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Oda Nobuna no Yabou - Volume 2 - Chapter 2




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Chapter 2: Takenaka Hanbei Enters The Fray! 

After being proposed to by Asai Nagamasa, Nobuna's decision for this marriage was “Attacking Mino is what's important, so we will shelve this matter for now.” 

It's still uncertain if she will marry Nagamasa, but this reply will at least ensure that Omi will not disturb Owari while Nobuna is attacking Mino. Though this reply seems politically motivated, from what one can see from Nobuna, she does not seem to care about the marriage at all. 

No matter what, this being the first marriage proposal in her lifetime, Nobuna is sure to be confused and will not know what to do. But after looking at Sagara, who had secretly decided to say nothing about this matter until after he had achieved great feats during the attack of Mino, Nobuna could not bear it. 

“Though both are of the same species, why does our monkey differ so much from Omi's Saruyashamaru? Ahhh, I think I should get married after all.” 

Such rants and complaints could be often heard. 

“Yeah. Marriage or elopement, do whatever you like! If you have what it takes, just try it!” 

Sagara readily accepted the rants. 

After listening to this, one could only expect Nobuna's anger to explode again. Niwa Nagahide, Shibata Katsuie, and the other retainers were helpless towards this matter. 

Now in the grand hall of Aoshuu, Nobuna and her retainers were gathered together. Everyone already knew of the agenda for this meeting. 

“The start of the battle of Mino!” This is the only topic, and the retainers who were present are...... 

“The start to conquering the world has finally come! My hands have already started to itch with anticipation.” The number 1 retainer, bold and decisive. From Sagara's estimation, this Shibata Katsuie had the capacity of a G-cup! Her childhood name is “Riku”. 

Her childhood name should be “Gonroku”, but because of her history of changing from small boobs to giant boobs, she complained that the name “Gonroku” was not cute at all. The strength of someone who finally changed her name to “Riku” is not shown just on her chest, but also on her unparalleled spear skills. 

Ever since following under Nobuna's brother, Nobukatsu, she had always hoped to be a retainer of Nobuna. Now that this wish was fulfilled, she was even more active and full of motivation. Incidentally, Katsuie's favorite food was miso udon. As long as it's smothered with miso, she would not reject it, no matter if it's shaved ice or Uiroumochi. 

“Inabayama castle was designed by Saitou Dousan himself. It's hard to attack but easy to defend. 33 points,” said Niwa Nagahide, Nobuna's young retainer. It's as if she was Nobuna's sister, a mature and gentle beauty. The smile on her face was almost her trademark, and her character was seldom manipulated by her own desires. 

Though she's a bit naggy, she was an irreplaceable existence in the Oda clan. That's why the retainers called her “Kome-gorozae”. It meant her talent was as necessary as rice. But compared to “Gorozae”, Nobuna likes to call her using her childhood name “Manchiyo”. For some reason, she had the weird habit of giving points to anything. She did not have any favorite food, nor did she detest any particular food. 

“Hahahahahaha! Just leave it to me, Kanjuurou Nobukatsu!” 

Oda Nobukatsu, also known as Kanjuurou. As the brother of the self proclaimed “Number one beauty in Owari” Nobuna, he was a guy with very similar looks to his sister. His hobby was to play around with his fanclub of girls all day long. 

His special trait was cross-dressing. If he dressed himself as a courtesan, he would be even more charming than normal girls. He was once rebellious towards Nobuna, but he was trying his best to help his sister right now. Though his skills of playing around can be considered professional, his talent as a general was nonexistent. As of now, he was being tortured to death by Katsuie under the name of training to becoming a warrior. 

Because of this, his body was never seen without new injuries. His favorite food seems to be Uiroumochi, as he was always fed that by Nobuna when he was still small. He even has the ambition to promote Uiroumochi everywhere if he can achieve much in his conquest as a general. 

“------Maeda Inuchiyo, always by the princess side.” 

Current aide, Maeda Toshii, childhood name Inuchiyo. A sister character to Nobuna, though quiet, she can be adamant in getting things done. Her body size is delicate, but she always uses a bamboo spear. She was once banished from Owari for striking down Nobukatsu, she rejoined Nobuna during the battle of Okehazama wearing a tiger hat. 

The sudden change of the plain girl to one with attention seeking accessories gave quite a shock to the Oda clan's retainers. What could have happened during that period when she was gone? 

From what Inuchiyo said, she seemed to have “lost herself during a trip to find herself”. Seems like she changed herself to a beast while being in the harsh environments of the wild, or that is what Nagahide evaluates. 

And there's one more thing that was known to everyone. Inuchiyo was Sagara's neighbor in the Five-Leaf Aralia Houses. For Sagara who had just traveled from modern Japan to the Sengoku era which he knew nothing about, Inuchiyo tried her best to take care of him. 

To Sagara, Inuchiyo was a very reliable comrade, but it would be even better if her chest was bigger (Real words from Sagara). As for her favorite food, it was definitely Nobuna's frequent reward to her, Uiroumochi. 

“I'll definitely achieve great feats to destroy that bastard Nagamasa's marriage plans.” 

The idiot who said this kind of tactless stuff with blazing eyes was our protagonist Sagara Yoshiharu, also known as Saru. 

Job: An ordinary high school student in modern Japan, but was thrown into this Sengoku era for reasons unknown. If this kind of stuff happened to others, they might panic or be depressed, but Sagara was an idiot with guts, not to mention a game fanatic of Sengoku era games. With his thinking of “I came from the future! Heaven must have sent me here to help Nobuna out!”, he was full of confidence. 

As a substitute to Toyotomi Hideyoshi who saved his life in the battlefield, he believes it is his duty to help Nobuna conquer the world with the help of his Sengoku era games knowledge. His dream of “I want to play around with the world's number one beauty!” is as expected. 

Though he does not necessarily dislike the heavy flavour of Owari, a life with every meal full of miso gave him quite a headache. As of now, he aims to use his own talent to achieve many great feats in the battle of Mino, and reject Nobuna's marriage to Nagamasa. 

He himself had found a bunch of reasons and excuses, but from what others could see he was just someone who had forgotten his place and was envious of Nagamasa. 

“This Inabayama castle that I built myself is not something that you guys can conquer that easily.” 

