Iga Ninjutsu is Good (Hattori: Legendary, Domination, V5445)

[Maltz]

In Japan 500 years ago,
a young man began his journey from Kyoto.

Little did he know,
the brutality of the outside world;

Much will he grow,
to cast Iga Ninja's darkest shadow.

His name was thousand miles,
Chisato.



Hello,

This is my fourth story/AAR with the ORG. My inspiration comes from writing an almost RPG story from the eye of a single character, while making harmless parody of a certain famous religious group. I will try to make appropriate English adaptations to cater to the international readers and add some exclusive content.
Welcome suggestions and comments.

Clan: Hattori
Version: V1.1 5445 (Chapter 1-11), 5520 (Chapter 12-)
Difficulty: Legendary
Length: Domination
MODS: None
DLC: Hattori, Ikko-Ikki, Sengoku Jidai units, Blood Pack

[Maltz]

Table of Content

Chapter 1: Journey of Thousand Mile
Chapter 2: One Step More
Chapter 3: Race for the Hill
Chapter 4: Beach Drops
Chapter 5: Evasive Invasion
Chapter 6: Shadow's Call
Chapter 7. Friendly Neighborhood
Chapter 8. Dark and Darker
Chapter 9. Dishonourable Bastards
Chapter 10. Dawn of Naginata
Chapter 11. 24 Seasons Later
Chapter 12. Musashi Gathering
Chapter 13. Angel of the Night
Chapter 14. Unlikely Enemy and Ally
Chapter 15. Endurance beats Might
Chapter 16. Revenge of Iga Ninjutsu

List of Videos
Chisato's Assassination #1 & Battle of Kumamoto
Chisato's Assassination #2 & Siege of Oko Castle
Kyoto Night Battle
Black Ship Battle
Chisato's Assassination #3-5 & Battle of Fukushima
Review of Hattori Campaign

[Maltz]

One. Journey of Thousand Miles

About five hundreds years ago, Japan was deeply divided by its warring clans. Yet one place was relatively sheltered from the devastation - the imperial palace in Kyoto. The emperor of Japan was still respected by all clans, possibly because he did not possess any actual power.

Chisato, literally "thousand miles/kilometers" was a 20-year-old young man who had just passed his exam to become a restroom manager(janitor/servant) in the imperial palace. It was a decent and stable job, and he surely studied hard for it. However, like many young man, he dreamed of doing something great, something to make his ancestors proud. In spring 1545, his fate will be forever changed...

Emperor: "ARGH!~~ OOMPH!~~"
Chisato: "Your majesty, do you have constipation again? :Please let me help you dig it out!"
Emperor: "Thank you, Chisato. But I think I will handle this myself in the future, so that people don't the wrong idea. Actually it is not constipation this time."
Chisato: "What is it? Can I help?"
Emperor: "You have always been so nice, and since you are not one of the Ashikaga, why not?... The Ashikaga Shogunate has been increasingly impolite recently. They often just throw me documents to sign without asking my opinion. I am just a stamp to them! How could they do this to me?!"
Chisato: "(Haven't the Shogunate been doing this for hundreds of years?) Cursed Ashikaga rats!"
Emperor: "It will be great if we find a replacement of the Shogun. But I have little knowledge of the outside world... I don't know who can be trusted."
Chisato: "Your majesty, how about I take a look of the outside world for you? I will find a suitable replacement of the Shogun!"
Emperor: "This is a good idea. Let's just say your great grandma suddenly died and you need to take a long leave..."

[Maltz]

The journey of Thousand Miles (Chisato) began. He travelled to quite a few towns in the Kinki area (surrounding Kyoto), but everywhere he went, people instantly recognized that he was with the imperial palace. Chisato did not gather a lot of useful information if people had to be careful about what they speak to him...

