KATANAGATARI 2

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Nanami rejected the idea wholesale.1

A curt refusal.

Come what may, I’m staying on the island─

I can take care of myself─

So long as I live, I am not leaving this island─

Please don’t pay me any mind─

Firm.

In this respect, Togame and Nanami were perhaps too much alike. When dissenting, they became so entrenched2 words could never do it justice. Shichika stood quaking3 off to the side, unable to speak up.

Knowing firsthand how strong his sister really was, he agreed with her─but then he almost always did, regardless of the circumstances.

In the end, Togame cracked.

Not so much cracked─as bent.

She was not beyond sympathizing with Nanami’s aversion to let others call the shots (this being yet another way that they were alike)─case in point, it had been Nanami, and not Togame or Shichika, who made the first move when Komori Maniwa blitzed the hut.

Shichika, the current master of the school, and Nanami, head of the house, had a tacit understanding that Nanami was stronger than Shichika─stronger by far. It was the sort of thing that went without saying; but while Togame was not privy to the facts, she trusted that Nanami could at least take care of herself.

She would not be a burden4 on her brother.

At least, not in the short term.

It was decided─and three whole months had passed since Togame and Shichika set off from Haphazard Island, leaving Nanami behind.

Which brings us here.

“Looks like I got myself lost again…” muttered Nanami.

She had no idea─where she was.

Absolutely no idea.

While little time had passed since she had finished off Kamakiri, she should have been home at the hut by now, but somehow, she was still stuck in the mountains. Somehow─despite having spent twenty years living on the island.

So easily disoriented.

One of her many weaknesses.

Born sickly, Nanami moved at an unusually slow pace that only spurred5 her tendency to lose her way. Playing off of Togame’s habit of comparing her own strength to that of shoji paper, we could say that Nanami, head of the Yasuri family, and once the Strongest in Japan, was slow as a snail.

No wonder Shichika never asked his sister to help with the chores.

“I figured I would head home and eat dinner before looking for the ninjas, but at this rate it probably makes more sense to start looking for them now,” Nanami said to herself. She had given up on going home. It would mean missing a meal, but she ate so little anyway. Were she to skip meals6 for a day or two, the difference would be negligible.

Plus, she no longer had a little brother on the island making her eat against her will.

“Still, this is tricky business… Forcing ninjas out of hiding is easier said than done… I’d be better off standing out in the open, and letting them find me…”

Nanami was working out her strategy.

Of course─having been raised on this desert island, Nanami had no experience in action, no experience on the battlefield. Just like when her brother fought that other Maniwac, Komori, this was her first engagement where her life was on the line. All the same, her manner and her bearing were the epitome7 of cool.

Her face the same as it had been when she was foraging for wild greens.

Not intoxicated by the thrill of battle─nor rattled by the horrors of battle.

Simply working out her strategy.

“But it looks like that won’t be necessary…”

Nanami stopped moving entirely, focused on the space before her.

“I’m not hiding,” she called out. “Come out and show yourself.”

For a while there was no response─but at length, a man stepped from behind a tree.

A short man with cropped hair.

“How’d you notice I was here?” he asked Nanami. “Could have sworn I was perfectly still.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that one.”

Heard it over and over.

As a kid─before they came to the island, or she was even seven years old.

Could have sworn I was perfectly still?

She’d heard that pompous line again and again.

“I’m the one who should be asking you─so long as you’re alive, what makes you think you could ever be perfectly still? If you’re standing there, you’re standing there.”

“Hah. So you won’t enlighten me.”

Interpreting her remark in a way that was completely at odds with how she had intended it (although Nanami, unprepared to explain herself, was probably relieved to have been misunderstood), the man dropped the point, and instead assumed position and gave his name.

“I am Chocho Maniwa, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan─here to carry you away.”

“What a charming way to greet8 a woman. I never thought the day would come when somebody would speak those words to me.”

Nanami grinned.

The aforementioned evil smile.

“Allow me to introduce myself─although if you’re here to carry me away, you must already know. However, as a matter of course─my name is Nanami Yasuri, head of the Yasuri family.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I wonder if I could trouble you to fill me in on something. A little while ago, I was assailed by someone wearing the same ninja garb as you─what was his name?”

“Huh, he didn’t tell you?”

“Afraid not…”

“Hmm, that’s not like him.”

In actuality, Kamakiri Maniwa had no chance to offer up his name before Nanami took him down; and subsequently, during torture time, the atmosphere was not exactly conducive to self-introductions─meanwhile, Nanami totally forgot to ask him who he was─although Chocho could hardly be expected to deduce as much.

He was as yet unaware.

Of the power of the woman before him.

But what could he have done─Nanami Yasuri possessed a strength that was not to be kenned at first sight. It was nonpareil, belonging to a whole other dimension from the showy kind of strength─

“His name is Kamakiri Maniwa.”

“Kamakiri… That explains,” she said, “the way he used his nails for weapons.”

Used. Past tense.9

“Did you kill─Kamakiri?”

“Yeah, after he assailed me,” answered Nanami. “Since I’m assuming you guys have a legitimate reason for abducting me, I have no particular intention to plead self-defense. I buried him in the same place as Komori Maniwa, who came to this island and fought my brother.”

