Shimazu Saito
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Shimazu Saito[1] was a member of both the Shimazu clan and the Japanese Rite of the Templar Order active in the early 18th century. She wore a metallic oni mask to conceal her identity. She is also an ancestor of the 21st-century Abstergo Industries doctor and Templar Shimazu Sei.[2]
In 1725, Saito led a group of ninja loyal to the Shimazu clan in the search for the lost city of the Khmer Empire, an alleged Precursor site, attacking a number of people in Macau who were connected to it. One of those people was the British Assassin Edward Kenway, who was also on the site's trail and who ended up clashing with Saito and her ninja several times while in the city.
Biography
Attacks in Macau
In February 1725, Saito, alongside her many loyal ninja followers, attempted to silence anyone in Macau who knew about the ruins of Angkor to conceal the site's existence. Their first targets were the Dutch explorer Hendrik, who had stumbled upon the ruins during his travels, and his friend and fellow navigator John Young, who had stolen Hendrik's story and was boasting about his alleged discovery.[3]
Saito dispatched three of her ninja to kill Young, but the navigator was protected by Edward Kenway, who was also on Angkor's trail and had approached Young after hearing about his story. Hendrik was not as lucky, as he was attacked by Saito's ninja in his room at the Dutch East India Company's dormitories in Macau and succumbed to his wounds shortly after being found by Kenway.[4]
Saito encountered Kenway for the first time while the latter was trying to hide in an alley from Hendrik's company mates, who had mistaken him for Hendrik's killer. Unaware of his identity or Assassin affiliations, Saito ordered her ninja to capture Kenway alive and they ended up chasing him to Macau's port, where Saito watched from afar as Kenway effortlessly fought off many of his men. Impressed by the stranger's skills, she ordered her men to find out everything they could about him.[5] After Kenway was saved by Young and his ship, Saito loosed an arrow at the pair as they sailed away, which Kenway dodged.[6]
Attack on the Mandarin's House
After Hendrik's sea log was acquired by businesswoman Madam Lee upon his death and she refused to hand it over to the Templars,[7] Saito led her ninja in an attack on Lee's private residence, the Mandarin's House, in order to retrieve the book. There, Saito once again ran into Kenway, who had also come for the log and had managed to grab it shortly before the attack.[8]
Kenway helped Lee's guards fend off some of the ninja before realizing Saito was their leader and attempting to kill her to quickly end the battle. The two engaged in a duel, with Saito coming out on top and managing to break the Assassin's sword, which forced the latter to pull back. As one of her ninja arrived to pick her up on horseback, Saito revealed her name to Kenway and asked for his in return. After the latter complied, Saito told him that she would remember his name before she and her ninja retreated, their mission seemingly a failure. After making it to safety, however, Saito revealed to one of her followers that she had successfully acquired Hendrik's log, having taken it from Kenway during their duel.[1]
Upon inspecting the log, Saito discovered that the information the Templars sought was encrypted. Deducing that Kenway had the cipher needed to decode it, she ordered her men to find and capture the Assassin.[7]
Alliance with Master Sun
Saito maintained a close working relationship with Master Sun, head of the Hualien Trading Company, who regularly enlisted her and her ninja's services. After an opium shipment belonging to the Far East Company, whom Sun had allied himself with against Madam Lee, was confiscated by the Dutch East India Company, Sun reached out to Saito in order to recover it, meeting with her at a temple. When Saito asked what was to be done with the guards protecting the shipment, Sun gave her permission to kill anyone who got in her way. He also reminded her that once Lee and the Europeans foreigners had been driven out of Macau, his merchants would dominate the market, greatly benefiting the Shimazu clan.[9]
Saito then escorted Sun as he left the temple, though she quickly became suspicious of one of her men, who was actually Kenway in disguise, having taken the outfit of a ninja he had killed. Nevertheless, Saito mobilized her followers to attack the Far East Company ship which held the opium. When one of her men expressed concern regarding the mission's risks, Saito told him that it was in fact an opportunity to purge the clan's weak links.[9]
Making their move at midnight, Saito and her ninja attacked the guards protecting the ship, though Saito quickly noticed one of her men sneaking away from the fight and into the ship. Deciding to follow the suspicious ninja, she confronted him in the gunpowder storage room, where the ninja attempted to ignite the gunpowder with a candle. Saito stopped him and recognized the ninja to be Kenway, threatening him with her sword.[9]
Following a failed attempt to interrogate Kenway for the cipher needed to decode Hendrik's log, Saito caught the Assassin's candle with her sword after the latter dropped it, leaving her vulnerable for an attack. This was Kenway's intention, as he quickly turned around to disarm Saito and managed to punch her in the face, knocking off her mask. Kenway then pinned Saito to a wall to try and interrogate her, but was interrupted by the arrival of two of her ninja who had come to check on their master.[2]
Managing to free herself from Kenway's grasp, Saito fought him, but the Assassin escaped after grabbing one of the two ninja present and tossing him into the other. As Saito moved to retrieve her mask, she vowed to make Kenway pay for the humiliation he had made her endure. She then asked one of her ninja for the situation on the ship's deck, learning that the mainland Japanese ninja had deserted out of discontent towards their treatment and that Madam Lee had arrived with armed men to seize the opium shipment. Outnumbered and outgunned, Saito deemed the battle lost and ordered a retreat.[2]
Trivia
- Saito shares several similarities with Maria Thorpe, as they are both Templars who wore masks to conceal their true identities and were mistaken for a man by an Assassin until being unmasked.
- One of the Japanese ninja referred to Saito as "a half-breed woman with continental blood", indicating that she may be half-Chinese.
Appearances
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 11
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 20
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 2
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 3
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 4
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 5
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple - Episode 12
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 10
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple - Episode 19