Yabu brought his bow to the butts on the South side of White Feather Castle. As he expected, the young ashigaru, Shinbei, was there. He watched him shoot for a short time, then joined him without comment.
Kneeling down Shinbei pressed his forehead to the ground. "Yabu-sama, I am honored by your presence."
Yabu grunted. "Shinbei, I am not a hatamoto, nor yet a lord. A deep bow is sufficient. Come, let us shoot, and I will attempt to rival your skills."
Standing, Shinbei nodded and tried to suppress a smile. Yabu's eyes flicked over Shinbei's smirk without comment. Three sets of targets stood at the normal distances of fifty, one hundred, and one
hundred fifty paces away. They began by shooting at the closest target. At fifty paces Yabu put nine of his twelve shots in the center of the target. All of Shinbei's shots hit the center mark. At one hundred paces Yabu hit the center six times. Only one of Shinbei's twelve shots failed to hit the center mark. At the far target Yabu hit the center with four shots. Shinbei hit the center mark with eleven of his twelve shots, and the last shot was close.
Yabu grunted, smiling. "I see you have reason to value your skill so highly. I am out of practice, but even at my best, I have never equalled your shooting just now."
"I have no way to reply to these words of praise." Shinbei bowed once more.
Yabu bowed in return.
"Shinbei, you are an accomplished archer, especially for one so young. But I think that you have sacrificed study of the other arts of the Bushi, in order to gain your skill with the yumi."
"I am honored by your praise Yabu-sama, my master deemed the bow appropriate due to my keen eyesight."
"I should not criticize. Sometimes it is better to be master of one thing than to know many things less well. And your master has taught you well. I have never seen your equal with the bow."
Yabu gestured, and they started walking towards the butts to collect their shafts. "Refresh my memory, if you would--can you ride, Shinbei?"
"Yes, I am an accomplished rider. I can outride all of the other ashigaru in the castle," Shinbei stated proudly.
"Humm. Tomorrow, perhaps, we shall go riding. It is useful that I can measure the riding ability of every ashigaru in the castle thus!" Yabu smiled. "You are an ashigaru, so you can fight with the spear. Have you had any training in combat without weapons?"
"I am a student of the Take no Uchi Ryu jujutsu... although I have only been studying for just over a year."
"Ah. Well, that is good. What have you learned, thus far?"
"Well, the principle of the Take no Uchi Ryu is close combat. I have learned many throws and chokes, but there is much studying left for me to do. I must wait until my leg heals before returning to class though."
"Ah, yes. I am familiar with the style. Have you started training with kogusoku yet?"
"I have done a little kodachi training, but that is the extent of my instruction with the weapons of the system as of yet" replied Shinbei.
Yabu nodded speculatively. "I have always been intrigued by Toichiro-sama's techniques, especially as they are diametrically opposed to my own preference as a spearman. In my own experience, a follower of his school must be adept at evasion, or skilled at deflecting the thrust of a spear, for if he is not then he will not survive to get to the close range that he prefers. At least," Yabu laughed, "not unless the situation is already forcing close combat, which is not often the case. Do you not agree?"
"This is a very valid point Yabu-sama..."
"So then, I am intrigued to ask which methods your sensei uses to avoid the first strike which is the clear advantage of a longer weapon, and gain the close combat which Toichiro-sama advocates?"
"Hmmm, maybe you should come visit a class?"
"No, I am not sure that would be polite. For a skeptic, especially an experienced warrior, to attend a class uninvited is rude, and may cause dissension and disturbance in the class. Further, I am not so much interested in how your teacher deals with the problem, as with how much _you_ have learned to deal with this issue of Take no Uchi Ryu. For we have fought together three times now, and belike we will fight together again. At least, so long as Lord Arai sees fit to use my services," Yabu said impassively.
"I am honored everytime Lord Arai allows me to accompany great warriors as yourself, I hope he continues to see fit to allow me this honor. As to the question of creating the proper distance for the close in methods of jujutsu, if I were to make an open statment regarding it, I would say timing and footwork would be my best ally."
Yabu put his shafts back in the quiver, looking over the shooting range with a smile.
"Well, Shinbei, this has been very instructive. It is good for an older samurai, like myself, to be reminded that he must practice if he is to retain his skills. I thank you for this lesson." Yabu bowed to Shinbei, smiling widely.
Returning the bow, Shinbei struggled to find the proper words in return. "Yabu-sama, your skill with the bow is very formidable and I was honored to be able to test my merit against such an accomplished warrior."
"Hah! This winter I will have time to practice the bow again for the first time in many years. Perhaps your merit will be more severely tested by spring," Yabu said mildly.
"In gratitude, I will attempt to assist you in some small way. As we have agreed that the most interesting problem for a student of Take no Uchi Ryu is to pass the first strike of a competent spearman, and as I have some small skill with the spear, perhaps I can help you work upon this dilemma? What do you say, Shinbei?"
"I would be most honored....as soon as my leg heals that is."
"Even so. Well then, I will see you tomorrow morning. Tell Kenji he is to feed, curry, saddle, and warm up two horses for us, and have them ready at the East Gate at dawn."
"Yes, Yabu-sama." replied Shinbei with a deep bow.