Chapter 19: To the Side of the Frozen God

Aso this night seemingly possessed the strange power to warp every mind. Prayer and murderous malice both flowed lava-hot, slowly covering the midwinter land. The snow was gone.

Kaizaki Makoto ran through the midnight forest. The water serpent was still alive. It was guiding him to Takaya. It undulated its spring-water body vigorously through the air. Kaizaki followed. Though his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he could not see very far ahead. He tripped countless times over the roots underfoot.

(He doesn’t believe it.)

But he had no confidence in that statement.

Their proper time together had stopped the instant the bullet had pierced Naoe’s chest that day two years ago. Thereafter, due to the reactions of a ‘counterfeit’, Kagetora had come to believe Naoe was distancing himself—that his obsession with him was over. Takaya had had no evidence to refute this.

For all these two years, Naoe had not told Kagetora of his own circumstances. They had exchanged a few words that night in Chigasaki and at Kumamoto Castle’s Unopened Gate, but he didn’t think that was enough to counter this slander. They were too ambiguous and weak. And in any case, whatever he said, those words would have come from Kaizaki Makoto, a stranger. He’d known that they would be taken as the cryptic remarks of a mysterious entity putting on the deceptive guise of a prophet.

It had been necessary for him to become Kaizaki in order to fulfill his mission. It would’ve been simple if they could toss away the responsibilities imposed on them, but they couldn’t. This was how both he and Kagetora had lived for four hundred years. But he didn’t want to use that as an excuse: he’d always worked to proactively turn any circumstance to his advantage.

Still, Naoe believed he’d made a mistake. The anti-Oda alliance was serious about winning Kagetora over. Though they had failed at Hagi, they were not about to abandon the project. Oda had grown stronger in recent days, while Takeda had apparently read Uesugi’s own moves. The anti-Oda generals must be feeling a sense of crisis. Forewarned, they were moving to close the deal. He’d had a bad feeling ever since he’d seen Chiaki and Takaya at Old Castle High SchoolOld Castle High School (古城高校)

Old Castle (Kojou) High School is a fictional school set at the site of the castle which was torn down to make way for Katou Kiyomasa's Kumamoto Castle (also named Kumamoto but using different characters—隈本城 instead of 熊本城). It's likely where real-life Kumamoto Prefectural Daiichi (First) High School stands.

It was originally built as a Western school by foreigners during the Meiji Period (Daiichi was built in 1903 as an all-girls school but later become co-ed). The current school was built around 20 years ago (1970s) and is composed of two three-story buildings to north and south connected by a series of hallways with air-conditioned rooms. It also has a sports oval, a prefabricated club storehouse, and a gym under construction. Kumamoto Castle Park is quite close., but by then it had already been too late.

(We should have gotten them to leave Kumamoto, even if force had been necessary.)

Sold out by Naoe—

It was not unreasonable for Takaya to believe that. Two years ago in his exhaustion he had treated Takaya cruelly with wild words and actions . Having lost his «power» and his sight, he had seen only the end. Takaya had heard him plead for that end.

As Kaizaki Makoto, his words could not reach Takaya. No matter what he said, Takaya would not accept it as coming from Naoe; to the contrary, it would only serve to perplex him or at best be taken as a momentary consolation.

(Nothing but a meaningless scrabble between counterfeits.)

He and Kagetora weren’t even standing on the same earth. If he could speak with Takaya not as Kaizaki Makoto but as himself—as the genuine Naoe NobutsunaNaoe Nobutsuna (直江信綱) ? - Oct. 6, 1581

Also known as: Nagao Kagetaka (長尾景孝), Nagao Toukurou (長尾藤九郎)
Title: Yamato no Kami (大和守)

Historically: Son of Nagao Akikage, he became head of the Sousha-Nagao Clan at a young age. He later (around 1545) passed the position to his younger brother Nagao Kagefusa. When the clan was destroyed by Takeda Shingen and their territory lost, the family escaped into Echigo. There Kagefusa became a monk, and Kagetaka was adopted by Naoe Sanetsuna when he married Sanetsuna's daughter, Osen-no-Kata. He succeeded his adopted father as master of Yoita Castle in 1577 and was a vassal of Uesugi Kenshin. He promptly took the side of Uesugi Kagekatsu during the war for succession after Kenshin's death and mobilized the members of the Naoe Clan at the castle to subdue Kagetora's troops.

After the intra-house war and Kagekatsu's victory, a question of reward was called into question. Yasuda Akimoto, one of Kagekatsu's trusted commanders, had promised rewards to Shibata Shigeie, Mouri Hidehiro, and others to convince them to join Kagekatsu's side. However, Yamazaki Hidenori, Naoe, and others objected, for they had risked life and limb at Kasugayama Castle from the very beginning of the battle, while Shibata Shigeie and the others had been lured by promise of reward from Yasuda Akimoto.

Yasuda Akimoto committed suicide when he could not keep his promise of reward. Later, Mouri Hidehiro, carrying a grudge for his death, murdered Yamazaki Hidenori at Kasugayama Castle; Naoe, who was with him at the time and took up a sword to defend himself, was killed as well. His death ended the Naoe line, which Kagekatsu later resurrected by marrying Naoe's widow, Osen-no-Kata to Higuchi Kanetsugu and commanding him to take the Naoe name.

In Mirage of Blaze: According to Kousaka Danjou, and Houjou Ujiteru he was the ringleader of Uesugi Kagekatsu's forces in the Otate no Ran. He is now Uesugi Kagetora's protector and one of the Yasha-shuu under his command. He alone, as Kagetora's protector, was given the power to perform kanshou on other souls, a power he used to force Kagetora's soul into Minako's body., Takaya would awaken from this ‘nightmare’ he had created and return to reality. Their frozen time would resume its motion when they could speak to each other face-to-face. But right now he could do nothing. Their time had halted—a halt that held an evil power, for it was swiftly burying everything in the mud of falsehood, and out of the chaos an end was coming that would suffocate them to death. Whether or not they could escape probably depended on their resolve.

Which was now being tested by these circumstances.

He had to find his way to Takaya. He didn’t trust Kousaka’s claim about him allying with Takeda, and he couldn’t hand him over to the enemy in any case. Kousaka had had a point when he’d said Naoe was going to see to it Takaya wasn’t used. But his heart held an even more important reason, one that only he and Irobe knew.

(Kagetora-sama...!)

Naoe ventured deep into the mountain. It was late, and the temperature had fallen rapidly. He was worried about Takaya’s physical well-being.

To Takaya, Fuuma KotarouFuuma Kotarou (風魔小太郎)

Historically: The name Fuuma Kotarou was given to each leader of the Fuuma Clan/organization of ninjas which served the Later Houjou Clan, starting with its first leader. The clan started information-gathering and espionage activities in the time of Houjou Souun, the founder of the Later Houjou Clan. The clan name began as 風間, composed of the characters for "wind" and "space", but was changed to its present form, a homophone composed of the characters for "wind" and "evil/demonic/magical."

In its 100 years of service to the Houjou Clan, the most renowned Fuuma Kotarou was the fifth, who served Houjou Ujimasa and his son Houjou Ujinao (unknown - 1603). Stories say that he was 7'1". One of his most famous exploits was in 1580 and the Battle of Kise-gawa, during which he slipped into the enemy camp at night and caused mass chaos. Another famous ninja, Ninokuruwa Isuke, also belonged to the Fuuma Clan.

After the destruction of the Houjou Clan, Kotarou and the Fuuma Clan became thieves near Edo. Kotarou was captured and executed in 1603 from information given by Kousaka Jinai, another ninja-turned-thief who formerly served the Takeda Clan.

In Mirage of Blaze: Fuuma Kotarou leads the Fuuma ninjas in service to the Houjou Clan. He is described as a tall, slender man with broad shoulders and a muscular but supple body. He wears his hair long, tied in a long tail that reaches to his waist. was ‘Naoe’ right now. If Kotarou was one of the anti-Oda alliance, then he was collaborating with Kousaka. He was probably going to abandon his current vessel. When he found Takaya, how he was supposed to explain his appearance? He couldn’t think of a way. Even when Kousaka’s lies came to light, Takaya would eventually learn of Naoe’s position as the general of the New Uesugi. What would he do then?

Naoe had been putting off thinking about the future. Securing his person was the first priority.

(Takaya-san.)

He was breathing harder as he walked. His black hair was disheveled, and his coat mud-stained. He continued down the slope, thrusting his way through the trees.

(Please be all right.)

At that moment.

The water serpent suddenly leapt about as if it had sensed something unusual.

Naoe had also noticed it: the scent of blood. Something was coming out of the darkness.

He could see a human shadow approaching from the depths of the beech forest. Naoe readied himself. The other figure looked a little odd, as if he were hurt. He approached slowly step by step, panting and sometimes staggering. He was covered with blood. It felt as if a wounded wild animal were approaching, ready to kill anyone in its path. Naoe gathered his «power». Yet, when he saw the man’s face, Naoe caught his breath in astonishment.

“You...”

Fuuma Kotarou dragged his bloody body into view.

He was in a pitiful state. The empty cuff of his right hand was absolutely soaked with blood. Judging by the tourniquet at his elbow, it appeared to have been cut off. His black hair was wild, and he was pale as a ghost due to the loss of blood. Yet his eyes glittered an eerie red. He hadn’t lost consciousness even with such grievous wounds. What incredible tenacity. He had left not a single one of the Shimazu soldiers standing, and then had made his way here.

Naoe lost his voice for a moment. He had never before seen such an awe-inspiring Kotarou.

At that moment, Kotarou’s eyes abruptly opened wide as he registered Kaizaki’s presence.

(An enemy...!)

Kotarou poised himself. In front of him was Naoe in Kaizaki’s shape. Naoe was astounded.

“Why are you—...”

Kotarou’s mind was slow to react. He didn’t seem to recognize Kaizaki; his left hand tightened reflexively around Ranzanmaru as he forced out his question, voice leaving no doubt he was ready to kill again: “Another servant of Shimazu...?!” Hair sticky with blood trailed into his eyes, but his ferocious glare was full of beastly savagery. “Get out of my way! Otherwise I’ll kill you too!”

Naoe’s eyes widened. “Did you say ‘Shimazu’ just now?”

Kotarou’s brows twitched at the question. His vision seemed to suddenly clear. He recognized the man standing in front of him. He recognized this face.

“You’re...”

Kotarou remembered. They had never met in person, but Kotarou had seen his picture. This was Kaizaki Makoto: a descendant of Satomi, Yoshitaka’s right arm, and someone who had lent his power to the ‘Rite of Passage to Hell’. He’d heard from Takaya that Kaizaki was working with Ootomo in Kumamoto. He was a man whose actions were indecipherable. He’d let Takaya go at Chigasaki. His handwriting was similar to Naoe’s. And he clearly had a peculiar impact on Takaya.

“Are you fighting Shimazu?” Kaizaki asked. “Did they give you that wound? What are you doing here? Stand in your way...where are you going?”

Kotarou glared silently with renewed wariness.

Is it possible? Naoe wondered. “When you say Shimazu, do you mean the soldiers stationed at Takamori Castle? They’re part of the anti-Oda alliance, are they not? Which means they’re your allies, Kotarou. Why are you fighting them?”

(What...?)

Kotarou had an odd reaction to Naoe’s elocution. He felt a strange sensation in his ears.

This was, of course, the first time he’d heard Kaizaki speak. But he immediately recognized the reason for the oddness. His manner of speaking was similar to that which Kotarou aspired. No—it was so startlingly close to what Kotarou imagined that he doubted his ears. Further, it wasn’t just the manner of speaking, but the unique tilt of his eyebrows and expression during the cross-examination.

“Where have you taken Takaya-san?”

“...!”

“You bastard, you’re conspiring with Kousaka to deceive him, aren’t you? How dare you exploit his auto-suggestion like this, you contemptible cowards. Your methods won’t get him to return to the Houjou!”

No way, Kotarou thought. It just wasn’t possible—he shook his head. Kaizaki ascribed another reason to the motion.

“You can’t not know. You must’ve been told that Takeda is deceiving him. Where is Kagetora-sama? No, you can’t have seen him looking like that. Who kidnapped him?”

(It has...to be...) Kotarou was astonished. (This is Naoe.)

The dead Naoe Nobutsuna. His mannerisms, speech, expression... Kotarou knew. He was a ninja among ninjas. A ninja whose name was written in the annals of history. He knew the smallest details of Naoe’s quirks, and his talent for mimicry was unparalleled. His eyes probed straight to the heart of things.

He was perfect. That which he had aspired to for two years, into which Kotarou had poured all his commitment and mental focus, was standing right in front of him. Voice recognition: match. There was no mistake. He could think of no other possibility...!

“Naoe...Nobutsuna...!” The man’s eyes widened at the name. “You’re alive? You weren’t purified...?!”

He knows? Naoe thought. Though Kousaka might be capable of discerning between the cores of souls, Kotarou shouldn’t have been able to see through him. Of course Kotarou didn’t have the ability to perceive the spiritual waveform synchronization. He wasn’t relying on his sixth sense, but his five senses. The thoroughly tempered eyes and ears of the best ninja in the world had perceived the truth about Naoe.

(The eyes of a ninja, huh?)

Naoe felt a chill down his spine. The ninjas were a fearsome lot. One of their terrible number was standing in front of him; he regarded Kotarou with fear. But Kotarou looked strange. After speaking Naoe’s name, he’d only stood there pale and stiff, as if he’d received a terrible blow.

“Why...are you alive—...” His voice shook. “You were supposed to have been purified! You’re not supposed to be in this world. Why! Why now...?!” Unable to endure a surge of emotion, Kotarou screamed, face twisting, “Why the hell are you here—?!”

 
(What was that shout just now...?!)

Someone had heard the cry coming from the deep forest: Kikkawa Motoharu, who had chased Takaya into the mountains from the ruins of the cabins destroyed by volcanic gases.

(Someone’s ahead of me...!)

Motoharu ran. He had not spotted either Takaya or Kiyomasa. The Himuka bird-people he had sent after Kiyomasa were now engaged in mortal combat, but he didn’t know for certain what had happened to them. Motoharu believed Takaya had taken the opportunity to slip away, and was now chasing him alone.

Takaya had gone into hiding. Motoharu had been searching this way and that for more than an hour, but Aso’s forest was immense, and he’d found no clue.

That was when he heard Kotarou’s voice.

Feeling ill-at-ease, Motoharu pulled out the pistol he carried at his hip as a precaution and headed toward the voice. Scrabbling up a slope slippery with frost, pushing his way through bush and scrub, he emerged into a small clearing. There Motoharu saw the two men facing each other.

(That’s...!)

Fuuma Kotarou? It definitely was. Motoharu remembered him. Though he no longer wore his hair long, it was Kotarou. He didn’t recognize the other man.

Why was he here? Motoharu wondered. And with such dreadful injuries. Wasn’t he working with Rairen of the Ikkou Sect? And who was the other man?

(That’s right...! Kagetora-dono is currently convinced that Kotarou is Naoe.)

Kousaka had informed Rairen about his scheme. Kotarou was not supposed to be here.

He was ashen, and his jaw trembled minutely as he glared at the other man—Kaizaki. Kaizaki—Naoe didn’t deny Kotarou’s words. He kept silent.

“Why are you in that form?” Kotarou demanded in a stifled voice. “You’re Kaizaki Makoto...? What are your intentions? Why didn’t you show yourself immediately? And why are you masquerading as someone else, Naoe Nobutsuna!”

(Naoe...!) Motoharu heard the name loud and clear. (He said Naoe Nobutsuna just now!)

“How long have you used that guise? None of the Yasha-shuuYasha-shuu (夜叉衆)

The five kanshousha at the head of the Meikai Uesugi Army ordered by Uesugi Kenshin to hunt for the onshou who are disrupting the peace of modern-era Japan in a battle which has lasted four hundred years. Led by Uesugi Kagetora, with Naoe Nobutsuna, Kakizaki Haruie, Yasuda Nagahide, and Irobe Katsunaga. The name "Yasha" refers to soldiers in the army of Bishamonten, called "Yaksha". know you’re alive. What the hell are you doing?!”

Naoe was silent. Maybe, Kotarou thought. His penetrating mind grasped the significance of Naoe pretending to be Kaizaki Makoto immediately. Naoe gazed painfully at Kotarou.

From the shadows of his tree, Motoharu swallowed at the exchange. (Could that really be...) He stared wide-eyed at the profile of the man in the black coat. (Is that Naoe? He wasn’t purified...?!)

Naoe was alive?!

“Answer me, Naoe Nobutsuna!” Kotarou cried hoarsely. Though Naoe tried to cloak himself in calmness, a vein throbbed at his temple. He was perfectly exposed. He concluded that he could not deceive this man, and resolved himself.

“I’ll answer if you will. Are you going to Kagetora-sama? What are your intentions?”

“I’m going to save him.”

“Save him?”

Motoharu couldn’t believe his ears either. His startled stare shifted to Kotarou, who looked tormented.

“I’ve made my decision. I’m his right arm. Since he has been captured by the enemy, of course I must go to save him.”

(Kotarou...!)

Motoharu was stunned. Didn’t this mean a betrayal on Kotarou’s part? What was going on? Wasn’t Kotarou one of them...?!

Naoe, too, was at a loss for words. His thoughts ran along the same lines as Motoharu; he was perfectly taken aback.

“I would never sell Kagetora-sama out. Therefore I can’t simply allow events to unfold. I am ‘Naoe’. He’s waiting for me. Of course I must go to save him. As if I could ever betray him to an enemy!”

(What is wrong with him?) Naoe wondered suspiciously. There was a look in Kotarou’s eyes he had never seen before.

Gazing with some sort of deep emotion at Naoe’s face, Kotarou said, “Yes. That expression precisely...”

It was what he had been searching for. Why did it match the one in his imagination so precisely? Because he was the person himself, of course—but the finality of that fact oppressed Kotarou. Perhaps it was an expression of the superiority of Kotarou’s abilities that he felt a strange envy towards Naoe for his natural, effortless performance of a role Kotarou had tormented himself over. Of course, Kotarou thought, narrowing his eyes in pain.

(This is...how you gain victory over me.)

Kotarou had absorbed the inferiority complex formerly harbored by Naoe. His expression, on the other hand, was calm.

“I know, because I’ve been thinking of you constantly for the past two years. You’re going to him too. That’s why you’re here, deep in the mountains. But I can’t let you, Naoe, now that I’ve seen you.” Kotarou unexpectedly smiled. “Because he’s waiting for me. I’m the only one, as Naoe, who can give him peace. Your going is useless. I have to go, or he’ll die.”

Seeing Naoe’s expression harden, Kotarou felt a faint sense of superiority. Though he despised himself for it, he continued: “Don’t you see, Naoe? You no longer exist. You’ve already served your purpose. I’ve been at Kagetora-sama’s side for the past two years, and he is satisfied with me. He’s not as hungry for you as you think he is.”

“Wh...!”

“I’m Naoe, so everything’s fine. If anything, it’s better that you’re not Naoe. I know how to give him peace. My Naoe won’t defect from him...!”

(This man...!)

Naoe’s expression froze. Did he know about Kenshin?

“If I’m you, I won’t leave Kagetora-sama. I won’t leave him because he doesn’t want me to. If I’m asked to choose between Kenshin and Kagetora-sama, I choose Kagetora-sama. That is ‘Naoe’.”

Naoe was left speechless. Kotarou pressed mercilessly, "Even if you, the original, chooses Kenshin, it doesn’t mean I’m not ‘Naoe’—it means you’re no longer ‘Naoe’!

“!”

“There is no need for two ‘Naoes’,” Kotarou told him in a low voice, and adjusted his grip on his spirit-blade once more. “The counterfeit should disappear.”

“!”

Kotarou moved swiftly—even as he was speaking. From where had he dredged up this power? Kotarou pounced at him, Ranzanmaru in a backhanded grip. He swung at Naoe ferociously.

“Haaaah!”

Metallic sparks flashed. Naoe had caught Kotarou on the downswing with a «shield wallgoshinheki (護身壁)

Lit.: "wall of self-protection"; the goshinheki is a barrier constructed for an instant using spiritual energy. The goshinha is effective when maintained, but the goshinheki takes shape in the instant the caster is attacked and is a basic method of self-protection. However, its weakness is that it cannot protect the caster against 100% of the damage caused by the attack.». It repelled Kotarou and sent him tumbling back. Naoe too was sent flying back. His back crashed into a tree.