This old man who was seeking refuge in Owari was the Daimyo of Mino, Nobuna's godfather, “Saitou Dousan”, aka “Viper”. He was once an oil merchant in the capital, but conquered Mino and became a sengoku Daimyo. Becoming a master of a province had taken most of his life away, however. After giving his ambition to the foolish princess of Owari, Oda Nobuna, he was betrayed by his son who was indignant about his decision to give Mino to Nobuna, and almost died in the battlefield. 

The one who saved Dousan, whose life was supposed to be up, was Sagara Yoshiharu. Originally, Sagara thought that with Dousan here, Mino would be ours, but the important Dousan revealed a very troubled face and kept opening and closing the paper fan in his hand. 

Dousan had been showing signs of old age ever since coming to Owari. His body's condition has been worsening, it was definitely not good to force it. But though his body no longer matched his name of “Viper”, he displayed an image of a grandfather who loves and dotes on his own daughter, Nobuna. He will most likely be defending Aoshuu castle in this battle, Nagahide thinks. 

“Japan's strongest cavalry army, 'The Tiger of Kai', Takeda Shingen, invaded surprisingly quickly. Now is not the time to dilly dally.” And last, we have the master of the Oda clan who was controlling Owari, Oda Nobuna, whose childhood name is “Kichi”. 

Though she often wears a very bizarre and strange outfit, when she wears her formal attire, it would shock anyone; saying she was Owari's number 1 bishoujo was very fitting for her. After defeating Imagawa Yoshimoto at Okehazama, Oda Nobuna's name had rung out through the whole country and she became the most striking sengoku Daimyo. 

After Nobuna's father, Oda Nobuhide, died, she succeeded the head of the Oda clan with the title of “Owari's foolish princess”, and had been pushing forward with her ambition of conquering the world. As a fan of overseas stuff, she had been treating the globe she obtained from a Christian missionary as a treasure and the arquebus in her hand never left her side. 

If she was able to pacify the Sengoku battles, she would develop Japan to be a country that could stand up to those foreign countries, and begin her adventure to tour the world. Nobuna was the only one who had this kind of dream, one that could never be understood by anyone other than the modern student Sagara. 

Her favorite food was her braised chicken wings. But after being proposed by Omi's Asai Nagamasa, she began showing a troubled face even when eating her chicken wings. Whenever her rival Sagara was around, she would bring up the topic of marriage to antagonize him. 

“She must be hoping that Sagara will stop this marriage”, Nagahide comments. 

But Sagara seemed not to care as a result of his pride, as he had already made up his mind Before achieving anything, he will not say a word about the marriage. And after looking at such a non-caring Sagara, Nobuna started getting angrier while thinking Why is this damn monkey still acting like this? Don't tell me he thinks that it's not his business whether I marry or not? Anyone could see that her mood was getting worse by the day. 

Just like that, the important generals of the Oda clan had now assembled (Though Sagara was still at the back seat), waiting for their master to give the order to invade Mino. While eating her jumbo braised drumstick and using her legs to spread the map of Mino, she announced to her aides “Time to conquer Mino!” 

“Justice is with us, the Oda clan! In our hands we have the 'Mino treaty' signed personally by Viper, and we have the duty to return my godfather, Saitou Dousan, to Inabayama castle. Saitou Yoshitatsu is just an unfilial son who banished his own father.” 

“But Mino has officially recognized Saitou Yoshitatsu as the head. Now that they are united, it seems like things won't go easily. 20 points,” Nagahide said. 

While sipping his tea, Dousan said with a voice full of weariness, “Mino was originally stolen by me. Although Yoshitatsu was brought up by me, he is the rightful heir of Mino. From the eyes of the Mino people, I'm in the wrong. You can't break through their defensive lines that easily.” 

This is the heart of the trouble; Saitou Yoshitatsu is the heir of the owner of Mino who Dousan banished. When he conquered Mino, to appease the people, Dousan appointed the heir Yoshitatsu as his own heir. But this cunning plan was given up along with his plan of “I should give this Mino to the cute Nobuna-chan.” Being banished by Yoshitatsu is actually nothing strange at all..... 

“Yoshitatsu and I go back a long way. He is totally different from me when I was young; he has no sense of beauty. With his short height and plump physique, he looks just like a sumo wrestler. The old me loved beautiful people! I definitely won't give the position of Mino's master to anyone but Nobuna-chan!” 

“Geezer, that you still have the nerve to say that.....If you had maintained a good relationship with Saitou Yoshitatsu, the situation now wouldn't be this troublesome,” Sagara said silently with his face showing nothing at all. 

“Viper, height is not important, but it's due to Saitou Yoshitatsu that Mino is now united and well taken care of.” 

“That is because during my reign, I put across many controversial policies and my popularity had hit rock bottom. If you stop these policies to appease the people who are against them, anyone will say that you are a wise ruler, Nobuna-dono.” 

“***Oh, controversial policies. Didn't Nobuna-sama conduct a similar experiment of planning to create/restore new towns in Kiyoshou?” 

"Yeah, the Rakuichi-Rakuza policy. In fact, this policy was inspired by you, Viper. However, it was not as successful as planned." 

“Yes. I had abolished the old trading privileges of “Za [6] ”, wanting to build a free trade environment for the people. I was a trader, so I easily recognized that commerce is the foundation of a country’s development and the prosperity of the people." 

"But after the abolition of the [Za], the taxes and exchange rates would be severely reduced, causing those who used these methods to gain wealth to slowly lose their source of income..."*** 

“Yes. With this, the people who embezzle money from these “Za” can’t do that anymore, and that is why they are so angry at me.” 

“That’s why once Yoshitatsu started his reign over Mino, “Za” was re-introduced to gain the support of the people. Because of this, the economy that was starting to pick up has declined again, slowly turning lively cities into ghost towns,” Dousan said severely. It seems like he was deeply angered by his successor’s uselessness. 

No matter the era, a revolution in policies will always create troubles and opposition. Actually, if one wants to unify this country that is torn apart by different warring states, protecting the trading economy and allowing the people to trade freely is a necessary measure! And one can't just eliminate those embezzling bastards called “seats”, one should even waive off any trading tax between provinces. 

“Ke-chak!” 

“Viper, the way your back is bending, are you alright?” 

“…..Owwwwww! It seems like I'm a bit……too excited. My back….” 

“Anyways, Dousan-dono, Inabayama castle and the cities below it were all designed by you, right? You should have considered ways to attack it,” Katsuie asked optimistically. 

