Chapter 165: Mission Deadline: 62 Days, the Red Oni's Probe, the Furious Imagawa Yoshimoto (6.6k)

Uesugi Toru didn't say much, simply clasping his hands behind his back and following behind Asahina Yasutomo as he strode forward with large steps.

Imagawa Yoshimoto placed her feet, which were treading on geta, onto the stone bricks, producing a crisp, clear sound.

She likewise stood up and followed along leisurely.

Asahina Yasunaga, standing to the side, saw this scene and his complexion stiffened; the die was cast, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

—His stubborn son's personality was just like this, both straightforward and obstinate; once he set his mind on something he would definitely go do it, and no one could persuade him otherwise!

Asahina Yasunaga walked up to Imagawa Yoshimoto, whose expression had already recovered its indifference; seeing her like this, he knew in his heart that their lord's anger was not small.

He was just about to speak, but was interrupted by Imagawa Yoshimoto actively waving her hand,

"Yasutomo is truly worrying for me, and Mr. Toru's strength is formidable... in any case it's nothing, let them go play."

She said indifferently, causing Asahina Yasunaga to fall silent and nod, saying no more, and follow at this Imagawa Clan Head's side.

Actually, Imagawa Yoshimoto was quite irritable.

If it were someone familiar with her, hearing these footsteps that had slightly increased in force, no longer consciously controlled, they would understand her current emotions.

It was just that this bit of irritability had not been revealed in front of these two retainers, father and son.

This small emotion was not enough to make her lose her composure.

—Originally Hanzō hadn't even finished explaining the Mikawa Region situation, and Tetsu-kun had only just begun to open the matter of the Pure Land True Sect.

She herself still hadn't figured out the cause and effect of the uprising, yet Yasutomo suddenly ran over out of nowhere saying Mr. Toru was no good.

Imagawa Yoshimoto paced expressionlessly, sighing wearily in her heart.

If only everyone could listen to me like Motonobu...

As a warrior, just cleanly executing the commands I issue would be good enough; at worst they'd offer some opinions on strategy and tactics, and that would be the most.

But now they actually even meddle in what retainers I recruit, care about his credentials, and meddle in what commands I want him to execute.

These matters, where is it their place to meddle?

Not to mention these details and inner considerations she herself would contemplate deeply in the dead of night, thinking far more comprehensively; even if she really couldn't figure it out, she could just ask her teacher!

Her teacher, the Imagawa Clan's Military Strategist Taigen Sessai, possessed both wisdom and courage, and understood far more than a simple warrior like Yasutomo!

Imagawa Yoshimoto, full of resentment.

She looked again at Uesugi Toru's back figure not far ahead, yet sensed the latter's peaceful emotions.

Even facing Asahina Yasutomo who inexplicably targeted him at their first meeting, he didn't let his own emotions lose control, remaining calm and gentle.

Imagawa Yoshimoto recalled her own feelings the first time she saw the sea.

Vast, mysterious, unknown, calm yet surging...

Tetsu-kun, simply like that boundless sea, able to embrace everything.

Thinking of this, Imagawa Yoshimoto's inner irritability couldn't help but dissipate a bit — because for Tetsu-kun these difficulties should all be trivial.

As she walked, her thoughts began to scatter.

—Why not, after this matter ends later, go have a detailed talk with Tetsu-kun about the Pure Land True Sect and incidentally admire the flowers.

Saying admire flowers, but actually going to see the red maple leaves covering the mountains and fields, because in this late autumn about to enter winter there are no cherry blossoms blooming.

And thanks to Imagawa Yoshimoto's long-standing protection and love of natural scenery, Sunpu Castle's scenery in this aspect was indeed quite good.

Imagawa Yoshimoto again placed her gaze on Uesugi Toru's empty waist.

She knew Uesugi Toru knew a Yin-Yang Technique called "Kishu Sumeru", which could store a few items in another space.

But she had observed for so many days, and it seemed she had only ever seen an uchigatana at his waist.

So later bringing Tetsu-kun into the city to buy a tachi might also be appropriate...

Right, also don't know if Tetsu-kun likes kemari.

With Tetsu-kun's physical quality and height, if he's interested in kemari he'd definitely be a good hand at it.

He's talent capable of serving as a Commander!

This way, herself, Motonobu, Tetsu-kun, and little Yasutomo and little Ii and those few, could they form a new generation Imagawa Clan kemari team?

Hohoho.

Thinking of this, kemari expert Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly became interested, her previous dissatisfaction and resentment also vanishing completely.