“…I see.”

Chocho looked solemn.

Nanami had not been expecting this reaction.

In fact, she had coolly acknowledged the ordeal it would have been to dig a hole and bury the corpse, and instead left Kamakiri where he was, chained to the tree trunk, his throat skewered10 with his own talons, but the time had come and gone for volunteering such truths.

“…”

Whatever. She would get there sooner or later.

She planned to follow through on what she promised.

At this rate, she already needed to bury a few ninjas─including this one─at the mentioned site.

It made sense to do it all at once.

Keep things simple.

“Oh…that’s right. I meant to ask you, Chocho. Would you mind telling me how many of you are in your party?”

“Huh?”

“Your party─how many of you came to the island? I tried torturing Kamakiri a bit, but he wouldn’t tell.”

“And why would I tell you something he wouldn’t?”

“Ah,” Nanami conceded casually.

Chocho’s response was only natural; having directed Mitsubachi to watch the coming battle from a distance, it was best not to convey that there were ninjas in the wings. For her part, Nanami was asking him now because she had learned from her experience with Kamakiri. Torturing a ninja, even if he stood no chance, would get her nowhere─

And as it turns out, she got what she needed.

His retort sufficed to convince her that there was at least one more ninja. This was less to blame on Chocho being less experienced than Kamakiri, and more about whether she asked beforehand or afterwards.

That said…exactly how many ninjas remained?

There could be one…or maybe two, or three…or perhaps many more…

“Since you killed Kamakiri, I’m not about to treat you like a lady. I’m coming at you no holds barred,11 with everything I’ve got. I may even have to kill you─if that’s what it takes, I’m happy to oblige.”

“Oblige? Does that mean you won’t be taking me hostage?”

“Taking you hostage would be ideal, but I came equipped with a Plan B.12 I’m sure that the sight of your corpse would fire up your brother plenty.”

“Makes sense,” said Nanami. “Now you’re sounding like a ninja.”

“Don’t expect me to hold back─I’ll hit you with every fatal move13 in the Maniwa playbook. But don’t think I’m not open to surrender. If things ever get too rough for you, just say the word. Unlike that scoundrel Kuizame, I’m not one to take a life for no good reason.”

“Whatever works.”

“Hm─”

With that, Chocho entered into a stance.

It was kenpo.

Nanami had been casually observing the ninja, who wore no sword and was not visibly armed─but lo and behold, he practiced kenpo. In which case, he needed no weapons.

Karate─no, that stance…

“Don’t even bother guessing─this is Maniwa Kenpo. It stems from a completely different source than your garden-variety style of unarmed combat.”

“Maniwa Kenpo…”

“Although at this point, the bugs in my squad are the only ninjas left who use it─what’s wrong? Why aren’t you poised to fight?”

“…”

“I’ve heard about the Kyotoryu─swordplay without a sword. Basically, a kind of kenpo, right? Where the fist is wielded like a blade. I never mentioned it to Kamakiri, but I was hoping I would have a chance to fight you. In an age where everyone has started using weapons, there’s something nice about the Kyotoryu. Showing up with nothing but yourself. As a student of kenpo, I hope you’ll give me a few pointers.”14

It made sense that Chocho had this history, since he was the only member of the Bug Unit to show up with an advance understanding of the Kyotoryu. His words, while a touch taunting, surely also came from the heart if he truly planned to fight her emptyhanded15─but Nanami was unresponsive.

Positively no response.

She stood perfectly upright, hands hanging at her sides, feet normal, shoulder-width apart. To anyone, she would have looked unprepared for battle.

“…What’s wrong? I meant I’d wait until you took position.”

“I heard you─but I’ve never actually assumed a stance before.”

“…?”

Chocho looked bewildered, as if he couldn’t parse Nanami’s reply. Of course he couldn’t─his reaction was only natural.

“Do you mean to say the Kyotoryu has no forms?” he asked, baffled.

It hurt to ask.

But he was wrong.

A brief review of the tale of the Sword Hunt thus far will reveal that Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, boasted a variety of moves. Form One, the Suzuran, Form Two, the Suisen, Form Seven, the Kakitsubata─

And for each form, a Fatal Orchid.

That was supposed to be the essence of the Kyotoryu.

“This is what makes me an outlier to the school. But Chocho. Don’t you think that all these stances─are a waste of time? Having to take position whenever something happens can only slow you down. Plus, like you are right now, you end up giving away whatever you’re planning to do next.”

“…!”

“I hate to say it, but I can see right through your mysterious Maniwa Kenpo─just from the way you’re standing.”

Freestyle.16

In every martial art, the ultimate and ideal state─is a natural posture.

And Nanami─embodied this ideal.

She was truly, absolutely natural.

Then saying she had yet to take position would be nonsense. Could it be that from the instant that she noticed Chocho and stopped moving, she’d been continually prepared for battle?

“If I had to give this stance a name, it would be Kyotoryu Form Zero: the Ichijiku─”17

Nanami made her move.

Slow steps, one at a time.

Edging closer toward Chocho and his clenched fists─

“Huh…whoa…”

Her pace─too slow for Chocho to bear.

