Jade Palace Vendetta

CHAPTER 14

As the two men walked to the swordsmith’s house, which was located a respectful distance from the holy ground of the forge, Kannemori listened to Kaze’s story of his search for the daughter of his former Lord and Lady. The fact that Kaze had been searching for almost three years didn’t surprise him. Kannemori took it for granted that a pupil of the Sensei’s would exert any effort to fulfill a pledge.

As he approached his house, Kannemori was greeted by his wife, who immediately took charge of his guest. She led Kaze to a sitting room to give him food and tea while the swordsmith took a bath. In the bathhouse, his assistants had already stoked the fire and prepared the ofuro. It was strange, but even on the hottest day of summer, when he had been laboring diligently in front of a blazing fire, he craved a hot bath instead of a cold one. The hot bath seemed to cool him off much more than a cool one would.

His assistants dutifully scrubbed his back, as they did every working day. Kannemori had not been blessed by sons, but in the three daughters that had survived childhood, he had found all the joy that a man could expect. His daughters had been married long ago, all to swordsmiths in Kamakura, and taken into other households, but the visits from his grandchildren were now the supreme moments of his life, second only to forging an exceptionally fine blade. He knew, of course, which katana would go to the Sensei’s pupil.

His assistants rinsed him off before he entered the bath. After the master was done, the assistants would get to bathe and then, finally, the women of the house, starting with his wife. The scalding hot water of the bath eased his aching muscles. He knew that he would soon have to appoint one of his assistants his successor, adopting him as a son and grooming the chosen assistant to replace him at his craft. The adopted son would take the name Kannemori, to continue a line that had been unbroken for five generations. Kannemori sighed. He was getting old. Such was the wheel of life-the old replaced by the young. He stretched as the hot water washed away his aches. Perhaps that replacement would not be quite yet. Still, the demand for weapons had slackened considerably since Sekigahara and the coming of peace. Maybe it would be a good time to retire.

Kannemori got out of the bath and dried himself with a small damp towel. The hot water did not have to be absorbed by the towel. It dried off when the excess was taken up. An assistant helped him into a more formal kimono than he would normally wear because of his guest.

Asking his assistant to fetch the key, Kannemori went to the plaster treasure storage located behind the main house. Opening the door, he entered by himself and immediately went toward a hinoki wood chest at the back of the cramped treasure room. Opening it, he took out a bundle wrapped in a purple cloth and left to join his guest, leaving the assistant to lock up.

He found the Sensei’s pupil in the formal sitting room, enjoying some gomoku rice. His wife gave him a small smile and immediately leaned over to pick up an iron kettle filled with sakè that had been sitting in a pot of hot water to warm it. Kannemori put the bundle on the floor and sat down across from the samurai. He was pleased that the samurai had the good manners to ignore the bundle, even though he must have known what was in it and must have been curious to see them.

As the guest, the samurai was served first, a splash of sakè poured into a small porcelain saucer. The samurai then insisted on taking the kettle from Kannemori’s wife and serving the swordsmith himself. The two men toasted. “To the Sensei and happier times,” Kannemori said.

Seeing the two men were intent on serious talk, Kannemori’s wife left them to start preparing supper.

Kannemori reached over and poured another drink for the samurai. The samurai took the kettle and repeated the act for the swordsmith.

“Oishi! Good!” Kannemori said, smacking his lips after draining his saucer.

“Yes, it is,” agreed the samurai.

“Do you still sit in trees?” Kannemori asked suddenly.

“I was a young man then,” Kaze said, a bit embarrassed. It was unseemly for a full grown man to indulge in childish things.

“But…” Kannemori prompted.

“But I still do it, Kannemori Sensei.”

Kannemori laughed and said, “I asked not because I wanted to embarrass you, but because of something the Sensei and I used to speculate about when you were a lad.”

“What’s that, Kannemori Sensei?”

“Have you ever been to the temple Kenchoji?”

“No, Kannemori Sensei.”

