Four years ago... I had travelled to the Dragon provinces after having informed my father that I had no intentions of serving his clan. I was perhaps a bit naive to have thought that I would not have been followed. The three figures came out from the trees they had hidden behind. They were ninja - assassins under my father's command. A tall thin one with a pair of jitte spoke up, "Your father has decided that your decision was most unwise and has sent us to show you the truth." The other two, a big one with an ono and a woman with a kusuri-gama, fanned out to surround me. "Hmm? I guess I will have to show you what I have learnt these past eight years," I said, grabbing my katana. The big man rushed at me, ono held high. I cleaved him quickly and let him topple over before me. Next came the woman, as she headed towards me she seemed to split into three. All three chains came at me I dodged two but it would seem that they were not the right ones to dodge. The heavy ball hit me straight in the gut and knocked me from my feet. The three of her sprung off of tree trunks and flew at me screaming. In a single fluid motion I rolled to my feet, slashed down one, and then caught another with my extended blade. Unfortunately they both vanished in a puff of smoke. The real one swiped at my right arm leaving a gash across my bicep. I drove my sword though her in retaliation. Now there was only one. The leader adopted a defensive stance and waited for me. "I'll show you something," I said menacingly, "Monomane-jutsu!" I leapt forward, two doppelgangers appearing beside me. He stared in amazement. The first double attacked and when the ninja drove a jitte into its eye, it turned to smoke. The other double lunged low and I thrusted high. The ninja stomped his foot on the double, dispersing it, and with a great deal of force smashed aside my katana with his jitte. The pieces fell all around me as I stared in disbelief at my shattered blade. "Now that that is dealt with, prepare to die!" the ninja stepped forward, making two sweeping blows with his jitte. His jitte managed to break one of my ribs. However, my wakizashi tore him in half. "Great. Now I need to find myself a new katana," I said in disgust. One week later... I had discovered a temple. After some checking, I discovered that it held the Katana of Fire, a relic from the clan war. This, of course, was an obvious solution to my sword dilema. Unfortunately, after being completely undetected while sneaking into the temple, a guard managed to walk in on me just as I lifted the sword from its resting place. "A thief!!! There is a thief!!" he bellowed. In moments there were gongs blaring. Six sohei turned a corner and rushed at me. I ducked the first two bo staves and cut down the two monks who tried to hit me. As we prepared to continue our attack when a voice spoke out, "Halt, I shall deal with him!" A tall monk with an ornate staff appeared as the others fell back at his request. "I take it you are the head of this temple?" "Of course. Will you show me if you are worthy of the blade you are attempting to take?" "With pleasure. Tell your friends to leave; this is not for their eyes." "Bold words. Very well." He turned to the sohei. "Leave. I shall personally see to our guest." They left without a word. The monk whirled his staff then stomped his foot into the ground causing the stepping stone in front of me to explode. "You shouldn't hold back - it'll only get you killed," the monk said, flying at me and launching an elaborate series of staff strikes. "Take your own advice." I struck him in the gut. He fell back. "You are thinking 'That was fast.' Do not worry; you are not the first to think that." "No, I am not thinking that. I am thinking that you are a worthy foe and that this really begins now." The monk's staff lit aflame and he charged, whirling his staff in front of him. I leapt at him, my katana cleaving off his arm while his staff struck me solidly in the jaw. Both of us spun to the ground and were a moment in getting up. "Good hit," he grunted. I stroked my jaw in response. He whirled his staff in front of himself and a fierce gust of wind started to push me back. I let loose a scream of rage and slashed with my sword, and to my surprise a gout of flame spewed forth and engulfed the monk. I looked down to see that flame was dancing along the blade. I like my new katana. Two years ago.... The bandits were an irritation. They refused to follow my leadership, so I killed them. I had just finished killing the leader, having held him for last, when the Mantis arrived. There were fifteen of them, all in heavy armour, all wielding a different weapon and, from the looks of things, were all bushi. A big man who had many knives sheathed about his armour told me, "That I should surrender." The very idea! I decided to teach these Mantis a lesson. I rushed at them and cut down two of them, which caused a bit of a drop in morale as they took a moment to recuperate. I would give them no such mercy. I lanced two more on my katana as they tried to organize, and decapitated each of them when they fell to their knees. The rest encircled me and prepared to attack. "You of course realize that you are all dead," I said, hoping I could cause them to flee. One using a spear attacked me from the front, while another wielding a pair of nunchuku attacked from behind. I grabbed the spear and pulled it into the man behind me. Hearing a satisfying cry of pain I ended the misery of the spearman. Their commander, the large one with the knives, ordered his unit to run while he tied me up. They all ran and he faced me. He held his knives so that the flat of the blades touched his forearms, one arm raised for defense while the other was held back for later use. It seemed I would have to make the first blow. I thrust my blade at his mid-section, and he stumbled in defense, realizing too late that I was left-handed. The blade skidded over his armour, scaring it. He changed the leading leg of his stance and prepared for the coming attack. "Left-handed bastard!" the Mantis said, steadying himself. I rushed in for another attack that he was ready for this time with his Mantis tricks. He parried my first attack then followed up with an attack from the other hand. I rolled with his parry, ducked most of his attack and swung a second strike into his midsection. He collapsed in a heap, though he still breathed. I felt a trickle of blood go down my forehead. "You have impressed Mantis, you managed to cut me. As all that is left for you if you return is a life of shame from your defeat, why not join with me and go ronin?" I asked. "Sure, why not? Better than being dead," he said. Twelve years ago.... The Bayushi mountains were hung with a quiet veil of mist, obscuring all but a small dojo nestled into the mountainside. A