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Volume 4 Chapter 5 Part 6

「Scribes, write it like this! Oi, Demon Lord of the Sixth Heaven, it’s about time for me to go to Kyoto! You just wait for me, the Tendai Head Priest Takeda Shingen-sama to defeat you! Okay, that should do it, beautiful! 」

「U…Ummm, ‘Tendai Head Priest’ is my rank and position, so could you not use it yourself? 」

「Huh? The most important of picking a fight is guts. Isn’t it better to use a bigger rank and position to show off my strength? Don’t mind such small details! 」

「Uhm… 」

「Kansuke! Is Kansuke still alive!? 」

*Bham*! At the same time Shingen started kick up a fuss, a small, single-eyed bald man silently appeared behind Kakujo.

「….Yamamoto Kansuke is here as requested. 」

「Yamamoto Kansuke-sama, how is this possible? Didn’t you die at Kawanaka island? 」

Kakujo was shocked, and Yamamoto Kansuke sighed:

「It’s true that my strategies were found out by Uesugi Kenshin at Kawanaka island. To take responsibility, I had to rush to the front lines preparing to die…. But mysteriously, my life wasn’t taken, and now I live with the shame of being alive. 」

「Kansuke! The battle this time around is extremely important to the matter of conquering the world! To me, your strength is necessary in order to achieve that! 」

「Yes, of course. 」

Actually, this genius strategist Yamamoto Kansuke, who had just entered old age, couldn’t seem to pull himself together before the battle with the Oda clan.

「I see, you have been devoid of motivation recently. You aren’t fired up even after witnessing my beauty. This is troubling. 」

「It’s a pervert’s behavior to see their master’s appearance and be excited about it. I have taken the tonsure and been released from the mundane world, so I will be very troubled if you treat me the same as those other bastards. 」

「There’s no helping it then. Oi, Shiro! Shiro! Come over here right this instant! 」

Shingen calls for her god-sister Shiro, shaking her head at Kansuke’s behavior.

「I’m~here~ Onee-sama~! 」

Takeda Shiro Katsuyori. She is the princess of Shinano’s House Suwa, recently defeated by Shingen. Because she was remarkably adorable, Shingen, with her love for children, said,

「Isn’t it too pitiful for such a cute child to be banished or imprisoned? 」

… and stopped the ninjas, taking Shiro in as her god-sister. Shiro turned 7 years old this year, and she was still a naive and pure little girl.

「Shiro, come and sit on your sister’s lap! 」

This was pure love. Nothing could taint the feelings between these two.

「Ohhhhh, Katsuyori-samaaaaaaa! How… This beautiful appearance, it’s too radiant! 」

「Shiro, say what I have taught you. 」

「Okay. Kansuke, please lend your strength to Onee-sama! 」

Shiro Katsuyori chimed as she bowed her head to Kansuke….

*SPLASH!!!*

… and a geyser of blood spurted from Yamamoto Kansuke’s nose on the very next minute.

「Ohhhhhhh~!? You can’t… You can’t do this, Katsuyori-samaaaaa! Don’t bow to a lowly servant like me! Damn it, my nosebleed. I can’t stop my nosebleed! 」

Even his tone had grown unsteady. This was truly a power of a pure and untainted love!

「Understood! I, Yamamoto Kansuke will become a demon in this battle to cleanse off the taint on Kawanaka Island! 」

Kansuke declared, bowing to Shiro Katsuyori so low that he was actually touching the floor with his forehead.

When he lifted his head again, his face was no longer the face of a dried up, retired geezer, but once again that of the demon-like strategist, and a black aura emanated from all over his body.

「Hohoho! In the whole of Japan, only Echigo’s Uesugi Kenshin can be on par with my master! Oda Nobuna, Saito Dosan and Matsudaira Motoyasu are seasoned warriors when it comes to battle, but they are nothing but a speck of dust compared to master! As long as I, Yamamoto Kansuke serve Japan’s strongest Daimyo, I will definitely use all of my strength to finish off the enemies in front of us for her sake! 」

In such a short time, he entirely changed into a completely different person.

