Leza Lowitz

“The wind blew stronger. Masakichi had to walk into its resistance, but his pace did not slow. The further he went, the faster he moved, soundlessly and forcefully. The earth smelled like rain. He had to find a way out. Alive.

His grandfather Jinzaemon had taught him how to find a straight path, even in the wind. Jinzaemon was born in 1848, twenty years before Japan first opened its doors to the West. He had taught Masakichi all about ninjutsu. “If you want to go straight against the wind, find a path in its folds and pass through it,” he had said, al- though he’d never actually taught his grandson how to find it. Still, Masakichi had begged him.

“Even if I teach you where the path is, you won’t be able to see it because the wind is always changing. If I show you the path in the wind one minute, the wind will shift and the path will disappear the next.”

“Then how do I find it?” Masakichi had asked, worried he’d never be able to do it.

“You must find it anew each time,” his grandfather smiled. “The only way to see the path in the wind is to become the wind itself.”
― Leza Lowitz Shogo Oketani, Jet Black and the Ninja Wind