Prologue : Dokujutsu

Japan, August 1612

'The Deathstalker is the most poisonous scorpion known to man,' explained

the ninja, taking a large black specimen from a wooden box and placing it

into his student's trembling hand. 'Armed, silent and deadly, it's the

ultimate assassin.'

The student tried in vain to control her shaking as the eight-legged

creature crawled over her skin, its stinger glistening in the half-light.

She knelt before the ninja in a small candlelit room crammed full of

ceramic jars, wooden boxes and little cages. Inside these containers were an

array of poisonous potions, powders, plants and creatures. The ninja had

already shown her blood-red berries, bulbous blowfish, brightly coloured

frogs, long-legged spiders and coils of black-hooded snakes – each

specimen lethal to humans.

'One sting from a Deathstalker and the victim suffers unbearable pain,'

the ninja went on, observing the fear flare in his student's eyes.

'Convulsions are followed by paralysis, loss of consciousness and finally

death.'

At this, the student became still as stone, her eyes fixed on the

scorpion crawling up her arm and towards her neck. Paying no attention to

the imminent danger his student was in, the ninja continued with his

instruction.

'As part of your ninjutsu training, you must learn dokujutsu, the Art of

Poison. When you're sent on missions, you'll discover that stabbing your

victim with a knife is messy and there's a high chance of failure. But

poisoning is silent, hard to detect and, when administered properly,

guaranteed to work.'

The scorpion had now reached her neck, having crept into the inviting

dark of her long black hair. She turned her head away, trying to distance

herself from the creature's approach, her breathing shallow and rapid with

panic. The ninja ignored her plight.

'I will teach you how to extract the poison from different plants and

animals, and which ones you should apply to your weapons, mix in food

and lace your victim's drink with,' the ninja said, running his fingers over a

cage and making the snake inside strike at the bars. 'You must also build a

tolerance to these poisons, since there's nothing to be gained from dying by

your own hand.'

He turned to see his student raising her arm to brush away the scorpion

nestled in the crook of her neck. He gently shook his head.

'Many toxins have an antidote. I will show you how to mix these.

Others can be overcome by taking small amounts of the poison over time

until your body has built a natural defence against it. There are others,

though, for which no antidote exists.'

He pointed to a tiny blue-ringed octopus, no bigger than a baby's fist,

in a trough of water. 'Beautiful as it is, this animal's venom is so powerful it

will kill a man in minutes. I recommend using this one in drinks like saké

and sencha, since it is tasteless.'

The student could no longer bear the scorpion on her. She swiped at

the creature, dislodging it from her hair, and screamed as it sank its barb

deep into her hand. The flesh round the wound immediately began to swell.

'Help me…' she moaned as searing pain exploded up her arm.

The ninja gazed unsympathetically at his convulsing student. 'You'll

live,' he replied, picking up the scorpion by its tail and dropping it back into

its box. 'He's old and large. It's the small female ones you have to watch

out for.'

The student collapsed unconscious to the floor.