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Volume 2 Chapter 4 Part 1

Chapter 4: Sunomata’s One Night Castle

After successfully taking back Inabayama Castle, Saito Yoshitatsu soon put out search warrants for Yoshiharu and Inuchiyo in all the towns of the Mino province. Yoshiharu’s face was depicted just like that of an evil bandit’s, and Inuchiyo was just portrayed as wearing a tiger helm.

These people are in cahoots with Takenaka Hanbei who tried to revolt against the Daimyo! They are actually spies sent from Owari by Oda Nobuna! 」

With these posters, Yoshiharu and Inuchiyo became the masterminds of a conspiracy against Saito Yoshitatsu, and had bounties placed on their heads. Thanks to that, it was impossible for them to wander around Mino anymore.

To continue checking on Iga Ando’s whereabouts, Yoshiharu lent Goemon and the Kawanami Group’s members to Hanbei while and Inuchiyo rushed back to Owari’s Kiyosu castle.

But after returning to Aoshuu, there was not even a single ronin in sight. It was almost as if Aoshuu had become a ghost town.

「What is going on, Inuchiyo? Are the folks in the Five Leaf Aralia tenements okay? 」

The worried duo hurried over there, but what greeted them was a shocking scene.

Shibata Katsuie had Nene seated on her shoulders as she was commanding her troops to surround Yoshiharu’s house. No matter how anyone would’ve viewed this scene, it was obvious that they were going to put the house on fire.

「Hurry and burn the house down 」

「Understood! 」

「Yes ma’am! 」

What followed was a truly hellish scene, and Yoshiharu could only look on as his small, cozy home was burned down to the ground just like that.

With fury burning in his heart, Yoshiharu walked up behind Katsuie as she was complaining:「Why must I be tasked with such a job? 」 and launched a trademark Sagara family kick against her, which landed nicely onto Katsuie’s butt.

「W-W-W-What are you doing, you damn monkey?! Do you hold that much of a grudge against me? 」

「That is what I should be saying! Don’t burn my house down just because I’m not in! Katsuie, you… Just what deep hatred do you have against me?! 」

「I…I remember clearly how you were the one who molested my breasts during the previous battle. This kind of grudge can’t be easily forgotten! 」

「That happened during the battle of Okehazama, right!? Okay, so maybe I did grope you a little, but do you have to burn my house down just because of that? 」

「Inuchiyo’s house… is burning too… 」

「Katsuie~! This time round, I will definitely settle it right here! I will take revenge~! 」

「Wh…Why are your hands suddenly aiming for my breasts? Stop it, Monkey! Ahhhhhh! 」

「Obviously, I’m doing this because you’re burning my house…. but besides that, after looking at that ridiculous ball shaped knockers if yours, I don’t know why, but I just want cop a few feels of them! 」

「Ahhhhh, why is this ero-monkey suddenly in heat!? 」

「Onii-sama. This was ordered by Nobuna-sama herself. 」

Nene, who was riding on Katsuie’s shoulders stopped Yoshiharu.

「Nobuna’s orders? I get it now… That woman finally decided to burn me to death, right!? 」

「No! 」

「Listen to me, Monkey. During the period when you guys were out, Nobuna-sama decided to shift her base of operations from Aoshuu to Komakiyama. The retainers had all been ordered to move there too. So currently, those who have not moved over will have their houses burned down. 」

(Though Nobuna has always been stubborn, now she decided to start burning down the houses of retainers who refuse to move? There must be a limit to how rash she can actually be!)

Yoshiharu thought.

「Katsuie. So you choose my house to be your first target, right!? 」

「What choice did I have!? Who was the one to cause Nobuna-sama to fume with anger and shout: 「Why isn’t that Monkey coming back? Why isn’t he coming back? 」? You, that’s who! 」

「I’m not against moving, I just wasn’t at home at the time! Be reasonable! 」

「Onii-sama, Nene’s grandfather had already moved to Komakiyama! Let’s go there together! 」

「Inuchiyo wants to go there too. 」

With Katsuie leading the way, they then headed towards Komakiyama
「Anyway… Katsuie, what sort of place is Komakiyama? 」

「It’s a fortress located at the north side of Aoshuu. Nobuna-sama said that it will be easier to invade Mino from there.

