KATANAGATARI 2

At this point, there was no reasoning with her.

Kyoken blamed Togame for embroiling the Maniwa in the Sword Hunt in the first place. As far as the ninja was concerned, Togame started it3 when she dragged the Maniwa into it.

“She sure knows how to make a first impression, but how does she expect to kill me in the state she’s in? Things are looking less than stellar4 for this lady.”

“I’ll say,” Shichika chimed in. “How can the Maniwa have such crummy timing? Hey, Kyoken, don’t be sad. This girl here beat me too.”

A menace, and still so young. Able to vanquish not only the Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, but one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa in a single blow─the Itezoras were unbelievable. Shichika could chalk it up to good luck that a rematch was not looking to be necessary.

Speaking of good luck, Shichika was fortunate that Kyoken got to Konayuki first.

His left arm was broken. He’d just as soon not fight a Maniwa Boss in that state.

“Heh…”

Kyoken, however─laughed at Shichika’s remark.

“Is that so. Thanks for the tip.”

“…?”

“I was unsure…if this body could defeat the Kyotoryu─I really couldn’t say. With a body built for speed…”

Rambling senselessly, as if talking to herself, Kyoken reached out her hand to Konayuki, who stood before her.

This did not seem like an attack.

Her hand floated, like she was reaching for help.

“Huh? What’s wrong…”

With the hand that was not holding Soto the Twin, Konayuki instinctively took the offered hand, in her youthful goodness─Shichika, and Togame too, failed to see what was coming, even then. They thought Konayuki had things under control. How could a handshake from Kyoken change things?

But here, things changed.

Kyoken’s hand squeezed ever so slightly─by reflex, Konayuki nearly crushed it in her own. A reflex issuing from amorphous horror, only too late.

Her monstrous strength didn’t kick in soon enough.

“Maniwa Ninpo─Foaming Mouth.”5

As she said this, the tattoos all over her body─started moving, in and of themselves, like living things. Crawling all over Kyoken’s body, and from her left hand onto Konayuki’s.

Then all over Konayuki’s body.

“Ah, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Ah, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Kyoken and Konayuki howled the same howl.

Bellowed the same.

Crying out─as if resonating.

Meanwhile, the tattoos kept crawling, spilling off of Kyoken onto Konayuki.

“Wh-What’s that…”

“N-Ninjas…”

Shichika and Togame grasped that something bad was happening, but things had escalated out of hand─there was nothing either of them could do. No choice but to watch this thing play out, not moving an inch until it was over.

Before long, it was.

Before long, the tattoos had completely migrated off Kyoken and onto Konayuki.

Kyoken Maniwa, or the body that had held her until now, collapsed like a cast-off skin.

Then, Konayuki Itezora turned around─turned her body, tattooed head to toe.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Togame, Mister Shichika.”

The voice, too─had been Konayuki’s.

Yet no vestige of her naïveté or innocence remained.

Her simple, artless nature was gone without a trace.

“Hello, once again! I’m one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa─Kyoken Maniwa!”

Only the smile, so rabid and indelicate, as if it had been sliced off the old Kyoken Maniwa, was pasted unchanged onto her new face.

■　■

Even over the fallen snow, Kawauso was sprinting fast as ever, and Hohoh was right beside him. They had made it to Ezo’s Mt. Odori, the Level One Disaster Area.

“Don’t you two go way back?” asked Kawauso. “Now’s a great time to fill me in.”

“I wouldn’t say that she and I do─but she certainly goes way back herself,” Hohoh answered calmly. “Hence why they call her ‘The Dogged Scourge’6─on account of her persistent presence.”

“Persistent presence?”7

“Given your own powers, the basic concept should be easy to grasp… Your ninpo and hers are two sides of the same coin. Persistent presence. Kyoken Maniwa, the individual, evidently died ages ago. There’s no way of confirming whether this is true, but they say she was one of the founding ninjas of Maniwa Village.”

“Wow, I had no idea. Keheheh,” Kawauso laughed mirthfully. “She should have told me. How heartless8 of her.”

“Her persistent presence has given her a complex. She’s ashamed to live forever─silly as it sounds. But this makes her doubly concerned for the survival of her comrades. Which for a ninja is a problem.”

“Is this persistent presence what lets her travel freely, from one body to another? What an insanely useful trick.”

“Unfortunately, she can’t be said to travel freely. The host must be a woman─meaning she could never send her spirit into you or me. The only other one of the Twelve Bosses she could populate is Oshidori.”

