveled quite a distance─not like anybody was complaining, but in less than five months, they’d journeyed from the Capital all the way down to Satsuma in Kyushu, almost entirely on foot, and the unforgiving trek was catching up with both of them. Which made sense for Togame, waifish as she was; meanwhile, so big and muscular he was something of a monster, Shichika, too, having fought for five months straight, counting his time spent training in the dojos, could use a break. Especially ever since they arrived in Kyushu─somehow word had gotten out that he’d bested Hakuhei Sabi, the Strongest Swordsman in Japan, in a stopover at Ganryu Island on the trip over from Honshu.33 Lousy ronin were constantly challenging Shichika to duels, since he was newly minted as the Strongest, and to make it to their destination, Satsuma, he had dealt with one sorry challenger after another. Of course he was worn out, the exhaustion as much physical as mental.

A hot spring was exactly what the doctor ordered.

When Togame asked him to take a dip, he was all for it, though unsure what it would entail.

Bathing under the stars.

Girls and boys together.34

Nothing unusual for the time─in fact, back then, it was the norm. Sure, they could have taken turns, but Togame was not the type to care about that sort of thing, and Shichika had not been taught to care. Plus, he needed to protect Togame. He was happy with whatever kept him by her side.

This was the sort of inn that existed because of its hot spring. The bath outside was the size of a pool. Though not so deep, Togame was so small (and even smaller once she doffed all of her kimonos, layer after layer, in order to bathe) the steaming water reached her shoulders when she sat. She tied her long white hair back with a tenugui,35 and from the tray floating before her, which she had ordered as room service, she poured herself another cup of sake, a little tipsy.

Because Shichika was enormous beside Togame, most of his upper body stuck out of the water when he sat, but since the spring was on the hotter side, it suited him fine, judging from the look of pleasure on his face. Baring every inch of his ripped torso, he gazed up at the starry sky.

“Great spot, huh?” began Togame, gesturing with her little cup.36 Her cheeks were getting rosy. It had seemed that there were other guests, but at this hour, the two had the entire hot spring to themselves. “They said the water’s good for sprains and bruises─is it working?”

“Not sure,” replied Shichika. “I don’t have any injuries for it to work on.”

“Hmm. True.”

“But it feels great just to stretch my legs out in an enormous tub like this.”

Togame smiled like she thought something was funny.

“Shichika. Remember what I told you? When we were leaving Kyoto. Protect the swords. Protect me. And protect yourself─just as I cannot have you nicking up the swords that we’re collecting, just as you must not allow me, your employer, to come to harm, I cannot have you suffering a mortal blow in battle, as we would have to call the Sword Hunt off. Remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“At first, I thought the last part would be hardest─with Ginkaku Uneri, and Meisai Tsuruga, and Hakuhei Sabi…and the Maniwacs. These were fierce opponents, but you came away without a scratch. I know that it hasn’t been easy, but you’ve protected yourself marvelously. To be honest, I am seriously impressed.”

“What the hell?”

Complimented out of nowhere, Shichika was bashful. Twenty years growing up on that desert island─and five months out in the world.37 His worldview had matured enough for him to be embarrassed when Togame gave him compliments.

“You make it sound like it’s behind us,” he said.

“Oh?”

“Togame, don’t tell me you think capturing four swords means we’ve accomplished something─we still have a long, long way to go.”

“I understand that, thank you very much. Except…”

She poked the tray floating before her─

Sending the carafe38 and cup over to Shichika.

“Drink.”

“…No, I’m good on alcohol.”

“A little bit will do you good. Or is my sake not good enough for you?”

“…”

“DRINK IT.”

Tipsy? She was toasted.

She swatted at the water like a little kid.

At a loss, Shichika poured himself some sake and took a very tiny sip (or pretended to).

“Well?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“Except─what?”

“Oh… I just mean, so like, you know how we just took Hakuto the Whisper back from Hakuhei Sabi? I was gonna say, that gives our schedule, on the Sword Hunt, some flexibility.”

“Flexibility? I don’t understand…” Shichika sent the tray back toward Togame, signaling his inability to keep up with her. “What do you mean?”

“Before I hired you to join me on this Sword Hunt, I made a couple of blunders39… I’ve been desperate to make up for those losses. I’ve been so tense. But as of last month, when you took down Hakuhei Sabi, my losses have been redeemed40 for the most part.”

“Ahh…”

Togame the Schemer had been double-crossed twice over.

Once by the Maniwa Ninja Clan, and again by Hakuhei Sabi.

Her schemes did as much damage when they worked as when they backfired─which is exactly what had happened. At first she called upon the Maniwa, but no sooner did they lay hands on Zetto the Leveler than they betrayed Togame─for the money. Next, she hired Hakuhei Sabi, the Strongest Swordsman in Japan─but the venom of the Shikizaki blades consumed him, and the second he held Hakuto the Whisper, he left her employ.

After suffering betrayal two times in a row, Togame was in a hopeless situation, and her last hope41 had been to hire the Kyotoryu, a school banished to a desert island. At the time, she aimed to pay a visit to one Mutsue Yasuri, renowned Hero of the Rebellion, and the Sixth Master of the Kyotoryu, but sadly the man had given up the ghost.42 Instead, the Seventh Master, Shichika Yasuri, partnered with her on the Sword Hunt.

“To start things off, we reclaimed Zetto the Leveler from Komori Maniwa, and on Ganryu Island, we reclaimed Hakuto the Whisper from Hakuhei Sabi. ‘Reclaimed’ being the key word here. These were the swords I lost, which makes it hard to label them as signs of progress, but things are moving forward now, without a doubt. I can finally stop scrambling─and settle into the Sword Hunt, taking my time.”

“Your time.”

“My time, getting down and dirty.”

“…”

Shichika didn’t see why she needed to get that way, but he let it go. Togame seemed dead serious.

Intrigues43 were her field, not his.

If it meant Togame could rest a little easier, then he was glad. The quest to round up all the Mutant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki held no great meaning for him. Forged as they were with emphasis not on the swordsman, but the sword, these katanas (and indeed their venom) did pique his interest─as an exemplar of the Kyotoryu, forsakers of the sword─but that alone was not enough to see beyond the nuisance. While not at all averse to effort, he was by no means a diligent man.

Shichika was fighting for a woman, for Togame─and if she could shed some weight off of her shoulders, he was glad for her.

Aware of this or not…

“To tell you the truth,” Togame said, “at first I doubted whether you could handle it─though maybe ‘doubt’ is a strong word. It’s just that Komori and Sabi made me overcautious. They turned my Sword Hunt upside down. I was afraid the second you laid hands on the Leveler, you would leave my employ, just like the others.”

“That’s crazy. I could never─wait, is that why you’ve been sending the swords back to Owari as soon as we get them?”

“I won’t deny it.”

Togame went on.

“But I’m done being so concerned. This is not the sort of journey you can continue burdened with suspicion… We’ve recovered from the loss of their betrayals. There’s an aspect of your character, as a person, that makes it hard to leave you to your own devices…but for the time being I am satisfied that you won’t stab me in the back, not intentionally. Don’t prove me wrong.”

“What is this?” Shichika laughed. “All this time, I’ve felt nothing but loved by you.”

“…This ain’t that kind of story.”

“I thought you hired the Kyotoryu, to be your sword, because I wouldn’t stab you in the back, like the Maniwacs or Sabi. Because the Swordless Swordsman─doesn’t work for money or for swords.”

“You’re right about that.”

He was a sword.

And a sword could not betray her.

“The best reason to fight─”

“Is love?”

“Exactly. A man who fights for love.”

Here Shichika spoke without the least embarrassment, his capacity for emotion being elementary at best.

“Because I fell for you, Togame─I could never betray you. Over these five months traveling together, it’s like I’ve loved you more each day.”

“And yet we can sit together in the hot spring, and you don’t even do anything.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Wasn’t this your idea?”

“So what?”

Hiding her embarrassment on her end, Togame took a big swig of sake straight from the carafe. It seemed like they were out. She placed the empty container on the tray, and sent it floating.

“Alright─time to talk business. I had planned to do so once we were done bathing, but this feels too good to stop. Seems like no one else is coming, so we may as well talk here.”

“Okay. I can’t imagine anyone is eavesdropping… Been a while since we’ve seen a Maniwac.”

“Those guys weren’t exactly chasing us─besides, the less we run into them the better. It’s hard to imagine more annoying enemies.”

“Feels like we’ve fought more than enough of them already… So, tell me more about the next sword that we’re after, Zokuto the Armor. Were you serious back there? About that warrior being the owner, and the sword being the armor─”

“Dead serious.”

“Is that it, though? Seems too simple,” Shichika voiced his concern. “Armored Pirates, they say…and that’s what we get? No games…or, like, forthcoming. But something’s fishy44 about this. That Armored Warrior…”

“Kanara Azekura.”

“Yeah, Azekura. That guy seems like…he’s really popular.”

As he spoke, Shichika recalled the battle at the Basket.

“Not just Azekura though… From what I hear around town, the pirates have a real good reputation. Makes it awkward to announce we came to take him down.”

“Better not, if you want to save your skin. The village has a mayor and all, but in essence, the pirates are the ones who run this harbor.”

“Still, it doesn’t feel like they took over… I don’t understand why they’re so popular. What’d they do? I guess that, what’s her name, Meisai Tsuruga, who I fought at Triad Shrine, she started as a bandit─”

“Pirates and bandits aren’t quite the same. I suppose they’re all a bunch of rough-and-tumble scoundrels─but the thing is, pirates maraud the sea, not land.”

“Huh?”

“Pirates need a place to come home to. Which means they never do harm to their base harbor. On the contrary, they work hard on its behalf─for the Armored Pirates, Dakuon Harbor is such a home. They may behave the same as bandits, but if they lose their harbor, they’re finished.”

“Makes sense.”

“Between Kyushu and Shikoku, there are loads of pirates, but they’re all the same. In the time of the Old Shogun, the Armored Pirates operated in the Inland Sea─but after he lost power, for some reason they decided to relocate to Satsuma.”

“Wow. They’ve had the Armor for a long time, then. Their naming isn’t just lazy, because the armor plays a big role in their history.45 Right, you taught me this─the Old Shogun issued the Pirate Ban so he could get the Armor, didn’t he.”

“Good memory─but the Pirate Ban failed to get the job done. The pirates must not be underestimated. As long as they’re at sea, nothing can stop them.”

“Guess we’ll have to fight them on land. But Togame, not to split hairs, but didn’t we just see him fighting on land? That’s what the warrior was doing, with the Armor.”

“A kind of public service.46 A way of drawing people to the hot springs. Let’s call it what it is─illegal gambling…but no one seems to mind. Even the bakufu turns a blind eye.47 Besides, even if you start cracking down on that sort of thing, you never see the end of it… The Basket holds these games once every two weeks. The fighters receive a ranking, and that determines the level of their odds. But far and away, the favorite is Kanara Azekura.”

“Sounds like you were hard at work.”

“Don’t be fresh. I repeat, it was pure luck that we got to see Azekura in action. We must have been rewarded for our everyday behavior.”

“I don’t know about that…” Shichika laughed. He had a lot on his mind. “So, what happens next? I’m not sure what sort of diplomacy you have planned, but should I, as the sword, bank on fighting Azekura in the Basket?”

“No, I don’t think you can cut into their schedule like that…and even if you could, it would take us extra work. Not to learn a lesson from our visit to the Triad Shrine, but why go out of our way to fight on enemy territory? The Armor is enough trouble as it is.”

“What kind of trouble?” asked Shichika. “I thought it was just a suit of armor. Togame, this might sound stupid…but what makes that thing a katana? I know Kiki Shikizaki was a kook,48 but calling armor a katana is absurd.”

“I’m afraid it’s a katana all the same. It may have been hard to see from a distance, but the metal plates are sharpened to an edge. Why do you think that swordsman with the gigantic sword was shredded to a pulp by a mere tackle? Those weren’t abrasions. They were lacerations.”

“He sure was bloody in the end…hmm. A tackle that chops your enemy into bits. But in that case─”

“I know what you’re going to say. This is no normal sword─more armor than anything else. It might be armor made from the same steel49 used to forge katanas, but it’s obviously more fit for defense than for attack.

“At the risk of repeating myself,” Togame continued, “so far on the Sword Hunt, you have gotten by without a scratch… Even when Komori Maniwa attacked you with his Star Cannon, back on the island, in the first real battle of your life, you blocked him like an iron wall─but Azekura too, ensconced in Zokuto the Armor, is a wall of iron. What you need to remember from the Basket is not how the swordsman was all but blown apart, but his massive sword turning to powder. It would take no small amount of force to scratch the Armor.”

“That kind of hardness reminds me of the Leveler.”

“Yes. When Kiki Shikizaki made the Armor, I dare say he had the same idea. But built the way it is, the Armor could not possibly be as hard as the Leveler─”

Zetto the Leveler─uncanny hardness.

Zanto the Razor─uncanny sharpness.

Sento the Legion─uncanny numbers.

Hakuto the Whisper─uncanny fragility.

“Zokuto the Armor─was forged to have uncanny armor class. Not merely hard, but hard to beat.50 That iron wall cannot be broken, at least not in the confines of the Basket.”

“If the pirates are unstoppable at sea, and the Armor can’t be beaten in the Basket, seems like we’re out of options. What’s left, fighting him in the sky? To begin with,” said Shichika, “you told me the Armor is unbreakable, but I’m not supposed to damage any of the swords, so I wouldn’t want to break it anyway.”

“Quit your gloating.51 Who do you think I am? I don’t need you to remind me. There’s no chink in the Armor. It covers his entire body…”

“If we still had Zanto the Razor, I bet we could break his defense. Of course, that would mean scratching up the Armor.”

“True, but we are not without our options. Your Fatal Orchid─sorry, the number has slipped my mind, but the armor-piercing52 one…”

“Oh, right.”

Togame forgetting the form’s numeration was one thing. Shichika replying with those words, “Oh, right,” seemed far more problematic─but anyway, armor-piercing.

This move resembled kenpo more than anything else. A thrusting strike that worked through even shields and armor, scrambling the insides without scrambling the shell─with adequate practice, it could even be applied “long distance”53 or with “instantaneity.”54 A quintessential move for the swordless Kyotoryu, but traditional forms of swordplay relied on similar tricks to pull off the acrobatic feat55 of cutting not the thing before you, but whatever was behind it.

“Fatal Orchid Four: Ryuryoku Kako,”56 said Shichika. “The Fatal Orchid based on Form Four, the Asagao.57 Among the Seven Forms of the Kyotoryu, it’s the only time I make a fist… Yeah, I could take down Azekura, without harming the Armor that surrounds him.”

That way he could uphold Rule One, about not harming the swords, and still face off against the Armor─Shichika nodded comprehendingly.

Togame saw this and said, “Look, even if you don’t use a move like that, what makes Azekura, and the Armor, different from your previous fights is that there are plenty of ways to beat them. The armor may be like an iron wall, but I’m sure that if we put our heads together, we can think of a few ways to take down the pirate captain.”

“Okay. Such as?”

