Chapter 18

Summary

• The chapter recounts a night-time assassination attempt on a character named Lord Toranaga.
• The assassin, dressed in black and skilled in stealth, infiltrates Toranaga's stronghold, bypassing guards silently and using a rope to climb the fortress walls.
• The assassin dispatches multiple guards using a silk rope to strangle them and a knife for a fatal stab, moving swiftly and quietly through the corridors.
• The assassin is interrupted by Kiri, who drops her tray in shock, draws a dagger, but fails to raise an alarm in time as the assassin rushes past her.
• A struggle ensues when the assassin reaches his target, but he is ultimately stopped when samurai, led by Naga, come to aid the intended victim, Blackthorne.
• The assassin commits suicide rather than be captured, using a knife to stab himself under the chin.
• Naga reveals a tattoo of Amida on the assassin, indicating his connection to the Amida Tong, a secret society of highly trained killers bound by religious oaths.
• The officer of the watch is executed by Naga for his failure to prevent the assassination attempt.
• Double guards are ordered and no one is to see Lord Toranaga without invitation.
• Naga leaves to report to his brother in Yedo with orders to make a speedy travel, bearing partial responsibility for the security breach.
• Toranaga discusses the ramifications of the assassination attempt, revealing that the household members had been guarded due to a threat.
• Toranaga converses with his advisors about the Amida Tong and the possibility of further assassination attempts. They agree that while the threat is serious, it is almost impossible to prevent such dedicated assassins from striking.
• Discussion reveals that strategic military movements are underway, with Toranaga’s enemies mobilizing forces, and the implication is that war is imminent.
• Yabu, another character, is summoned to meet with Toranaga about a potential alliance and the Amida Tong's involvement.
• Yabu presents his plan to create a regiment of gun-samurai, which includes the training of his men by Blackthorne, the intended victim of the thwarted assassination.
• After some negotiation, Toranaga and Yabu agree on the plan and symbolically seal their agreement by urinating together from a high parapet.
• Toranaga makes plans to depart Osaka due to the increasing danger and political tension.
• The chapter ends with Hiro-matsu, Toranaga's commander of the bodyguard, expressing discontent and doubt over Toranaga's decisions and bargaining with Yabu, but Toranaga dismisses his concerns and insists on the meeting with the priest Tsukku-san.