Meanwhile, Haru and the small group who had chosen not to follow Bun continued on their way through the steep trails.
For them, the decision was clear. They had refused to take part in the suicidal plan to confront Imagawa Yoshimoto's army. Their goal lay elsewhere.
Mount Hiei.
The forest grew denser as they advanced. Tree roots distorted the path, and a light mist began to cling to the heights.
One of the men finally slowed his pace.
"Haru..." he said hesitantly.
Haru did not turn around immediately.
"What?"
The man looked behind him, as if the group they had left behind might still appear around the bend in the path.
"Do you think we made the right choice?"
Silence hung heavy for a few seconds.
"We abandoned the others..." he continued. "What if they were right?"
Haru finally stopped and turned to face them.
His gaze was firm.
"No."
He crossed his arms.
"All of this is a sign." "
The others exchanged uncertain glances.
"We have been given a quest. A prophecy. A clear direction," he explained. "Mount Hiei is our salvation."
His voice grew more confident.
"While the others foolishly throw themselves into a war they cannot win... we will survive."
The man who had asked the question remained silent.
Haru continued:
"Bun is not to be trusted. He plays the strategist, but all he is doing is leading us to slaughter. Those who have followed him are rushing to their doom."
He looked away toward the mountains.
"They will die for a pointless battle."
Then, as he seemed lost in thought, a voice rose behind him.
"Haru..."
He turned around.
One of his companions was pointing toward the horizon.
"I think... we're here."
Before them, between the layers of mist, the majestic silhouette of a vast monastic complex finally appeared.
Mount Hiei.
The group stopped.
Before them stood Mount Hiei.
The mountain seemed almost unreal, enveloped in a fine mist that slowly drifted between the trees. At the heart of this immensity lay the vast monastic complex of Enryaku-ji.
The sanctuary was not a single monumental temple. Instead, it stretched across the entire mountain, scattered among the hills, as if it had grown naturally in the middle of the forest.
Religious pavilions appeared among the huge cedars and ancient maples. Stone paths winding through the mountain connected the buildings, sometimes interrupted by small clearings bathed in soft light.
Everything seemed silent. Almost sacred.
The buildings, constructed of dark wood, rested on solid stone terraces. Their wide, slightly curved roofs gave the impression of floating above the structures. Around them, moss covered the ancient stones, and old stone lanterns lined the stairs that disappeared into the forest.
Nothing here sought to dominate the landscape.
The architecture was deliberately understated, even humble, as if the temples had been designed to blend into nature rather than overwhelm it. Some pavilions were almost hidden among the trees, half concealed by trunks or enveloped by the mist that slowly descended from the mountain.
The large prayer halls, open and silent, looked directly out onto the green sea of the surrounding forest.
At the heart of this sanctuary stood the main pavilion: the Konpon Chūdō.
There, it was said, burned a sacred flame that had never been extinguished for over a thousand years.
Faced with this majestic sight, Haru's group was speechless.
Even those who had been doubtful moments before could not hide their amazement.
The place commanded silence.
Then a faint sound of footsteps disturbed the tranquility of the mountain.
Several monks had appeared on one of the stone paths. Draped in their simple robes, they moved slowly toward the group, their gazes calm but attentive.
They seemed almost part of the scenery, as if the mountain itself had shaped them.
One of them stopped a few steps away from Haru.
He observed the group for a few moments, then spoke in a calm voice.
"Travelers..."
His gaze fell on Haru.
"Who sent you?"
Haru remained silent for a moment.
The monk's gaze was calm, but something in his demeanor commanded a certain gravity. Behind him, the other monks also watched the group, motionless like the stone statues that lined the temple steps.
Haru hesitated.
Then he finally replied.
"We..." he began. "We have come seeking the spiritual support of Mount Hiei."
The monk bowed his head slightly, inviting him to continue.
"A war is about to break out," Haru explained. "And we were hoping to find protection here... divine protection."
Silence fell for a few seconds, broken only by the wind rustling the maple leaves.
The monk then spoke again.
"A war, you say..."
His eyes fixed directly on Haru.
"Which clans are preparing to fight each other?"
Haru replied without thinking twice.
"The Nobunaga clan... against the Imagawa clan."
The moment those words were spoken, something changed in the monk's expression.
His gaze froze for a brief moment.
Then, without saying a word, he turned away.
As if simply hearing the name Oda Nobunaga was enough to end the discussion.
He began to walk away along the stone path, followed by the other monks who accompanied him.
Seeing the monks walking away, Haru took a step forward.
"Wait!"
His voice echoed slightly in the quiet of the mountains.
The monks continued walking for a few moments, as if they hadn't heard anything. But Haru insisted.
"We do not share Oda's ideology!"
This time, some of them slowed down.
Haru seized the moment.
"We did not come here to support his war," he continued. "On the contrary... we already know how this will end."
The monk leading the group continued walking a few more steps.
Then Haru revealed what he had been keeping to himself until then.
"We have received a prophecy."
The words floated in the cold mountain air.
"A prophecy that foretells the death of Oda Nobunaga in this war."
Haru's companions exchanged glances.
Haru continued in a confident tone:
"It is inevitable. Oda has neither Imagawa's experience... nor his men. Imagawa Yoshimoto's superiority is obvious."
At that precise moment, the monk stopped dead in his tracks.
His movement was so abrupt that the other monks behind him also froze.
For a moment, the forest seemed to hold its breath.
Behind Haru, one of his companions leaned slightly toward him and whispered in a low voice:
"Do you think it will work...?" "
Haru smiled confidently.
"Of course."
He glanced at the silhouette of the monk standing still on the path.
"Bun doesn't stand a chance against a historical figure like Imagawa."