At that time, maybe she could even play exchange matches with the Takeda and Hojo clans, and incidentally fleece a bit of wool from those two stingy fellows!

She also no longer went to anxiously worry about the Mikawa Uprising.

—Because originally Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't feel those country warriors in that remote corner of Mikawa could stir up any big trouble.

Uprising?

Such uprisings she didn't know how many times she'd easily suppressed, couldn't count on one hand!

And now with Tetsu-kun added there's even less difficulty.

As for Great Demons?

Heh, mere Great Demons, can make a village or town restless, can slaughter dozens or hundreds of unarmed commoners.

But if I wave my hand and let over a thousand ashigaru and samurai draw swords and charge, how would this demon cope?

That so-called Great Demon, seeing this scene, not scaring itself into wetting its pants on the spot would be good enough!

Imagawa Yoshimoto's complexion suddenly turned from overcast to clear, causing Asahina Yasunaga, who had been secretly observing her from the side and rear, to dart his gaze left and right, utterly bewildered.

He had heard his own son and that Mr. Toru exchange several sentences, and also hadn't felt anything good had happened.

Alas, sure enough I'm old, can't understand young people's thoughts.

The son is like this, and even the lord I've served for so long is like this.

Asahina Yasunaga sighed secretly in his heart.

—Uesugi Toru felt that bundle of gaze from behind that kept scanning and sizing him up, completely unconcealed, finally disappear.

He thought Imagawa Yoshimoto was probably quite displeased; otherwise, she normally wouldn't do something so discourteous.

Uesugi Toru glanced at Asahina Taichou walking ahead of him, already minding his own business, and didn't say much, instead fixing his gaze on the prompt that had popped up again before him.

【Because the Main Quest "Lord of Tokaido" is too vague and broad, a Stage Quest has now been issued based on the current situation!】

【Please complete the Stage Quest to improve the completion degree of "Lord of Tokaido"!】

【Stage Quest: Mikawa Revolt.】

【Quest Time Limit: 62 days.】

A Stage Quest very fitting for the current situation.

It's just that this time limit of "62 days" is somewhat thought-provoking.

If it were two days less, or directly marked as "two months," it wouldn't be eye-catching, but "62 days" is truly a bit glaring.

Uesugi Toru pondered.

Coupled with the four words "Daemon Incident" behind it, the meaning of this time limit became clearer.

——If, after sixty-two days pass, the Imagawa Clan has still not suppressed the Mikawa Revolt, something bad related to a Great Demon, or even something terrifying, will certainly occur.

He continued looking down.

【Mikawa Revolt: Mikawa, Totomi, Suruga — these are the three provinces ruled by Daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto.

Among them, Mikawa is farthest from Suruga where the Imagawa main house resides, and local warlord forces are strongest, so turmoil often occurs there.

Mountain bandits, local warlords, the Pure Land True Sect, Owari Infiltration... disturbances large and small, causes various, but none have ever stirred up major waves.

But this time, the situation seems different.】

【Quest Objective: Please suppress the Mikawa Region revolt within the time limit, and uncover the cause and truth behind it.

The higher this quest's completion degree, the higher the completion degree of the Main Quest "Lord of Tokaido" will rise.】

Mm, this quest introduction just short of explicitly saying "this Mikawa Revolt is different from before."

Later he'd have to bring it up emphatically with Imagawa Yoshimoto, urging her to start resolving this matter as fast as possible.

As for whether she could listen to his advice, Uesugi Toru wasn't worried at all on that point.

——Because from their previous conversation, Imagawa Yoshimoto was completely a wise lord who could humbly accept remonstrance.

A dozen or so minutes later, Uesugi Toru followed Asahina Taichou to a house in a remote location, with ample sunlight, yet an exceptionally gloomy atmosphere.

The house's entrance opening was small, but its height and width were extraordinarily high and wide, probably one of the few buildings in the Imagawa Residence with an area nearly comparable to the Gozen Hall.

Lush greenery surrounded it, all kinds of basic facilities fully equipped.

On the corridor, quite a few maids who were surprised by their arrival stopped their steps, saluted Imagawa Yoshimoto; it seemed quite a few people usually lived here too.

And along this whole way, Asahina Taichou brought the current hot celebrity, Onmyoji Toru, and the Imagawa Clan Head, walking not too fast, swaggering grandly.

This was almost equivalent to explicitly telling everyone in the Imagawa Residence who saw them that something was about to happen here.

