With advance information, costly mistakes can be avoided, disaster averted, and the way to lasting victory made clear.

—Sun Tzu, Art of War

Sai

Yujirō and Asano yelled as they charged out of the cell, scattering servants as they thundered down the walkway toward the northern building.

“I came as myself?”

That was the best I could do?

The horror on Asano’s face when he realized I was the assassin haunted me. I had enjoyed our night on the town and had already planned which kabuki play to take him to. I didn’t think it would happen now.

If I quit the shinobi, I won’t be seeing him anymore, anyway. That is if either of us are alive tomorrow to see anyone.

Smoothing my hair and straightening my clothes, I sauntered casually along the walkway. No one need pay any attention to me, I am just another page going about his business. Nothing to see here.

I examined the cells as I walked by them. No locks on the three cells on this side of the corridor. Where was Emiko? I went around the corner and was nearly run down as three guards raced past me. I watched them as they headed in the direction Yujirō and Asano went.

One of the doors ahead of me had a padlock on the jam, near the latch mechanism. I yanked on the lock. No luck, it was locked.

A soft, female voice came from within the room, whispering. Praying, perhaps.

I pulled the picks from my obi. Making sure no one was looking, I unfastened the lock and opened the door.

“I will not apostatize no matter what you do to me,” Emiko shouted to me as I came inside. “I—Seiji? What are you doing here?”

I hesitated, both Yujirō and Hitoshi told me to save her. The truth was that I would have come for her even if no one had asked me to. Who should I give credit for her rescue? “Hitoshi asked me to save you.”

That should make up for any trouble I’ve created between them.

“He sent a child into danger? And where is he? Too busy to come himself?” She sounded furious.

This is not working the way I hoped.

“Actually … the Tiger in the Shadows sent me to get information. I need you to help me read some letters.”

Emiko put her hands on her hips. “Stop telling ridiculous stories. You are leaving this place immediately. It is much too dangerous for you here.” She marched out the cell. When I didn’t follow immediately, she turned around and ordered, “Well, come along.”

Ahhhhh! Why does everything have to be so complicated?

I planted myself in front of her. “I am not a boy. I am a kunoichi.”

She arched an eyebrow and stared down at me dubiously. I did the only thing I was sure would convince her. I pulled open my kimono to expose my breasts. “See, I am a kunoichi.”

Emiko took a half-step back, her hand over her mouth.

I closed my kimono. “Now, I need you to come with me. This has been a very difficult day, and I am completely out of patience.” I started off.

This is the worst job I’ve ever had.

Emiko had to run to catch up. She said, “Why do you need me? What are we doing here?”

I ignored her.

We crossed the garden and made our way to the small building Maeda-sama had marked on his map of the machi-bugyō headquarters.

The sound of weapons and men’s screams came from the building in the north corner of the estate.

A voice roared out, “Tokugawa Goro, I am coming!”

Emiko stared in the direction of the yell. “What was that?”

“Yujirō-san. He is hunting his brother’s murderer.”

Her mouth dropped open, then she closed it, her lips pressed tightly together and shook her head in disbelief.

A couple more guards raced along the walkways. Frightened servants peeked out of doorways. Smoke and flames could be seen in the south. Emiko glanced around nervously and tugged at her prayer beads.

I hoped Emiko wouldn’t fall apart on me. We didn’t have the time for it.

I peeked through the windows and doors of the rooms we passed. None of them looked like an office yet. I slid another door open. A stylishly dressed man in fine brocade was tearing through a stack of papers. Two guards stood at the back door. A third guard was right in front of me.

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“What are you doing here?” the well-dressed man screamed at me. “Get out.”

He turned to the two guards at the back. “Bring me that brazier.”

He’s going to burn the papers I need!

The guard in front of me turned to chase me away. I yanked out my tantō, slammed the hilt into his temple, and then kneed him in the groin. He doubled over and fell to the floor. I slashed the side of his throat and blood fountained out.

“Find Yujirō-san,” I hissed at Emiko, who was staring in horror at the dying man on the floor.

I threw two shuriken at the guard holding the brazier. They hit his hand and arm. With a cry of pain, he dropped it and drew his wakizashi. The coals spilled and landed on the straw of the tatami floor which began to smolder. Both guards charged.

Che! I am not Yujirō. Taking on two trained samurai is not going to work.

I yanked a tube out of my obi and blew metsubishi powder in their direction and rolled out of the room into the hallway. I hadn’t been able to wait for the guards to get close, so the effects of the blinding powder were diminished. They came charging through the door into the courtyard, coughing and squinting, but still able to see. Emiko screamed and ran to the edge of the building.

