The Ring of Earth - Chris Bradford [31]
At the top, Jack turned round and waited, taking the opportunity to catch his breath.
‘Gruelling, isn’t it?’ commented Shiro, the boy who’d laughed at Jack’s earlier attempt to conceal himself. He was waiting for the last of his team to join him. ‘Soke does this every glade lesson. I don’t know why we can’t just walk back for once.’
‘That wouldn’t be any fun!’ said Kobei, clambering over the lip.
Shiro rolled his eyes at the boy, then ran on.
Noticing Miyuki haul herself up the last few metres, Jack offered his hand. But she ignored the gesture. Tenzen, however, clasped Jack’s outstretched arm and pulled himself alongside.
‘There’s ninja blood in you!’ he said, grinning. ‘I’ve never seen anyone climb that fast.’
‘Let’s go!’ interrupted Miyuki. ‘We’ve still two teams ahead of us.’
Running on, they emerged from the woods and out on to open grassland. The village was now in sight at the top of a long slope. Jack could see the other teams not far ahead. Tenzen and Miyuki broke into a sprint, determined to catch them. Jack did his best to keep up, but he soon lagged behind. He simply couldn’t maintain the ninja’s pace. For every step he took, they seemed to take two.
Miyuki forged on. But Tenzen, noticing Jack struggle, dropped back.
‘Try Dragon Breathing,’ he suggested.
‘What’s that?’ gasped Jack.
‘It’s a secret cyclic breathing pattern. Follow my rhythm. Inhale – exhale – exhale – inhale – exhale – inhale – inhale – exhale. Repeat.’
Jack copied Tenzen. It took him a few tries, but as soon as he got the hang of it, the running immediately became easier. More air reached his lungs and the process focused his mind. Now he seemed to fly up the slope. The Way of the Ninja certainly contained some surprisingly effective techniques.
They passed Shiro’s team and powered on to the village, neck-and-neck with Hanzo’s group. But there was still one more obstacle to go – a high boundary hedge. Miyuki was beside it, ready to boost them over.
‘Come on, Jack!’ she cried encouragingly.
With victory in sight, Miyuki had apparently put aside her malice towards him.
If we win this, Jack thought, I may just win her over too.
Jack sprinted up to Miyuki, put his foot in her hands and she threw him high into the air. Only as he passed over the top, did he register the devious grin on Miyuki’s face.
But by then it was too late.
18
BLOWING ZEN
‘Always look before you leap!’ said Miyuki, peering over the hedge with an expression of utmost innocence.
Unable to stop his descent, Jack had landed face first in the village manure heap. As he floundered in the rotting compost, he heard the arriving ninja teams burst into laughter. Jack was fuming – though more with himself at trusting a ninja like Miyuki. Now he was a laughing stock.
Tenzen nimbly jumped over the hedge, suppressing a grin as Jack wiped dung from his eyes.
‘Every new ninja falls for that old trick,’ he said, offering Jack a helping hand
Jack swallowed back his pride. He couldn’t allow Miyuki to think she’d got under his skin.
‘An old and rather dirty trick!’ he replied, to which Tenzen laughed good-naturedly.
‘Think yourself lucky,’ shouted Miyuki, her face creased with amusement. ‘I was going to put thorns in, just to make a point!’
‘I don’t think Miyuki likes me very much,’ commented Jack through gritted teeth.
‘It’s not you,’ replied Tenzen under his breath. ‘She just doesn’t like samurai. Being born in the winter, she was named “Beautiful Snow”. But sometimes Miyuki can be as cold as her name. She’ll thaw given time.’
‘I hope so,’ replied Jack, taking a look at his manure-covered clothes with disgust.
‘Miyuki taught you a good lesson. Another time it could be a pit, a moat or even some samurai’s spear. You’ll never make that mistake