“Whoa…news to me. Kyoken is full of secrets. Gotta say though, I’m jealous she can take over other people’s bodies. Now that you mention it, her ninpo is the exact opposite of mine.”

“True, but no ninpo is more perfect for the Sword Hunt than your own. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. But one thing’s for sure…the horror of her Foaming Mouth is indescribable.”

“Yeah. Komori could mimic people with his Body Melt, but he had to have a model─usurping is a different story. I guess the biggest difference is how Kyoken usurps even their memories… Her ninpo truly is the opposite of mine.”

“But what’s your take, Kawauso? Does Kyoken plan to take over the Schemer?”

“Hard to say─usurping her memories would certainly give us a leg up in the Sword Hunt… But Hohoh, wouldn’t that mess up your plans?”

“It would indeed. I hope to let her get her way a little longer─but as you know, taking over the Schemer would be enfeebling. The woman’s physical ability is nil, no more than child’s play─Kyoken would need to kill the Kyotoryu before she takes over the Schemer… But what’s your take, Kawauso?” the Phoenix repeated his question verbatim. “Despite being a novice, Shichika Yasuri made short change of Komori, late of the Beast Unit─Komori Maniwa, master of the Body Melt. Do you think that Kyoken, in her current state, could take down the Kyotoryu?”

Kawauso took a second to respond. “…Probably not. She picked the body that she’s in right now for her last job, where she had to be as fast as possible. I doubt she had a chance to change bodies along the way.”

“Hmm, in that case, we might be looking at the worst-case scenario, where Kyoken is beaten by the Kyotoryu, and the alliance falls apart─no, actually…” The worst case, which they should fear above all else: “We cannot fixate on Kyoken and forget about the owner of Soto the Twin… If whoever owns it is a woman, there’s another possibility.”

“Right, the owner─according to Pengin, it’s one of those monsters, the Itezoras.”

“If Pengin said it, then it must be true. Soto the Twin, wielded by the Itezoras, whose monstrous strength made even the heaviest sword imaginable feel balanced…”

“We could really use Chocho right about now. His Harlequin Butterfly could make light of absolutely any weight. In that case, should we take that route? If Kyoken doesn’t take over one of the Itezoras, whether they have the Twin or not, she can’t claim the sword for the Maniwa. But yeah, once she does, the alliance is over…”

“No matter the outcome, the Maniwa will not come away unscathed. But regardless, Kawauso─at this point, catching Kyoken is the most that we can hope to do.”

“Right. Although by now, it may be too late…”

On that note, the two ninjas disappeared into the snow. Yet all their running was in vain, because the action had spun out of control.

All that remained was the final curtain.

■　■

Laughing as loud as her voice allowed, Kyoken Maniwa, embodying Konayuki Itezora, swung Soto the Twin─lopping the head clean off her old body.

“Wow, wow, wow! I can feel the strength in every single muscle. This body is too cool! Cooler than anybody that I’ve ever used─what did she say, Itezora? I don’t know them, but this is amazing!”

As though she had forgotten about Shichika and Togame, and the grudge she held against them for murdering her comrades, Kyoken was bowled over9 by how well Konayuki Itezora’s body performed.

She was overwhelmed. One might even call her overawed─since Kyoken was essentially a disembodied ghost, to use a tired expression, a superlative body meant the world to her persistent presence.

Especially a body as superlative as this one.

Testing her new abilities, she turned on the body that had only just been hers─and bashed it apart.

“Aha, aha, aha, aha, aha, aha, aha─wow, wow, wow, wow! Amazing, so amazing─this thing can do anything! I’ve stumbled on─the ideal body! She’s only just a kid?! I can only imagine what she’ll be like when she’s older.”

“Hey, Togame…” Keeping Kyoken in his field of vision as she furiously hacked away at her cast-off body, Shichika addressed his owner, who was standing right beside him, watching the same thing. “Just checking, but it’s okay to kill her, right?”

“…”

Togame hesitated to respond, but she did not need Shichika to prompt her─she had come to a decision on her own.

Foaming Mouth. The phenomenon spoke for itself─there was no reason to indulge Kyoken and demand an explanation.

A ninpo that usurps bodies… It made no sense, but that was the gist.

Kyoken had stolen the show.

Togame’s scheme was ruined. She had no choice but to accept the brutal fact.

Soto the Twin could only be wielded, or so much as lifted, by an Itezora, and the body of their sole survivor had been taken over by the Maniwa─quite literally, she was at a loss. This was anything but a stalemate.10

In which case─they had to put down Kyoken Maniwa, to keep this Mutant Blade of Kiki Shikizaki from being stolen by the Maniwa. Konayuki Itezora’s body needed to be annihilated.

