The Way of the Dragon Read online

  Praise for Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior:

  ‘A fantastic adventure that floors the reader on page one and keeps them there until the end. The pace is furious and the martial arts detail authentic’ – Eoin Colfer, author of the bestselling Artemis Fowl series

  ‘Bradford comes out swinging in this fast-paced adventure… and produces an adventure novel to rank among the genre’s best. This book earns the literary equivalent of a black belt’ – Publishers Weekly

  ‘I promise you will hold your breath until the end… this is a super novel’ – First News

  ‘The story brims with energy, suspense and thrilling, if violent, action’ – Books for Keeps

  ‘This is a very fast-paced book, with tons of action… the book keeps things moving right along with no dull moments’ – School Library Journal

  ‘A cutting-edge James Bond thriller, Oriental style’ – Japan Times

  Praise for Young Samurai: The Way of the Sword:

  ‘Fierce fiction… captivating for young readers’ – Daily Telegraph

  ‘Addictive’ – Evening Standard

  Chris Bradford likes to fly through the air. He has thrown himself over Victoria Falls on a bungee cord, out of an airplane in New Zealand and off a French mountain on a paraglider, but he has always managed to land safely – something he learnt from his martial arts…

  Chris joined a judo club aged seven where his love of throwing people over his shoulder, punching the air and bowing lots started. Since those early years, he has trained in karate, kickboxing, samurai swordsmanship and has earned his black belt in taijutsu, the secret fighting art of the ninja.

  Before writing the Young Samurai series, Chris was a professional musician and songwriter. He’s even performed to HRH Queen Elizabeth II (but he suspects she found his band a bit noisy).

  Chris lives in a village on the South Downs with his wife, Sarah, and two cats called Tigger and Rhubarb.

  To discover more about Chris go to www.youngsamurai.com

  Books by Chris Bradford

  The Young Samurai series (in reading order)

  THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR

  THE WAY OF THE SWORD

  THE WAY OF THE DRAGON

  Published exclusively for World Book Day 2010

  THE WAY OF FIRE

  CHRIS BRADFORD

  PUFFIN

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3

  (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)

  Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia

  (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

  Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand

  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  puffinbooks.com

  First published 2010

  Text copyright © Chris Bradford, 2010

  Cover illustration copyright © Paul Young, 2010

  Map copyright © Robert Nelmes, 2008

  All rights reserved

  The moral right of the author has been asserted

  Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  Disclaimer: Young Samurai: The Way of the Dragon is a work of fiction, and while based on real historical figures, events and locations, the book does not profess to be accurate in this regard. Young Samurai: The Way of the Dragon is more an echo of the times than a re-enactment of history.

  Warning: Do not attempt any of the techniques described within this book without the supervision of a qualified martial arts instructor. These can be highly dangerous moves and result in fatal injuries. The author and publisher take no responsibility for any injuries resulting from attempting these techniques.

  ISBN: 978-0-14-195742-5

  For Sarah, my wife

  CONTENTS

  Map: The Japans – 17th Century

  Prologue – The Assassin

  1 The Crutch

  2 Blow Dart

  3 The Third Ninja

  4 The Demon Blade

  5 Mother Love

  6 Uekiya’s Garden

  7 The Pearl

  8 Bushido

  9 The Hall of the Hawk

  10 The Match

  11 Haiku

  12 Two Heavens

  13 Knockdown

  14 Yabusame

  15 Bō Race

  16 Snatch and Grab

  17 Punishment

  18 A Call To Arms

  19 The Announcement

  20 Kiaijutsu

  21 Weapons Wall

  22 Love Poetry

  23 Autumn Leaf Strike

  24 The Spy

  25 Last Samurai Standing

  26 Zanshin

  27 Kukai

  28 The Gracious Loser

  29 The Friar

  30 Kyosha

  31 Fallen Rider

  32 Fire of the Hawk

  33 Moriko

  34 Hanging

  35 Yoshioka Ryū

  36 Aftermath

  37 Osaka Castle

  38 Father Bobadillo

  39 The Enemy

  40 Siege

  41 Moon-Viewing Party

  42 Night Attack

  43 Assassination

  44 Never Hesitate

  45 Double Life

  46 The Blessing

  47 Battle of Tenno-ji

  48 The Red Devils

  49 Sacrifice

  50 Paper Crane

  51 The Keep

  52 Divine Justice

  53 Shadow Warrior

  54 Revenge

  55 An Impossible Choice

  56 Life of a Samurai

  57 Sensei Kyuzo

  58 The Last Stand

  59 The Well

  60 Mountain to Sea

  61 Shogun

  62 The Way of the Warrior

  Notes on the Sources

  Japanese Glossary

  Acknowledgements

  PROLOGUE

  THE ASSASSIN

  Japan, June 1613

  Silent as a shadow, the assassin flitted from roof to roof.