“Shoving him into the sea,” Togame proposed without batting an eye. “The Armor may be flawless, but Azekura is a human being, and needs to breathe. There’s no way the Armor is airtight─it has to have a small gap somewhere. If we sink him, the Armor will start filling up with water, and he’ll suffocate and drown. The Armor is probably heavy enough that once it fills with water, he has no chance of staying afloat. And if we put a fat chain or something around his ankles, we can crank him out of the water once he drowns, and then wipe off the Armor so it doesn’t rust.”

“Wow…you sure have some devilish ideas…”

Shichika was not taking the bait.

Although he sat in steaming water, he felt a shiver down his spine.

Togame, unfazed, shared another idea.

“How about we fry him? Fry or freeze, either would do, but frying him would definitely be easier. We light him up,58 but not so hot it damages the Armor─after all, metal conducts heat so well. The Armor will turn into an oven, Azekura will fry to death inside.”

“…”

“Huh? What’d I say? Shichika, why are you making that face?”

“No, it’s just…”

Togame tilted her neck in surprise at Shichika, who somehow had taken this long to recoil from her dark side. Wasn’t he happy to see Togame in her element again, behaving like the strategist59 she was after reclaiming both the Leveler and the Whisper?

“I mean, you’re definitely right about the Armor, awesome as it is, not changing the fact that Azekura is human. There’s gotta be a way─my own armor-piercing move also skips the armor, and hits whoever is inside it. If you’re okay with fighting dirty, we could always catch him with the Armor off.”

“That’s not dirty. It’s par for the course. But it’s also out of the question. This man─Kanara Azekura, Captain of the Armored Pirates, never removes the Armor before mortal eyes.”

“Oh… Sort of like how Ginkaku Uneri, back at Gekoku Castle, never set foot outside of his little room.”

Ginkaku Uneri’s Danger Zone.

An iron wall if there ever was one.

“From what I hear,” reported Togame, “not even his fellow Armored Pirates have seen him in the flesh, or even seen his face. In that sense, he is shrouded in mystery. No one knows about his life before joining the pirates.”

“Suppose when you’re a pirate, you don’t want people remembering your face anyway. The Armor is definitely cooler. Makes a statement.”

“It reminds me of how Ginkaku Uneri always kept Zanto the Razor at his side─I wouldn’t be surprised if he wears it all the time, not only to protect himself, but to protect the sword. That much, he would anticipate and guard against─hmph.”

There was something gravid about Togame’s remark. While Shichika noticed, he decided it was not worth pursuing, and let it go.

“Alright,” he said, to keep things moving. “But isn’t it possible he has moves for fighting water and fire?”

“Of course. The ideas that I just gave you were simplified, to make sure you understood. We can’t just shove him into the sea. He’s far too big and heavy. And we can’t heat him up, if he’s inside the Basket─see what I mean? Our actual strategy will necessarily be far more complicated, far more intricate60─but Shichika. We have a more immediate concern.”

“What’s that?”

“Azekura’s popularity,” Togame said with a sardonic smile. “Make no mistake─when I call him popular, I am not calling him a perfect person. Bandits and pirates are all a bunch of good-for-nothing scoundrels─they only give back to this harbor town for their own benefit.61 They have plenty of reasons to create a distraction from their plunder and their slaughter on the high seas. The Great Sword Hunt was idiotic legislation, but the Pirate Ban was nothing of the sort─whereby,” Togame paused here for effect. “I have no qualms about you killing Kanara Azekura─none.”

“…”

Komori Maniwa. Ginkaku Uneri. Meisai Tsuruga. Hakuhei Sabi.

How exactly did these words resonate for Shichika Yasuri, who had thus far slain every one of his opponents, sparing not a life?

Shichika was not incapable of reining in his swordplay.

Case in point, soon after they crossed over from the mainland, when Togame toured him around the dojos of Kyoto to put his abilities to the test, he had injured not a single one of his opponents, at least not permanently─

Regardless.

When it came to actual battle, he killed with zero hesitation.

That included all his duels since they entered Kyushu.

“On the way here─on the wayside, you accepted several challenges.”

“Huh? Oh. You mean all the guys who asked to fight me, out of the blue,62 after I became the Strongest in Japan. At first I was like what the hell─I guess there’s been what, ten guys or something?”

“Thirteen,” said Togame. “All of whom you slew.”

“Um, so?”

“Well…”

Um, so?

Thirteen men─after slaying thirteen men, all he had to say was “Um, so?” This went beyond his island upbringing. Such was his personality.

Making it hard to leave him to his own devices.

At present, this was not, per se, a problem. Or rather, it was a chronic problem─certainly not one that could be solved immediately.

Not at this juncture.

“What I’m saying is that killing Sabi ushered in a world of hardship. Sabi was not exactly popular, but he was infamously the Strongest in Japan, and that carries a lot of significance and weight… Think for a second, Shichika. We can use one of my strategies, or you can take him down by brute force, but if we kill Azekura─what will happen?”

“We get the Armor.”

“THINK!”

Togame palmed hot water in his face.

This finally got him thinking.

“Huh… Oh, you mean because Azekura is so popular, we might wind up with the whole town turning against us?”

“Right. Not just the pirates.”

It had taken Shichika a moment to catch up, but Togame accepted his response.63

“Not as bad as back at Triad Shrine, where the two of us could have wound up fending off a thousand miko─but not far off. This town has hundreds of people, and they’re all relying on the pirates. This is a harbor, but unlucky for us, we’d never be allowed to retreat across the sea. Like it or not, our backs would be against a wall.”

“So I guess we can’t just grab the sword and hightail64 it out of here… By the way, how many of these pirates are there anyway?”

“The core comprises about twenty. Nothing you can’t handle.”

“Pretty small band of pirates.”

“They’re mean and lean.65 But either way─they’re nothing you can’t handle. I doubt that all the pirates are warriors. Consider this open season. But stick to pirates, we don’t want the entire town against us…”

“Last time, it was a formal duel between two swordsmen, so you got the day off,” reminded Shichika. “From your diplomacy.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

Warriors and swordsmen may be the focus on the battlefield, but the most important part of battle is not whether you win or lose─winning is of course ideal, but winning on its own is not enough.

What matters in battle is how you prepare─and how you clean up.66

Regardless of whether you win or lose, not dealing with the aftermath is unacceptable. Just as the most glorious victory can be more loss than gain if you leave a mess, the most pitiful defeat can be more gain than loss if you pick up the pieces.

No such thing as an undefeated king who wins every match.

What separates the first-rate from the second-rate is winning as much and losing as little as possible─how you act before the fight, and how you respond to a win, and to a loss. This pattern is not limited to swordplay or the battlefield─just look at Togame the Schemer. She was betrayed twice over, by the Maniwa and by Hakuhei Sabi, but in less than half a year she made up for her loss. Talk about picking up the pieces.

“But in this case─I’m not sure who to engage. Meeting directly with Azekura would be the quickest option, but if we want to catch him unawares,67 I could sit down with the puppet68 mayor…or perhaps the harbormaster…”

Seeing Togame mutter to herself and drift into her own world, Shichika decided it was time that he stopped listening. They were entering Togame country─whatever she was planning, he was not about to stand in her way.

He had no choice but to rely on her, and let her do her job.

“Togame, want to get out?”

They had been sitting and talking longer than they realized. Any longer in the hot spring, and they might start feeling woozy─not like they were stuck in suits of armor, but it would never do for them to drown or fry themselves.

“Ah, sure. Let’s go, there’s plenty of time to think things through. Now that we’ve recovered the Leveler and the Whisper, no one at the bakufu is breathing down my neck69─we can afford to make preparations. Oh, and Shichika. Before we go, stand up.”

“Huh?”

“I said stand up, right where you are.”

Although he was a bit confused, Shichika did what he was told. When he stood, his enormous body made no small wave, and the flecks of water he sent flying almost hit Togame in the face. Unperturbed, she took a long70 look at his body gleaming in the starlight. Shichika made no effort to conceal himself and let Togame stare straight at him.

She nodded satisfactorily.

“Seeing all of you, I realize just how big you really are─skinny for your height, and yet in no way feeble. Am I crazy, or have you gotten bigger since we left the island?”

“Yeah? I’m not sure, myself. I haven’t paid attention…but if you say so, maybe I have. Is that okay?”

“It’s fine… Enough. Sorry to have looked you up and down71 like that. Let’s talk more back at the room.”

“Huh? You mean we’re not done talking?”

“Not yet. We need to discuss the most important thing.”

Togame stood. Like Shichika, she made no effort to hide herself. She rose from the steaming water and headed for the changing area, untying the tenugui holding back her hair.

Shichika followed close behind.

He had made it to the fifth month of the Sword Hunt without suffering a single injury, not even a bruise or sprain─but he still thought that the hot spring was delightful.

We can afford to make preparations.

That was how Togame put it, but things would not proceed exactly as she hoped─if things worked that way, she would never have been forced to set off on this perilous Sword Hunt in the first place. That night, their circumstances, the conditions under which they sought Zokuto the Armor, one of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki, would transform entirely72─unnoticed by Togame, until just before it happened. She had not been expecting it one bit. Not in the slightest.73

Getting a massage74 is, has been, and always will be the perfect complement to a hot bath, but now that Togame and Shichika were being plagued with unsolicited auditions for the role of Strongest Swordsman75 from all manner of ruffians and rogues, they could not be so careless as to trust a stranger with their bodies. They were deep behind enemy lines─if they wanted a massage after their bath, they would need to make do with each other.

That being said, Togame was not about to offer Shichika a rubdown for a job well done. The world would end before that ever happened. In this case, “make do with each other” meant that Shichika massaged Togame, on a one-way street. Yet, as you may expect, Togame had her reservations about Shichika running his man hands all over her body. Hence, a contrivance.

Back at the room, lying face down on the futon and dressed in her thin slip, she had Shichika step on her back.

Rubbing her down with his feet.

“…”

“Oh, right there… That feels so good…”

Wearing a look of euphoria, Togame let Shichika sink into her body. There was something inescapably freaky76 about a man stripped to the waist walking all over a petite girl in a thin slip─“massage” didn’t seem like the right word here.

Her contrivance was problematic,77 much like their manner of ascent up the thousand stairs to Triad Shrine.

You could say that she was digging her own grave.

“It feels good? Me, I’m getting this sense…that weird needs are budding in my heart…”

“What the heck is that supposed to mean? Your feet stopped. Step on me. Harder.”

“Harder? Okay…”

While fearing he would crush Togame if he stepped on her in earnest, he did as he was told, exercising marvelous restraint. A good example of the sort of trouble being too obedient can get you into.

“It might feel good if you, like, stepped a little on my head.”

“I’m not so… Okay, fine.”

Shichika stepped right onto her head, white hair and all. Togame moaned with ecstasy, not sounding like herself at all.

“Yes…”

…Maybe she knew what she was doing, and was a freak after all.

In which case, Shichika didn’t stand a chance; sooner or later, he’d be going there.

“What were you saying earlier─about the most important thing?”

“Oh, that…hm. So we seem to have various tactics at our disposal for Zokuto the Armor, starting with Fatal Orchid Four: Ryuryoku Kako…and we have all kinds of stuff to do before you fight this hometown hero pirate captain… Basically, we’ve talked again and again about filling in all the moats─but not about the crux of the matter, namely Kanara Azekura.”

“Oh yeah, I was gonna ask you.”

Pirates. A katana fashioned after the armor worn by European knights of old. Flashy details all─but what about the man who owned and wore Zokuto the Armor, the captain of a band of pirates that ran this harbor town, Kanara Azekura? They had failed to consider what kind of a person he might be.

“When I saw him fighting at the Basket, it seemed like all he did was tackle that guy─I heard him say ‘Unbreakable’ or whatever, so it must have been some kind of move. Trouble is, what works for taking down the Armor won’t necessarily work for taking down the man.”

“Azekura fights at the Basket at least once every two weeks. With a little digging,78 I’ll learn everything there is to know─but listen,” Togame told Shichika, whose feet were stomping all over her back. “This comes down to something simpler than that. Have you ever fought somebody taller than you?”

“…”

Kanara Azekura.

During his fight at the Basket, Shichika had only seen him from afar, and with barely any frame of reference, so it hadn’t left such a strong impression─but in fact, Armor or no, the pirate captain was absurdly tall.

The man was more than giant.

The Armor was well over seven feet tall─making Azekura, who fit inside of it, over seven feet tall himself.

One or even two heads taller than Shichika Yasuri.

If a guy never took off his armor, and never showed his face, he could easily be a group of people, taking shifts─but in this case, Kanara Azekura was undoubtedly the only man who wore the Armor.

Men that huge─were in short supply.

“Just my dad and sister. They were taller than me, when I was a kid79…”

Mutsue Yasuri.

Nanami Yasuri.

The family he had lived with back on Haphazard Island─

“I passed my sister around seven, and my dad in the middle of my teens. Out of all the guys that you’ve arranged for me to fight so far in dojos, and the pesky challengers I’ve had to fend off since we crossed over into Kyushu…no one was bigger than me.”

“Hm. I knew you were inexperienced─but this means that since you grew into your body, all your opponents have been smaller than you. I guess that makes this your first time fighting someone bigger.”

Shichika was right─the slew of “challengers” he had taken on since crushing Hakuhei Sabi, since becoming Strongest Swordsman in Japan, were merely a distraction from the purpose of their journey, an absolute annoyance. But Togame didn’t see them as such a bad thing. He was still so inexperienced. The more fights he fought, regardless of the circumstance, the better─fighting outside the dojos, in the open air, would surely only make him stronger. Now, the fact that Shichika was killing all these challengers was a grave problem they needed to address later, but in the meantime, every battle he fought increased their chances of succeeding in the Sword Hunt.

Except.

Among the droves of challengers, not one swordsman had stood taller than him─

Granted, no mediocre80 meddler who showed up waving his katana posed any real threat, but maybe at least their build… No, as we just saw in the hot spring, Shichika’s frame deviated greatly from the norm. Until that very day, in fact, Togame had wondered if the Kyotoryu might not be the tallest man in all Japan.

But she was wrong.

Of all people─the one man taller than him possessed a Mutant Blade.

“I had no idea that Zokuto the Armor was so big…” Togame said. “I had heard this sword was actually a massive suit of armor, but to be honest, I had written that off as a tall tale. Since you’ve only ever fought with guys smaller than you, I’m afraid you may not understand my meaning, Shichika…but tallness is a source of strength.”

“Hahaha. I’d expect that from a runt like you, Togame.”

“Cheerio!”

With a deft twist, Togame socked Shichika in the ankle as he walked over her back. Since this part of him had barely any muscle, her backfist was actually quite painful.

“Ah…I was beginning to miss your Cheerios.”

“Stuff it. Small people like me have our own way of fighting─we’re nimble and light. But it seems you take the pros of tininess for granted.”

“Yah.”

“Of course you do. You’ve never fought somebody taller than you─you’ve never been forced to fight that way. But you will be. This time, things are different. You are up against Kanara Azekura, a giant of a man.”

“Don’t you have some kind of a strategy?”

“For this sort of thing, no,” the Schemer replied decisively. “I know absolutely nothing about the martial arts. This is beyond my specialty─think for yourself.”

“Okay…”

Shichika was not untroubled to be spoken to this way, but he recognized that it was foolhardy81 of him to ask Togame for advice on such matters. She may have been commander of their journey, but when it came to battle, Shichika was the expert. He had no choice but to think this through himself.

Fighting someone bigger… He’d never given it a thought.