“Can you reveal a bit? Though Inabayama castle looks easy to defend but hard to attack, it should have some weakness, right?” 

“About that, Katsuie-dono, I'm afraid not... The Inabayama castle...” 

“In...Inabayama castle?” 

“The Inabayama castle of now can’t be invaded. Even with my strategies, we can't do anything to the castle. It would be difficult even for the 'Tiger of Kai' Takeda Shingen, or the 'god of war' Uesugi Kenshin.” 

“Wh…What?!” 

“Viper, is that true?” 

“This is quite troublesome. 12 points...No, 3 points.” 

“......Sagara, how...?” 

“Inuchiyo, act more panicky for starters!” 

“......Wa~WA~” 

The room was full of chaos all of a sudden. Originally, everyone thought that since Dousan is here conquering Mino would be easy, but it seems like they had underestimated the feat of conquering Mino. Inabayama castle was designed and built by Saitou Dousan personally. 

Relying on just Mount Kinka as a natural shield, and deploying various guard posts to guard against the invading Owari army, the main guard post on the mountaintop was 330 feet high. In addition, the north face of the mountain had the Nagara river and the Sakai river separating Owari and Mino, forming a natural wall around the castle, protecting it from other invading countries. 

Also, the towns and villages at the foot of the mountain could be changed to defending bases at any sign of an approaching invasion. It could be said to be the deliberate and cunning plan of the Viper. Oda clan’s previous head, Nobuna’s father, Oda Nobuhide, had led multiple invasions of Inabayama castle, but due to Saitou Dousan’s devious and cunning plans and the natural defenses of the castle, he had always returned empty handed. Thinking about the disastrous defeats now, the Oda clan’s aides still talked about it. The reason why the aides believed that they can conquer Mino this time was because the enemy, Dousan, was now Nobuna’s godfather and had become their ally, allowing them to see a shred of hope. 

“Try thinking about this, Katsuie-dono, if I really did have a plan to conquer that castle, would I still have lost to that brat, Yoshitatsu?” 

“You...You have a point there......But...But no matter how small your army was, with your intelligence you should not have been defeated so utterly. Even if he’s your son, Saitou Yoshitatsu, there is no reason for you to show mercy. 

“Correct. Actually......” 

“Act...actually?” 

While showing off an expression of pain and rubbing his back, Dousan explained the situation. 

“Actually there is a genius strategist with intelligence far above mine. Though it’s unbearable, I have to admit she is someone I can’t defeat.” 

“Genius strategist?” 

“Does Mino have such a person? No no, the Mino army’s strategist should only be Dousan.” Katsuie and the others tilt their heads in puzzlement. 

“Mino has such a hidden talent still... I’m totally in the dark, Viper.” 

“Hahaha. It’s not strange at all that you knew nothing about her. She does not want to meddle in the countries’ affairs and has been in recluse till now...... The her name is...” 

“Takenaka Hanbei, isn’t it?” Sagara said it without blinking. 

“Oioi! Brat! I had created such an atmosphere and yet you... Ow...! My back, my back!!!” 

“You know of her, Saru?!” 

“What a question, that bastard is a very famous genius strategist in Japanese history! His intelligence is 98 even without any item equipped, a totally unbalanced character!” 

“Saying something monkey again, what is that 'ai~tei~mu'?” 

“Giving other people points is my right actually.” The Oda clan’s females started to talk among themselves. 

“Oioioi, isn’t Takenaka Hanbei being called as the 'Current Zhuge Liang'? How can you guys show such a bewildered face?!” 

“I know nothing at all!” 

“......Current Zhuge Liang? Who’s that?” 

“Saru, don’t tell me you're a spy sent from Mino?” 

“Oioi, there is something strange within those lines, Nobuna.” 

“Ridiculous! Don’t use such an affectionate name, you Saru-suke.” 

“You are the one being impolite, ok?” 

Dousan laughed, “Hahahaha. As expected from Oda clan’s number one guy, totally correct. Takenaka Hanbei has an aloof personality, that’s why she is unknown to the world. This girl can be considered my hidden dragon.” 

“'Hidden dragon'. That should be the nickname of Zhuge Liang in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. As expected, Hanbei is a genius that rivals Zhuge Liang?” 

“There is no reason for a mere monkey to be so arrogant for just knowing some Chinese history.” Nobuna’s lips formed the ^ shape again. 

“Exactly, actually in Japan, there are two genius strategists. If one can ally with both of them, it won’t be long before one can conquer the world. First is the Hidden Dragon, Mino’s Takenaka Hanbei. She has been a genius from birth, and has been discovered for quite some time. As for the other, she is 'Young Phoenix', though she is immature as of now, given time she will definitely rise like the phoenix. She is......” 

“Kuroda Kanbei, right?” 

“Oi!!! Why did you snatch my cool moments again and again, you brat!” Dousan shouted. 

“Sagara-dono, as expected from our no. 1 general!” 

“It’s nothing at all, both of them are old faces in all Sengoku games. I feel embarrassed being complimented by you. It’s totally nothing since I’m only playing games." 

“Oh. This mystical stuff “Sengoku Geimu” from the country of monkeys, what a scary item!” 

“Oi, I’m not from the country of monkeys!” Sagara shouted. 

“Yes, it's probably that the country of monkeys is a bit more advanced. How could someone like this guy be the number one smart guy? But Viper, is that Takenake Hanbei that strong?” 

“That goes without saying. Most importantly, this guy is the strongest and most difficult enemy of Nobuna-dono and me.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Even if I explain it to Nobuna-dono, you won’t be able to understand... For realistic people like me and you, to put it simply she is someone with abnormal talent.” 

“Abnormal talent? You make it sound suspicious.” 

“Takenaka Hanbei isn't just a strategist, she is an onmyouji. She even knows the old strategies of this country that were lost long ago.” 

“Weren't onmyoujis the trend in Kyoto in the Heian period, something like a fortune teller? Do such people still exist now?” Nobuna asked. 

From the Muromachi period, aides that have been protecting the daimyos have been using the onmyoujis to decide which day to attack, and using them to cast spells on enemies were not uncommon. But, as new and rising sengoku daimyos, Saitou Dousan and Oda Nobuna did not care about things that were not scientific. 

