Hyakkimaru's Birth - Part 5 - The Ōnin War Begins - Chapter 5

Hyakkimaru's Birth

Book 1 of the Dororo Novel Series

Toriumi Jinzō

Part 5 - The Ōnin War Begins

Chapter 5

    Hyakkimaru and Dororo returned to Jukai's estate on Mount Kurama at the beginning of April. The cedar trees were green with fresh spring leaves.

    Hyakkimaru had gained valuable information at the Western Army camp, but he couldn't be certain that Daigo Kagemitsu was his father. When Jukai heard what Hyakkimaru had learned, he knew that Hyakkimaru would be heading north soon to look for his birth father.

    Hyakkimaru invited Dororo and Sakuzo to pray at Iwakura Shrine with him. The sky above Hyōtankuzure was a brilliant blue. Hyakkimaru faced the shrine and clasped his hands together in silent prayer for a short time, then turned toward the river and watched snow melt into its current. He thought of being discovered here in a washbasin, drifting down this same river. So much of his body had been missing then, but now, he appeared physically whole. He unsheathed his Muramasa sword slowly, its tip pointing upstream.

    His expression was as cold as the water in the river, but hatred burned inside of him. He planted his feet and considered revenge. I was thrown away to serve my father's blind ambitions.

    For the briefest of moments, a shadow passed over the water; Hyakkimaru thought he saw two footprints facing his own. He felt like he'd just seen Daigo Kagemitsu's reflection in the river's surface.

    In the middle of April, Hyakkimaru decided to leave Kurama. Jukai went to Sakuzō and said, "I'll be following those two. Please keep an eye on the estate for me."

    "Taifu?" If Jukai left the estate, Sakuzo would be left there all alone.

    "Don't worry," Jukai said. "You won't have to stay here alone. Why not invite your daughter Oryō's family to live here?"

    "What? Oryō?"

    Oryō was Sakuzo's oldest daughter. She was married and had four children.

    "I'm counting on you to protect this place," Jukai said.

    Sakuzo was stunned, but he couldn't deny Jukai's request. He hung his head, then bowed.

    Jukai wanted to see what would happen next. "It has been my life's work to draw out Hyakkimaru's potential. I only hope that, in the end, what he achieves makes him happy."

    After settling things with Sakuzō, Jukai began preparations in secret for his own journey. He wouldn't learn anything about the purpose of Hyakkimaru's life, or his own work, if he stayed behind.

 

*** 

 

    Hyakkimaru advanced from the western cliffs of Lake Biwa in the direction of the northern Hokuriku Road leading away from Kurama. He reached Sugeura at sunset and crossed the Azumi River, but it was dark by the time he reached Imadzu. He was still close to Lake Biwa. He had never seen it before today and was fascinated by it.

    I've never seen the ocean... I wonder if it's as beautiful as the lake? How much bigger could it possibly be?

    There was a shadow crouched down in the shadow of a large pine tree along the side of the road. It was Dororo.

    Hyakkimaru smiled without realizing it. He didn't let Dororo know that he knew he was there. He continued on his way in the darkness, thinking that Dororo would give up and return to the estate on Kurama when the road got too rough for him to travel.

    Hyakkimaru knew that there were many boats and harbor towns along this route, as well as pirates; he'd learned that from Jukai when he'd crossed the lake to go to Mino. Traveling by boat would definitely be faster, but Hyakkimaru wanted to avoid too much contact with people until he reached the Hokuriku road. He didn't want to get in any trouble.

    Lightning flashed in the distant sky. A storm was coming. Hyakkimaru started looking for a place to make camp. He turned off on a side-road and discovered a wayside shrine. It was old and not maintained well, but sleeping there would certainly be better than sleeping out in the open in a rainstorm.

    Hyakkimaru slid open the shrine's double doors and went inside. Woven mats were spread out on the wooden floor. There was a Jizo statue on the altar; rotten dumplings and withered bamboo leaves were scattered on and under the altar.

    Hyakkimaru sat down on a woven mat and took off his pack. He removed a large fried rice cake from the pack and started to eat. Sakuzo had soaked the rice in miso broth before frying it; it smelled strongly of salt. He ate two large rice cakes, indulging his appetite so that he could build up his strength. He rested his Muramasa sword against the wall behind him, then stretched out on the straw mat and closed his eyes.

    Lightning flashed. Hyakkimaru heard the pattering of straw-sandaled feet approaching the shrine. "Forgive me, traveler, but may I share your shelter for the night?" a man asked.

    Hyakkimaru opened his eyes, then answered, "I don't mind. Come on in."

    The doors of the shrine opened, revealing an ancient man whose face was nothing but wrinkles. He was pitifully thin; when lightning flashed behind him, Hyakkimaru thought he looked as severe and wizened as the old monkeys who had been his friends in childhood.

    "Thank you," the old man said. "It's getting rough out there." There was keen intelligence in his expression, especially in his eyes.

    Hyakkimaru drew his Muramasa sword and sprang to his feet, facing the old man.

    "Eh?" The old man retreated a step, then spun on his heel and left the temple. Hyakkimaru followed him.

    The old man produced a spear out of thin air and smiled coldly at Hyakkimaru. He stood his ground in front of a grove of trees. Hyakkimaru pointed his sword squarely at the old man and prepared to fight.

    Thunder shook the grove. Drizzling rain fell all around. In all honesty, Hyakkimaru had heard someone wearing sandals following him for quite some time before he'd reached the shrine. The sound had given him an uneasy feeling—the same one he'd felt when he'd faced the Nue and the demon woman. He'd suspected that there was yōkai-like energy in the man’s sandals, or in the owner of them; it seemed that he was right.