(The Province of Iga, Spring 1545)

Chisato: "Sigh, I am just not good at this... How can I face the emperor's high hope on me? "
Momochi Sandayu (33 years old): "Come! Come! Today is the grand opening of the the Iga Ninjutsu school! Hey young man, interested in Ninjutsu?"
Chisato: "Sir, could you tell me what Ninjutsu is about?"
Sandayu: "Ninjutsu is the skills of endurance. Iga Ninjutsu is especiall good because we are truly good at endurance. Graduates of the Iga Ninjutsu school will become a certified Ninja and receive a guaranteed life-long career with the Hattori clan! However long your life is."
Chisato: "Hm, I have never heard of Ninja. People who specialize at endurance... sound like self-torture artists to me. Could you tell me what a Ninja does exactly?"
Sandayu: "Business secret! It is the most exciting career one can ever imagine. There is nothing about self-torture that's for sure. In fact quite the opposite. I have spoken too much."
Chisato: "I just want to learn about the clans in Japan. I am not into torturing or being tortured."
Sandayu: " Ninjutsu is not like that! Hey, you are from the Kyoto palace, right? How about I give you a special royal discount? Free tuition! And I pay you 50 koku and you become my student, how's that, huh?"
Chisato: "NOOO~ How come everybody knows I am from Kyoto?! "
Sandayu: "Ha! First, you speak standard Japanese. Regular folks all carry their regional accents. Second, you walk with your bum shaking left and right. In other parts of Japan only prostitute girls do that, but in Kyoto this is normal for men. Third, the chrysanthemum flowers printed on your robe is the royal seal, and regular people will get their head chopped off if they wear it. Fourth, you have some black tooth. Dying teeth is a common practice only in the palace. Fifth, you are too polite but you are not crazy. Six, you still wear that red dot right in the middle of your forehead. That's just too obvious..."
Chisato: "I forgot to wipe it off... Wow! This is impressive! If I study Iga Ninjutsu, will I become as observant as you? Will I be able to collect very useful information about clans?"
Sandayu: "Collecting information is Ninja's specialty! But it just a desert compared to the main entry, which is murder and arson. "
Chisato: "You are very good at joking, too!"
Sandayu: "...yeah, anyway, Congratulations, you are a member of Iga Ninjutsu!"



Hattori Yasunaga (daimyo of the Hattori clan, 33 years old): "Momochi, how's today's progress? Did you find any talent?"
Sandayu: "My lord, I got my first student signed up! This is Chisato!"
Chisato: "Very nice to meet you, my lord!"
Yasunaga: "Wow, a young man from Kyoto! Welcome to Iga!"
Chisato: " I will work hard to learn Iga Ninjutsu from master Momochi!"
Sandayu: "Actually, Iga Ninjutsu is all about learning from practice. So... you are ready to take on your first assignment!"
Chisato: "But I haven't learned anything yet! "
Sandayu: "No worries, you will learn along the way. We will give you appropriate assignments and lessons. You will be perfectly safe."
Hattori Masanari (son of Yasunaga, 4 years old): "But how come the big brother we sent to Ise did not return?"
Chisato: "Huh?"
Yasunaga: "Ah... don't listen to kid's crazy talk. Masanari, go play with your mother."
Sandayu: "Chisato, your assignment is go to Yamato, and find out how much army the Tsutsui clan has. Once you get there, stay there and a messager to get in contact with you."
Chisato: "Er... can I see my room and office first?"
Sandayu: "You are a ninja! A person who endures! Truly good at endurance! The world is your room! Go now! "
Chisato: "But... everybody can tell I am from Kyoto!"
Sandayu: "Ops, I forgot about that. on_sweat: You should wear this ... Iga Ninja's all-black uniform. Very good taste, right?"
Chisato: "But this makes me even more stand out from the crowd..."
Sandayu: "Who says you will stand in a crowd? You are a bloody Ninja! You walk in the woods and sleep on people's roof!"
Chisato: "This is so different from what I imagined... "

Note: Many of us heard about "Hattori Hanzo". There was even one in the movie Kill Bill. Hanzo is a name that is passed down through the Hattori clan; every Hattori clan lord is a Hattori Hanzo. The most famous Hanzo is Masanari (who is only a little child at this point).

