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Volume 2 Chapter 2 Part 3

*CRACK!*

「Oi, Viper, your back is bending in a seriously worrisome way… are you sure that you’re alright? 」

「Ow ow ow ow! It seems like I got a tad bit too excited… urgh, my poor back… 」

「Anyways, Dosan-dono, Inabayama castle and the city below it were all designed by you, right? If so, then you should have considered ways to attack it in case it was ever taken from you. 」

Katsuie said optimistically.

「Can you reveal it to us? Though Inabayama castle looks easy to defend but hard to attack, it should have some weaknesses we might be able to exploit, right? 」

「About that, Katsuie-dono, I’m afraid not. Right now, the Inabayama castle… 」

「In…Inabayama castle? 」

Katsuie parroted Dosan’s words.

「In its current state, Inabayama castle can’t be invaded. Even with my strategies, we wouldn’t be able to do anything to it. It would be difficult even for the 「Tiger of Kai」 Takeda Shingen, or 「The Dragon of Echizen」Uesugi Kenshin to conquer it. 」

「Wh…What?! 」

「Viper, is that true?」
「This is quite troublesome news indeed. 12 points…No, 3 points. 」

「Yoshiharu-san, what are we going to do now? 」

「Inuchiyo, for starters, you should act a little bit morepanicky, because this is serious! 」

「Wa…. WAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWA!!!!!! 」

The entire room was full of chaos all of a sudden. Originally, everyone thought that since Dosan was here with them, conquering Mino would be easy, but it seems like they had underestimated the how hardthe task of conquering Mino is actually going to be.

Inabayama castle was designed and built by Saito Dosan personally. Relying on just Mount Kinka as a natural shield and deploying various guard posts to guard against the possibility of the invasion of Owari’s 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 provinces.

Also, the towns and villages at the foot of the mountain could be changed to defensive fortresses at any sign of an approaching invasion. It could be said to be the deliberate and cunning plan of the Viper of Mino to ensure that no one would ever threaten his ruleover the Mino province.

Oda clan’s previous head and Nobuna’s father, Oda Nobuhide, had led multiple invasions of Inabayama castle, but due to Saito Dosan’s devious and cunning plans and the natural defenses around the castle, he had always returned empty handed from his invasions. Thinking about these disastrous defeats now, it shouldn’t be surprising that they were still hot topics for discussions among the members of the Oda clan. The reason why the clan’s retainers believed that they can conquer Mino this time was because the enemy, Saito Dosan, was now Nobuna’s godfather and had become their ally, allowing them to see a shred of hope.

But apparently, things were not going to be as simple as they had hoped.

「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 do 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, he shouldn’t have been able to beat you when it comes to weaving strategies, so how could it be that you lost the battle against him? 」

「Yes, normally that would have been the case, but actually… 」

「A-Actually…? 」

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

「Actually, there is a genius strategist with intelligence far above mine serving as one of Yoshitatsu’s retainers. Though it’s unbearable, I have to admit she is someone that even I can’t defeat. 」

「A genius strategist? 」

「Does Mino have such a person? 」

「 No, no, the Mino army’s strategist should only be Dosan. 」

Katsuie and the others tilted their heads in puzzlement.

「So you’re saying that Mino had such a hidden talent other than you… I have to be honest though, I’m totally in the dark as to who that might be, Viper. 」

「Hahaha. It’s not strange at all that you knew nothing about her. She does not want to meddle in the province’s affairs as much as possible, and has remained in seclusion untill now. Her name… 」

「It’s Takenaka Hanbei, isn’t it? 」
Yoshiharu said it without blinking his eyes even once.

「Oi, oi! Brat! I had created such an atmosphere of mystery around her, and yet you… Ow.! My back, my back!!! 」

「You know who he’s talking about, Monkey?! 」

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

「Can you speak normally instead of that monkey language of yours? What the hell are those It… items? 」

「Yes, Nobuna-sama is right, Yoshiharu-dono. Also, giving other people points is my exclusive right. 」

The Oda clan’s females started to talk among themselves.

「Oi, oi,oi, isn’t Takenaka Hanbei being called the Sengoku era’s Zhuge Liang?! So how come you guys are not more bewildered upon learning who we’reactually going to have to go against?! 」

「I know nothing about those people you just mentioned at all! 」

「Sengoku era’s Zhuge Liang? Who’s Zhuge Liang? 」

「Monkey, don’t tell me you’re actually a spy sent here from Mino? 」

「Oi, oi, don’t go saying such outrageous things, Nobuna! 」

「Preposterous! Don’t call me in such an affectionate manner, you flea-riddled monkey! 」

「Oi, now you are the one being impolite here, okay?! 」

「Hahahaha. As expected from Oda clan’s number one retainer, you’re totally correct. Takenaka Hanbei has an aloof personality, and that’s why she is unknown to the world. This girl can be considered my hidden dragon. 」

Dosan laughed.

「Hidden dragon, huh? 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 after all? 」

「There is no reason for a mere monkey to be so arrogant for just knowing some Chinese history. 」

Nobuna’s lips curved up in displeasure once 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 her strategic genius relatively recently. As for the other, it is the one known as「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 do you snatch my cool moments away from me again and again, you brat!? 」

Dosan shouted.

「Yoshiharu-dono, as expected from our number 1 retainer! 」
「Nah, knowing about them is noting that amazing, since both of them are essentially old faces in all Sengoku era strategy games. That, and I feel embarrassed being complimented by you. I mean really, for me it’s nothing, since I played so much of those games that they’re practically old acquaintances to me right now. 」

「Oh. This mystical stuff ,「Sengoku era games 」 from the country of monkeys… tehy must be pretty amazing, but they also sound scary! 」

「Oi, I’m not from the country of monkeys! 」

Yoshiharu retorted.

「Yes, it’s probably that the country of monkeys is a bit more advanced than we are. How could someone like this guy be the number one smart guy among us otherwise? But Viper, is that Takenaka Hanbei really that strong? 」

「That goes without saying. Most importantly, she’s going to be he strongest and most difficult enemy for us to deal with, Nobuna-dono. 」

「What do you mean by that? 」

「Even if I explain it to you, you won’t be able to understand… For realists like me and you, to put it simply, she is someone with abnormal amounts of talent. 」

「Abnormal talent? You make it sound like something suspicious. 」

「Takenaka Hanbei isn’t just a strategist, she is an onmyouji. She even knows the old strategies utilized by the strategists of old that were supposed to be lost long ago. 」

「Weren’t Onmyoujis the trend in Kyoto in the Heian period, and weren’t they supposed to be something like a fortune tellers? Do such people still exist now? 」