Chapter 16 : Mugan Ryu

The roar of the river filled Jack's ears as he stepped out over the abyss and a

sliver of fear took hold.

He couldn't see the gorge he knew gaped beneath him like the open

mouth of a shark. Yet with each step into the unknown, his confidence

grew. Having been a rigging monkey on-board the Alexandria, the soles of

his feet gripped the slippery surface of the log as if he were back upon the

yardarm.

He was also aware that without his sight he would have to rely upon

his other senses, and tried to judge his progress across the log by the

changing echoes of the river below.

Eventually, his feet found the grassy bank on the opposite side and he

opened his eyes, amazed he had crossed without looking once.

Akiko now approached the log. She closed her eyes and nimbly

negotiated the gorge in several quick steps, her balance as perfect as a

dancer's, making everyone else's attempts so far appear awkward and

ungainly.

They waited for Yamato. But he put off his crossing by politely

inviting Emi to go first. She was across in no time, so he stepped aside for

others in the class. Saburo shuffled along in fits and bursts, then Yori

scampered over, followed by Kiku. Nobu ended up groping his way along

astride the trunk, while Kazuki strolled across not even bothering to close

his eyes.

Eventually there were no more left for Yamato to invite.

'Don't worry,' called Jack. 'Just keep your eyes closed, walk straight

and you'll be fine.'

'I know!' said Yamato irritably, but he remained at the end of the log

all the same, his staff trembling in his hands.

'Use the eyes of your heart and believe in yourself, then you have

nothing to fear,' advised Sensei Kano, who waited for him at the opposite

end.

Yamato screwed his eyes tight shut, took a deep breath and stepped out

on to the log. In painstakingly tiny steps, he edged himself along. Halfway

across, he wobbled wildly. The class drew in breath expecting him to fall.

But Yamato regained his balance and resumed his snail-like progress.

'You're nearly there,' encouraged Saburo when Yamato was little more

than four steps from the end.

Unfortunately that was the wrong thing to say. Yamato opened his

eyes, looked down and saw the dizzying drop beneath him. Panic seized his

senses. Rushing the last few steps, his feet slipped from under him.

Yamato screamed and plunged head first into the chasm.

But, just as Yamato lost his footing, Sensei Kano shot out his bō staff,

catching him across the chest and flinging him up and over to safety.

Yamato landed in a quivering heap upon the grass.

'You opened your eyes and let fear in, didn't you?' said Sensei Kano.

'You'll learn soon enough not to be so swayed by what you see.'

Without waiting for a response, the sensei turned and led the students

deeper into the forest.

Jack, Akiko and Saburo ran to help Yamato back to his feet, but he

shrugged them off moodily, furious with himself for having lost face in

front of the class.

'How on earth did Sensei Kano do that?' exclaimed Jack to the others,

astounded at the bō master's lightning reactions. 'He's blind!'

'All will become clear when we reach the monastery, Jack-kun,'

shouted Sensei Kano from afar.

They stared at one another in amazement. Sensei Kano was already out

of sight, yet he had still heard them.

'This temple is where Sensei Sorimachi, the founder of the Mugan Ryū, the

School of No Eyes, began his training,' explained Sensei Kano. 'The school

is based upon the insight that "To see with eyes alone is not to see at all".'

The class listened obediently, standing in two rows, their staffs held

tightly by their sides. Sensei Kano had brought them to a large open

courtyard that faced the ruined remains of the Kompon Chu-do, the largest

temple of the once great and powerful Enryakuji monastery.

The temple's long curved roof had collapsed in several places, and red

and green tiles lay scattered on the floor like discarded dragon scales. The

broken bones of wooden pillars rested at odd angles and battered gaptoothed walls revealed ransacked shrines and cracked stone idols. To all

intents and purposes, the monastery was dead.

Yet deep inside, a single light glimmered. This, Sensei Kano

explained, was the 'Eternal Light'. A lantern lit by the temple's founding

priest, Saicho, over eight hundred years ago, it was still burning, tended by

a solitary monk. 'Belief never burns out,' observed Sensei Kano before

starting the lesson.

'As a samurai warrior, you must not become blinded by what you see.

You must use all your senses to conquer your enemy – sight, hearing, touch,

taste and smell. You must be at one with your body at all times, maintaining

perfect balance and complete awareness of where each limb is in relation to

the others.'

The sensei turned to face Jack, his misty grey eyes staring directly at

him. The effect was unsettling, as if the sensei was somehow looking into

Jack's very soul.

'You asked me, Jack-kun, how I managed to save your friend without

being able to see. Simple. I sensed his panic. My staff was moving before

he fell. I heard his foot slip on the log and then his scream, so I knew

exactly where he was. The hard part was ensuring he didn't land on any of

you!'

A ripple of laughter spread among the students.

'But how can such skills be used to fight an enemy you can't see?'

asked Kazuki with scepticism.

'I will demonstrate,' replied Sensei Kano, turning his clouded gaze

towards Kazuki. 'Your name?'

'Oda Kazuki, Sensei.'

'Well, Kazuki-kun, try to steal my inro without me knowing and it's

yours to keep.'