  Hidden by the darkness of night, the ninja crossed the moat, scaled the inner bailey wall and infiltrated deep into the castle grounds. His objective, the main tower, was a formidable keep of eight floors that sat at the heart of the supposedly impregnable castle.

  Evading the samurai guards on the outer walls had been a simple matter. Lethargic due to the hot, airless night, they were more concerned about their own discomfort than the safety of their daimyo lord within the tower. Besides, their very belief that the castle was impenetrable meant the guards were lax in their duty – who would even attempt to break into such a fortress?

  For the assassin, the hardest part would be getting inside the keep. The daimyo’s personal bodyguard wouldn’t
be so negligent and the ninja had come as close as he could by traversing the roofs of the outer buildings. He now had to cross open ground to the solid stone base of the tower.

  The ninja dropped from the roof and skirted the edge of a courtyard, using the plum and sakura cherry trees for cover. Passing silently through a tea garden with an oval pond, he made his way to the central well house. The assassin ducked inside as he heard a samurai patrol approach.

  When the way was clear, the ninja darted across to the keep and like a black-skinned gecko effortlessly scaled the steep slope of its immense base. Swiftly reaching the fourth floor, he slipped in through an open window.

  Once inside, the assassin knew exactly where he was going. Padding down the darkened corridor, he passed several shoji doors then bore right, making for a wooden staircase. He was about to ascend when a guard suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs.

  Like smoke, the ninja sank back into the shadows, his all-black shinobi shozoku clothing rendering him virtually invisible. Quietly, he drew a tantō knife in readiness to slit the man’s throat.

  Oblivious to his proximity to death, the guard came down the stairs and walked straight past. The assassin allowed the man to live, having no wish to draw attention to his presence within the keep. As soon as the guard rounded the corner, the ninja resheathed his blade and climbed the stairs to the upper corridor.

  Through the thin paper shoji before him, he could see the halos of two candles glowing in the gloom. Sliding open the door a notch, he put a single eye to the crack. A man knelt before an altar deep in prayer. There were no samurai present.

  The assassin crept inside.

  When he was within striking distance, the ninja reached into a pouch on his belt and removed a rectangular object wrapped in black oilskin. He placed it on the floor beside the worshipping man and gave a brief bow.

  ‘About time,’ growled the man.

  Without turning round, the man picked up the package and unwrapped it to reveal a worn leatherbound book.

  ‘The rutter!’ he breathed, caressing its cover, then opening its pages to examine the sea charts, ocean reports and meticulous logging of tides, compass bearings and star constellations. ‘Now we possess what is rightfully ours. To think, the fortune of the world is in my hands. The secrets of the oceans laid bare for our nation to command the trade routes. It’s our divine right to rule the seas.’

  The man placed the logbook on the altar. ‘And what of the boy?’ he asked, his back to the ninja still. ‘Is he dead?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Why not? My instructions were explicit.’

  ‘As you know, the samurai Masamoto has been training the boy in the Way of the Warrior,’ explained the ninja. ‘The boy is now highly skilled and has proven somewhat… resilient.’

  ‘Resilient? Are you telling me a mere boy has defeated the great Dokugan Ryu?’

  Dragon Eye’s single emerald-green eye flared in annoyance at the man’s mockery. He contemplated snapping the man’s neck there and then, but he had yet to receive payment for retrieving the rutter. Such pleasures would have to wait.

  ‘I employed you because you were the best. The most ruthless,’ continued the man. ‘Am I mistaken in my judgement, Dragon Eye? Why haven’t you killed him?’

  ‘Because you may still need him.’

  The man turned round, his face cast in shadow.

  ‘What could I possibly want with Jack Fletcher?’

  ‘The rutter is encrypted. Only the boy knows the code.’

  ‘How do you know that?’ demanded the man, a note of alarm registering in his voice. ‘Have you been trying to break the cipher yourself?’

  ‘Of course,’ revealed the ninja. ‘After the mistake of acquiring the Portuguese dictionary, I thought it wise to check the contents before delivery.’

  ‘Did you have any success?’ asked the man.

  ‘Not entirely. The unfamiliar combination of Portuguese and English made the task somewhat more complex than anticipated.’

  ‘No matter. It’s of little consequence,’ said the man, evidently pleased that the knowledge remained secret from the ninja. ‘There’s a Franciscan monk in the dungeons, a mathematician and fluent in both the languages. The mere promise of freedom should secure his decoding services.’

  ‘And what about the gaijin boy?’ asked Dragon Eye.