They would rather order their troops to move and attack freely or to initiate lightning fast battles than rely on old fortune telling techniques that slow down their troop movements. Because of this, Nobuna was shocked to hear that this genius strategist Takenaka Hanbei was an onmyouji, an old and mysterious entity. 

“Now in this era of western science, such an advisor is not my opponent at all! It’s tricks at most.” 

“Seeing is believing. You will understand once you face her in battle, but you might lose your life.” 

“You won’t know what will happen unless you try! Everyone, move out to Mino now! Let me see what is so great about this Takenaka Hanbei with my own eyes!” 

Nobuna stood up gallantly, and rushed out alone. 

Everyone has already gotten used to her behavior. 

“Oi, wait! What are you gonna do if you rush out alone!?” 

Sagara and Inuchiyo chased after her too. 

But, 

Sagara was thinking to himself, A plan like the battle of Okehezama will most likely not work..., and was beginning to have a bad feeling about this. Dousan stopped Sagara, who took off after Nobuna and gave him an idea. “Brat, Nobuna-dono will most likely be heading towards defeat. Can you keep this a secret from Nobuna-dono and lend me 50 of your soldiers?” Sagara agreed and nodded. 

“Conquer and return my godfather Dousan’s Mino with your own hands!” 

Nobuna personally lead thousands of the Owari army, and headed towards the lands of Mino. Though they had met with some defense of the resisting Mino army, they were defeated one by one. Owari’s army seemed unstoppable. 

Owari’s army had always been rated as the weakest, and the master was that fool princess Nobuna. Not long ago, the people had still been using these to laugh. But after attaining the miraculous victory in the battle of Okehazama, not only did Nobuna’s fame rise rapidly, the Owari soldiers who had always had low morale had been discussing among themselves, “Our princess-sama, though she looks like a fool, she has the backbone of a hero.” “Ohoh, I’ve also seen it; on the eve of the battle of Okehazama, princess-dono had committed to die and danced to the tune! That scene was so beautiful that I cried, I cried!!” “For our beautiful princess-sama, even if it’s to the depths of hell, we will......” 

The soldiers became like this, having rarely shown morale and motivation. Looks like no matter the era, guys will always fall for beautiful women. At the front of the troops and holding the job of vanguard is obviously the fiercest general of the Owari army, Shibata Katsuie. In the middle are Nobuna’s personal bodyguards, Nagahide and Inuchiyo. At the back of the army, being rated the weakest in Owari, is Kanjuurou Nobukatsu. 

Always taking care of things around Katsuie, and being commented by Nobuna that he is totally useless when facing the strong Mino army, he was thrown to the back of the army. In the midst of Nobukatsu’s army, Sagara was present too. 

As he sucked at horse riding, he could only continue to ride behind Goemon. “Why did she throw me at the back!? I wanna make some big achievements in this battle, this is disappointing.” 

“It can’t be helped. It’s pvious people will wurry if Sagara-shi can’t get uzed to horse riding.” 

“Really, after getting the promotion of rank, it has no meaning if you can’t even ride a horse into battle.” 

“Ahhhh, we have peacefully passed the Sakai river, and the enemies are all gone. How I wish we could just rest here for the day......” Nobukatsu said with a refreshing smile. 

“Too naïve, Nobukatsu. Didn't your father, Nobuhide, get defeated when he camped in the middle of the enemies’ grounds? We can’t let them ambush us, so we should just rush all the way in.” 

“Father-sama was defeated because of Saitou Dousan. Now that Saitou Dousan is guarding Aoshuu for us, defeating Saitou Yoshitatsu should be a piece of cake. No matter what, that big brute is just someone without brains. He is nothing compared to me, as expected of the gentleman of Owari. Hahahahaha” 

“You should have a limit to your optimism,” Sagara thought. 

“Oh, there’s mist now...... And it’s getting thicker, Saru-kun.” 

“It’s so weird to have mist at such a time at night, but with this, it seems like advancing any further will be impossible.” 

Seems like Nobuna who is in the middle of the army is considering stopping for now. 

Shibata Katsuie’s vanguard army had also stopped moving; with this, the whole army had stopped in the forest called “Nagamori”. The town at the tip is just in front, and the distance between the Owari army and Inabayama castle was just a short 4 km. “By the way, during the time when saving Dousan, it seemed like there was mist too.” 

Sagara thought while his heart was filled with a weird restlessness. At that time, it’s because of the mist that I could get near Dousan’s base. I would like to think that it was natural weather, but if it’s not a coincidence and someone made it to disable Dousan’s chain of command... 

"Impossible. A magician who can control mist should not exist. Maybe during the Heian period which was full of demons and ghosts, but this is the Sengoku era. “Even in the most esteemed game “Oda Nobunaga no Yabou”, there is no magic command like in RPG games. A battle’s outcome is decided on the amount of soldiers, equipment, and the general leading them,” Sagara muttered to himself. 

At that moment... suddenly, there were shouts all around them. Mino soldiers started coming out from the forest, the dam, and villages to ambush the Owari army. 

“Damn, an ambush!” 

Following battle drums, soldiers started rushing out in waves; it’s almost like the strategy of the genius strategist from “Romance of the three kingdoms”, Zhuge Liang. 

“Wh...Wh...Wh...What is going on, Saru-kun?!” 

“We underestimated Mino. Battling us with small amounts of soldiers and retreating repeatedly was all to trap us here at “Nagamori”! This place is most likely the centre of the ambush, and because of the mist, Nobuna did not notice that this is a death trap!” 

“Ahhhhhhhhh!” 

“My ears hurt from that! Oi, don’t shout suddenly at my side, Nobukatsu.” 

“This is a habit of the Oda family! If we don’t report to Onee-sama now...” 

“No... it seems like the troops are being decimated.” 

The enemies were coming from all directions without stopping. All they could hear were the drums. Being scared and frightened, the Owari soldiers dropped their spears and started running away. 

“Ahhhh...! Unbelievable, the Owari army that crushed Imagawa Yoshimoto is being crushed so easily! If... if I don’t rush to Onee-sama and protect her, Onee-sama will......” 

“Calm down, I’m going over to Nobuna’s side now! Nobukatsu, try and think of a way to group the soldiers together, do your job of being the back support properly! Be careful of any ambushes and ensure that the retreat path is safe!” 

“I will lead Onee-sama’s troops over to the river, Saru-kun!” 

“Let’s go over to the princess’s side, Sagara-shi.” 

