KATANAGATARI 2
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The fourth moon was on its way out.
A conspicuous duo showed up at an anchorage1 in Buzen, down in Kyushu. One dressed herself in garish finery, hair swinging on the sea breeze. The other was a mountain of a man, stripped to the waist, hair knotted at his neck─you would never find a stranger pair across all of Japan.
Togame the Schemer, and Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu.
They were staring quietly at the sea, looking like a couple of people who had accomplished something big. The way they held themselves intimated a maturity they had not possessed just recently, in Suo.
“Anyway, that was a pretty tough fight,” said Togame, starting things off.
“Sure was,” Shichika answered with feeling. “Now I know why they called him the Strongest Swordsman in Japan─probably my toughest battle yet. Hakuhei Sabi─I’ll never forget that name as long as I live.”
“Yeah─that was the closest2 victory imaginable. I would even go so far as to say that the sacred grounds of Ganryu Island have renewed their place in history…”
“I won by the skin3 of my teeth. If it wasn’t for your strategies, Togame, I probably wouldn’t be alive.”
“Come now, my schemes would never have worked without your moves. Although I have to say, I was not expecting things to actually go according to plan. You impress me, Shichika.”
“I fell for you all over again, Togame.”
“Come on, come on. What matters is, you faced off against Hakuhei Sabi, and won. Which means you’ve made yourself4 the Strongest in Japan, in deed and in name.”
“Strongest in Japan… Well, I can’t say it’s sinking in. I was stunned by all those moves that Sabi laid on me. From the get-go, that Imploding Ground5 of his blew me away. I never thought I would see footwork swifter than the Kakitsubata─”
“The move that struck me most was the Frightmare,6 where he stopped you with his guard and scabbard. They say that move earned him the title of Sword Saint, and now I can see why.”
“No way. It’s gotta be that weird move, the Flashback,7 where the sword’s length alters at will, really messes with the Kyotoryu─it’s hard to take your distance,8 even though the blade is held at a fixed position. Or maybe the Katana Jackpot,9 his own version of iainuki, so unlike Ginkaku Uneri’s Zerosen─it scares the crap out of me to think what would have happened if I hadn’t lost my footing at just the right time…”
“Yes, but that block he executed, the Bladeholder,10 where he read the cutting edge of your hand like an open book, was truly superb. For a second, I thought you were done for. For a boy of only twenty, built more or less the same as me, to move like that─you may have beat him, Shichika, but I dare say we enjoyed but a taste of what the Fallen Swordsman had to offer.”
“Yeah. To be honest, I don’t feel like I won─it just isn’t sinking in. I’m not sure I can even say that I got lucky, sad as that sounds.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Togame said. “All we can say is that we didn’t lose.”
“But obviously the best part was the Whisper Eureka,11 a move he could have only done with Hakuto the Whisper. Another of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki. At first glance, the only thing the Whisper had going for it was its beauty. I never would have dreamed a sword so brittle could have that kind of play or power. Some people say that any hunk of metal12 becomes a legend in the right hands, but this is another story─I feel like I finally understand the horrible potential of the sword.”
“So true,” said Togame. “Frankly, I never believed the legends saying Sabi could cut down the sun floating in the sky, if he so chose─but I’m afraid we underestimated him. With moves like that, he probably could have done it─regardless! regardless! Past is past, but at the end of the day, we took possession of the Whisper… And it was from Form Three, the Tsutsuji,13 that you unleashed Fatal Orchid Three: Hyakka Ryoran─this time I finally saw it with my own eyes! You faced off against Hakuhei Sabi, and you cut him down. That is something to be proud of!”
“I guess so. Otherwise, Sabi would never rest in peace─still, I can’t stop thinking about what he said before he died… After all, it was his last farewell. What the heck did he mean when he called me, or the Kyotoryu, a memento left by legendary swordsmith Kiki Shikizaki? What was that about the Kiki Pedigree14… Sabi called himself a reject15─but wasn’t the venom of the swords what made him stab you in the back?”
“Hard to say─the venom got him, to be sure, but Sabi had a way about him, and there may well have been extenuating circumstances we could never have imagined…and if we can go by what he said, those reasons will come to light for us along the way.”
“Yeah. Well, we managed to capture Hakuto the Whisper16 in pristine condition, no breakage or damage, not even a scratch─which means that we have four of the Twelve Possessed. Feels like the end’s in sight.”
“I know what you mean, but don’t get too excited, Shichika. Our journey has only just begun─since we’re already in Kyushu, why not keep the ball rolling and capture another of the Twelve Possessed.”
“Sure, makes sense. No objections here.”
They bumped arms, forcefully─proof a bond had formed between them, and of the kind only enjoyed by survivors of the same horrific battlefield. An aura of ennoblement wafting from them, their backs positively looking larger, Togame and Shichika left the anchorage behind them─
This time, heading for Satsuma.
Seeking Zokuto the Armor, a sword unparalleled in armor class.17
Its owner was the captain of a pirate ship─the Schemer and the Kyotoryu would be taken beyond the preamble of their Sword Hunt, and straight into the middle stages of the game.
Nevertheless, Shichika was unable to let it go.
Hakuhei Sabi, Strongest in Japan?
They had never seen his sister.
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Thus did Shichika Yasuri vanquish Hakuhei Sabi, making himself the Strongest Swordsman in Japan, in deed and in name─that is, so long as she stayed off the mainland.
Nanami Yasuri, Head of the House of Yasuri.
In three months, she would appear before her brother, wielding one of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki─Akuto the Eel, said to be the most atrocious blade of all.
Hakuto the Whisper: Check
End of Book Four
To Be Continued
1 船着場 FUNATSUKIBA landing (for a vessel)
2 紙一重 KAMI HITOE paper-thin (margin) 紙 KAMI paper 一重 HITOE one layer
3 首の皮一枚 KUBI NO KAWA ICHIMAI “single sheet of neck skin”
4 襲名 SHŪMEI take over the name (usually of one’s master)
5 爆縮地 BAKUSHUKUCHI neologism that combines two words whose senses suggest such an elision: 爆縮 BAKUSHUKU implode & 縮地 SHUKUCHI shorten distance; 地 CHI/JI ground; background
6 逆転夢斬 GYAKUTEN MUZAN “reverse dream slash” pun on 逆転無惨 GYAKUTEN MUZAN “brutal reversal”
7 速遅剣 SOKUCHIKEN “fast-slow sword” pun on 測地 SOKUCHI land survey
8 間合い MA’AI space shared between opponents
9 一揆刀銭 IKKI TŌSEN 一揆 IKKI uprising 刀銭 TŌSEN blade-shaped currency once circulated in China pun on 一騎当千 IKKI TŌSEN a single horseman worth a thousand (troops)
10 刃取り JINTORI “blade taking” pun on 陣取り JINTORI securing a location; Prisoner’s Base
11 薄刀開眼 HAKUTŌ KAIGAN “Epiphany of the Whisper” 開眼 KAIGAN open one’s eyes, figuratively
12 なまくら NAMAKURA dull sword phonetic spelling of 鈍 NAMAKURA Book Two’s Mutant Blade
13 躑躅 TSUTSUJI “The Azalea”
14 記紀の血統 KIKI NO KETTŌ blood line of 記紀 KIKI the swordsmith’s name, but also “chronicles”
15 出来損ないの失敗作 DEKISOKONAI NO SHIPPAISAKU defective, botched work
16 薄刀 針 HAKUTŌ HARI “The Thin Katana: Needle”
17 絶対無双の防御力 ZETTAI MUSŌ NO BŌGYORYOKU absolutely unique defensive power