Takekirie

He smiled as he heard the birds sing outside his window, and sat up. "Today's the trial, and I will leave this place to go join my father and my young lord." He got dressed in the clothes of a warrior monk, and went outside, greeting the other competitors in the temple.

"Good you're all here for the ritual. Please follow me, and we shall start." He bowed at the smiling monk and followed him with the others through the temple, until they were in the learning hall. "Please sit." He found a place near the back of the group to sit, watching the smiling monk attentively. "Today is the last day you're among us. After the trial, no matter if you're first or last, you'll have to leave, and return to where you've come from, while others of you will be sent to the many skirmishes that are happening around as we speak." He nodded at the smiling monk's words.

"It seems the succession wars have been ongoing and my young lord has been released. I'm going straight to him, and show him what I can do." He smiled as he looked around the sparse hall.

"As we speak, look to the steps, and you'll see thick branches of bamboo laying on the steps. Your task will be to cut those branches of bamboo into six pieces and offer them to the snake shrine, in remembrance to Ebun cutting down the evil snake, that was hunting people on Kurama, and to give thanks for the water that continues to fall. Without her assistance we wouldn't have good crops, or drinking water for our needs." He bowed at the smiling monk's words with all the others who were in front of him.

"I never got to know who they were. It doesn't matter. I had my own task to complete here, and now I'm going to be free to do so."

"Stand and be ready for the trial of strength ahead. Cut the bamboo, present it to the shrine, and you'll be set free from this place. All contact will be removed, as if you were never here in the first place. Any monks that knew your name will be forgotten, and its up to you to make your name become legendary in the valley below."

He smiled. "I'll be making my name legendary, and my lord too."

"May the blessings be upon you all, blades miss their cuts, and that you'll stand atop your enemies. Fight well for your families and your lords." He bowed with the other students in the hall, standing up and walking to the stone steps where the bamboo branches were waiting for them. "Choose a branch and wait for when I say to begin."

He looked at all the branches with a smiled on his face and walked to the one at the end. "I'll choose this one." He saw the smiling monk nodding at him, and he nodded back in return. "The others look too green, and will cause trouble when cutting, this branch here must of been cut first, as it has aged a bit more, so it shouldn't be as hard to cut." He touched the hilt of his sword at his side and held the bamboo end with his other hand. "Not difficult at all."

"Begin. Six pieces of the bamboo at the snake shrine." He bent his knees, drawing his sword to cut the first piece, watching it fall to the ground in a single strike. He moved and repeated the process until he had quickly collected six pieces. He sheathed his sword, and looked at the others who had so far only cut three. He ran down the steps with the cut branches, depositing them in front of the snake shrine, bowing and lighting incense to it. "Here is the bamboo in memory of the promise you made before." He bowed and stepped away from the shrine, staring the at wind blowing through the forest. "The winds have changed. A storm will be coming soon, and I'll be the storm destroying the enemies of the young lord." He smiled as he saw the steps he took to climb the mountain when he arrived all those years ago. "Its time I head back. I wonder if father will be waiting for me down there?"

He walked alone in silence enjoying the view as he descended Kurama, until he walked through the giant gates at the bottom of the mountain. He turned, bowing at Kurama. "Thank you for the years of training and guiding me through these years. Now I'm prepared, and ready to serve my family and lord."

"I see you've finally finished your training. Welcome back to the lands below Kurama. A lot has happened over this time." He bowed as his father stood in front of him. "Your son greets you. I've heard a lot of things on Kurama, and I can guess the rest of them."

"Good. than you've learnt well, and are prepared to serve your lord and family. There's much to discuss, and we'll have to take a horse to get to where we need to go." He followed his father, climbing on a horse, and riding by his father's side. "I assume the succession wars have started and the young lord has been released?"

"Correct. We're going to the place where the young lord is at the moment. He has need of someone with your skills. Also as a young Hattori, you'll be leading a group of sixty Iga men. Don't let their deaths be in vain." He smiled. "Thank you father. I won't let the Iga men down, nor you."

"Also remember the Iga men, don't like to be seen, and prefer to be hidden, only appearing in front of you, when they're called. You just have to call them, and they'll be in front of you at night." He lowered his head. "Thank you father. How do I call them?"