lone figure was seen heading up along the rough trail that lead to the dojo, occasionally vanishing into a wall of mist. It was a happy day at the dojo; the sensei was to test his students today to see if they were worthy to pass their gempukku. A group of six young students sat excitedly, awaiting their sensei's arrival and the sign to begin. Their sensei brought with him a younger boy of eight that they all recognized; he was a minor Shosuro daimyo's son and was very talented for his age. "Greetings, class. Today we shall begin our testing. Tensai here shall be joining you." This was met with assorted groans and moans as none of the students wanted to graduate with a kid (or worse yet, lose to the kid, which some of them already had). "Silence! He has met all the requirements and has as much right to this as you all," the sensei said plainly, "Now lets get moving." They left for the training grounds. The seven students broke into a circle and drew their boken. "The final test this year will start with a melee. First one to fall will fail," the sensei said, "Begin!" In a flash the seven students launched themselves at one another. Three of them came together to defeat Tensai, one thrusting low, another high and the last aiming a blow for the boy's stomach. Tensai rolled to the side, forcing the first two students to hit each other. The third student missed his mark but still landed a blow on the boy. The boy panted, "What is it, Tokaro? Can't deal with being beaten by a kid?" The older boy flew into a rage and launched a savage series of blows at the boy. Tensai rolled in close and drove his boken into the older boy's throat. The sensei smiled maliciously as Tokaro fell, "It would appear we have our first defeat." A weight seemed to have been lifted from the students' shoulders with this announcement. Tensai fended off Tokaro's two friends at the same time, jabbing one hard in the gut and splintering his boken across the other's head. "That's enough, students. Try to revive Kei and Heige, then send Tokaro home. Next we shall be doing one-on-one sparing. Tensai, get another boken." "Hai, sensei!" came the response from the students. Tensai was now to fight with the best student in the class. They took positions and waited for their sensei to announce the beginning of the match. "I hope this will be an interesting match," Tensai's opponent said, displaying his boken with a flourish. "Begin!" their sensei shouted out. In a fraction of a second they had come to grips with each other. Tensai blocked his opponent's first blow with his boken, then moved to check his opponent off guard. The older student saw this coming, however. The blow threw Tensai several feet and almost completely winded him. The older boy stared down at Tensai, waiting for him to move. "Come on, kid. Let's get this over with." "Sure. Why not?" Tensai said, standing. The student charged at him then feinted to the right. Tensai tripped trying to defend and the blow missed his head by inches. The older boy let out a curse from under his breath as Tensai drove his boken upward into his midsection. "STINKING BRAT!!" the older student yelled, slamming his boken downward. Tensai rolled aside just enough so that the blow landed directly beside his head. With a swift kick Tensai, tripped his foe, then thrust his boken into the other student's chest. "The match goes to Tensai," the sensei said, ending the match. Both boys stood up, bowed to one another, and quietly took their places amongst the other students. After the exam... "You have a student of extreme potential in your midst, though I'm sure you already realized that," the stranger said. The sensei nodded and asked curiously, "Is that what brings you here? Your appearance is unexpected." "Oh, is that so? I had thought your kind liked surprises. Perhaps I had misinterpreted," the stranger said thoughtfully. "I ask again, Is that what brings you here?" "What? Oh, yes, of course! That's exactly it," the stranger said, flustered. The sensei's face paled, "What's 'it', exactly?" "Eh?" "What is *IT*, exactly?" "I'm here to collect a new student of course," the stranger huffed. "I would have thought that was obvious." The sensei shook his head and walked away, then remembering something turned around. "So who is it that you want?" "What?" "Who am I going to get? You said you were here to collect a new student, so who is it?" "Oh... I see." The stranger paused, considering the question. "I'm not sure. I just felt a strong presence and came." "I... see. I shall go get my best students and let you pick for yourself, then." The sensei turned and left. He returned a few minutes later with a small entourage of students. "These are the best four that I have. Pick." "That one," a feathered hand stretched out and pointed towards Tensai. "Congratulations, Tensai-kun. This kenku wishes to train you." Four years ago... "You have finished your training with me. Shall you return to your clan?" the old crow asked. The young man paused in his daily exercises. "I do not think so. They would squander my skills on the murder of their petty foes." "Hardly a reason to leave your family. Perhaps it is not my place to judge; humans are such strange creatures. Still, it is your choice," the old crow pondered. "Perhaps it is best. I hear that your wanderers--" "Ronin, sensei," Tensai corrected. "Yes, right. These ronin of yours, I hear that they must hunt and scrounge for their food. I think perhaps I could have taught you something else." Tensai's mind reeled in horror as he recalled every time his sensei had attempted to get him to eat worms and grubs. "No sensei, I believe I shall be fine," he said a false smile on his face. "Oh, I see. Anyways, you should be on your way before your new ronin life passes you by." "Yes, I suppose so." With that, Tensai turned and left. "Greetings father," Tensai said, walking out from the shadows, "I am here to inform you that I shall not be returning to the clan for quite some time." "What did you say?" his father sputtered, clearly outraged. "Are you insinuating that, after I spent all that time seeing to it that you received the best training, you are not returning to serve me!? That I have wasted countless years and efforts on a what now amounts to a be a worthless ronin?!" Tensai glared back at his father. "I have said what I had come here to say. Good bye." Tensai vanished back into the shadows from which he had came. His father rang a gong, and moments later four figures entered the room. "What is it that you wish my lord?" "A villain has left this castle just recently. Hunt him down and kill him," the daimyo ordered. The four prepared to leave when the lord added, "Inform him that his father has decided that his decision was... unwise." "Of course my lord," the four assassins said in unison.