“Kenchoji has the first garden laid out in Zen style, and by the lake in the garden was Yogo no Matsu, the shadow pine, an especially lovely tree. On one occasion the priests of the temple were gathered in a room overlooking the garden when they saw a branch on this beautiful tree suddenly dip toward the ground. Lord Abbot Doryu immediately started a conversation with someone sitting on the branch that no one else could see. The Abbot said he was a man in costly court robes and asked where he came from. The man said ‘Tsurugaoka,’ the hill of cranes.”

“Where the Hachiman Shrine is?” Kaze asked.

“The same. Today that tree is called Reisho, the Cold Pine, and the monks swear that the stranger on the branch was the God Hachiman, the God of War himself. When you were a boy, the Sensei and I talked about your love of sitting on tree limbs, and we speculated about whether this was related to your precocious skill with the sword. I thought it might be a sign that Hachiman himself had touched you.”

“And the Sensei?”

“The Sensei said I had spent too much time near a clanging forge and that my senses were addled!” Kannemori laughed. “Still,” Kannemori said thoughtfully, “even an addled fool can sometimes see something a wise man cannot.”

The two men poured drinks for each other again.

“I suppose Tokugawa will declare himself Shogun soon,” Kaze said, wanting to change from a subject that made him uncomfortable. He left off the “san” or “sama” honorific normally used with Tokugawa’s name.

Kannemori looked surprised. “Haven’t you heard? Tokugawa-sama declared himself Shogun months ago.”

Kaze was stunned. “I’ve been wandering the mountains and had not heard the news. I knew Tokugawa was thinking of declaring himself Shogun when he claimed descent from the Minamoto. I’m still surprised he dared to do it.”

“He received the imperial decrees earlier this year,” Kannemori said. The reception of imperial appointments, including one as great as Shogun, the supreme military dictator of Japan, was almost an anticlimactic affair. The official decrees appointing Ieyasu would be sent from Kyoto, probably written in the emperor’s own hand. Each decree would be in a separate box. Ieyasu would receive the imperial delegation in his reception room, sitting on a dais. A box would be handed to an assistant, who would take it out of the room. The box would be opened and the decree, often consisting of only a line or two, would be read to see what honor was bestowed. Then the decree would be replaced by a bag of gold and the box would be returned to the delegation. Ieyasu would then be told what honor had been assigned. No doubt, in addition to Shogun, Ieyasu had received decrees granting many other old Court titles, such as Minister of the Right, which made him the military commander of Kyoto. The more titles granted, the more bags of gold flowing into the imperial coffers.

“After being appointed Shogun, Tokugawa-sama went to Kyoto to celebrate,” Kannemori continued, “and he’s just returned to Edo to check on the progress of his new castle and to see how the town is being rebuilt after the great fire last year. Edo is now a bustling place, full of growth.”

“And also full of charlatans, cheats, and enemies. Men like the Tokugawas,” Kaze said. “There was a Shogun who ruled for only thirteen days. Tokugawa’s rule will not be that short, but he may not enjoy a long dynasty. I truly need a new sword now.”

“I will give you my finest sword. However, I wish you would reconsider your feelings about the Tokugawas. A sword is not just an instrument for killing. It should be an instrument of righteousness. Do you know the story of the blade of Okazaki Masamune and that of his pupil, Muramasa?”

“No, Kannemori Sensei, I don’t.”

“As you know, Okazaki Masamune-san was a master swordsmith who worked in Kamakura several hundred years ago. His forge was just in the next valley, as a matter of fact. I consider Masamune-san to be one of the finest swordsmiths ever. Today his blades are valued above all others as reflections of the swordsmith’s art. What isn’t commonly known is that his pupil, Muramasa, was perhaps an even finer craftsman, looking at his blades from a purely technical standpoint.

“One day a Lord who owned both a Masamune-san blade and a blade by his pupil, Muramasa, decided to test them. Now, the standard way to test a blade is to use it to execute a condemned prisoner or to cut at the body of an already killed prisoner. This Lord, however, decided to try a new kind of test.