"With this." He watched his father pull out a small throwing knife, handing it to him. "With this knife all you do is cut a stone with the emblem of Hattori, and place it outside your door. They'll see it, and will be in the waiting room, come nightfall." He nodded. "Thank you father. I won't let you down, or them as well." He put the throwing knife in his robes.

"Good. If you do well with these men than, I'll have no worry about giving you the name Hanzo, until than you'll be Hattori Masanari, or just son to your mother and me." He smiled as he heard his father mention his mother. "How is she father?"

"She's very happy. She's found the perfect wife for you she tells me that all the time when I'm with her. You'll met her eventually, and than you'll have duties to the Hattori family, as we already talked about that." He nodded, feeling his face start to turn red. "I haven't forgotten father. I keep all your words in my mind."

"Good. Than you must also remember that when I spoke of what you need to do when you meet the young lord?" He nodded. "Show my skills to him, and reveal my use to him and his family."

"Good. If you do that well, than you'll be given your first mission soon." He looked at his father in surprise. "I didn't know I would be called on so fast. What's the mission?" He smiled. "Or should I ask who's my target?"

"Its neither. This one will be a rescue. But it depends if the young lord approves of you when you meet him or not." He looked at his father in confusion. "What do you mean a rescue mission? If he's already released and safe from his oppressors, who would need to be rescued?"

"He might be released, but his wife and children haven't been released. They were recaptured by an enemy, and are held hostage again, to make sure the young lord follows them against Oda." He nodded. "This is interesting. Father why didn't you lead the Iga men and yourself to rescue his family?"

"Not my job, I could of done that already, but you're the one who needs to take that task. I'm sure you and the smiling monk have thought of many things, but you need to do this mission, if you want your plans to work." He nodded. "You're right father. This would be an important test for him and me, to see how I can serve and help him, while making sure the plans that have been made for the young lord succeed."

"Also, while he was held hostage, the young lord spent time growing up with the second son of Oda." He smiled. "Oda Nobunaga, the one who starts it all."

"Yes. The succession wars have started and Oda has shown great skill in battle, and strategy before a battle begins. I know the young lord also sees that, and want us to become allies, however with his family held hostage, he can't make any moves."

"This is where I come into play. I'll get his family, back to him before they even know they're missing."

"First, you need to get his approval, and than he has to request for your aid. A Hattori doesn't do something like this for free. You're not his yet. You need to become his, before you do it, unless you ask for payment for the service."

He looked at his father with shock on his face. "What? We have a family to feed, and while I serve his father, I don't serve the young lord. If the lord asks me to do something I will, without asking for anything in return, if the young lord did, I'd ask for payment."

He nodded. "I understand father. What else has happened during my time on Kurama?"

"People are starting to hear Oda's desires for unification, and to depose of the current shogun." He nodded. "The smiling monk, and myself knew he would be doing that. The moment that happens, than the wars will begin."

They rode on in silence, while he looked around enjoying the changing color of the trees, and the wind through his short hair as he rode on the horse. He kept an eye out everywhere around him. "Don't worry, these roads are safe son." Turning to his father. "How did you know I was looking around?"

"I'm a Hanzo, I know many things. Knowledge is power, if you know all about your enemy, than you can defeat them before a battle has already started." He nodded in agreement. "Shingen also told me that on Kurama. It seems the ability to gather intelligence on opponents, is more valuable than just taking their heads."

"Correct. If your skills at gathering and understanding people are excellent, than as they say, you can predict what an opponent is going to do, before they even know." He smiled. "I can't wait to test my skills."

"You will, once you get the young lords approval. That is your first test. Get that, and than you can see what you've learnt on Kurama, by rescuing his family, so that he can ally with Oda as he wants to do so." He looked up at the colors of the setting sun in silence as his father's words washed over him. "I understand father. You don't need to worry about me."

"Who said I was worried. That's incorrect. I have no need to worry about you at all. I know that you'll be fine, and use the sixty Iga men I gave you to the best of their abilities."

He nodded in silence watching as a small village appeared in the distance. "We're going to rest here. You'll be able to meet the lord in a few days time. Come"

He urged the horse forward as his father increased the pace of his own, until they stopped in the village. He dismounted and held both horses until someone came from the inn to take care of them. "A room for two, and feed for the horses. Come son. Lets have a warm meal, and enjoy our reunion after all the time you've been away we still have much to discuss."

He walked behind his father with a smile. "I'm coming father. Even though many things have changed, I'm still your son."