Tenchu: Shadows of Azuma – 5. Akechi in the Limestone Caverns

Lord Gohda calls for a quick briefing with Rikimaru and Ayame. As they discuss the findings from Ayame’s last assignment, a familiar name comes to mind for Lord Gohda, indicating that this is a much more serious matter now. He gives Rikimaru a special assignment, hoping this will give them the upper hand for the time being.

“Move or die. Your choice.”

“I’ll move this spear, and you’re gonna die.”

Senran Kagura: Ninja Mishaps – Milk & Mixtures

The structure of the cave hideout is letting a cool breeze flow through it, filling every section and room with a relaxing air. The coolest area being the main gathering area where most of the furniture and belongings are, such as the flat screen television and public computer area along one wall, and assorted cabinets and shelves along the opposite wall. The hideout is quiet, so the air is making a gentle whistling sound. It’s mostly empty, except for one person.

Wearing her usual uniform, a yellow sweater with a black camisole underneath and a bright pink tight skirt with a matching ribbon in her hair and a purple belt and dark leggins, Homura’s Crimson Squad member Haruka sits at her desk; the desk is covered in test tubes and beakers of different shapes and sizes, most of them with liquids of various colors. Legs crossed and stuck in a long ponder, Haruka meticulously looks at all of her different mixtures and concoctions, trying to sort out the newest from the oldest. She gently takes out one tube from its holder and shakes it a bit.

“This one is for increasing body mass. Homura wanted to try and get a bit stronger, but it didn’t exactly work out that way.”

She puts the tube back down and pick up another tube to examine.

“You’re the one that puts people to sleep and forces them to have nightmares.”

As she’s holding it, a nostalgic feeling washes over her Haruka’s body, making her let out a relaxed and joyful laugh.

“Watching Yomi’s face while she slept was just amazing!”

With a small smile on her face, she places the tube back in its holder and rolls back in her seat, overlooking the entire desk. Months of experiments and testing has resulted in a large amount of different substances that all serve a purpose in one way or another, whether it’s something minor as curing an ailment, to complex situations like a sudden urge to make somebody dance.

Haruka crosses her arms and turns around to walk away, but comes to a stop, making her heeled shoes clack against the paved ground; an echo rings through the hideout. She stands still for a moment before turning back around to face the desk. Her eyes lock on to a specific beaker at the edge of the desk. She walks over to it and gently picks it up by the rim, slowly stirring it around.

The beaker is barely empty, having just enough of a dark blue liquid to fill a small drinking glass. As Haruka’s holding it, she tilts her head and squints her eyes, trying to remember exactly what’s inside the beaker.

“What are you? I know every single thing on this desk like the back of my hand, but I don’t have the slightest idea of what you are.”

Haruka holds the beaker above her head into the light, so she can look at it from the bottom; the liquid isn’t that thick, so she can easily see through it.

Tenchu: Shadows of Azuma – 4. Shadows in the Rising Sun

Business is usually conducted during the day, under the rising sun. With the sun overhead, it makes it harder for shadows to complete their assignments. Whether a village is full of civilians or guards, a true shadow will be able to find a way to remain undetected and complete the task at hand.

How a ninja is able to remain in the shadows in broad daylight displays their mastery of the art of assassination.

“I’m not here as an order. I’m here for somebody’s life.”

“Sorry, but if you’re here for mine, you’re not gonna get it.”

Tenchu: Shadows of Azuma – 3. An Approaching Enemy

A ninja’s duty is to serve and protect the master or lord they’ve sworn to and the ideas that follow. Not everything is done through the uses of planned assassination, but often simple guard duty. However, doing guard duty also has its moments in life or death. Tonight, Ayame is sent out to protect the town for the night.

It may be a simple task, but sometimes, it can yield unexpected results. Ayame hears footsteps nearby and what was suppose to be a simple night turns into one with blood stained blades.

“You know, trespassing is a punishable offense.”

Tenchu: Shadows of Azuma – 2. Rescue the Captive Maiden

There has been an increased reports of people going missing recently across the nation. The most probable cause is more people entering the dishonorable human trafficking and slave trade business. A family in Gohda territory just reported their daughter missing when she was sent on an errand. Little does she know, a shadow is nearby coming to her rescue.

Find and rescue their daughter and punish those responsible. A likely area to start would be in the snow covered forest just outside of a small town.

“Selling others as slaves for your own gains brings nothing but shame and dishonor to you. And for that, you must pay the price. With your life.”

Tenchu: Shadows of Azuma – 1. Punish the Underhanded Merchant

A business man is somebody who manages to make deals without breaking their own code of honor. If they conduct a deal using less than honorable tactics, they become nothing more than an underhanded merchant. Noboru Echigoya has cheated, manipulated, and bruised his honor to fulfill his greed. Using the cover of darkness, two shadows begin their new assignment: bring justice to the merchant using stealth and unwavering honor.

“You remember our target location?”

“The red house near the castle gates. I just hope this one doesn’t try to cry his way out.”

Tenchu Series Summary

Tenchu is a stealth based action game that had its first release in 1998 titled “Tenchu: Stealth Assassins” for the Playstation. The series takes place in a fictional universe set in feudal Japan The story typically revolves around the last two remaining assassins part of the Azuma Ninja Clan who are under orders from a man, known as Lord Gohda.

The first is Rikimaru. He’s a well built man, easily identified by his iconic silver hair and slash over his right eye. He becomes the head of the Azuma clan at very young age. Although he has a mastery of a style of karate, he prefers to assassinate his targets with his ninjato, Izayoi, the sword given to the head of the Azuma clan.

The other is Ayame. A female ninja, known as a kunoichi, who showed excellence in her talents as a very young age. She wears a standard ninja outfit, but has a mid-drift, making her more identifiable from other kunoichi. Unlike Rikimaru, she wields a pair of twin kodachi, which are japanese short swords. With raw talent and a bad attitude, Ayame is a cold-blooded assassin. Meeting a young ages, Rikimaru and Ayame are not just members of the same clan, but very close nit companions, despite not always showing in in the game.

As the game series goes on, more characters are introduced and new events occur, showing just how talented these two are at what they do.

The story I’ve decided to do uses some of the main characters from games later in the series, but will still have Rikimaru and Ayame as the main leads. The game also has objective based missions, such as assassinations, retrievals, escape missions, etc. I wanted to portray this by having every few chapters being type of mission. Although the original plan for this story is to have each chapter be a new mission, I do now have a defining plot as if it was a stand alone game. However, if I have a new plot that I want to put these characters in, the story will show as it progresses.

(Throughout the game, the word “shadow” is often used as a synonym for “assassins,” so I kept that to give the story a more Tenchu-like feel than just some story about ninjas.)

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy my story. If you’re interested in playing the game, here is a list of the game released in North America:

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (Playstation)

Tenchu 2: Birth of Stealth Assassins (Playstation)

Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven/Return From Darkness (Playstation 2/Xbox)

Tenchu: Fatal Shadows (Playstation 2)

Tenchu: Dark Secret (Nintendo DS)

Tenchu Z (Xbox 360)

Shadow Assault: Tenchu (Xbox 360)

Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (Nintendo Wii & Playstation Portable)