Blood Ninja II: The Revenge of Lord Oda by Lake Nick

Author:Lake, Nick [Lake, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2010-12-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 34

Lord Oda no Nobunaga rode south. He had taken his swiftest horse—a stallion given to him by Father Valignano, the priest and spokesperson of the Portuguese. He wore no armor; just a heavy cloak and a katana strapped under it. Only two men accompanied him. He had sent a pigeon to his home province, the Kanto, and accordingly there would be samurai waiting for Taro in Shirahama, ready to take the ball and then kill him. Or just kill him, if that seemed necessary.

On Yukiko’s suggestion, he had posted spies on the east flank of Mount Hiei. They had seen the boy leave, alone, and Yukiko was certain Shirahama was where he would go, to try to recover the Buddha ball.

Lord Oda wished to be present, physically, for the boy’s demise. He had sent Yukiko to the ninja mountain. It was the only other place the boy might go—if he did choose that path, which was unlikely, then Yukiko would meet him there, and seize him. He smiled to himself. Taro had stolen his daughter from him, broken his body, turned him into a dark spirit. He enjoyed his vampire strength, but it was undeniable that he was now a tainted thing, his dignity as a nobleman corrupted. He had lost his only child, his posterity, and he had lost his humanity, too.

So he rode. Shirahama was east, but there was a ship at anchor only five ri to the south, which with a fair wind could carry him to Shirahama before Taro got there. His country was an island—it always paid to remember that. Lord Oda had no navy, at least not yet. The Portuguese had told him that if and when he became shogun, they would help him create one. For now, he used what was available. The ship he intended to commandeer was a pirate ship. The captain was in Lord Oda’s pay and had lent his ship several times before when Lord Oda needed a vessel whose provenance he could easily deny, whose nefarious deeds he could vehemently denounce, even if he had ordered them. Pirates, ninjas, bandits—they were all useful to a daimyo with an open mind.

He pressed his heels into the horse’s flank, steam blowing from the creature’s nostrils as it pounded down the wooded track. They had crossed a stream a moment ago, then left behind the rice paddies that stretched over much of this land, and entered a forest. Lord Oda glanced around suspiciously. This was the kind of place, even in these civilized times, where a kami might lurk—some ancient spirit of the woods, housed and worshipped at a quiet shrine, dripping in moss. Lord Oda couldn’t stand that kind of thing. When he was shogun, he would burn the Shinto temples, make everyone follow the way of Buddha instead.

Everyone apart from himself, naturally.

“What was that?” said one of the men behind him.

Lord Oda turned without slowing. He saw nervous expressions on the faces of the two samurai. They were glancing around them restlessly, allowing their horses to drop to a canter.

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