Just as Kamakiri had predicted when he saw her.

All it took was their curious exchange, and now she had him.

“Ahhh!”

When the distance between them had been reduced to half─Chocho lost his patience and leapt forth. Closing in with a single bound, and jerking up his rear foot, he put all of his weight behind a spinning kick to Nanami’s face─

Whoosh.

As if all her sluggish movements were an act, Nanami deftly dodged his strike─and then.

“Kyotoryu─Hinageshi.”18

One of her arms, which had drooped so heavily you would think the nerves were severed, sprang to life. Swiping upwards with the blade of her hand, flicking her wrist─

“─!”

The modest-sized ninja blew away─but Nanami was the most surprised. Which made sense. The Hinageshi was supposed to rip the enemy in half; unlike the Ominaeshi she had used on Kamakiri, it was not supposed to send him flying. Heck, even the Ominaeshi relied on the enemy’s own strength, using it against him─short as he may be, Chocho’s build easily outmatched Nanami’s. Her sickly body lacked the muscle to have up and thrown him.

Nor had Chocho leapt back of his own accord.

She hadn’t felt even the least─resistance.

“Hmph─”

Midair, he executed the strangest move. Bounding off the skinniest branch of a nearby tree, he switched direction─sending himself back toward Nanami. As he descended, he thrust out his right hand, a counterstrike─

Instinctively Nanami rolled backwards towards safety.

Chocho’s body flipped over, and he landed on his feet.

He gave her a sidelong glance.

“Nice dodge.”

Tossing her a couple words of praise.

Throwing her a bone.

“Maniwa Kenpo mixed with Maniwa Ninpo─rare is the foe who can dodge the combination from the outset.”

“Ninpo─”

“Harlequin Butterfly19─my movements ignore the laws of gravity,” he explained triumphantly, as if to make up for his earlier discomfiture. “I can carry anything, no matter how heavy, and even a branch as skinny as that serves as a foothold for me. You can hit me as hard as you want, but you’ll only send me flying.”

He was simply too light─to be knocked down.

That explained things.

With ninpo that can obviate20 the laws of gravity, even crossing the sea with two grown men riding on your shoulders would be a simple feat.

“Are you saying that my hand never actually hit you, that the draft my hand made sent your body flying through the air?”

“Yeah. You could say that I’m invincible to all conventional strikes─ because I’m physically impervious to them.”

“How flippant21 of you to call it kenpo, when you use such an oddball technique─you’re even bolder than I thought.”

“Call me bold, if you please, but you can blame it on the ninpo. How about it? If you’re going to surrender, now’s as good a time as any, before I come at you for real.”

“Didn’t you start off for real?” Nanami shot down his overture.22

Having witnessed the Maniwa Ninpo in action, she was far from impressed.

Her comportment nettled Chocho.

“Do you not understand─the awesomeness of my ninpo?”

“I do, without you trying to convince me. Am I correct you used this trick, your weightless footwork, to carry your friends over to our island? That would make your mission all the more covert─harder for the bakufu or for me, on the island, to detect.”

“…”

“What I really think is awesome─is all the time you must have spent learning how to do this. No trifling effort, I’m sure, you must have given it most of your life…”

Nanami spoke slowly, between sighs.

“Same goes for Kamakiri. I think he called it Mantis Talons. I can only imagine how much time it must have taken him to condition23 his body to do that… This goes beyond the successes of your individual training. It must be a Maniwa Village tradition, a body of knowledge perfected over countless generations─the mere thought,” Nanami said. “The mere thought─makes me jealous.”

“…Huh?”

Disregarding this confused reaction from Chocho, Nanami continued.

“You guys are the ones who don’t understand─what not being allowed to make any effort feels like… No matter what I do, I won’t get any praise. Every success, every win is dismissed as inevitable. Know how that feels? No, you have no idea.”

With that─

She began to make her way again toward Chocho.

Walking the exact same way as earlier. Slow steps, natural posture.

As if her first clash with his blend of ninpo and kenpo had not impacted her strategy in the least─she moved closer to where he stood.

Chocho was perplexed.

He didn’t get what she was doing.

He didn’t get this woman─not her words, and not her moves!

“Wanna die? Be my guest!”

As Nanami approached him, for the second time, Chocho lost his patience and sprang forth, also for the second time.

But so what.

If there was one thing he got about this woman, it was that she could not counter the Harlequin Butterfly!

“Rahh!”

Summoning all his energy─and erasing his weight, including that of his ninja garb, Chocho leapt into the sky. Paddling the air, he traveled vertically, climbing through the branches of the trees, even springing from the leaves that he shook free─and when he reached top speed, he plummeted!

Not breaking form, even as he fell, Chocho aimed straight for Nanami!

Aimed.

But she was not where he expected her to be─Nanami Yasuri was not there beneath Chocho’s fist.

“Whuh?!”

Then where was she?

Nanami Yasuri was right in front of Chocho Maniwa.

Facing him.24

Describing them as “facing” one another makes them sound poised for battle─which they were, only midair.

Chocho was floating, and so floated Nanami.

“Huh?! Wh-What the─”