In fact, even when he witnessed Azekura fighting in the Basket, it had failed to cross his mind─that was how far this circumstance surpassed his expectations.

But then, something truly unexpected happened.

A voice came through the shoji─from the hallway.

“Excuse me, madam.”

From the manner of speech, it was somebody from the inn.

Togame startled82 at the sound. So she did understand that being witnessed in their current state (a man stripped to the waist massaging, with his feet, a woman lying face-down in a slip) was undesirable. Stop, stop, she urged Shichika in furtive whispers. From the footsteps, he could tell that they were getting closer, but failing to see any issue in being caught as they were, he shook his head─what a weirdo. Still, he did as he was told and stepped off of his master’s back.

“Yes?” answered Togame, switching to a high-pitched (borderline shrill) voice.

“Sorry to disturb you at this hour, but a visitor is here to see you, at the front door.”

“Who might it be?” The Schemer honestly seemed to have no idea, even as she covered her slip with layer after layer of brash kimono.

“Madam,” the inn worker said, “it’s Dread83 Captain Azekura─of the Armored Pirates.”

She would never have expected him to show up where they stayed─of course, this was just the sort of thing Togame should have been expecting, but it was a little late for that. Now that Shichika Yasuri had demolished Hakuhei Sabi and become the Strongest in Japan, he was no longer a nobody1─as proven by the swarm of goons who challenged him en route. It was a long way from Ganryu Island down to Dakuon Harbor in Satsuma─but word got out. Dakuon was not the only part of Kyushu where pirates maintained a presence. They occupied the whole of Kyushu. They had their networks. It was only a matter of time.

Togame had been careless.

That wasn’t like her.

Once they had captured Zetto the Leveler from Komori Maniwa and Hakuto the Whisper from Hakuhei Sabi and reclaimed the Mutant Blades stolen on her watch, Togame had gone a bit too easy on herself─but it was too late now.

Things2 had escalated far beyond her expectations─

Point is, he was undoubtedly a giant─but the Armor exaggerated this impression. It was immediately clear3 that Azekura was taller than Shichika, but the pirate captain was also significantly broader─he stood one or two heads taller than Shichika, which was plenty, but with Shichika as skinny as he was, Azekura was at least twice as broad across the chest.

─Literally a wall.

In the eyes of Shichika.

He was an iron wall.

A suit of silver armor.

Clad head to toe.

Unparalleled in armor class─yes.

He could feel it.

What Togame had referred to as “lifeforce or whatever”─was a certainty, like reuniting with a long-lost sibling.

This was Zokuto the Armor, he was certain.

“Well?”

Togame must have been shaken to the core by this unexpected escalation, but she maintained her composure. Azekura had his Armor, but she had hers, her brash and brilliant robes, and she sat up on a pillow, one knee up, betraying not a trace of drunkenness. Even from below, Togame managed to look down on Azekura.

“And what business does Kanara Azekura, Captain of the Armored Pirates, and effective ruler of this village, have with a couple of travelers like us?”

“…”

Ah, I see. Shichika nodded to himself behind Togame. So this is her approach. Shichika had not been party to her negotiations with Meisai Tsuruga at Triad Shrine, but this was largely because Meisai wore no sword. This time around, it was the other way around. Azekura literally wore a sword. It covered his entire body.

With Azekura and Togame seated, Shichika was the only person standing in the room. Behind Togame, ready to protect her.

Nevertheless.

Shichika may have stood while Azekura sat, but he felt incredibly intimidated4 by the Captain’s size. It almost blew away the lifeforce that he felt when up against a Shikizaki blade─

He had not taken seriously the warning that Togame had given him a few minutes earlier, but now Shichika could see exactly how the difference in size would exert considerable influence on their battle…

Tea had been left for the three of them.

Tea for Togame, Shichika, and Azekura.

Nobody had asked, but the inn had brought it all the same─it should go without saying this inn was under the control of the Armored Pirates. Which explains why the inn worker had called the guest “Dread Captain Azekura.”

Shichika wondered:

How could this guy drink tea wearing armor?

Holding off on that for now─Azekura answered Togame.

“What? No, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it business.”

His voice boomed, just as when he had addressed the hotshot swordsman in their fight back at the Basket.

“Gah ha ha─I thought as much when I spotted you at the Basket, but up close, I can see that you are quite the little sweetie5─the color of your hair is stunning.”

“…”

From where he stood, Shichika sensed that Togame was not happy with this brazen compliment. He had only realized recently, but it seemed the Schemer did not like it when people talked about her looks.6 By now she was accustomed to comments about her hair of white, but they were all the same─a compliment unwelcome as an insult.

She didn’t seem to mind when people remarked on other aspects of her. This went beyond not being able to take a compliment or being bashful.

Togame was not so bad at lying as to let Azekura notice this reaction, which depending on one’s interpretation could be taken as a sign of weakness. Shichika had only sensed it because he was so ready to defend her and had spent so much time beside her thus far on their journey. Nothing changed about her on the surface; she answered in kind─

“Why thank you. Your armor is quite stunning as well.”

And repeated her question:

“Now tell me, what business brings you here?”

Azekura gave her the same answer.

“I told you, I wouldn’t really call it business…”

He was casual,7 almost as if he was teasing her, but something confused Shichika. There was no way of telling with his Armor on─but how old was Kanara Azekura? He had to be way older than Shichika, and maybe even older than Togame.

“Is it not somewhat unusual for the captain of a band of pirates such as yourself to show up in a place like this without accompaniment?”

“Spare the formalities─talk normal.8 Gah ha ha─you want to know why I showed up unaccompanied? Do I look like I need backup? I’ve never felt the need to be accompanied. But a little company?” laughed Azekura bawdily. “That’s a different story.”

“Ah, my apologies,” said Togame, adjusting her tone. “But I’d still like to know what brings you here─Dread9 Captain Azekura. Calling on two simple travelers.”

“You’re more than simple travelers,” returned Azekura.

His voice reverberated in the Armor, making it somewhat hard to understand him, but with a booming voice like that, they had no trouble hearing him.

“I know you─Lady Togame the Schemer, Grand Commander of Arms of the Yanari Shogunate Military Directorate─and Lord Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, who having vanquished Hakuhei Sabi on Ganryu Island has earned himself the title of Strongest Swordsman in Japan, however swordless he may be─and you call yourselves simple travelers?”

“…”

Togame was silent.

This was unexpected. It seemed that Azekura had done his homework before paying them a visit at the inn. It made sense for him to hear the news about Shichika, but to learn the entirety of Togame’s title─word must have traveled all too fast.

Through the pirate networks…

But if he knew that much already, of course─

“On a Sword Hunt, isn’t that right?” Azekura cut to the chase. “No need to probe10─I’m a Kyushu boy, born and raised in Satsuma. As you already know, and can plainly see, I own Zokuto the Armor, one of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki─and let me guess, you’re here to take me down? Steal the Armor, over my dead body?”

“Well…”

Togame held off on answering for the moment.

For once, she was unsure of what to say.

In this respect, perhaps it was no blessing after all for them to witness Azekura fighting at the Basket so soon after their arrival… Just as Togame and Shichika had seen Azekura, he must have caught sight of Togame and Shichika.

Shichika recalled the instant where it seemed that he and Azekura had met eyes.

He may have won himself the name of Strongest Swordsman in Japan, but it was doubtful that his image11 had preceded him. Far more likely, it had been Togame’s white hair that stood out…

Indeed, the challengers that stopped them on the way seem to have used Togame’s hair to spot them. Her sumptuous finery must have tipped them off as well, but let’s just say that she was hard to miss.

And yet, there was no way that Shichika could make her cut her hair… He was an island monkey, half-naked and lanky, impossible to miss himself, unqualified to offer tips on fashion.

“Maybe we are─but so what?”

After thinking things over, Togame had turned his question right back at him. “You guys are pirates. Plundering on the high seas. If you tell me that you don’t like being stolen from, I may just lose my lunch.”12

“Point taken,” Azekura said, relishing her provocation. “If you hurt others, you’re asking to be hurt, and if you steal, you’re asking to be stolen from─same goes for killing, and being killed.”

“Asking for it?”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Azekura seemed momentarily suspicious, but he seemed like the type to brush off details.

“Alright,” he nodded, and went on. “Make no mistake─I’m not trying to beat you to the punch.”

“Words are cheap.”

While he had said there was no need to probe, he spoke as if he already knew exactly what she had in mind. Yet Togame, betraying no sign of distress, merely gave him a wry look and answered, “I see right through you. Your men have the inn surrounded, and the two of us are fish in a barrel13─for all I know, there’s even something in this tea.”

“I already told you. I came here unaccompanied─”

“Sure you did.”

Togame shrugged off Azekura’s disavowal.

Now Shichika had seen it all. If Azekura in the Armor was enormous in his eyes, he was by no exaggeration a true giant to Togame, so slight and frail that he could easily flatten her. Dread14 Captain Azekura, owner of the Armor, was a sight to see, but even more spectacular was the way Togame showed15 him who was boss.

I guess all that I can do is stand here and be ready for whatever happens.

Her diplomacy could easily devolve just like it had with Ginkaku Uneri. It may sound ludicrous to be so cautious about Azekura, who wore the Armor but was otherwise unarmed─and yet the Armor was not armor, but a sword.

Not protection, but a weapon.

If you looked closely, you could discern what Togame had described when they were sitting in the hot spring: the edges of the Armor were sharpened─

I see it now. A body blow from those won’t be pleasant.

He recalled the shredded figure of the hotshot swordsman flying through the air─and the ruin16 of his massive sword, bashed to dust.

Then again, a body blow from somebody so giant would be lethal, armed or not.

“Shichika.”

“…”

“Shichika. Shichika.”

“…”

“Cheerio!”

Togame spun around and whammed him in the kneecap with her elbow.

Her “punch lines”17 were becoming a little too diverse.

“Huh…what?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? Quit daydreaming. This concerns you, too, listen carefully.”

He hadn’t been daydreaming, but he’d been transfixed by Azekura and his Armor. “I’m sorry,” Shichika apologized.

It was fine to stand there, ready for whatever happened, but if he missed what the two of them were saying in the process, he missed the point.

“The Kyotoryu…” said Azekura. “I know about you. I thought it might be fun to fight the Hero of the Rebellion, but if you’re the Seventh Master, that must mean Mutsue Yasuri has retired. Seems a bit too young for that.”

“My father is dead.”

These were Shichika’s first words to Azekura.

“Which means─”

But how he died─was a secret no one knew.

Don’t be so careless─he remembered now how Meisai Tsuruga had warned him.

Nanami had warned him as well, before he even set off on the Sword Hunt: Don’t tell Miss Togame how you’ve killed our dad too.

“He’s dead─I mean, he died.”

Shichika was not so good at lying. It would be hard to imagine a conversation any more awkward, but Azekura did not seem suspicious. Togame, for her part, appeared noticeably flummoxed, but at the moment our focus is elsewhere─

Azekura spoke.

“I had heard the Kyotoryu was strong, but I had no idea that you were strong enough to singlehandedly take down the Strongest Swordsman in Japan.”

“You’re familiar with Hakuhei Sabi?”

“Yeah…I’m no swordsman, but the Armor is a sword. He caught my interest─I dreamed of one day fighting Sabi in the Basket. To truly be the Strongest in Japan, he would have to get through me.”

“…”

“And when I heard that this guy somehow came into possession of Hakuto the Whisper─another of the Twelve Possessed, like Zokuto the Armor─the dream grew even stronger. One Mutant Blade versus another. Which would prove superior? I had hoped to settle the matter sooner than later, but the two of you beat me to the punch.”

“You sure are belligerent,” Togame spoke her mind, taking no pains to conceal her disgust.18 “But what should I expect─from the captain of a band of pirates?”

“Don’t be foolish19─from birth, men want to know who’s stronger, and who we stand above─it’s how we tick. You can’t expect to call yourself the Strongest in Japan─without asking for a challenge.”

Azekura nodded at Shichika.

But Shichika was unsure how to respond.

Asking?

“I would have to agree,” Togame said, and for a moment closed her eyes. She was handling her debate with Azekura marvelously, refusing to yield an inch─but still hadn’t decided how to address this development.

One thing was for sure, rolling with the punches was no longer viable. It had become necessary to try something more aggressive.20

Togame the Schemer.

This was her chance to show21 what she was made of.

“I must say, the scope of your pirate network is impressive─I never imagined word would spread like this about our moves. Am I to understand, Dread Captain Azekura, that you even know how many of the Twelve Possessed are ours by now?”

“Four,” Azekura answered plainly. “Zetto the Leveler, Zanto the Razor, Sento the Legion, and Hakuto the Whisper, which you just won from Hakuhei Sabi. I have no clue how you got your hands on the first one, Zetto the Leveler─but for the second and the third, I even know the names of their last owners. Ginkaku Uneri and Meisai Tsuruga.”

“Hm…yes, I suppose you are correct,” Togame said aloofly.

She was only trying to surmise how much Azekura knew. She hadn’t meant it to be a heavy question.

However.

Evidently─Azekura didn’t know how they had obtained Zetto the Leveler.

For Togame, this was food for thought.

Azekura had no reason to be honest with her, and she had no reason to take his words at face value22─but assuming he was telling the truth. From the sound of it, the Armored Pirates had gathered no intelligence on the Maniwa Ninja Clan, and Azekura didn’t know exactly how Sabi had wound up with Hakuto the Whisper.

The pirate captain didn’t have the full story.

Which means─they stood a chance?

“And yet,” Togame said deliberately, “the more I hear the more confused I get─Dread Captain Azekura. You know exactly who we are, and you know why we’re here. So what would prompt the owner of Zokuto the Armor to pay us a visit?”

It couldn’t possibly be to offer up the Armor in tribute to the bakufu─Togame was finally getting down to business. They had to quit the pleasantries sooner or later. At this point, there was no turning back.

Even if Azekura’s men had the inn surrounded─

“Seriously?” laughed Azekura. “You expect me to cooperate with the bakufu? To a pirate, that is suicide─antiestablishmentarianism23 is nothing less than our banner. As long as there is water in the ocean, we won’t be caught dead currying favor with the government…but there is one thing I wanted to ask you─Togame.”

Not Lady Togame.

Togame.

Azekura dropped the formalities.

The bakufu and the pirates were rivals, but Azekura’s informality came across as overly familiar.

“If you were somehow to succeed, and prized Zokuto the Armor from my dead body─what next? As far as I know, the Armor is the only one of the Twelve Possessed in all of Kyushu─if there was another, you can bet your life that I would hear about it.”

“Ears peeled, huh.”24

“Just a careful listener. Well? I’m curious to hear where you’re off to next. Now that you’ve beaten your way through western Japan─will you hop over to Shikoku?”25

“No. In the event we dispossess you, Dread Captain Azekura, of the Armor─we plan to pay a long-overdue visit to Owari Castle. I’ve been away from home for ages now…and who wants the help to see more of their house than they do?”

“By land? Or by sea.”

“This is a harbor after all. We’d like to go by sea, if possible. There must be boats out of Dakuon bound for Owari.”

“Yeah─but not only Owari. You can go to Tosa in Shikoku, and the Capital, and the rest of Japan, from Edo up to Mt. Shirei…as far south as the Ryukyu Islands, or as far north as Ezo. Hence why I chose this port for my base of operations─while it’s no Dejima Island26 in Nagasaki, it’s undoubtedly one of the prime harbors of the nation. However─”

Azekura paused.

