Chapter 36 : The Net Widens

Akiko lay motionless at the foot of the mountain.

But it was not a mountain Jack recognized. A great black volcanic

cone thrusting out of the ground, its peak capped in ice and snow, the

mountain dominated the landscape.

Jack stood upon a stony path that wound its way tortuously across

broken ground towards the prone body of Akiko, who held a large lobed leaf

in her left hand. Between the two of them scurried four black scorpions,

their barbed tails twitching, their black beady eyes shiny with malice. A

lone hawk soared across an empty sky, emitting a mournful rasping screech.

Then suddenly one of the scorpions scuttled over to Akiko and arched its

back to strike its stinger into her chest.

'AKIKO!' he screamed…

'Jack, I'm here,' came her reply, soft and gentle by his ear.

Jack's eyes snapped open.

Branches hung over him in a bower so thick with pink-white cherry

blossom that they blotted out the bright blue sky and shaded him from the

hot spring sunshine.

Jack sat up.

Akiko was beside him. Yamato and Kiku were there too, leaning

against the trunk of the tree and observing him with concern. Now he

remembered where he was. It was the middle of spring and they had gone to

one of Kyoto's many gardens for hanami, a flower-viewing party.

A southerly wind blew through and the blossom fell like teardrops on

to the ground, some of the petals catching in Akiko's hair.

'It's all right. You were dreaming,' she soothed, brushing the blossom

away. 'Was it the same one?'

Jack nodded, his mouth dry with dread. Yes, it was the same dream as

his first of the year. He had told Akiko about it the day after New Year,

though he still couldn't bring himself to reveal her part in the vision. At the

time, he had sought Sensei Yamada's advice and the Zen master had

divined, 'The mountain you see is Mount Fuji. Being our highest mountain

and the home of many great spirits, its appearance in your dream signifies

good luck. The hawk represents strength and quick-wittedness; while the

leaf you describe sounds like that of an eggplant. Its name, nasu, can mean

the achievement of something great. This bodes well for the future.'

Not a believer of dream divination until his experiences in Japan, Jack

had breathed a sigh of relief at the sensei's positive reading. But then the

old monk had continued, 'On the other hand, the presence of scorpions

often symbolizes an act of treachery preventing such greatness. Moreover,

the number shi is considered very bad luck. The word for "four" can also

mean death.'

'You have to see this!' Saburo shouted, disrupting Jack's thoughts.

Saburo hurried breathlessly over to the cherry-blossom tree with Yori

in tow. He was pointing to a large wooden sign being erected in the street.

They all got up and left the garden to get a closer look.

'It's a declaration,' Yamato explained for Jack's benefit. 'It says,

"Whoever wants to challenge me shall be accepted. Leave your name and

place of abode upon this sign. Sasaki Bishamon."'

'Nice,' said Kiku in a sarcastic tone. 'A samurai on his warrior

pilgrimage and he's named after the God of War!'

'Do you think we'll get to see a duel?' enthused Saburo, acting out a

fight against an imaginary opponent.

'We won't be here,' Akiko reminded them as another gust of wind

blew blossom from the trees, carpeting the ground in white. The fall of the

blossom meant that the time for the Circle of Three had finally arrived.

Jack could not wait to go. He was desperate to discover what the three

challenges were. Having trained so hard since his selection, he felt like a

rope stretched taut and ready to snap.

'But the sign's just gone up,' persisted Saburo. 'We'll only be in the

Iga mountains for a few days. Surely we'll get back in time to see at least

one of the fights.'

Kiku gave Saburo a grave look. 'That's if he survives the first one.'

Jack sensed the lunge punch without seeing it. He deflected it neatly past

his ear, while countering with a back fist to the head.

Yamato gauged the move, pulling back out of reach and sweeping his

hand across in a combined block and knife-hand strike. Jack caught it,

trapped the arm and drove his fist forward. Yamato disengaged, slipping the

punch and retaliating with a hammer fist to the bridge of the nose.

All the time they maintained contact with one another.

All the time they sought gaps in each other's defence.