“He took the two blades to a swiftly moving stream and thrust the pupil Muramasa’s blade into the rapidly flowing water. It was the month of no Gods, and in the water were many fallen leaves. As the leaves touched the edge of the Muramasa blade, the edge was so keen that the leaves were all cut in two, just from their contact with the sword. The Lord was then curious to see if Masamune-san’s blade was as sharp, so he removed the pupil’s blade from the water and replaced it with the master’s blade.”

“And was it as sharp?” Kaze asked.

“The Lord never found out,” Kannemori answered. “When he put Masamune-san’s blade in the water, he was amazed to see that the leaves in the water avoided the blade, keeping away from the sharp edge. You see, the pupil’s sword was a wonderful weapon, with as keen an edge as can be imagined. But this weapon was just a weapon. Masamune-san’s blade was more than a weapon. It was an expression of Masamune-san’s spirit, a spirit intent on righteousness, not just killing. The result was that even the leaves wanted to avoid the sharp edge of the sword.”

Kannemori reached over and moved the purple bundle between himself and the samurai. He slowly unwrapped the bundle, revealing a katana and a wakizashi, the long and short swords of the samurai. The swords were in plain black-lacquer scabbards. The tsuba had a pattern of swirling water curled into a wave, the foaming edges of the wave picked out in silver. This tsuba was appropriate for a ronin samurai, for ronin meant “wave man.”

“These are the weapons I have chosen for you,” Kannemori said. “They are the finest swords I have ever made. I’ve never been able to repeat their quality, although I’ve tried many times. I have kept them for many years, waiting for the proper owner to appear. You are that owner. If you put them into a stream, unfortunately you will find that the leaves will not avoid them. When they touch the edge, however, the leaves will be cut in two. With this sword I captured the technical prowess of Muramasa, but I lack the spirit of Masamune-san. I’m hopeful that you will be able to endow these weapons with some of your spirit. I know that spirit is strong, or the Sensei would not have had the affection he had for you.” Kannemori bowed, then slid the bundle toward Kaze.

Kaze also bowed, then picked up the wakizashi and placed it in front of Kannemori. “I’m sorry, Kannemori Sensei, but I can only accept the katana. When I accepted the task of finding the Lady’s daughter, she took my wakizashi, the samurai’s keeper of honor, and said my honor belonged to her until I finished my task.”

Kannemori accepted the short sword back. “I understand,” he said. “I’ll keep this, and when you redeem your honor, you can come and get it from me. In the meantime, it will remind me of who has my masterwork.”

“Thank you, Kannemori Sensei.”

“Do you want to see how the katana feels?” Kannemori asked.

“I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Nonsense! Please don’t be shy. Take it outside and try it for feel and balance.”

Kaze did as he was directed, and the swordsmith followed him outside. In front of the house, Kaze removed the blade from the scabbard, noting with satisfaction that the scabbard had a ko-gatana knife embedded in it.

The blade felt marvelously light and lively as Kaze tried different grips and positions. The highly polished blade caught the late-afternoon sun, reflecting fiery flashes across the gray wooden walls of the house. Suddenly, Kaze saw a large fly buzzing by. With a quick flick of his wrist, the blade snaked out and the fly was cut in two.

Kannemori gave a cry of surprise and bent down to retrieve the pieces of the fly. Looking at his palm, he could see the fly was sliced cleanly in half. “Well, that little trick has named your sword. It didn’t have a name before, but now I think it shall be called Fly Cutter! Prince Yamatotakeru had a sword called Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the Grass-Cutting Sword, because he used it to mow down grass and escape when rebels set fire to a field. It’s fitting that you have a similar name for your weapon, after such a display.”

“Tell me,” Kannemori said, giving Kaze a big grin, “was that skill or practice?”

“Merely practice,” Kaze acknowledged.

“Still,” Kannemori said, looking at the two insect pieces in his hand, “that is an incredible way to test this blade.”