Kazuki grinned at the challenge. The little carrying box hung freely

from the obi of the sensei's kimono, easy pickings for even the most inept

thief.

Kazuki crept out of line and advanced silently towards the sensei. As

he passed Nobu, he indicated to him and another lad, a thin, wiry stick

insect of a boy called Hiroto, to follow him. Kazuki then resumed his

approach, with Nobu moving off to his right and Hiroto to the left. Each

converged on Sensei Kano from a different direction.

They were four paces away when Sensei Kano whipped his bō staff

round, catching Hiroto by the ankle and sweeping him off his feet. Spinning

round, the sensei thrust his staff in between Nobu's legs, knocking them

apart. A single jab to the stomach sent the startled Nobu toppling to the

floor. Finally, without pausing, he attacked Kazuki, driving his bō directly

at the boy's throat.

Kazuki froze, an audible swallow of panic coming from him as the end

of the staff stopped a hair's breadth from his Adam's apple.

'Very clever, Kazuki-kun, employing decoys, but your friend over

there smells of three-day-old sushi,' he explained, nodding towards the

fallen figure of Hiroto. 'You breathe as loud as a baby dragon, and that boy

treads like an elephant!' he said, indicating Nobu, who lay on the floor

rubbing his bruised belly.

The class broke into uncontrollable sniggering.

'Enough!' interrupted Sensei Kano, bringing an abrupt end to the

laughter. 'It's time to start your training or you'll never learn how to fight

blind. Space yourselves out so that you have enough room to swing your

bō.'

The class obediently spread out across the stone courtyard.

'First you need be at one with the weight and feel of the bō. I want you

all to spin your staffs as I do.'

Sensei Kano held out his staff in his right hand, gripping it halfway

along the shaft. He began to spin the bō, swapping hands in the process. He

started slowly, then built up speed until the staff was a blur either side of his

body.

'Once you're confident enough spinning the bō between your hands,

close your eyes. Learn to sense its movement, rather than relying on your

sight to follow it.'

The class began to twirl their staffs. Several students immediately

fumbled their weapons and dropped them.

'Start off slowly. Get the hand movements right first,' advised Sensei

Kano.

To begin with, Jack found it difficult to swap the staff over. Shattered

from lack of sleep, his reactions were sluggish and his movements clumsy.

Yamato, on the other hand, took to the weapon like he had been born

with it in his hands. His friend already had his eyes closed.

'Good work, Yamato-kun,' Sensei Kano commended as he listened to

Yamato's bō whistle through the air. Yamato smiled, his loss of face at

crossing the gorge regained as he became the first student to master the

technique.

Yet it was not long before Jack had his own staff spinning, albeit at a

more sedate pace. With continued practice, his confidence grew until he

braved closing his eyes. He tried to feel the weapon, hear it, sense it, rather

than having to see it.

He increased his speed.

The bō was flying, each spin sending a blast of air past his ears.

He had mastered it!

'Owwww!' Jack cried out as pain leapt up his leg.

The bō had struck his shin and shot out of his hands, clattering across

the stone courtyard. Jack hobbled after the fallen weapon.

The bō rolled to a stop… at Kazuki's feet.

Jack stooped to retrieve it, but before he could get to it, he was struck

across the back of the head. Jack glared up at Kazuki.

'Careful, gaijin,' said Kazuki, giving him a look of mock innocence.

The hatred between them flared and Jack tensed himself in readiness

for a fight.

'Don't even think about it,' whispered Kazuki, checking to see Sensei

Kano was nowhere nearby. 'You wouldn't even get close.'

Kazuki stopped his bō directly in line with Jack's nose, forcing Jack's

head back. Jack stepped away, then feigned to his left before ducking and

snatching up his staff with the other hand. But Kazuki was ready for it and

brought the tip of his own staff down on to Jack's fingers, knocking the bō

back to the floor with a clatter.

'The student who keeps dropping their bō would be best advised to

keep their eyes open until they're more competent,' said Sensei Kano from

the other side of the courtyard.

Jack and Kazuki silently opposed one another, each waiting for the

other to make the next move.

'Eyes open or closed, you're a worthless excuse for a samurai,' goaded

Kazuki under his breath. 'Even you must realize that no one at the school

likes you. Your so-called friends are only polite to you, because Masamotosama commands it.'

Jack was riled by the accusation and fought to control his anger.

'And the student who keeps talking would be advised to channel his

energies into more positive practice,' added Sensei Kano pointedly.

But the damage had been done. Kazuki had hit a raw nerve. Jack

couldn't deny that there was a grain of truth in his taunt. When he had first

arrived in Japan, Yamato had only tolerated his presence due to a direct

order from his father. It had taken their victory in the Taryu-Jiai to bring

them together as friends. Then there was Akiko. Despite being his closest

friend, she hid her feelings so well that Jack wouldn't be able to tell if she

was faking their friendship or not.

Maybe Kazuki was right.

Despite her denial of last night's mysterious appearance, Jack had the

feeling she was hiding something from him.

Seeing the internal battle played out on Jack's face, Kazuki grinned.

'Go home, gaijin,' he mouthed silently.