Throughout they were blindfolded.

'Excellent, boys,' praised Sensei Kano, who leant nonchalantly on his

white staff in a side garden of the Eikan-Do Temple where the chi sao

lesson was taking place. 'But I sense you're playing with one another. Go

for the kill!'

Sensei Kano had been training them rigorously in the run-up to the

Circle of Three and both boys had become adept at the Sticky Hands

technique as well as the use of their other senses. Jack could now pick out

sound shadows whether in a forest or a Kyoto side street, though he still

found the task impossible in a silent room.

This was Jack's final session to prove to Sensei Kano he was ready for

the Circle of Three. He concentrated hard on following Yamato's

movements with his hands. He and Yamato were evenly matched so their

attacks got faster and faster, becoming a blur as they tried to outdo one

another.

Strike. Block. Punch. Evade.

Jack sensed Yamato shift his body weight, but was a second too late in

retracting his foot. Yamato swept his front leg from under him and Jack lost

his balance. The moment's distraction was all Yamato needed. He openpalmed Jack in the head and Jack toppled sideways. With nothing to grab

on to, Jack fell and plunged into the water below.

Sensei Kano had instructed them to fight on a narrow footbridge that

straddled the stream running into the pond of the temple. This had been

their last training session and this, their final test.

Yamato had won.

Jack had lost.

He came up gasping. The stream was icy cold in contrast to the heat of

the day and he climbed out on to the bank, shivering like a leaf.

'Your balance is still off, Jack-kun, but you're ready nonetheless,' said

Sensei Kano. 'We'll have to focus on that when you get back from the

Circle of Three. I'll get you fighting with bō blindfolded on a log. That

should sharpen your senses, or else you'll grow gills from being in the

water all the time!'

Sensei Kano chuckled deeply at his little joke before wandering off

into the gardens. Yamato grinned too and Jack knew why. Not only had

Yamato outperformed him in chi sao, but he was the best student in their

class with the bō. He could beat Jack in sparring every time, even if he was

blindfolded and Jack wasn't.

With the final test over, Jack hurried back to the Niten Ichi Ryū, Yamato in

tow, to pack for the next day's arduous trek into the Iga mountain range.

As they entered the school gates, Jack noticed Hiroto and Goro

hovering over a small boy from the year below. He was looking up at them

and shaking his head vigorously. Goro pushed the boy hard in the chest and

the boy stumbled backwards, striking his head against the wall. He began to

cry.

Jack and Yamato rushed over.

'Leave him alone,' Jack ordered, grabbing Goro's arm.

'Stay out of it, gaijin!' warned Hiroto, advancing on Jack.

'No, we won't,' answered Yamato, stepping between Hiroto and Jack,

'and don't call Jack gaijin, unless you want to deal with me too.'

A stalemate occurred and the little boy glanced nervously between

them, waiting to see who would make the next move.

'You'll be sorry for sticking your big nose into our business,'

threatened Hiroto, stabbing a stick-thin finger into Jack's chest. Hiroto

gestured to Goro and they left.

'Are you all right?' asked Jack, once the two Scorpion Gang members

had gone.

The boy snuffled, choking back his sobs and rubbing his bruised head.

He looked up at Jack, his eyes red with tears, then blurted, 'They said I was

a traitor, that I was no longer Japanese, that I was unworthy to be called a

samurai and that I would be punished if I didn't renounce my faith.'

'But why should they object to you being a Buddhist?' asked Jack.

'I'm not just a Buddhist. Last year, my family converted to

Christianity.'

Jack was taken aback by the boy's revelation. Although he'd been

hearing increasing rumours of Christian persecution and the expulsion of

gaijin around the country, he'd always assumed that the prejudice was

directed at foreign Christians. He didn't realize it extended to Japanese

Christians as well. If such harassment was happening within the Niten Ichi

Ryū, Jack could only imagine how bad things were in the rest of the

country. The idea of travelling on foot to the Iga mountains for the Circle of

Three was no longer an inviting prospect – it was a risk to his life.