Episode 9: The Enemy
Episode 9: Diverting the Enemy's Force into a Path
――Do not meet it head-on; change the direction of the danger――
The Toyotomi camp surrounding Odawara Castle grew larger by the day.
Flags lined the mountains, and warships floated on the sea.
Even so, Lord Ieyasu was watching the people moving through the camp rather than preparing to attack the castle.
It was not just the soldiers.
Laborers carrying rice.
Villagers gathering firewood.
Monks carrying the wounded.
Merchants gathered in search of business opportunities.
When a large army gathers in one place, even without fighting, the roads become chaotic, the wells turn murky, and food runs short.
“Before the castle falls, the surrounding villages will be exhausted,” Akira said, and Master Amamiya nodded quietly.
“A strong force does not necessarily hurt only the enemy. If it loses its destination, it flows toward the weak.”
At that moment, a large cart came down from the top of the slope.
It was piled too high with rice bales.
The wheels caught in the mud, and the cart tilted suddenly.
“Get out of the way!”
The laborer shouted.
Ahead on the road were women and children drawing water from a well.
Two samurai jumped in front to try and hold the cart back.
However, the cart, fully loaded with rice bales, was heavy.
If they pushed back, they would be crushed along with the cart.
Master Amamiya quickly stepped forward.
He did not stand in front of the cart.
He moved to the side and inserted a long pole next to the wheel.
“Akira, cut the rope on the right!”
“Yes!”
When Akira cut one of the ropes binding the load, the rice bales piled on top fell to the side of the road.
The cart became a little lighter.
Master Amamiya used the pole to slowly change the direction of the wheels.
The cart did not head toward the well, but entered the soft field at the side of the road and stopped.
Several rice bales fell into the mud, but no one was hurt.
Lord Ieyasu had been watching the whole thing.
“You did not stop the cart.”
Master Amamiya bowed his head.
“It was an unstoppable force. Therefore, I changed the path it was taking.”
“Is that the Kagebu-ryu?”
“Yes. If one tries to extinguish the enemy's force, one must also use a great force.”
Master Amamiya pointed to the cart stopped in the mud.
“Force always has a flow. Finding that flow and guiding it to a place where there are no people—that is the defense of the Kagebu-ryu.”
Lord Ieyasu thought for a while.
Eventually, he spread out a map of the camp.
In the center of the map, Odawara Castle was drawn.
Around it, the Toyotomi army was surrounding it.
“This large army may be the same as the cart,” Lord Ieyasu said.
“If we simply collide with the force gathered for battle, many lives will be lost.”
Akira peered at the map.
“Then, where will you divert that force?”
Lord Ieyasu traced the roads for transporting provisions, the roads for the wounded, and the roads used by the villagers with his finger.
“Separate the soldiers' path from the people's path.”
The retainers were called immediately.
Carts carrying provisions were to use the eastern road.
The wounded were to use the western road leading to the temple.
Soldiers were not to enter the road where villagers drew water.
At night, the number of torches would indicate the path to take.
Guides were to be placed where roads intersected.
Furthermore, Lord Ieyasu ordered:
“Do not use the farmers' wells without permission. Dig separate water sources for the army.”
One warrior said with dissatisfaction,
“Are you going to be that considerate of the people in the middle of a war?”
Lord Ieyasu answered quietly,
“Who will govern the devastated land after the war is over?”
The warrior could not answer.
“The soldiers will leave. But the people will continue to live here.”
Within that day, signposts indicating the paths were placed.
The flow of carts was organized, and the soldiers disappeared from around the wells.
The children carried water with peace of mind, and the villagers' faces gradually returned to a state of calm.
Master Amamiya handed a wooden sword to Akira.
“Strike at me.”
Akira swung the wooden sword down from the front.
Master Amamiya did not block it.
He moved half a step to the side and lightly placed his hand on the side of the wooden sword.
Akira's sword missed the master's body and flowed toward the ground.
“I don't feel like my force was stolen.”
“I did not steal it. I only guided your force in a safe direction.”
Oman, the black cat, imitated him by brushing away a flying leaf with its front paw.
However, the leaf stuck to Lord Ieyasu's face.
“Oman, your training is still insufficient.”
When Lord Ieyasu laughed, Oman began grooming itself as if nothing had happened.
Akira opened his notebook and wrote a new phrase.
“Divert unstoppable force to a safe path.”
At that moment, Master Amamiya suddenly turned his face toward the forest.
“What is the matter?”
“Someone has been watching us for a while now.”
Lord Ieyasu's retainers reached for their swords.
But no one could be seen among the trees.
There were no footprints on the ground either.
Only a single thin branch was swaying slightly, even though there was no wind.
Master Amamiya narrowed his eyes.
“If we divert the dangers we can see, that person is one who searches for unseen dangers first.”
In the darkness, a black shadow moved for an instant.
And in the next moment, it had vanished.
A low voice reached Akira's ears.
“If you only look to the front, you will lose sight of the presence behind you.”
Master Amamiya smiled quietly.
“It seems the next teacher has come nearby.”
The cry of an owl echoed through the night in Odawara.
The Kagebu-ryu, which diverts force without fighting.
Beyond that teaching awaited the path of the ninja, who finds danger without revealing their form.
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Episode 10: Find the Invisible One
Provisions are gradually disappearing from the Odawara camp.
There are no footprints, and the guards notice nothing.
Master Amamiya and Akira use their Kagebu-ryu senses to track the invisible intruder.
And in the darkness, Master Narashino, the successor of the ninja, reveals himself for the first time.
