Demon Sword Dance
Book 2 of the Dororo Novel Series
Toriumi Jinzō
Part 3 - Mountain of Wisdom
Chapter 1
Hyakkimaru arrived at the main Judicial Office in Takefu. There was tension in the air all throughout the city. Fighting in the Ōno District to the northeast left the lord of Ezichen Province, Shiba Yoshikado, too busy to defend Ezichen from attacks. If his army was defeated, Ezichen would be completely destabilized. Even Tsuruga was in danger now that its lord was too far from home to defend it.
Ōno District had a long history. It was enclosed by mountains on all four sides. The Kuzuryū River ran through it, which was said to be sacred to a water god of the same name. The district was in a highly strategic location and easy to defend. It served as a gateway to the Kansai Region (where the capital was), the Tōkai Region, and Hida Province.
Ōno District was also home to Mount Haku and Heisen Temple. The Buddhist monks in the temple were devoted to the worship of Mount Haku. The temple was founded in 717 by the Japanese monk Taichō, who was supposedly the first person to ascend the sacred mountain. The temple was mentioned in the the Tale of the Heike, and was the site of the 1183 Battle of Kurikara during the Genpei War between Kiso Yoshinaka and the Taira Clan. The temple was destroyed in 1338 by the forces of Shiba Takatsune for its support of the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo during the Northern and Southern Courts Period, and again in 1440, but it had since been rebuilt.
With Lord Shiba away in Ōno District, Asakura Takakage and Kai Jōchi were in charge of protecting Ezichen Province. Takakage and Jōchi disagreed on how best to protect the province and frequently fought. It wasn't the first time they had been at odds. In 1459, the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa finally interfered in their affairs when Ashikaga Shigeuji, a relative and wanted criminal, sided with Kai Jōchi. The shōgun attacked Shigeuji and Kai at Tsuruga, but his army was defeated. Tension and animosity between Kai Jōchi and Asakura Takakage continued after that for almost a decade.
At the start of the Ōnin War in 1467, the Eastern Army quickly surrounded the Ōno District, hoping to conquer it. Only the Western Army unit led by Shiba Yoshikado was close enough to defend it. With Asakura Takakage and Kai Jōchi constantly at odds, sending for reinforcements from Ezichen was out of the question. Yoshikado was pitted against his cousin and rival from the Eastern Army, Shiba Yoshitoshi. The battle over Ōno District was not simply a battle of two armies. The result would determine who would be the head of the Shiba Clan—and the Shiba Clan ruled Ezichen. If Yoshitoshi won, the province, which had always supported the Western Army, might find itself on the opposite side.
It was in this environment that Hyakkimaru met with Ariga Daisuke, the samurai that Jukai had treated on his way to the ruined temple. He asked to be guided to the Judicial Office. The chief inspector looked Hyakkimaru up and down, then gave him a cynical smile.
"Surprising. Who are you? Some kind of monk?"
Hyakkimaru bowed his head politely. "My father is Tanbano Jukai. I wanted to speak with you."
"Isn't that fortunate. I have the results of our investigation right here. He wanted to know about some lord or other, Daigo something..."
"Daigo Kagemitsu?" Hyakkimaru asked.
"May I ask what you want the information for? Your father seemed to think it was very important."
"It is," Hyakkimaru said, "but it's private. I can't tell you too much." This was the same answer he'd given to Taga Takatada when receiving his report about Daigo. His business was no one else's but his own.
The chief inspector laughed hugely. "Fine, fine. I won't ask you anything. It was difficult to figure out if he was with the Eastern Army or the Western Army, though we think we found someone connected to him."
"Who did you find?" Hyakkimaru asked. He leaned forward reflexively.
"He's not here. He's with the Western Army, serving under Asakura Takakage."
Hyakkimaru was speechless. He stared at the chief inspector in shock. He'd heard from Hōichi that Asakura Takakage was a general in the Western Army. He ruled a fortress town in Ezichen Province called Ichijōdani. Hyakkimaru had heard that at the start of the Ōnin War, Asakura Takakage fought alongside Yamana Sōzen and the Western Army, choosing that side of the succession conflict. They were opposed to the Eastern Army, led by Hosokawa Katsumoto.
Hyakkimaru remembered what Hōichi had said about Asakura Takakage: "He's a hard man to find, much less kill. I don't think the fighting in the capital is going to stop anytime soon. Lord Shiba went back to the capital last May, and his forces are keeping the Eastern Army off-balance, but his absence is destabilizing this province. He has no heir. If the worst should happen in the capital, Asakura Takakage might see himself rising in the world, and quickly."