It was decided.

“Shichika.”

“What.”

“Can you kill her?”

“Yeah. I mean, it might be harder with my arm like this, but who knows if I could’ve beaten her even at my best? Makes no difference.”

“…”

Togame had obviously not been asking if his left arm was okay.

Konayuki Itezora was not the enemy; when they were incapacitated on the snowy mountainside, she had rescued them, and saved their lives. What Togame had been asking Shichika was whether, without flinching,11 he could murder Konayuki Itezora, when she had cared for them inside her humble cave for three whole days─even if her kindness had been premised on a lie, even if somebody else now occupied her body.

But Shichika had answered without flinching.

Not comprehending why she asked. No─unable to comprehend.

A sword does not choose who to kill…

“Understood,” said Togame, with resolve. “It isn’t okay to kill her. I order you to kill her. Murder her.”

For Konayuki’s sake─but she did not voice those words. They simply felt too hollow.

While the two of them conversed, Kyoken Maniwa mashed her old body into a pulp, scattering the pieces irretrievably into the snow.

Even now─she was laughing.

“Amazing, so amazing. What would be even more amazing is if I ran up to the Itezora village and took over the body of a full-grown woman. Hm? Huh, what? The Itezoras…were wiped out? A month ago?”

Kyoken finally stopped hacking and spun her hand like she was trying to remember something…just like Konayuki earlier.

Togame was shocked to discover that Kyoken could even usurp memories. Shichika recalled the ninpo used by Komori Maniwa, the Body Melt. Komori himself had confessed that his ninpo could not replicate a person’s brains─but not so for the Foaming Mouth.

Could this be…more dangerous than the Body Melt?

“Huh, what the…is this memory for real?”

With that─Kyoken’s entire visage changed.

“What happened? What could possibly─have caused this? What an absolute mess, everything is gone12…” Her deep intoxication with the capabilities of Konayuki, and the entire Itezora Clan, clearing─she went pale and continued talking to herself. “Wh-What happened? What could have caused this? The village, the Itezoras─”

“Hey,” Shichika yelled at Kyoken in a fairly stern voice, unable to put up with it, and running low on patience. “Enough with the gobbledygook. You want a piece of me? Let’s do this─but watch out, Kyoken. Don’t even think of taking over my body.”

“Whatever,” Kyoken mumbled, ignoring Shichika for the time being. “I’ll figure this out later, Kawauso or Pengin could get me an answer easy. Wait, what? Did you just say, ‘Don’t even think of taking over my body’? No thanks, honey. I can’t take over men.”

“Huh? You can’t?”

“Men and women have fundamentally different genetic13 makeups…not like you would understand a thing like that. If this memory serves me correctly, you’re pretty stupid.”

“That’s what I seem like to a ten-year-old girl?”

It was enough to hurt Shichika’s feelings─but there was no time for that.

He took position─Form One, the Suzuran, the same as four days earlier.

His left arm was strong enough to do the form, and probably even strong enough to make a hit. Blocking was another story, but so long as he avoided direct contact with the injury, he could operate as normal.

Here we go again.

Up against Konayuki’s monstrous strength, blocking was essentially meaningless. As with Ginkaku Uneri, he had to base his fighting style on evasion, not defense.

“Okay, here I come─Shirasagi, Komori, Kuizame, Chocho, Mitsubachi, Kamakiri, I’m sending the enemy your way. Gulp down whatever’s left!”

Waving Soto the Twin, Kyoken headed straight for Shichika. Put into words, the motion, just like Shichika’s form, was identical to four days ago─yet the execution, both individually and as an organized whole, had altered beyond all recognition.

Not like a total amateur, or any amateur at all, but like an expert, like a ninja.

“Here’s a little secret for ya, Kyotoryu─I don’t just usurp memories, I inherit them! Over the course of my existence, I’ve taken over two thousand different bodies, the great majority of whom were woman warriors of the highest stripe! No matter how long you’ve been training, I have several thousand times more experience!”

“…Nkk.”

I’ve only been training for twenty years! And probably only been in twenty battles!

Lamenting in his heart─Shichika naturally shielded his left arm as he prepared for Kyoka Suigetsu, the secret move playing off Form One, the Suzuran. If the strategy had failed on a total amateur like Konayuki, it was bound to fail on a seasoned veteran such as Kyoken, but Shichika could not think of any other way to counter Konayuki’s monstrous strength.

Hmph.

Before he launched into the move, however, he noticed something. And no sooner did he notice than he abandoned the secret move, opting instead to block Kyoken’s pitiless assault as best he could.