“This time you should die properly, Naoe!” Kotarou yelled as he stood. “I’m going to kill you!”

He attacked with obvious killing intent. Naoe tsked. He couldn’t die here. The battle of the ‘two Naoes’ began as Motoharu watched.

“Wraaal!”

Kotarou charged with a wolf-like howl. Naoe hardened his will and released it in a single burst. The collision sent fiery plasma crackling through the air and left deep claw marks in the trees surrounding them. Naoe concentrated energy in his right arm and used it as a shield. Kotarou’s assault was fierce. The spirit-blade, having grown more powerful on Shimazu blood, now rushed at Naoe. It shattered the shield and slashed through to his skin, ripping his clothes like a razor whirlwind.

“Ugh!” As blood spurted, Naoe quickly gave ground. (He’s strong...!)

“You are no longer Naoe!” Baring a savage murderous intent, a demon-like Kotarou shouted hoarsely. “You should just disappear for good!”

The spirit-blade hummed and elongated into a long sword. It came at Naoe with terrifying force. Its might blasted his shield to particles...!

(You’re wrong!)

Naoe fought with clenched teeth. Kagetora didn’t want a ‘convenient Naoe’. Even if he felt like he did, he who had accepted and carried this scream awaited only ‘Naoe’s reality’. Even now. So Naoe believed. Cry out, his eyes demanded. And that cry existed in Naoe’s heart alone. In his and no other...!

(I must not allow myself to waver!)

Naoe roared like surging waves, “You’re the one who should disappear, you fake—!”

Light flashed from his palm, and a sword appeared: Kaizaki’s spirit-sword ‘Murasame’. It emitted a light very like the Sword of Bishamonten. Naoe swung hard and brought it down on Kotarou!

“Graah—!”

For a moment, an intense beam of light lit the forest in noonday brightness. Murasame and Ranzanmaru clashed squarely. Where they met, a fierce wind swelled. But neither Kotarou nor Naoe pulled back. They jostled with jaws clenched, sword guard against sword guard, eyes glaring into each other’s at close quarters. Plasma crackled ceaselessly with so much power that trees screamed and even the water snake was blown away.

Motoharu shielded himself and strained desperately to see the combatants through the light. Savage power howled and flashed.

“Disappear! I won’t let you go to Saburou-dono! You’re dead, Naoe!” Kotarou screamed as if his soul were bursting apart. “You can never come back—!”

“!”

Naoe felt as if something had exploded in his chest. An intense pain followed, piercing through his body. Kotarou’s savage spirit had crushed Kaizaki’s ribs...!

“Aa...aah!”

Seizing his opportunity, Kotarou was about to press his ferocious attack when Naoe hit him with his will. It split Kotarou’s forehead, and blood spurted. Naoe instantly thrust him aside and rolled, both his hands on the ground.

“Guh...ah...!”

Globs of blood fell from his mouth. That was when he realized that something was wrong.

(The synchronization—)

His synchronization had been disrupted. His hold on his «power» had weakened. Was he about to falter at a time like this? No, someone was interfering. Who? His limbs quivered. He couldn’t even move the body anymore...!

(Kousaka?!)

“Dieeeee!”

He tried to turn to the cry that heralded death, but couldn’t move. Only his eyes swiveled. The sword run through him, howling.

He couldn’t even moan.

The sword pierced his flank. There was a sound as of his entrails slipping out, and the sword slowly pulled out. Blood poured endlessly to the ground.

“...Glub...”

The sound bubbled out of the back of his throat as Kaizaki Makoto crumbled face-down to the ground. He didn’t rise again. Kotarou’s chest heaved with his panting, eyes wide as he stared at the man on the ground.

He was dumbfounded.

Had he done it...?

“...”

Motoharu had seen the entirety of this heroic fight to the death, and now his gaze moved slowly from the man lying in the ocean of blood to Kotarou, the victor. His loose and tangled black hair hung over his face, and dry blood clung and darkened his exquisitely chiseled face. Kotarou stared with hollow eyes at the dead man.

He had killed Naoe Nobutsuna.

He suddenly began to shake violently from his own loss of blood, his eyes revolving. Yet he still managed to keep to his feet. He looked into the deep forest, his consciousness dimming. His left hand tightened around his sword.

Motoharu gazed motionlessly at him from the shadow of his tree.

I have to go...Kotarou thought. He slowly turned on his heels and set off as if summoned by someone unseen.

(Kagetora-sama...)

Call my name. The only name that can testify to your acceptance of my existence.

Kotarou didn’t believe in the gods, yet to his mind Kagetora was boundlessly near to the divine.

Kotarou walked toward Kagetora...

 
A soft wind lingered in the silent forest.

Motoharu quietly steeled himself and abruptly raised the pistol in his hand.

He pointed the muzzle at a distant target.

He pulled the trigger.

The bullet shattered Kotarou’s skull.

Blood spouting from his head, he toppled forward.

 
(There is no need for a counterfeit...)

 
Gunpowder smoke dissolved into the dark of night and slowly vanished.

Beyond the whiteness, warriors slowly approached. Perhaps they had wandered for so long that they had forgotten their former forms. Or was it their deep regret that had locked them into this cruel shape? Empty eye sockets stared at him with deep resentment. They must have suffered gruesome deaths.

Takaya gazed at them quietly, thinking of those he had «exorcised».

His power did not exist to judge them. He no longer believed it could save them. It had been given because he could not save them.

Where was he to find deliverance?

Where had they gone?

The wraiths howled like animals. They unsheathed rusty swords and raised bloodthirsty war cries. Their resentment had no outlet but to hurt people. They were true onryouonryou (怨霊)

Lit.: "vengeful ghost"; the spirits of those who died in the Sengoku period who are still so filled with rage and hatred that they continue to exist in the world as vengeful spirits instead of being purified and reborn.. They slowly approached, armor creaking.

Leaning back against the tree, Takaya closed his eyes.

To appeal to religion for deliverance was to fling yourself on an illusion. But why not, if it made you feel better? There were others with soiled hands like them who embraced a malice that could not be dispelled. And if that made them feel better, why not?

The onryou soulfully lifted their swords.

Takaya’s last thought was: If it lets you feel peace, then come.

(I can’t save anyone...but in this one way...)

 
Graaah—!

The onryou horde charged as if ready to lift up the decapitated head of an enemy. Roaring, multiple swords swung down on Takaya.

Gnash!

His eardrums trembled with the feel of pierced flesh.

“...”

Registering an unexpected change, Takaya eye’s opened.

The swords had not fallen on Takaya. A thick staff had pierced the torso of the rightmost warrior. The other three had frozen in place with swords raised.

(Wh...at...?)

A odd charm had been affixed to their backs.

With a whoosh, the onryou went up in flames. They screamed as their spiritual power was leeched away. Within the flames, they withered and finally vanished. Something like black sand drifted to the ground.

A man appeared from the forest.

He was wearing a trench coat. Takaya had never met him before.

The man who had appeared out of the drifting snow was Akechi MitsuhideAkechi Mitsuhide (明智光秀) 1526 - 1582

Title: Hyuga no Kami
Also known as: Koreta Mitsuhide

A talented general and poet who belonged to the inner circle of Oda Nobunaga's vassals. He later ambushed Nobunaga at Honnou Temple in 1582, killing both Nobunaga and his heir, Oda Nobutada. Akechi Mitsuhide then proclaimed himself the new shogun, but soon clashed against Toyotomi Hideyoshi's forces and was defeated in the Battle of Yamazaki only 13 days later. He was killed en route to his stronghold of Sakamoto Castle in the village of Ogurusu by a bandit with a bamboo spear (though an alternate theory states that he was not killed but became a monk instead)..

Mitsuhide looked at him for a moment in silence. He had joined the search after receiving news of Kotarou’s disappearance and Takaya’s escape.

Snow began erasing the warriors’ tracks.

After a long silence, Mitsuhide abruptly spoke.

“Why didn’t you fight?”

Takaya remained silent. His drooped head in profile looked like that of a dying beast. Mitsuhide studied him calmly.

“You acted as if you wanted to be sacrificed. You can still use your «power», can’t you?”

“You didn’t have to...” he murmured in a cracking voice, “You didn’t...have to interfere...”

“You wanted to die?”

Takaya didn’t respond. A small smile hovered at his lips.

“Because you’ve been abandoned?” Mitsuhide asked gently. “Was it the shock of betrayal?”

“He—” Takaya smiled, “He’s not that kind of person.”

“...”

“He’s not the kind of man...who would sell someone out...to save himself. He’s not the kind of man...who could do that.”

“So you never believed Kousaka?”

“If he were to sell me out—” Takaya slowly looked down, “it would be because he wanted to get away from me so much he’d even play the role of a coward...”

“...”

Takaya looked up slowly and said as if he were talking to himself, “—I want him...to be at peace.” His tone was exhausted yet utterly serene. “If he is suffering so much, then... I release him.”

Mitsuhide stared.

Takaya cast his gaze at the sky as if in prayer. Because there was no saving someone so weak as himself.

I give you—

“I give you...your freedom...”

 
At last he said the name. Then he slowly closed his lips and quietly shut his eyes there in the snow.

Mitsuhide silently gazed at him.

 
The snow unsullied by blood and death, covering all.

From the sky it fell, the pure whiteness densely descending into the Aso darkness.

Chapter 21: Blood-Borne Grudge

Hokage pleaded with the terror of a little child.

She appealed to Haruya, the tears streaming from her large black eyes ignored, “Now I always hear Onpachi-sama’s voice even when I’m sleeping. I wake up to myself talking. Except that it’s not me. Just now I was Asara speaking with Onpachi-sama.”

Tetsuya shivered. Lately Hokage was always receptive to Kihachi. Tetsuya couldn’t imagine what it was like to speak with the dead.

“When I talk with Onpachi-sama, more and more of Asara’s memories are revived from my blood. I was just talking about the old days. About the festival. About being in this cave. About being in Takachiho. About war. They’re not my memories. They’re not coming from me!”

“You’ve regained Asara’s memories, Hokage?” Haruya asked, his expression grim. “Memories of the ancient past...?!”

Hokage nodded. Chiaki was taken aback.

(Her ancestor’s memories are being revived from her blood...)

Such things were not unknown. From time to time there appeared people who recalled their past lives, and in many cases such memories were passed down from their ancestors through their shared blood. In rare cases a trigger caused the recall. On such occasions, the nearer the ancestor, the clearer the memories.

Hokage was recalling more and more of her blood memories through her receptiveness to Kihachi’s spirit. But Asara had lived more than a thousand years ago. Given the dilution of her blood, recalling her memories should have been next to impossible.

(Is this also Kihachi’s power?)

“Asara blood is stirring more and more inside me.” Hokage was agitated. “Onpachi-sama said to destroy Takeiwatatsu-no-mikoto’s blood and that of the abominable Mikenu-no-mikoto as well. To take revenge. We’re to take revenge on the people of Yamato, the invaders!”

“!” Chiaki and Tetsuya gasped. Hokage covered her face with her hands, violently disturbed by the emotions surging up inside her.

“Please save me, Spirit-Protector, or Asara’s memories will devour me! I’ll become Asara and release the seal on Onpachi-sama! You have to stop me, or something terrible will happen!”

Hokage threw herself on Haruya as she wailed. Chiaki, looking at Hokage’s slender shoulders shaking beneath Haruya’s large hands, asked, “Just what is it Asara wants...? Miike-san...?”

“...”

“Revenge on Mikenu-no-mikoto?”

“...”

“Is the Miike family’s real aim revenge on Mikenu-no-mikoto?”

“The Kihachi of legend...” Haruya said slowly and heavily, “refers to a tribe of indigenous people who populated Hyuuga ¹.”

Chiaki’s eyes quietly narrowed.

These, the Himuka, were the people who inhabited Hyuuga in ancient times and who were invaded and subjugated by the KinaiKinai (畿内)

The five provinces around the capital: Yamashiro, Yamato, Settsu, Kawachi, and Izumi. Yamato Kingdom. In other words, the legend of Kihachi was the tale of their subjugation at the hands of the Yamato people and the defeat of the resistance they had mounted against their forced subordination.

Mikenu-no-mikoto and Takeiwatatsu-no-mikoto were invaders from Yamato. The legend of the Sun Goddess‘ grandson descending to earth was the mythologizing of the first step in the Yamato Kingdom’s conquest of the various provinces of KyuushuuKyuushuu (九州)

Also known as: Kyuukoku (九国: “nine states”), Chinzei (鎮西: “west of the pacified area”), Tsukushi-shima (筑紫島: “island of Tsukushi”), Saikaidou (西海道: “West Sea Route”).

Lit.: "Nine Provinces", the third-largest and most southerly and westerly island of Japan. Its name comes from the former provinces of Japan situated on the island: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hizen, Higo, Buzen, Bungo, Hyuuga, Osumi, and Satsuma. It is now comprised of the prefectures of Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Ooita, Saga, and Okinawa.. The people of Yamato set off by boat from the Seto Inland Sea, landed at Hyuuga, and started their invasion from there. Legend had it that Emperor Jimmu descended to Takachiho and cut a swathe eastward, finally reaching Yamato and establishing his capital there—but the story was really a retelling of his conquest of Kyuushuu, Haruya explained. In other words, the ’Records of Ancient Matters’, the Chronicles of Japan, and other legends of Japan were mostly written by the victors to justify and absolutize the Yamato Kingdom’s sovereignty and royal authority.

The Takachiho and Aso myths were further examples.

“Legend says that Mikenu-no-mikoto saved Asara from the evil Kihachi, but the truth is that Kihachi was a victim.” Haruya’s tone was heavy. “Asara was a woman of Himuka taken by force by the invader from Yamato, Mikenu-no-mikoto. Many of our myths and legends were created and disseminated to justify past deeds. Ultimately, the Kihachi legend was created by the central administration of Yamato to justify to later generations its invasion of another region. In other words, it cast the indigenous people as the villain.”

“Invaders... I see,” Chiaki said, finally seeing the full picture. Mikenu-no-mikoto and Takeiwatatsu-no-mikoto were related by blood to Emperor Jimmu. They symbolized those who had unified and subjugated Japan under the rule of the Yamato Kingdom.

“Asara was a real person—a shrine maiden of the Himuka. The Himuka worshiped the sun; to them, fire was greatly treasured because it was power given by the sun. Asara wielded fire magic. The fire shrine maidens were women of high standing, and one of them was said to govern the Himuka Kingdom as its ruler. Asara was a handmaiden of this queen. She and Kihachi were a love match. But the invaders snatched her away and forced her to marry among them.”

Perhaps she had been given as one of the spoils of war after the Himuka surrender.

“In his grief, Kihachi obstinately continued his resistance. He was a hero of the Himuka. But he was killed by the invaders’ overwhelming numbers. We Miike were conceived from Asara’s sorrow: the child she bore to an invader.”

That child’s name was Himuka-no-Takeru. ²

Kihachi became an onryouonryou (怨霊)

Lit.: "vengeful ghost"; the spirits of those who died in the Sengoku period who are still so filled with rage and hatred that they continue to exist in the world as vengeful spirits instead of being purified and reborn. who terrorized Hyuuga and Aso, bringing such afflictions on the people as untimely frost. Takeiwatatsu-no-mikoto set out to exterminate him. He dug Kihachi’s head’s out of his burial mound, sealed his onryou within, then built Frost Shrine and held a memorial service for him there.

He offered the position of chief priest to Asara and Mikenu-no-mikoto’s future child, Himuka-no-Takeru.

He was given a mission by his mother. Though outwardly submissive to Mikenu-no-mikoto, Asara held a deep grudge within her heart for her long humiliation.

She died of illness while still pregnant with Takeru. But from the abyss of death she chanted a ‘certain wish’ with all her soul at her unborn child. To wit:

“Someday I will be reincarnated into your descendant, and I will resurrect Onpachi-sama. We will take this land back from the Yamato. Until then, take care to preserve my blood. Protect Onpachi-sama’s hallowed head. The day of my reincarnation will come.”

“So that is...‘Asara’s wish’?”

“Yes. Having received his mother’s wish, Himuka-no-Takeru broke out of her belly and was born. His heart was turned against his father. He left Takachiho and became the guardian of Frost Shrine.”

That was the origin of the Miike family.

The Miike did their best to hide the fact that they were following the last wishes of a conquered people. They served the Aso family, descendants of Takeiwatatsu-no-mikoto, as subordinates, and so continued for nearly 1,600 years.

“So all of it was to resurrect Kihachi’s spirit?” Tetsuya muttered incredulously. “To seize back what was lost to the Yamato?”

“...”

Tetsuya and the other Miike Celebrants were told that Kihachi was the chief of the Himuka people. But no one knew that Miike’s aim was to resurrect Kihachi’s onryou. Had Hokage learned of this from Asara’s blood-memories? She clung to Haruya, motionless.

“Am I supposed to...to believe this stupid story? We’re doing all this idiotic stuff because of a nonsense story?! This is why my dad died?!”

“Tetsuya.”

“I’m supposed to take this stupid story seriously?! Come on, Hokage, we going home!”

Yelling, Tetsuya yanked on Hokage’s hand.

“Te-chan...!”

“Come on! We’re going home, and we’re going back to our normal lives tomorrow! Let’s go!”

“You can go home, but what happens to Inaba Akemi?”

Tetsuya immediately wilted at Chiaki’s reminder.

Hokage was surprised. “Inaba Akemi? Did something happen to Akemi-chan? What happened...?!”

“They kidnapped her in order to get at you. They’re bad people who want Kihachi’s power.”

“...!”

“Sensei!” Haruya shouted, trying to stop him. Chiaki ignored him and took Hokage’s hand from Tetsuya.

“They’ll kill Inaba if you don’t go. That’s why we came to get you.”

“Don’t, Sensei! Don’t make Hokage go!”

“It’s to save your classmate’s life,” Chiaki said in a low voice, moving his face closer to Hokage’s. “Be brave. You’ll come, won’t you?”

Hokage’s face stiffened, but under pressure she nodded. Chiaki stopped Tetsuya’s angry outcry with a sharp look. “You want to save Inaba, don’t you?”

Tetsuya clenched his teeth with mortification. He finally jerked his face away, yanked on Hokage’s hand, and set off toward the cave’s entrance.

“Te-chan...!”

As he waited for the pair to leave the cave, Chiaki turned to Haruya.

“Should you have told us something so important?”

Haruya looked down and shook his head slightly. “It was not my intention to tell either the child or you.”

“Then why...”

“I had the feeling it was only a matter of time before I had to tell my dead brother’s son the truth.” Candle flames reflected within a mirror placed on the altar swayed wildly in a gust of wind. Haruya said, looking at it, “It is said the bandit Kihachi lived in this cave with Asara. Takachiho has many places associated with Kihachi, but in many the truth has been lost. This was not a bandit hideout, but a refuge for Kihachi and his anti-government guerrilla forces, so to speak, in their war against Mikenu-no-mikoto—that is the history told in the Miike family. People of today would probably find such stories of ethnic strife in Japan hard to believe.”

“...”

“But the reality is that blood flowed in such wars. The people of this country called Japan have almost completely forgotten the meaning of ethnic groups—which also means we’ve forgotten how to coexist with other ethnic groups. On such soil, baseless differentiation flowers into ignorance and lack of sympathy. I think that on this point, Japan is very much an immature country.”

“Miike-san...you—”

“Even though we carry within ourselves the key to understanding the pain of foreign countries. I believe it is because we’ve all forgotten that we fought that war of aggression half a century ago,” Haruya said, and closed his eyes. As if he could feel the pain of an ancient people indelibly ingrained inside this cave.

“What do you intend to do?” Chiaki asked seriously after a long silence, looking at Haruya’s profile illuminated by candlelight. “The Miike family has nourished the aim of resurrecting Kihachi for 1,600 years. Now that Asara has appeared, are you not bound to attempt it?”

“...”

“If Miike exists to fulfill Asara’s dying wish, I would not wonder at you taking action. To release Kihachi’s soul and dispel the Himuka people’s long hatred. To take your revenge on the Yamato race.”

He had inherited the position of Spirit-Protector. In other words, he carried on his back the dying wish of the Himuka people and responsibility for carrying out a mission 1,600 years in the making.

Asara had appeared. This was the moment of decision.

As he listened to Chiaki’s questions, Haruya stared fixedly up at the ceiling. “You’re right. That is the mission of the Miike Spirit-Protector. One he must carry out. Yet—”

“...”