From an early age, Yoshimoto had received a strict education. An education shaped for one thing only: leadership.
He had never been allowed the luxury of a normal childhood.
Every day was devoted to his training. Strategy, politics, command... everything had to be understood, assimilated, mastered.
One evening, while the young Yoshimoto was still practicing swordplay in the courtyard of a family pavilion, one of his instructors approached him.
"Remember this, Yoshimoto."
The child stopped, out of breath, looking up at his master.
"A leader is worthless on his own strength alone."
The man then placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"The true power of a lord lies in the men who walk behind him. "
Yoshimoto listened in silence.
"An army is the true measure of a leader."
The master then stood up straight, watching the soldiers training in the distance.
"As long as men are willing to fight for you..."
His gaze returned to the young heir.
"...you are invincible. "
These words were deeply engraved in young Yoshimoto's mind.
For since that day, he had never forgotten this truth:
The power of a lord did not rest on himself.
But on the army that marched behind him.
At the same time, the Imagawa clan's camp was bathed in a festive atmosphere.
The soldiers ate, drank, and laughed loudly around the fires. Jars of sake circulated among the ranks, and conversations mingled with bursts of laughter.
For them, victory already seemed assured.
No one was really watching the surroundings.
A few hundred meters away, however, a completely different scene was unfolding.
In the darkness of the forest, the horsemen of the Bun clan advanced slowly between the dark trunks. The horses moved cautiously, their hooves muffled by the damp ground and dead leaves.
No one spoke.
Only the quiet breathing of the horses disturbed the silence.
Above them, the sky had begun to change.
The Incense Burner of the Murmuring Skies had already released its smoke.
A gray and unusually light column rose straight up toward the clouds. Little by little, the clear sky darkened, as if a huge shadow had spread over the valley.
The clouds had thickened abruptly.
Then the rain fell.
First a few heavy drops that struck the leaves of the trees.
Then a sudden downpour.
In a matter of moments, the wind picked up and a storm broke out over Imagawa's camp. The pouring rain pounded on the tents, the ground, and the armor. Thunder rumbled in the sky, drowning out even the faintest sounds.
In the camp, some soldiers looked up at the clouds.
But no one was really worried.
After all, it was just a storm.
In the forest, Bun raised his hand slightly.
The horsemen stopped immediately.
Ahead of them, the first tents of the Imagawa clan appeared through the curtain of rain.
The moment had come.
Without a word, several soldiers dismounted from their horses and drew their katanas.
Rain was already streaming down the blades.
Thunder rumbled again.
And in the chaos of the storm, the first katana strike fell.
Silent.
Quick.
And it came from Bun's clan.
The war had just begun... without the Imagawa clan even realizing it yet.
At first, no one really understood what was happening.
The pouring rain obscured their vision, and the thunder drowned out most of the sounds of battle.
But soon, some of Imagawa's soldiers spotted armed figures emerging from between the tents.
"Intruders!"
The cry rippled through the camp like a shockwave.
But it was already too late.
My clan had struck first.
The first tents had been invaded before Imagawa's soldiers even had time to grab their weapons. Several of them fell in the confusion, caught in the middle of a feast or seeking shelter from the rain.
Panic began to spread.
Amidst the chaos, I saw one of Imagawa's soldiers escape from the camp. He ran at full speed, slipping in the mud at times, but continuing his race without stopping.
He was going to warn Yoshimoto Imagawa.
Just as I expected.
But Imagawa's reaction was not what one might have imagined.
The messenger returned shortly after... alone.
Imagawa had not deemed it necessary to come.
He probably thought it was just a minor quarrel between a few drunken soldiers, an insignificant incident in a camp filled with thousands of men.
This mistake gave us a valuable advantage.
While Imagawa's command was still unaware of the scale of the situation, we continued to advance through the camp.
We were gaining ground.
But this moment of confusion could not last forever.
The cries were growing louder.
Imagawa's soldiers began to arm themselves, officers shouted orders, and the rain turned the camp into a muddy field where men jostled each other in all directions.
The war could no longer be hidden.
Much of the Imagawa clan now understood that they were under attack.
And soon...
Yoshimoto Imagawa himself finally realized it.
I left my clan behind.
The cries, the clang of metal, and the pounding rain now formed a continuous din, but I paid no attention to it. My goal lay elsewhere.
Without turning back, I walked straight toward the large tent in the center of the camp.
Yoshimoto Imagawa's tent.
Each step brought me closer to a moment that seemed to have been written long before I was born.
Then, suddenly, the tent curtain opened.
Imagawa came out himself.
Our eyes met immediately.
Rain slid off his armor as he surveyed his surroundings. The camp was in chaos, with cries echoing from all sides, but despite this, his gaze remained surprisingly calm.
He did not yet fully understand what was happening.
But one thing was clear to him.
He had to fight.
For a few seconds, we stood face to face in the rain.
Then, a notification window suddenly appeared before my eyes.
[Main Quest: Battle against Yoshimoto Imagawa
Role: Oda Nobunaga
✱ Main Objective:
Defeat Yoshimoto Imagawa within 5 minutes to save your entire clan.
✱ Failure:
The loss of your clan members. ]
It seemed that the rules were clear.
If I managed to eliminate Yoshimoto Imagawa within five minutes... then no member of my clan would die.
Five minutes.
Everything depended on this short period of time.
The rain continued to fall heavily around us, streaming down my armor and the blade of my katana. Behind me, the battle was still raging in Imagawa's camp, but at that moment, everything seemed to have narrowed down to this duel.
Then a new notification appeared before my eyes.
[You have just triggered the 'Defiance' Highlight!
New special skills will be offered to you.]
[New special skills:
Flaming Point +
Necromancy +
Lightning Speed + ]