Tumbling over the snow, he put some space between himself and Kyoken.

“Huh? What, running off before we even start? You’re a disgrace─and you call yourself a swordsman. Don’t make me laugh, what do you think you’re doing?”

Brandishing Soto the Twin in one hand, Kyoken took her time approaching Shichika. She was not about to rush after him in hot pursuit; she’d much rather enjoy her sweet revenge and the wonder that was Konayuki’s body.

Honest to a fault,14 Shichika answered the ninja’s rhetorical question. “Well, something just occurred to me. I figured maybe I should check in first…”

“Huh?” Kyoken grimaced with annoyance at his flippant tone, displaying an emotional intensity that did not befit a ninja.

Or perhaps this emotional intensity motivated her persistent presence and allowed her to live indefinitely─without cease, without exit, without ceasing to exist.15

Whatever her real wish.

“Check in? Please! How about I check in with your corpse, blockhead.”16

Pounding the snow in her approach with all the monstrous strength you would expect from Konayuki, this time Kyoken tried a sideswipe─and delivered a blow whose force was off the charts.

A direct hit would have torn Shichika in half. However─

“If I do this…and then do that…”

Not a direct hit? That’s called whiffing.

Pivoting off his back foot, Shichika spun his body, dodging the sideswipe from Soto the Twin with the precision of intermeshing gears. He had to turn his back on Kyoken for a second, but while she was recovering from the miss, he came around on the momentum of the spin─and drove the blade of his foot into the side of her head.

His foot nailed her, at the most ideal angle possible.

A roundhouse, off a single spin.

Behold─the Ume17 of the Kyotoryu.

“Ugh, uh, oh…”

Standing on the snow, Kyoken was unable to keep her footing─and in this case, that was just as well. Her body plowed into the snow.

His hunch confirmed, Shichika declined to go in for another hit, and put some space between them once more.

Togame was watching all this with a blank gaze. In fact, she could not believe her own eyes. Shichika had already lost once to Konayuki, but on top of that, his left arm was broken; his opponent’s memory had been overwritten by her host, refining her every movement and making circumstances even harder than they had been when he lost; and yet his kick had been delivered with aplomb. Unlike the Sumire, which he had used the other day, the Ume had significantly weakened Kyoken─or Konayuki!

“Wh-What’s going on here, Shichika…”

Had the stipulation against killing her been that much of an impairment? No, that didn’t seem to be the case─if anything, this last move of his, the Ume, made it look like he was holding back.

“Okay, I’m not sure why, but ever since she took over Konayuki, I see her movements,” explained Shichika. “I can see all of the movements I couldn’t see her make four days ago.”

Awkward and intuitive, his words did not immediately register for Kyoken, but Togame understood him instantly.

It clicked─Shichika had not lost because of Konayuki’s monstrous strength.

True, the girl’s wondrous strength had played a role in his defeat, but in the end it had been incidental.

The true reason was that when it came to combat, she was a total amateur.

Call them moves, or maybe movements.18 Perhaps forms─or formations.

On a grander scale, one might even call them strategies, or stratagems─but they all involve the fundamental moves of battle.

If they do that, you do this; if they try that, you try this; if they block that, hit them with this; dodge this, this, and this using this, this, and this─if you try going this way, here’s what happens, but if you mess that up, they’ll get you with this. The fact of the matter is, when people fight each other, there are only so many ways things can go.

Thrust, ward, spar, parry…the possibilities are limited. And therefore─it stands to reason that the number of time-tested and certifiably effective strategies is even lower.

And thus the moves and movements get established.

Not even the Kyotoryu, confined to the same island for twenty years, and nearly written off by history, would prove an absolute exception. Its strategies were based on certain precepts, and these were not so different from what is found in other schools. Whether handling a sword or empty-handed, whether a ninja or anything else, no one who trains for combat can possibly remain uninfluenced by these precepts.

Which is why fighting is all about reading your opponent. Always thinking: one, two, three moves ahead, and inevitably adapting as things progress. Since forms comprise learnable moves, reading your opponent is not the hard part─but once you start reading each other, another layer of strategy emerges. Feints, new precepts, precepts contradicting other precepts─both consciously and unconsciously, even members of the same school fight this way.

Despite his minimal experience, Shichika had survived the precipitous battles thus far thanks to twenty years of constant drilling in the precepts of combat.

Consider how the quickdraw iainuki of Ginkaku Uneri relied strictly on a single form─which Shichika countered with the kaleidoscopic footwork of the Kakitsubata. Once he could see his opponent, he was victorious.