Chapter 4: The Fool of Owari and Unification

Ōigawa Castle – Isshiki Masataka

1561. Spring.

The moment Tadatsugu left, I sent a messenger to the Imagawa Residence to convey my request for an immediate audience with Ujizane-sama.

After he received a reply from them, he went back to Ōigawa Castle.

“Ujizane-sama stated that he would be free to accept your visit at any time, my lord.”

“I see. Good work. Call Tokimune. Tell him, we’ll leave for the Imagawa Residence immediately.”

“Understood.”

The page then ran to fetch Tokimune.

“Sasuke, I’ll leave the house in your capable hands while I’m away.”

“You can leave the house to me. Please, tread carefully, my lord.”

“I will. Ujizane-sama’s surroundings are extremely unstable right now; I have to watch my words even more so than ever.”

“Apologies. I spoke out of turn.”

Sasuke bowed his head as he said that. Even now, I could see a trace of anxiety on his face, which was understandable. The Isshiki clan just had a sudden change in ruler and I was the only male heir the clan had. If we were to count the branch clans, there were several others, like Masatomo for example, but regardless, it would only make it harder for the clan to survive if the new head were to be found dead in just over a year after his sudden succession.

This was what he was worried about.

“Sasuke. Until I return, I’ll leave Mother, the people in this castle, and every one of our subjects in your capable hands.”

“Y-yes! I will live up to your expectations!”

After I finished my preparations, I went outside to see that they had already readied the horses.

Nearby, Tokimune and several guards were waiting for me on their knees.

“Is everything ready?”

“Yes. We can depart at any time.

“Then, let’s get going.”

I mounted my horse first, then Tokimune followed suit. Speaking of his horse, I heard that it had been his long-time companion. You could see from its neatly groomed coat how much care and love it received from him.

A lot of people lined up at the gate to see us off.

Surrounded by bowing crowds, I rode my horse at a leisure pace. My destination? The Imagawa Residence.

“My lord. May I?”

Shortly after we left the castle, Tokimune pulled his horse up to me and called out to me. From his serious expression, it was clear that he had something in mind.

“What is it?”

“Ever since he had slain Lord Yoshimoto at Okehazama, Oda Nobunaga hasn’t shown any interest in invading our land. Instead, he has been showing his eagerness to advance toward Saitō¹They do exist in history, but they’re a short-lived clan. They were found by Saitō Dōsan, who is Nobunaga’s late father-in-law, after he usurped a minor samurai clan’s territory. The clan was pretty much routed by Nobunaga by the time Dōsan’s grandson, Saitō Tatsuoki came to power. clan’s Mino²It’s a province right to the west of Owari, Oda clan’s territory which is right next to Mikawa, Matsudaira’s territory. Yes, these guys are neighbors..”

“So I’ve heard. Yoshisatsu, who killed his own father, Nobunaga’s father-in-law, Dōsan, has died. They appointed his eldest son, Tatsuoki, to succeed him, but the sudden change in succession left their clan unstable. Nobunaga really is favored by the heavens.”

“As expected of my lord, your ears are sharp. I heard Oda has achieved a major victory in Moribe³The Battle of Moribe. Well, it’s a short battle that served as the opening of Nobunaga’s conquest to Mino Province. There really isn’t much to tell about it except that Nobunaga crushed Saitō in it..”

“Is that so? Thank you for bringing me the news.”

Tokimune bowed his head and stepped back.

Up to this point, the events that had transpired were in line with history. So far, I didn’t know what kind of change would the existence of our Isshiki clan bring to history.

Still, Oda’s conquest of Mino wasn’t something that happened overnight. While their conquest was ongoing, they had to unify Owari at the same time. There were still several Oda clan’s branches that refused to bow down to Nobunaga. Eventually, he’d bring them all under his wing, but currently, it wasn’t the case at all.

Around this time period, the one who was opposing him the most should be Oda Nobukiyo, who resided in Inuyama Castle. His father was the brother of Nobunaga’s father—in other words, they were cousins.

Nobukiyo married Nobunaga’s sister, Lady Inuyama, and once followed his rule, but there was a dispute over territories between them and their relationship soured ever since then.

“Arrange for the Sakae to infiltrate Owari.”

“The Sakae? I assume that you’re planning to stir chaos in Owari, my lord?”

“Yes. I’m planning to use the shinobi to sow the seeds of doubt in Owari. My plan is to delay Oda’s unification of Owari and conquest of Mino for as long as possible. In the meantime, we will continue to strengthen our ranks. Motoyasu will be a key for our operation.”

“Your wish shall be done.”

The Sakae were a group of shinobi under the Isshiki clan who came to join our ranks during Father’s time. Originally, they stayed in their hidden villages in the mountains of Owari, but for some reason, their whole group moved all the way here to Tōtōmi. They weren’t especially good at assassination or combat, but they were proficient in gathering and manipulating information⁴They don’t exist in history btw. AFAIK anyway..

For now, I was planning to use these people to stir up troubles in Oda’s territory. I’d even sell out Motoyasu if I had to. My plan was to confine them both in Owari and Mikawa respectively and divert their attention from us. Hopefully, this would work.

Even while I was on a horseback, there were a lot of things for me to do.

Ever since I inherited the position as the head of the Isshiki clan, I had been living an incredibly busy life.