“Tokugawa Goro, I am coming for you!” Yujirō came charging across the courtyard, waving his sword. On seeing Yujirō, one guard froze, but the other launched a vicious thrust at my face. I twisted to the side as the sword flew past me. I grabbed my attacker’s arm and yanked him forward while kicking the side of his leg. He overbalanced and fell to his knees. I ran to the edge of the building, grabbed Emiko and dragged her around the corner away from the guards as Yujirō and Asano attacked them.

Ignoring the clash of steel behind us, I went to the back door of the room. The tatami had caught fire and flames were licking at the paper covered doors. I yanked the screens off their tracks and threw them into the dirt in the courtyard.

The elegantly dressed man was still frantically going through papers. When he saw me, he grabbed a handful and threw them into the middle of the fire on the floor. I started kicking papers clear of the flames. The man drew his katana and approached me. Without warning, one of the guards came flying through the front screen and crashed into the elegantly dressed man, almost knocking him over. The guard lay where he had fallen, dead. The incident seemed to break the man’s nerve. He put away his weapon and shoved past me as he ran for the back door. When Emiko stuck her head into the room to see what was happening, he nearly knocked her over in his hurry to get away.

Just as he exited, Yujirō and Asano ran into the room from the other direction, nearly knocking me down. They looked around wildly, seeing no sign of the machi-bugyō.

“That way!” I yelled, pointing to the outside exit.

They tore off in pursuit.

I kicked and grabbed the papers, trying to get them away from the flames. When we had most of the documents safe, I removed the mat I had carried the Twin Dragons in from my back and put it on the floor. I stacked the papers we had recovered onto the mat. If the machi-bugyō wanted to burn them, Maeda-sama probably wanted to see them. Behind me, Emiko finished putting out the fire.

She joined me in perusing the documents. “Are you sure we should be reading these?”

“Maeda-sama gave me my orders. I need to find correspondence with these characters on them.” I showed her the list of names Maeda-sama had given me.

Emiko looked at the list and grew pale. “But these are the names of the Council of Elders, the senior advisors to the shogun!”

Maeda-sama was looking for evidence of high treason if he was planning to read the correspondence from the Council of Elders. It could be suicide to get involved in this.

I grabbed the paper from her. “Watch the front,” I told her. “Everyone knows I am practically illiterate. But you—never let anyone suspect you were even in this room.”

She was shivering. She nodded slowly and started to the front of the building. She saw the body of the guard lying near the door and backed up.

“Maybe, I will wait out back,” she whispered.

Still glancing at the documents, she backed out. She picked up a paper from the floor and studied it. “We are going to need this one.” She folded it neatly and slipped it into her obi.

I picked up a paper with the word “Confucius” on it. It was a receipt for a book. I put in the pile. Ignorance would keep me alive.

“So, who really asked you to get me?” Emiko asked from the door.

“Honestly, it was Hitoshi who asked me first. He was frantic about you, but he needs to fight that fire before it burns down the district. It was only by promising to save you that I was able to get him to stay out and battle the blaze.”

A small, pleased smile spread across Emiko’s face. “He knows you are a kunoichi then?”

I put the papers the machi-bugyō tried to burn onto the mat. They must have been important. “Yes, he has been helping Yujirō-san investigate Maeda-sensei’s death. Yujirō-san also told me to get you, but I would have anyway. You must have the patience of a Buddha to put up with that bunch of perverts.”

Emiko giggled. Perhaps a bit too long, it wasn’t that good a joke. But she hadn’t gone into hysterics yet, so I wouldn’t complain.

I picked up a scroll with calligraphy that was even worse than mine. The signature was not on the list, so I almost threw it away when I saw the words “White Hilts.” It was a demand for more money to continue harassing the chonin, claiming that they had suffered numerous losses in a battle against them and that the White Hilts needed better weapons.

I stared at it. Why would the machi-bugyō pay anyone to harass the chonin? Could it be that he wanted trouble? Why?

I put it with the other papers for Maeda-sama. Something near the wall caught my eye. When I went to investigate, I found Yujirō’s weapons shoved into a space behind a standing cabinet and the wall.

Yujirō will want these back.

I grabbed them and tossed them into the middle of the pile of papers atop the mat.

“The fire seems to be going out,” Emiko reported from the doorway, where she was keeping watch. “How did it get started?”

“I guess Hitoshi and a bunch of his hot-headed friends got upset when you were arrested and marched down here. It nearly turned into a riot. It seems fires often start during riots.”

The sound of marching feet came from the area near the gate, headed our way. I gave a quick look around the room. There didn’t seem to be anything else of interest.

“Time to get out of here,” I announced. I rolled the mat up, with Yujirō’s weapons and all the papers inside. There were still some hot coals in the brazier. I dumped them on the floor where it had been burning earlier. The scorched tatami caught instantly, and the fire soon spread across the entire floor and began licking at the walls of the room.

No one will know I took anything if the building burns down.

Slinging the mat across my back, Emiko and I hurried out of the room, the crackling of the flames growing louder behind us. us.