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Volume 3 Chapter 5 Part 5

「You make it sound so convenient. How can you guys be so lucky that you just met with them? 」

「What would lying about it give me now!? Inuchiyo was chasing after Nobuna’s scent, and when it comes to tracking, no one can compare to that dog-like nose of hers! As for the Sugitani Zenjubo’s assassination attempt, Hanbei-chan used a hardened talisman to save me at the last moment! Though Goemon had planned to catch Zenjubo, after seeing Nobuna unhurt and well, he escaped while saying ‘ Unbelievable, don’t tell me Oda Nobuna was blessed with the protection of the heavens?’ Though I was tied to a pillar through all of this and did not have a chance to contribute to resolving that crisis in any way, but in conclusion, Nobuna did not suffer any injuries! 」

「Even if that’s the case, how can you guys charge into Kiyomizu-dera with just five people? The obvious thing to do was to go for the reinforcements at Gifu castle and leave the defense of Kyoto to me…..! 」

「Ahhh, right! Goemon did object to this by saying ‘It’d be troublesome to lose Yoshimoto, but there are always other Shogun candidates!’ But Nobuna said, ‘Though Akechi Juubei Mitsuhide is a little petty, she is an important retainer of mine who has sworn to help me fulfill my dream, so how can I just give up on her like this?’ She also said, ‘If something happened to me, everything will be handed over to you who had the best family status, talent and ambition’! Geez, that woman, she just can’t close her heart at such a critical period. What kind of master does that for her own retainers? 」

「…No… how…? This… this has to be a dream… 」

「Yes, this is a dream… It’s just an illusion…」

The ominous words of the demonic woman, Matsunaga Hisahide were still echoing in Mitsuhide’s mind. Because she was too serious all the time, such a hypnotic suggestion was incredibly effective on Mitsuhide. The glitter in her eyes had started to fade away bit by bit…

While waving his long spear, Yoshiharu continued shouting at Mitsuhide.

「It’s true that life is like a dream! I even came here from the future, so I’m still not 100 percent sure whether I am really living in this world myself or is all of this just happening in my head! But Juubei, the world that you see reflected in your eyes…in this world that you see in this dream of yours, you are not alone! This is not just your dream! It is our dream! Please, listen to me, Juubei! Nobuna might be insufferable and harsh with her words, never honest with herself and always ambiguous with her attitude towards others. She is really a troublesome woman… but even though she never told you this herself, then in truth, she depends heavily on you! If there’s anyone who can really understand that fleeting dream of hers in this world, other than me who came from the future, it can only be the other genius from the same era as Nobuna: you, Juubei! But you know what’s the difference between you and me is? That in the end, since I’m not originally of this world, I have no family status to speak of! So if something happened to her, the only one who can replace her is you! 」

Yoshiharu, who had shouted all of that with all his strength, upon returning to his senses discovered that his eyes were actually filled with tears that were steadily streaming down his face.

「Don’t forget, Juubei! Never forget that what this country, what this world sorely needs, is someone like Nobuna! I came from the world 400 years in the future from now, so my words can’t be wrong. For this country, for the people in this country, for even the whole world, she is someone irreplaceable. Please, Juubei! If you live through this but ever fear that you are starting to lose your way, think about this blood soaked Kiyomizu-dera grounds! Burn them into your memory along with Nobuna’s silhouette up there, firing shot after shot in order to save you…! 」

(Why… Why is the guy in front of me looking at me with such intensity, such sadness, as if he was pleading with me not to give up?)

The way she was right now, Akechi Juubei Mitsuhide did not understand. She did not know.

After Nobuna had rescued Yoshiharu, he buried the thought that 「Juubei will one day revolt; we should just leave her to her fate」deep into his heart and decided that he would never leave Mitsuhide and Nobuna in the hands of fate. He would use his own hands and to change history so that the two of them could reach a happy ending.

In the 「Incident at Honno-ji」that he knew from Sengoku era strategy games, it is Akechi Juubei Mitsuhide who assaults his own master, Oda Nobunaga at Kyoto’s Honno-ji, causing Nobunaga to lose his life in the midst of the crimson flames. Fully understanding this history, Yoshiharu had resolved to use his own hands and stop this future of despair, and never let it happen again in this timeline he was sent to.

Yoshiharu didn’t know yet why Mitsuhide, who admired Nobuna so much, would do such an atrocious thing against her. And it was not just Yoshiharu either. Pretty much no one in the 21st century was able to determine the exact reason why Mitsuhide started the Incident at Honnouji.

The current Mitsuhide in front of him likely had no idea herself, but she understood one thing:

Sagara Yoshiharu isn’t the sort of person that would blindly follow just about any lord. The feelings he had for Nobuna were definitely as deep as her own.

But… just why…

(Why is my chest beating so hard when I look at the glittering eyes of Yoshiharu?)

「Hehe… I thought that Akechi-sama had already fallen for my spell, but it looks like the words of this Monkey hold even greater power than mine. 」

Knowing that she could no longer control Mitsuhide with her hypnotic suggestion, Hisahide ordered her troops to carry an all-out attack, shooting fire arrows at the main hall of the temple that sheltered Yoshimoto and Nobuna. In an instant, a massive fire started at the main hall.

「Ahhh….Oda Nobuna-sama. It’s all thanks to you avoiding the assassination by Zenjubo. Now I can witness your true self with my own eyes…to see for myself whether you could have the privilege to be the master I will follow for life. 」

Retreating while fighting, Mitsuhide and Yoshiharu reached the main hall.

「To offer a reward for my head, you have guts, Matsunaga Danjo Hisahide! 」

While standing at the roof looking at the enemy formation, Nobuna signaled with her eyes at Inuchiyo and the others who were fighting to support Mitsuhide and Yoshiharu.

「Hachisuka Goemon, present and awaiting orders! 」

Goemon appears silently in the hallway. She was even more silent than usual; it seems like she did not want to bite her tongue at such a crucial time.

「Maeda Inuchiyo Toshiie, present and awaiting orders! 」

Inuchiyo slid down from the roof and entered the battlefield as well while clutching her bamboo spear in her hands.

「…Z-Z-Z-Z-Zenki, Goki, I’m counting on you guys! 」

Hanbei struggled to climb down the roof, but in the end, she tumbled down somehow and cried out:

「Ouchhhhhh…..! 」

And proceeded to summon her loyal Shikigami in order to help the others out.

No one knew what kind of powers Hanbei’s Shikigami possessed, but at least one of them was revealed as suddenly a huge hexagon formation appeared across the courtyard and released a torrent of water to extinguish the raging flames.

With this, however, Hanbei had given Matsunaga Hisahide a reason to unleash her true power.

「Well, I didn’t think that I would meet an Onmyouji here. Looks like I will have to face her with equal strength if I want to ensure my victory. 」

Matsunaga Danjo Hisahide, a woman known as the strongest spell caster of Japan. For Yoshiharu and his party, she was the worst enemy possible.

Against the darkness of the night, as the fire arrows of the Matsunaga troops faced off with the water pillars that the Shikigami summoned by Hanbei, Hisahide flew to the alleyway of the main hall as if she was ignoring gravity itself.

Her target was Takenaka Hanbei, who kept a firm grip on her talismans even as she coughed uncontrollably.

「A pity we could not meet sooner. You must be the ‘ Hidden Dragon’ from Mino’s Bodai Mountain? 」

Noticing the ominous demonic aura Hisahide was emitting, Hanbei’s body shivered as she ordered Zenki and Goki back to her side.