Crouching low, Hayato kept his arrow trained on the bandit as the man turned his horse and rode off with Sayomi in the direction of the mountains.

‘I’ll follow them,’ said Miyuki.

‘Why on earth do that?’ said Saburo, aghast. ‘The further away from those two we are the better!’

‘They’ll lead me straight to Akuma’s camp.’

‘Do you need to take such a risk?’ asked Yuudai. ‘When the bridge is down, the village will be like a fortress.’

‘Know yourself, know your enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories,’ replied Miyuki. ‘Our Grandmaster believed in a similar strategy to the honourable Masamoto. We must find out exactly how many enemy we’re facing and what weaponry they’ll be using. If all the bandits are like those two, we’ll need every advantage we can get.’

‘It’s a good idea,’ Jack agreed. ‘But you can’t go alone. It’ll be too dangerous.’

‘I’ll go with her,’ stated Hayato, to both Jack and Miyuki’s astonishment.

‘I should go too,’ said Jack, not trusting them alone together. ‘I need to see this Akuma for myself. It will help me decide our best tactics.’

‘But we still need to protect the village,’ Yori reminded him.

Jack smiled at his friend. ‘That’s why you’ll be in charge while I’m gone.’

Yori blinked in shock at this unexpected responsibility. ‘But –’

‘I have every faith in you,’ said Jack, not allowing his friend to doubt himself. ‘Besides, Saburo will be here finishing the ditch with Neko and the rest of the villagers, and Yuudai will lead the army training.’

‘But what if a snowstorm covers the bandits’ trail?’ asked Yuudai, glancing up at the sky.

Jack gave Miyuki a knowing look. ‘Ninja are excellent trackers.’

31 Tracking Trails

31

TRACKING TRAILS

Gathering the minimum of supplies, Jack, Miyuki and Hayato prepared to leave.

‘Wait!’ said Junichi, hurrying over to them. ‘You’ll need a guide. The mountains are treacherous in winter.’ He turned to the farmers behind him. ‘Where’s Toge?’

They looked around blankly and shrugged.

‘We don’t have time to wait,’ said Miyuki, pulling on the hood of her white shinobi shozoku.

‘I’ll go,’ volunteered Sora, clearly nervous at the prospect but determined to help.

Miyuki shook her head. ‘Sorry, but I can’t risk you slowing us down, especially if we need to make a quick escape.’

‘We need local knowledge, though,’ argued Hayato.

‘True,’ she agreed.

‘And I’m faster than I look,’ said Sora, grabbing a walking-stick from beside his door.

‘Let’s go then!’ said Jack, putting on his ronin’s straw hat.

The four of them hastened out of the village and across the bridge. Natsuko was sitting on a stool outside her mill, still fuming.

‘You tell that Scarface, I’ll break both his kneecaps the next time I see him!’ she crowed, waving her stick like a battleaxe.