“If you do manage to steal the Armor, are you sure that you can make it out of Dakuon alive?”

“…”

The chores of triumph.27

Oddly enough, this was exactly what Togame had been getting at back in the hot spring─the second biggest problem they were up against, after Azekura being giant.

This man was extremely─informed.

He wasn’t just the first to know, he was deeply perceptive.28

With his great size and booming voice, Azekura didn’t seem like the type to sweat the details, and he probably did overlook the nitty gritty, and saw the world in broad brushstrokes─but that did not mean he was not a thinking man.

Despite his claims─

Perhaps he actually had beaten them to the punch.

Here to crush them, before they proved a nuisance…

What else would he do when he got word that someone sought the Armor? It was the very namesake of the Armored Pirates─if they lost it, their authority would necessarily wane, along with their grip on the harbor. He had to nip this in the bud.

Judging from his nonchalance, Azekura had dealt with any number of contenders for the Armor─in fact, how could Togame and Shichika be the first? Great Sword Hunt or no, one of Kiki Shikizaki’s Mutant Blades could buy a country. And even if the Maniwa never made it this far south, the Armor could not have gone wholly uncontested─

“Alright, I’ll cut you a deal.”

What?

She had not expected this from Azekura.

“Deal?”

Togame knit her brows.

Never in the history of the world29 has a proposal lobbed at someone as a “deal” wound up being a true bargain for the recipient. More often than not, you wind up with a lemon, dressed up like a golden egg.30

Togame braced herself.

“Let’s hear it. This better be good.”

“It’s good alright… Either way, no loss for the bakufu.”

Azekura raised a finger wrapped in steel and pointed straight at Shichika. Though left out of the conversation for some time, he was not spacing out─but being called on flustered him.

“Huh, what?”

“Kyotoryu,” Azekura said, unfazed. “Let’s have a duel.”

“…”

Shichika was dumbfounded; you could hear it in his voice, but Togame must have felt the same about this exchange that bypassed her.

“A d-duel?”

“Precisely. On the off chance that you win, I’ll hand over the Armor. And I’ll see to it that none of the pirates and nobody in town gets in your way. I swear by the god of the sea to send you on your way back to Owari.”

“God of the sea? What the hell,” Togame muttered under her breath.

Of course, she had no interest in the sea god─her mind was occupied with the deal that Azekura had proposed.

The duel had been proposed by him.

And he had promised to take care of things thereafter.

Taken at face value, this was a lucky deal indeed. But any way you looked─

“It sounds too good to be true.” There was nothing else to say. “I can’t help but think there must be a catch.”

“No catch─although of course I have a handful of conditions. I heard about all of the lowlifes that you fought along the way, you took on anyone who stopped you. I can’t imagine you’d deny me, Kyotoryu.”

“Huh? Oh, no─”

“Cheerio!”

Togame spun and whammed her elbow into Shichika, once again.

He hadn’t even tried to dodge the blow─the figure of devotion.31

But Togame was not about to extol his devotion. Instead, she chewed him out.

“Don’t just agree, you colossal idiot! Use your head.”

“Nice to meet a happy couple…” Azekura let a laugh slip from inside the Armor. He was having fun with them.

His remark made Togame come to her senses. She turned to Azekura.

“And what might these conditions be?” she asked him sternly. “Don’t tell me that you, a pirate at large, wants a pardon32─unless you’re planning to step out33 of the game.”

“Please. Do you think I’m so free of freedom34 that I need a hand from you? I didn’t mean anything that ludicrous─I just want to save face.”35

“Face?”

“Yup. Not to sound cocky, but I’m the face of this whole region─not just Dakuon Harbor. Down here, my authority is absolute.”

“Not to sound cocky or anything,” Togame shrugged sarcastically.36

She meant for this to slow the conversation down, so she could take a moment to observe how he reacted─but things did not proceed as she hoped. His armor perfectly concealed his visage and kept her from perusing his expression.

“Gah ha ha, so you see, I can’t be the one to propose the duel─for the sake of the town, and the sake of my men.”

“…”

“This is one of our taboos.37 Dueling38 is banned among the Armored Pirates─if I intentionally enter into a duel, I would set a bad example, as Captain.”

“Dueling is banned?” echoed Shichika, doubtfully. Perhaps the lawless associations of the word “pirate” failed to accord with the idea of an ethical code.

“Nothing special,” Togame explained, without turning around. “If everyone did whatever they wanted, the organization would fall apart. To maintain the integrity of a group, some degree of law is necessary─especially if you want people to like you.”

“Wow, that stings─for your information, popularity isn’t what I’m after.”

“Oh yeah? What about the Basket.”

“That has nothing to do with being popular─it’s a business. Lately it’s been even more profitable than the plundering, I’m sorry to say. Pretty soon they’ll start calling us an ocean rodeo39─oh, right.”

It sounded like he thought of something.

“When we have this duel, I want for it to happen in the Basket.”

“Why?”

The Basket.

Why fight on enemy territory─Togame had been hoping to avoid the venue.

“Why? Didn’t I just say? Duels are forbidden. If I fight you at the Basket, it’s strictly business. Plus, regardless of who wins or loses, the audience will be ecstatic to see me fight the Strongest Swordsman in Japan, especially if he doesn’t have a sword─come on, you’re from the government. Do your part in helping out the regional economy.”

“You want to show off Shichika as some kind of a freak?”

“Small price to pay, if it means you get the Armor─am I wrong?”

“…”

She had nothing to say.

You see─he wasn’t wrong.

If Shichika was forced to fight him on his turf, that wouldn’t help his chances─yet.

Things still sounded too good to be true.

“But at the Basket─I’m assuming not just any drifter can show up and fight.”

“Wrong. At the Basket, we leave the door40 wide open─the Armored Pirates welcome everybody, even drifters. You remember who I fought in the battle where you saw me…the hotshot swordsman with the massive sword? That guy was still in training, a nobody. Said he just happened to be passing through. But one false move on my part, and that rookie would have been next in line to fight you, the Strongest Swordsman in Japan!”

“…”

They even welcomed drifters.

This caught Togame by surprise.

But the flip side was that Azekura, Maestro41 of the Basket, was so resolutely confident that he welcomed even total strangers into his arena.

“That kid put up a good fight… He only earned the right to fight me after beating five of my men in a row. Probably the best no-name fighter we’ve hosted at the Basket in a while. Some good that did him, though,” laughed Azekura. “Now he’s a dead nobody.”

“The right to fight you… You’re popular, and the star of the show. So to challenge the reigning champion42 of the Basket, one needs to pass a test…I see. Well, do we have what it takes to challenge you?”

“Don’t play dumb─I know this guy’s the Strongest in Japan.”

“For the past month. Barely enough time to prove it─right, Shichika?”

“Hm? Ah, yeah, sure…”

Shichika had been warned not to simply nod along, but he could only answer vaguely. Things were getting complicated. He no longer had a clue what Togame wanted, or what she was planning to do.

“Well, all I can say is, maybe.”

“Bull─how could amassing four of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki be anything but proof? I’ve heard the Mutant Blades lorded over the Age of Warring States. The power of each domain was measured by the quantity of Shikizaki blades in its possession. I have one, and you have four─based purely on the numbers, you outrank me, even if I am the champion. I need for you to make the challenge, though, as a formality,” concluded Azekura. “To protect the image of the Armored Pirates, and my image as Captain.”

“But what about the crowd, Dread Captain Azekura? You only know about the ‘proof’ you speak of through the grapevine of your pirate network─I doubt simply making an announcement would suffice.”

“No, you’re right about that─but as they say, seeing is believing.43 Five men is overkill…three’s plenty.”

Azekura thrust three fingers at them.

Three fingers, every single knuckle clad in steel.

“Let’s have a special match down at the Basket. Say tomorrow. Beat three men in a row, and you earn yourself the right to fight the champion. Usually, I have eight men fighting for me─but that hotshot friend of ours beat five of them. Three’s all I have on hand.”

“And if Shichika beats those three men and beats you, Dread Captain Azekura, he gets to take home Zokuto the Armor as a trophy?”

“Exactly. To keep the fights from being fixed,44 the victors normally walk away with no more than a feather in their hat, but for you, I’ll make an exception. Since I’m the actual challenger, I may as well throw you a bone.”

“Special match… But don’t you host fights every other week? You sure do as you please.”

“I’m running the show. Gah ha ha!” Azekura laughed heartily. “Goes to show how bad I want to fight you guys. Trust me, I’d love to be more open about this, but there are these bores who’d raise a fuss. As an entrepreneur,45 I’ll admit that I quite like the idea of using a Master of the Kyotoryu to sell tickets.”

“…”

Togame thought in silence.

It had sounded too good to be true, but the deal seemed more plausible now. Azekura could feign deference to Shichika, calling him the Strongest Swordsman in Japan and whatnot, but if the Captain was certain he’d never lose─it made sense. And as the Maestro of the Basket, he wanted to use Shichika to make up for the five men beaten by the hotshot swordsman─however.

Was that a good enough reason for Kanara Azekura to put one of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki on the line? Pugnacious as he was, perhaps he truly only wanted to try his hand at Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu─

The venom of the swords.

The venom of the blades of Kiki Shikizaki─

Swordsman or not, it must have made its way into Kanara Azekura’s system─

It made sense that he needed to protect his reputation, as the head honcho in town. At the same time, a man of his reputation would have to honor his word─was he sure about making such a promise?

Togame had to be missing something.

She understood─but she was missing something.

“Far as I can see, Dread Captain Azekura─you’ve left an important question unaddressed.”

“Which is?”

“You’ve mentioned that if our side wins, Zokuto the Armor will be ours…and you will guarantee our safe return─but what happens if we lose?”

“Poor things,” mocked Azekura. “You’re worried about what will happen if you lose? Sounds like you’ve already lost to me.”

“If we lose to you, Dread Captain Azekura…or if we fail to win all three of these qualifying matches…what price will we pay for our defeat? I can’t imagine you would let us get away scot-free. Not when you’re betting the Armor.”

She had phrased it as a question, but she saw where this was going─the Captain had to have a motive, and Togame had a hunch as to what it was. In a word, he wanted them to up the ante46 by wagering the four Mutant Blades in their possession.

Zetto the Leveler. Zanto the Razor. Sento the Legion. Hakuto the Whisper.

To throw their four swords─all four of them─into the pot.

There was no other way to balance his outrageous wager.

The venom of the swords─

It was natural for the owner of a Mutant Blade to thirst for more. In fact, Togame had approached Meisai Tsuruga, their third opponent, with a similar proposition─although it must be said that the Mistress of Triad Shrine had been fighting for a better cause…

Kanara Azekura was a pirate.

For whom taking what he wanted by force was only natural─

“How insightful of you.”

And yet.

What Azekura said after this compliment entirely defied her expectations.

“If I win, Togame─I want you to be mine.”

“…?”

This development stunned her.

“Wha─don’t you want the swords?”

“Swords? Who needs a bunch of swords─this one is plenty. All I want is you,” boomed Azekura. “I fell for you the second that I saw you. Be my girl.”

Contrary to Togame’s fears, the inn was not surrounded by a squad of Armored Pirates─no, this person seemed to be alone.

He was young.

Tall and slender, long black hair cascading down his back. Expressionless─and yet his eyes possessed a glint of violence.

“…”

A while now had passed since Kanara Azekura entered the inn, in all his armored glory─by now, the pirate captain was quite engrossed in conversation.

“Poor timing… Might need to hold off. Until the time is ripe.”

The interloper uttered these words too quietly for anyone to hear─and left the inn behind.

Blending instantly into the darkness.

Sleeveless ninja garb.

Chains wrapped around his body. A strange man indeed.

If Shichika bested Azekura in the duel─as goes without saying, things would go as Togame had envisioned. The Armor would be theirs, and for the time being, they would be safe. And while the execution was slightly different from what she had in mind, this was basically the essence of her scheme, the single complication being Shichika battling Azekura at the Basket, the pirate captain’s home turf.

Conversely, if Shichika lost the fight at the Basket, or went down to defeat in any manner, that is, even if Azekura was the victor in the duel, Togame would be fine─or so he claimed.

No, he made his opinion even clearer.

“Honestly, you’re better off that way.”

Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, had been hired by Togame on this Sword Hunt as her bodyguard─his job was to win every fight. Losing was not an option.

Losing was grounds for dismissal.

Azekura pointed a proud finger at himself.

“Yet it won’t be any loss for you. Not if you’re my girl─of course, that means that I’ll be taking over.”

Taking over.

As her bodyguard.

“But why settle for just being your bodyguard? By now I’ve done plenty, more than plenty to assure you of the power of the Armored Pirates’ intelligence network. Who could be more useful to you on your Sword Hunt?”

He had no intention of deferring1 to the bakufu.

But there was no greater pleasure in life than working hard for your baby2─Azekura certainly felt this way.

“Frankly, this whole thing about wanting to fight the Strongest Swordsman in Japan─while not exactly an excuse, is no more than a justification. When I heard the posse3 hunting for the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki had come to town, I was of a mind to show them who was boss, but when I set my eyes on you, I had a change of heart. I felt driven to serve you.”

With his help, she would have the other seven swords in no time, Azekura went so far as to claim.

“Don’t expect me to hand over the Armor─but if you’re my woman, you can consider yourself its owner. I’ll just be borrowing it. How’s that for an arrangement? In all of Japan, who other than Kanara Azekura is big enough to fit inside?”

When Togame declined to gratify this with an answer, he added this flourish: “As a strategist, surely you understand how sweet a deal this is?”

In the room they had taken at the hot spring inn.

The two travelers stood quite close, facing each other. Togame was fully dressed in a luxurious kimono (having packed such an extensive wardrobe she had nary worn the same thing twice─although Shichika was the one who bore the burden). Hands clasped behind her head, feet together, she stood up straight, looking uneasy. Shichika stood right in front of her, bent deep at the knees, to lower his enormous body. His feet faced to the side─he twisted his torso so extremely that he nearly turned his back on Togame, who stood motionless before him.

One hand made a fist.

His far hand, from Togame’s perspective.

The other hand was open, spread over the fist─indeed.

In Kyotoryu Form Four, the Asagao.

“Hup.”

After holding this position for some time, suddenly.

Shichika moved─his body moved.

In a single motion, he unspun from the twist, without changing the position of his feet! As if launching a cannonball, he hurled his fist straight for Togame’s stomach─a move similar to Fatal Orchid One, Kyoka Suigetsu, the secret move playing off Form One, the Suzuran, deployed at Triad Shrine against Meisai Tsuruga, then owner of Sento the Legion. But in this secret move, he made a fist.

“Fatal Orchid Four─Ryuryoku Kako!”

His fist smashed into Togame’s obi.

But not through it─his fist halted where it made contact, even as his torso glided in the opposite direction as a result. This wasn’t stopping an inch short4─his fist did press into the middle of her obi.

And that was all, apparently.

Togame registered no reaction, but for a rapid inhalation─phew─and a cold sweat.

“Did it work?”

“Not sure… I’ll have to check.”

When Shichika asked the question, Togame unclasped her hands and reached around her back to pull out the little mirror she had stashed at the knot of her obi. The woman was surprisingly dexterous and flexible.

