ShoNuff ShoGun, Chapter IX

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Part the ninth: (Glossary)
The End of it All: Toranaga

The Anjin felt himself to be totally liable for Toranaga's rehabilitation, especially since the hostile takeover of the former Shogun's valuable stuff to include his oooku (harem) had left him guilt-ridden and sleepless at night.

While boosting all of Toranaga's priceless assets may have seemed especially cool to some, Anjin-san well realized he was nothing more than a typical ruthless, crafty, cold-hearted, forerunner of your modern day corporate-pirate, a dismal fact of which he was not overly proud. 

As he settles into his newly won positions of Shogun and High Lord of the Canton he is all but overwhelmed by the countless difficulties surfacing due to his sudden changes to Toranaga's archaic policies.

Up to his hocks in the complex process of sorting through what must be done and when, he fails in his attempts to squelch the memory of the former Lord, invariably being reminded of the vexing problems associated to resolution of the ex-Shogun's fate.

We now pick up our story where we left off in Chapter VIII...

However the biggest task by far during the transition of power fell to Anjin-san himself; that being what exactly to do with Toranaga who was still imprisoned and slowly rotting away in a fetid dungeon cell far, far below the splendid halls of Nihon Castle. 

Though he was somewhat reluctant to admit it Anjin-san had actually developed a fondness for the former Lord, and was beginning to think of him almost as a father.

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Always the philosopher, it was the Anjin's view that Toranaga's child-like mind, heathen customs, strange mannerisms, absurd attitudes and revolting culinary preferences were really a suppressed cry for help.
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Unconsciously, the Anjin's filial instincts drove him to reach out in an effort to save the disgraced former Shogun from the throes of a stagnant society steeped in a miasma of rigidity; a society into which he had been born and raised from infancy and in which he remained hopelessly mired due to no actual fault of his own.

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He simply couldn't bear the thought of a potentially good...

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.- No, wait!!

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... GREAT citizen; a man possessing such enormous potential and panache; a man of such style, a man of such daring, a man who so proudly wore his hair in the traditional chonmage of the Samurai, clasped ever so neatly with a very cool chartreuse alligator clip...

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... and this wasn't just any alligator clip either, but an alligator clip crafted from the newly discovered, pricey and high-dollar polymer known by the explosive name of - plastique.
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...no, he absolutely could not - he would not - allow such a fine man to continue suffering due to circumstances quite beyond his control.

Toranaga was simply ignorant of the true way.
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For his very salvation and continued existence, he must be forced to see the light and convert, like it or not.
 
Otherwise... it was the axe!!
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He needed guidance.
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He needed help.
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Toranaga needed tough love!!!
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Disciplining him however, as is the case with any man's Father, would not be an easy matter, and the new Shogun was truly worried about possible damage to their developing rapport.

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But, having a vested interest in the project, he was able to make the tough decision as any good leader should.

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Now resolved to action, the Anjin diligently set upon his task with a vengeance, intent on his mission of mercy; and even though it took a lot of hard work, more than a bit of time and patience, and countless hours spent with Toranga, deep in hypnosis at the time, he finally emerged victorious..He had saved his protegé from a gruesome fate!

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Toranaga, now enlightened and repentant of both his evil ways and repugnant customs, was summarily pardoned of his crimes by Anjin.

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With his sentence commuted and now thriving on a diet of bacon double-cheeseburgers, fries, and Kirin beer, he successfully embarked upon a second career as a sumo wrestler, eventually rising to the honored, quite prestigious rank of Ozeki, Champion of Sumo Wrestling.

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On several occasions he performed in the ring for the Anjin and his oooku and was later noted for giving the famous Akashi Shiganosuke, first Yokozuna in Japanese history, his initial instruction in the ancient art of sumo wrestling.

The problem of Toranaga was finally resolved!

Now settled firmly in his new positions of Shogun and High Lord of the Canton, Anjin-san ruled the roost at last.

Life was good... indeed; life was very good.

THE END
(not really)

OK so it was all just a story about it being the end.  But you'll have to admit it sounds like it SHOULD be the end.  Besides, if you'd read the Table of Contents first you'd already know it wasn't really the end.

  So sue me...

Click here to read about the
Golden Age of Anjin-san in
Chapter X of

ShoNuff ShoGun