“In actuality, Asara has appeared many times before.”

“What?!”

It was true. According to legend, Asara would be reborn. But the true ‘Asara’ herself had never been reborn. To be precise, they were girls ‘whose blood are exceedingly responsive to Kihachi.’ The bonfire ritual was a ceremony the Miike used to determine whether a girl born to the family was Asara.

Many such girls had appeared in the past.

“These girls would converse with Onpachi-sama like Hokage and recall their blood-memories. But none of the Spirit-Protectors have used them to release Kihachi.”

“Why not?”

“...I understood when I became one of them.” Haruya quietly turned his gaze from bare rock to Chiaki. “Do you think that I, as a single human being, have reason enough to do it?”

“Miike-san...”

Haruya looked down, his eyes somehow pained. He slipped past Chiaki out of the cave. His expression was of someone compelled to make a choice.

Chiaki gazed grimly at his back.

 
The four left the cave and returned to the car. Dawn was breaking. Chiaki found a shadow standing by his car.

“Spirit-Protector,” the shadow called. Someone Haruya knew: a young man who appeared to be related to the woman from earlier. He was holding a large, long, narrow box made of paulownia wood. “This is what you requested.”

“Thank you.”

Haruya took the box. It was said that in Takachiho was a burial mound where Kihachi’s hands and feet were buried. The ‘Tomb-Protector’ was the guardian of such ‘burial mounds’. They were the Celebrants of Takachiho.

Haruya placed the large paulownia box in the car’s trunk.

(What is it?)

From the shape, it looked as if there might be a sword or something like it inside. The young man offered a kagura bell to Hokage.

“Hokage-sama, please take care of yourself.”

It was called the spirit-summoning bell of Takachiho, used in night kagura dancing. Hokage took it carefully and pressed it against her chest. She nodded.

The four climbed into the car. They left Takachiho behind as dawn’s light shined down on the town.

The sun had climbed high into the sky.

The Aso morning was very cold, but at least now sunlight flowed through gaps between clouds. It made the cold more bearable, but coats were still necessary. Columns of frost still stood on shaded portions of the raised path between rice paddies.

Some of the snow at its base had melted, but the mountain was still covered in white.

The ‘Shakyamuni entering nirvana’ of the Five Peaks of Aso was very beautiful with its ornamentation of snow. The sky to the west was still heavily overcast, but the silhouette of the Five Peaks was clear, and even from here at the foot of the northern rim the smoke rising from the Middle Peak was distinct. The smoke was even higher than it had been three days ago.

“The mountain is responding...” the man said, sensing a presence coming to meet him halfway.

“It knows us. The Himuka people are crying out. It is said that Aso erupts in response to their cries—I can feel the truth of that here.”

Saeki Ryouko approached and followed his gaze toward the mountain. Enoki Masamichi’s eyes were far away.

“That’s right—in his later years, the Faith-Protector often spoke of this land of Aso. The springtime burning of the mountain, Aso Shrine’s fire-swinging ritual, the Onda FestivalOnda Matsuri (Aso) (おんだ祭り)

The Aso Onda Festival is an annual traditional festival passed down through the generations which honors the pioneering god of Aso for opening the region to agriculture and prays for good harvests.

It has been a regular festival of Aso Shrine since the Meiji Era, and a large Shinto ritual is held on the occasion: July 26 at Kokuzou Shrine and on July 28 at Aso Shrine.... Ash falling from the Middle Peak’s eruption. How in autumn these paddy fields would turn yellow, become waves across a golden ocean when the wind was blowing,” Enoki recalled, eyes closing.

This was the land on which Ikeda Katsuya had been born and raised. He would often reminiscence about his childhood. Enoki had never seen it except in photographs and videos. In his later years, Katsuya would recall this place with the eyes of a little boy.

“It’s strange. All of the Faith-Protector’s stories of Aso have made me nostalgic for it. I only ever knew the dirty air of the factory roof, and it felt as if the Faith-Protector’s Aso were a distant paradise. Isn’t that weird?” Enoki said, laughing at himself. “But you know, my image of the Himuka is how he described the lives of the Aso people.”

Ryouko’s heart ached in sympathy.

Enoki came from Kitakyuushuu City, a town distinguished for its steel industry. Yet its production of iron and steel had gradually fallen after the period of rapid economic growth after WWII, and was a shadow of its formerly prosperous self.

Though young, Enoki was exceptionally worldly-wise. His parents had owned a small factory in town which due to mismanagement was left with a large debt. They took flight by night and later died in an accident, though the truth was more likely a murder-suicide. Left behind, Enoki dropped out of high school and worked at a factory in order to make his living and repay his parents’ debt. Ryouko could understand his longing for the Aso of Ikeda’s stories.

Enoki abruptly laughed. What? she wondered, peering at his face. He was pointing at an odd building on the other side of the rice paddies. It looked like a brick-colored pyramid.

“It’s one of Aso’s strange pyramids. They say some people who made a killing off a Ponzi scheme built it. There’s probably a toriitorii (鳥居)

Lit.: "bird abode"

Traditional Japanese gates found at the entrance to, within, or close to Shinto shrines, symbolically marking the transition from the profane to the sacred. They are usually vermilion or unpainted and date from at least the 10th century. nearby. Apparently a religious group built it as a tax reduction strategy. I wonder what kind of deity they’ve got enshrined?”

It wasn’t in use, and had been left until it was little more than a ruin.

“I guess this is the kind of thing postwar Japan gave rise to?” Enoki sneered—and then, coming back to reality, he turned to Ryouko. “How are your wounds?”

“I’m sorry, our power was insufficient.”

In the battle with Katou Kiyomasa, half of the bird-people had sustained serious injuries. Kiyomasa had given them the slip at the end of the life-and-death struggle, and they were as yet unable to determine his course. Afterwards they had met up with Motoharu and were assembled at Kokuzou Shrine.

“We’re using the luminous flame stone to tend to our wounds, and everyone is on their way to recovery. The real issue is the psychological shock...”

It had been their first battle of such ferocity. In their dismay, three of the bird-people had applied to withdraw. I see, Enoki thought as he looked at Ryouko’s dark expression. The bird-people had vowed to fulfill Ikeda Katsuya’s dying wish, to ‘restore the Himuka Kingdom’, without regard for their own lives.

They were comprised the young people Enoki had initially gathered for a study group. After the death of his parents, Enoki had met Ikeda Katsuya and joined his religion, and eventually become the leader of the younger members due to his zealousness.

Katsuya had expected him to become the next Faith-Protector, and thus given him extra training.

He had spoken fervently of the version of Kihachi passed down by the Miike family and the history of the Himuka people.

Enoki had of his own initiative gone out to proselytize, to gather young adherents and do research about the Himuka people in a so-called study group. At last he had brought these young people together in a group and trained them to ardently worship Kihachi and the ancient Himuka people. The bird-people were what the upper-echelon warriors called themselves.

Ryouko was also one of their number.

“What should we do with them? Just let them go?”

“Well.”

“And after all the work we did to awaken our ability to fly using the Method of Bird-Flight. They’re high-level warriors of purer Himuka blood. It’s so disappointing,” Ryouko said.

The bird-people were the youngest sons and daughters of Miike Celebrants Ikeda Katsuya had brought out of Aso when he had established the Himuka cult. The Miike had always sought to protect the purity of their blood and apparently engaged in near-consanguineous marriage—thus it had been easy for them to awaken the ability of flight.

“... And they have such pure blood, too.”

Enoki himself had only a little flying ability. He was only able to do so with help from Ryouko.

“We have a limited number of warriors. They cannot be allowed to leave.”

“Shall I try to persuade them?”

“I’ll go. It’s only discouragement after their first battle. We’re the only ones who can fulfill Ikeda Faith-Protector’s dying wish.”

“Ikeda Faith-Protector’s dying wish...”

Ryouko was also reminded of Ikeda’s gentle visage. Her chest ached.

Though the young bird-people had a strong connection with Enoki, they had never really spoken with Ikeda himself. Only Ryouko had adored Ikeda like a grandfather since she was young.

Seeing the ardent activity of the young people of the Himuka cult, Ikeda had said: “I remember feeling what these children feel.” and laughed. The young Ikeda had experienced something like their excitement for the Himuka cult.

Ikeda Katsuya had been only been fourteen or fifteen when he rebelled against the Miike and left home for Tokyo. The friends he met there influenced him to get involved in the socialist movement. For a time he was as completely absorbed in their activities as one delirious with fever. But the Manchurian Incident whipped up Japanese nationalism and harshly suppressed other ideologies. His faith and conviction burning even stronger under oppression, Katsuya was wild with enthusiasm for a time; but when the imprisoned Communist Party leadership began proclaiming their about-face one after another, the young Katsuya began to steadily lose faith in his actions. At last he was arrested by the Special Higher Police, which triggered his renunciation and 180-degree reversal of belief.

“That was a momentous decision,” was what Ikeda said of his about-face as a young man. “I was so young, and I wanted a guiding ‘absolute good’.”

Then the war began.

Japan turned into a nation at war, and Katsuya volunteered for the navy to fight for his Japan, his land of the gods.

Invasion. Hard-fought battles. News of one surrender after another. Signs of Japan’s impending defeat. Air raids on the mainland.

In the midst of this Katsuya fought as a soldier for his country.

“I saw with my own eyes the sinking of the battleship ‘Yamato’ in the battle off the coast of Kagoshima.”

Katsuya often spoke of that time. Cast into the oily sea, Katsuya had seen the last moments of the mountain-like unsinkable battleship. Even so many years later he told of its dramatic form.

And then the end of the war.

Having survived, Katsuya returned to the burnt-out field of Tokyo.

All the believers had been defeated.

(What can I still believe in?)

The youth wandered, seeking a foundation he could stand on.

At last he arrived at the Himuka people, his ancestors.

“The Faith-Protector returned to his own blood,” Enoki said. “In the sinking of the Yamato, perhaps the Faith-Protector saw the sinking of the Yamato race and the defeat of those who held sway over the Himuka people.”

“...”

“In this apocalyptic Japan, the Faith-Protector wanted a revival of the country led by the Himuka people.”

Ikeda Katsuya returned to the Miike to tell his father, the then-Spirit-Protector, of his vision and to persuade him to make the Miike the standard-bearer of the Himuka. But his father refused to listen.

“Forget this foolish idea.”

A disappointed Katsuya decided to create his own ‘Miike’.

Making the youngest Celebrants his companions, Katsuya founded the Himuka cult.

But reality was not so indulgent. Faith was one thing; finding enough to eat took all their effort. Japan changed in the blink of an eye. Democratization and the transformation of the structures of society proceeded at speed. His friends threw themselves into the flexibility of a changing society. The campaign against the Japan-US Security Treaty, the postwar rapid economic growth. Katsuya carried the Himuka cult through the turbulent Shouwa era even as he brooded. If he didn’t preach to the adherents about the Himuka people, he could not pro-actively propagate the faith. Eventually the Himuka cult would become a harmless family religion, and he would be spoken of like one of those small-town cult-founders; even the fact that the religion had been founded with struggle as its aim would be forgotten.

(Until ten years ago, when the Faith-Protector came across Miike Hideya.)

Enoki heard that Katsuya made the acquaintance of Hideya, the newly-inaugurated Spirit-Protector, at his eldest brother’s funeral. For some reason they got along, and afterwards corresponded warmly.

A year after that, the young Hideya suddenly died.

That was also the year Ikeda Katsuya decided on Enoki as his successor, and the ‘undying sacred flame’ lit at the Oyashiro. Around the same time, they obtained the contents of the Miike Records, and Enoki gathered the young people and advocated ‘Onpachi-sama’s resurrection’.

For some reason, they were attracted to Enoki’s preaching regarding ‘reverence of the Himuka people’. They deciphered the Miike Records at their study meetings. These documents were negatives reproduced with a camera. Enoki and the others consolidated their unity at these secret meetings. As their deciphering proceeded, they learned the Method of Bird-Flight and the process for the crystallization of luminous flame stones, which they trained to implement. Finally it became clear that they needed Asara in order to resurrect Kihachi. They reached this point around a year ago. Surprisingly, Asara had already appeared five years ago.

Enoki and company schemed to get their hands on Asara—aka Miike Hokage—but the abduction attempt ended in failure. They were noticed by Miike Haruya, who succeeded Hideya. Afterwards, Hokage went missing. They searched in vain.

Not long after that, Ikeda Katsuya’s illness worsened. Plunged into despair at the difficulties involved in Kihachi’s resurrection, the young people were on the edge of giving up. Then they had a dramatic encounter.

—With Kikkawa Motoharu.

The place was Moji. Motoharu was in Kitakuyushuu spearheading a Mouri force against Ootomo as a guest general of Shimazu. The cultists became involved in an incident and rescued the Mouri general in a show of their power. That was the strange circumstances under which they met Motoharu. They were certainly startled by the «Yami-SengokuYami Sengoku (闇戦国)

Lit.: "Dark Sengoku", the civil war still being fought by the spirits of the warlords of the Sengoku period in modern-day Japan.», but also believed their power could be used in Kihachi’s resurrection.

A month later, Ikeda Faith-Protector died.

Enoki cared for Ikeda on his deathbed. He did not leave a will.

He only said, “I entrust it all to you.”

The bird-people roused to action.

 
“They want someone to tell them the right way to be,” Enoki said to Ryouko, thinking of the young bird-people. “They’re young.”

“Young...”

“So young they feel anxious unless they can be ‘something special’. They cling to the belief in the supremacy of their blood in order to assuage their own egos. That’s probably why they’re attracted to the Kihachi story. They want someone who can tell them exactly who they are.”

“...”

“After World War II the people of Japan obtained various freedoms. We can freely choose what we believe to be right. But that’s probably only the freedom to choose what to abide by.”

“Faith-Protector, what are you saying?”

“I think someone who is too free will die. That’s why in our anxiety we crave conviction and faith. We worship those who can provide us these things. In order to live in the wasteland of true freedom, one must have the strength to choose for oneself. A terrible strength. It’s a painful thing. To be controlled by a ‘righteous existence’ is to know complete ease and peace of mind. Thus whenever we become aware of it, we’re searching for a convenient mother. We’re probably seeking this mother so desperately that we neglect to put sufficient effort into developing ourselves.”

“Are you talking about me?” Ryouko felt like pointing out her high academic achievement. “Are you criticizing me?”

“Is that what you hear?”

Ryouko was silent.

Those of high academic achievement sometimes had hang-ups about that very thing. It was probably a ridiculous state of mind, but Ryouko sometimes felt those who were less highly educated had a toughness and vitality she didn’t—she conversely felt a inferiority complex toward those who had no academic credentials at all.

“My intention is not to criticize either you or others,” Enoki told her, and then asked in a businesslike tone, “What is the state of the Miike family? Will Miike Haruya deliver Asara?”

“They’re certainly agitated.”

(Miike Haruya...)

The fact that the Miike family was not carrying out its mission despite Asara’s appearance was proof that it was dead. But the Himuka cult lived on. They would answer Asara’s prayer in Haruya’s stead. Haruya should be happy to give Asara to the Himuka cult.

“This is the dying wish of my predecessor. I will find a way to accomplish it.”

Enoki thought of Katsuya.

The Shouwa era—

That old man who had continued seeking true freedom despite setback after setback.

He wanted him to hear Kihachi’s voice.

Uesugi KenshinUesugi Kenshin (上杉謙信) Feb. 18, 1530 - Apr. 19, 1578

Also called: Nagao Kagetora (長尾景虎), Uesugi Masatora (上杉政虎), Uesugi Terutora (上杉輝虎)
Title: Kantou Kanrei (関東管領)

Historically: Fourth son of the noted warrior Nagao Tamekage, Kenshin wrested control of the Nagao clan from his brother Nagao Harukage and fought for control of Echigo Province. He accepted the name Uesugi Masatora when he gave refuge to his nominal lord, Uesugi Norimasa, and at his urging campaigned to push the Houjou out of the Kantou Region.

He adopted the name "Kenshin" when he became a Buddhist monk and a devotee of Bishamonten. The standard his army carried onto the battlefield bore the character 毘 ("bi") for Eight-Sword Bishamonten. He battled Takeda Shingen five times at Kawanakajima, as well as the Houjou and Ashina clans and Oda Nobunaga, whom he defeated despited being outnumbered. However, Kenshin died soon after the battle. He named his two adopted sons, Uesugi Kagetora and Uesugi Kagekatsu, his heirs, hoping that they would divide the Uesugi lands peacefully between them after his death.

In Mirage of Blaze: He became a god of war after his death, ascending from Nin Dou to Ten Dou, and established the Meikai Uesugi Army to ensure that the peace of Japan is not disrupted by the onshou. He named Kagetora as its commander. has entered the fray of the «Yami-Sengoku»...!

The Ikkou SectIkkou-shuu (一向宗)

Lit.: "One-minded School/Sect", a small, militant, antinomian offshoot of True Pure Land Buddhism founded by 13th-century monk Ikkou Shunjou. Its ideologies provided the basis for a wave of uprisings against feudal rule in the late 15th and 16th centuries, such as the Ikkou-ikki revolts. Oda Nobunaga eventually destroyed the sect's two large temple-fortresses, Nagashima and Ishiyama Hongan Temple and slaughtered most of its sectarians in those areas. Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the followers of the sect in Mikawa in 1564 in the Battle of Azukizaka. The last of the Ikkou sect fought alongside Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1580s. learned that devastating news the morning of that same day. In Aso, Rairen at Kokuzou Shrine was the first to receive the news. By the time Akechi MitsuhideAkechi Mitsuhide (明智光秀) 1526 - 1582

Title: Hyuga no Kami
Also known as: Koreta Mitsuhide

A talented general and poet who belonged to the inner circle of Oda Nobunaga's vassals. He later ambushed Nobunaga at Honnou Temple in 1582, killing both Nobunaga and his heir, Oda Nobutada. Akechi Mitsuhide then proclaimed himself the new shogun, but soon clashed against Toyotomi Hideyoshi's forces and was defeated in the Battle of Yamazaki only 13 days later. He was killed en route to his stronghold of Sakamoto Castle in the village of Ogurusu by a bandit with a bamboo spear (though an alternate theory states that he was not killed but became a monk instead). returned, the grounds were already in an uproar.

“The New Uesugi recently entered into a formal alliance with Ootomo Sourin. But the real shock is that the supreme commander of the New Uesugi is said to be the deceased Naoe NobutsunaNaoe Nobutsuna (直江信綱) ? - Oct. 6, 1581

Also known as: Nagao Kagetaka (長尾景孝), Nagao Toukurou (長尾藤九郎)
Title: Yamato no Kami (大和守)

Historically: Son of Nagao Akikage, he became head of the Sousha-Nagao Clan at a young age. He later (around 1545) passed the position to his younger brother Nagao Kagefusa. When the clan was destroyed by Takeda Shingen and their territory lost, the family escaped into Echigo. There Kagefusa became a monk, and Kagetaka was adopted by Naoe Sanetsuna when he married Sanetsuna's daughter, Osen-no-Kata. He succeeded his adopted father as master of Yoita Castle in 1577 and was a vassal of Uesugi Kenshin. He promptly took the side of Uesugi Kagekatsu during the war for succession after Kenshin's death and mobilized the members of the Naoe Clan at the castle to subdue Kagetora's troops.

After the intra-house war and Kagekatsu's victory, a question of reward was called into question. Yasuda Akimoto, one of Kagekatsu's trusted commanders, had promised rewards to Shibata Shigeie, Mouri Hidehiro, and others to convince them to join Kagekatsu's side. However, Yamazaki Hidenori, Naoe, and others objected, for they had risked life and limb at Kasugayama Castle from the very beginning of the battle, while Shibata Shigeie and the others had been lured by promise of reward from Yasuda Akimoto.

Yasuda Akimoto committed suicide when he could not keep his promise of reward. Later, Mouri Hidehiro, carrying a grudge for his death, murdered Yamazaki Hidenori at Kasugayama Castle; Naoe, who was with him at the time and took up a sword to defend himself, was killed as well. His death ended the Naoe line, which Kagekatsu later resurrected by marrying Naoe's widow, Osen-no-Kata to Higuchi Kanetsugu and commanding him to take the Naoe name.

In Mirage of Blaze: According to Kousaka Danjou, and Houjou Ujiteru he was the ringleader of Uesugi Kagekatsu's forces in the Otate no Ran. He is now Uesugi Kagetora's protector and one of the Yasha-shuu under his command. He alone, as Kagetora's protector, was given the power to perform kanshou on other souls, a power he used to force Kagetora's soul into Minako's body..”

