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down with his sword, Cho leaps forwards and grabs his arms. She spins into him, then throws him over her shoulder. He flies through the air and falls down the well. There’s a terrified scream then a
splash!
    Cho turns to me. “I saw you climbing down the main tower. Did you get the Scrolls?”
    I nod.
    â€œLet’s get out of here then!” she says, as more samurai pour into the courtyard.
    We run up the stairs to the top of the wall. There are samurai everywhere now. A guard sees us and shouts for more men.
    â€œHold on to me,” says Cho, and she throws her grappling hook around a stone statue sticking out of the battlements.
    The samurai close in. Cho leaps from the wall. I hang on for dear life as we swing through the air. The ground comes rushing towards us. Cho lets go at the last second. We land, roll and jump to our feet.
    Without stopping, we sprint for the bridge. There’s no point climbing the cliff. We’d be shot down with arrows. Our only hope is to out-run the samurai.
    But as we reach the river, we see the guards have raised the draw-bridge.
    â€œWe’ll have to swim,” says Cho. She looks scared as she stares at the fast-flowing waters.
    â€œThe Scrolls will be ruined,” I say.
    â€œWhat other choice do we have?” says Cho, as the gates to Black Eagle Castle open and a mass of samurai pour out.
    We look for another point to cross the river. But there’s nothing. Only a few trees and a grove of tall bamboo next to the riverbank.
    All of a sudden I have an idea.

Chapter 10
    Decoy
    â€œWhere are we going?” asks Cho as I lead her into the bamboo grove. The samurai are behind us and they are getting closer.
    â€œUp!” I reply.
    Cho gives me a puzzled look.
    â€œTrust me,” I say, and I clamber up the tallest bamboo stem.
    As we both reach the top, the bamboo bends under our weight. It swings down and across the river, and we fly through the air until we’re hanging over the opposite bank. We both let go and drop safely to the ground.
    The bamboo straightens up again as the samurai appear on the other river bank. They stare at us in shock.
    â€œHow did they get
across
?” shouts one of the samurai.
    â€œThey must have flown!” cries another.
    â€œIt’s ninja magic,” says Lord Oda. We see him walk between them with his gold robe glimmering in the moonlight.
    As we vanish into the darkness, he bellows, “Ninja, be warned, I’ll have my revenge!”
    Everyone from our village is at the temple to see us return the Scrolls.
    With Cho at my side, I climb the long flight of stone steps.
    â€œI hear you failed your black belt test …
again
,” says Renzo, as we pass him on the stairs.
    â€œAn ant never gives up,” I reply. “
You
of all ninja should know that after
five
attempts.”
    It takes Renzo a minute to work out what I mean but then his face goes red. His friends turn to him and it’s clear they can’t believe what they have just heard.
    As Renzo tries to explain away his lie, Cho and I cross the court-yard to the temple. The Grandmaster is standing outside. We kneel before him and I hand over the Scrolls. He takes the precious box from me and puts a black belt in my hands in its place.
    â€œBut I didn’t pass your test,” I say.
    â€œThe Scrolls were the test,” he answers with a smile. “And you passed.”
    â€œBut what if I’d failed?” I say. “Lord Oda would have all our secrets.”
    â€œI knew you wouldn’t fail,” the Grandmaster tells me. “This time you
believed
you’d pass. That is sometimes all it takes.”
    The Grandmaster laughs. “Anyway, they weren’t the real Scrolls.”
    I stare at him in shock. “We risked our lives for fake Scrolls?”
    The Grandmaster shakes his head. “Your mission was very important. I knew Lord Oda wanted the Scrolls. So I let him find them. However, I