[Maltz]

(Province of Yamato, Tsutsui Clan)

Chisato: "After 20+ mosquito bites, finally I am here at Yamato..."
Ishikawa Goemon (10 years old): "Psss... Iga Ninja Chisato? Come here!"
Chisato: "What's wrong, little boy?"
Goemon: "Don't call me that. I am employed by the Iga Ninjutsu, just like you."
Chisato: "So you are my contact?"
Goemon: "Exactly. From now on, I am the middle-man between you and the HQ."
Chisato: "Why use a middle man?"
Goemon: "You must be that naive dude from Kyoto. This way they can easily deny any involvement and knowledge of your missions."
Chisato: "What?! So they are not going to try to rescue me if I fail?"
Goemon: "Actually, they only deny involvement when you succeed. If you fail, you will be tortured and reveal everything anyway. Just like the last guy they sent to Ise, he told every thing after taking just 50 beat-ups. "
Chisato: " I can't believe they do not arrange ransoms..."
Goemon: "Ha. The things ninja break often cost more than 1000 koku. It is hardly worth it. It only costs 500 koku to hire a new Ninja."
Chisato: "500? I only got paid 50 koku..."
Goemon: "Hey! I have to eat, too. But where does the other 440 koku go? Did Momochi take them all?!"
Chisato: "Hm... anyway, my assignment is to figure out how much army the Tsutsui clan has in Yamato."
Goemon: "This is easy. You just stand in town square and count the number of soldiers when they patrol by. After several days you will have see them all."
Chisato: "But that's very tiring..."
Goemon: "You are a person who endures! A Ninja! Just do it!"

Note: Goemon is a very famous Iga ninja/thief from the period, stealing from the rich and help the poor like Robinhood. He was finally caught in 1594 and got cooked alive in a big wok. I played video games featuring him as the main character.

[Maltz]

Chisato: "After standing 7 days in the market square, I have become familiar with of each Yamato soldier's face! I can count there are one unit of Bow Ashigaru and two units of Yari Ashigaru!"
Goemon: "Not bad. But I would simply steal their paylist and figure that out. Anyway, you have a new mission now! Burn down the Tsutsui castle!"
Chisato: "What?! Didn't they say my mission is completely safe? "
Goemon: "You don't have to literally burn it down to ashes. Breaking the lock of their front gate will work. This way they will be busy repairing the lock and temporarily forget about hiring new units... somehow. Let me help you!"
Chisato: "OK..."

***

Goemon: "OK the guards have past! Go Go!"
Chisato: "What if innocents get hurt if I break their front gate?"
Goemon: "How can that happen? You are a Ninja! You don't care about innocents! "
Chisato: "I can't! Breaking other's property is wrong!"
Goemon: "Ok, ok, I promise you nobody is going to get hurt. Well even if they do get hurt, they will grow back in the next season. And the gate will be repaired. There is no hard feelings."
Chisato: "Ops, the gate caught my torch's fire!"
Goemon: "Run!~~"



Goemon: "Ha! Look at the dark smoke rising from Tsutsui castle. Good job."
Chisato: "I wanted to do something to benefit all Japan... But look at me now, I am an arsonist, a criminal! How do I face the emperor and my parents?"
Goemon: "Well, my goal of life is to become the greatest thief of Japan, so I can steal from the richest rats and redistribute their fortune to the poor."
Chisato: "That's a great goal! But you are still a thief."
Goemon: "...Yeah and we do not murder people like ninjas do. So you can do something to make the ninjas proud, too!"
Chisato: "All right, I will use my torch to burn down all the incompetent clans of Japan to help end the meaningless Sengoku Jidai! This will honor the emperor and my parents!"
Goemon: "That's a positive thought. I will reflect your goals to the management so they assign you more appropriate tasks to increase your productivity."
Chisato: "Thank you!"