Chapter 180

"Today's catch is pretty good! Let's go again this afternoon!"

Carrying a catch about the length of a forearm, Tanaka Ryo bid farewell to another old fisherman in the village with a beaming smile, then walked into his home.

Thereupon, he saw Aina standing barefoot at the doorway, holding a large cloth bag, with a conspicuously prominent wakizashi at her waist.

Tanaka Ryo froze for an instant, but upon seeing the silver glint revealed at the mouth of the cloth bag, and the Imagawa clan crest on the wakizashi, he immediately realized what had happened.

Clack.

Tanaka Ryo no longer cared that the big fish, still lively and wagging its tail in his hand, fell to the ground.

He hurriedly rushed out the door in long strides, chasing after the direction Aina was looking at.

At the same time, he tore at his throat shouting,

"——Toru-sama! Toru-sama!"

He ran wildly all the way along the muddy paths of Hasu Village, until at last, at the end of his vision, he saw that back clad in the Chief Priest Robe.

——He clearly looked like he was walking slowly, yet with every step he took, he could cross a dozen meters in an instant.

Tanaka Ryo followed, panting and gasping, for another stretch, but upon discovering the distance was instead growing farther, he had to stop his footsteps, watching helplessly as Uesugi Toru's back vanished from his vision.

He thought in his heart, shaken.

Onmyoji Toru, truly a divine man.

……

"Couldn't tell, Toru-kun is actually such a gentle person."

On the floating board that had already slowly risen to a height of hundreds of meters, Imagawa Yoshimoto propped her chin and withdrew her gaze with slight surprise.

Uesugi Toru, having sat back on the floating board, replied,

"Just felt this was the last meeting with them. Aina is a good kid too.

Hope she can live better after this."

Uesugi Toru spoke to here, then blinked: "Lord Imagawa could actually see clearly from this far away."

"Isn't that natural?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had already adapted to the floating board at extreme speed, leaned on the translucent "fence" and let out a light hum,

"If even eyesight can't compare to ordinary people, how can one be called the First Bow of Tokaido?"

She pointed at her own dark, deep pupils, smiling: "Even the veins of a falling leaf a kilometer away, I can see them clearly."

Seeing Uesugi Toru seemed stunned by her words, Imagawa Yoshimoto tilted her head, gazing toward the distant Sunpu Castle that had already grown small.

She gestured with her hand, unable to help but exclaim,

"After flying into midair, Sunpu Castle feels so small."

Uesugi Toru shook his head: "Lord Imagawa, standing at this height, there aren't many things that can be called 'big' anymore.

Even a military formation numbering ten thousand people is just a neat square block."

The floating board slowly sailed toward the direction of Mikawa under the two-foot-tall adult's control; Imagawa Yoshimoto stared at the ever-smaller Sunpu Castle, then suddenly said softly,

"Toru."

This was the first time she directly called Uesugi Toru's "full name", without adding any modifier or suffix after it.

The twenty-year-old maiden stretched her palm toward midair, gripping emptily, as if wanting to grasp something,

"After becoming the Tenka-bito, I want to turn Sunpu Castle into a true Tenka no Shiro. Even flying this high, even higher than this, its full scope cannot be seen clearly."

Imagawa Yoshimoto looked toward the direction of Kyo, shaking her head without hesitation,

"Kyoto, is unworthy."

"It will be done."

Uesugi Toru met her sideways gaze, extending his palm expectantly: "Please let me witness it all, Lord Imagawa."

"Then Toru-kun, you'd better watch closely for me! Don't miss a single bit!"

Imagawa Yoshimoto raised her hand, gripping his palm tightly with force.

The youngest lord among the sixty-six provinces stood up on the floating board, one hand on her hip, one finger pointing toward the yet-ununified Tenka.

She arrogantly curled her lips, proclaiming to the world,

"I will——succeed in marching on the capital!

Then become the Tenka-bito! Become the Shogun!