Things in Ezichen Province were, indeed, unstable. It was possible that Asakura Takakage would have to return to Ichijōdani soon, before the situation became much worse.
"Thank you," Hyakkimaru said. "That's what I wanted to know." He bowed to Ariga Daisuke and the chief inspector, then left. With the war situation being what it was, Hyakkimaru didn't want to prolong this visit.
Hyakkimaru decided to go west from the Judicial Office toward Sabae, away from the fighting of the Eastern and Western Armies. He had no desire to get involved in that struggle again. Hōichi had taught him the way to Tsurugi Shrine, which was along the way. He decided to visit it before continuing on his journey.
Hyakkimaru was climbing up a steep hill when he encountered a solitary gravestone. When he asked about the grave in the nearby village, he learned that it belonged to another lute-playing blind monk like Hōichi. His name was Semimaru.1 According to the villagers, Semimaru had been born noble, but he was cast out due to his blindness. He had lived with his sickly younger sister near the Ōsaka Gate. The villagers didn't know where he'd come from before that.
Semimaru had left many songs and poems that he'd composed behind. During his life, he'd traveled the length and breadth of Ezichen Province as a singer and entertainer. Hyakkimaru asked to hear some of these songs and realized that Semimaru had been deeply saddened by his experiences. Hyakkimaru sympathized with him, especially after he read accounts of Semimaru's abandonment. Semimaru had been cast out by his parents for a physical defect, just like Hyakkimaru.
I wonder if Semimaru hated his parents.
Hatred was a completely normal and justified emotion, given Semimaru's circumstances, but Hyakkimaru discovered no trace of resentment or anger in his writings. He had devoted himself to his instrument. Many of his songs were popular even outside of Ezichen Province. He'd used music to provide comfort and solace to others.
But Hyakkimaru hated his parents. He was tracking them down because of that hatred. He wanted to kill his father if he could. Semimaru had lived to make others happy, but Hyakkimaru's life so far was given over wholly to revenge.
Feeling a deep sense of isolation, Hyakkimaru returned to Semimaru's grave to pray. He envied Semimaru's detachment.
Semimaru didn't have a grudge against his parents, so he never tried to track them down. I'm only searching for mine because I hate them. Semimaru left everything to karmic fate, but I've decided to take matters into my own hands. I wish that what the demons showed me at Fushimi in the Hall of Hell was a lie. I hope they were lying so that I don't have to hate my parents.
Hyakkimaru prayed with his hands pressed tightly together and his head down. Even if his half-formed wish was correct, what would the demons gain by lying to him? What would the purpose of that be?
It was possible that Daigo Kagemitsu wasn't his birth father—unlikely, but possible. If Hyakkimaru accepted that Daigo Kagemitsu was his father, he couldn't conceive of a reason why he would ever abandon his child to die. More than his hatred, that was what motivated Hyakkimaru to search for his parents: he wanted the answer to that question more than anything.
Why?
Why was he condemned to this living hell? Why did his parents get rid of him when he was obviously still alive? Had they wanted him to suffer? To die?
Hyakkimaru left Semimaru's grave and headed west to Tsurugi Shrine. The shrine was an ancient one of great importance in the region. Since the Middle Ages, it was protected by the samurai clan lords of the region: Shiba, Asakura, and Oda. The gods enshrined there were Susanō,2 Kehi, and Prince Oshikuma,3 who was one of the sons of Emperor Ōjin. Legend had it that Prince Oshikuma received a magical sword from Susanō at the shrine. After defeating his enemies in battle, Prince Oshikuma returned the sword to the shrine, where it was kept as a sacred object.
Hyakkimaru met with the senior priest of the shrine and asked him to perform an exorcism on his Muramasa sword. Ever since the sword had stopped obeying him, he'd suspected an attack on the sword by some sinister force. Hōichi had claimed that Nihil had claimed something from the sword as a sacrifice in place of blood, but Hyakkimaru wasn't sure that was true.
"I'm a warrior-in-training. I would like to remain here for a short while to purify the sword. Would this be permissible?"
The senior priest nodded. "You may stay among the shrine's disciples and train with them, if you would like," he said kindly.
Hyakkimaru had learned how to use his sword after praying at Kurama Temple, though he'd never trained with the monks and priests there, only Jukai. It was possible that he would have to learn how to use the sword all over again while he was here.
Training with the sword probably wouldn't help him much with his psychokinesis, but learning and living with new people might provide other benefits. And he still needed to discipline his emotions better. No matter how good a swordsman he was, the demons would always defeat him if he lost control of himself.
