Free The Battle for the Golden Egg by Nick Falk

By mid-morning, Castle Baka Tori was surrounded. Samurai ringed the walls, banging their swords on their armour.

    â€˜Give up the Golden Egg!’ shouted Kingyo-Sama. ‘Or we will tear down your castle!’
    â€˜Just you try it!’ replied Buta-Sama. ‘We’re not scared of smelly samurai!’
    â€˜An insult!’ shrieked Kingyo-Sama. ‘You are a disgrace to the laws of Bushidō!’

    â€˜And you are the buttocks of a bald baboon!’ boomed Buta-Sama, blowing a raspberry. ‘The Golden Egg is ours !’
    And so the battle began.
    Arrows flew through the air, shurikens were spun. Again and again the samurai charged the walls, but the ninja forced them back.
    â€˜We’re not letting you in,’ hooted Buta-Sama. ‘You’re too ugly. You’ll scare off all the mice!’
    But Kingyo-Sama had a plan. A cunning, clever plan. He knew what his brother hated the most. He commanded:

    Buta-Sama froze. His face went white. Not seafood! Anything but seafood! It was too slimy. Too smelly. Too slippery. He’d hated it ever since he was small.
    â€˜NO!’ he shrieked.
    But it was too late.
    Great barrels of sticky seafood exploded over the castle walls. Ninja screamed as poisonous pufferfish slithered down their shinobi shōzokus.
    â€˜Quickly,’ ordered Kingyo-Sama, ‘scale the walls!’
    Grappling hooks were thrown over the battlements. The samurai started to climb.

    â€˜The custard,’ screamed Buta-Sama, ‘fetch the custard!’
    The ninja hurried back to the walls, heaving heavy buckets. Straining and sweating, they tipped the steaming custard over the walls.
    Buta-Sama waited for the screams. But the screams didn’t come. He peered over the edge.
    Umbrellas! The samurai were climbing with umbrellas! Kingyo-Sama had thought of everything.

    bawled Buta-Sama.
    The ninja scurried for safety. They raced up the turret of the tallest tower. They locked themselves behind the door. And just in time, too.
    Roaring in triumph, the samurai leapt over the castle walls.
    â€˜We are defeated!’ Buta-Sama blubbered. ‘ There’s no escape! ’
    BOOM!
    The samurai hammered on the door.

    â€˜Surrender!’ screamed Kingyo-Sama. ‘Hand over the Golden Egg!’
    â€˜NEVER!’ bleated Buta-Sama. ‘We will die before we surrender to stinky samurai. We will boil ourselves in custard first!’
    Giant pots were fetched. Fires were lit. The ninja prepared to stew themselves alive.
    But Little Pig had an idea.
    â€˜Buta-Sama,’ she said, slinking up to him, ‘there may be another way.’
    Buta-Sama had already removed his socks. He was halfway into a pot. ‘What, Little Pig? Tell me! What is this other way?’
    Little Pig leaned closer. She whispered in his ear.

    Buta-Sama paused. He stepped out of the pot. He put his socks back on.
    â€˜That’s the silliest idea I’ve ever heard,’ he said, grinning.

CRASH!
    The samurai smashed down the door and barged inside.
    No-one noticed Little Pig sneaking out of the window. She was as silent as a ghost.

    Little Pig slid down the castle walls, raced down the rocks and disappeared into the darkness of the Dragon’s Tooth.

    Now came the dangerous part. The wild, empty places where scary monsters roamed. Man-munching oni, ghostly tengu, frightful baku …
    But Little Pig was not scared. She raced through the Tunnel of Terror, leapt over the Hedgerow of Horror.
    Until at last she came to the place all ninjas feared the most – the Cavern of Certain Death.
    Little Pig sneaked closer. She could hear the breathing of the beast within. Hear the gnashing of its fangs. But this was the only place she could find what she needed.
    She took the paintbrush out of her pocket. The moment of truth had come.
    Only two kinds of ninja would enter this place. The very brave or the very foolish.
    Luckily, Little Pig was both.

‘I will ask you