Captain Muraki could not be certain how much of Jimmu’s story was genuine, but he was impressed with the way the boy had told it.

“Have you killed a man, Jimmu?”

“Yes.”

“How did you feel afterward?”

“Grateful that he didn’t kill me,” said Jimmu.

The captain gave a satisfied nod.

“I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt, Jimmu,” he said. “Tomorrow you will start your training. I’ll be watching you closely. Don’t let me down.”

“I won’t, sir.”

“You may go now, Jimmu. Ask one of the men outside to tell you where the bunkhouse is.”

Jimmu carefully arranged his face into his most winning smile.

“Thank you, Captain Muraki,” he said.

3

MITSUKAGE CASTLE ISE PROVINCE

SUMMER 1572

The following morning, after washing and eating, Jimmu visited the quartermaster and was issued a uniform. He dressed in blue cotton breeches, which tucked into gaiters, a short wraparound green cotton shirt, and straw sandals. Then he buckled on an armored breastplate that was decorated with the emblem of the Choju family, a white diamond within a black diamond. Lastly, he put on a pair of armored gloves and an iron helmet.

Jimmu had never worn armor before and felt constrained by it. The straps of the breastplate chafed; the weight of the helmet was like a headache.

These things must be endured, he thought, and he half smiled, because the words were so familiar. He remembered marching at night through summer heat, through rain and snow; going without food for days on end; Nichiren’s hard, clipped voice saying, “These things must be endured.”

Jimmu found his way to the exercise yard and joined a group of guards who were drilling with spears. The drill instructor, Sergeant Hankei, issued orders in the manner of a dog barking at an intruder.

“Shoulder arms! Present arms! Form ranks!”

Though the drill was tedious, Jimmu was not bored. He withdrew to the quiet place in his mind where nobody could follow. When he was there, his body no longer seemed of any importance, and he did not care how often it had to repeat the same action.

“Shoulder arms! Right turn!”

“Obey orders without question,” Nichiren had told him. “Be reliable and conscientious, and in time you’ll be taken for granted. No one will take any more notice of you than if you were a floor mat. When you’ve achieved that, you’ll be ready to strike. Be swift, certain, and give no quarter. Choju Ankan’s wife is dead and he has not remarried. His mother, Lady Murasaki, lives with him. He has a daughter, Lady Takeko, who is about the same age as you. If you must kill them in order to reach him, so be it. It would be sweet to tell Lord Ankan whose son you are, and listen to him beg for his life. But take no chances. Above all else, be patient!”

The first part of Nichiren’s plan had been carried out successfully. Jimmu had joined the guards in Mitsukage Castle. Now he had to fit in.