So naturally, those with a bit of status, as long as they were somewhat idle samurai and retainers, all tacitly gathered far behind in a neat row, swarming over.

Watching the excitement is human nature.

As long as they didn't do anything discourteous before Imagawa Yoshimoto, this magnanimous Clan Head wouldn't say much either.

This has always been the tacit understanding.

And such a big commotion naturally couldn't avoid attracting Shiraishi, who was originally eating breakfast while patiently pondering the Kiai Technique.

——Let me see what's going on!

After coming to the Imagawa Clan, Shiraishi ate his fill every day, bathed every day, his complexion becoming ruddy and refined quite a bit; he sneakily followed the crowd over.

Naturally, he didn't speak with anyone along the way.

Both because there were no acquaintances he could talk to, and because Shiraishi himself didn't want to communicate more with these "young masters and misses."

And when he finally managed to follow the crowd to the source, squeezed out wanting to see who caused such a big commotion, he was instantly shocked and covered his mouth.

——Boss!?

——Boss, how did you fail to hold back and stir up trouble again!

But Shiraishi didn't act rashly, instead quietly playing the part of a melon-eating bystander.

After all, behind Boss right now was Imagawa Yoshimoto, who counted as his "boss's boss"!

She wouldn't let Boss be just any which way so easily...

If Imagawa Yoshimoto watched without intervening, it wouldn't be too late for him to appear as a hero and save Boss then!

Shiraishi fantasized a bit, but in the end still took out a rice ball and stuffed it in his own mouth.

——Compared to such unrealistic thoughts, he'd better not cause trouble at this critical juncture and drag Boss down.

"My Lord, please take the seat of honor."

Asahina Taichou's voice wasn't loud, but clearly let almost everyone hear.

Because although there were many people present, no one made any superfluous noise.

So Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded lightly, didn't say more, used both hands to lift her long skirt hem, then walked step by step to the small open door of that house, facing the vacant seat of honor.

But she stopped her steps right at that small door only wide enough for one person, deliberately raised both hands, and pushed the sliding doors open to both sides.

In an instant, sunlight from the sky poured into the dark inner room.

Illuminating the shadows of solid wooden chairs arranged in a semicircle spreading from the center outward.

She didn't raise her eyes either, but after taking the seat of honor said faintly: "You elders should also bask in the sun more, it benefits mental agility and physical and mental health."

Immediately a hoarse voice laughed in reply,

"This old body thanks the Clan Head for her concern..."

Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't answer, just lowered her eyes fiddling with her fingernails, exerting formless pressure on this group of elders around her.

The doorway.

Uesugi Toru narrowed his eyes, and in the instant sunlight entered the inner room, saw clearly these so-called elders.

Behind those various family crests were mostly men in their forties or fifties, their hair half silver and half black, and some even older.

The youngest among them looked to be in his thirties, at least a full generation older than Imagawa Yoshimoto.

He had not seen these people at the Genpuku Ceremony.

That is to say, most of them probably did not get along well with Imagawa Yoshimoto.

After a brief silence, that hoarse, aged voice asked,

"I do not know where Lord Toru comes from; personally, I am quite interested in this……"

Uesugi Toru, hearing this, replied without hesitation: "I have lived in seclusion in the mountains since childhood, wishing to draw near to the natural principle of heaven and earth to cultivate. After eighteen years of successful cultivation, I suddenly sensed the opportunity of heaven and earth and thus entered the world."

Inside the inner room, an Elder spoke displeased: "I could make up words like that; what difference is there between saying them and saying nothing?"

The Elders said nothing, tacitly agreeing.

Then an Elder seated at the end spoke loudly: "Then what if this Lord Toru is a spy sent by the Oda Clan?"

As soon as this Elder finished speaking, he felt all eyes in the room fall upon him, and he immediately shut his mouth, realizing he seemed to have misspoken.

"Sena……that is not right." That same hoarse voice scolded, "Are you not publicly accusing the Head of Family of poor judgment in people?"

Silence.

After a moment of quiet, the Elder seated at the end, Sena Nobuteru, immediately lowered his head in apology and said loudly,

"I dare not! I simply did not think it through……"

Imagawa Yoshimoto did not reply.

Who knew if this was not a good-cop-bad-cop act performed before her?

"Enough."

The hoarse voice rose a degree, then he tapped the solid wood armrest and slowly said,

"We old bones merely, because the Head of Family was not present on the day of Yasutomo's Genpuku, naturally harbor reasonable doubts——and hope Lord Toru will forgive us."

