The Ring of Earth - Chris Bradford [65]
After a great deal of thought, Jack decided to use a combination of the Japanese kanji Akiko had taught him, the few English words he’d shown her and references to their training at the Niten Ichi Ryū.
Picking up the piece of charcoal he’d acquired from Soke’s furnace oven, Jack began to write. It was laborious work. Not only did he have to code the message accurately, but Jack had to remember all the necessary kanji symbols and the correct order of their strokes.
The note took him several attempts to get right, but by mid-morning he had the finished article. Now he just needed to find someone to deliver it for him.
‘What are you doing?’ said a voice from behind.
Jack, guilty, hid the note inside his jacket as Shiro emerged from the forest.
‘Nothing,’ replied Jack breezily.
‘Looks like you were writing something,’ said Shiro, eyeing him suspiciously.
How long had Shiro been standing there? wondered Jack with growing concern.
Jack had chosen the temple for its seclusion and when he’d arrived earlier that morning, he’d been careful to ensure the place was deserted. Throughout his task, he’d kept one eye on the path leading up from the village. For whatever reason, Shiro must have been out in the forest before dawn.
‘I was practising my kanji,’ replied Jack, holding up one of his crumpled earlier attempts. ‘But I’m not very good.’
He screwed up the paper, collected the other pieces and got to his feet. ‘So what are you doing here?’
‘Looking for you,’ said Shiro. Pursing his lips, he asked, ‘You’ve lived with the samurai – what’s their life like?’
Something about Shiro’s question put Jack on his guard. ‘I was treated well. Samurai school was disciplined, but I learnt a great deal.’
‘Did you have to work?’
‘Not really, we trained most of the time,’ admitted Jack. ‘Our duty was to Masamoto and our lord, daimyo Takatomi. I suppose we earned our keep by fighting on his side when the time came.’
Shiro smiled appreciatively.
‘What’s Kyoto like? That’s where you lived, wasn’t it?’
‘Busy. There are always festivals, crowds, markets. It’s so much more hectic than your village.’
‘Sounds exciting …’ said Shiro, gazing into the peaceful valley below.
‘It can be,’ Jack replied, making a move back towards the village. ‘I’d better go. Hanzo will be waiting for his sword lesson.’
Shiro nodded noncommittally and Jack just prayed the boy wouldn’t mention their encounter to Momochi. But as he headed down into the village, he felt Shiro’s eyes on him all the way.
38
NINJA MAGIC
‘No, like this,’ said Miyuki, gently repositioning Jack’s fingers into the hand sign for Rin – strength.
As one of the clan, Jack now found himself being taught the ninja’s hidden knowledge, the secret teachings of the densho scrolls. A week in, he was still familiarizing himself with the intricate finger-knitting patterns of kuji-in. These nine secret hand signs, each with their own mantras, triggered extraordinary powers in the ninja.
Magical powers.
Jack had been sceptical. Soke had claimed kuji-in could give a ninja great strength, forewarn of danger, read another person’s thoughts, even control the elements of nature. Although Jack had witnessed his Zen master, Sensei Yamada, perform some astonishing feats at the Niten Ichi Ryū school, he could not bring himself to believe in these mystical arts. They seemed too far-fetched.
That was until Soke, invoking Rin, had lifted a tree trunk above his head. Now he was a believer.
‘Can you remember the mantra?’ asked Miyuki, who sat beside him in the lee of the Buddhist temple.
Jack nodded. ‘On baishiraman taya sowaka.’
‘Perfect,’ she said, smiling her approval.
Having made the correct hand sign, Jack closed his eyes and repeated the mantra over and over. He visualized a flame within him growing brighter, spreading throughout his body, filling him with energy.
During their first lesson in the clan’s hidden knowledge, Soke had explained, ‘Kuji-in is a combination of hand posture, meditation and focus. Together they unlock the