A Pawn's Passage

The ninja hierarchy consisted of three main ranks—genin at the bottom, followed by chunin, and jonin at the top. The ones who carried out this ambush were likely just genin, skilled in concealment and the use of various tools, such as disguise, poison, shuriken, and firearms.

When Qi Xuansu entered the dense forest, he found it littered with landmines, which also fell under the category of ninja tools.

In addition to close combat techniques, the chunin and jonin were also skilled in ninjutsu, which was akin to Daoist arts in the sense that they fell under magical techniques.

In essence, ninjas were somewhat like Rogue Cultivators—jack-of-all-trades, master of none. In close combat, they were inferior to samurai warriors. In long-range magic, they fell short of the Onmyoji. Their true strength lay in their stealth and concealment techniques, making them natural scouts and spies.

Places like this would not have any chunin or jonin around, just as one would not expect Heavenly Beings to appear in the small Fengtai County. Such beings either lived in secluded mountains or luxuriated in rich and beautiful lands. When trouble arose, the Heavenly Being stationed nearby would need time to respond, and Qi Xuansu’s group was capitalizing on this time gap, leaving before any such beings could arrive.

Crossing this river marked their official entry into Kusu District, where a fortified residence called Mori Jin’ya was located. This indicated that a high-ranking samurai, also known as a hatamoto, resided there.

Before the Toyotomi clan rose to power, real authority was held by the shogunate, and the hatamoto class was its foundation.

The term “hatamoto” originally referred to the elite guards under the commander’s banner, akin to Western knights, positioned between great lords and commoners. Those with less than 10,000 koku of land but more than 3,000 koku maintained their own jin’ya. Those below 3,000 koku often entrusted governance to local daikans, who collected annual tribute. The hatamoto could serve in the government and have their own retainers. A few were given special privileges like the daimyos, granting them sankin-kotai, or alternate residence in both their own domain and in the Capital.

Today, there were over 4,000 hatamoto in Fenglin, and with their retainers and affiliated families, there were around 80,000 guards.

From this perspective, the fortified residences functioned somewhat like military outposts or garrisons. Like the hatamoto themselves, they were vital pillars of the shogunate.

The Shogun was the highest military office, while the Kampaku, or regent, was the highest position within the Fenglin Court. The Toyotomi clan chose to become Kampaku rather than Shogun for two main reasons.

First, the shogunate’s power relied heavily on a large, established network of hereditary vassals and family clans, which the Toyotomi lacked, being of common origin. Without an illustrious lineage, it would have been nearly impossible for them to cement a hereditary military leadership. Thus, they had to elevate their family status through affiliation with the Fenglin Court and could not completely sever ties with it.