“Naoe Nobutsuna...!” Mitsuhide’s eyes widened. “But he was purified at Hagi...”

“He was not purified, Mitsuhide-dono.”

Another voice coming from behind cut into the conversation in the hall of worship. They turned to see Kikkawa Motoharu. After shooting Kotarou in the mountains of Eboushi Peak, he had joined up with Enoki and proceeded here. Both Mitsuhide and Rairen were surprised by Motoharu’s interjection.

“Did you already know that he was not purified, Kikkawa-dono...?!”

“I saw Naoe with my own eyes a short while ago.” Motoharu was calm. “Naoe Nobutsuna has come to Aso. He was saved by Kenshin. He was not purified. Naoe lives.”

“Unbelievable...” Rairen was speechless, while Mitsuhide looked grim.

“So the falsehood we used to entrap Uesugi-dono turned out to not be falsehood at all?”

“If Kenshin has appointed a new general, what does he intend to do with Kagetora-dono? Kagetora-dono appears not to have been told at all. I suppose Kenshin is going to discard him after all?” Rairen questioned.

Motoharu replied in a low voice, “Given that he acted without saying a word to Kagetora-dono, I wager it must be so.”

“Let us not be so quick to jump to conclusions,” Mitsuhide cautioned. “One who seeks to dominate the «Yami-Sengoku» surely would not be so quick to discard a power such as Kagetora-dono’s. If he has done, why? These are questions we cannot ignore. In any case, there is no sign he will leave his discarded piece alone. He will eliminate him—that is a certainty. That is what I would do.”

“You’re saying...he will kill Kagetora-dono?”

“As long as he can fight. Of course, it would be different if he no longer served a useful purpose on the battlefield. But Kenshin’s resolve must be considerable if he is willing to reorganize to the extent that he is throwing his general to the wolves.”

“Surely Kagetora-dono has not been rendered incapable of fighting in future battles?”

“No...at this stage, we can only speculate. For now, we must conclude that Kenshin’s resolution is extraordinary. We must be meticulous and vigilant.”

“The same with Ootomo’s movements,” Rairen urged tensely. “Based on Iehisa-dono’s report, we’ve learned that the suspicious ghost-phenomena at Kumamoto Castle are their work. They’ve brainwashed the students to turn them into a castle garrison. We increasingly suspect that the source of the spiritual magnetic field might be Kihachi’s head.”

“Kihachi’s—! It’s at Kumamoto Castle?! Have they found it?”

“We’re in the midst of verifying it now, but the stringent Ootomo guard is making it difficult. Shimazu are steadily gaining ground northward, and they are making preparations for storming the city.”

“Though Kiyomasa has escaped...” Motoharu scowled and lightly bit his finger. “He is seriously injured. While Oda’s command is thus disordered, Kumamoto can be taken with relative ease. If the barrier can be weakened, Shimazu will be able to disregard strategy and exterminate Ootomo by brute force. If Kihachi’s head is in the city, it behooves us to take action even faster.”

Though each nursed secret intentions, the three commanders nodded their agreement.

Take Kumamoto.

The start of battle was near at hand.

Mitsuhide was staying at a lodgings down the road from Kokuzou Shrine. It was one of many built for the Aso-based Kyuushuu conquest plan, and was ordinarily packed with subordinates.

In one of its rooms was Ougi Takaya.

The room was in the Japanese style and measured around ten tatamitatami (畳)

Woven straw mats used as traditional Japanese flooring.

Japanese rooms are traditionally measured by the number of tatami mats laid out in it, the dimensions of which are 90 cm x 180 cm x 5 cm. (~178 sq ft). A bed had been placed at its center, on which knelt Takaya in formal poseSeiza (正座)

Lit.: "proper sitting"

A traditional formal sitting pose with legs folded beneath the thighs and buttocks resting on the heels. wearing sleeping clothes.

Takaya, after failing to escape, had been placed under house arrest here with Mitsuhide, who had anticipated his ‘betrayal’. He’d been at his extremity when Mitsuhide had found him, and physically near prostrate. Mitsuhide had had to beg the Ikkou Sect to perform a healing spell and then call in the Himuka cultists to implant another luminous flame stone. Thanks to these efforts Takaya was much better, but his psychological exhaustion was another thing altogether.

“You must rest,” Saeki Ryouko told Takaya at the end of her medical examination. “You shouldn’t think too much in your state. Wounds weaken you mentally as well as physically. For now, stop thinking and just rest.”

Although Kousaka had exploited that weakness...

“Even if you feel the need to ascertain the truth for yourself or whatever it is, for now you have to let your body heal. Do you hear me?”

Takaya had been silent since then.

Ryouko removed her stethoscope and refastened and straightened his kimono. She’d been told of his condition. Though she knew that “Don’t think” was by its nature impossible advice, for some reason this patient, though weak in mind and body, had no chinks in his armor for others to take advantage of. Her concerned words sounded vacuous to her own ears.

It wasn’t that he was trying to keep a cool head. But nor was he in some sort of daze. He wasn’t asleep; his eyes were open and fixed on a single point.

Ryouko bowed diffidently and left the room.

Motoharu was standing outside, watching Takaya attentively through a crack in the paper sliding door. Ryouko reported on Takaya’s condition before bowing slightly and beating a hasty exit, daunted by the gloomy atmosphere.

(An unfathomable person indeed...) Kikkawa Motoharu thought, looking at Takaya.

He’d come to see him after Mitsuhide had brought him back, but had not approached. Takaya, who had seemed to him crippled by shock, had now become, after his reckless flight, some sort of strange creature.

(Naoe is alive.)

Here before him was the one person who needed to hear that truth the most.

But there was more to it. The fact that Naoe was now on the side that should probably be regarded as Takaya’s enemy was neither careless conjecture nor outright falsehood.

(If that is the path you’ve chosen, I have not the right to object, Naoe.)

In Naoe’s heart there had long existed a thing that must be conquered; if after so much consideration he had decided that this was how he would achieve that conquest, then that was how it must be. Naoe was a man Motoharu recognized. If this was his conclusion, Motoharu could only accept it. But in his heart he wondered: was there no other way? To Naoe such talk would probably be a nuisance.

In no way should he intervene, and neither did he have any intention of doing so. His lack of clarity had to do with the prolonging of Kagetora’s ‘artificial reality’.

Even so, Kagetora was awakening. It would take just a little longer. Kagetora had detected his own sense of unease. He had seized on the impetus needed to end his eternal dream. The artificial Naoe was no longer in the world. But Kagetora was still looking at the world from his artificial awareness.

Someone needed to hold a ‘mirror’ up to him. Just as Don Quixote recognized his own true aged decrepitude and ugliness in the mirror-knight. Someone needed to show Kagetora the self that was living inside a delusion. Otherwise even if Naoe and Kagetora met on the battlefield there would be no fairness in their battle—and Naoe wouldn’t wish for that, either.

(Though that’s probably only my own position.)

Naoe was someone he regarded as a friend. As such, he thought that reality should be faced with truth. That was all.

(Am I wrong, Naoe?)

What was Kagetora thinking at this moment?

If Kagetora also believed this was the method Naoe had chosen for his conquest, the victor would chose to fight the opposition.

SagaSaga-shi (佐賀市)

Saga City is the capital city of Saga Prefecture, located on Kyushu, the most southwesterly of Japan's four main islands.

Mitsuhide returned after a short while. When he entered the room, Takaya was seated on the futon in sleeping robes gazing out the paper sliding window.

“How are you, Kagetora-dono?”

“... I’m not gonna die,” Takaya answered expressionlessly. “What are you gonna do with me?”

“Do...?”

“I was told I would be made into a vessel for an onryou. You brought me here to make me into a tool?”

“Someone told you you would be made into a vessel?” Mitsuhide shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. We are equals. You will not be treated as a mere tool. Even if a vessel is needed, we would never dehumanize you in that way. Trust me.”

“Sure,” Takaya muttered. “Not like you can do much with this beat-up body anyway.”

“...Kagetora-dono.”

Takaya’s face turned expressionless again. He became unreadable. Though he wasn’t trying to hide anything, Mitsuhide couldn’t read him.

He wasn’t stricken with grief. He wasn’t resentful or angry. It wasn’t quite stupor. ...It was in a category that exceeded understanding.

Observing him, Mitsuhide somehow felt that he understood.

(He is the only person who can face the one called the Demon King as his equal—...)

“... Kagetora-dono, there is someone who would like to see you.”

Only Takaya’s eyes lifted to look at Mitsuhide.

“An Uesugi officer who was in Saga. We captured him as a prisoner of war rather than killing him. You probably know him well. We have restrained his spirit so that he cannot commit suicide and seek purification.”

“...”

“The Uesugi leadership is magnificent. He has refused to say anything about Kenshin or the New Uesugi no matter how much torture we subjected him to. But I wonder what would happen if he were to come face-to-face with you.”

How would an Uesugi soldier who followed Kenshin react to Kagetora?

“I would like you to see him,” Mitsuhide said.

Takaya agreed.

His answer was quiet.

After a short time an angular-faced young man in his twenties was brought in by retainers. He wore spirit-shackles around his neck which bound him to his vessel.

He was made to sit in front of Takaya. The retainers left, leaving the two of them alone.

The man stared at the tatami and did not seem willing to meet Takaya’s eyes. Takaya gazed at him silently for a moment. ...There was no mistake. He knew this person very well.

“Lift your head,” Takaya told him quietly. “Look at me, Takemata YoshitsunaTakenomata Yoshitsuna (竹俣慶綱) 1524 - 1582

Titles: Mikawa no Kami

A vassal of Uesugi Kenshin who fought in the Battle of Kawanakajima in 1561. He was commended for his bravery when he continued fighting even after losing both his horse and his armor. He supported Uesugi Kagekatsu in the Otate no Ran. Later, he committed suicide in the Battle of Uozu Castle along with twelve other Uesugi commanders..”

The man’s head jerked up at the sound of his name.

Takemata Yoshitsuna, one of the Uesugi commanders at Uozu CastleUozu-jou (魚津城)

Also known as: 小津城, 小戸城

A branch of Matsukura Castle, built in 1335 by the Shiina Clan, the castle was taken over by the Uesugi Clan during the Sengoku. It then became a strategic castle for the Uesugi for control of Ecchuu, and Kawada Nagachika served as its chamberlain for many years. In 1582, the castle was surrounded by Oda troops led by Shibata Katsuie, Sassa Narimasa, Maeda Toshiie, and Sakuma Morimasa. A fierce battle and siege ensued, (the Battle of Uozu Castle), and the castle finally fell when 13 of Uesugi's commanders committed ritual suicide. However, the Oda army immediately withdrew after hearing of the death of Oda Nobunaga at Honnou Temple. In 1583, Sassa Narimasa again laid siege to the castle, and Suda Mitsuchika surrendered to him, ending Uesugi control of the castle.

After Narimasa, the castle passed into the hands of the Maeda Clan, but was destroyed under the "One Province One Castle" decree of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Oomachi Elementary School as well as a courthouse now stand on the former site of the castle, of which very few traces remain. in ToyamaToyama-shi (富山市)

Toyama City is the capital of Toyama Prefecture, located on the coast of the Sea of Japan with a population of ~420,000 (2005). It was also the capital of the ancient province of Ecchuu.

During World War II, 99.5% of the urban center of the city was destroyed on August 1 and 2, 1945, when the American 73rd Bomber Wing dropped incendiary bombs on the city, at the time an aluminum ball-bearing and special steel production center.. After dying in battle there, he had served the Uesugi and Kagetora as a valuable military asset for four hundred years. He had transferred from Uozu to Saga at Kagetora’s direction and had performed various jobs in Kyuushuu. They’d assumed he had been killed along with Saga’s Lady in White...

Takaya only gazed quietly at Takemata. As if drawn in by that gaze, Takemata didn’t look away.

“Kagetora...sama...”

“Did you kill Ryuuzouji?” Takaya asked. “Did Naoe order you to assist Ootomo?”

Takaya saw tears fill Takemata’s eyes. He seemed to crumble under Takaya’s gaze.

“I’m so sorry!” he cried like a dam bursting. He pressed his head against the tatami as he wailed. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I am so sorry—!!” he continued to repeat until his voice ran out, with such vehemence that one had to wonder if he had gone mad. Ougi Takaya now knew that Mitsuhide had spoken true.

He was no longer this man’s master.

Takemata’s tears spoke of his guilty feelings. Here in front of Takaya he probably felt as if the walls had closed in around him.

Takaya gazed quietly at him. For a long time Takemata’s sobbing was the only sound in the room. How long did it last? When his tears finally dried up, Takaya asked, “Can you tell me, Takemata...”

“...”

“What my father intends to do with me?”

“I do not know,” Takemata answered in-between sobs. “I was not told Lord Kenshin’s intentions... Only that I must obey.”

“When did you receive these instructions?”

“A long...a long time ago now... Ah... Around the end of the Itsuku Island affair...”

Takaya’s chin jerked up. “After...Itsuku Island...”

“Four hundred years have passed since Lord Kenshin last appeared before us...it was overwhelming. Lord Kenshin gave us a command: that he has raised a new general, and we are to obey his instructions above all.”

“...” Takaya half-closed his eyes in pain. “Why...”

Why did Father, he wanted to say, but choked up.

After a long moment of silence, Takaya finally asked, “Has Father really entered the «Yami-Sengoku» battlefield?”

“...”

“What does Naoe intend to do with me?”

Takemata’s shoulders jumped slightly.

“Does he intend to sacrifice me? Has he been preparing for conquest of the «Yami-Sengoku» for the past two years as Lord Kenshin’s servant while leaving me in the enemy commanders’ line of fire?”

“I...”

“What does Lord Kenshin intend to do with me now that he’s removed me from my position?”

Takemata bit his lips hard.

“Answer me, Takemata.”

Though quiet, it was not a command he could disobey. Takemata shook his head blindly. “I...I’m not sure. But I heard Hakkai-dono say...”

“Hakkai? The Hakkai is alive?”

Takemata nodded. Hakkai had been working for Kenshin since Itsuku Island. He was now at Naoe’s side as the New Uesugi’s «NokizaruNokizaru (軒猿)

Lit. "roof monkey"; Uesugi Kenshin's ninja, who used a special technique which involved traveling on rooftops and entering houses from above. Their forte was hunting down other ninja, such as the Fuuma of the Houjou Clan and the Toppa of the Takeda Clan. head». Takaya was stunned. But none of his feelings showed on his face.

He forced calm on himself and asked, “What...did...Hakkai say? Tell me precisely.”

“But—...”

“It’s fine. Just tell me, Takemata.”

Takemata teared up. There was a look of unbearable anguish on his face. But finally he resolved himself and repeated Hakkai’s words.

“He said...‘Naoe-sama intends to eventually «exorcise» Kagetora-sama...’”

Takaya caught his breath.

The words struck home like a dagger to the heart.

Naoe intended to kill him.

“...”

Takaya’s trembling fists turned white.

His muttered words were hoarse, wrung from his throat: “I see...”

Takemata fell prostrate.

Takaya closed his eyes and quietly tilted his face to the ceiling.

Chapter 23: Heroes Eat the Sun

Meanwhile, Kadowaki Ayako was at Katou Kiyomasa’s family temple, Honmyou Temple.

It was located northeast of Kumamoto Castle¹, in an area called Hanazono [Flower Garden]. On the grounds was a long, long flight of stairs, the ‘Precipitous Path’ [Munetsuki Gangi], which ascended to the Pure Pond Mausoleum [Jouchi-byou]: Katou Kiyomasa’s resting place. It was said to be the exact same height as the tower of Kumamoto Castle, and offered, like the tower, an unbroken view of the town. It was also said Kiyomasa’s body lay beneath the Pure Pond Mausoleum in full armor and helmet in a sarcophagus covered with cinnabar to prevent decomposition, and that even now, nearly four hundred years later, his form remained unchanged.

After his resurrection, Kiyomasa had made this place the center of his barrier, and his own body the cornerstone which maintained the integrity of the whole.

In accordance with Kaizaki’s instructions, Ayako had come to protect the barrier.

(It really has gotten quite weak.)

Kiyomasa had erected the barrier to defend against incursion from enemy spirits. But the «Golden Serpent Head» had gained in power within his barrier, its influence galvanizing earth-bound spirits whose swelling spiritual energy now threatened the barrier with collapse.

Shimazu’s troops were near at hand. If they were allowed to penetrate the barrier, the city would become a battlefield. She wanted to avoid a repeat of MatsumotoMatsumoto City (松本市)

The largest city in Nagano Prefecture, Matsumoto is surrounded by mountains and is acclaimed for its beautiful views. by any means necessary.

(I have to preserve the barrier at least until Kagetora returns.)

Shimazu Iehisa was the problem. If he figured out the barrier’s mechanism, he would attack immediately. To remove the barrier, he would have to destroy Kiyomasa’s body.

Ayako swung into action. First she trapped the perimeter by burying many wood tags in land-mine fashion. They were rather heavy-handed; anyone who tread on them would receive an electric shock and be stuck in place. As an additional defense, she hastily performed the rituals of the Flame Vajravajra

Also known as: kongou-sho (金剛杵)

A mystical indestructible weapon in Buddhism and Hinduism which destroys ignorance. In Hindu mythology, this weapon was made out of the spine of the sage Dadhichi, who sacrificed himself so that this weapon could be created to kill Vitrasur, who had conquered heaven and terrorized gods.

In tantric rituals, the vajra, held in the right hand, symbolizes the male principle while the bell, held in the left hand, symbolizes the female principle; their interaction leads to enlightenment. and the Web Vajra to protect the barrier.

But these were emergency measures. How long would they hold?

Ayako anxiously prepared to meet the enemy’s attack.

(Kagetora...)

Ayako hadn’t heard from him or Kaizaki and was at a fever pitch of impatience. She wanted to tell him about Naoe as soon as possible. She wasn’t clear on his reason for becoming Kaizaki, but if she was correct, Takaya had had good reason to be agitated on E Island. Takaya had probably felt guilty about projecting Naoe onto a stranger, but in reality the exact opposite was true. He had unconsciously perceived the real thing.

(Naoe is still here, Kagetora,) Ayako thought toward Aso. (Even if you return to reality you won’t be overwhelmed by despair!)

She clutched her fists at a rush of impatience.

“!”

Her sixth sense prickled at an unnatural shift. Her traps were popping off. In some places, her mines were losing their power. Something was happening, she thought, rushing to the gate. Then she skidded to a stop.

Several men were climbing the stone steps. Each carried a long sword on his back. Their faces were familiar.

“We meet again, woman.”

(Shimazu Iehisa...)

They appeared to have discovered her traps. Ayako concentrated her power at a point beneath her navel to ready her will and glared right into her enemies’ faces. They had discovered the barrier point, it seemed.

“Here we thought we had finally finished off Kiyomasa’s «nuenue (鵺)

In Japanese mythology, the nue is a chimera formed from the head of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, the legs of a tiger, and a snake-tail. The nue can transform into a black cloud and brings illness and misfortune.

In Mirage of Blaze: The troops of the various clans, lumped-together masses of onryou, are called the «nue». Mori Ranmaru commands the Nue-shuu of the Oda, who are onryou with strong powers.»—now we find someone reinforcing the gap in his barrier. What a nuisance.”

“I knew you’d show up here sooner or later. I’ve been waiting, swordsmen.”

“You seem eager to fall prey to our swords. Choose. Step aside, and you will be spared. Otherwise you will die.”

The Shimazu swordsmen slowly but steadily advanced on her position. Ayako unsheathed her sword and assumed a ready stance. She had experience with the sword. In the Bakumatsu period, despite being a woman, she had learned the North Star Blade style [Hokushin Ittou Ryuu]. She knew how to counter the Taisha style—or at least the Revealed Reality style [Jigen Ryuu]. The first stroke: if she could evade that, she had a chance of victory.

“Interesting. A fight with real swords, eh?” Iehisa’s eyes assumed the look of a swordsman. He shuffled forward on tip-toe, his blue-glowing sword raised. The point of his sword flashed. “In that case, hold nothing back!”

Howled war-cries came at her from three directions. Pressed, Ayako’s initial charge came a second too late. Her three opponents attacked her like a strong gale. They were too fast...!