At any rate─

“Hmm…see for yourself.”

Togame held the mirror out to Shichika.

The glass5 was cracked, and the handle had bent.

“Impressive─also a shame, although I guess it’s too late for that. This mirror cost me a fortune… Oh well.”

Shichika, who until this moment had been frozen with his fist pressed into her stomach, seemed relieved. His face was just below eye level with Togame, but when he stood up straight, he towered over her.

“I barely ever get a chance to use the Ryuryoku Kako… The secret move only makes sense when you’re fighting someone wearing armor. I’d hate to think I’ve gotten rusty. I just never have a chance to practice it. Sorry for practicing on you.”

“I can take it… I dunno though. How does this work? Does this mean you can concentrate the damage wherever you like?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. I can stop at the skin, or the muscle, or the organs, or the bones─or even go through to the other side. My dad always said the hardest part about this secret move was transmitting6 the impact. I have to use my intuition.”

“Intuition? That’s all that stood between me and your fist?!”

Togame was irate.

If she had known better, she would not have been so helpful.

No surprise from a woman who prided herself on being weak as shoji paper.

This time, however, she owed a compliment to Shichika and the secrets of the Kyotoryu. The shoji paper was unscathed; nothing damaged but the little mirror stashed behind her obi.

“Ugh, I feel like there’s pieces of the mirror in my obi. We’ll have to untie it… Go on, Shichika.”

She turned her back to him and raised her arms. As proven a moment ago, she was more than flexible enough to undo her own kimono, but lately she delegated tasks like this to Shichika. At first it took him time, but with practice, he had grasped the fundamentals7 of attiring kimono─though there was plenty left for him to learn.

Time to change her obi.

Shichika started to undo the knot.

“…”

Once it was undone, he tugged with all his might.

“Waah?”

When Shichika tugged at the obi wrapped around her waist, Togame spun forth at great speed like a top. Swept off her feet, she fell face down on the tatami.

“What the hell?!”

“Sorry…for some reason I felt like teasing you.”

“Shichika!” Togame came to her feet unsteadily. “With your superhuman strength, a little teasing is enough to do me in.” Since her obi was undone, her clothing was in disarray, but she paid it no need. She seemed awfully dizzy.

“Honestly…what on earth were you thinking?”

“Togame.”

“Yes?”

“That offer the guy made yesterday─how do you feel about it?”

Kanara Azekura’s offer.

Togame hadn’t accepted─or refused him outright.

Here is what she had told the man:

“Tomorrow is out of the question. That’s far too soon, I need some time to think. I mistrust negotiations that proceed at a clip,8 whether I like the sound of it or not─give me a day to think it over. Come back tomorrow night. By then, I’ll have an answer.”

Dread Captain Azekura and Shichika would need to wait another day before they dueled─

Togame had cut off the talks, and Azekura wasn’t one to overstay his welcome in that case. He did tell her, “I’m too busy to come back tomorrow, so I’ll send one of my underlings instead,” before departing from the hot spring inn.

Since then, the day had broken, and a few hours had passed.

She would need to have an answer by tonight.

“It’s your job to do the thinking─you were thinking all night. Haven’t you come to a conclusion?”

“Sure. You might even say that I made my decision when he asked me. I slept so well last night I didn’t even dream.”

Shichika kicked Togame’s feet out from under her.

Defenseless, she fell flat out all over again.

“What the hell?!”

“Huh, that’s weird…” Shichika was puzzled, his own behavior a mystery to him. “I dunno, for some reason I felt like teasing you a bit.”

“You’re beating the crap out of me! Why did you just kick me?”

“You whack9 me all the time. Now we’re even.”

“Ugh, what’s made you so cheeky?” Togame stood herself up yet again, her look suggesting that it wasn’t her second tumble so much as Shichika’s behavior that disturbed her.

“Well? What did you decide?”

“Needless to say, his offer is a life raft10─even if this place weren’t a harbor, we’d still have to get onboard. But there’s no point to negotiations if you hop aboard right away, so I was stalling him.”

“I see…”

“What’s wrong? You seem distraught. Don’t tell me that you’re too scared of Azekura─if you are, why use me as a punching bag to practice your secret move?”

“Hold on. I’m not worried about the duel… Whether or not it happens at the Basket, I know I have to fight him somewhere, sometime. Still, I mean,” Shichika stammered, “what if I lose?”

“If you lose? Azekura spelled that out for me, but fixating on losing won’t do you any good.”

“That’s neither here nor there, I want to hear your take on this. You think Kanara Azekura─would do a good job as your bodyguard?”

“Huh?” Unsure what would happen if she asked Shichika for help again, Togame tied her obi by herself for the first time in months. “Hmm, I wonder,” she said, directing her gaze pensively at the ceiling. “I guess─something about his offer did ring false to me. It’s hard to tell how much to believe. The likelihood of some ulterior motive is all too real.”

“Right.” Shichika nodded. “I mean, imagine the captain of a band of pirates working under you, a person from the bakufu─”

“No, that would be fine. You’re not exactly in the most desirable position yourself. The Kyotoryu is the school of a banished criminal─lest you forget, one purpose of our journey is to clear your father’s name.”

“Ah, yeah, that slipped my mind…”

Shichika was playing with her, acting like he’d actually forgotten.

Something was wrong, and getting worse, but Togame continued. “This pirate network of his is a force to be reckoned with. Aside from Zokuto the Armor here in Dakuon, and the Shikizaki blades already in our hands, there’s only one sword left whose whereabouts and owner we have verified─to round up all of the Twelve Possessed, information will be crucial. The might of the bakufu is one thing, but the underground intelligence of this pirate network─”

Shichika’s hand yanked Togame’s hair of white.

Seizing on her scalp like talons, without restraint.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“I dunno…my hands just got away from me.”

“You can’t just touch a woman’s hair!”

“Seems a bit too late for that…”

For a time, after all, she’d been wrapping his body in her hair every night. Their Sword Hunt had gone on long enough for Shichika to recognize her, which made their nocturnal ritual unnecessary; yet only the night before, she’d asked him to stomp her white hair with his foot.

“Look, if that’s the way you feel─me and Azekura may as well not fight at all.”

“Huh?”

“I could be wrong, but aren’t you trying to minimize the amount of fighting on the Sword Hunt? Diplomacy first, right? In that case, why not just skip the duel and have him help you on the Sword Hunt? And why limit yourself to a single bodyguard? You could have the Armored Pirates working on your side, behind the scenes, while you and I hunt down the other swords.”

“I doubt Azekura would comply. He wants to fight the Strongest Swordsman in Japan─but if the rest of what he said is true, his motives are more personal. Shichika, I think he sees you as a nuisance.”

“Me?”

“Sounds like he wants to have his woman to himself…”

Love at first sight.

Be my girl.

That was how he put it.

He could care less about the Shikizaki blades─and had no intention of deferring to the bakufu. For his woman, however, he would put all his energy into the Sword Hunt─

“Well, I guess…you could do worse,” Shichika muttered like he had a bit jammed in his molars. Evidently, his remark went against his true emotions.

“No, I’m not so sure. Who knows what prompted his proposal. I can’t take him at his word─after all, he is a pirate.”

“But Togame,” said Shichika. “I thought you said you could trust a man who works for love?”

What Azekura promised her the night before─echoed what Shichika had said to her on Haphazard Island.

Which is why he couldn’t ignore this.

Shichika was having second thoughts─about a duel.

“True, I can’t trust someone who works for money─I can’t trust someone who works for honor. But I can trust someone who works for love… That’s what I said.”

Then Togame paused, as if something had occurred to her.

Perhaps the keen11 schemer realized why Shichika had been bullying her in a peculiar manner. Realized rather belatedly for a keen woman. For his part, Shichika must have been allowing impulse to guide his actions without realizing what he was doing…

“You know, big as you are…you sure are acting like a baby.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean.”

“Alright. How would it make you feel? To have that man take over as my bodyguard?”

“What would happen to me?”

“Depends on the duel. If he kills you, then it’s over, but if you managed to survive─I guess you would go home to your sister, on Haphazard Island.”

“That’s…”

Shichika thought over what she said.

Indisposed to thinking as he was.

“That’s…not okay with me.”

“No?”

“But if you think─that it would help you in your Sword Hunt─I’m sure you can find someone to replace me.”

“Cheerio!”

Togame saw her chance and stomped his toes.

With all her weight, as payback for the teasing.

And lately she was being very generous12 with her Cheerios.

“My toes! That really hurt.”

“Shichika.” Disregarding his complaint (of course), Togame asked him, “Am I to understand you’re that attached to me?”

“Me? Attached? I’m not so sure I’d…”

Togame stepped right up to Shichika, as if she were ready to grab him by the collar and shake some sense into him.

“Listen, Shichika. I’m─”

Before she could go on.

“Madam,” a voice came through the shoji.

The same voice as the night before─the inn worker. Shichika was so absorbed in his argument with Togame he had failed to hear any footsteps coming down the hallway.

It was like a splash of water in the face, but perhaps the timing was a blessing given that Togame was getting fairly heated.

What did they want?

Azekura’s henchman was not supposed to come by for an answer until evening, and it was barely noon.

“What is it?” Togame asked through the shuttered door.

“I have a letter here addressed to you.”

“A letter? From whom?”

The inn worker’s vague wording suggested that it wasn’t from Kanara Azekura, and the voice verified this through the door. “I’m not too sure─but he had long hair, and he was wearing an extremely…unconventional ninja outfit.”

A place blanketed in short grass, where any rendezvous would stand out from afar, and seemingly unfit for a secret meeting13 with a ninja, but on the other hand, anyone attempting to eavesdrop on their conversation would immediately be seen─the landscape offered nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide.

In the middle of this meadow.

He sat atop a sizable boulder.

A man with youthful features.

Slim build, black hair spilling over his shoulders. Expressionless, but with a glimmer in his eyes.

Sleeveless ninja garb.

Chains wrapped around his body. A strange man.

“…”

Munching on a skewer of chadango.14

Intently, as if to ignore the arrival of Togame and Shichika─he seemed to be delighting in his snack, though his face barely betrayed any emotion. When he had eaten the dango down to the skewer, he snapped it in half and tossed it down his gullet, swallowing it too.

Then finally─he looked their way and stood up from the boulder.

“I am Hohoh15 Maniwa, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan,” he declared, bowing his head deeply. “As one of the Twelve Bosses, I have had the pleasure of serving you on multiple occasions, but this would be our first time meeting in person, Miss Togame─excuse me, Madame Schemer.”

“Ah.”

Togame nodded cautiously.

Not exactly nervous─so much as holding back her anger. This sentiment was understandable, since the Maniwa had double-crossed Togame─and yet her voice had taken on a weight requiring further explanation.

Shichika picked up on this immediately.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t faced a living member of the Maniwa in some time─the last had been Komori Maniwa, from whom they prized Zetto the Leveler. When they encountered Shirasagi Maniwa in Inaba Desert, he was already decaying; and when Kuizame Maniwa descended upon Shichika at Triad Shrine, Togame was occupied with other matters.

Hohoh Maniwa.

“This may be our first meeting, but I have heard so much about you,” she said. “Distinguished among the Twelve Bosses as Captain of the Bird Unit─effectively the head of the entire ninja clan. Isn’t that right, Hohoh…Sir Hohoh.”

“I wouldn’t call myself the head─you overestimate me. The Bosses have a reputation for being unique individuals, which sounds admirable, but the reality is that most of us are weirdos who have a hard time functioning in society. Since I have a modicum of common sense, I volunteered as interim director─drawing the short straw,16 on account of being the most sociable.”

“…”

Togame kept quiet.

Meanwhile, Shichika did not know a great deal about the Maniwa’s relationship with Togame, much less the extent of their past involvement17 with the bakufu, so this was no time for him to be butting into the conversation. He simply kept his eyes peeled, making sure the coast was clear, lest a dozen ninjas spring upon them out of nowhere.

The head of the Maniwa Clan had something to discuss with Togame.

The letter he left at the inn was to the point.

“Hey Togame─what’s Bird Unit?”

“Oh…didn’t we go over this? The Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan are split into four groups of three: Bird Unit Maniwa, Beast Unit Maniwa, Fish Unit Maniwa, and Bug Unit Maniwa─Komori Maniwa was from the Beast Unit, Kuizame Maniwa was from the Fish Unit…and Shirasagi Maniwa, and I guess this guy, both belong to the Bird Unit.”

“Ah, same unit as Shirasagi.”

“Yes, but don’t get careless, Shichika. This man is a cut above the other eleven Bosses.”

Hohoh Maniwa. The Phoenix.

A bird, to be sure, but out of all the Bosses, he was the only who used an imaginary creature for a namesake─the Divine18 Phoenix.

“No need to be alarmed, at least not here and now. I meant what I wrote. I merely came here to have a word with you, Madame Schemer.”

“And why should I believe that?” spat Togame. “Do you realize what I’ve been through thanks to all of you? Do you realize how unwillingly I acquiesce?”

“You’re here, aren’t you? The fact you came all the way out here suggests, to me, a willingness to talk things over.”

“If I had my way, I would steer clear of any dealings with the Maniwa─but once I knew that you were here, I had to take you down.19 You could only be a nuisance to our Sword Hunt. Pests need to be exterminated before things get out of control.”

“An arm…”

Hohoh raised his left arm─toward Togame.

“If you will hear me out, I’ll chop off my left arm.”

“…?!”

“Just listen, and one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa…effectively the head of the entire clan, as you so nicely put it, will cut off his own arm. No pressure to go along with anything, you understand─just hear me out, and come to your own conclusion, Madame Schemer. If you’ll only listen, then my arm is yours. How about it?”

“H-How about it?”

Togame’s perturbation was not lost on Shichika. What on earth did Hohoh have in mind? It wasn’t like the man was carrying a sword─how was he going to cut off his own arm?

Before Togame had a chance to answer.

Hohoh raised his right hand high, poised rigid as a blade─and let it drop just shy of his shoulder.20

The blade of his hand.

Just like in the Kyotoryu─except.

When his hand met the base of his arm, it chopped straight through!

“Wha…”

“E-Eek─”

While the Kyotoryu enabled Shichika to wield his hands and feet, nay, his whole body like a katana, his so-called blades were not actually sharp, and lacked a cutting edge. At the end of the day, he was playacting as a sword. Hohoh Maniwa, on the other hand, had severed his own limb, true to his word.

While Togame and Shichika exchanged looks of trepidation─

Hohoh calmly wrapped his chains around the gushing wound, as a tourniquet. Nothing changed in his expression. It appeared he did not feel a thing, at least from the way he held himself.

His left arm, on the ground…

Twitched21 and convulsed, as if possessed of a life of its own, but eventually it fell still. Only moments prior, this had been an integral part of his body, but Hohoh showed no interest in the dismembered limb.

He merely shot a cool glance at Togame.

“There─if you wish, I will chop off my right arm as well. How about it?”

“No…”

Togame gulped─but managed a response to Hohoh, in a voice void of emotion.

“Enough of that, I’ll listen─assuming you won’t mind if Shichika stays put?”

“By all means. He can listen too. So you’re Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu? The one who sent Komori and Shirasagi…along with Kuizame to the next world?”

“Precisely,” confirmed Togame.