Uesugi Toru likewise did not reply, wanting to see what tricks these old things could pull.

Although this Elder used honorifics, his tone was far from respectful, instead filled with contempt and disdain.

A few seconds later, another Elder said with a smile,

"Since Lord Asahina has already brought Lord Toru here, that surely means you have accepted the invitation to the Trial, right?"

Uesugi Toru raised his brow slightly upon hearing this, looking at Asahina Yasutomo, who had stood silently by his side since earlier.

Then, on that rugged young face of his, he saw a mix of nervousness, bewilderment, astonishment, and confusion.

Uesugi Toru stared at him for two seconds, and couldn't help but laugh inwardly.

——This brat, probably only now realizes he was used as a pawn!

But the Trial……what kind of Trial could these old bones, who together couldn't match one of his hands, give him?

On the main seat, Imagawa Yoshimoto blinked doubtfully.

Toru-kun merely holds a title, and is not a substantive Samurai, so testing archery, horsemanship, swordsmanship and the like is definitely out of the question.

Then since ordinary mounted archery, dog chasing, trial cutting, and wooden sword duels are all out of the question……

What kind of Trial can these Elders give?

——If you all wish to test Toru, why beat around the bush?"

Uesugi Toru no longer paid attention to the pitiful Asahina Yasutomo, but instead spoke out loudly,

"Just make this so-called 'Trial' clear; what harm is there in that?"

Hearing Uesugi Toru's words, the Elder with the aged voice clapped his hands first and said: "Since that is the case, bring it up."

After speaking, he squeezed out a wrinkled, ugly smile toward Imagawa Yoshimoto seated on the left,

"Head of Family, no matter what you see later, please do not be afraid……there is a whole unit of fully armed Hatamoto present, and no one will be harmed."

Hearing these words, Imagawa Yoshimoto frowned, and a bad premonition arose in her heart.

——These old things, what are they doing behind her back again?

Before she could figure it out, at the end of the girl's line of sight appeared a huge……box? carried by eight Hatamoto side by side, covered by a black cloth?

Or something else?

The Hatamoto walked slowly over here, and soon reached behind Uesugi Toru.

Then, they heavily set down the huge square object they were carrying.

The sound of iron and stone colliding carried far away, and soon after, black-armored Hatamoto wrapped in armor came running, clearing the crowd of melon-eaters a certain distance away.

Uesugi Toru was slightly stunned.

An Iron Cage?

And, the aura coming from within this black cloth……how……

He twitched his nose tip, and his eyes suddenly turned cold.

Uesugi Toru abruptly looked back, and saw the Elder seated beside Imagawa Yoshimoto also squinting at him.

"Alright, unveil it."

Clatter!

The two Hatamoto closest held their breath and lifted a hand to unveil it at once!

In the next instant, from the crowd tens of meters away came exclamations of terror or disbelief, and many were so frightened they fell on their backsides.

"Ghost……a red ghost!?"

"A monster, it's a monster! The Head of Family is still here! How dare they……"

"Don't be so afraid, this ghost is still locked in a cage!"

A commotion spread, echoing above the Imagawa Residence.

The Elders who had long known of this did not react much, and some even comforted Imagawa Yoshimoto, saying this ghost locked in a cage was no different from a chicken.

Imagawa Yoshimoto still did not speak.

Not a single word.

She merely used her fingers to slowly, soundlessly stroke the already worn-smooth edge of the armrest.

Unbeknownst to her, the blue veins on the surface of her fair arms beneath her sleeves had all bulged out, root by root.

Like ferocious, raging dragons!

She had originally considered that these Elders had, in their youth, more or less exerted themselves for the Imagawa Clan, shed blood for it, and some had even spent their entire lives capturing cities and seizing territory, conducting diplomatic negotiations for the Imagawa Clan.

Therefore, now that these Elders were advanced in years, Imagawa Yoshimoto did not impose too many restrictions on them either, wishing to let them live out their old age in peace as much as possible.

Hence, some unimportant trivial matters in ordinary days, she would just endure and endure and let them pass...

But now, these old things actually dared to push their luck!

They actually dared to do something she had explicitly forbidden!

This time they dared to put this Yokai into the Imagawa Residence; next time, would they dare put a Yokai in her own room!?

Right now Imagawa Yoshimoto was wondering whether she had been too merciful.

The girl in casual clothes on the main seat half-opened her eyes, gazing face-to-face with the red Evil Ghost slowly awakening inside the pitch-black iron cage; her cold gaze did not blink or dodge, causing the latter to shudder.