A heavy wind howled at her ears. She evaded one blade, but not the second—not completely. Sword edge clashed against sword edge with a clang, scattering sparks as Ayako caught the blow with her own sword. But the terrific force of the Taisha style snapped Ayako’s sword right in half.

“!”

For an instant three sword-points flashed in front of her eyes. What was this monstrous speed...!

Crash!

Ayako’s hurled will struck her opponents’ swords head-on. Two of them were sent flying with a sound like a rock cracking apart. Iehisa slashed at Ayako as she rolled.

“Cheesto—!”

Ayako immediate shot her will at him. As soon as he flinched, she produced a tiny ocarina with lightning speed. She drew in a breath and blew with all her might. A fierce wind rose to the piping reverberation and pressed against Iehisa’s chest.

“Ugh...!”

Fuuten’s seed syllable ‘ (baabaa (バー)

The seed syllable of Fuuten.)’ flew out of the spirit-flute like scales and sent Iehisa and his men arcing through the sky. One tumbled down the stone stairs. Another slammed into the temple bell and crumbled to the ground. But Iehisa turned a magnificent somersault and on landing immediately resumed his fighting stance.

“...Curse you!”

Zing!

A vacuum whirlwindKamaitachi (窮奇/鎌鼬/かまいたち)

Also known as: cutting whirlwind, razor whirlwind, vacuum whirlwind

A wind demon commonly depicted in Japanese folklore as a trio of weasels with sharp claws, riding on a gust of wind to cut into the skin of their victims at lightning speed. tore into Ayako. Iehisa unleashed his attacks in succession as pain dazzled Ayako’s eyes. Though she protected herself, her hair and cheeks sustained numerous cuts.

“How...dare you!”

“Dieeee!”

Iehisa leapt high into the air and swung his sword downward. Ayako tried to call wind to send Iehisa flying, but he flicked the flute out of her hands with his will. His shadow filled her entire field of vision.

His sword-edge descended toward her forehead...!

Ayako managed to block the blow with a «goshinhagoshinha (護身波)

Lit. "wave of self-protection"; the goshinha is a protective mesh spun from fine strands of spiritual energy which surrounds the caster and protects from an opponent's spiritual as well as physical attacks. The mesh gains strength and stability when it is multi-layered and becomes the goshinheki. The goshinha is Naoe's forte.» by a hair’s breath. But then the completely unexpected: a high-voltage electrical current struck her. She screamed shrilly and fell unconscious.

Iehisa had struck her with a simultaneous lightning blast.

“All bark and no bite.” Iehisa snorted a laugh and stood. His subordinates belatedly joined him. He approached the Pure Pond Mausoleum. Kiyomasa’s body, the barrier’s support, was buried in the ground underneath this mausoleum. To his spirit-sight the mausoleum blazed gold as sun-fire, proof that the corpse possessed power even to this day.

“Hmm... I’ll cut it in two with this sword, just like this mausoleum.”

Iehisa took a deep, slow, modulated breath and shifted to hold his sword straight out at eye level. Bluish-white flames ignited along its length as he concentrated and gathered his power. The flames quickly lengthened like a pillar as an accumulation of terrible destructive power transformed the sword. From time to time lightning-like electric currents twined around the blade like living snakes.

“Haaaah...”

The sword flashed upward into the sky. He would cleave both the body and the mausoleum in two...!

“Cheeestooo—!!”

At that instant, something strange happened. Flames suddenly billowed from the Pure Pond Mausoleum and swallowed Iehisa’s sword.

“What...! Graah!” Flames engulfed Iehisa. He writhed in agony.

“Iehisa-sama! ...Waugh!”

His retainers stiffened. A high school student wearing his school uniform was standing in front of the gate, gazing at them with arms folded. His head and chest were bandaged.

“You need another ten thousand years on you if you want to think about laying a finger on my corpse.”

“Damn you, you must be...!”

“Precisely.”

A tall man appeared behind the student. He had distinctly chiseled features and radiant tan skin. The man came to stand in front of the student, his back very straight, and laughed boldly.

“For you see, this man is offensively obstinate by nature. If you destroy his body, he will curse you for fifty thousand years.”

(Who...?)

Groaning, Ayako lifted her upper body. The student who spoke of his corpse—was that...!

“Cursed Kiyomasa! Have you come to die too?!”

“I have come to make certain of a death: yours.”

“What...?!”

“Enough already, Kiyomasa. This chatter is a waste of time,” said the man in the jeans. He held a can of Coke in one hand, and at intervals drank from it in loud gulps.

Iehisa could not believe his ears. Who in the world was this man who treated Kiyomasa like a subordinate?

“Now that we’re in Kumamoto, I was hoping for a warm-up. I have so looked forward to finally wielding my power. Give me this kill,” he said, swinging his arm as if he were really performing warm-up exercises. He then took another drink from his cola, roughly wiped his arm across his mouth, and smiled a smile etched with cruelty. Everyone shivered. His gaze alone was enough to overpower all who were present. This was no ordinary man. How was it possible for him to exude such force with his eyes alone...?!

“Could he be...! That man, could he be—!”

“Now then, you are my tiny quarry. Fight me with everything you have!”

A magnificent golden flame blazed from the man. Iehisa’s men pointed their swords at him in their terror. There was nowhere for them to run.

“Damn you...! Damn you damn you damn yooooou!” They leapt, shouting like madmen. But the man only smirked.

There was the heavy sound of a crash.

The two retainers were smashed to the ground. Ayako gasped. Their hearts had already stopped. The smiling man had killed them alone and unaided.

“Asao! ...Miyauchiii!!”

Iehisa glared at his opponent with naked fury. He had already guessed the man’s true identity. There was no other person on earth like him; there was only one man in the «Yami-SengokuYami Sengoku (闇戦国)

Lit.: "Dark Sengoku", the civil war still being fought by the spirits of the warlords of the Sengoku period in modern-day Japan.» who could be Kiyomasa’s master!

“So you’ve finally come to Kumamoto , Oda NobunagaOda Nobunaga (織田信長) 1534 - 1582

Also called: Oda Kippoushi
Title: Kazusa no Suke, Owari no Kami

Historically: The first of the "Three Unifiers"; born in Owari to a samurai, his unbridled, ruthless ambitious and military tactical genius enabled him to gain control of the imperial court in 1573 after having driven the shogun out of Kyoto. His seal read "the realm subjected to military power". Murdered at the age of forty-nine by his vassal Akechi Mitsuhide in the Honnou-ji in Kyoto.!” Iehisa yelled like a wild beast bellowing. “But the likes of you won’t take KyuushuuKyuushuu (九州)

Also known as: Kyuukoku (九国: “nine states”), Chinzei (鎮西: “west of the pacified area”), Tsukushi-shima (筑紫島: “island of Tsukushi”), Saikaidou (西海道: “West Sea Route”).

Lit.: "Nine Provinces", the third-largest and most southerly and westerly island of Japan. Its name comes from the former provinces of Japan situated on the island: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hizen, Higo, Buzen, Bungo, Hyuuga, Osumi, and Satsuma. It is now comprised of the prefectures of Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Ooita, Saga, and Okinawa.! We warriors of Satsuma defend this land with our lives!”

“Ah! Lay as much of your life on the line as you like! Be certain you won’t regret it!”

Iehisa’s fighting spirit surged. Overflowing with all the power he could hold, he attacked. Yet Nobunaga caught the stroke containing his entire heart and soul in the palm of his hand.

“What?!”

“Haaaaaa!!”

A terrible energy shot out of that palm!

The flash hit Iehisa flat-out and head-on. His body arced through the air, and that was it. He hit the ground and didn’t move again.

Nobunaga casually looked him over and took a large gulp from his Coke.

“Aaah...aaah...”

Ayako was so terrified she couldn’t speak. She’d seen just now the instant of a soul’s shattering. It really had been smashed to pieces like glass. This was not just death. This was the crushing of a soul. This was annihilation.

...This was the «hakonhahakonha (破魂波)

The "soul-ripping wave" with which Oda Nobunaga defeated Kagetora, said to be capable of destroying the soul itself, removing it from the wheel of reincarnation.».

Nobunaga glanced at Ayako, shocked into muteness. The man who had wielded such terrible power acted as if nothing had happened. Metal crunched as Nobunaga crushed the can in his grip. Ayako came back to herself at the sound and realized that Nobunaga’s gaze was directed straight at her. She was paralyzed. It was nothing so simple as feeling like frog being watched by a snake.

“Ho, here’s something interesting.”

“Ah...aah...aaah.”

“A servant of that annoying tiger. What was her name?”

Ayako felt a quiver start from her very marrow. No matter how much she tried to suppress it, her teeth chattered, and her eyes blurred with tears. Taking in her terror, Nobunaga smiled pleasantly. He was a man who reveled in his quarry’s fear. A man who habitually declared he felt no greater pleasure than when he looked into terrified eyes. He suddenly stretched out a finger and lifted Ayako’s chin.

“A pretty woman. I’ll make a fine pet out of you.”

He called his subordinates and ordered them to take Ayako with them. Ayako was carried off without being able to offer much resistance.

“Tono, do you know that woman?”

“She’s one of the Uesugi Yasha-shuuYasha-shuu (夜叉衆)

The five kanshousha at the head of the Meikai Uesugi Army ordered by Uesugi Kenshin to hunt for the onshou who are disrupting the peace of modern-era Japan in a battle which has lasted four hundred years. Led by Uesugi Kagetora, with Naoe Nobutsuna, Kakizaki Haruie, Yasuda Nagahide, and Irobe Katsunaga. The name "Yasha" refers to soldiers in the army of Bishamonten, called "Yaksha".. Kakizaki HaruieKakizaki Haruie (柿崎晴家) ? - 1578?

Titles: Izumi no Kami

Historically: the son of Kakizaki Kageie. He was sent to Odawara Castle in Sagami when the Kenshin and the Houjou clans struck a peace treaty in an exchange of hostages with Houjou Saburou (Uesugi Kagetora). The fate of Kakizaki Haruie was unknown when his father was accused of treason. There are theories that he either died in 1575 along with his father, or that he was murdered by Uesugi Kagekatsu's faction in 1578 during the Otate no Ran.

In Mirage of Blaze: He was one of Uesugi Kagetora's most loyal followers as well as the leader of his faction in the Otate no Ran, and was killed by Uesugi Kagekatsu's followers. He is now one of the Yasha-shuu under Kagetora's command. Haruie possesses female bodies (the only member of the Yasha-shuu to do so) in search of a lover who died two hundred years ago.

Of the Yasha-shuu, he is the one who excels most at the spiritual sensing ability called reisa. is her name.”

“Uesugi... Then she’s one of Kagetora-dono’s followers.”

“You were with Kagetora, I believe.” Kiyomasa’s shoulders jerked. There was nothing for him to feel guilty about, but Nobunaga’s cross-examination felt as if he were inspecting each of Kiyomasa’s thoughts. “Why did you not kill him? Did you not at least read his mind? With your abilities, I’m sure you could manage it easily.”

“That is...he is a guarded man.”

“Hmm, I suppose that is so. He must be. I know of his odd talent for making others disdain him; I know not how many painful experiences my vassals have undergone due to his cunning.”

Nobunaga folded his arms and looked in the direction of Aso.

“Heh! That dear old stage is near at hand, and all the actors have been assembled. That Kagetora has also come must be the so-called hand of fate. I suppose we’ll reenact that old battle,” Nobunaga said, eyes half-lidded. “Naturally, the script calls for his death this time.”

“Tono...”

In the next instant, Nobunaga suddenly exploded with laughter. “Ha—! Hahahah! Things have gotten interesting! Kenshin, come to join the battle? ’Tis so funny I’m about to fart! That senile man who was so crazy about righteousness has now come to make a show of being equal to the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven. I am truly amused. ’Tis hilarious, Kiyomasa!”

Nobunaga had already heard the entire truth about the «Golden Serpent Head» from Kiyomasa.

“The Kihachi Tribe, eh? How thrilling that a single skull is stuffed with the onryouonryou (怨霊)

Lit.: "vengeful ghost"; the spirits of those who died in the Sengoku period who are still so filled with rage and hatred that they continue to exist in the world as vengeful spirits instead of being purified and reborn. of the ancient people of Hyuuga. A tin can of onryou, when all is said and done. ’Tis said a wraith’s power grows in proportion to its years. Quite a pool must now be accumulated. The Ootomo don’t even know that much; the eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent? Laughable.”

“The Shimazu army is approaching Kumamoto. The barrier must be strengthened immediately.”

“There is no need, Kiyomasa,” Nobunaga snapped. “The barrier is superfluous.”

“Superfluous...? Are you saying I should remove it?”

“Let Shimazu enter Kumamoto. My army need not be involved.”

“You intend to have them join battle with Ootomo?”

“Oh aye. Let those who wish to fight do so; let them expend their strength on each other. I will look on from afar. I will send out my spies. We will watch until they have lost their momentum and exhausted themselves.”

Kiyomasa was astonished. Nobunaga was serious. He really intended to invite Shimazu in.

“But Kumamoto will become a battlefield.”

“Does that displease you, Kiyomasa?” Kiyomasa’s face stiffened. Nobunaga looked down on him intimidatingly. “You are a Nobunaga retainer. In other words, Kumamoto belongs to Nobunaga. Do you have any objections?” Kiyomasa couldn’t answer. Nobunaga smiled with satisfaction. “You said Kihachi’s head is at the old castle.”

“Aye. I know it must be destroyed without a moment’s delay, but the old castle is currently under Ootomo occupation. It seems to me taking it will be next to impossible.”

“Not at all.” Nobunaga smirked as he looked toward Kumamoto Castle. “My other self has even now penetrated into Old Castle High SchoolOld Castle High School (古城高校)

Old Castle (Kojou) High School is a fictional school set at the site of the castle which was torn down to make way for Katou Kiyomasa's Kumamoto Castle (also named Kumamoto but using different characters—隈本城 instead of 熊本城). It's likely where real-life Kumamoto Prefectural Daiichi (First) High School stands.

It was originally built as a Western school by foreigners during the Meiji Period (Daiichi was built in 1903 as an all-girls school but later become co-ed). The current school was built around 20 years ago (1970s) and is composed of two three-story buildings to north and south connected by a series of hallways with air-conditioned rooms. It also has a sports oval, a prefabricated club storehouse, and a gym under construction. Kumamoto Castle Park is quite close.. ...Heheh. Well, we shall see. It will be such an unexpected twist.”

“Huh...?”

Kiyomasa once again doubted his ears. Had he said an unexpected twist?

“Whaaat. We need not take a single step. It will fall into our laps without the least toil on our parts. I shall test whether this Kihachi’s head can truly sink Kyuushuu beneath the waves.”

(What a man...!)

Kiyomasa was dumbfounded. Nobunaga had made up his mind as soon as he’d heard Kiyomasa’s tale. Rather than destroying Kihachi’s head, he would make it his.

“Please don’t! ’Tis...’tis too perilous!”

“Perilous?”

“Takeda, Kikkawa, and Ootomo do not know its true terror! It cannot be a weapon! If the onryou, once released, truly sink Kyuushuu beneath the waves... ”

“Intriguing. You do not wish to see it sunk?”

“!”

“Would not the sinking of this enormous island be a rare sight? If it can be done, would you not wish to see it? ’Twould be the event of the century. What would become of Japan, I wonder?”

Kiyomasa was extremely rattled. He could not tell what this man was thinking. He couldn’t be serious, could he? Did he mean it?

“If Kyuushuu sinks, a great number of people will die, and their onryou will be mine to control. Kenshin, Shingen, and the other «Yami-Sengoku» onshouonshou (怨将)

Lit.: "vengeful general": the spirits of the warlords of the Sengoku period, who continue their battles even in modern-age Japan.—none will be worth mentioning next to my power. I will make them surrender to me; all will become my slaves! Then we will take over the world!”

Nobunaga laughed loudly. This was paranoia ². Though all were angry and resentful wraiths at their core, no onshou had ever contemplated such ghastly stratagems.

(Wh...what in the world is he...!)

“Only one with the courage to be supreme ruler can manage a runaway horse. I will ride the Himuka onryou and establish the power to transform this country root and branch thereby. Kiyomasa, follow me and I will show you an incredible vista.”

Profound astonishment held Kiyomasa mute. Nobunaga surveyed the castle town of Kumamoto with the eyes of a military man.

“O warriors of Satsuma, show me how the ‘strongest of the Kyuushuu’ do battle. I will observe from this spot.”

Aso’s Kokuzou Shrine was partly thrown into a state of disarray by the succession of reports that came pouring in.

Among them, news of a KagaKaga-no-kuni (加賀国,)

A province of ancient Japan that is today a part of southern Ishikawa Prefecture which once bordered on the provinces of Echizen, Ecchuu, Hida, and Noto. The priest Rennyo of Hongan Temple arrived in the 15th century to preach the tenets of True Pure Land Buddhism, which spread rapidly among the samurai and peasants of the region. They banded together into the Ikkou Sect to create a "Peasant's Kingdom", which lasted for a hundred years until Sakuma Morimasa overthrew it by order of Oda Nobunaga in 1580.

Three years later, Maeda Toshiie invaded the province and took it for Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The Maeda Clan ruled it thereafter, focusing on culture and art instead of military and warfare, and developed the province into the richest domain outside of Tokugawa Shogunate. Kaga was famous for its gold-leaf, inlaid work, and calligraphy, promoted by its Maeda lords. uprising dropped like a bomb blast.

It astonished even Mitsuhide. The Ikkou Sect territory had fallen into civil war. Their followers, who were thought to surpass all others in solidarity, had given rise to revolt-inciting traitors. Their uprising had surprising momentum. Reports speculating that it had been incited by Kenshin flew in, immediately raising tensions. KennyoKennyo (顕如) Feb. 1543 - Dec. 27, 1592

Also known as: Hongan-ji Kennyo, Hongan-ji Kousa

Chief Abbot of Ishiyama Hongan Temple, fortress of the Ikkou-ikki, Kennyo became the 11th head of the Hongan Temple in Kyoto upon his father Shounyo's death in 1554, when he was 12. Kennyo was renowned as a strategist who engineered many alliances in the Sengoku Era and made Ishiyama Hongan Temple virtually unbreachable. His wife was the third daughter of Sanjou Kinyori (sister to Takeda Shingen's wife, Sanjou-no-kata), and they got along very well.

Kennyo aided Shingen by persuading the Ikkou sectarians in Kaga Province to rise up against Uesugi Kenshin. He allied himself with Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki and created an anti-Oda alliance with the Takeda, Asakura, Azai, and Mouri clans. The alliance failed upon Takeda Shingen's death in 1573.

In 1570, Oda Nobunaga laid siege to Ishiyama Hongan Temple, a siege that would last 10 years, the longest in Japan's history. Kennyo left the temple to attempt to raise reinforcements, and his son surrendered to Nobunaga by request of the Emperor.

Kennyo later enlisted the help of Ikkou sectarians for Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who granted Kennyo a new Hongan Temple (now known as Nishi-Hongan Temple) in 1589. hurriedly appointed Rairen commanding officer of Kaga, to be recalled from Aso as soon as possible.

“I must depart for Kaga immediately. Akechi-dono, I leave the rest to you,” Rairen said, before rushing off toward Kumamoto airport.

But that was not the end of it. Similar seeds of revolt had been planted everywhere.

Date’s Northeast, Takeda’s KaiKai-no-Kuni (甲斐国)

Also known as: 甲州 (Koushuu)

An ancient province in central Japan which was ruled by Takeda Shingen during the Sengoku Period. Now known as Yamanashi Prefecture., Chousokabe’s Shikoku, Mouri’s territory in northern Kyuushuu—there were incidents of local ghosts acting violently in all these places. These attacks in their unguarded moment shook the commanders of various territories, and they hastened to dispatch their soldiers.

“It appears to be the Uesugi Ladies in White who are inciting insurrection.”

“So it is Kenshin...!”

“Toyama and Niigata appear to have already fallen.”

“It is said their integrated fighting strength is several times that of Oda.”

Mitsuhide’s vassals excitedly exchanged rumors. Kagetora was also on the premises. Of course, these reports were fed into his ears in minute detail.

The news effected no change in Takaya expression.

It was almost sunset before Mitsuhide could put down his work and visit him in his room.

The first words out of Mitsuhide’s mouth were a question. “You didn’t order the Ladies in White to incite insurrection, did you?”

Takaya looked at Mitsuhide quietly. He had not.

