Assassin's Creed: Tumult of the Sengoku Period

Chapter 26 of my Assassin's Creed story, enjoy.

Reviews

will zona: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, here is the next chapter.
Fallen Vanguard: Well the Warring States of Japan has long been my favorite historical period so it was easy to do my research since I enjoyed it. Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, a word of advice, always ensure that while you have historical incidents and all that, bend the truth a little, just a little, use your imagination. Remember Assassin's Creed is all about the Templars being secretly responsible for events that others got credit for.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Assassin's Creed or any of the characters in this story except OCs.

Chapter 26: Hunt for Fuma

1597; Toranaga Yorimoto was now fifty-four years old and had been Mentor of the Japanese Assassin's for seven years. He was still tall and muscular and still wore his hair in a topknot but the black hair was beginning to turn grey as was his bear and moustache, his beard had grown slightly longer, forming a small goatee. In spite of his age he had lost none of his sprightliness and was still as good a fighter and free-runner as in his youth. For the past seven years the war in Japan had been over. Hideyoshi's life being Ieyasu's only lifeline meant the Assassin's were constantly on guard, in case a Templar plot brought about the death of both men. Hideyoshi had somehow noticed that the trouble caused by Luis' arrival had deeper meaning and to prevent further interference from the West he sought to expel all Westerners and missionaries from Japan. He also intended to force the Christian Daimyo to denounce their new religion. However the following year he relented and allowed the Daimyo to remain as they were. Also, instead of outright expelling them, he instead restricted access for the Westerners, forcing them to land only in Nagasaki on Kyushu and conduct their trade from there. The main imported good was Chinese silk which was used to make kimonos for the Japanese people. While Hideyoshi's peasant background meant he couldn't become Shogun he had accepted the title of Taiko instead. As Taiko he believed he shouldn't be dependant on another country for anything and so in 1592 he had his armies sail over to invade China by going through and taking their satellite Chosen before marching into China itself. He also initiated a new scheme known as the sword hunt. Now Ashigaru were disbanded and anyone who wasn't Samurai was forbidden to bear arms of any sort.

However Toranaga and his Assassin's were unaffected by all of this. They also had a personal mission now, a mission that was about revenge as much as justice. They were tracking Kotaro, the last of the Fuma and killer of their former Mentor Hattori Hanzo. At the present moment however Toranaga was busy training his thirteen year old son Toranaga Isshin how to fight while his wife, forty-six year old Chigusa watched. As they continued Chigusa called out to her son.

"Guard up Isshin, if this had been a real fight your head would've been split open." Isshin quickly corrected his stance and they continued.

Finally, when Toranaga declared the training over they headed back inside and found they had a visitor. It was the thirty-two year old Hattori Masanari, Hanzo's son.

"Toranaga-sama." He greeted with a bow which Toranaga returned, "I come with urgent news."

"What is it, Masanari-san?" Toranaga asked, intrigued. Masanari straightened up and replied "We've found him, Kotaro; he was hiding in a bandit den in Omi."

Toranaga nodded and immediately it was decided that Toranaga and Masanari should be the ones to go after the traitorous former Assassin. They left immediately heading directly to Omi to hunt down the last of the Fuma.

They soon approached the bandit den, they noted at least five bandits outside, they knew Kotaro was inside but wouldn't be alone. Toranaga nodded to Masanari and they stealthily made their way over to the den. Once in position Toranaga struck and dropped down on top of two of the bandits, air assassinating both of them. The other bandits reacted in shock, but before they could even draw their weapons Masanari appeared behind two of them and assassinated them both. The last one dropped his sword and ran off in terror. Both Assassins immediately took cover as Kotaro and another bandit came out. They froze when they saw the bodies and Toranaga used this to his advantage and killed the bandit with a shuriken. Kotaro looked around wildly as Toranaga and Masanari came out of their hiding places and confronted him.

"You!" Kotaro remarked when he saw Toranaga, "I'm glad you recognize me, you will pay for betraying the Assassins and Hanzo will be avenged."

"Then this boy…" Kotaro began when Masanari cut across him, "I am Hanzo's son, you killed my father, now you must for pay your actions."

"Foolish boy, you cannot beat me, no one can."

Toranaga however drew his katana and charged into attack with Masanari following suit.

Kotaro however was too quick for them and dodged their strikes before drawing his own katana. As they both regrouped and prepared to strike again he laughed and launched a sudden attack, going for Masanari. Masanari just barely blocked the strike and when Toranaga attempted to attack from the side Kotaro leapt out of the way. Toranaga stumbled and Kotaro attempted to bring the blade of his katana down on Toranaga's neck. Masanari blocked the strike and both Assassins regrouped. Kotaro smirked and soon all three began a flurry of sword work. Kotaro began to tire but he was certain that Toranaga, now well into his middle-age, would also be tiring. He was more worried about Masanari, who was younger and therefore had more stamina. He was wrong however; Toranaga's training had allowed him to maintain the stamina he had in his youth. Taking advantage of this he attacked viciously and cut Kotaro's katana blade in two, rendering it useless. Kotaro growled and threw the useless blade aside before drawing his Tanto and attempting to pierce Toranaga's heart. Toranaga dodged and, anticipating the next move used his bracer to block Kotaro's right Hidden Blade, breaking it. Kotaro attempted to attack Masanari but the younger man slid under him and grabbed his broken Hidden Blade, plunging it into the back of Kotaro's thigh.

"Damn you, I won't be beaten like this!" Kotaro yelled.

He then threw his Tanto at Toranaga who knocked it out of the air expertly however Kotaro then used a smoke bomb to blind them and made his move.

He kicked Toranaga over, knocking the katana out of his hand and pinned him to the ground before raising his remaining Hidden Blade.

"It's over." He growled when suddenly he heard Masanari's voice, "Yeah, for you."

Before he could react Masanari grabbed him and plunged his Hidden Blade into Kotaro's neck before shoving the body aside.

"That's for my father, rokudenshai!" He spat, Toranaga stood up shaking his head, "Enough Masanari, yes he killed your father, but he is dead now, he deserve the proper respect for the dead."

"Respect, he would've burned our corpses had he killed us…" Toranaga shook his head again, "But we are not Kotaro, we won't become him."

With that Toranaga walked over and laid out Kotaro's body on its back before reaching up and closing his eyes.

"Anata no sosen to heiwa o mitsukeru koto ga dekiru, jobutsu suru." (Translation: May you find peace with your ancestors, rest in peace)

So it was that Fuma Kotaro, the fifth Fuma Kotaro passed on, he had no children and as such his family line came to an end. The two Assassins returned home and reported their success, now they stood ready to focus on preventing the Templars from trying to kill Ieyasu. However they faced difficulty, Hideyoshi was their lord's lifeline and, for quite some time the Taiko had been in the grips of an illness. The bad news coming from his defeats in his campaign against Chosen only served to aggravate it. The Assassins knew they had to be eternally vigilant as it was obvious that Hideyoshi's death was fast approaching and when it did, the sea of chaos would swallow the land again.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, it will soon be time for Ieyasu's turn in the spotlight. The third of the three great unifiers will now come to prominence. Please read and review, thank you.