Back in the forgotten days of Edo, lived a most honorable and noble man, Kusunoki Masashige. Masashige became known for his wisdom and bravery as a child, so at a very young age, he was taken to the academy to be trained in the way of the warrior. Masashige quickly gained in skill, honor, and knowledge, and soon rose to the head of his class. Masashige easily passed all of the physical challenges necessary to graduate from the academy, but before he could be given the title of samurai, he had to demonstrate the wisdom required of a true warrior by solving the favorite puzzle of the samurai, the sudoku. The samurai, being much wiser than the common man, developed their own version of the sudoku puzzle to provide a challenge unavailable in the standard puzzle. Their version of the puzzle was termed, Samurai Sudoku, and has become legendary for its difficulty level. Masashige, having far surpassed his fellow future warrior classmates in intellect, was known for his ability to solve such puzzles in record times. A special puzzle was therefore prepared for him to solve, while his classmates solved a standard Samurai Sudoku. The puzzle specially prepared for Masashige was so difficult, it was considered evil by the samurai masters at the academy. When presented with the puzzle, Masashige closed his eyes and summoned all of the knowledge within him. He raised his feather, dipped it in ink, and began to work. Before the sands in the five minute hourglass ran out, Masashige had completed the challenge, far before any of his classmates could complete their standard Samurai Sudoku puzzles. The amazing display of wisdom caused Masashige to not only be dubbed a samurai, but to be forever titled, the Sudoku Samurai.
A tribute to Masashige is in a place of honor near the house. The house of Masashige’s ally and friend and the tribute to Masashige are not located at the above coordinates. In order to pay your respects to the Sudoku Samurai and affix your seal to the scroll, you will have to solve the same Samurai Sudoku puzzle that Masashige solved. Solving that puzzle will give you the coordinates to the little cedar tree dedicated to the legendary warrior. There may be muggles present, so the stealth of the ninja will be required, as some of those muggles may be descendents of warriors defeated by Masashige, and would love the opportunity to besmirch the name of the Sudoku Samurai.
Further stories, puzzles, and adventures await all who accomplish this monumental task.
