Ask a Ninja

Caged in the basement of the Nagasaki Assassin Guild, he has been given a better treatment than he expected. Occasionally they would come to interrogate him. He expected that to be worse, but they've decided to stop torturing him. Instead, they would bring him rewards if his information was accurate. As long as he stayed here, Oda's payroll -and success- was unimportant.

In the distance, he heard someone coming down the stairs. He sat up, interested in what the interrogation would be this time.

Judging by the look in the hostage's eyes, he was happy to see the meal in Yuzuru's hands. It was definitely better than what most prisoners ate, but that was all part of the plan. Killing this one with kindness was showing signs of promise, and soon, they anticipated his full cooperation. "I see you are hungry. Perhaps this time you can tell me your name in exchange for this food."

"You can call me Kuro for now. What have you come to know this time?"

"Or perhaps you could tell me about a man named Shou Hayato. What do you know of him?"

"Let the man eat, Thiago. He can not talk talk and swallow at the same time."

*swallows food*

"Name doesn't sound familiar. Where's he from?"

"He claims himself as a former ashigaru. Under Oda."

"It wasn't my job to know ashigaru. I knew a few samurai and a lot of shinobi. Now, if you need to know about shinobi, I can happily accommodate."

*Sometime later, when Thiago and Yuzuru were not present*

Hayato walked through the Assassin's hideout. It had been a few weeks since he had joined the Assassins, but the hideout was still a little confusing to navigate. He had just finished practicing his swordsmanship. As an ashigaru they mainly fought with spears, but were trained in the sword when battles turned into a melee. The spear wasn't very useful for the Assassin's, so Hayato had been spending every day practicing with a blade. He had even tried some of the European blades that were in the armory, but he was too afraid he would cut himself. Putting the sharp edge on both sides of the blade was just asking for trouble.

As Hayato moved through the halls, he noticed an Assassin standing guard above a staircase that descended below ground.

"Oi," the Assassin called to Hayato, "Could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Our lack in numbers has led me to be putting in a double shift guarding the jail here. I'm exhausted and could use a nap. Mind taking watch for a bit while I get some sleep. Won't be too long I promise."

Was it just ok for him to just take up a seemingly important job? Hayato wasn't sure if it would be right to take up the offer.

"I don't know..."

"Please, I've got some cash saved up, I'll buy you some good ramen. All you have to do is stand here until I come back. The jail is strong, the prisoner won't get out."

Though the food at the hideout wasn't terrible, the idea of ramen did sound really good. "Sure, just don't take too long. We have a prisoner?"

"Yeah, a Templar. I think we should just kill him after what they did to our comrades, but Lopes-dono wants him alive. I'll just take a short nap no more than an hour."

The Assassin walked off towards the barracks. Hayato took the guards place and began to wait. It didn't take long before Hayato began to become restless. There was a Templar just down those stairs. The enemy that this group was fighting and who he had never seen before. Soon curiosity took control, Hayato began to walk down the stairs. He just wanted to look at the Templar. Images of an oni flashed through his mind.

The prison wasn't very big, it seemed the Assassin's didn't really expect to be detaining many prisoners. The silhouette of the Templar could be seen in the furthest cell. Hayato couldn't quite make out any details so he cautiously moved closer. Soon, the Templar became clear. He was a man, like any other man. His possessions were stripped, his clothes were dirty and he smelled like he could use a bath.

Hayato chuckled to himself. What did he expect? Of course this Templar was just a human. The idea that the Templar were some sort of demon was merely laughable.

Hayato was ready to leave, but his curiosity got the better of him. For some reason he wanted to talk to this man. Did he still not believe that the prisoner was just a human like himself? The Templar were a complete mystery to Hayato, though not much more could be said about the Assassins either.

"Oi, you need anything?" Hayato called out to the prisoner.

"My wife and kids would be nice, but I doubt you'll do that. I guess you could change my crap bucket. That could be fun."

Hayato chuckled as if he was told a bad joke. This wasn't his actual job, so he'd just wait for the other guy to change the bucket.

"What can you tell me about the Templar? No plans of course, just the Templar in general. I haven't really been given a straight answer yet."

"Hmph. That's a new one. Aren't you an Assassin, boy? Whatever. I want to see peace in this world. I want to see war come to an end. I want people to stop the bickering and finally see eye to eye. The problem is that people won't do that on their own. Violence is man's nature. Of course, stopping man's nature is hard. We will do whatever it takes to do that. That's where we come into conflict with the Assassins."

Even from the templar he wasn't getting very good answers. "So, then Oda, being a Templar, is trying to create a peace through unifying Japan under him as Shogunate? But how will he maintain this peace? As you said, people are violent by nature."

"Heh, that's the hard part. Thing is, people only seem to want one thing: security. They want to be safe from outside forces and know that criminals are kept in their place. Scare the criminals out of crime with a steel grip? They'll never bother you. Keep your eyes on them at all times and suddenly no one is a criminal. By giving the people a strict eye to work under, you provide them the safety they want. Oda has two plans to get that. One involves the mirror, which belongs to you. The other is to govern as a tyrant."

Mirror? Hayato couldn't really see what a mirror would do with bringing about peace.

"Well, that sounds good in theory," Hayato replied. "But a tyrannical rule will only insight rebellion, which just continues the blood shed. I guess that is what makes this problem so difficult for the Templars and Assassins. What is this mirror you mentioned? I highly doubt looking at your reflection will bring about peace."

"It's one of the Sanshu no Jingi [Imperial Regalia]. It represents wisdom. Oda tells us that it's a golden orb and that foreigners call it a maçã do Éden {Apple of Eden}. Frankly, I don't know anything about how it could resolve this conflict. Personally, I think Oda wants to become the Tennō [Emperor]."

As he waited for the Assassin to respond, the sound of footsteps came from above. More Assassins had arrived, but these wore longer robes and carried more weapons than the fellow he had been speaking to. "Kuro, you're coming with us," they said.

The shinobi stood. He hadn't left the cell for what must have been months. Maybe he was going to see his family again? Too generous. Maybe they were going to start torturing him again? No, he enjoyed his gifts too much to give them false info. "Care if I ask you a question for a change?"

"The Templars are bargaining for you back."

"That answers my question."