A moment later, Imagawa Yoshimoto lightly tapped the armrest with her fingertip.

Decided.

Since these old things don't want the peaceful old age she gave them, then...

They can all go to Hell as early as possible!

— The Elders openly and secretly observed the still unmoved Imagawa Yoshimoto, exchanged glances one after another, and after relaxing in their hearts, secretly gloated.

This young Head of Family had indeed compromised with them again.

Uesugi Toru and Asahina Taichou, who had only just come back to his senses, however, saw through the girl's thoughts.

The former expressed neither agreement nor disagreement, thinking about whether he could later negotiate with her to let him get in on the action too.

The latter's mood immediately became extremely, even one-hundred-percent complex; he completely couldn't understand the current situation.

He had been jointly deceived by the Elders, and then these old geezers actually had someone really bring out a red Evil Ghost, and the Lord had made such a decision in such a short time.

— What on earth has this turned into! He already completely couldn't understand it!

An Elder laughed: "Since Lord Toru claims to be the legendary Onmyoji, then slaying demons and exorcising evil should be something you can easily do, right?"

Immediately, several Elders chimed in and laughed out loud.

Another group of Elders remained impassive, merely staring quietly at Uesugi Toru, wanting to see what kind of response he would make.

Ignoring the chaotically confused Asahina Taichou, Uesugi Toru looked back again.

He gazed for a while at this red oni — over two meters tall, with twin horns on its head, fangs in its mouth, skin a fiery crimson, muscles knotted and swollen all over, a complete giant by Sengoku Period standards.

This while, however, was regarded by some Elders as a symbol of fear and terror.

Thus some sighed in silence, some laughed heartily.

Suddenly, Uesugi Toru spoke; his clear voice pressed down all sounds and movements in an instant, and also made the red oni in the iron cage immediately fix its cruel gaze on him,

"— Naturally."

Uesugi Toru extended his hand, letting the Blessed Folding Fan fall with a snap into his palm.

Snap.

The folding fan opened; Uesugi Toru slowly fanned it and said: "However, if you all want me to act to exorcise such a ferocious red oni, surely it can't be done with just a word, right?"

This move cowed quite a few Elders.

Added to the fact that Uesugi Toru actually had Imagawa Yoshimoto behind him, they also had to consider the mood of this current Imagawa Head of Family.

So an Elder waved his hand and spoke: "Wonder what request Lord Toru has?"

Another Elder played the straight man: "Exactly, exactly! If Lord Toru can publicly exorcise this red Evil Ghost, even making us empty our family coffers would be willing!"

Uesugi Toru smiled and nodded,

"Then, may Toru be allowed to take a look at the Breathing Techniques the Elders cultivate?"

Different reactions immediately came from the inner room.

Some Elders explicitly shook their heads and refused; some flew into a rage and retorted; some fell into deep thought, unknown what they were thinking.

Seeing this, Uesugi Toru continued: "I merely wish to satisfy an Onmyoji's curiosity about Samurai Breathing Techniques; a rough glance will suffice — even with you all accompanying me."

Once these words were spoken, the Elders all reined in their emotions and whispered among themselves for a few sentences.

In the end, it was still the Elder with the hoarse voice who answered on behalf of everyone,

"If under someone's accompaniment, it is permissible."

Anyway, cultivation of Breathing Techniques requires years of accumulation, understanding, and practice; it is absolutely not something that can be understood just by looking for a short time.

When the time comes, they would just let this Toru look at five minutes, ten minutes of Breathing Techniques.

No matter how good his memory, it is impossible to memorize Breathing Techniques so extraordinarily complex in such a brief time.

— And this counts as satisfying his curiosity!

Rounding it off, they had almost paid no price at all and completed a simultaneous probe of this Onmyoji Toru and the current Imagawa Yoshimoto.

Truly a zero-cost, infinite-profit deal!

The Elders showed unwillingness and regret on the surface, but in their hearts they all laughed out loud.

But they didn't know that Uesugi Toru learning Breathing Techniques completely doesn't require so-called understanding and practice, and doesn't even need memorization.

Only, a casual sweep of the eye can glimpse all their profound mysteries.

"Then, deal."

Uesugi Toru closed the fan, turned and looked at the red oni in the cage staring dead at him, not daring to move its bronze-bell-sized pupils for an instant.

— 【Red Oni (Two-Star Half)】.

He grinned happily, revealing a kind smile.

End of Chapter