Goemon straddled the horse and galloped away with Sagara. As expected of a ninja, her night vision was outstanding. On such a misty night, she could still find the position of Nobuna’s troops and dash over in a straight line. But while Sagara tried to reach Nobuna, the troops were being depleted fast. 

“What the hell is going on? And what is with this disgusting mist, so troublesome!” 

“Nobuna, we fell into Takenaka Hanbei’s trap! If we don’t retreat now, we will be trapped. Please give the order to retreat now!” 


“This level of ambush, it will be all over if we finish all of them off!” 

“No, the ambush numbers are still increasing.” 

“What? Isn't it over already?” 

“Hanbei set up heavy ambushes at different spots! Because of this mist, your decision making skills have become slow too.” 

Even before Nobuna’s voice faded, more waves of ambushing soldiers revealed themselves following the drum sounds. 

“Che...I, I don’t believe in such a superstitious thing like onmyouji! This mist is just a coincidence, nothing but a coincidence. " 

“You can be stubborn all you want when we are back in Aoshuu!” 

“No... No... Not stubborn at all! You cursed Saru, which side are you on!?” 

The way Mino’s army chased Nobuna could only be described as pressing. Just when Nobuna uneasily broke through the third wave of the ambush, the fourth and fifth waves of the ambush charged at them through the white mist. Shibata Katsuie and Inuchiyo’s bamboo spears pierced up and down finally opening up a bloody path. But just when they thought they had reached somewhere safe, from just a signal from the drums, the sixth and seventh waves of the ambush charged straight towards them. 

“Hime-sama, this is an ambush from all sides! If this goes on, we will be decimated. 0 points!” The usually demure and gentle Niwa Nagahide shouted, her armor splattered with drops of enemy blood as she swung her Naginata. 

“Ambushed from all sides?” 

“A strategist from ancient China, named “Chen Li”, this is his favorite technique, laying lots of ambushes around an area and using a tiny amount of troops to lure the enemy in...” 

“Again with the Zhuge Liang’s traps!” Nobuna snorted. 

“I’m afraid the enemies' strategist is well aware of different ancient traps and techniques, this must be Takenaka Hanbei’s work.” 

“Manchiyo! Did I get overly arrogant after the victory of Okehazama?” 

“No, Hime-sama should have been able to detect the ambush if there was no mist. This time we were just unlucky.” 

Nagahide decisively swung her Naginata while consoling Nobuna, who was shivering with anguish on her horse, tightly biting her own rosy lips. 

“Anyway, we should retreat back to Aoshuu!” 

“Understood!” 

“Saru, stop falling into a daze like a fool and protect me properly!” 

“Who is falling into a daze!? I beg you Goemon, use your smoke screen to fight against this mist!” 

“I got it!” 

With no concern about hierarchy at all, Sagara brought his ninja right before his master Nobuna. 

Goemon threw her smoke bombs in all directions, creating a smokescreen to blind the enemies. 

And at that exact moment, there was a small troop of Nobuna’s army walking out from the south of Inabayama. At the sight of this new troop, the Mino army shouted, “Not good, Nobuna’s army is counter attacking by going straight to Inabayama castle.” 

The pursuit for Nobuna stopped while all of them were panicking. 

It looks like the Mino army was still wary of Nobuna’s lightning speed assault when she attacked Okehazama. But in fact, the small troop was actually the soldiers Sagara lent to Saitou Dousan, who used his knowledge of the topology around Inabayama lead them over. This 50 people strong troop held torches and moved like they were a big army invading the area. These people under Sagara who made a living by stealing are shouting “The festival has begun!” and lit up the whole side of Inabayama, all the while making lots of noise. 

The ambush stopped at the eighth wave, as the final wave that was supposed to give the final blow, panicked and ran towards Inabayama castle. The Oda army could be said to have narrowly escaped elimination. 

“What is this? Who are those reinforcements?” 

The retreating Nobuna was full of questions, but Sagara, riding behind Goemon did not answer. He did not want to let Nobuna know that Dousan had expected this defeat. High in morale after defeating Imagawa Yoshimoto, yet being defeated so utterly by Takenaka Hanbei, telling Nobuna the truth now would just worry her unnecessarily. Grasping this rare opportunity, Nobuna escaped frantically towards Aoshuu. 

After retreating to Aoshuu, they were finally getting a grasp on the situation of Mino’s army. As expected, Saitou Yoshitatsu had recruited Takenaka Hanbei and given her commanding authority over his troops. The fearsome “Ambush from all sides” was also Hanbei’s idea. Requiring deployment of several ambushes at different areas, people who can execute this kind of complicated and delicate plan perfectly are far and few between. But in the hands of Hanbei, this “Ambush from all sides” was executed so easily. If not for the small troop acting out a counterattacking army and distracting the Mino’s army attention, Nobuna might have been surrounded and cut off from all retreat routes by this “Ambush from all sides”. 

If that was really the case, it would really be hard to predict if they would be able to return to Aoshuu safely. For Takenaka Hanbei to defeat Owari as easily as she might play with a kid was enough to have Nobuna fuming with anger. 

“What kind of battle was that, this is just playing around! I’m totally being played around by her!” 

Being driven by humiliation and killing intent, while stomping repeatedly the ground, Nobuna was ranting on “We must attack again tonight!” But after Nagahide’s “Everyone is still wary of Hanbei, and the fatigue from last night has not been fully recovered, we must at least let the troops rest for a week. 20 points.” Nobuna simmered down and vented her anger on her favorite chicken drumstick for a whole week. 

During this time, Sagara walked in and out of Dousan’s house, frantically seeking an answer to how to defeat Hanbei, while Dousan kept scratching his head while thinking too. During this era where western culture was slowly seeping into Japan, Takenaka Hanbei who was well versed in the Onmyoudou of ancient Japan and capable of different spells could be called a last boss character. And as Nobuna was a realistic person, their characters could be described as water and fire, nemesis to the end. 

During this week, Sagara was even thinking of ways to conquer Inabayama castle during his sleep. Also during this period, Omi’s Asai Nagamasa had been sending letters to Nobuna asking if they should send reinforcements. Of course, that would mean Nobuna would have to agree to Nagamasa’s marriage proposal. And in truth, it would also mean she would be handing Owari’s power and influence over to Nagamasa. Nobuna rejected all these temptation-like proposals, and declared to the envoy that she would use her own power to conquer Mino. But the tricks of this strongest Onmyouji, the genius strategist Takenaka Hanbei, were not as simple as just the “Ambush from all sides.” 