    Hyakkimaru knew Daigo Kagemitsu's name and the circumstances of his birth. The demons had threatened to attack him if he challenged them, and he intended to do just that. Under the circumstances, being attacked by more demons was an inevitability. The fact that one had attacked him now, on the first day of his journey north, was somewhat encouraging. He took it as a sign that he was headed in the right direction.

    This is the first demon I've seen since leaving Kurama. If I keep going north to the provinces, I should find out where Daigo Kagemitsu lives. The demons probably think they're blocking my way, but they might lead me right to him.

    "Well done, Hyakkimaru. You saw right through me." The old man's eyes sparkled. He kicked the ground, flying high into the air before descending sharply over Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru blocked the blade of his spear with the Muramasa sword. Without it, he would have been chopped in half as cleanly as a potato.

    The old man took a step back and transformed: his wrinkled face became large and smooth, and all his limbs elongated. Thick hair grew from his rapidly expanding legs. His arms grew as wide around as industrial-size mallets used for constructing buildings. He carried wicked-looking iron caltrops in one hand, about three inches in diameter, and an enormous metal club in the other. One direct hit from the club would turn most people into pulp and splinters.

    Hyakkimaru retreated to the edge of the grove, slipped in a puddle and fell. He gasped as he went down. The transformed giant raised his huge club.

    Hyakkimaru hastily undid the fastenings of his left arm prosthetic at the elbow. As the club came down, Hyakkimaru's hand cannon pointed up, shooting a hole straight through the giant's neck. The explosion was so enormous that sparks lingered in the air. The sound of the cannon was like thunder.

    The giant's head went flying across the grove; his body collapsed to the ground. Hyakkimaru was grateful, not for the first time, to Namitarō for showing him hand cannons, and to Jukai for building one into his arm. He retrieved his Muramasa sword with his right hand, then got to his feet.

    Lightning struck a large tree next to Hyakkimaru. It burst into flames, illuminating the area brightly. The thunder that followed sounded like the giant's laughter.

    Hyakkimaru looked up and spun in a circle, searching for the demon. "Where are you? Come out!"

    The face of the giant on the ground morphed again: Hyakkimaru recognized it as one of the Hall of Hell demons. It was far uglier than any demonic face he'd seen in person so far. The demon’s hair was as disheveled and knotted as weeds and bracken; his expression resembled a hungry wolf's.

    The demon fixed its bloodthirsty gaze on Hyakkimaru and said, "You never learn, Hyakkimaru." The voice was the same one Hyakkimaru remembered from his nightmares. It belonged to the statue of a huge baboon-like monster.

    As Hyakkimaru watched, the demon's head spread out and grew into a larger-than-life-size, moving copy of the Hall of Hell statue. Black fur sprouted from the demon's skin, covering his entire body. Thin trails of smoke emanated from the demon during the transformation. The bright light of the tree on fire shone in his eyes.

    Hyakkimaru wasn't sure how he should approach fighting this thing; he'd never faced anything like it.

    The demon spewed flames from its mouth; they twisted around in a spiral of fire that tightened around Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru ducked outside the spiral of flames before it could trap him. The shrine behind him was struck by lightning and started burning.

    Hyakkimaru knew of only one thing that might hurt the demon. He looked down and began to pray: "God of Iwakura Shrine, worker of miracles, watch over me..." He focused on the prayer and nothing else. Psychokinetic energy gathered in his right hand, which still held the Muramasa sword.

    Hyakkimaru finished his prayer. With a furious shout, he hurled the Muramasa sword at the demon. It flashed brightly as it pierced the giant baboon demon's chest.

    The ground shook from the force of the demon's collapse. Blood flowed freely from the demon's neck and chest. The bleeding stopped as the body shrank after death; the corpse resembled a much smaller monkey's.

    Hyakkimaru retrieved his left arm prosthetic and put it back on. He buried the monkey’s body in the bamboo grove behind the burning shrine. After burial, he said a prayer for the monkey's soul to rest in peace. Since Hall of Hell demons had no bodies of their own, the demon had possessed an innocent creature and used it for its own purposes. The demon hadn't attacked Hyakkimaru with its own hands. He had to be prepared for more attacks like this in the future.

 

*** 

 

    The next morning, Hyakkimaru reached the Arachi Mountain Pass.

    "I wonder if my father really is Daigo Kagemitsu..." Hyakkimaru said this periodically, speculatively, even although there was no one nearby to talk to.

    Traveling through Arachi Pass would bring him to the province of Ezichen, which was ruled by Shiba Yoshikado, who was loyal to the Western Army. Ezichen bordered Kaga, which was ruled over by Togashi Masachika, a general in the Eastern Army. Hyakkimaru still wanted nothing to do with either army; they didn't concern him.

    Only a year or so before, the first battle between Hatakeyama Masanaga and Hatakeyama Yoshinari took place in the forest of Kamigoryō Shrine, not far from this very spot. They had no way of knowing that they were about to spark a bloody and unending conflict. Jukai had told Hyakkimaru that the earth could remember the past; the provinces to the north had a long and complex history of war.

    What if Hyakkimaru did cross these war-torn lands and find Daigo Kagemitsu? What then?

    The mountain range before him was shrouded in morning mist. Hyakkimaru faced a mountain to the north to get his bearings. With the way forward still uncertain, Hyakkimaru wandered into the mist.

 

This is the end of Hyakkimaru's Birth. The story continues in Demon Sword Dance.