“Actually…”

Shichika wanted to say it wasn’t him who took down Shirasagi and Kuizame, but when Togame flashed that evil eye of hers, he shut his mouth. Apparently, she was ready to take credit for their deaths as if her bodyguard (and not Ginkaku Uneri and Meisai Tsuruga, respectively) had killed them.

It could benefit her “negotiations” with Hohoh.

“I’ve lost contact with Chocho Maniwa, Mitsubachi Maniwa, and Kamakiri Maniwa, all three members of the Bug Unit─do I have you, Madame Schemer, to thank for that?”

“What? No, I know not of what you speak.”

Naturally, Togame was familiar with the Bug Unit.

From the way Hohoh phrased his question, she surmised that Chocho, Mitsubachi, and Kamakiri were gone─in other words, they had lost their lives while hunting down the swords. Taking credit for their passing too was untenable, however, and she had opted for an honest answer.

The fact that the Bug Unit had been thrashed by Shichika’s older sister, Nanami, head of the Yasuri family, was not yet known to any present party.

“Is that so.”

Hohoh Maniwa did not force the issue.

“In any case,” he resumed after a pause, “I’ll have you know that the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan have been reduced by half in only half a year. At this point, I must say, we would have done well to swear off the Kiki Shikizaki blades. Our decision to betray you, Madame Schemer, was an error.”

“…”

“At least, it may have been.”

Hohoh observed Togame as he spoke.

His eye contact was fierce─and cold, as if having chopped off his own left arm were no longer on his mind.

“Then again, with the awful state of Maniwa Village, we hardly had a choice─though we’ll not speak of that. We cannot turn back the hands of time, and our only hope is for the six of us to muddle through somehow.”

“Can you? Or more importantly─think we’ll let you?”

“Let us, no. With the owners─for Zokuto the Armor, that means Kanara Azekura─you two, and us ninjas locked in a three-way struggle, we cannot see this Sword Hunt through. Which brings us to the crux of our discussion, Madame Schemer. Care to forge a temporary alliance with the Maniwa?”

“A-Alliance?”

Shichika was startled, but that didn’t even begin to describe how Togame felt. After cutting ties so absolutely─why bother with a mock alliance now?

“Sirrah─did you come all the way to Kyushu just to make a fool of me?”

“On the contrary. I’m merely saying we would do well to avoid unnecessary conflict─if the word ‘alliance’ leaves a bad taste in your mouth, why not call it an armistice?22 That way you can focus on your Sword Hunt, Madame Schemer, while the Maniwa focuses on our own. That way we can avoid these useless duels and stop attacking one another. Know what I mean?”

“If only things could be resolved so easily─but we are chasing after the same thing. If we meet near one of the Mutant Blades, we have no choice but to clash swords.”

“While it may seem that we are after the same thing, Madame Schemer, that is not exactly true. Your mission is to hunt down all of the Twelve Possessed, whereas we would be overjoyed to capture two or even three. Of course, the more the better─but we see no need to hunt down every single one.”

“…Point being?”

“Point being─perhaps there is a way to do this without fighting. For example, we could resume our hunt from the opposite end of the map.”

“Are you proposing─we avoid direct contact entirely?”

“Exactly.”

“…”

Togame glared at Hohoh─thinking it over.

Not to sound like Azekura had the night before, but this was not such a bad deal. With three of the Bosses dead─six, if she believed Hohoh─the Maniwa had every reason to beg, and it would be a huge help if she could carry out her Sword Hunt without the ninjas interfering.

That said, the deal was not without its disadvantages.

No disruption from the Maniwa also meant letting them carry on with their own Sword Hunt. This was tantamount to giving them a head start on several of the swords─

However.

Come to think of it, there was only one sword left, apart from Zokuto the Armor, whose whereabouts she had ascertained but had yet to capture─Togame had no idea where, in all Japan, the other six might be. Not like she had nowhere to start, but the reconnaissance would put a burden on their progress.

In which case, she could delegate the unknowns to the Maniwa, while she and Shichika pursued the one sword they had a lead on. An alliance was off the table, but an armistice was not to be dismissed. Permitting the Maniwa to do their own thing for a little while longer was a fitting enough strategy.

If the Maniwa failed to track down the lost swords, no harm done. Nay, for just as Togame, in her Sword Hunt, had profited thus far from the errors of the Old Shogun, she stood to benefit further from the ninjas’ missteps, for an even smoother process down the line.

And if the Maniwa succeeded in obtaining any of the Twelve Possessed, all the better. She need only seize them from the Maniwa, and the success was hers! The challenge was to catch the ninjas before they vanished, and establishing the whereabouts of the swords would be most convenient!

“…”

Shichika was turned off by the air of villainy wafting from Togame, but Hohoh Maniwa, who had come with the offer, had not arrived at this discussion without indulging his imagination to a similar degree. Indeed, the Maniwa, in their own right, could see this armistice as most convenient. They could let Togame the Schemer and her bodyguard Shichika gather all the swords─then cash them out23 when they were through, making things far more efficient and practical.

Overjoyed to capture two or even three─a nice idea, but not to be trusted. No more than cajolery, aimed at making her cooperate.

If greed were gold.

The Maniwa would be richer than all the bandits and the pirates.

These were the masterworks of Kiki Shikizaki─surely they would not give up the fight until every last one of the Twelve Possessed was theirs.

Since their motives were identical, a final showdown24 was inevitable.

It may be time to check up on the Shikizaki blades we’ve already delivered to Owari…

With Togame thus preoccupied.

Hohoh shared another thought.

“Of course,” he said, “if our negotiations come to nothing─I will have no choice but to fight you, after all…as much as I do not wish to.”

“…”

“To think how close you are to capturing Zokuto the Armor. You wouldn’t want to spoil that over a fuss with me.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No threat─not yet.”

Hohoh spoke in measured tones, without a hint of violence.

I mistrust negotiations that proceed at a clip, whether I like the sound of it or not─a policy is one thing, but Togame was not in a position to simply disregard his offer.

Refuse, and she was asking Hohoh for the battle to begin.

Yet his strength in battle was an unknown quantity25─if severing his own arm with the blade of his hand were any indication, the best thing going for him was his creepiness. Cutting off your own arm is no way to get the upper hand.26

Then, for now…

“Soto the Twin,” Togame said.

“Huh?”

“The last of the swords whose whereabouts I know─I suppose that means that I’ll be heading for it next. If you go after any of the other swords, we won’t cross paths.”27

“Do you agree to an alliance?”

“Not an alliance. An armistice.”

“Music to my ears.”28 Whether or not he meant these words sincerely, it was hard to say, but Hohoh took a stance of gratitude. “Thank you kindly. And where might Soto the Twin be?”

“I see no need to tell you that─I know you’re asking out of more than curiosity. How can I be sure that you won’t beat us there, while we are occupied with capturing the Armor?”

“Right, I never should have asked. Your consent29 is the best that we could expect. And now that you’ve consented, I’ll convene a meeting with the other Bosses. As you may know, to boost morale, the Bosses are competing to see who can snatch up the most swords─it was actually my idea, but I think it’s time we called it off. Now that our numbers have been halved, the competition has lost its sporting premise…but Madame Schemer. To thank you for agreeing to my selfish proposition, how about some intelligence.”

“Intelligence?”

“Trust us at your own risk─but in Mt. Shirei in Mutsu, and Tendo in Dewa, and in Edo, you can find three more of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki. What you will find, and where to find it, is more than I can say, but even if one of them happens to be Soto the Twin, that’s two more swords for you.”

“In Mutsu, and Dewa. And in Edo─Edo?”

For a thank you, this was a boon of information. So far as Togame was concerned, Soto the Twin was across the waters, up in Ezo. In other words─she had just gotten a lead on not just two, but three more of the swords─

That is, if Hohoh was telling the truth.

But why lie now?

“Those three are the only swords that I can speak to. If I join forces with the other Bosses, and we concentrate on tracking down the other three, I see no reason why we wouldn’t stay out of each other’s way. Do you?”

“No─but…”

“But what? Still distraught? You want some more intelligence?”

Not distraught, so much as distrustful.30

Nevertheless, Hohoh was fixing to toss her some more information. His generosity was beginning to feel creepy─surely he was up to something.

And yet the next words he uttered blew her distrust out of the water.

“Back in Owari─Princess Negative has started making moves.”

“…What!”

As evinced by her reaction─Togame was aghast. Shichika didn’t understand Hohoh’s remark, but the noise she made was enough to spook him.

Princess Negative?

Never heard of her.

Not once had Togame mentioned such a person.

But now Togame lost her mind on Hohoh.

“Fool─I’ve shut her mouth once and for all.”

“Sure. We’re the ones who got the job done, so no need to remind me─but it seems that she has capitalized on your absence from Owari.”

“Tsk!” Togame clicked her tongue loudly, making a sour face. “Each time I think I’ve finished her, she just pops up again. I thought I’d seen the last of her, that nasty woman. Ugh!”

“Look who’s talking, she might say…” Hohoh Maniwa cracked a smirk. Togame’s hissy fit was too funny.

“Well? What sort of moves is she making?”

“Who knows? It’s hardly our concern─though neither of us wants another party vying for the Shikizaki blades. We have no interest in meddling with infighting in the bakufu, but if we need to, we’re prepared to jump into the fray.”

“…In that case, I would be much obliged,” Togame said to Hohoh, once she had settled down. “For the time being, I’ll need to trust you─but enemies we remain. If you break our pact and interrupt my Sword Hunt, on purpose or by accident, then I promise you, my sword will cut you down.”

“Understood─so long, then.”

Hohoh seemed to have had enough parleying for one day. Without hearing a reply to his farewell, tarrying not one bit, he turned to make his leave, ignoring the arm sitting on the ground.

Shichika had a question.

Who on earth was Princess Negative?

From what they had been saying, it sounded like she was also from the bakufu?

But Hohoh stopped midstride and interrupted Shichika just as he was about to open his mouth.

“Oh, one more thing, Madame Schemer─it seems you have a habit of saying ‘Cheerio!’ before you punch your employee. When I heard that from Komori, I knew something was wrong, but when I made it here to Satsuma, I finally figured it out. You mixed it up with Chesuto.”

Togame─Grand Commander of Arms of the Yanari Shogunate Military Directorate─ran off.

All out.

Full speed.

Exhausting every effort, she ran.

But remember, this was an exhaustive effort from Togame, who took pride in her eschewal of armaments. The strength of her arms and legs was average, or subpar at the very best─yet she summoned all her strength, and purged her stores of every kind of energy, dashing across the meadow.

Leaving Hohoh Maniwa far behind.

She may have missed the rest of his invaluable explanation.

“‘Cheerio’ is something said in foreign lands, instead of ‘Sayonara.’”

Her splendid finery in total disarray.

Her signature white hair in disarray.

She ran like mad, full tilt31─nowhere special, anywhere but here.

“Waaaaaaaaahhh! No no no no no no no no! You got me wrong, you got me all wrong!”

Crying out to no one in particular.

A wailing of the soul, to shake the heart of all who listened.

“Wait, wait, wait a sec! I can explain!”

Wait? But it was Togame who had bolted. That line belonged to her retainer Shichika, who was chasing after her. While he had confidence in his abilities, Togame gave him a run for his money. Her speed made her seem possessed.32

Plus, he’d had a late start, reluctant to just leave the Maniwa standing there. Hohoh had said, “Go ahead and chase her,” which Shichika had done, though not because the ninja told him to. At this rate, she was bound to throw herself into the sea.

Of course it had to be the Maniwa who set her straight. That surely made the gaffe feel even worse.

“No, no, wait! Please, hear me out! You’ve got it wrong─all wrong!”

More wailings of the soul.

When she closed her eyes, her thoughts returned to her exchange with Shichika three months ago, while walking in Inaba Desert. He’d asked her what she meant by “Cheerio.”

Here is what she had said:

It’s my catchphrase.

Unsurprisingly, Shichika asked what she meant by this. Didn’t sound like Japanese.

As if an island monkey can judge.

I’ll have you know that it’s a grand old saying.

Favored by the warriors of Satsuma in Kyushu as a battle cry─you might call it their kiai.

And to sum things up:

It suits my personality exactly.

“Personality? Give me a break!” Togame took a jab at herself, three months too late.

Which is when Shichika, whose innate strength could not be bested by this pageant of despair, finally caught up with Togame. He was close enough to reach out and touch her, but refrained, not knowing how she might react to contact.

“Hey, Togame─”

“Don’t talk to me!” she screeched. “I’m not stupid! Okay? I’m not stupid! I’m not embarrassed. I’m not embarrassing! Nor am I confused. H-H-He’s the one who’s confused!”

She was blaming everything on Hohoh. And yet she kept on running─suggesting that the revelation had struck a nerve.

Her scarlet face nearly burst into flame.

Her entire body slimed with sweat.

Rather than catch Togame from behind, Shichika decided he would pass her, then circle back and stop her in her tracks.

“Gadzooks!”

Since Togame was running with her eyes practically closed, she ran straight into his open arms─but her force, which he had woefully underestimated, knocked him flat.

Togame sat astride him as if were a horse.

“Hmph, ugh, ughhh…”

Shockingly─

Togame the Schemer was bawling her eyes out.

Spilling unapologetic, shameless tears, she clenched her teeth.

“Ugh, argh…ughhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Come on, seriously?”

“Shut up! I hate you!”

She sounded like a little kid.

She made fists and pummeled Shichika, taking all her anger out on him─but he sat back and let her punch away. For one thing, the punches were not going to hurt him, but more than that, he was astonished at Togame, whose face was psychopathic.33

“Shi-Shichika!”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Shichika, Shichika, Shichika, Shichika!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!”

“You know better, you know I’m not confused! I’m not confused!”

“Uh, umm─”

“I just, just, I mean, it was intentional!”

“I-Intentional?”

She scared the crap out of Shichika.

When a bawling woman rides you like a horse and starts beating the crap out of you, what man can keep his cool?

“You heard me, intentional! Have you forgotten whom you’re dealing with? I’m Togame the Schemer, Grand Commander of Arms of the Yanari Shogunate Military Directorate! When it comes to smarts, I have it all─ingenuity, intrigue, schemes and stratagems! Of course I knew that ‘Cheerio’ was a foreign word!”

“Oh, okay. So, uh, Togame, why did you intentionally─”

“Because!” Togame blurted out, before Shichika could finish. Trouble was, it seemed that she had yet to arrive at a good reason. The notion that she had done it all on purpose was her only hope, but try as she might, she could not come up with any rationale for replacing Chesuto with Cheerio.

“Whatever! It never happened. Forget it, forget it!”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“Please, Shichika─you should be ashamed!”

Now she was making other people feel bad.

What could be worse.

“Uh, why should I be?”

“Think for a second. How many times thus far on our journey have I yelled ‘Cheerio!’ and punched you? Dozens! Hundreds! Too many to count!”

“Yeah, um─sure.”

“And every time people saw it, they were going, ‘Hey, why’s the whitehaired lady yelling Sayonara! as she bops him on the head?’ Actually, it’s not so bad for earlier in our journey. The problem is after we arrived in Satsuma! What do you think Azekura thought last night when I yelled ‘Cheerio!’ and slugged you one?”