This week of waiting and thinking passed by in an instant, and in the blink of an eye it’s the time to move out to Inabayama castle. Using a fake army to ensure a retreat route was no longer an option. The same trick might work twice if its against Yoshitatsu, but it most likely would not fool Hanbei again. Because of this, Nobuna, Katsuie and Sagara had made the resolve to battle to their deaths. 

“Everyone, there will be an adjustment to our route. So as to not allow any ambush from Mino, we will move out from Pingyuan! Don’t forget to send in spies.” 

In the second invasion of Mino, Nobuna made large adjustments to the army. The vanguard would be led by Owari’s weakest, Oda Nobukatsu. The appreciative Nobukatsu cried while saying “Onee-sama! I Nobukatsu will not fail your expectations, and swear to perform the duties of a vanguard to the end!” 

Looking at her brother's behavior, Nobuna gave a uncaring face and said “We do not know what Hanbei will do this time, so you will be the one who will walk at the front. Enjoy being cannon fodder.” This plain act of letting her own brother be the sacrifice gave Nobukatsu quite a scare. 

“It’s too dangerous to move out at night, so we will move during the day under the sunlight. Beware of any ambush and move out!” 

Nobuna led an army of 2000 soldiers and moved out from Aoshuu castle at dawn. Once again, the Oda army moved out from the river and towards Mount Inaba. Though the river's waters were fast moving, the water level was not deep and the horses and foot soldiers were just barely able to cross it. 

“Now there is no way for “Ambush from all sides” to work! Even if the enemy appears, our losses will only be Kanjuurou at most!” What a mean sister, though she did not mean it at all. 

While worrying about her little brother being the vanguard, and sending out spies to detect any traces of enemy ambush, the Oda army slowly and carefully walked into enemy territory. After crossing the river and reaching the plains, Nobuna set fire to her surroundings. Of course, she did not do it out of it being a hobby of hers. 

“As a precaution, burn any areas that seem suspicious! I will not give Hanbei any chance for an ambush!” 

The troops led by Kanjuurou were in the first section; the second section consisting of Katsuie’s troops followed behind with a bit of distance between them. At the back of the army, were the troops led by Nobuna. To prevent any surprise attacks from the enemy, all troops deployed a circle defensive formation. This behavior was totally unfitting of the usually rash style of Nobuna. This was an iron wall formation where if there was any enemy attacks from the sides or back, all troops would be able to quickly surround them and finish them all. But this time around, Nobuna had lost her biggest weapon - Speed, though she herself had not noticed this just yet. 

Although they were supposed to move towards Inabayama castle, the troops lead by Kanjuurou were now in a state of complete panic. After moving for a while, they were enveloped by an unknown white mist, and their area of sight started to get worse, though this was just a start. After returning to their senses, they found out that they had left the road to the castle and had walked into a swamp full of towers formed by huge rocks. 

“What... is this place?” 

No matter how slow, the inauspicious aura created by this stone maze made Nobukatsu know the danger of it, having lost his way again and again. But Nobukatsu who had rashly stepped into this stone maze couldn’t find the way he walked in and had no way to get out too. This maze was created by using the stone towers effectively to make any intruder lose their way. 

Discovering this, the Owari army at the back had already stepped into the stone maze. 

“No...no...no...no...not good, if this goes on, Onee-sama will be lost in this stone maze too!” 

Nobukatsu ran around the maze like an ant on a frying pan, but no matter how he moved, what was in front of him were similarly shaped stone towers. He rode around in the maze in a frenzy, but in the end, he couldn’t find a way out. 

This kind of rash action only advanced them deeper into the maze where the soil texture below them kept getting softer and softer. The horses they were riding on seemed to take their next step with increasing difficulty, and gave the army lots of trouble. 

“It seems like the enemy is using the muddy swamp area near the river to create a maze and trap us in there.” Nobukatsu almost burst out in tears. 

Trapped in the maze like him, Yoshiharu, Goemon and Nobukatsu's sister Nobuna all crowded around him after hearing his cry of anguish. 

“Don’t give up, Nobukatsu! A maze like this can be easily overcome by just sticking close to the walls!” 

“Yeah, Kanjuurou, this kind of demonic trick is nothing at all!” 

Nobuna gathered her trusted aides to start discussing a way to get out of this maze. 

“Manchiyo! What is going on with this maze? Don’t tell me it’s another trap from Takenaka Hanbei?” 

“Yes, I think this is the legendary trap by Zhuge Liang, 'Stone Sentinel Maze'”. 

It seems like Nagahide had a deep understanding of ancient Chinese literature. 

“Finally the trap devised by Zhuge Liang whose intelligence is at 100 points has appeared. No matter what, Takenaka Hanbei is known as the current Zhuge Liang,” Sagara said. 

“Hime, if this goes on, I’m afraid that the enemy will divert the river to this stone maze and drown our whole army. 0 points.” 

“Manchiyo, do you know where the exit is?” 

“This stone tower maze seems to be built under the theory of the 8 trigrams. There should be The Gate of Opening (??, Kaimon), The Gate of Healing (??, Ky?mon), The Gate of Life (??, Seimon), The Gate of Pain (??, Sh?mon), The Gate of Limit (??, Tomon), The Gate of Insight (??, Keimon), The Gate of Wonder (??,Ky?mon), and The Gate of Death (??, Shimon): a total of 8 gates.” 

“The 8 triagrams?” 

“It’s one of the theories of war, and the foundation behind our country's onmyoudou.” 

“Huh. In other words, it’s a demon art too... That Takenaka Hanbei is getting on my nerves more and more.” 

“Out of these 8 gates, it is said that passing through the Limit and Death gate will result in certain death. It seems like we have walked through the Gate of Death.” 

“What death? This kind of thing is only superstition! No matter what, we should follow the wall and find a way out......” 

Swooosh... 

Even before the voice of Nobuna faded, a sudden flood appeared in front of their eyes and put them waist deep in water. 

“What? What the hell is this!?” 

“The water from the river has been directed over here, our army’s situation is just 1 point.” 

And it looks like the water level was still rising. If this went on, it was certain that they would drown. 

