The Way Of The Sword (26 page)

‘You cannot help him. If he wants to continue in the Circle, then he must complete the journey by himself.’

‘But he’ll never make it,’ pleaded Akiko.

‘That’s for him to decide, not you. Put the boy down,’ instructed the priest.

Akiko gently lowered Jack to the ground and stepped away, her eyes brimming with tears.

Jack knelt where he was. A numbing exhaustion pinned him down as if the weight of the entire sky had dropped upon his shoulders. The Buddha statue was no more than fifty paces away, but it could have been the other side of the world for all he cared. He had expended his last ounce of energy in his desperate marathon to save Yori’s life.

Inside, the monks began to chant the Mantra of Light and Jack could see the rest of the school, the sensei and Masamoto waiting to see what he would do. The High Priest beckoned Jack on with a single wave of his hand, then turned and entered the shrine as if expecting him to follow.

Jack didn’t.

He couldn’t.

He simply had nothing left. This time Jack knew it was not a pain barrier he could break through. This felt like a canyon, a vast vacuum of energy, a void impossible to leap across.

Kazuki knelt down next to him, an arrogant smile upon his face, and whispered gleefully in Jack’s ear, ‘You’ll never make it.’

The sun was halfway down the temple roof and Jack could see it inching its way over each tile. Kazuki was right. It would require a superhuman effort to reach the Buddha in time.

Jack stared dejectedly at the ground in front of him. In his exhausted daze, he watched an ant crossing his path, dragging a leaf five times its size. The little creature struggled, pulled, pushed and prodded, but despite the enormity of the task it didn’t give up.

There’s no failure except in no longer trying.

Sensei Yamada’s words resounded in his head. Jack glanced up and saw the old Zen master staring at him from the doorway of the temple, his eyes radiating belief in him.

‘Come on, Jack! You can do it!’ cried Yamato, running down the steps towards him, Saburo at his side.

‘Come on, Jack!’ echoed Saburo.

‘It’s not that far,’ Akiko encouraged, her hands outstretched, desperately willing him on.

With a Herculean effort and the supporting cheers of his friends, Jack managed to get to his feet. He staggered forward, repeating the mantra with each step, ‘There’s no failure except in no longer trying. There’s no failure except in no longer trying. There’s no failure…’

Jack dragged one foot in front of the other, his legs as heavy as if a ball and chain had been attached to them. He was falling forward more than walking, but each step carried him closer and closer.

He was at the temple steps now, crawling up them. His friends continued to shout their encouragement, but their words were a distant wash in his ears. The only sound that he was conscious of was the ever-cycling chant of the white-robed monks. The nearer he got, the stronger their mantra became, seeping into his muscles like an elixir.

Now he was inside the shrine.

But so too was the sun.

It had risen above the line of the mountains and now shone brightly on the back wall of the temple, its beam catching motes of dust in the air as it descended towards the Buddha’s eyes.

The school, in awe of Jack’s supreme effort, were utterly silent as they watched him lurch towards the shrine.

Jack reached out as the sun illuminated the Buddha’s eyes. At the same time, the monks ceased their chant. Jack felt the cool sensation of the wood and the smoothness of the Buddha’s belly. He smiled briefly before collapsing at the statue’s feet.

‘You can never conquer the mountain. You can only conquer yourself,’ began the High Priest, once the congregation had settled back into the temple following lunch. ‘The first challenge of the Circle of Three tested the physical body, taking it to its very limit. Five of you succeeded in reaching the temple before the first light of dawn struck the eyes of Buddha, thus demonstrating your dominion over the body.’

Jack swayed on his feet, dizzy with exhaustion. He’d been given food and water and allowed to rest, but it hadn’t been long before they’d woken him again and brought him back to the main temple with the other Circle entrants.

‘The Body challenge should have proved to each of you that the mind rules the body. The body can keep going as long as the mind is strong.’

The priest studied each of them with his fathomless eyes, checking they had comprehended this life lesson.

‘Once you realize this, there are no limits to what you can achieve. The impossible becomes possible, if only your mind believes it. This truth forms the basis of the second Circle challenge. But first Masamoto-sama wishes to speak.’