(As expected from a strategist who can only be described as extraordinary.)

Kakujo thought as he looked at this newborn demon named Yamamoto Kansuke.

But much more terrifying was Takeda Shingen, who used even her god-sister to control the hearts of her retainers like it was the most obvious thing to do in the world.

「Your expression is a lot better now, Kansuke. It’s a relief to have your skills in strategies and your spot-on divination on my side. Before we head out, let’s do a divination then! 」

「Undestood! But master, my greatest skill in divination is astronomy; it’s a skill to predict a person’s fate using the trajectory of the stars. 」

「What a fellow… you are always so full of fancy, convoluted words. 」

Kansuke took out a globe full of stars and spun it with a mysterious expression on his face.

「Oh… hahahaha! 」

After confirming the results, he laughed.

「….Hmmm, it’s going to be smooth sailing for us! Master, the huge shining star in the west had fallen onto the ground, which means that the enemy commander’s life is going to end soon. 」

「Ohhh, just whose life is going to be ending soon? 」

「Oda Nobuna’s, or Saito Dosan’s. Right now, in the sky, these two stars were shining brightly side by side, but this is against heaven’s decree. At the same place and time, there can only be one shining star. The other will definitely fall. If there is one truth in this world, that is it. The reason why they could co-exist for so long is because someone forcefully interfered with their fates and confused the future. The next time their fates cross again, one of them is definitely gong to fall. 」

「Ohh? How interesting. Just who could have interfered and changde their fate like that? 」

Shingen remarked, leaning closer to Kensuke.

「Just who is it, and how they are able to change fate, I do not know. This is the limit of astronomy divination. 」

「I see, if that’s the case, it’s necessary to use Sanada’s subordinates. 」

「Sanada’s!? 」

「Understood! 」

「Someone that can change a human’s fate is interesting… I must see them personally. 」

「Ahh, so Master has developed interest in that person? 」

「If that person was sent by the heavens, he might be a greater rival than Uesugi Kenshin. I don’t know why, but when I think of such a thing my chest starts to get all restless. 」

A desire to fight with a strong enemy. An enemy that could make her blood rush. In Shingen’s heart, a battle of the Sengoku era’s strongest is the only method to decide who can unify the world.

(The world, if I am really interested in it, will be a simple thing to get. If I didn’t know it would be easy, I wouldn’t be so engrossed with Uesugi Kenshin and the battle of Kawanaka island, tossing Kyoto to the corners of my mind. But now, it seems that in Oda Nobuna’s camp, there is someone that I have not met before, a destined rival of mine. If that’s the case, thenI must definitely go to Kyoto! At Seta, we shall raise Takeda Bishi, and then the Fuurinkazan flag!)

Shingen, having made up her mind, called out:

「 Kansuke! If Dosan and Oda Nobuna continue their alliance, what will happen? 」

Yamamoto Kansuke laughed, and said confidently:

「If those two keep defying the heavens and co-existing, there will definitely appear a new star meant to destroy both of them, and their stars will fall together. 」

「How pitiful, after she finally found a father-like figure in that Dosan… but this might be that brat Oda Nobuna’s fate. 」

Shingen, who had banished her own father for the sake of her ambitions, felt sympathy for Nobuna for an instant, but in the next moment, Shingen changed back to her usual persona of the Sengoku era’s strongest Demon Lord.

「Kansuke! Summon Takeda’s Four Generals! All of Takeda troops, to Kyoto! Let this battle surpass the battle of Kawanaka Island and become an even more extraordinary event! 」

Takeda Shingen declared, the premonition of meeting her destined enemy leaving her trembling with excitement. And Kakujo, who was hiding in a corner of the tea room, thought:

( Oda Nobuna and Takeda Shingen. These two heroes of the Sengoku era will finally be battling with their lives on the line!!!)

And shivered with excitement.

As fast as the wind. As silent as a forest. As daring as fire. As immovable as a mountain…

The Fuurinkazan flag flapped along with the wind.