The Ring of Earth - Chris Bradford [73]
The fields swarmed with samurai, the rice crops the villagers had been working so hard to harvest now trampled underfoot. Any pockets of resistance were being swiftly crushed. From all directions, daimyo Akechi’s forces closed in upon the central square. At a guess, the ninja were outnumbered ten to one. With such a force, Jack realized daimyo Akechi intended to wipe out the entire village, just as he’d vowed to.
Jack never imagined he’d find himself on the side of the ninja, fighting against samurai. Perhaps this is one battle I won’t survive, he thought.
As the samurai gathered for their main assault on the square, Jack spotted the daimyo Akechi on his horse. Dressed in full ceremonial armour, he looked like the warrior in his painting – except he was safely at the rear, letting his troops take the fight to the ninja.
Inside the square, Shonin was rallying everyone together. The heads of family were taking up their stations to defend the four corners. Mothers with their children were being shepherded inside the farmhouse by Momochi.
Jack looked down at Hanzo, who stood by his side, silent yet resolute. ‘You should go too,’ he said, hoping against hope that the women and children might be spared.
Hanzo shook his head. ‘I’m not scared,’ he said, drawing a short sword from his hip. ‘This is what I’ve trained for.’
Jack couldn’t help but smile. The boy had the heart of a ninja and the samurai courage to match.
But as Jack prepared to face their enemy, he was terrified the so-called tuition he’d given Hanzo wouldn’t be enough to repel the attack of a fully armed warrior. He could only pray he was wrong.
44
THE VILLAGE SQUARE
To Jack’s surprise and relief, the samurai’s initial offensive was repelled. The village square, built as it was upon a bank and with one side buffered by the pond, was proving to be an effective stronghold. Ninja armed with bows shot arrows into the samurai horde, picking off those who attempted to scale the steep bank. Any warrior managing to do so was confronted by the impenetrable thorn hedge, while samurai reaching the inner fence found themselves skewered by spears and naginata.
The supreme confidence of Akechi’s troops was then dealt another blow.
Jack was helping defend the eastern corner, when Hanzo called out, ‘Look! They’re fighting among themselves.’
Jack was stunned to see he was right. A company of samurai was in utter disarray, blood flowing as they slaughtered one another for no apparent reason.
Tenzen laughed, though his eyes betrayed a deeper sorrow.
‘That will be my uncle, Ishibe, and his men,’ he said with pride. ‘They’ve been hiding out in the storehouse, disguised in samurai armour.’
Jack now understood. A Ring of Wind tactic. A ninja’s presence should be like the wind – always felt but never seen. It was a suicide mission. By infiltrating and killing the samurai from within their own ranks, Ishibe and his men had turned the samurai upon themselves. Not knowing who was friend or foe, each soldier now fought for his own life.
Chaos reigned and it sent ripples of mistrust among the other companies. But the commanders rallied their troops and enforced order upon them. The infighting petered out, the imposters exposed. Only one remained alive. He was dragged to the front of the column for all to see.
‘Ishibe,’ breathed Tenzen.
A samurai soldier forced the ninja to his knees. Then the commanding officer approached, withdrew his katana and cut off Ishibe’s head.
‘NO!’ cried Tenzen.
Jack grabbed hold of Tenzen’s arm, fearing his friend was about to leap the fence to wreak revenge.
The officer picked up Ishibe’s severed head by the hair and held it aloft. Pointing his sword at the villagers in the square, he shouted, ‘THIS IS THE FATE OF ALL NINJA!’
‘And yours too!’ screamed Tenzen as his shuriken struck the commander in the face a second later.
Blood gushing from his eyesocket, the commander bawled, ‘ATTACK! ATTACK!’
The samurai, rattling their swords, gave a deafening battle cry, and in one unstoppable