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Masamoto charged, cutting down the first ninja with his katana before the assassins had time to react. The second ninja made a lunge for daimyo Takatomi with his sword, but Masamoto slammed his wakizashi on top, deflecting the thrust away from his lord. The ninja retaliated, now attacking Masamoto and driving him through a wall into the next room.

Seizing the opportunity, the third ninja rushed at daimyo Takatomi with a tantō. Jack was too far away to stop him. But Yamato used the reach of his staff. As the assassin thrust his knife at their daimyo, he swiftly brought his bō down on to the ninja’s wrist. There was a crack of bone and the tantō was knocked from his grasp, barely a blade’s breadth from daimyo Takatomi’s startled face.

The ninja’s reactions, though, were lightning fast. He kicked Yamato in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Reaching for the ninjatō strapped to his back, the ninja now rushed to impale Yamato on his blade.

Jack leapt to his friend’s defence. At the same moment, Emi buried her knife into the assassin’s leg. The ninja screamed in pain. Outnumbered and injured, he fled through the door.

‘After him!’ ordered Masamoto as he drove his katana through his opponent.

Jack pursued the assassin into the corridor. The ninja turned the corner. But when Jack reached the outer hallway, the ninja had disappeared.

‘Where did he go?’ said Yamato, running up behind Jack.

Jack searched the shadows, wary of any recesses where the ninja might be hiding. Yamato then spotted a smear of blood on the window sill. One of the wooden slats to the window was missing. Jack pulled himself up and through the gap. More splashes of blood stained the roof tiles.

‘Do you know how high we are?’ exclaimed Yamato, going pale at the thought of having to follow him.

Jack knew his friend was petrified of heights. ‘Stay here, in case any other ninja try to escape this way.’

Finding his footing on a ledge, Jack stepped out on to the curved roof. The ground was a long way down, an inky-black sea in the darkness. Although he wasn’t afraid of heights, he knew a single mistake could result in a fatal fall.

Further along, the ninja was shuffling towards the crest where the roofs of the sixth and fifth floors met. Keeping his centre of gravity low, Jack crept after him. As the ninja reached the ridge, he spotted Jack following him. This time the assassin chose to fight rather than flee and grabbed a blowpipe from his waistbelt.

Jack realized he had seconds before the ninja would fire. With no other choice, he ran across the tiles and threw himself at the assassin. They collided, forcing the ninja to drop his blowpipe. But the two of them now began to slide down the roof towards the eaves, picking up speed as they got closer and closer. Jack snatched out for anything he could. At the last moment, his fingers found purchase on one of the decorative golden finials and he clung on for all his life.

But the ninja kept going, his broken wrist preventing him getting a grip on anything. He tumbled down the slope and disappeared. There was silence, then a distant thud as a body hit the ground.

Pulling himself back up to the ridge, Jack breathed a sigh of relief. He secretly hoped that had been the ninja who’d killed Takuan.

Suddenly there were shouts from above.

‘Assassin!’

‘Save his lordship!’

Then a loud bang and smoke billowed from the uppermost windows.

A moment later, a black hooded figure emerged on to the roof and ran with cat-like ease along the tiles. Jumping to a lower floor, he zigzagged his way down the roofs of the donjon.

Getting to his feet, Jack drew his katana and waited. For once, he had the element of surprise. The ninja certainly wouldn’t be expecting to meet a samurai on the roof.

44

NEVER HESITATE

The assassin rounded the corner of the building. Through the slit in his black hood, a single green eye flared with fury and amazement.

‘A samurai who thinks he’s a ninja!’ hissed Dragon Eye, emitting a callous laugh.

Jack