Japan may be still be known for ninjas, but they are far less common than they were in the past. It’s a very outdated stereotype. That being said, I was trained at one of the last ninja schools left on the islands. It was a long time ago- as you can tell from my wrinkles and cane, that’s an understatement. My most distinct memory from back then must have been from when I was 17.
I never excelled at the most commonly known ninja skills: I was quite clumsy, and not the strongest boy either. But I had a talent for the theory aspect: give me a poison, I could name it in a snap. I knew every weapon, every secret. I just couldn’t put it into practice all I had learned from reading.
Honoka was my polar opposite. Tall, thin, and athletic: too bad she was a bit vacuous. She might have been able to leap into the air, disarm an opponent, sneak without a sound: that is, unless she was around her friends. She had become known at the school for her garrulous nature.
During our practical lessons one morning, sensei Satomi was observing a spar between Honoka and I. Supercilious as he was, he made sure to correct any faults in stance or method right away. Most of those faults were mine. But for once, I was holding my own with Honoka: remembering a technique I had read about in a text earlier, I reached down and flipped her leg over, landing her in the dust.
Satomi ran up to us with a disconcerted expression on his face. “What are you doing boy? That wasn't a proper move! You could have seriously injured Honoka!”
I was perfectly aware that I wouldn’t, but there’s no way for me to express that to the sensei. He was steadfast in his opinions: I would do it his way, or no way at all.
This led to the first and only punishment I ever received at school: as the building was built into the side of a mountain on the coast, there were lots of passages and cells throughout the rock. I was sent down to tidy some of the less travelled corridors. Honoka was told to join me as well, for “giving in so spectacularly.”
Whilst the two of us toiled within the rock, there was a sudden reverberation throughout the mountain- and then another. Looking up to the surface, we shared a quick glance and then rushed up the passage.
Right as we left the hallway and ran out into the open air, there was a great roar from behind us. “Arrrrrr! What be these younguns?” I turned around to see a florid face with a ginger beard grinning down at me. Slowly averting my eyes from his crazed grin, I looked down and took in the rest of his corpulent body.
“Who… who are you?” Honoka asked hesitantly. Chortling menacingly, he replied: “I be the famous Roubeard, scourge of the seas! And we be here for your luvverly ninja treasures, arr!”
We didn't have any treasure in our school- obviously. Ninjas are known for being stealthy and living light: excesses were not to be found easily on the mountain. Pirates, ignorant as they are, wouldn't know that though. They must have lost all their gold and jewels in their prodigal adventures.
“Now look here!” a punctilious voice announces from behind us. “You’ve no place here, scum of the seas. Leave us in peace you heathens!” Glancing back, I saw Satomi rushing at Roubeard with a pair of nunchaku. It seemed as if he was guaranteed to win: he was the head sensei of the school, after all, and very talented.
But what was this? Why was he stopping? He was just standing there! He wasn’t… he bowed. Leave it to Satomi to follow proper etiquette when there are barbaric sailors all around.
Two of said barbarians jumped from behind him and grabbed his arms. If he wasn’t so punctilious, he probably could have defeated every man on the ship.
The ship, actually, was doing far more damage than the men on it. The pirates had set up a cannon along the starboard side, and it was shooting continuous cannon balls at the school. That must have been the vibration that Honoka and I felt down in the caverns. Thinking quickly, I made a dash for it and pulled her along with me.
“Where are we going?” she yelled at my back. “Down to the storage closets!” I shouted over my shoulder. Grabbing the door handle and pulling it open, I snatched up a fukiya and a handful of darts. The fukiya is one of the classic ninja weapons: a small tube- these ones were made of bamboo- that could shoot small darts with lungpower. On my way out, I grabbed a bag of shuriken as well: those small metal disc that have been popularized as throwing weapons.
Instead of turning around and going back the way we came, I pulled Honoka down farther into the tunnels. When she asked where we were going, I told her that I knew a secret path down through the mountain that opened on the side of the cliff: I figured we would be safer and less noticeable there. I had old texts to thank for my knowledge of the secret passages: reading comes in handy once again.
We could see sunlight at the end of the corridor. If we looked to the left, we could see the side of the ship and the cannon still shooting. I handed one of the fukiyas to Honoka and told her to aim for the marksman. Being skilled as she was, she hit him first shot. He slapped at his neck and slumped to the side. Finally, the cannon had stopped shooting out fire every few minutes.
Now that the gunman was down, there were only a few pirates left on the ship that hadn’t yet invaded the school. Honoka and I leapt off the rock and into the water 10 metres below. I swam closer to the shore, climbing up onto the rocks and keeping a safe hold on the shuriken.
As per my spur of the moment plan, Honoka dove under the water and worked her way nearer the ship. From my seat on the rocks I had a good view of her attempt: reaching up to the rough wood on the ship’s hull, she pulled herself out of the water and climbed onto the deck. Finding the few pirates left and disarming them quickly, she was soon the only person left capable on the ship.
And now it got interesting: At the top of her lungs, she shouted at the pirates on shore: “Hey mateys! See all this beautiful treasure? Be a shame if it fell overboard, wouldn’t it?” She began tossing jewels and coins into the water below.
With a great roar, the mob of buccaneers ran for their precious cargo, Roubeard waddling in the lead. Honoka slowly made her way back towards the edge of the deck. As she watched the last pirate jump onto the ship, she shouted “Now!” and leapt off the edge. At her call, I launched the shuriken repeatedly into the hull of the ship directly underneath the cannon, where I figured the gunpowder would be. After the fourth, I finally got the result I was hoping for: a great fireball shot out through the hull and the ship began to sink. Mission accomplished.
Honoka swam back on shore and picked me up on the way. She reached out her arms and pulled me into a hug- taking down a pirate mob together is a pretty good way to bond with people. From that day on, I had some respect at school. And Honoka eventually did help me out with some of the more complicated moves- in exchange for some tutoring.
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