Masamoto stood and approached his students, his stance proud and mighty as he appraised Jack and the others.

‘I’m honoured to have such strong samurai in my school. The
Niten Ichi Ryū
spirit burns bright in all of you.’ He clasped Jack’s shoulder with his sword hand and Jack felt the immense strength of the great warrior. ‘But today that spirit burnt brightest in Jack-kun.’

Everyone’s eyes fell upon Jack.

Jack didn’t know where to look, except directly into the scarred face of Masamoto, who returned his gaze with paternal pride.

‘Jack-kun demonstrated true
bushido
. When he sacrificed his chances for a fellow samurai in need, he displayed the virtue of loyalty. In bringing that same samurai down off the mountain, he showed courage. He not only conquered himself, but I am of the mind that he conquered the mountain by denying it Yori-kun’s life.’

The school bowed as one, honouring Jack’s achievement.

Jack glanced around, uncomfortable at being the centre of such attention. Akiko smiled warmly at him, while Tadashi, clearly exhausted from the first challenge, only managed a brief nod of the head in acknowledgement of Jack’s achievement. Yori wasn’t in the line. He was still recovering from his injury, being tended to by a monk whose medical knowledge was renowned. Jack had been told that Yori would need time to recuperate, but the signs were good and he was responding well to the monk’s herbal remedies.

‘No allowance, though, can be made for the boy’s fatigue,’ interjected the High Priest, bowing respectfully to Masamoto. ‘The path of a Tendai monk is never-ending, so the challenge of the Mind must begin forthwith.’

The waterfall thundered down from the second highest peak in the Iga mountain range, cascading in one long roaring curtain of white. Over the centuries, it had gouged a narrow high-sided ravine into the mountain, as if some god had driven a mighty axe into the rock and cleaved it apart.

The monks, students and sensei stood in a large semicircle round the churning rock pool at the base of the fall. They held their hands together, praying in honour of the mountain spirits and the ancient
kami
of the waterfall, while the High Priest recited a Buddhist blessing and scattered salt as part of the purification ritual.

Jack, dressed in a fresh white robe, looked on with the other entrants, each of them petrified at the prospect of this second challenge. They were to stand upon a large flat rock under the waterfall for the time it took a stick of incense to burn through, using only the power of the mind to defeat the physical. In doing so, they risked the very real danger of death due to freezing in the icy waters.

With the rites over, the priest beckoned the five remaining young samurai to line up along the ledge that ran behind the fall.

First to enter, Jack kept his back close to the rock face, being careful not to slip on the slimy stone. The spray billowed everywhere and his thin monk’s robe was soon plastered to his body. The cold damp air revived him, but he wasn’t looking forward to stepping under the freezing falls. On the other side he could just make out the semi-circle of spectators, their forms and faces distorted and twisted by the turbulent veil of water. It was as if he was peering into an asylum of Hell.

The others followed close behind, each of them staring in terrified awe at the torrent. Then, with a wave of his arm, the High Priest signalled for the challenge to commence. Bowing as one, the five entrants stepped from the ledge and entered the waterfall’s thunderous power.

Jack almost blacked out, instantly overwhelmed by the numbing cold.

He had to fight the urge to escape the furious cascade as the water smashed on to his head as hard as hailstones. He tried to resist the flow, but his muscles were being pummelled into heavy knots of tension.

There was no way on earth he could last a stick of time.

Frantically, he mumbled the mantra he’d been taught to ward off the cold, but it was no use. He was simply too weakened from the Body challenge. His mind had gone blank, he was hyperventilating and his whole being was racked with convulsing shivers. He was vaguely aware that Harumi had exited the waterfall, its power too great for her to bear. Jack felt himself caving in too.

He desperately clung on to the challenge, determined to outlast Kazuki at the very least. But it was no use. His body couldn’t take much more of this punishment. He would have to leave.

His feet, though, refused to move.

Something deep within him defied the waterfall. Defied his own will.

The impossible becomes possible if only your mind believes it.