Though Sagara was anxious too, he couldn’t find a way to escape. Who would have thought that the legendary trap that Zhuge Liang devised would be used so perfectly here by Takenaka Hanbei! 

(I remember in the romance of three kingdoms, Lu Xun who was trapped in this stone maze was also faced with an impending flood. During that time, either Zhuge Liang’s uncle or grandfather tells him the way to escape…..) 

If Takenaka Hanbei’s uncle or grandfather could come and tell the enemy, Nobuna, the way to escape from here... That kind of thing will never happen, I guess. 

Oh yeah, I should rely on ninjas in this kind of situation. 

Throwing smoke bombs and using kage bunshin no jutsu, no matter what, the real magicians in the Sengoku era are the ninjas! 

If it’s Goemon, there should be a way out! 

“Go...Go...Go...Goemon! You understand things like onmyoudou and the 8 triagrams, right?” 

Goemon poked her head out from one of the stone towers and said, “I’m just a ninja~degozaru. The path of a ninja does not include these. In the end, it’s gust apout the yays to strengthen one’s heart.” 

“I don’t understand a single thing from the extent of your stutter!” 

“Uuuuu. In other words, the path of a ninja means to learn things from reality.” 

I get it, Yoshiharu nods. So as to say, though they sometimes use blinding techniques, the ninja is not an existence that transcends reality. 

To create a smokescreen, you will need smoke grenades. Kage bunshin is actually a technique which uses high speed movements to create an illusion that there are more than one person. The shockingly powerful jumps of a ninja were due to daily training and strengthening of their bodies, and as for the kunais that fly everywhere, the theory is the same as baseball, using the air's friction and gravity combined with throwing strength to create various throws. But in reality, Ninja don't ride on big toads. 

As for those users who use techniques which completely defied logic and could never be explained by science, are those onmyoujis. 

"Oi!!! If you have guts, stop using these devious traps and come out here! That Takenaka! If you have the skills, fight me fairly with a bamboo spear!!!" Katsuie shouted loudly with a face full of tears, but Yoshiharu felt that it would be stupid of Hanbei to come out. 

"Use your brain and think, Katsuie. If the opponent is someone who can win against you with a spear, is there a need for her to be an onmyouji?" 

"Shut up! I can never accept those kind of ridiculous people." 

"Onee-sama! Things have come to such a situation all because of me being a useless vanguard. The fault totally lies with me, Nobukatsu! Allow me to commit senpuku and atone..." 

"Stop, Kanjuurou. What will committing senpuku solve?" 

"But compared to senpuku, drowning is much more painful Onee-sama! Uwaaaa~!" 

As everyone is panicking, the water levels are rising fast. 

"Everyone, stop panicking! If you want to hate, hate Takenaka Hanbei for not choosing to follow the Viper and instead choosing that short idiot! Because of her, we can't reach our target Inabayama castle and have to struggle here." 

Once again, while grinding her teeth in humiliation, she encouraged her aides. Compared to the previous ambush, this time they were trapped in this rock maze without a real fight even beginning. 

"No matter what, we must go back to Aoshuu alive!" 

"We can't hold on anymore, Onee-sama!" 

"If I...I...I...I was not so stupid, things would have been better! I'm really sorry, Hime-sama!" 

"Everyone, listen! If we can beat Hanbei, we will arrange a feast to celebrate! And if we can conquer Inabayama castle, no matter what it is, I will reward you guys! Any request is ok!" 

"Three year supply of Uiroumochi......" Inuchiyo starts to drool. 

Wait, any request can be fulfilled? Sagara's eyes started to sparkle with anticipation. "Is what you said true?" 

"That's rude, Saru. As a samurai, I won't go back on my words." 

"Don't tell me you'll just agree to anything because you're feeling suicidal and think we are going to die here?!" 

"Though I do not want to admit, I can never beat an opponent who is this unpredictable! What is this "Stone Sentinel Maze"! Like what Viper said, this is the worst kind of enemy to me who follows normal logic." 

"Hime, even onmyoudou have their own set of rules and logic. Of course, this logic is different from the logic we know, but saying it is illogical is just an act of running away from the truth." 

"Manchiyo, this kind of military lesson, wait until we are back in Aoshuu and you can be fussy with me!" 

Ok! Sagara rolled up his sleeves. "No matter what, I will bring all of you back to Aoshuu! The reward, I can get whatever I want! Remember your promise, Hime-sama!" 

Yoshiharu's motivation shot up like a rocket launching into the sky. 

As the saying goes, a man driven to desperation can do anything. All of a sudden, Yoshiharu thought of an idea. 

Yoshiharu couldn't help but scream in his heart, There is no need for any exit! It's because we follow logic that we lose! We should follow our own ways now! 

"Hurry up, start to dig, Goemon! Push down these stone towers, use them as stepping stones." 

"I get it~nya. You want to break out of this maze by pushing down the towers~nya." 

Goemon stutters right after she opens her mouth. Looks like she is getting anxious too. 

"Yes! Though I do not understand the logic behind the stone sentinel maze, if we destroy the maze itself, we should be able to walk out of it! And while doing that, we can use the stones as stepping stones to prevent any danger of drowning!" 

"Sagara-dono, it is shockingly simple, but to think that you can find a loophole in one of Hanbei's traps, 85 points." 

Nagahide nods and agrees, and Katsuie at the side pulls out her katana. 

"Not using your brain and just destroy everything, right? Leave it to me!" 

~Destructive noises~ 

Katsuie's sword destroyed all of the stone towers as easily as striking down a bowling pin. Looking at Katsuie who had taken the form of Ashura, the soldiers at the side started to use their spears and work on the stone towers too. 

Inuchiyo, while whispering "......feeling better", took out her own spear too. 

Looking at her subordinates suddenly acting in cohesion, Nobuna was surprised. "Just because you can't find the exit, you destroy the maze. What a ridiculous strategy." 

Just like how in the famous riddle "Stand the egg up", Columbus gave a shocking answer of "Crack the bottom of the egg". Though Yoshiharu's way is a bit cunning, it does have a curious similarity to him. Totally ignoring the questioner's objectives and correct answer, using brute force to force a way out, it can be considered a groundbreaking solution too. 

It's like losing in a game of chess, yet overturning the whole chessboard, a totally ridiculous way of doing things. As expected of a guy who follows his own rules. 