“Well…you’ve been extra generous with the Cheerios since we got here…”

Once they arrived in Satsuma, which she believed to be the birthplace of “Cheerio,” its veritable hometown, it appears she got a little carried away. Spinning her wheels.

How many times had Azekura witnessed her mistake…

“I’m sure he thought I was an idiot! Look at this idiot, he thought, and let me be! What could be more devastating?”

“I mean, I get what you’re saying…but why should I be embarrassed too?”

“I may be the one who said it, but you’re the one who didn’t even know that the real battle cry is ‘Chesuto,’ not ‘Cheerio,’ you island monkey!”

“Uh, actually, I did.”

“Cheeri-ohhh!”

Her fist hit him square in the face. An absolute beauty.

Sure enough─Hohoh Maniwa was in the same place we last saw him.

Only now, he was surrounded─by three brawny men.

Clearly not his friends.

Hohoh Maniwa wore no sword, but the three men were variously armed─and wearing looks of unabashed aggression.

Hohoh gave each man a quick once-over.

As it turns out, these men were Armored Pirates─recall the letter addressed to Togame at the inn. It specified this meadow as the meeting place. Hohoh had penned it in his own hand and left it with the inn worker. In a town ruled by the Armored Pirates.

The inn worker had no choice but to inspect a letter sent to someone whom Dread Captain Azekura had called upon without accompaniment. And once it was inspected─the Armored Pirates would need to be apprised of what it said.

Therefore.

The talk between the Schemer and the Maniwa Boss had been monitored after all.

Hohoh had picked the meadow to avoid this; even if they saw them from afar, they would never catch the content of their speech. And so it was after Shichika and Togame had departed that a group of pirates snooping from a distant vantage point─came forth.

“Would you mind telling us exactly what you all discussed?” asked one of the men.

“The lure worked, and yet,” Hohoh spoke, but only to himself─“who might these strange little fishies be?”

It was as though he had meant to drive Togame and Shichika away with his cautionary words regarding “Chesuto” once they had accepted his offer.

To fight these three men─on his own.

“Suppose I needed a new arm. Anyone have one to spare? I’m not picky.”

“Huh? What the hell─”

“You’re lucky, fellas. Few get to die from my ninpo.”

With that─

Hohoh Maniwa stiffened his right hand.

“Decapitation Cycle.”34

Azekura had beautifully demonstrated his talents as an entrepreneur.

Except─there had been a tiny change of plans.

As a formality, the challenger, Shichika Yasuri, would need to prove his mettle by besting a choice three of the Armored Pirates on the Basket’s roster─at least, that had been the plan until that morning, when those three men were found dead in a meadow on the edge of town.

Dead─all three of them.

Mercilessly shredded, chopped to pieces, by who knows what kind of a blade.

Strangely, the left arm of one of the men was missing. Despite a thorough sweep of the area, it had not been discovered. Inexplicably, another arm, belonging to a different person, not one of the three men, was found at a short distance away, discarded─

“Left arm…”

After hearing this news from the inn worker, Shichika knew instinctively, and Togame felt justified in her suspicion. “The ninja,” she muttered through her teeth.

Hohoh Maniwa─the ninja.

Making a living out of dirty deeds.

What was stopping them from playing dirty1 in their negotiations?

“Are you saying…this guy swapped one arm for another?”

“I wish I could tell you it couldn’t be done, but we’re dealing with a veteran ninja. Hohoh Maniwa, Captain of the Bird Unit─we need to think outside the box.”

“Yeah, but if he can attach someone else’s arm, why not reattach his own? Why would he just leave his own arm?”

“Who knows,” Togame snapped. What else was there to say?

Whatever was happening, ninpo was certainly to blame. In which case, thinking rationally was not going to get her anywhere. No choice but to postpone.

What harried2 Togame most of all: Hohoh Maniwa’s interference actually shunted Shichika to the final round. The fight at the Basket, decided upon the moment she accepted Azekura’s offer the night prior, had been advertised all over town. It was much too late to cancel or reschedule the event─scrapping the preliminary matches was no justification for canceling the headliner.

And there was no one else for Shichika to fight.

There were other Armored Pirates, but evidently the only ones suited to the Basket were the five who had been beaten by the hotshot swordsman, and the three who had been slaughtered in the meadow, eight in total.

They were an elite few.

Three had gone to listen to Togame confer with whomever dropped by with that letter, but the trio had been killed─it was natural to suspect Togame, but Azekura seemed to have decided not to go there. Perhaps he didn’t care to admit that he’d been watching them─she had no way to confirm this, but it seemed likely she was right.

To Azekura, the three preliminary fights were about saving face. But if they had been called off due to an unfortunate accident─no loss for him.

From his perspective.

Taking down Shichika Yasuri, companion of Togame─was all that really mattered.

Which brings us to the Basket.

The main act started without prelude or fanfare.

“…”

Ready for battle─stripped to the waist, arm guards off and barefooted, no sandals, clad only in his hakama, Shichika tested his footing. The sand piled into the Basket─was not so different from the sandy beaches on Haphazard Island where he had spent so many hours practicing.

He looked at the opponent standing before him.

The foe he was about to battle─Kanara Azekura.

A warrior with no chink in his Armor.

That full metal jacket,3 unparalleled in armor class.

Above all, he was giant.

A bigger enemy─

“Let’s get one thing straight, Kyotoryu.”

Azekura’s voice boomed from inside the Armor, as he turned his gaze on Shichika.

“I’m the type of guy who can’t back off once he gets going─you may wind up dead…or somehow make it out alive, but I promise you’ll be mortally wounded. There’s no way around it,4 even if it hurts the woman I adore.”

Once we’ve been traveling a while, said Azekura, she’ll come around.

“As eager as I am to fight the Strongest Swordsman in Japan, if you give up,5 Kyotoryu, before things go too far…you could live to see another day. You’re so young─why let your talents go to waste?”

“…”

Shichika remembered.

Two days prior, embroiled with the hotshot swordsman, Azekura had taunted the challenger with all kinds of provocative language─and now he was doing the same to Shichika.

Azekura seemed to understand that this fight would not go easily─regardless of his unremitting confidence in Zokuto the Armor.

Dead…or mortally wounded.

While Azekura’s provocations did not disturb Shichika, they served to jog his memory.

He looked away─beyond the fence edging the Basket, to the prime seats,6 where a certain Schemer was waiting for the battle to begin─Togame.

That white hair.

Put her in a crowd, and boy did she stand out. It was easy to forget (though Shichika had never been hung up on the color of her hair) after spending so much time alone with her. She was like a swan among a plain flock of birds.

How could she not catch Azekura’s attention?

Togame─

“Shichika, about this fight,” she had cautioned him beforehand. “Try to win without killing Azekura or beating him up so bad he won’t recover.”

“Um…” Shichika had felt stupefied. “What are you talking about? Are you saying to go easy on him? This is serious business.”

“I’m not asking you to throw the match. But think a second─Kanara Azekura is the one who guaranteed no one would harm us. If you kill Azekura, the guarantee could expire with him. That includes them handing over Zokuto the Armor.

“Everything is lined up─Shichika. This is the greatest fight this town has ever seen, and everyone is watching. If you should win, Azekura must honor his promise, come what may─as the Kaoyaku of Dakuon, his reputation7 is at stake. But that only matters if Azekura is alive.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

He got what she was saying, without getting it entirely─but Togame was the strategist. His job was to do what he was told.

In this case: go easy on Azekura.

To be sure, Togame wanted Shichika to take her admonition at face value, but there was another important reason─yet it wouldn’t do to divulge it to him.

Avoiding killing.

A worthy experiment, deemed Togame.

What better place for it than the Basket, though she sure had a lot of nerve to be gambling when her own future was at stake─

Shichika saw things differently.

He couldn’t help but wonder.

This was serious business, but she was telling him to take it easy─was she crazy? Maybe up against a lesser foe, but on his first time fighting someone bigger than him?

Is Togame─okay with me losing?

While she probably wasn’t hoping he would, perhaps, just like Azekura had asserted two nights earlier, she was thinking─no loss either way.

Indeed, if Azekura proved to be stronger, and thus more fit to serve Togame as her bodyguard, what reason did she have to keep Shichika around?

Nobody wants a sword that can’t perform.

Swords are nothing more than tools.

Tools operate without sentiment or feeling.

Fetishizing8 tools is facile─thus Kazune Yasuri, founder of the Kyotoryu, resorted to extremes and forsook the sword entirely.

Presented with a sharper sword, what fool declines to take it?

“Hey, no wandering eyes,” Azekura intoned maliciously. “That’s my woman─you’re looking at.”

“…”

“There, I’ve turned your head─gah ha ha. Well, seems like you’re dead set on not surrendering. Fair enough, but as we’ve lost our opening act, think you could put on a good show? Treat Dakuon to those skills that took down Hakuhei Sabi─”

“Don’t worry, I will, but you might miss it. If you’re torn to smithereens.”

Shichika used his catchphrase.

And assumed a position.

Not Form Four: the Asagao, but Form Seven: the Kakitsubata.

The one he had deployed on Ginkaku Uneri, Lord of Gekoku Castle─the form epitomizing the footwork of the Kyotoryu, where Shichika could change his speed at will.

But Azekura assumed his own position.

He sank into his knees, and lowered his hips─a stance of vigilance.9

Prepared to counter Shichika, whatever move he made.

“May the best sword win…” cried out the referee.

The crowd roared─and most, nay all the voices cheered for Kanara Azekura. True, under these circumstances, killing Azekura would have consequences, especially with Togame, delicate as shoji paper, defenseless to the crowd.

Decent footing, but a nightmare of a venue.

Yet such things were immaterial.

Only one thing matters─I am the katana.

“─Fight!”

On the first punch!

There’s no way I can match him with brute force. If the battle gets drawn out, I have no clue how to handle someone big as him. My only option is to nail him right away!

Hence the Kakitsubata.

Full speed from the starting line.

Shichika closed the distance in an instant.

In the eyes of an amateur, he may as well have teleported─not even Azekura could fathom the advance.

Prepared to counter any move.

But this move was too fast to counter.

To convert mass into momentum, Azekura required a running start─otherwise, Zokuto the Armor was a drag10 and nothing more.

When Azekura realized what had happened, Shichika was already inside his reach.

At which point the Kyotoryu changed his stance.

Feet parallel and sideways, torso twisted back as far as it would go─yes, this was the time for Form Four, the Asagao! The only of the Seven Forms in which he made a fist…

“I’ll treat you to my skills,” Shichika said, “but I can’t promise a good show─you’re going down on the count of one.”

Twisting so far he faced away, Shichika unleashed a twirling11 fist on Azekura.

“Fatal Orchid Four─Ryuryoku Kako!”

Not giving his opponent a chance to block.

But even blocked, Ryuryoku Kako could not be stymied or deterred!

Theoretically, the move could blast someone on the other side of the planet!

His fist─landed a direct hit on the breastplate of Zokuto the Armor. Shichika’s torso rotated from the impact, but his fist stuck to its target, as if glued there.

The shock would penetrate the Armor, and tear into Azekura’s chest!

Theoretically.

This secret of the Kyotoryu corrupted all defenses, allowing Shichika to wound any target, no matter what stood in his way─in this case, he had aimed for one of Azekura’s lungs. An attack on his respiratory system might overpower Azekura without injuring him fatally, or that was the plan─however!

“Seriously?” an annoyed voice came from up above.

Over Shichika’s head─this was the first time he’d been addressed by somebody so tall.

Bwum, Azekura swung his arm. At a low angle, as if to scoop Shichika off his feet.

“Nkk!”

After the Asagao and Ryuryoku Kako, Shichika was hardly poised for action, but he managed to dodge the blow with his native reflexes. Well, it may have grazed his hair a tiny bit, but he cartwheeled across the sand─to a good distance from Azekura.

At least, it seemed like a good distance, until Azekura hurled himself across it.

“Boulder─”12

Barreling his armored body forth.

The power behind that charging armor, outfitted head to toe with blades, had been proven in his previous battle at the Basket─Shichika did another cartwheel and dodged the tackle.

Converting mass into momentum came at a cost; barreling forth, Azekura was unable to change direction, and fell over where Shichika had been standing. Throwing your body flat onto the ground usually proved fatal, but suited up in Zokuto the Armor, Azekura was the exception to the rule.

“Gah ha ha.”

Taking his time─free and easy, Azekura stood. His swagger seemed to say: Go ahead, just try and hit me.

Shichika─was unable to act. As much as he wanted to strike, it was out of the question. All he could do was dutifully13 assume Form One, the Suzuran, knowing all too well his intercepting stance was meaningless against Azekura’s body slams.

“What─how’d you get away? I could have sworn I nailed you.”

“Hm? What was that supposed to be─armor-piercing? Well, well, I didn’t realize the Kyotoryu had moves like that,” Azekura teased. “But you’ve underestimated Zokuto the Armor, a sword unparalleled in armor class, forged by Kiki Shikizaki around the principle of defense─sorry, pal, but there’s no piercing this armor.”

He had told Togame that he was a Kyushu boy, born and raised in Satsuma, but this was a boldfaced lie. At this point in history, Ryukyukoku,14 where he was born and raised, fell outside of Japan and was a foreign land.

Ryukyukoku─an independent nation that maintained trade routes throughout Southeast Asia and advanced its society on those profits.

Azekura was born in a Ryukyuan fishing village, but at that time, he had yet to acquire his surname. As a child, his whole name was “Kanara.”15

Son of a fisherman, like every other boy born in the fishing village─in fact, he was pretty much as normal as it gets, aside from being slightly shorter than the other kids, which chafed young Azekura. If anything stood out with him, it was his bearing toward his little sister, Kokoro,16 five years younger, toward whom he was a tad overprotective.

He was sure he would grow up to be a fisherman, just like his father.

Take some nice girl from the village for his bride, and have some kids.

The opposite would happen to his sister, who would become part of some other family─but no way was she leaving the village.

That was how Kanara viewed the world.

Things would go on happening as they would─he thought their way of life would last forever, into eternity. Life would stay its course, with no surprises, eventless but peaceful.

Yet in hindsight, this was an inarguably childish and naive fantasy.

It happened when he was thirteen.

Entering puberty, and dissatisfied with how slowly he was growing, one fateful day Kanara and his sister Kokoro stowed away aboard their father’s massive fishing boat. According to a stubborn17 village precept, boys were not allowed on boats until they turned twenty, and girls were not allowed at all─but rules were made to be broken, and by no means was this the first time that particular one had been ignored by Kanara or Kokoro.

But it was their first time breaking it together.

Their first and last time.

When the vessel slipped over the horizon, it was raided by pirates.

Armored Pirates.

Owners of Zokuto the Armor─pirates, hailing from Japan, who had evaded conquest by the Old Shogun some hundred-odd years ago, and whose legend had made it to the shores of Ryukyu. Onetime marauders of the Inland Sea, they had shifted operations down to Satsuma, the closest portion of Japan to Ryukyukoku.

Massive as their father’s vessel was, it was still only a fishing boat, ill equipped for putting up a fight. In no time, they were trampled underfoot.

Kanara had not stowed away with anything in mind. This was nothing so laudable as a precocious curiosity about the family trade.

He just wanted to break the rules.

To do what he was taught not to do─and to bask in the danger and the wrongdoing.

The same must have been true for little Kokoro.

