KATANAGATARI 3

Reliability─

“Alright, let’s head off toward Shinano, where Umigame fell─”

Thus.

Hohoh Maniwa led the way.

“Not permitted.”

There had been no one but the three of them atop the hill─but now they had a visitor.

Coat and trousers, a pair of swords slung from his hips.

Wearing a mask, on which was scrawled the word “NON-NINJA”─

“There is no way I can permit that behavior─Maniwa Ninjas.”

Lieutenant Emonzaemon Soda, Counselor to the Inspector General of the Yanari Shogunate─cometh.12

■　■

True name and origins unknown.

With blond hair and dazzling blue eyes13 that gave her foreign blood away, she was in some ways even more of an anomaly within the bakufu than Togame─but given that she held the office of Inspector General, nobody would have an easy time of meddling with or harping on14 about her anomalousness.

Hence─she was full of puzzles and mysteries.

Take the Sword Hunt.

What exactly did she think about this quest, proposed by Togame the Schemer, to round up the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki, those Mutant Blades which not even the Old Shogun could obtain? The only two people who could speak to her innermost feelings were Princess Negative herself and her right-hand man, confidant, and trusty weapon Emonzaemon Soda.

As the Schemer guessed─the Princess was up to something.

However, she was not merely acting as the Inspector General.

Did she cherish ill will toward the Schemer for striking and defeating her so many times? Surely. The Schemer and the Princess had rubbed each other the wrong way15 since their first meeting─even under the best of circumstances, their behavior was doomed to devolve into mutual opposition.

Though in that case, Princess Negative would have plotted against the Schemer even if the Sword Hunt never happened─her stance by no means limited to the situation at hand.

But how would she operate under the circumstances?

And how would she take advantage of the situation?

At this point, Togame honestly hadn’t the slightest idea─in which case, she may as well deal with her the same way that she always did.

And yet if Togame the Schemer were to agree with that assessment, one might be tempted to deem her negligent.

Princess Negative─felt differently than before.

As she said herself, the Sword Hunt was her hunting ground.

Princess Negative─Inspector General of the Yanari Shogunate, Owari Bakufu.

Only two souls knew the way she felt─but for the time being, since Togame the Schemer had succeeded in rounding up over half of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki, Princess Negative was her ally─in a certain sense.

At least for the time being.

Although as far as allies go, she was quite negative.

Still, this does explain why last month, Princess Negative gave Emonzaemon Soda, her right-hand man, confidant, and trusty weapon, an order to fulfill.

That order being: “While you’re out, assassinate Hohoh Maniwa.”

■　■

The first was Emonzaemon Soda─armed with a pair of swords, dressed in a coat and trousers. Now the trusty weapon of Princess Negative, he was a former ninja─whose expression was impossible to comprehend, thanks to his mask, which labeled him “NON-NINJA.”

The other was dressed in peculiar sleeveless ninja garb, chains wrapped around her body. She was voluptuous and had that special something─Oshidori Maniwa, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan.

The other two who had been present, her fellow ninja bosses Hohoh Maniwa and Pengin Maniwa, had already disappeared─and Dokuto the Basilisk, which had been standing in the earth sheathed in its scabbard, had been absconded with as well.

Leaving these two.

Facing one another─for a time, without a word.

“Not expected.”

At length.

Emonzaemon was the one who broke the silence.16

“I show up ready to fight the three of you myself─and those two leave you in the lurch. I had not been expecting you to make a classic ninja move like that. Maniwa scum…you think you’re just as good as any other ninja?”

“Ugh, I don’t need this today.” Oshidori spoke flippantly toward Emonzaemon─nothing like the way she had toward Hohoh Maniwa, her senior, minutes earlier. “Nobody asked you for advice on our maneuvers, but for your information, I’m not taking one for the team.17 I’m enough of a ninja to take care of you myself.”

“Sound pretty confident,” Emonzaemon took this in stride. “If you’ll permit me to say so, I’m disappointed you’re the one I’m forced to fight─since after all, I have been sent here to assassinate Hohoh Maniwa.”

“Assassinate Hohoh?” Oshidori raised her eyebrows. “Who the hell are you?”

“No reply─why should I divulge that information?”

“You could at least introduce yourself.”

“Emonzaemon Soda.”

“Ay-mon-za-ay-mon?”

Has to be a joke, thought Oshidori, raising her eyebrows even higher─

“What kind of an alias is that?”

“Hah. You sound just like Umigame.”

“Umi─game?”

“Oopsie,” said Emonzaemon, touching his fingers to his lips. “Slip of the tongue18─but I have nothing to hide. Indeed, your brother Umigame Maniwa is dead─I killed him.”

“…Oh.”

This news─steeled Oshidori more than it stung. Partly because it settled a question that had weighed her down, and partly because it dictated her course of action against Emonzaemon.

“I must say, I’m surprised─to see the Maniwa obtained one of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki. Was that─Dokuto the Basilisk?”

“Huh? Wait, were you eavesdropping on us? You must have pretty good ears.”

“I wasn’t listening. I already knew.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Emonzaemon. “You’ll be dead soon.”

This statement was so plain and direct, so firm and decisive─economical, no games, no tricks─that for a moment Oshidori froze, but quickly she rallied.

“Alright.”

She stood on the ready─like the ninja that she was.

At first glance, it would seem she had no sword, or any kind of weapon for that matter─but in fact, her weapon was on display, for all to see.

If you looked closer at her peculiar ninja garb.

At those chains wrapped around her body─you would find her weapon, woven through the links of chain, encircling her every curve.

Oshidori Maniwa, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa.

Known to many as “The Feathered Reel.”

Whose weapon of choice─was a pair of whips.

Not simple strips of leather, but ten far-reaching strands branching from each handgrip─the tips of which were dressed with tiny razors.

A pair of these atypical implements─one in each hand.19

Thus able to give twenty lashes at a time─with her two hands.

“Maniwa Ninpo─Thorough Thrashing.”20

“…”

Challenged thusly─Emonzaemon drew both his swords at once, the short and the long, in a dual wield. The result was a bizarre scenario where both parties, Emonzaemon and Oshidori, faced off with both hands brandishing weapons.

“I am Oshidori Maniwa─coming to get you.”

“And I am Emonzaemon Soda─not if I get you first.”

True to his word, Emonzaemon made the first move─but Oshidori was the first21 to make a hit.

Flicking her wrists.

That was enough─to rain the twenty razored tails on twenty different points of the lieutenant’s body.

“…!”

Emonzaemon, who had been about to close in, backpedaled desperately─but was unable to dodge all twenty of her tails.

Those he failed to dodge─he caught with his sword.

Two tails with each.

And yet he was unable to cut through them─and the tails twirled around his swords like tentacles.22

“Guh…”

For a moment, Emonzaemon was stuck.

But only for a single moment─he let go of both swords, throwing them away, and retreated to safety.

This was the right move─if he had acted any slower, the remaining sixteen tails would have soon rained down once again.

“Hmph…”

Having robbed Emonzaemon of both his swords, Oshidori flailed her whips─with no more than another flick of the wrists─and flung his weapons far out of reach.

She could command the twenty tails of her two whips with total freedom.

Like they were her own limbs─nay, with greater freedom than her limbs!

Maniwa Ninpo─Thorough Thrashing.

One might think the sheer number of tails would be apt23 to make this ninpo hard to handle─but in practice, this was not the case at all.

Like an extension of her nervous system, the twenty tails shot for their target with intelligence and speed─Oshidori was so instantaneously responsive that she could let her foe strike first and still have plenty of time to fend him off. Lo, the essence of Oshidori Maniwa!