On the other hand, though Nobuna said she did not believe in things like onmyoudou, she unwittingly wanted to pit her own intelligence with Hanbei. Because of this, she continued to try to find an exit to the stone sentinel maze, while totally forgetting about the solution of just destroying the maze itself. 

While wearing a face like "0^0", Nobuna stood on the stepping stone that Katsuie destroyed and said, "Don't...Don't let this get over your head, Saru! In the end, the reward can only be given to you once you conquer Inabayama castle! Something small like this is nothing." 

Helping Goemon push down the stone towers, full of dirt but with an expression full of motivation, Yoshiharu interrupted her and said, "You are really not cute at all! Will you die just to show a bit of gratitude towards my plan!?" 

"Che... This isn't human knowledge! This is knowledge from a monkey who has given up on logical thinking! And no matter what, you have no proof this is a way out, do you?" 

"Noisy! Listen, I will definitely conquer Inabayama castle for you to see! And once I do it, don't you forget about that promise of 'any request will be fulfilled'!" 

"Eh?.......I...I got it already." 

"No matter if it's conquering the world, or marrying the man you love, I will not give up! I will definitely fulfill them for you!" 

Yoshiharu's eyes were filled with dazzling motivation as he was shouting "Don't forget the reward". Nobuna, noticing this and getting affected by this aura he was emitting, started blushing furiously. Sagara had never spoke a word about Nagamasa's marriage with Nobuna, but Nobuna finally understood deeply that Sagara was in fact anxious that he did not have any achievement yet. 

After destroying the stone maze completely, the exit finally appeared in front of the nearly drowned Oda's army. While on the route back to Aoshuu, Nobuna, on horseback, started whispering to herself, "......What if......What if that Saru wants me as a reward....." 

"If it's like that, what should I do?" 

"The words have been spoken, the promise can no longer be retracted. But no matter what, our status are too different.....If Saru really conquers Inabayama Castle, how about promoting him to a general...... but in the end, that's still an adviser. An...And, compared to this guy who came from nowhere, being the same monkey, compared to Saruyashamaru, Asai Nagamasa, they are like heaven and earth, there is not much of a possibility......" 

"But...But that guy seems unexpectedly reliable..... And he saved my life numerous times...... Th...That guy's dream is to do ecchi things with the world's number one bishoujo, so as to say...... Ahhhhh... Why must I think of such a thing!?" 

Nobuna thought "This isn't good", and started to regret her promise of a reward and started panicking while blushing. In the back, Katsuie shouted, "Whose achievement will be the biggest?", and Sagara, while unwillingly starting to perform a comedy skit, did not notice Nobuna's expression at all. 

Once again they returned to Aoshuu, and early next morning, Nobuna summoned her two most trusted advisers, Shibata Katsuie and Niwa Nagahide. 

"Uuuu, why must Hime-sama find us to talk about Yoshiharu's matters?" 

"Hime-sama is so attracted to that damn Saru and keeps siding with him on matters. Damn..." Katsuie's rage towards Yoshiharu seemed to increase day by day. 

"So, what did you guys quarrel about today?" 

On the other side, though Nagahide admitted that she did not have the weird thinking patterns of Nobuna and Yoshiharu, her presence as someone highly intelligent was reliable to Nobuna. 

"Not really quarreling...... That guy arrogantly asked me not to forget about the reward after conquering Mino." 

"I understand. Previously, as part of the promise to give him the number one bishoujo of the world, you gave the young Nene to Sagara. It's a good thing that the lonely Yoshiharu has obtained a cute sister, but no matter how people see it, it's a clear act of deceit. 13 points." 

"That's the thing.... That's why he is now pestering me to reward him properly, how irritating." 

"Haha, is he still bent on having the number one bishoujo of the world?" 

Nobuna's face was painted with a light shade of pink, while saying in low voice, "......I don't know already......It might be that Saru......is actually proposing to me." 

"Eh?" 

*cough* Nagahide, who is usually calm, spat the tea out of her mouth together with Katsuie. 

"Ah, how rude of me. But no matter what, this kind of reward is too ridiculous. Hime is the one and only leader of the Oda clan, and Yoshiharu is Hime's advisor who previously was just an unknown vagrant. There is no chance of being together. 0 points." 

"Th...Th...That ero-saru! He finally revealed his true motive to capture the Oda clan! What a bastard, looks like I have to kill you with my own hands!" 

"Wait, Riku. This is just a possibility. I'm just thinking if that was the case." 

"Hime, what kind of proof do you have to think this of Sagara-dono?" 

"Yeah, Hime-sama. What makes you so mindful of that damn Saru's ambitions?" 

Nobuna used her finger on the tatami and started drawing circles, while stuttering, "......er....That...That marriage between me and Nagamasa, he does not seem to agree with it. And Saru, that guy, though he always says things like 'I'm not cute at all and violent too', he did do his best all the time right? And.....he did put on airs and say "No matter if it's conquering the world or marrying the man you love, I will definitely fulfill them for you!" so...so as to say, he might be implying to me 'Be my bride!'.....things like that..... If...If things really become like that, I had already promised to give him anything he wants. I can't escape this time. If...If Saru really conquered Mino this time, we...we...we can't do anything about it......Er... And a sa...samurai does not go back on his words!" 

"Hime-sama, this talk is no longer about asking how to punish Sagara-dono for his disrespectful attitude. It's just normal sweet talking that couples do. 12 points." 

Shibata Katsuie started to tremble with anger, the veins in her forehead were almost stressed to the point of breaking. She stood up while drawing her sword, "Un...Un...Unforgivable! He actually da...da...dared to let Nobuna-sama display such an act of helplessness......" 

"......It...It has not been decided if it's really a proposal, Riku! In the end, I'm just troubled....." 

"Damn Saru, you actually plan to snatch away the invincible, but yet to fall in love, heart of Hime-sama!? Compared to Nagamasa, this bastard is actually more dangerous! Let's kill him now!" 

"Gosh, I already said not to kill my saru without reason, right?" 

"Correct, Riku-dono. Sagara-dono's already an officer now; killing him without a reason is not permitted." 

".....My.....'My Saru'? The relationship between the two of you had advanced to such a stage......? Ahhhhhhh! I can't take it, I should just go and die now!" 

"Eh? What are you saying, Riku?" 

Nobuna's face was that of a young girl's in a fantasy-esque love, but the situation did not develop in the direction where she was fantasizing. 



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