But for their mischief, they were punished with an iron fist18─the Armored Pirates plundered the fishing vessel, and the crew lost not only their food and water, and their load, but their very lives. No one was spared─except Kanara.

Not because he had been lucky.

One of the Armored Pirates spared him, on a whim─after they had slaughtered every member of the crew, one of the pirates found him hiding in the shadows─not trying to defend his father or his sister, just cowering and hiding.

The pirate almost killed him.

But before he swung his sword, he thought of something.

“That’s right, we’ve been looking for a cabin boy…”

A whim.

This was not some bigshot, but merely one of many Armored Pirates, at a time when their numbers were vast, who had happened to recall a vacancy─and through this happenstance, Kanara narrowly escaped death.

If only as a cabin boy, his career as a pirate had begun.

The pains of his existence are tough to imagine. He was forced aboard a foreign ship where he could barely speak the language, and tasked with cleaning up after the very men who had killed his father, and his sister, and the sailors of his village.

No time to cry, nor room for hate.

Only pain.

Every single day was hard and painful.

All his expectations had evaporated─that world was gone, without a trace.

And yet.

And yet he was supposed to appreciate his continued survival?

“Shine the Armor.”

At fifteen, two years into his tenure as a cabin boy, Kanara received this order.

They were the Armored Pirates─and their banner,19 as should go without saying, was Zokuto the Armor, which they were famed for having kept from even the Old Shogun. Trouble was, the Armor was enormous, standing well over seven feet tall─rare was the man big enough to fill it. In fact, it fit none of the Armored Pirates at the time, too big even for the captain, and served mainly as a figurehead, an ornament they kept aboard for its symbolic power.

And now Kanara had been asked to keep it shining.

An important duty if there ever was one, and an honor─he may have been a lowly cabin boy, but in two years on the job, he had won their confidence. Kanara did not feel anything like pride. An order was an order. No need to question the particulars.

Feeling was out of the question.

If he felt nothing, surely he would not feel─pain.

“…”

But when he beheld Zokuto the Armor.

He was transfixed, by its silver blade.

The first time in forever he felt something apart from pain.

The Mutant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki that reigned over the Age of Warring States…

The owner does not choose the sword─the sword chooses the owner.

This was not a claim, so much as a philosophy, the first principle of Kiki Shikizaki.

A sword does not choose who to kill.

But a sword will choose its owner.

That instant─Kanara was chosen, by Zokuto the Armor.

In a kind of living proof, once he became caretaker of the Armor, he started growing taller by the day, like a shoot of green bamboo; he had always been embarrassed about being so short, but before three years had passed, he had grown so tall and muscular, he outsized all of the Armored Pirates.

As though his body was growing to fit the blade.

The Armored Pirates used Zokuto as their symbol, but in all of history, including the era of the Old Shogun, there were perhaps not even two who could actually don the gleaming panoply.

And so, it was only natural that one night the captain, in his cups, and out of a desire to see the armor move, half-jokingly told the boy to model it for them.

“Hey, Kanara, let’s see you try this on.”

In over five years as their cabin boy, he had won their confidence.

Even their kindness.20

What could go wrong with having the kid wear a suit of armor? Yet they could not have been more careless.

After seeing the Armor as an ornament for all these years, they had totally forgotten─that despite taking such a shape, Zokuto was a katana.

Kanara, for his part, had not forgotten.

He would never forget.

These men─his sworn enemies, had killed his father and his little sister!

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Screaming─and clad in the Armor, he hurled his body across the room and back.

In a quarter of an hour, the Armored Pirates were annihilated.

Just as they had slaughtered his entire boat five years before, he thoroughly destroyed them, to the man. You see, unlike the slaughter five years prior─Kanara spared not a single life.

Kanara Azekura. The Pirate.

Incredibly, his first plunder was one of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki.

A sword does not choose who to kill.

But a sword will choose its owner─and after so many years without one, Zokuto the Armor had finally found him.

Of course, even with the Armored Pirates eradicated, Kanara could not go home again. No amount of vengeance would bring his murdered brethren back to life, and by then, he had lived too long among the pirates to return to his native village. There was no way he could go and show his face there.

Kanara had no choice but to go through life a pirate. He would organize another band of Armored Pirates and become their self-appointed captain.

This was when he took the surname Azekura, and pledged never to be seen outside of Zokuto the Armor, so long as he lived.

The Armored Pirates were reborn.

But it would be some time before the Basket, the rudimentary arena and gambling facility, was established in the town built up around Dakuon Harbor, for years the stronghold of the Armored Pirates.

Clearly an insult, but Shichika had no reply, since he was only trying to dodge the various charges the man attempted with Zokuto the Armor.

Unbreakable.

Boulder.

Round Boulder.21

Whirligig.22

Lullaby.23

Frankly, they were all the same to Shichika, just ways of throwing the Armor’s size and heft behind a body slam, but he was certain each move packed enough of a punch to knock him flat.

Togame had ordered Shichika to take it easy, but it would appear that Azekura had no intention whatsoever of taking pity on the Kyotoryu.

Nuisance.

That was how Togame put it─she said that Azekura saw him as a nuisance. When a pirate wants something, he takes it. Far from seeing killing Shichika as out of bounds, Azekura likely saw it as the only way to eliminate an unwanted rival.

But Shichika kept dodging all his moves─

Though this is not to say he had not tried to get in a couple of hits. By now, he had attempted the transition from Form Four, the Asagao, into Ryuryoku Kako a few times, taking the plunge whenever he saw an opening.

Yet every move was ineffective.

Or rendered ineffective.

No piercing─Zokuto the Armor.

It would seem that Azekura had been right. What was the deal? Shichika could not understand what stopped Ryuryoku Kako from working. But even if he understood the reason, he had no hope of arriving at a workaround in the confines of the Basket.

A sword forged by Kiki Shikizaki around the principle of defense─in which case, Zokuto might have some built-in protection against armor-piercing blows. In fact, it would only be natural.

Ginkaku Uneri’s sword, Zanto the Razor, able to cut through anything in a single swing, might slice through Zokuto─Shichika had entertained that notion, but now, he could only conclude that the Armor must have a way of blocking the Razor, too.

An iron wall─unparalleled in armor class!

“Nkk…”

“Go ahead and roll around, but it won’t save you, Kyotoryu. Could you be any more of a sore loser? Quit making such a fool of yourself. It makes me sick to think that you’re my predecessor.24 And to think you call yourself the Strongest in Japan─man up now, just stay put and let Zokuto the Armor do the deed.”

“Man up…”

What─was that supposed to mean?

The words were meaningless to Shichika.

He was a katana incarnate, with no agenda─how could a sword man up?

No emotion or sentiment.

None of that was necessary.

But perhaps Azekura had a point.

If the Armor could not be pierced, then Shichika was fresh out of options. Neither Shichika Hachiretsu, that ultimate secret of the Kyotoryu, combining all seven of his secret moves, including Ryuryoku Kako, nor any other of the various methods of his school would work on Zokuto the Armor. And even if one did, it would need to be an armor-piercing move to do any damage. There was no chink in the Armor─and apart from Ryuryoku Kako, he had no way of injuring Kanara Azekura without damaging the Armor. Since the secret technique had proven ineffective─

He was stuck.

As if his hands and feet were tied.25

Keep dodging Azekura’s body slams, and eventually Shichika would exhaust himself─until finally he failed to get away and met his unfortunate end. That much was clear.

It would happen sooner or later. Just a matter of time.

In which case…

Was surrendering an option, after all?

His job was to win every fight.

But in this case─losing was forgivable.

If the Kyotoryu lost, Togame, his employer, would continue with her Sword Hunt─though the journey would end here for Shichika. Kanara Azekura would step in to replace him. If the pirate captain was indeed the better of the swords─it was probably for the best.

Rather than screw up Zokuto the Armor in the process…

He would man up─man up and let it happen─

“Idiot!!”

Beyond the fence edging the Basket.

Someone was yelling at him.

The voice was straight behind Shichika─when he spun around, Togame the Schemer, clinging so hard to the wooden lattice that her nails were digging in, leveled a glare more severe than any she’d given him before.

“T-Togame─”

“You think you can give up just like that? Who gave you permission to lose! I told you to win. Were you even listening, dunderhead?!”

Without killing Azekura or beating him up so bad he won’t recover… But before that─

Try to win.

She may have told him to take it easy, but she certainly hadn’t told him he could lose.

Losing─was not an option.

“Listen, Shichika! Alright?” shrieked Togame.

Addressing not only Shichika, but the whole world, in a resounding voice that could be heard by every person in the crowd gathered at the Basket.

“I would never give myself up26 to a man who wouldn’t reveal his true face to the woman he loves! Who wants to spend all day traveling with a guy who can’t join her for a long soak in the hot spring! Guys like that─cannot be trusted!”

“Togame…”

“So what if not one of your moves works! Who cares if you can’t use the Kyotoryu! You may not be wearing armor, but you have a body you’ve been whipping into shape for twenty years!”

If you’ve really fallen for me─

Wham─

Togame beat her fist against the fence.

“Give it everything you’ve got and fight for me!”

This─amounted to a death wish.27

Almost everybody in the Basket was a fan28 of Kanara Azekura, the folks around Togame being no exception. Making such a direct rebuke of Azekura in their midst was not the cleverest thing she could have done.

No.

Her schemes always put her life and soul at stake.

Her schemes taxed her brain and veins alike.29

And now, her scheme─warmed Shichika’s heart.

“Got it. Absolutely,” he said, assuming a stance.

Kyotoryu Form One, the Suzuran.

There was no use trying to intercept a body slam, but something had changed─this time Shichika had something in mind. You could see it in his eyes.

“Whoa, whoa. Almost lost track of my simple nature, what had gotten into me? Lately I’ve been thinking way too much. Not thinking at all is no good, but overthinking things─”

“…”

Azekura was silent.

“Mister Jilted,30 come on,” Shichika beckoned. “I was a little shy at first, but now I’m ready.”

“Don’t get too excited.”

With that provocation, Shichika was trying to outdo his adversary at his own game─Azekura was not amused. His face was hidden by the Armor, but you can be sure that his gaze was trained on Shichika, and at Togame behind him. Being snubbed like this, before the masses, was the worst possible affront to his public image─

“I am a pirate, my enemy’s intentions do not concern me,” he went on nevertheless. “If there’s something that I want, I’ll swat whatever pests are in my way, and make it mine.”

“If you want it, go ahead and try. Still…” Shichika’s voice was calm. “Isn’t your sword, Zokuto the Armor, for protecting things?”

“…”

“Strength comes─from having something to protect.”

“You defy Zokuto the Armor, one of the Twelve Possessed, the masterworks of Kiki Shikizaki. And now for a Zokuto the Armor exclusive…”

Kanara Azekura leaned forward.

“Galleon Gull!”31

Scattering the sand packed into the Basket─he charged full speed ahead toward Shichika. The move looked no different from the others; only this time, the spirit driving it was palpable.

A giant mass.

And that giant mass─was heading straight for Shichika.

Behind him stood Togame, and Azekura was charging with abandon, as if to throw Shichika into the fence and crush her too.

No─if Shichika dodged this body slam like he had been doing so far, Azekura might plow straight through the fence and send Togame flying like the fragile shoji paper that she was.

In fact─that, precisely, could be his aim.

“Phew…”

If so.

Or even if not, Shichika was done evading Azekura’s assaults.

Through sheer force.

There, the old Shichika would never have thought to dodge an enemy─if someone came right at him, he would stand right there and stop the bastard!

So what if the guy was so much bigger?

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Zokuto the Armor was sharp around the edges.

Shichika would need to rely on his strong arms and firmly planted legs─using his entire body would be fatal─and not let the myriad blades touch him.

To stop Kanara Azekura, the giant.

To stop Zokuto the Armor, and all its weight.

When Togame, blinded by humiliation, bulldozed into Shichika at the meadow, he was swept off his feet, but not this time.

“Nkk!”

“Wha…”

Gripping the pauldron and cuirass32 of the Armor with his open hands, with toes dug deep into the sand of the Basket, Shichika brought the ballistic Azekura to a halt.

Stopping the sword midflight─but this show of force was no move he could name!

“Size gives you the upper hand, but being big is only helpful to a point!”

Dodging Azekura’s body slams over and over may have helped him out─the pirate captain may have been a giant, but even giants know exhaustion. But regardless: Shichika had stopped the Armor and its “exclusive” move with his bare hands and a move that barely qualified as such. Game over.

The Kyotoryu summoned all his energies, flexed his arms─and picked up giant Azekura.

Formidable biceps, a death grip─a show of muscle!

Shichika lifted the giant form toward the sky, high over his head!

The spectators had fallen silent.

Surely this was the first time in the history of the Basket that anyone had evaded charging Azekura, much less hoisted his great body like a puncheon, surely the first time that the audience had fallen silent. They held their breath,33 eyes fixed upon the scene in the arena.

An outlier, Togame beamed among them, nodding happily.

“That’s the stuff.”

She was talking to herself, sounding like she already knew the outcome of the fight.

“You’ve put too much stock in the Kyotoryu, which makes sense, since it’s all you knew for twenty years─but you ought to broaden your horizons. Even without your crafty moves, your tempered body is plenty strong!”

“Gah…arggggggggggh!”

Shichika howled like a beast, drowning out Togame’s mutterings. Howling, and maintaining a firm grip on Azekura, he leaned back─winding up.

He wound up to throw the giant Azekura to the ground.

No need for an armor-piercing move.

No need to try and drown or fry him.

Zokuto the Armor may have been unparalleled in armor class─but whoever was inside of it was only human. Such was its weakness; it was simply a hard shell, and in a crash landing, hard surfaces are not your friend.

Unbreakable, perhaps─but unshakeable? No.

Toss a shell onto the ground, and its contents would be scrambled.

Mass becomes momentum─and the impact passes through.

The full metal jacket, the wall of iron─was now a lethal weapon, and it was turned on its owner.

“Ugh, you bastard…Kyotoryu─what the hell is this? I thought you were a swordsman!”

Azekura must have known what was about to happen, but hoisted up into the air, he could offer little resistance. Out of options, he cursed out Shichika in every way imaginable.

It blocked armor-piercing blows─and blocked out water and extreme heat.

It could even block Zanto the Razor.

Unparalleled in armor class, Zokuto the Armor was devised to block a wide range of attacks, but being picked up by another person was not one of them!

Which left Azekura─with no recourse but to curse and curse some more.

“How are you a swordsman, or a sword?! This strongman show of strength─what kind of sword behaves this way?”

“…I owe you my deepest thanks, Kanara Azekura.”

While the battle was not over yet, a look of ease had crept across Shichika’s face.

“You’ve helped me realize something. I may be the Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, and sure, I’m a katana─but at the same time, I’m a human being.”

“…nkk!”

“But Azekura, there’s one more thing I’d like to say.”

Summoning his full force, Shichika─dropped down Kanara Azekura’s giant form.

“Keep your hands off my woman.”

The Armor landed with a great metallic clang─and while the Mutant Blade, this masterwork of Kiki Shikizaki, crashed into the ground without suffering a single scratch, the same could not be said about the man inside.

Kanara Azekura was down for the count.

The referee was speechless, unable to believe what he had seen with his own eyes. Since he could not carry out his duty to the Basket, Togame made the call instead.

“Match.”