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The ninja took a step towards him.

‘Stay where you are!’ ordered Jack, steadying his katana.

‘You’ve caught me off-guard,’ admitted Dragon Eye, still approaching. ‘My surprise at your appearance is matched only by my amazement at your continued survival. I trust your friend didn’t take too long to die.’

‘You killed Takuan!’

‘I’ve killed countless samurai,’ shot back Dragon Eye. ‘But I don’t stop to ask their names first.’

Jack felt his anger boil over at the ninja’s coldness. ‘But why murder him? What did he mean to you?’

‘Nothing. You were the target, but your friend got in the way. You’re the reason he died.’

Jack wrestled with his conscience. Was it his fault again that he’d put his friends’ lives in mortal danger? Surely not. This raid had nothing to do with him. The ninja’s mission was to assassinate the Council and Satoshi.

‘Don’t you work for Father Bobadillo? Why attack the side that pays you?’

‘I work for no one,’ Dragon Eye spat. ‘But I kill for anyone who pays.’

A glimpse of steel flashed from the ninja’s hip. On instinct alone, Jack cut down with his sword. It met a shuriken head on. The lethal star was deflected off into the night. Dragon Eye ran at him, but Jack brought his blade up, stopping the ninja in his tracks. Jack held the kissaki to his throat.

‘Yet again you impress me, gaijin,’ said Dragon Eye, seemingly unconcerned at his predicament. ‘A long sword wouldn’t be my choice of weapon on a roof, but you handle it well. Your talents as a samurai are wasted. I could teach you so much more if you were ninja.’

‘Just tell me where the rutter is.’

‘I don’t have it. But you know who does. Ask him yourself.’

‘So Father Bobadillo did hire you?’

Dragon Eye nodded imperceptibly. ‘Not only to steal the rutter, but to kill you too.’

Jack felt his blood run cold at having his suspicions confirmed.

‘Some priest he is,’ laughed Dragon Eye. ‘The question is, do you have what it takes to kill me?’

Staring into the eye of the assassin, Jack saw no fear, no guilt, no remorse in the man’s soul. This was the very ninja responsible for murdering his father, garrotting him before Jack’s own eyes. For killing the innocent maid Chiro and assassinating Yamato’s brother, Tenno. Dragon Eye had destroyed not only his life, but those of his friends too. All the pain, suffering and loss he’d experienced since being in Japan welled up inside him, threatening to explode in a burst of murderous fury.

This was the moment he’d been training for.

‘Yes, I do,’ breathed Jack, pressing the tip of his blade against the ninja’s neck.

‘I don’t believe you,’ goaded Dragon Eye. ‘If you had, you would have done it by now. I told you once before, never hesitate!’

Out of nowhere, a ninja materialized from behind and grabbed Jack. He was yanked backwards off his feet and thrown down the other side of the ridge. Losing his grip on the katana, the sword clattered down the slope and disappeared over the side.

Jack dug his heels into the tiles, somehow managing to halt his fall. A moment later, the ninja pounced alongside him, landing on the narrow ledge between the wall and roof. Jack scrambled to his feet and threw up his guard. But, stood on the slope, he was at a dangerous disadvantage.

Dragon Eye appeared on the ridge above him. Silhouetted against the full moon, he looked more terrifying than ever. A black ghost in the night.

‘Your time has come, gaijin,’ he hissed, the blade of a tantō glinting in his hand. ‘You’ve nowhere to run.’

Jack peered over the eaves. It was a long, long way down.

‘Up there!’ came a faint shout.

A volley of arrows hurtled towards them. Jack dived for cover, the steel-tipped arrows clattering against the walls and tiles of the keep. When he looked up again, Dragon Eye had vanished.

The other ninja was fleeing along the ledge.

Jack pursued the assassin as more arrows were mistakenly fired at him. The ninja leapt down to the next level, gliding through the air like a bat. Only as Jack reached the eaves did he realize just how far it