But in truth, Imagawa Yoshimoto hadn't originally intended to seek out Kanbe Hikaru in such a hurry.
Even though she did indeed want Kanbe Hikaru.
It wasn't the kind of 'desire' between a man and a woman—though that ghost-god's face was indeed not bad, she, Imagawa Yoshimoto, was the lord of a province, not some lovesick maiden—and even if she were a maiden who was still chaste, she wouldn't look upon such things with interest.
At least, not for now.
What she wanted was the power represented by that existence itself.
In the chaotic era of the Warring States, heroes vied for supremacy.
The three houses of the Tokaido—Imagawa of Suruga, Takeda Clan of Kai, and Uesugi Clan of Echigo—used the two provinces of Musashi and Sagami controlled by the Hojo as a buffer zone, restraining each other to form a balance while each coveted the chessboard of the world.
Imagawa Yoshimoto never lacked ambition.
What she lacked was a card strong enough to overturn the game.
Takeda Shingen claimed to be the incarnation of Fudo Myo-o, and Kai's military strength surged because of it.
That busty woman didn't just talk; it was rumored that there were indeed some existences of unknown origin by her side—not ordinary samurai, nor common mages, but a group of Hime-mushas with even weirder powers known as Sacred Treasures.
The news sent back by Imagawa's spies consisted of only a few words, saying that within Kai's army, people wearing strange armor would occasionally appear, capable of breaking through enemy lines alone and matching a hundred by themselves.
They said the aura on those people did not seem human, yet they didn't seem like demons either.
Even more bizarre was that Takeda Shingen seemed to have no qualms about exposing these existences, even deliberately pushing them to the forefront.
Imagawa Yoshimoto had suffered a hidden loss in the previous round of border friction with Takeda Clan.
It wasn't a defeat in a direct confrontation—the Imagawa Clan's military power was not inferior to Takeda Clan's. Even if the opponent had someone who could match a hundred, the Imagawa Clan occupied the three provinces of Suruga Province, Totomi, and Mikawa. Even if they couldn't fully control the entire territory, they remained the strongest in Kanto, with the title of Tokaido's Number One Archer, commanding thousands of troops who could crush the opponent by sheer numbers.
It was because of several inexplicable night raids recently.
Outposts were wiped out, scouts went missing, and frontline generals were knocked unconscious in their own tents in the middle of the night—the opponent came and went without a trace, not at all like a normal military operation.
Imagawa Yoshimoto did not know the background of those things.
She only knew that Takeda Clan had some kind of 'monsters' that exceeded conventional combat power.
And Uesugi Kenshin was even more of a case.
Claiming to be the avatar of Bishamonten, she campaigned everywhere under the guise of exorcising demons.
Wherever that Great Banner with the character 'Bi' went, even demons would retreat in fear.
Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't believe in reincarnations of gods or Buddhas, but she believed in power.
It was a fact that Uesugi Kenshin's army could destroy mountain temples and slay demons.
It was also a fact that there were monsters in Takeda Shingen's army.
So what did she, Imagawa Yoshimoto, have?
She used to have her master, Taigen Sessai, but recently Sessai's condition had been getting worse and worse.
Other than that, she only had a shrine dedicated to the ghost-god Kanbe Hikaru, and a famous sword, Raikiri, which had been renamed half a month ago because of that ghost-god.
As well as the legend she had deliberately promoted, spread by the commoners in the city, of the Lightning-Slaying Oni's descent.
But she did not have that person.
The demon who had slain the Raiju in a single night and split the night sky of Suruga with lightning had come and gone.
Leaving behind only a headless beast corpse and a sword thrust into the ruins.
Like a dream.
What remained was only the fact of a lack of follow-up strength.
Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't like dreaming; she liked turning dreams into reality.
So she raised an army.
Gathering two thousand elites, she marched east from Suruga, entering directly into the Hojo Clan's sphere of influence.
It wasn't for the sake of war.
War was just a means.
There was only one goal—to lure that ghost-god out.
Yes.
Although she was personally at the front line, this time Imagawa was, to some extent, actually fighting on two fronts.
While at war with the Hojo Clan, there had already been friction and conflict with the Takeda Clan.
If it weren't for the repeated setbacks on Takeda Clan's side, Imagawa wouldn't have turned her attention here.
...
Jentaigahara.
This was already the fourth day of the standoff between the two armies.
The autumn wind swept through the withered yellow grass, drifting across the open ground between the two armies.
On the northern hills, the Hojo Clan's battle lines were as orderly as iron, with fifteen hundred men arrayed on the high ground, spears like a forest and iron armor reflecting light.
Unlike Imagawa's two-front war, this already constituted the majority of the Hojo Clan's elites.
Hojo Ujiyasu stood on the high platform of the Main Camp, her pitch-black long hair blowing back in the wind, a light armor worn over a deep purple Kosode kimono, her exquisite face so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.
She hated fighting most of all.
To be precise, she hated battles she was forced to fight.
If it were a siege, she could smile as she watched the enemy blow in the cold wind below the walls.
If it were an ambush, she could wait patiently for half a month just for a one-hit kill.
But to be dragged into a standoff in the open field like this?
Disgusting.
Simply disgusting.
"My Lord, the Imagawa side's formation is changing."
The retainer at her side raised his hand and pointed south.
Hojo Ujiyasu followed his gaze; three li to the south, the Imagawa Clan's lines were slowly moving forward.
It was no longer the probing from before.
It was more like a formal advance.
Infantry phalanxes were arranged in three ranks, cavalry deployed on the flanks, and banners waved like waves.
Behind the great banner embroidered with the Imagawa family crest, a luxurious palanquin carried by four strong men moved forward slowly.
Imagawa Yoshimoto.
That woman had personally come to the front line.
Hojo Ujiyasu's lip twitched.
"Has she gone mad?"
No matter what Imagawa Yoshimoto was planning, she, Hojo Ujiyasu, would never show weakness on her own territory.
"All troops—"
Her voice rose above the autumn wind: "Counter-attack!"
The war drums thundered.
The dull sound of the drums seemed to surge from deep within the earth, making people's chests feel tight.
The Hojo Clan's lines began to advance down the slope.
Spearmen in front, archers behind, and cavalry circling to the flanks, the two armies slowly closed in on the autumn plain.
Three li.
Two li.
One li.
Until they were within the archers' range.
"Fire!"
The command was issued almost simultaneously from both sides.
Arrows took to the sky, crossing mid-air like two flocks of birds flying in opposite directions.
Cries of pain rang out at the front of the two armies.
The Ashigaru in the front row fell, and those behind stepped over the corpses to continue forward.
The spear formations made contact, the sound of the collision as dense as a rainstorm.
Blood splattered, staining the withered yellow grass red.
This was a direct collision between two provinces, with no fancy tactics or roundabout maneuvers, only the slaughter of iron and blood.
Hojo Ujiyasu stood on the high platform, looking at the battlefield ahead expressionlessly.
Her lips were tightly pursed.
This battle shouldn't have been fought.
For the sake of some inexplicable 'ghost-god', she had been dragged into a meaningless war of attrition.
The same went for Imagawa Yoshimoto.
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