Mitsuhide knew that, but had wanted to make certain.

“What do you think of the New Uesugi?”

“...What should I think?”

“You remain unconvinced by Takemata’s testimony?”

Takaya was silent.

He slowly shook his head. “I have not confirmed it with my own eyes.”

“You’ll be satisfied if you do?”

Takaya was again silent.

Gazing at the expressionless Takaya, a little of the tension left Mitsuhide’s shoulders.

“If you want to confirm the reports yourself, do so to your heart’s content. Your confirmation would become ours as well. There is a question I want to ask you. If you withdraw from the Uesugi, will your powers be revoked? What of your «choubukuryokuchoubuku (調伏)

Also known as: choubukuryoku (調伏力)

The special power given to the Yasha-shuu to banish onryou to the Underworld using the dharani of Uesugi Kenshin's guardian deity, Bishamonten. The types of choubuku include "kouhou-choubuku", "ressa-choubuku", "kekkai-choubuku", etc. Each choubuku is begun with the incantation "bai" and the ritual hand gesture of Bishamonten's symbol.

Choubuku does not work against kanshousha, who have bodies of their own.»?”

“Probably...not, I think,” Takaya answered flatly. “They were offered to me by Lord Kenshin, but granted by BishamontenBishamonten (毘沙門天)

Also know as: Bishamon, Tamonten, Vaiśravaṇa, Kubera

Bishamonten is one of the 12 Deva Guardians, the protector of the North and the most powerful of the Four Heavenly Kings. He is the god of warfare and warriors, sometimes called the "black warrior"; black is his symbolic color, and winter is the season over which he presides. He is often depicted as warrior with a crown on his head, a pagoda in one hand and a trident in the other. He punishes those who do evil and is also the guardian of the places where Buddha preaches. He is one who is all-knowing, who hears everything, who is always listening, and is completely versed in Buddha's teachings. He is one of Japan's Seven Deities of Fortune. The soldiers of his army are the powerful earth deities called Yaksha.

Bishamonten is also called "Tobatsu Bishamonten" (刀八毘沙門天), or "Eight-Sword Bishamonten", because of an error in translation passed down through the centuries. The original name, "Bishamonten of Tobatsu", pointed to a manifestation of Bishamonten which appeared in the Central Asian kingdom of Tou-po or Tobatsu (兜跋) to protect the capital city against invaders. Bishamonten in this form is depicted with a diadem on his head, four hands holding a key, a gem, a pagoda, and a halbert before him and eight arms holding eight swords around him.. So long as my beliefs remain firm, I don’t think even Lord Kenshin will be able to revoke them.”

“So they cannot be used as corroboration. What about the Sword of BishamontenBishamonten-tou (毘沙門天刀)

The Sword of Bishmonten is an incarnation of Bishamonten, a physical blade which can be summoned only by the general of the Meikai Uesugi Army. It contains the power of «choubuku», and any spirit cut by it is exorcised; however, none-spiritual objects are not harmed by its blade.

Its summoning calls upon Namu Tobatsu Bishamonten with the incantation "on beishiramandaya sowaka". Its dismissal uses the incantation of unsummoning, "on basara bokisha boku."?” Mitsuhide knew of the sword. “I have heard it is a spirit-sword carried only by the supreme commander. If you were removed from that post, you will no longer be able to wield the Sword of Bishamonten—is that not so?”

“I don’t think it would constitute proof.”

The sword was the incarnation of Bishamonten’s energy—«choubukuryoku». Once someone learned how to manifest it, it could not be taken from them. So long as Takaya did not lose his «powers» completely.

“In other words, even if someone is no longer a Yasha-shuu, they would still be able to wield «choubukuroyku». No one would make a more dangerous enemy.”

Takaya nodded.

And how much more so for the former general...

“What do you intend to do?”

“...”

After a long silence, Takaya quietly lifted his eyes. “There is a simple way to prove I am no longer Uesugi’s general. What will Uesugi’s followers do if gave an order directly contradicting that of the new general’s? It will lay everything plain.”

“You’ll call for destruction of Naoe and his followers?”

“Such a careless declaration of war...would be suicide.”

Mitsuhide was surprised. “Is that not a faint-hearted view? You must know there is no fearful gap in battle strength between you.”

“You don’t know Uesugi’s true strength. A switch in generalship means a transfer of authority to set the Meikai Uesugi ArmyMeikai Uesugi Gun (冥界上杉軍)

Lit. "Underworld Uesugi Army"; the army formed by Uesugi Kenshin to hunt down the onryou so that the peace of modern-day Japan is not threatened by centuries-old conflicts. It is composed of all the spirits who have some connection to the Uesugi and who were called upon by Kenshin. The Yasha-shuu could be called its commanders, though Uesugi Kagetora is the only person with the authority to lead it. into motion.”

“Set in motion?The Meikai...what is that?”

“Uesugi’s hosts sleep in the realm of the dead.”

Mitsuhide’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Uesugi’s soldiers in this world constitute less than half of its full strength. They are the dead with a connection to EchigoEchigo-no-kuni (越国)

An ancient province in north-central Japan which was ruled by Uesugi Kenshin during the Sengoku Period. Now a part of Niigata Prefecture. who were put to sleep in the underworld when we underwent our first kanshoukanshou (換生)

To possess another's body, driving out their soul, so as to be reborn with memories intact. Only Naoe of all the kanshousha has the power to perform kanshou on another soul..”

“By the realm of the dead, you don’t mean the other world?”

“No. It’s neither the other world nor this one. It’s a dimension in the boundary between the two worlds. The sleepers there are not purified. Time does not exist. Thus they are not really sleeping.”

Kagetora and the others called existence in that realm ‘sleeping’. Only one person could summon them from that underworld: the supreme commander of the Meikai Uesugi Army.

Naturally, this was the first time Mitsuhide had heard of the existence of such an Uesugi force. If Uesugi had troops that were not in the world, how large was its actual army?

(Easily several times ours...)

“If I have been removed from my position, I have also been stripped of my authority to command them. Therefore, if I can no longer summon them, it would be proof that I have lost my authority over them,” Takaya said emotionlessly.

Mitsuhide gazed at him, wondering about his state of mind.

Takaya didn’t know why he had been tossed aside. A loss of someone of Uesugi KagetoraUesugi Kagetora (上杉景虎) 1552? 1554? - Apr. 19, 1579

Also known as: possibly Houjou Ujihide (北条氏秀), Houjou Saburou (北条三郎), Saburou Kagetora (三郎景虎)

Historically: Uesugi Kagetora was the seventh son (sixth to survive to adulthood) of Houjou Ujiyasu, younger brother of Houjou Ujimasa, Houjou Ujiteru, Houjou Ujikuni, Houjou Ujinori, Houjou Ujitada, and older brother of Houjou Ujimitsu. His mother was the sister-in-law of Tooyama Yasumitsu, a vassal of the Houjou Clan (other sources say Zuikeiin, Ujiyasu's principle wife). It's likely that he and Houjou Ujihide were two different people and that Ujihide was the son of Houjou Tsunashige and living in Edo while Saburou was living in Echigo, so most historians refer to him as Houjou Saburou when describing his early life.

As a child, he was sent into the priesthood at Souun Temple in Hakone, then sent as hostage to Takeda Shingen of the Takeda Clan in the three-way alliance between Houjou, Takeda, and Imagawa formed in 1554 (though this last point is now in dispute, as it is told only in the Records of Ancient Battles of the Eight Kanto Provinces and recorded in none of the Takeda Clan records.)

He was adopted by his uncle Houjou Genan in 1569 and married Genan's daughter.

When the Houjou and Uesugi clans formed an alliance in 1569, Saburou was sent to Uesugi Kenshin in an exchange of hostages with Kakizaki Haruie. (At first, the hostage was set to be Houjou Ujimasa's third son Kunimasumaru, but Ujimasa could not bring himself to send off his son, who was then still a baby.) Saburou was sent to the Uesugi clan in early 1570. Kenshin, who never married, developed a liking for the handsome and intelligent Saburou. He married his niece Seienin, the daughter of Nagao Masakage and older sister of Nagao Akikage (Uesugi Kagekatsu) to Saburou, gave him the name Kagetora (a name that had once belonged to Kenshin himself), and adopted him into the Uesugi Clan.

When Kenshin died suddenly in 1578 without naming an heir, Kagetora and Kagekatsu, similarly adopted by Kenshin, fought for succession to the position of clan head (the Otate no Ran). Though Kagetora held the early advantage with the backing of Uesugi vassals such as Uesugi Kagenobu, Honjou Hidetsuna, Kitajou Takahiro, and the Houjou Clan, the tide of the battle turned with Takeda Katsuyori's betrayal to Kagekatsu's side.

When the Otate fell in 1579, Kagetora attempted to escape to Odawara Castle, but was betrayed at Samegao Castle by Horie Munechika and committed suicide. His wife committed suicide along with him (though there are also accounts that she remained behind at the Otate and committed suicide there when her brother Kagekatsu refused Kagetora's surrender.) His oldest son Doumanmaru died at the hands of Kagekatsu's troops along with Uesugi Norimasa, and the rest of his children were believed to have died along with their parents.

In Mirage of Blaze: He was born to Houjou Ujiyasu and Zuikeiin as their eighth (seventh to survive to adulthood) and youngest son. After his death in the Otate no Ran, he was charged by Uesugi Kenshin to become kanshousha in order to ensure that the peace of Japan is not disrupted by the onshou as the leader of the Yasha-shuu and the commander of the Meikai Uesugi Army.’s fighting power had to count as a minus; why, then, did he have to be discarded?

“New Uesugi has said they will eliminate you, I believe. I heard you were told as much by Takemata. What will you do? Will you fight?”

“... I have to at least protect myself,” Takaya said, standing so abruptly that he startled Mitsuhide.

“Where are you going?”

“I thank you for looking after me. But I have no intention of siding with you. For now on, I will side with no one.”

“Do you intend to return to your comrades?”

“Comrades? What comrades?”

He couldn’t trust either Nagahide or Haruie. They were probably in communication with Kenshin. He could do nothing but hide, perhaps.

“Wait, Kagetora-dono,” Mitsuhide called out sharply. “Won’t you lend me your strength?”

Takaya stopped.

“We need power to defeat Oda. Won’t you lend us yours?”

“...”

“If you will cooperate with us, we have arrangements in place for sheltering you from Uesugi. Having you would give us heart. No, that’s not it.” Mitsuhide stated emphatically with grim determination: “I want you to become our leader.”

“What...!”

That surprised him, naturally. An expedient lie, he thought, but Mitsuhide looked serious.

“If I could, I would end this «Yami-Sengoku» as quickly as possible. I created the anti-Oda Alliance, but reconciling all the various commanders’ expectations is all but impossible. But if we do not consolidate our forces, we cannot match our adversary. I need a unifying force. Something that can weave together the hearts of these onshou.”

“...They have you.”

“I have not the disposition. It is a role for which I am unfit,” Mitsuhide said with clear-eyed rationality. His wise eyes regarded Takaya. “You have the qualities I lack. Your abilities are equal to a war with Lord Oda Nobunaga. And you are the former supreme commander of the Uesugi. You have ample reason to fight Kenshin; you have the necessary conviction. This alliance needs one who can transcend the interests of each separate army. We lack a force which will restrain and unite all the onshou of the alliance. They can trust you, for you are not swayed by self-interest. I wish you to be the standard-bearer of the anti-Oda Alliance, Kagetora-dono, and think with me on the source of the «Yami-Sengoku».”

“The...source?”

“Kagetora-dono...” Mitsuhide paused to sort out his thoughts before continuing. “Have you never wondered why the onshou have gone berserk now, after four hundred years? Why the «Yami-Sengoku» erupted so recently? I wish to show you its source, Kagetora-dono.”

Takaya’s brow creased as he listened.

“I’ve wondered if the «Yami-Sengoku» was not roused by artificial means.”

“Artificial...means?”

“Yes. My tentative guess is that the responsible party is either Uesugi KenshinUesugi Kenshin (上杉謙信) Feb. 18, 1530 - Apr. 19, 1578

Also called: Nagao Kagetora (長尾景虎), Uesugi Masatora (上杉政虎), Uesugi Terutora (上杉輝虎)
Title: Kantou Kanrei (関東管領)

Historically: Fourth son of the noted warrior Nagao Tamekage, Kenshin wrested control of the Nagao clan from his brother Nagao Harukage and fought for control of Echigo Province. He accepted the name Uesugi Masatora when he gave refuge to his nominal lord, Uesugi Norimasa, and at his urging campaigned to push the Houjou out of the Kantou Region.

He adopted the name "Kenshin" when he became a Buddhist monk and a devotee of Bishamonten. The standard his army carried onto the battlefield bore the character 毘 ("bi") for Eight-Sword Bishamonten. He battled Takeda Shingen five times at Kawanakajima, as well as the Houjou and Ashina clans and Oda Nobunaga, whom he defeated despited being outnumbered. However, Kenshin died soon after the battle. He named his two adopted sons, Uesugi Kagetora and Uesugi Kagekatsu, his heirs, hoping that they would divide the Uesugi lands peacefully between them after his death.

In Mirage of Blaze: He became a god of war after his death, ascending from Nin Dou to Ten Dou, and established the Meikai Uesugi Army to ensure that the peace of Japan is not disrupted by the onshou. He named Kagetora as its commander. or Oda Nobunaga.”

Takaya was shocked. He’d never even thought of such a thing before, and now it was thrust in his face.

“There’s no way...”

“I have felt for a long time that someone or something devised this battle. People who have been beneath the earth for four hundred years all roused to war. That in itself is an unnatural situation. There must be a starting impetus. What great power triggered the awakening?”

“You’re saying that...someone set up the «Yami-Sengoku» with some sort of purpose in mind?”

“I have no conclusive evidence.” Mitsuhide elucidated. “But if someone did do such a thing, I can think of no candidates other than Uesugi Kenshin and Oda Nobunaga. I don’t know the purpose. I do know that a situation in which so many spirits are used in futile battles cannot be ignored. It must be ended. I desire a like-minded comrade who is willing to search for a solution with me.”

“That’s the anti-Oda Alliance?”

“I have not spoken of this to them. You are the first,” Mitsuhide told him emphatically. “We also became the anti-Kenshin Alliance the instant he entered the war. I had only one reason for establishing this alliance: to find the source of the «Yami-Sengoku» and destroy that person. I believe that is the shortest path to ending the «Yami-Sengoku». I need a power which will bring this alliance together. I want you to be that power. What do you think, Kagetora-dono?” Mitsuhide asked.

His tone held no trace of childish eagerness; it was rational from beginning to end.

Takaya was silent as he carefully examined Mitsuhide.

The silence, which seemed like it might go on forever, was finally broken by Takaya. “Do I really seem such an optimist that I would simply go along with it?”

“Kagetora-dono.”

“I already told you I won’t enter into any alliance. I haven’t changed my mind.”

“You feel a sense of duty toward Kenshin? Loyalty carried too far makes one a fool.”

“That’s not why,” Takaya responded clearly. “The instant I ceased to be supreme commander, my bonds to both the Uesugi and the «Yami-Sengoku» were severed. So I will return to an ordinary life. I wish to return to Ougi Takaya’s life.”

“If you do, Naoe will hunt you down. As long as you are Uesugi Kagetora, the circumstances won’t allow you to sever your bonds—however much you want to. Therefore, Kagetora-dono, should you not engage your powers to end the «Yami-Sengoku»?”

“You overestimate me,” Takaya smiled darkly. “Try someone else. Uesugi Kagetora does not have the kind of power you hope for.”

“Kagetora-dono.”

“Otherwise I would not have been cast away,” Takaya said, and started to walk out of the room. Mitsuhide stopped him sharply.

“Then you’ll leave Kumamoto to its fate? You don’t care if many civilians die for the Ootomo and Uesugi?”

Takaya stopped.

“We also have a hostage. I suppose you don’t care about that either?”

“Hostage?”

“She’s a girl wearing a uniform very similar to Kagetora-dono’s; it has that exact same badge. If you leave, she will be killed. But you don’t care about that either, I suppose.”

Takaya’s eyes sharpened. Affixed to his standing collar was his school insignia and grade level. If she wore the same, then she was a junior at Old Castle High School.

Apparently feeling that he had scored a hit as he studied Takaya’s reaction, Mitsuhide added a little more calmly, “You can meet her if you want to confirm for yourself. Are you still prepared to leave?”

Takaya slowly turned and looked Mitsuhide in the face. Apparently not.

“Let me see her, then.”

It was fully dark when they went outside. Mitsuhide led Takaya to the stone burial chamber where Inaba Akemi was confined.

Takaya was surprised by the sight of Inaba Akemi sleeping within the sarcophagus. The colcothar from burning the yellow ocher of Aso kept Akemi sleeping soundly.

“Why did you take her?”

“To set the Miike family in motion,” Mitsuhide explained. "The Miike family has Asara-hime. Asara-hime can communicate intentions to Kihachi. She is also the only one who can suppress the unleashing of the Kihachi tribe’s onryou. Kihachi’s head is the «Yami-Sengoku» nuclear weapon. Even possessing it will strike fear into one’s enemy and serve to deter enemy attack. In this instance, its use is secondary. But to use it requires the controller: Asara. Without her there is no point. We know that Asara is a daughter of the
Miike family. Her older brother goes to Old Castle High School."

“Miike... Miike Tetsuya?!”

“You know him?”

Takaya was flabbergasted. Miike Tetsuya, the only ordinary student who was not haunted. He’d never have expected him to have this sort of connection to the «Yami-Sengoku».

“Kihachi’s head is apparently in the ruins of Sassa NarimasaSassa Narimasa (佐々成政) Feb. 2, 1536 - July 7, 1588

Also known as: Kuranosuke—nickname (内蔵助)
Titles: Mutsu no Kami, Ecchuu no Kami, Chamberlain

A daimyo of the Sengoku, born in Owari. His father was Sassa Morimasa. His two older brothers, Sassa Masatsugu and Sassa Magosuke, died in battle, so Narimasa became head of the clan and master of Hira Castle in 1560. He distinguished himself in the loyal service of Oda Nobunaga and fought in many of Nobunaga's battles. His name was first on a list for the Kurohoro-gumi, an elite group of Nobunaga's bodyguards.

In 1580, he backed Jinbou Nagazumi against both the Uesugi Clan and the Ikkou-ikki in Ecchuu, and was given half the province. The following year, he was named governor (Kami) of the entire province when Jinbou Nagazumi lost his standing. He made Toyama Castle his main castle and performed extensive repairs and renovations on it.

After Nobunaga's death in 1582, Narimasa continued to engage in fierce battles with Uesugi Kagekatsu. He took the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobukatsu against Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but later surrendered to him in 1585 when Hideyoshi laid siege to Toyama Castle with 10,000 troops. He lost Ecchuu, but was given a fief in Higo in 1587 for merits in the suppression of Kyuushuu, along with instructions on refraining from hasty reforms. Ignoring those instructions because of illness or perhaps misunderstanding, Narimasa immediately set out on Hideyoshi's nationwide land survey, resulting in rebellion of the province. He was charged with misgovernment and committed ritual suicide.

He wrote the following as his death-poem: "The shell of my begging bowl in which I have placed the evil delusions of these recent days now breaks" (この頃の　厄妄想を　入れ置きし　鉄鉢袋　今破るなり).

Narimasa is said to have brutally killed his concubine, Sayuri, along with her family for a rumor of infidelity. The legend goes that Sayuri cursed him before she died, and the curse was responsible for his death at the hand of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

In Mirage of Blaze: He is kanshousha who has entered the «Yami-Sengoku» as one of the Oda's commanders, described as a tanned, fearless-looking young man, a "mountain cat in human skin." He and Mori Ranmaru don't appear to be on the best of terms. He later seeks his death at Sayuri's hands in remorse for the way he brutally tortured and killed her in their previous lives.’s castle.” Takaya’s shoulders rocked slightly. “Old Castle High School, in other words. Did you and Kiyomasa know that?”

“I know of an object called the «Golden Serpent Head».”

“«Golden Serpent Head»...”

“It’s said to be the head of the eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent. Ootomo is trying to exhume it.”

“So it’s true. Ootomo has zeroed in on it as well.”

“But I don’t know if they know about Kihachi. They never regarded Miike Tetsuya as anything more than a problem child.”

“Careless fools. Be that as it may, there is danger in their obtaining it. Have you heard of their occupation of Old Castle High School?”