Finally, unify this chaotic Tenka, end the long chaotic era!"

Clap clap clap clap.

Behind her, the only two people who heard these words served as the atmosphere group, applauding for Imagawa Yoshimoto.

After speaking, Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't say anything more, but directly sat cross-legged, lowering her head to look at the unobstructed view below.

After a long time, seemingly feeling bored, she rubbed her eyes and said to Uesugi Toru, who kept exhaling fine thunder,

"Why not talk about my story?"

"Sure, sure."

Uesugi Toru complied readily.

Being able to learn more relevant deeds from the person herself, he couldn't be happier.

Thus Imagawa Yoshimoto slowly began,

"At fourteen, I returned to secular life from the temple, seizing the Family Head Position.

That same year, I unified Suruga, Tōtōmi, Mikawa three provinces, and concluded an Alliance Treaty with the Takeda and Hojo two clans……"

Imagawa Yoshimoto recounted everything in minute detail.

Even with plain words, the spirit and vigor within were fully displayed,

Uesugi Toru listened silently, comparing these deeds one by one with the records in history books.

Then, he discovered that no matter which version of the history books, they all severely underestimated and looked down upon the young girl currently sitting beside him.

If going by her own words... from secularizing from the temple until now, only six years have passed.

In just six years' time, she actually managed to develop the Imagawa Clan to such an extent.

Simply terrifying.

If not for Oda Nobunaga, that "First... in history.

The floating board's speed is very fast, so in just a short one or two hours it flew out of the Suruga Province border and arrived in Totomi territory.

Only then did Uesugi Toru discover that ever since leaving Suruga Province, the road gradually became rough and treacherous.

One thinks it's probably not that Totomi Province's roads are bad, but rather Suruga Province's roads, at least the main arteries, were repaired well under Imagawa Yoshimoto's direction.

He again recalled Sunpu Castle's infrastructure and streets, recalling they were indeed clean and tidy, without too many strange odors or garbage accumulation.

Therefore, the matter of Tenka no Shiro that Imagawa Yoshimoto spoke of before is not empty talk.

She wants to do this.

She will also work hard for this.

Uesugi Toru stared at Yoshimoto who kept her head lowered, almost blinking only once every minute, estimating she was probably stuffing the passing mountains and terrain into her mind.

Therefore he also didn't make a sound to disturb her.

Again about half an hour passed, when they had already arrived in Central Totomi.

Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly spoke,

"Stop."

In mere seconds, the extremely fast floating board completely defied common sense and suddenly stopped in mid-air.

Imagawa Yoshimoto's pupils shrank slightly, capturing a familiar pattern on the clothing,

"It's the Toda Clan's family crest."

Toda Clan?

Uesugi Toru pondered for two seconds, recalling this was a local powerful clan of Mikawa Province, considered subordinates of the Matsudaira Clan.

But this is Totomi Province...

Uesugi Toru likewise lowered his head, seriously looking toward that rough road.

A moment later, he raised an eyebrow: "Bandits?"

Toda Clan samurai, how could they fall to the point of becoming bandits?

Even a samurai's honor wouldn't allow them to do this, right?

And if they committed a crime and were driven out of the Toda house, how could they possibly still be wearing these clothes in the middle of Totomi Province?

Imagawa Yoshimoto lightly tapped her knee with her finger: "Tetsu-kun, can you go down first to observe the situation, don't startle the snake."

"Okay."

Uesugi Toru responded, silently leaping into the dense forest.

Not long after, suppressing his heartbeat, converging his entire body's aura to the utmost, Uesugi Toru quietly pressed against a thick tree stump, peeking out his gaze.

In the road center, that sturdy samurai wearing a plain robe printed with the Toda Clan crest stood with arms crossed, like a silent boulder.

Rather, it was the two youths in front of him wearing coarse hemp clothes, with rusty katana at their waists, who were shouting at the man sitting on the rabbit horse cart ahead,

"The boss said, hand over half your money and food, and we'll let you pass!"

That youth starved until his cheekbones protruded waved his uchigatana twice, hehe laughing: "We won't touch the goods, the rule for the past few days has always been this!"

This small merchant family going on a long journey, actually didn't even bring guards?

Uesugi Toru shifted his gaze, discovering two fresh, still steaming headless corpses on the roadside.

The corpses had no other wounds, the neck breaks clean and flat, one thinks the beheaded probably felt no pain even at death.

Case solved.

Turns out the two guards were beheaded by that samurai in one slash.

"No no no... can't pay."

On the rabbit horse cart, which is the commonly spoken donkey cart, the weather-beaten middle-aged man was scared stiff all over, but still stuttered,

"If we hand over half here, then by the time we reach Mikawa it won't be enough at all."

He hastily got off the cart, knelt down, using a voice almost about to cry, flatteringly bowing his head,

"Several lords... one third! Can we do one third! Please..."

"One third, also okay." The youth named "Arai" coldly laughed twice, gaze moving to behind the goods, "However, just leave your wife and daughter behind."

The middle-aged man abruptly raised his head, dead-staring at Arai, scaring him into subconsciously retreating a step back.

Then he was steadied by the samurai with arms thick as small tree stumps.

"You all, want to go to Mikawa?"

The samurai lowered his head, facing that trembling middle-aged man face to face, suddenly grinning and laughing out loud.

He thumped his chest, angrily saying,

"I barely escaped from that hell! You still want to go over! Think this life is too long?!"

Uesugi Toru, having heard every word without missing a single one, deeply frowned.

This samurai with powerful gang-qi circulation almost completed, actually called Mikawa Province "hell"?

This released is no good news.

He made no sound, continued listening.

That samurai impatiently waved his hand: "Considering we took half your money and food, and that you're a decent man, I'll tell you — wherever you came from, scram back there!"

"Otherwise, who knows when your whole family will be exposed corpses in the wilderness!"

Mikawa Province, has become wrong.

From the words of this Toda Clan samurai, Uesugi Toru could tell that Mikawa Province was by no means some minor matter concerning only the upper and middle classes like "Great Demon Bewitchment" or "Local Warlord Rebellion."

Rather, it was a great chaos involving a far wider scope, affecting the entire Mikawa Province!

He had to ask for details.

Uesugi Toru's eyes twitched slightly, and he strode out from behind the tree stump, walking right under the noses of the bandits and the small merchant family.

Coincidentally, he stood between the middle-aged man and the bandits.

The man, feeling the shadow cast upon him, raised his head and stared at this stranger's long robe, not knowing what to say.

Arai, the bandit who had just been steadied by the samurai, clicked his tongue and spoke with a heavy local accent,

"Hey?! What are you here to do……"

Before he could finish speaking, his gaze had already swept over Uesugi Toru's entire body.

Then, bandit Arai's eyes gleamed!

These clean clothes, this eye-catching sword sheath, and these boots—one look told him they were extremely precious!

And this youth was fair and tender; one look told him he was a noble son of some high-ranking noble family!

If they were in a city, even in a remote village, Arai probably wouldn't dare to entertain the slightest disrespectful thought.

A big figure of this level could decide his life and death ten times over with a single word!

But here on this deserted mountain road, this noble son had no samurai guards—surely he couldn't even indulge in a little fantasy?

Arai turned his head excitedly and asked, "Boss! Can we take him!"

Sakata said nothing.

——He always felt that this youth's attire before him looked somewhat familiar.

But he had never seen this face before.

This matter was truly very strange.

Moreover, he always felt that this calm and composed noble son was not simple in any way.

But this set of attire was indeed very valuable; if they could find a place to pawn it, it would be enough to feed himself and his brothers full for several months and more!

Seeing Sakata say nothing, Arai thought the boss had tacitly agreed.

Thus, with backing and support, Arai's confidence immediately increased by three parts.

He flourished an ugly sword flourish, and even accidentally dropped his sword on the ground and picked it up again, then walked to Uesugi Toru's front with a step that showed no regard for kin, raised his chin and sneered,

"Hey, kid, do you know what situation you're in?"

Uesugi Toru ignored him, not even glancing at him.

This kind of lowlife, he had no interest even in talking back to.

As long as they weren't brainless enough to attack him directly, treating them as a piece of air would suffice.

And judging by the situation, these bandit underlings seemed not to know what had happened in Mikawa Province.

The key lay with this boss.

Uesugi Toru raised his gaze and calmly looked past Arai at Sakata.

In an instant, Sakata felt that the internal qi slowly circulating throughout his body stagnated for an instant.

An illusion!?

Or something else?

He also did not speak, but subconsciously placed his palm vigilantly on the sword hilt.

"Several, several lords!"

The middle-aged man who had originally been kneeling on the ground plucked up his courage to speak: "Whether it is money, food, or goods, we can give you all of it, but please, can you not kill this youth!"

The woman on the rabbit horse cart, tightly hugging the girl and not letting her cry out, saw this scene and was greatly alarmed; the despair in her eyes almost overflowed.

Facing this ruthless bandit group that had slain two guards without a word, her own man actually said such words.

How dare he!

But the man felt this was an opportunity!

This youth who walked out of the woods was clearly dressed in an extraordinary manner, and he originally had not held much hope that this bandit group would let his family go……

A desperate gamble!

At this time, he could only bet that this youth was not an ordinary person!

This was the only way to live!

"Wuu wuu wuu……"

On the rabbit horse cart, the girl's sobs, whose mouth was covered by the woman, also came through faintly.

Uesugi Toru was unmoved.

Whether it was lowlife bandits or the noisy merchant family behind him.

He simply gazed at the samurai named Sakata.

Now, more precisely speaking, he should be looking at the samurai whose complexion had slightly changed, behind him.

Silently raising a finger.

Suddenly.

A deathly pale lightning without any omen, in sync with calm breathing, surged from his fingertips.

Gushing forth.

Rumble!

A bolt from the blue!

A lightning bolt straight as a line instantly raced past the side of Arai's withered face and landed directly behind Sakata.

Crackle!

After the thunder, like foam-like phantoms, a shrill hoarse roar rang out, and immediately dispersed rapidly between heaven and earth along with the lightning.

Together with the strands of hair at Arai's temples, they transformed into specks of scorched charcoal, drifting away without a trace in the slight breeze.

Uesugi Toru looked indifferently at the kill prompt that popped up before him, his eyes narrowing forcefully into slits.

This... really isn't good news.

And standing before him, Arai, who had just brushed past the lightning at close range, went weak in the legs and collapsed uncontrollably to the ground, feeling as if his soul had left his body.

Sakata first looked back, observed behind him, then exclaimed in sudden realization,

"Good thunder technique! With just this one strike you killed a demon ghost I didn't detect at all — truly worthy of the Great Onmyoji Toru, whose name shakes the Tokaido!"

The samurai bowed with cupped hands, his tone serious and sincere,

"To meet you today, Sakata truly has three lifetimes of fortune!"

Great Onmyoji... Toru?

As these words fell, not only the bandits including the brothers Arai and Amu cast awed gazes, even that small merchant family froze, frightened by this name.

Because these days, this name has swept through cities large and small like a Category 12 hurricane, and not even one small village has been spared.

Any place involved in contact with the outside world inevitably hears the five words "Great Onmyoji Toru" from the mouths of merchants or ronin, followed by seeing their envious gazes.

Sakata took a deep breath for a moment, rose and said: "Lord Toru, speaking here..."

"I don't have time to listen to that much nonsense from you."

Uesugi Toru's gaze was icy, cutting off his words without mercy.

His whole body surged with dazzling lightning, and he spoke word by word,

"Now, immediately, tell everything you know about the situation in Mikawa Province — not a single word omitted!"

Sakata's words stagnated, and for a time he couldn't continue.

He took the initiative to show goodwill, yet before so many subordinates he had his face slapped by the other party... how could he continue as boss after this?

But Sakata's mind was clear.

— This Great Onmyoji Toru is likewise absolutely a big figure he cannot afford to provoke.

At this moment, the floating board descended.

Imagawa Yoshimoto, simply dressed, stepped lightly onto the ground; after scanning the surroundings once, she asked coldly: "What happened?"

Uesugi Toru rubbed his nose bridge, sighed deeply,

"Lord Imagawa, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse... it's already completely not some minor scuffle by local warlords anymore."

Imagawa Yoshimoto was slightly startled upon hearing this.

She asked again, her expression turning serious: "What happened?"

No one answered.

Every single person present, upon hearing Uesugi Toru's address for this girl who had landed, held their breath and lowered their heads and gazes.

Because this girl standing before them is most likely the sole ruler governing Suruga, Totomi, and Mikawa — three provinces!

The most wise and great Head of Family of the Imagawa clan to date!

Especially Sakata.

He once accompanied the Toda clan head to Sunpu Castle for a celebration, and from afar caught a glimpse of that noble personage's appearance.

Even though he couldn't see clearly then, his memory has already blurred somewhat.

But such a unique temperament is absolutely impossible for others to imitate.

Without a doubt, it is this person before us.

In this way, the earlier dilemma was resolved effortlessly!

Sakata paid no heed to the crowd's gazes, knelt with a thud on the rough dirt road, and prostrated,

"This lowly one Sakata pays respects to the Imagawa Head of Family."

Those bandit underlings around him, however, still stared at each other blankly without reacting, standing dazed in place unsure what to do.

"Extraordinary times, no need for formalities."

Imagawa Yoshimoto swiftly raised her hand, and after glancing at Uesugi Toru whose complexion was unprecedentedly grave, said: "Just now Mr. Toru told you to say and do whatever — you just quickly do as told."

Uesugi Toru added coldly: "This trip of mine with Lord Imagawa is precisely to resolve the Mikawa Problem — an army of over ten thousand has already deployed and set out!"

"Therefore."

His fingertips' gang qi and lightning interwove and flashed: "Tell us everything you know about Mikawa Province.

If you knowingly conceal anything..."

Rumble!

Uesugi Toru raised his hand, causing a sturdy tree not far away to turn into scorched charcoal in an instant: "This is your fate."

Ten thousand army.

"This lowly one understands."

Sakata tensed all over, having already understood the Imagawa clan head's seriousness regarding this matter,

So he quickly recalled everything related to this incident, sorting the sequence bit by bit, organizing his words.

About twenty seconds later, Sakata, whose mental fortitude was extremely strong, spoke with very clear articulation, starting from the signs of trouble twenty-odd days ago.

The two listened with rapt attention.

According to "Toda clan's Instructor" Sakata, at the beginning it was indeed local warlords wanting to stir up trouble and initiate chaos.

But he cherished his life and didn't want to climb higher, unwilling to meddle in this mess, so he deliberately went to a small city to avoid the limelight.

"Although warlords from several places joined hands again wanting to do something, those bald donkeys of the Buddhist sect also mixed in together, once again wanting to fish for profit from the chaos, earning benefits from all sides."

Sakata narrated,

"People did die quite a lot over half a month ago — but I'm used to it, after all the past two years were the same."

Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded, counting as recognition of his words.

For a disturbance uniting the entire Place to occur, it must first purge the internal opposition.

Not bleeding is an impossibility.

"Then... then..."

But speaking to here, even though he was nearly thirty, had experienced countless large and small wars, and had walked through life and death several times, Sakata also paused for a long time, his complexion involuntarily stiffening.

He closed his eyes, spoke with difficulty, his tone becoming hoarse and dry,

"But from one week ago, things began to change."

(End of Chapter)