  ‘Once the code’s broken, complete your mission,’ ordered the man, turning to kneel before the altar once more. ‘Kill him.’

  1

  THE CRUTCH

  Jack’s blood pounded in his ears. His heart raced. His lungs burnt for oxygen. But he couldn’t stop now.

  He tore headlong through the bamboo forest, ducking and weaving between the maze of thick stems that stretched like bony fingers into a vast canopy of olive-green leaves.

  ‘Where’s he gone?’ came a shout from behind.

  Jack didn’t stop running, despite his protesting muscles. He would not give up the pursuit.

  Ever since Jack’s fateful arrival in Japan, when his boat, the Alexandria, had been shipwrecked then attacked by ninja, the assassin Dragon Eye had been the bane of his life. The ninja had murdered his father then followed Jack across Japan, hunting him down until finally stealing his father’s rutter.

  Jack was now intent on finding the ninja and getting the logbook back.

  ‘We’ve lost him!’ declared a second voice in disbelief.

  Jack slowed his pace and frantically looked around. His friends were right. The man they were chasing had vanished into the thicket.

  Yamato and Akiko caught up with Jack. Akiko was forced to sit down and rest. She still wasn’t fully recovered from her recent poisoning and the chase had taken its toll on her. The usual white glow of her complexion had dulled and dark shadows ringed her half-moon eyes.

  Jack felt a pang of guilt. Even though Akiko didn’t blame him, he was the reason for her condition. In an attempt to protect the rutter, Jack had hidden it in the castle of daimyo Takatomi, the lord of Kyoto Province. It had seemed the safest place. He now knew different. Dragon Eye had broken in, Akiko had almost died trying to defend Jack, and daimyo Takatomi’s life had been put in danger.

  ‘How could he have got away?’ demanded Yamato, leaning upon his bō staff and catching his breath. ‘He was crippled!’

  ‘He must have tricked us,’ said Jack, turning on the spot, his eyes scouring the forest for any sign of disturbance. ‘Or else he’s doubled back.’

  Jack knew his friend was as determined in his pursuit as he was. Four years ago, Dragon Eye had assassinated Yamato’s older brother, Tenno.

  ‘I can’t believe he stole Akiko’s pearl!’ exclaimed Yamato, kicking out in fury at a nearby bamboo. He yowled in pain as his foot collided with its rock-hard stem.

  Akiko sighed and rolled her eyes at her cousin’s characteristic hotheadedness. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said, tying her hair back, several long black strands having come loose during the pursuit, ‘there are plenty more where that came from.’

  ‘That’s not the point. He took the pearl, but didn’t give us any information in return.’

  Jack agreed with Yamato. This had been the whole purpose of their mission into the foothills of the Iga mountains. Shamefully dismissed from samurai school for jeopardizing daimyo Takatomi’s safety, they’d been sent to Akiko’s mother in Toba until a final decision was made as to their fate. On the way, though, their samurai guide, Kumasan, had dislocated his shoulder in a fall from his horse. They’d been forced to stop over in Kameyama while he recovered. It was during this time they’d learnt from a passing merchant that a crippled man called Orochi had been bragging about knowing the infamous Dragon Eye. The village of Kabuto, where Orochi supposedly lived, was not that far, so the three of them had set off to find him.

  Jack hoped that by finding Orochi they might discover where Dragon Eye’s lair was. They could then inform Yamato’s father, Masamoto Takeshi, of the murdering ninja’s location, and maybe retrieve his f
ather’s rutter too. This, he prayed, would redeem him and his friends in the eyes of the legendary swordsman and they would be allowed back to the Niten Ichi Ryū to continue their training as samurai.

  Kabuto turned out to be little more than a scattering of farmhouses built on a crossroads, with a decrepit roadside inn that served the few travellers who made their way from the main Tokaido Road to the castle town of Ueno.

  It was in the bar that they found Orochi.

  As Jack and the others entered, the bar went quiet. Jack’s appearance often caused quite a stir, especially outside Kyoto where foreigners were rarely seen. His thick straw-blond hair and sky-blue eyes fascinated the black-haired, dark-eyed Japanese. The problem was, despite being only fourteen years old, Jack’s height and strength now exceeded many of the smaller Japanese men and they tended to react with suspicion or fear, especially since Jack dressed and acted like a samurai warrior.

  Jack glanced around. The bar appeared to be more gambling den than rest stop. Low tables, sticky with spilt saké, were the subject of several dice and card games. A mix of merchants, wandering samurai and farmers eyed the newcomers warily. When Akiko entered, there was a low murmur of manly approval and Jack noticed that, aside from a small nervous serving girl in one corner, there were no women.