“Occupation? By the Ootomo?”

“They’ve packed it with the students, whom they have trained as the castle garrison. They appear to be brainwashed, but we couldn’t tell by what method.”

Demonic serpent, Takaya thought. The demonic serpents Mikuriya had implanted in the students had hatched. It had given them «power», transforming them into combatants and even a castle garrison.

“We must proceed to Kumamoto and recover it. I do not think the Shimazu army alone will be enough. If they receive assistance from the New Uesugi, it will present a problem. Kagetora-dono,” Mitsuhide said in a low voice, “I want you to come. To counter «choubukuryoku» with «choubukuryoku». No, you must come. If you do not want the hostage to lose her life.”

“Weren’t you going to exchange her for Asara?”

“The hostage won’t be exchanged—not until you promise to cooperate with us.” Takaya was silent. Though the words were threatening, there was no trace of coercion in Mitsuhide’s profile. “Think about it.”

Mitsuhide left him and walked out of the stone burial chamber. The glow of the light bulb went out. Takaya gazed at Inaba Akemi in the shaft of moonlight that pierced the chamber in its stead.

What should he do? He had to think.

(I have no choice...do I?)

He could only obey, he concluded, and was about to leave Inaba’s side when he saw out of the corners of his eyes the spot at the nape of her neck undulate—though she lay as still as death. Something was wriggling beneath her skin.

At he stared at it, it happened a second time, then a third.

“...”

He looked at it over his shoulder for a moment before finally turning on his heels and leaving the stone burial chamber.

 
A familiar man was waiting for him as he descended the incline outside: Kikkawa Motoharu. Takaya stopped and returned his gaze with lightly narrowed eyes.

“I am leaving for Kokura,” Motoharu said. “There’s been an uprising there. I do not think I should leave, but...it cannot be helped.”

“...”

Takaya was about to slip silently past when Motoharu said to him, “Naoe died at Hagi.” Takaya stopped dead. “The shock was so great that you placed an auto-suggestion on yourself.”

“...”

“Last night you were about to remember. You recognized the auto-suggestion. I hope you will reexamine those memories.”

Takaya didn’t turn toward him. He listened with his back turned. Motoharu said forcefully, “A miracle has happened.”

Takaya didn’t move.

“...” After a moment of silence, Takaya said in a low voice, “Thank you...”

He walked away.

Motoharu couldn’t see his reaction.

He remained silent. There was nothing more he could do.

Chapter 25: Blazing Darkness

A beautiful moon hung in the night sky.

Ougi Takaya could be seen deep within the grounds of Kokuzou Shrine, now veiled by darkness. The snow-clouds seemed to have moved off. Moonlight shone into the cedar grove in the deepening cold. The clear winter air had turned the darkness transparent and exhaled breaths white. Takaya walked slowly through the snow-covered grounds and came to stand before the ‘Great Cedar of the Countryside’.

All the trees around here were great cedars hundreds of years old. If he were to look for it, he’d probably find one as old as himself.

Takaya gazed up at the lone tree.

What was he thinking?

He suddenly lifted his left hand. His fingers groped for the presence that was ever supposed to be behind him, but they glided vainly through empty air and landed limply on his own right shoulder.

“No matter how much time passes, my place will always be at your side.”

When had those words been spoken to him?

His slitted black eyes looked up into the air to see the illusion of a single snowflake fluttering downward. As if to hug his cold back, the hand on his shoulder quietly tightened.

(Come and kill me...)

Takaya looked down and smiled. He’d had this premonition for a long time—that someday he would die at Naoe’s hands. That Naoe would be the end of Uesugi KagetoraUesugi Kagetora (上杉景虎) 1552? 1554? - Apr. 19, 1579

Also known as: possibly Houjou Ujihide (北条氏秀), Houjou Saburou (北条三郎), Saburou Kagetora (三郎景虎)

Historically: Uesugi Kagetora was the seventh son (sixth to survive to adulthood) of Houjou Ujiyasu, younger brother of Houjou Ujimasa, Houjou Ujiteru, Houjou Ujikuni, Houjou Ujinori, Houjou Ujitada, and older brother of Houjou Ujimitsu. His mother was the sister-in-law of Tooyama Yasumitsu, a vassal of the Houjou Clan (other sources say Zuikeiin, Ujiyasu's principle wife). It's likely that he and Houjou Ujihide were two different people and that Ujihide was the son of Houjou Tsunashige and living in Edo while Saburou was living in Echigo, so most historians refer to him as Houjou Saburou when describing his early life.

As a child, he was sent into the priesthood at Souun Temple in Hakone, then sent as hostage to Takeda Shingen of the Takeda Clan in the three-way alliance between Houjou, Takeda, and Imagawa formed in 1554 (though this last point is now in dispute, as it is told only in the Records of Ancient Battles of the Eight Kanto Provinces and recorded in none of the Takeda Clan records.)

He was adopted by his uncle Houjou Genan in 1569 and married Genan's daughter.

When the Houjou and Uesugi clans formed an alliance in 1569, Saburou was sent to Uesugi Kenshin in an exchange of hostages with Kakizaki Haruie. (At first, the hostage was set to be Houjou Ujimasa's third son Kunimasumaru, but Ujimasa could not bring himself to send off his son, who was then still a baby.) Saburou was sent to the Uesugi clan in early 1570. Kenshin, who never married, developed a liking for the handsome and intelligent Saburou. He married his niece Seienin, the daughter of Nagao Masakage and older sister of Nagao Akikage (Uesugi Kagekatsu) to Saburou, gave him the name Kagetora (a name that had once belonged to Kenshin himself), and adopted him into the Uesugi Clan.

When Kenshin died suddenly in 1578 without naming an heir, Kagetora and Kagekatsu, similarly adopted by Kenshin, fought for succession to the position of clan head (the Otate no Ran). Though Kagetora held the early advantage with the backing of Uesugi vassals such as Uesugi Kagenobu, Honjou Hidetsuna, Kitajou Takahiro, and the Houjou Clan, the tide of the battle turned with Takeda Katsuyori's betrayal to Kagekatsu's side.

When the Otate fell in 1579, Kagetora attempted to escape to Odawara Castle, but was betrayed at Samegao Castle by Horie Munechika and committed suicide. His wife committed suicide along with him (though there are also accounts that she remained behind at the Otate and committed suicide there when her brother Kagekatsu refused Kagetora's surrender.) His oldest son Doumanmaru died at the hands of Kagekatsu's troops along with Uesugi Norimasa, and the rest of his children were believed to have died along with their parents.

In Mirage of Blaze: He was born to Houjou Ujiyasu and Zuikeiin as their eighth (seventh to survive to adulthood) and youngest son. After his death in the Otate no Ran, he was charged by Uesugi Kenshin to become kanshousha in order to ensure that the peace of Japan is not disrupted by the onshou as the leader of the Yasha-shuu and the commander of the Meikai Uesugi Army..

(You might as well plant a sword in my back.)

Or was this also his revenge?

Against the man who refused to turn around to face him...

Takaya closed his eyes.

(There’s something wrong with me.)

When had he become so weak?

He’d refused to turn around because there had been no other trick left to him.

He was able to do nothing for his inferiority complex, his anguish. He couldn’t allow turning around to become an act of compassion. That he must never do, he thought. He could only grit his teeth and look ahead heedlessly. To continue onward. There was no other way for him to respond to his suffering with the correct sincerity.

That was why he had kept his back turned.

(Can I...stop doing that now...?) he asked inwardly, brows creased. His thoughts weighed heavily on his chest. (Your obsession is one-sided.)

It was true. He had never wanted it. He had come to it all on his own.

It didn’t hurt him. Now that the obsession had ended, he could leave or do whatever he wanted; it had nothing to do with Takaya. It never had.

There was no pain. There had never been reason for him to feel pain.

If only I could go back—...

(—to being someone who could feel like that.)

“...”

Takaya looked up at the sky.

(No...)

Listening to the wind move through the silent forest, Takaya half-closed his eyes in pain.

That wasn’t important. He didn’t want to say what Naoe could or could not do. That wasn’t it.

(That’s not it—...)

A cold wind blew.

The waning moon hung in the boughs of the cedars.

“Kagetora-sama...”

Takaya’s fingers moved. Someone was addressing him from behind: Takemata YoshitsunaTakenomata Yoshitsuna (竹俣慶綱) 1524 - 1582

Titles: Mikawa no Kami

A vassal of Uesugi Kenshin who fought in the Battle of Kawanakajima in 1561. He was commended for his bravery when he continued fighting even after losing both his horse and his armor. He supported Uesugi Kagekatsu in the Otate no Ran. Later, he committed suicide in the Battle of Uozu Castle along with twelve other Uesugi commanders..

Takemata had stayed with Takaya. Mitsuhide had intended to dispose of him after their interview, but Takaya hadn’t allowed it. “Let him stay with me,” he’d said.

They hadn’t spoken since.

“Why did you not «exorcise» me?”

Takemata was the first to break the silence.

For Takemata this was torture. He would rather have died than fallen into Kagetora’s hands. To be near him was agony.

“You are quite right to be angry. It’s only natural. Why won’t you say anything to me? Condemn me as much as you like. Otherwise I—”

“I do not intend to condemn you,” Takaya answered with his back still turned. “You acted according to my father’s orders. What should I condemn you for?”

“But...!”

“If my father has truly entered the war, then he must have a plan. I bear no grudge.”

“Th-that’s not true!” Takemata refuted, plucking up his courage. “You deceive yourself when it comes to your feelings. Do you intend to simply accept this? Do you not think it unreasonable? When Lord Kenshin is likely only using you—using you and tossing you away.”

Takaya was silent.

“I doubt you’ll listen to someone like me, but I must say this. Please stop killing yourself. You have always supported us. You’ve encouraged and consoled us; you don’t know how much you empowered us simply by being here. Truly, simply by being here you...you don’t know how much... So please, Kagetora-sama, free yourself!”

“... Free.”

“We don’t blame anyone. We don’t even have that right! Even if you decide to fight Lord Kenshin...!”

(Fight...) Takaya murmured silently in his own mind.

Takemata knelt.

“Please beat me to your heart’s content. I can’t stand this if you won’t! Please let your wrath fall on me!”

“...I am not very perceptive.”

Takemata caught his breath and looked up at Takaya. Takaya looked up at the cedar with his back turned.

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Kagetora-sama...”

The two fell into another heavy silence. They could hear a clamor in the distance, the noise carried by the wind. Takemata turned, wondering what was going on. “I will go see.”

 
The uproar was happening at the tomb imprisoning Inaba Akemi. By the time Mitsuhide heard the news and hurried over, all the guards had been downed, the sarcophagus lay in tiny pieces, and the tomb was empty.

(An intruder...?!) Mitsuhide paled and raised his voice. “Who did this?! What happened here?! Someone has snatched the hostage away!”

“No...nobody did it!” A vassal receiving treatment for his wounds hurriedly explained to Mitsuhide. “It was the hostage herself! She suddenly manifested with «power» and destroyed the sarcophagus. She struck down the sentry with her will and disappeared into the forest!”

“She used «power»? The hostage was supposed to be an ordinary person.”

“Th...that was no person! It was a snake. A snake, Mitsuhide-sama!” another sentry said as he was carried over.

“What?” Mitsuhide goggled.

The sentry moaned confusedly, “It was a snake god! A huge snake with glowing red eyes appeared in front of us. It wanted to eat us. A snake with red eyes...! It was as tall as a person!”

“An illusion, perhaps,” said a voice behind him. He turned to see Takaya.

Mitsuhide looked suspicious. “Illusion? I suppose you didn’t have anything to do with her escape?”

“I didn’t do anything. The demonic serpent hatched.”

“Demonic serpent?”

“Yeah. The child of a poisonous snake spirit. Ootomo implanted demonic serpent’s eggs into Old Castle High SchoolOld Castle High School (古城高校)

Old Castle (Kojou) High School is a fictional school set at the site of the castle which was torn down to make way for Katou Kiyomasa's Kumamoto Castle (also named Kumamoto but using different characters—隈本城 instead of 熊本城). It's likely where real-life Kumamoto Prefectural Daiichi (First) High School stands.

It was originally built as a Western school by foreigners during the Meiji Period (Daiichi was built in 1903 as an all-girls school but later become co-ed). The current school was built around 20 years ago (1970s) and is composed of two three-story buildings to north and south connected by a series of hallways with air-conditioned rooms. It also has a sports oval, a prefabricated club storehouse, and a gym under construction. Kumamoto Castle Park is quite close.’s students to brainwash them. When they hatch, they allow even ordinary people to use «power».”

Mitsuhide was astonished. That they would use such methods... “Kagetora-dono, did you knowingly refuse to take measures?”

Takaya pursed his lips disinterestedly. Mitsuhide gave him a bitter glare before resuming his usual expression and gathering his subordinates.

“Track down the hostage and bring her back. She can’t have gone far. Kagetora-dono, do not think this means you are free. You will be going with the Himuka bird-people to Broadview Ridge [Daikan-bou]. That is the appointed place for the Asara exchange. The appointed time is near.”

Takaya lifted his eyes. “You’re stealing Asara from Miike?”

“I have no choice. If Kihachi’s head’s is in Ootomo hand, then it is all the more imperative we have Asara in ours. The more so if Ootomo and Kenshin are allied. Kagetora-dono, please cooperate with us.” Takaya didn’t answer. Mitsuhide’s eyes narrowed a little, and he quickly started walking away. “We’ll be heading for Kumamoto! Shimazu forces have entered the city. We will seize on the confusion of battle to capture Kihachi’s head from Ootomo. Make your preparations, everyone!”

Takaya saw Mitsuhide off with skeptical eyes.

The entire group of Himuka bird-people approached him from behind. Enoki addressed him.

“Please don’t make any stupid moves. The luminous flame stone will spew fire this time. If you don’t want your heart roasted, you’d better follow our orders.” Takaya turned to him expressionlessly. Enoki looked at him significantly. “We believe one of your associates is coming with Miike to bring Asara. The appointed time is midnight. Let’s go, Kagetora-sama.”

Enoki’s tone was quite insolent. Takaya glanced at him sidelong before leading the way without saying a word.

“Kagetora-sama, I’ll go with you!”

Takemata was hot on his heels. Takaya looked coldly at him.

“Stay here. You’ll be a burden.”

That was all he said before heading toward the shrine alone.

It was Inaba Akemi after her escape from Kokuzou Shrine.

The lights of many cars passed over her, but all of them ignored her. Normally Akemi would never be out walking at so late an hour. Then—a car with stereos blasting came up behind her and unexpectedly turned on its hazard lights and approached. The car was a metallic sports type. There were two young men inside.

“Hey Miss, Miss! Where are you going at this hour?”

Inaba Akemi looked at the two with red eyes.

“It’s dangerous for a girl to be walking out alone at this hour. Look, it’s gonna get even darker up ahead. It’s dangerous out here, so why don’tcha hop on? We’ll give you a lift.”

Akemi’s small lips moved as if she were saying something. But the music was so loud it was inaudible.

“Whaaat? Argh, the music’s too loud! I’m turning it down. Miss, what did you say?”

“Juri...sama...”

“Huh?”

The car CD suddenly broke off, and the radio came on at a deafening volume, though it hadn’t been touched. Still blaring, the radio changed frequencies on its own. It startled the young men.

“What the hell? Shut it down! This is weird, the player’s broken!”

“Huh? What’s going on?! Hey...!”

Akemi suddenly opened the door and pulled on the arm of the man in the passenger seat with amazing strength. He was forcibly hauled out and tossed to the asphalt.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

The instant he was about to grab Akemi, the young man’s forehead cracked open with a sound like a watermelon splitting.

“Eek? Eeeeek!!”

The young man leaned over with a hand pressed against his forehead as it suddenly gushed blood.

“Waugh! Oi! What the hell are you doing?!”

Even when he turned off the power the noise didn’t stop. As the startled young man in the driver’s seat began to get out of the car, Akemi made an unbelievable leap right over the car. As she hit the ground, she grabbed the driver’s hair in an eagle’s grip and literally yanked him out of the car. She then took his seat and stepped on the gas.

“Wh-whaaaat?!”

The car exploded down the street. Left behind, the two young men stared dumbfounded. Then the sudden sharp screech of a vehicle breaking behind them paralyzed them with terror.

“Hey, you looking to get yourselves killed?! What the hell are you doing sitting in the middle of the road?!” yelled the helmetless boy sitting astride a purple moped: Tetsuya.

“O-our car was just stolen. By a girl—a high school student.”

“What?!”

“She just smashed open his head out of nowhere. She grabbed me with one hand and threw me out...”

The other man sank to the ground, face covered in blood. Tetsuya shuddered and went white. He could never even have imagined that Akemi had done all this. Clenching his teeth, he sped down the road in full throttle as if in pursuit of the car.

(Damn it, what the bloody hell is happening?!)

Hokage had flown off, and something was apparently happening at Old Castle High School. The school had become an uncomfortable place since Mikuriya had arrived—had all the students gone completely crazy? And Kihachi’s head was supposed to be under the school.

(I’ll crush Kihachi...Kihachi’s head!)

At Tetsuya’s back was the votive sword of Takachiho Shrine Haruya had told him to take.

He charged toward the inner city as fast as his moped would carry him.

The streets of Kumamoto had already turned into a battlefield.

Shimazu’s great army had marched down National Highway 3 and started penetrating into the city at last.

There was already an uproar. Though transformed into a ghost town, there were still a few people on the streets. The onryouonryou (怨霊)

Lit.: "vengeful ghost"; the spirits of those who died in the Sengoku period who are still so filled with rage and hatred that they continue to exist in the world as vengeful spirits instead of being purified and reborn. had been spotted everywhere.

“Monsters—! Monsters are—!”

Drivers of taxis surrounded by warriors screamed and jumped out. Employees of shops fainted as shutters and signboards were demolished. There were traffic accidents all over the place, and dispatched ambulances and patrol cars were also encircled.

“D-don’t kill meeee! Heeeelp!”

The onryou rampaged with no consideration for the living. Destroying everything around them, the army advanced toward Old Castle High School. Naturally news of their movement reached Old Castle High School moment by moment. Mikuriya sent the students out to meet them.

Defenses against the Shimazu approaching from the south included the Shira and Tsuboi Rivers, which acted as Old Castle High School’s outer and inner moats. The students had been divided into castle garrison and expeditionary forces, and divisions had been placed at various critical positions such as the Chouroku and Yotsugi Bridges.

Koganezawa Kyouko and the other 2-D juniors were assigned the intersection at Shimotori Street in the business district. Even those side streets which ordinarily saw pub-hopping students and businessmen into the late hours had emptied in recent days. The rare pedestrian sought refuge inside buildings as the students ran around shouting: “They’re coming—!”

The onryou descended like raging billows, their massive formation like a tsunami. Skirmishes were already breaking out, affording the extraordinary spectacle of young men and women in their school uniforms battling skeletal warriors.

“Over here! They’re coming!”

Kyouko gathered her will, and sharp-edged light kindled and stretched in her hand. Every hand held a snake which transformed into spears, swords, and other weapons.

“Graaaah—!”

Roaring war cries, soldiers charged at Kyouko and the others. Kyouko brandished her serpent sword, hair flying.

“Hyaaaah!”

With a heavy meaty sound the sword sliced through the crown of the foot soldier’s head. Its next stroke scythed down three soldiers in a single horizontal sweep. She was indeed a fierce warrior. Kyouko cut away the encircling soldiers, but new ones continuously took their place. A horde of onryou closed in on Kyouko in an instant.

“Get out of my waaaay!”

Swords clashed violently. The students fought as if they had eight faces and six arms, but the onryou were more than they could handle. Local earth-bound spirits also began to go berserk, and their combined mass overwhelmed the students. Along the arcade, poltergeists began to wrench open the shutters and pillage the shops.

Takaya’s classmates were conducting their own offensive and defensive operations on the Taihei Bridge spanning the Shira River. Endou was among them, unflinchingly meeting Shimazu soldiers firing guns made of will with his own «nenpanenpa (念波)

Lit.: "waves of will/thought"; a nendouryoku attack using spiritual energy which focuses the will and releases it in a burst to strike at a target.».

“Forward forward fowaaaard!”

The students who had sat in Takaya’s row in class fought with «power» on a level with his. Taihei Bridge was the scene of a intense clash of wills.

“Guh!”

“Graaah!”