Hōichi had said that his psychokinetic powers might be restored. Jukai was the one who had sparked his potential to develop those powers. If the demons or evil spirits were able to block them or prevent them from using them permanently, then he was in trouble no matter how much he prayed or who he prayed to. Praying to the god of Iwakura Shrine hadn't stopped the Muramasa sword from disobeying him.
At least the temple was on consecrated ground, so no demons or yōkai could attack him here. He passed the night in the same room with the shrine's disciples, then made a proper shrine visit before dawn the next morning.
Vegetation grew wild around the shrine. Because it was sacred to Amaterasu's brother Susanō, there were relics related to the legend of Amaterasu and the terrible serpent monster Yamata no Orochi.
Amaterasu, the sun goddess, hid herself in a cave after Susanō angered her. The other gods conceived a plan to lure her out so that the sun would rise again. They laughed and claimed that another god had come to bring light in Amaterasu's absence. Amaterasu slid the boulder blocking the cave's entrance and peeked out, at which point the gods brought out a mirror and held it before her. As Amaterasu approached the mirror, the gods took her hand and pulled her out of the cave, which was then immediately sealed with a straw rope, preventing her from going back inside. Thus was light restored to the world.
As punishment for his unruly conduct, Susanō was driven out of the heavenly realm by the other gods. Going down to earth, he killed the monstrous serpent Yamata no Orochi. From the serpent's carcass, Susanō found the sword Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven, which he presented to Amaterasu as a reconciliation gift.
Although Susanō had angered his sister first, Hyakkimaru found himself sympathizing with the god, who had also been cast out from his family.
Was Yamata no Orochi a demon or a yōkai, I wonder? He had eight heads!
The legend said that Susanō had defeated the monster by getting it roundly drunk, then chopping off its heads one by one. The sword that Susanō had retrieved from the corpse, Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, was supposed to be able to kill demons.
I wonder if the Muramasa sword has the same power...
Hyakkimaru wanted to be powerful enough to kill something as huge and terrifying as Yamata no Orochi. Prince Oshikuma had probably prayed for the same thing when he'd come to this shrine, but his request had been not been granted. Though he'd fought the legendary swordsman Takenōchi no Sukune in battle, he'd been defeated. After that, he'd attacked Empress Jingū to prevent an illegitimate son from ascending to the imperial throne. Like Hyakkimaru, he had targeted his family for the sake of a just cause, though the rightness of his cause hadn't helped him in the end. It was too bad that he hadn't kept the sword he'd received from Susanō to use when he'd needed it most.
There was a clear, cool stream behind the shrine that flowed into a shady wooded area. Hyakkimaru stripped down and took a bath. It was only just past dawn, so the water was very cold. He closed his eyes and prayed as he washed himself. His head felt wonderfully clear and blank, like all of his concerns and worries had been stripped away along with his clothes.
After he left the stream and got dressed, Hyakkimaru climbed to the top of a hill near the shrine and unsheathed his Muramasa sword. The eastern sky was brightening with morning sunshine. The temple bell rung behind him, loud. Hyakkimaru didn't know this, but the bell was used to warn people in the area of fire. It was very old, having been cast in 770.
As Hyakkimaru listened to the tolling bell, he gripped the hilt of his sword harder and prayed for it to truly be purified.
Translator's Notes
1 Semimaru was a Japanese poet and musician of the early Heian period.
Some accounts say he was a son of Emperor Uda, Prince Atsumi, or
that he was the fourth son of Emperor Daigo. He was a blind lute player
who lived alone in a straw hut in Ōsaka.
In Noh, there is a Zeami Motokiyo play, Semimaru, that depicts the life
of a young man, blind from birth...abandoned on a mountainside by his
father, and his sister, Sakagami, a beautiful young woman that suffers
episodes of inexplicable madness which compel her to wander the
countryside aimlessly.↩
2 Susanō is a Shinto god in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of
Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese
imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory
characteristics (both good and bad), being portrayed in various stories
either as a wild, impetuous god associated with the sea and storms, as a
heroic figure who killed a monstrous serpent, or as a local deity linked
with the harvest and agriculture.↩
3 Prince Oshikuma was the son of Emperor Chūai, but Empress Jingū gave
birth to another son—three years after Emperor Chūai's death. Oshikuma conspired with Imperial Prince Kogasaka, his older
brother, to attack the Empress army and depose her. Prince Oshikuma lost
his bow and sword in a battle against Takenōchi no Sukune, then ran away,
and was finally defeated at Ōsaka. He jumped into the Yodo River,
committing suicide.↩
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