「I see. So when our troops will be marching to Mino, the distance will be greatly reduced. 」

「Those stubborn old retainers kept saying things like 「Moving the base is something we’ve never heard of. At least give us a year to move on our own! 」and kept opposing the idea. But all of them were outright rejected by Nobuna-sama, and we moved to Komakiyama on that exact day. After that, she asked me to burn the houses of those who refuse to move out. That’s all there is to it. 」

(Nobuna , what kind of arsonist have you turned into?)

Yoshiharu thought to himself.

「So Katsuie, compared to those old folks who opposed the idea of moving, what was your exact reason for choosing my house to be burned down first? 」

「You sure are irritating. I didn’t plan to burn it with you inside anyway, so everything should be okay now. 」

「It’s totally not okay! Katsuie, looks like the two of us need to have a nice, private chat after all! 」

「You’re a mere vice-captain now, so what makes you think that you can have anything to say to the top retainer of the Oda clan? Your rudeness truly knows no bounds, Monkey. 」

Komakiyama, located at the northern side of Owari, is a smaller mountain, a secluded from the rest of the province.

But compared to Kiyosu castle which is right in the middle of Owari, this place is obviously much closer to Inabayama Castle.

After suffering numerous ambushes from the Mino army advised by Takenaka Hanbei, Nobuna ordered Niwa Nagahide to build a fortress in Komakiyama, and once she gets determined, Nobuna’s action speed can only be described as lightning fastso, while not waiting for the construction of Komakiyama to even be completed, Nobuna ordered all her retainers to move from Aoshuu to Komakiyama immediately.

After reaching Komakiyama, Katsuie gave Nene over to Goemon so that she could look after her, and dragged Yoshiharu and Inuchiyo over to Nobuna’s quarters.

Though Nobuna’s room wasn’t completed, the hastily built room was already decorated with her favorite globe, a tiger skin and several bear skins stretched out on the floor as carpets, and the foreign bought giant world map that was already hanging on the wall. And, as if she was trying to peek at Inabayama castle, a big telescope was also at her side.

「Nobuna-sama! Sagara Yoshiharu and Maeda Inuchiyo are here! 」

「Dearu ka! Thank you, Riku! 」

While eating her favorite chicken wing in a not exactly quiet manner, Nobuna had her eyebrows tightly knitted together.

Looks like because she had not seen Yoshiharu for some time, her mood has taken a turn for the worse.

「Saru, Inuchiyo, what is this about? 」

Nobuna raised the warrant that was pasted everywhere in Mino right up to Yoshiharu’s face.

「This monkey face that looks totally like a bad guy… no matter how I look at it, it has to be you. The mastermind who incited Takenaka Hanbei to revolt against Saito Yoshitatsu… this is the main charge that is clearly written here. And it also exposes you being from Owari. 」

「No, uhm… that’s because…. 」

「What the hell is going on here, Monkey? I’ll say this first: based on your explanation and the situation, you might finally be saying goodbye to your head, so I advise you to choose your next words wisely. 」

「No! It’s… like this. 」

(If I let that big mouthed Yoshiharu speak, Nobuna-sama might become even more angry.)

Inuchiyo noticed, so she started to explain things to Nobuna in simple sentences. Though Inuchiyo didn’t normally speak much, she had a talent for explaining the situation clearly when the need for doing so arose. Nobuna, who listened to every word Inuchiyo was saying without interrupting her, finally said when she was over:

「What am I to do with you? Next time you’re going to plan to persuade someone to join me, be sure to tell me about it first, understand? 」

And she let things go with just that.

「Nobuna-sama! Don’t tell me you’re not going to punish this damn monkey for what he did?! A mere vice-captain who doesn’t know his own strength recklessly tried to persuade an enemy commander to join our side, and, worst of all, failed to do so and escaped back here with his tail between his legs! You’re once again letting him off the hook way too easily! 」