A volley from the guns sent several flying. They were unique firearms fashioned by the Ikkou Sect’s Saiga group. Nothing could match their power. The students didn’t know how to create barriers. They could only single-mindedly return a barrage of will.

“Aim at their shooters! Their shooters!”

The executive office member’s command was drowned out by the sound of shelling. The students ducked their heads and desperately returned fire. But they were being pressed down. The Shimazu forces advanced slowly but steadily.

“Do not falter; they must not take this position! They can’t be allowed to break through! Fight with your will until the end!”

 
Meanwhile, the onryou escalated their destruction yet again. Municipal trams were overturned, cars demolished and turned into pillars of flame. The glass windows of buildings were crushed, railway tracks torn up, innocent city inhabitants chased through the streets. The Old Castle High School students fought on, trying to protect their city.

Patrol cars and fire engines came and went, sirens blaring. Onryou swaggered beside them as if they already owned it all. This extraordinary spectacle spread throughout the entire city.

 
The main body of enemy general Shimazu Toshihisa’s troops entered Kitaoka Nature Park to the southwest of the old castle. This was where the Hosokawa family’s mausoleum was located. It was below |Mt. Hanaoka, where Toshihisa had established his headquarters. He had a perfect view of the old castle from here.

“Reporting!” A runner approached to give his report. “Katsuta-dono’s diversionary force has entered the city center. Enemy soldiers are continuing to gather there!”

“Good. Continue the assault. What of the Noda team’s movements?”

“It is moving to flank the enemy.”

“Reporting! Another group of earth-bound spirits have gone berserk around Kumamoto Castle!”

“What?” Toshihisa stared. His aide Saruwatari NobumitsuSaruwatari Nobumitsu (猿渡信光) 1534 - 1587-05-24

Saruwatari Nobumitsu was son of Saruwatari Nobusuke and a retainer of the Shimazu Clan. He held Kaseda and Hazuki as his fiefdoms and was extolled as a brave warrior. He fought in the invasion of Higo and led 1,000 soldiers (out of 6,000 - 8,000) in the Battle of Okitanawate of May 3, 1584 against the Ryuuzouji army. His heir Yajirou was killed in the battle.

He was killed in 1587 during the Battle of Nejirozaka during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's pacification of Kyuushuu. provided an explanation. These earth-bound spirits had died in battle during the Satsuma Rebellion in the tenth year of Meiji (1877). The Satsuma army led by Saigou Takamori had besieged garrison soldiers led by Tani Tateki at Kumamoto Castle. These were ghosts from that time.

“That’s perfect. Incite them further; let them draw the enemy’s gaze. I want them to cause trouble and be as conspicuous as possible.”

Aye! the runner confirmed, and darted off.

Toshihisa observed the lights of the old castle afresh. The sports ground and buildings were brilliantly lit, like a castle illuminated by braziers. This was indeed a castle under attack.

“The enemy garrison seems to have acquired its power almost instantly,” Nobumitsu commented, and Toshihisa nodded.

“Why, in the end they’re only spineless puppets. A brute force strategy is usually as fragile as a glass cannon.”

(Wait, Iehisa. This is your battle of revenge. I will capture that tiny castle.)

Another messenger rushed over and knelt in front of Toshihisa.

“Reporting! Akechi Mitsuhide-sama has arrived in Kumamoto! He asks that you take heed of the developments around the «Golden Serpent Head» beneath the old castle! Mitsuhide-sama will personally participate in the assault on the castle!”

“What? Mitsuhide-sama—?” Toshihisa was startled. “Very well,” he answered loudly. “Send soldiers to the Aso entrance to welcome him and escort him safely to headquarters.”

At that moment.

With a sudden loud sound as of a breaker tripping, all the electrical lights in the park went off—and not just the park, but the whole city.

“Have they done it?”

Shimazu’s construction crew had cut the electrical cables beneath the bridge, causing the entire city to black out. It would be a hindrance to the castle garrison, whose human sight was unaided by other means.

“Now. Launch the attack!”

 
The students couldn’t see very far in the darkness of a blacked-out city.

Taking advantage, the Shimazu forces pushed forward. Chaos erupted in several places, and here and there the enemy broke through. Luckily there was a moon out tonight. When their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they were able to resume fighting and hold out against the enemy.

But the onryou were too numerous for them to handle.

In the midst of the battle, one brilliant warrior stood out among the rest: Narita Yuzuru.

“That position is lost! If you stay, you’ll be surrounded! Move to my location”

Fighting with Yokote no GorouYokote no Gorou (横手五郎)

Orphaned son of courageous general Kiyama Masachika of Higo, he was a giant of a man recognized as a person of unrivaled physical strength, said to possess the strength of 75 men. He was one of the coolie workers who built Kumamoto Castle.

"Yokote no" is not a family name; it means "side/beside", so Yokote no Gorou is something like "Gorou at the side". and others near Senba Bridge, the ferocity of his power was in a class of its own. Yokote no Gorou, who had lost his position after being separated from his unit, was astonished.

“Is...is he a monster...?”

The snake manifested by Yuzuru was no ordinary snake, but a huge serpent of savage power. Wielding it toward a group of attacking onryou, he mowed down dozens at a time—and then he produced four, five more which he controlled with ease. The «nenpa» he hurled trailed long tails through the air like artillery shells and destroyed targets hundreds of meters ahead.

Even Yuzuru was astonished by his own power.

(I’m amazing...!)

The amount of power he wielded was terrifying; he even wanted to thank Mikuriya for his demonic serpent.

(Now maybe I can be equal to Takaya!)

Since Senba Bridge was the most crucial point, the attacking force was a powerful one. Yuzuru shielded the students as they tried to escape. A golden aura danced up around him. He never noticed, but when he wielded his «power>, his expression held a demonic edge.

(I’ll protect everyone in Takaya’s place...!)

“Graaah—!”

Yuzuru shouted a war-cry and attacked the onryou. Overwhelmed, they were unable to advance. He drove back an entire unit by himself.

“This... ’Tis astonishing!” Deeply moved, Yokote no Gorou shivered. “I must report to my lady!”

“Haaah!”

Yuzuru launched a psychic attack. The warriors easily gave way. Yuzuru felt oddly relaxed. Power welled endless from within him. The warriors fell back like a receding wave in fear. Seizing the momentum, the students pressed the attack. But the enemy wasn’t so easily dislodged. They instantly fired a volley of their psychic guns.

“Feh!”

Yuzuru spread his arms wide to create a wall to shield the students. The bullets instantly bounced off.

“Don’t fall for their tricks! Get behind me, everyone!” Yuzuru yelled as he repelled the enemy attack. “I’ll hold this position! Don’t get ahead of me! My...!”

The asphalt broke into pieces in front of him, and he shielded himself. In the instant he lifted his head to counterattack, Yuzuru felt something go wrong. A pain ran through his forehead.

(What...!)

The sharp pain came again and again. He pressed against his forehead, bending double.

(This is—...)

He looked at his own hand. The memory immediately came back to him. He’d experienced this same pain on that Miya Island-bound ferry two years ago. He couldn’t seem to move his fingers—as if they had gone numb from cold. The feeling spread to his arms and feet, freezing them in place. He felt as if the seed’s roots were tearing through his skin.

(Wasn’t it supposed to be frozen...?)

Yuzuru was horror-stricken. The students around him called out to him, but he didn’t hear them. The ‘Seed of the Demon King’ suddenly manifested its power. Another consciousness violently forced Yuzuru’s down and under.

(I should be able to overcome it now.)

He had power now. Otherwise he would cause trouble for Takaya and the others again.

(I won’t allow it...!)

Though he fought desperately, slowly but surely darkness spread across his consciousness. It was a sign that he was being invaded, that someone else was snatching control over his body. Yuzuru resisted. He was in trouble. He had to resist...!

(I can’t... let—...)

 
“!”

Yokote no Gorou was about to leave when he heard a thunderous roar. He turned, and his eyes widened.

“What?!”

Yuzuru wrapped his arms around a power pole and pulled it out of the ground, tearing the asphalt cruelly. He ripped off the dangling power lines, sparks flying. Students screamed. Chuckling, he heaved the pole onto his shoulder.

“You couldn’t hold me back, so here I am.” Yuzuru let out a low snicker. “Won’t you let me have some fun, too?”

Gorou trembled violently. (Who...who is that?)

Yuzuru suddenly wrapped his arms around the power pole and hurled it with superhuman strength at the retreating warriors. The pole shrilled heroically through the air like a missile and leveled the warriors to the ground with a thunderous boom. After a psychic bombardment that indiscriminately pounded everything around him, including the buildings, Yuzuru lightly drew breath.

“I appear to be in fine form.”

His lips twisted into a cruel smile.

A cold wind blew across the rooftops.

Mikuriya Juri folded her arms as she glared over the city from the rooftop of the southern building.

Battle reports poured into the military operation headquarters. The battle had started about two hours ago, but no decision had been reached. They were almost evenly matched.

(We have to attain victory before the students run out of stamina.)

Which was why the «Golden Serpent Head» had to be excavated quickly.

Old Castle High School’s generators had kicked in as soon as the grid had lost power. They had been carried in along with other supplies in preparation for a siege. A small crane was currently raising the «Golden Serpent Head» from its resting place some ten-plus meters underground and through several layers of protections. Yet it was now in sight.

“It must be raised tonight. There is no more time,” Jouun said to Mikuriya. “What magnificent power. I feel as if we were taking the serpent’s quickening in our hands.”

“Verily so. I, too, am overwhelmed. I thrill to think that I might wield this eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent of legend. Once it is in my hands, I will destroy Shimazu’s soldiers in one fell swoop.”

Julia was a snake-spirit charmer, which meant that her ability at its fullest could bend the eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent to her will with ease. The «Golden Serpent Head» would be the cornerstone of the ‘Ritual of the Great Fire Wheel’, but used on its own it made for a secret weapon of terrifying power.

(The sooner it is raised, the better,) Irobe thought as he listened to the battle reports. The longer the battle stretched out, the greater the danger to the students. Though they had Narita Yuzuru with them, he couldn’t protect them all over such a wide area.

(If the power of the «Golden Serpent Head» can destroy them all in one burst—)

“Mikuriya-sama!” An executive office member attached to an inner castle command rushed up, shoving a runner aside. “A new force is heading this way from New Town! It’s enormous!”

“What?!” Mikuriya yelled, turning. “A strike at our flank? Very well—send out reinforcements. Castle garrison second unit, prepare for battle! Third unit, sortie immediately!”

Mikuriya’s crisp commands impelled the students within the school into hectic action.

“So the troops sent into the city were a diversionary force,” Jouun noted grimly. “Please be careful. A brute-force Shimazu strike will be fierce. It would be better to recall more of the garrison to reinforce our siege preparedness. We must not underestimate the enemy.”

“I did not ask your opinion regarding the attack, Jouun,” Mikuriya said coldly. “You were defeated by Shimazu forces in a castle siege—thus you fear it. I will not repeat history. We will not repeat your failures at Iwaya CastleIwaya Castle (岩屋城)

A mountain castle located in Chikuzen Province known as the location for the fierce Siege of Iwaya Castle between Shimazu forces lead by Shimazu Tadatake and Ootomo forces led by Takahashi Jouun..”

“!”

(What a thing to say!) Irobe thought. When he turned, Jouun’s face had become pale and stiff.

“I don’t need your instructions on how to fight my battle. I would like you to return to the excavation site to oversee the operation immediately.”

Jouun stood frozen in place, humiliated—then he forced calm on himself, bowed, and left the rooftop.

“Jouun-dono!” Irobe called, chasing after Jouun as he vanished into the staircase entrance.

In life, Takahashi Jouun had lost Chikuzen Iwaya Castle to Shimazu forces after a terrible siege and honorable defeat.

(What did felt as he fought?)

At the time, in order to save the teetering Ootomo, he’d made a last gambit. Shimazu planned to continue on to Tachibana Castle after the fall of Iwaya Castle. Tachibana castle belonged to his son, Tachibana Muneshige. Muneshige intended to hold Tachibana Castle to the bitter end with his biological father, but Jouun absolutely rejected that outcome. He deliberately went to ground in Iwaya Castle, despite its disadvantageous position, in order to block Shimazu’s thrust toward Tachibana Castle, gambling on reinforcements from Hideyoshi.

Recognizing Jouun’s military prowess, Shimazu adjured him again and again to surrender, to no avail. The last battle of the siege was recorded in SengokuSengoku (戦国)

The "warring states" period, lasting from 1467 to 1615, in which the warlords of Japan battled each other for the rule of the country. history as one of the fiercest ever fought. Shimazu’s casualties far exceeded their expectations, such that they could not immediately set about an assault on Tachibana Castle. The reinforcements Ootomo had requested from Hideyoshi arrived, and before that great army Shimazu was forced to retreat with the conquest of KyuushuuKyuushuu (九州)

Also known as: Kyuukoku (九国: “nine states”), Chinzei (鎮西: “west of the pacified area”), Tsukushi-shima (筑紫島: “island of Tsukushi”), Saikaidou (西海道: “West Sea Route”).

Lit.: "Nine Provinces", the third-largest and most southerly and westerly island of Japan. Its name comes from the former provinces of Japan situated on the island: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hizen, Higo, Buzen, Bungo, Hyuuga, Osumi, and Satsuma. It is now comprised of the prefectures of Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Ooita, Saga, and Okinawa. at their fingertips. Knowing this, Muneshige pursued the Shimazu as fervently as if to avenge his father and distinguished himself highly. Thus the Ootomo managed to survive.

Jouun had given his all.

Someone who understood the meaning of that battle would never allow the words ‘repeat your failures’ to pass their lips.

In the midst of the general exodus of Sourin’s retainers, to say such a thing to Jouun, who had fought with steadfast loyalty, was outrageous.

Irobe, himself a commander, keenly sympathized.

He didn’t care about himself, but how could he repay his dead soldiers? That was what Jouun was thinking.

Irobe knew it, and he was indignant on Jouun’s behalf. He turned and was about to ascend the stairs to say something to Mikuriya, but Jouun stopped him.

“Irobe-dono, it’s fine. Let it go.”

“But Jouun-dono...!”

“Leave it. I’m fine.”

But it was intolerable for Irobe. He looked at Jouun. —What the hell was this «Yami-SengokuYami Sengoku (闇戦国)

Lit.: "Dark Sengoku", the civil war still being fought by the spirits of the warlords of the Sengoku period in modern-day Japan.»?

(A battle fought in contempt of all the weight of the past...?!)

 
Not just the past; the onryou were insatiable.

The dead, who should have hated the ‘war’ that killed them, instead fought a war without end as if it were the only thing that could save them.

Within the darkness, the bellows of the dead could be heard endlessly in the streets of Kumamoto.

A girl surveyed the scene from on high with the moon at her back.

Chiaki Shuuhei had come to the designated hostage exchange location, Broadview Ridge.

Originally called Watchtower Nose, it had been renamed Broadview Ridge by Tokutomi Sohou because it had the most magnificent view in all of Aso. It was the highest spot on the northern rim, and offered an unbroken view of the Five Peaks of Aso and the caldera. It also offered the most beautiful view of the Buddha entering nirvana.

The moon was out, and the majestic outline of the Five Peaks could clearly be seen. They looked like a giant sleeping in the moonlight. This place jutted out like a small headland within the caldera. The wind was fierce. On the crater’s outer rim were several other ‘Noses’ indicating headlands or peninsulas—not such a misnomer if one considered that the caldera had been a gigantic lake in ancient times.

It was cold enough to freeze your ears off, and the more so due to the strength of the wind. That the elevation was 900 meters above sea level and it was midnight in midwinter didn’t help.

Chiaki Shuuhei stood waiting in front of the stone tablet bearing ‘Broadview Ridge’.

(Is that them?)

Several figures approached—perhaps five or six people. He could see each of them clearly in the moonlight. He recognized Enoki Masamichi and Saeki Ryouko among them.

(The two I met in the hospital...)

They belonged to the Himuka faith and yet were actually on Rairyuu’s side. They were the very ones who had told the «Yami-Sengoku» onshouonshou (怨将)

Lit.: "vengeful general": the spirits of the warlords of the Sengoku period, who continue their battles even in modern-age Japan. about Asara.

“Some nerve, pretending you were oh-so-innocent back there,” Chiaki shouted. “You were the ones who had Rairyuu kidnap the girl, weren’t you, Mr. and Miss Angels Who Flew Through the Sky. You were working with the Ikkou Sect all along. I trust you brought Inaba. You abducted Ougi Takaya too, didn’t you? Where have you stashed him?”

“I don’t see Asara-hime. Where is she?” Enoki demanded in response. “The agreement was to exchange the hostage for Asara-hime.”

“Let the hostage go first. Where is Inaba?”

“Inaba isn’t here.”

“...!” Chiaki whirled in surprise at the voice from the stairs. He knew that voice.

A high school student in school uniform approached from the observation platform.

Chiaki goggled.

It was the abducted Ougi Takaya.

“Kagetora, you!”

You’re all right!—was what he was about to say, when he felt something off about Takaya. Neither Takaya’s expression nor the coldness of his gaze changed when he saw Chiaki.

“Inaba escaped on her own. She’s not here.”

“On her own? From the Ikkou Sect?”

“Mikuriya implanted demon serpent’s eggs in the students to brainwash them; it hatched. Inaba was able to use «power», and she escaped.”

“Demon serpent’s eggs?”

Was that the magnet carried by each of the students which had attracted the spirits to them?

“She’s probably headed for Old Castle High School. Mikuriya intends to make the brainwashed students her castle garrison. Although,” Takaya paused and then added coldly, “—you probably knew about that trick a long time ago.”

(What...?) Chiaki looked puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

Takaya looked down and fell silent. The bird-people rushed breathlessly into the gap.

“Faith-Protector! We can’t find Asara! She’s not here!”

“What?! You didn’t bring Asara? What is the meaning of this?!”

“I guess it was a mistake for you to let this man come in contact with Miike.”

Enoki looked at Takaya in shock. Takaya was speaking of Chiaki.

“What do you mean?”

“He must have heard about Asara and Kihachi’s head from Miike. That information’s probably been leaked to Ootomo, and they’ve taken Asara.”

“What...?!”

“What the hell nonsense are you talking about, Kagetora?!” Chiaki demanded indignantly. Takaya looked back coldly at his shout. “What is all this crap you’re spouting?! Are you saying I’m in league with Ootomo?! Have you gone crazy or what?!”

“Where is Asara?” Takaya asked with half-lidded eyes. “Did you give her to Ootomo? Or have you hidden her away in your pocket to get ahead of Ootomo?” Chiaki had no idea what Takaya meant. Takaya told the bird-people, “There’s a possibility he’s communicating with the New Uesugi. The New Uesugi is allied with Ootomo. Ootomo is trying to obtain the «Golden Serpent Head»—aka Kihachi’s head.”

“‘New Uesugi’...?”

What was that? What was Kagetora talking about?

Chiaki had never heard of it before, and it bewildered him.

“What are you talking about? What do you mean, new? Who’s allied with Ootomo? What’ve they been blowing up your ass after kidnapping you?!”

Takaya didn’t respond. Instead, with a cold expression on his face, he abruptly readied himself to fight.

“You...!”

Chiaki shuddered. This was the first time Takaya had menaced him so directly. Bloodlust quietly filled his eyes.

(He’s gonna...fight me?)

“What the hell are you doing, Kagetora! Stop acting stupid! Are you on their side now?! You gonna ally with the Ikkou Sect?!”

A sharp pain suddenly flashed across Chiaki’s cheek.

An arrow-like object had brushed past him. His face stiffened as he felt a trickle of blood. Takaya had used his will. He didn’t trust Chiaki. He was probably on Naoe’s side, getting his orders from Kenshin.

“...I don’t have Asara.” Chiaki finally shouted through clenched teeth. “She flew off! Like those guys there!”

“Flew. Where?!”

“How should I know?! She was called by Kihachi! Asara’s blood has taken control! Hokage blasted the Miike Spirit-Protector and then went to join her Onpachi-sama!”

The bird-people tensed simultaneously. They looked at each other, nodded, and sprouted glowing auras around their bodies. They were calling on their flying ability, a gift of the Himuka people.

Their feet left the ground. A moment later they had soared high into the air away from Broadview Ridge and toward the Aso caldera.

They headed for Kumamoto.

At Broadview Ridge only Takaya and Chiaki remained.

Still glaring at each other.

“You planning to kill me, Kagetora?” