April, 10th Year of Tensho (1582).

  As the campaign against the Mori clan in Bitchu was finally poised to begin, Kanbe’e Kuroda’s mind was accelerating with the force of a raging torrent.

  The target was set. The "bullet" would be Mitsuhide Akechi. However, a bullet does not fly simply by being placed in a gun. It required "gunpowder" to push it, and a "trigger" to force Mitsuhide to act.

  (First, the gunpowder. Mitsuhide’s right hand, Toshimitsu Saito. He shall be the fuse for this stratagem.)

  Kanbe’e organized the intelligence brought by his Ninja in his head. Toshimitsu Saito was the brother of the primary wife of Motochika Chosokabe. Toshimitsu was the iron chain that bound Mitsuhide and Motochika together. Now that Lord Nobunaga had decided on a military invasion of Shikoku to crush the Chosokabe, it represented a personal crisis for Toshimitsu and a diplomatic failure for his master, Mitsuhide.

  Kanbe’e’s thoughts did not stop.

  (Toshimitsu is a man of integrity. He will not stand idly by while his sister’s family is decimated without reason. He will struggle desperately to move his master and change their fate... That desperation will be the gunpowder that turns Mitsuhide’s hesitation into murderous intent.)

  (Yet, even then, Mitsuhide may not move... That man reveres the old order. His footing is too weak to peer into the abyss of the Great Sin—rebellion—on his own.)

  There was a further problem. There was virtually no way for Kanbe’e, a mere strategist under Hideyoshi, to directly manipulate Mitsuhide Akechi, one of Nobunaga's top generals. While they recognized each other, they had never shared a meaningful conversation; a secret meeting was out of the question.

  (To Mitsuhide, I am but a low-ranking retainer of Lord Hideyoshi, a peer with whom he competes for merit... Especially now, after Lord Hideyoshi has utterly humiliated him. No matter how much logic I spout about the future of the realm, Mitsuhide will not move for a man of my station... If so, I must move the only "trigger" capable of breaking his chains and shoving him off the ledge.)

  The image of a nobleman appeared in Kanbe’e’s mind—one who manipulated a folding fan with grace while emitting a gaze of unfathomable depth.

  Fujitaka Hosokawa.

  In a word, he was a "Titan of Intellect." A superhuman who used his unparalleled foresight and scholarship to ensure the survival of the Hosokawa clan in this turbulent age, while simultaneously striving to save Japan's traditional culture from extinction. He was the elite of the elite, possessing top-tier mastery in poetry, tea ceremony, calligraphy, Go, and even swimming and culinary arts. Furthermore, as the sole successor of the Kokin Denju—the secret interpretations of the Kokin Wakashu—he was a figure even the Imperial Court held in awe.

  He had once served the Ashikaga Shogunate, but as Nobunaga's power grew, he abandoned the Shogun to serve the Oda. For him, survival was not merely about saving his own life; it was a grand public duty to ensure the "Light of Japanese Culture" was never extinguished.

  Above all, Mitsuhide and Fujitaka were bound by destiny. Mitsuhide’s daughter, Tama (later known as Gracia), was married to Fujitaka’s heir, Tadaoki; they were kinsmen. There was no one else in whom Mitsuhide could truly confide or show his weakness.

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  Kanbe’e and Fujitaka had crossed paths several times within the Oda camps and had found a kindred spirit in each other through Renga (linked verse). Though Fujitaka was a decade older, he had accepted Kanbe’e’s "transformation" after his return from the dungeon of Arioka with undisguised intellectual curiosity. A man like Fujitaka is sensitive to the "darkness" in the depths of others' hearts—and possesses the audacity to enjoy it.

  (Mr. Fujitaka can move Mitsuhide... No, I simply need to make him feel that he "has no choice" but to move. He, too, must fear that Nobunaga’s rapid, violent reforms will incinerate the ancient culture of Japan. The fire that is Nobunaga is about to burn down the forest of "Tradition" he is sworn to protect... I need only fan those embers of fear.)

  The next morning, at the war council, Hideyoshi peered into Kanbe’e’s face and spoke with suspicion.

  "Kanbe’e, what is wrong? You look as though you haven't slept a wink last night. Your face is like that of a ghost. You look just as you did when you returned from Arioka."

  "No... I slept but a little. Do not trouble yourself, Lord Hideyoshi. I was merely contemplating how to strike the Mori next."

  Hideyoshi slapped Kanbe’e’s shoulder affectionately and laughed heartily.

  "Don't overwork yourself; it will ruin your health. If you collapse, my world... no, my military strategy will fall apart..."

  Hideyoshi caught himself before saying "My World" and quickly swallowed his words. But Kanbe’e heard the slip only with half an ear. In his mind, the scaffold to make Hideyoshi’s "World" a reality was already being assembled with a rhythmic clatter.

  That night, Kanbe’e reached a certainty. The bullet was Mitsuhide, the gunpowder was Toshimitsu Saito, and the trigger was Fujitaka Hosokawa.

  (Until the deed is done, I cannot send a letter that would leave a trace. But with Fujitaka, I can converse through the hidden codes of Renga... Behind a seemingly elegant poem, I will hide the poison: 'Now is the chance to slay the Demon King.' Fujitaka is a man who will notice that poison—and dare to taste it.)

  (The question is, can Mitsuhide carry it out without fail... There is no need for worry. I, Kanbe’e, will assemble ninety percent of the arrangements from the shadows. After a great battle, Nobunaga always holds a tea ceremony. Likely at a temple in Kyoto. Unless there is an urgent matter before he arrives in Bitchu, Lord Nobutada will surely be with him... If father and son are together, it is the perfect opportunity. I will not miss the day that 'opening' appears.)

  Kanbe’e’s calculations were ice-cold.

  When Nobunaga leaves Azuchi for the Western expedition and stays at a temple in Kyoto, I will turn that place into a "cage." I will peel away the surrounding forces and cut off the escape routes. I will use my Ninja to create a situation where Mitsuhide only needs to appear before that cage.

  Then, Kanbe’e’s thoughts shifted to the "Seizure of Supremacy" following the execution.

  (To Mitsuhide, I shall convey this through Fujitaka: 'The Crescent Moon was but a device to lure you onto the path of rebellion... We, the thirty thousand of Hideyoshi Hashiba, shall surely rush to your aid as reinforcements, protect you, and push you onto the throne of the realm.' Driven into a corner, that man will not be able to resist such a sweet temptation... And, though I pity Mitsuhide, the moment his hands are stained with blood, we shall declare that 'we have heard word of the treason' and march from Bitchu with lightning speed to the site of the execution.)

  Mitsuhide Akechi must vanish into the darkness of history as the great traitor who murdered his lord. To avenge a fallen master—no greater justification exists in this land of Japan.

  Even within the Oda clan, there were already countless reasons for people to think, "Mitsuhide was pushed too far, it was inevitable... purely a matter of personal grudge."

  The Hideyoshi Hashiba army is thirty thousand; the Akechi army, at most, fifteen thousand. In terms of numbers, and in terms of swinging the sword of justice, there is not a fragment of a reason we should lose.

  (My Lord Nobunaga... you have won too much. A man who wins too much digs his own grave and is eventually sucked into it... The time has come for the countless souls you have destroyed to pull at your feet.)

  Kanbe’e gently traced the Renga parchment that his late Dashi had loved.

  His fingertips had already become the cold gears of history itself.

  Produced and written by a Japanese author, rooted in authentic Japanese history. Translated with the assistance of Gemini (AI).