Jack gave one final mental push, trying to detach his mind from the bone-chilling pain. He summoned up the mantra again, but was doubtful whether a Buddhist chant would help a Christian heart. Nevertheless, he repeated the mantra faster and faster until it became a continuous circle of words:

bq.

bq.

My mind is limitless,

bq.

bq.

a horizon never ending,

bq.

bq.

a sun never setting,

bq.

bq.

a sky forever stretching…

Amazingly, by focusing his mind on the mantra, he felt his body transform. With each turn of the phrase, his muscles became softer and more supple so that the waterfall no longer hurt. For a brief moment, the pounding water felt as gentle as a mountain spring.

Then he lost all feeling.

The strange thing about this numbness was that he also lost all care. He didn’t mind any more. He realized that the mantra had transported him into one of the curious Buddhist states of meditation. Regardless of his own beliefs, he was experiencing the strangest sensation of his consciousness opening up to the universe around him.

He lost all sense of time.

Had a stick of incense burnt down yet?

A moment later he lost his concentration as Tadashi, escaping the waterfall, bumped into him. The collision disrupted his trance and his body turned instantly ice cold. Despite his best efforts to regain his previous meditative state, Jack was forced to give up.

‘Di-di-did I make it?’ stammered Jack, stepping out of the falls.

‘Of course you did, you frozen idiot!’ replied Yamato, laughing incredulously and handing him a dry robe. ‘You’ve been under for ages. The monk has already lit a second incense stick.’

‘A-A-Akiko?’ shuddered Jack.

‘She’s still in there, along with Kazuki.’

Akiko and Kazuki shimmered within the cascade of water like ghosts. Jack resigned himself to the fact that Kazuki had defeated him once again, but that didn’t mean his rival had to win.

Come on, Akiko
, willed Jack.
Outdo Kazuki
!

Akiko was struggling to keep her footing on the slimy rocks and Jack’s heart leapt for her as she slipped. Miraculously, despite the pounding of the water, she regained her balance.

Then, without warning, Kazuki crumpled and fell.

Two monks rushed to retrieve him, carrying him out of the falls and rubbing him vigorously with a thick robe. As Kazuki came round and shakily got to his feet, the school applauded his valiant effort. Jack joined in the clapping, but more in support of Akiko. She still stood under the torrent, at one with the waterfall, her hands clasped in front of her, her lips constantly moving with the mantra.

How much longer could she keep going?
wondered Jack.

By all rights, the waterfall should have claimed Akiko’s life by now. The incense stick had burnt through a second time and a third one was now lit. Akiko had survived twice the required duration.

‘Take her out now!’ ordered the High Priest, looking alarmed as the third stick reached its end.

Akiko emerged to triumphant cheering. She walked across to Kiku, who quickly wrapped her in a robe. Jack hurried over and, ignoring Japanese formality, began to rub her hands for warmth. The strange thing was, although Akiko shivered slightly, her body was hot to the touch as if she’d stepped out of a volcanic hot spring instead of a freezing waterfall.

Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise, but she just smiled serenely back at him.

Leaving Kiku to assist Akiko with getting into dry clothes, Jack and Yamato rejoined the rest of the students on the far side of the pool. Passing the High Priest and Masamoto on their way, Jack couldn’t help overhearing their conversation.

‘Truly remarkable,’ said the priest. ‘That girl stayed beneath the waterfall longer than any person I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. She’s clearly been taught mind control by a great master.’

‘I would agree with you,’ said Masamoto. ‘Sensei Yamada, you have done a remarkable job in training our students.’

Sensei Yamada shook his head gently, his shrewd eyes glancing over at Akiko in curiosity. ‘This is not a skill I’ve taught my class.’

‘In that case, she is a samurai of rare talent,’ commended the High Priest.

The priest turned to address the school, casting a considered eye over the remaining Circle entrants. Harumi was now standing to one side with her friends, who were trying to console her.

‘In life sometimes you must do the things you think you cannot do,’ said the High Priest. ‘But always remember, the only limits are those of the mind. By pushing the limits of what you believe, you can accomplish the impossible.’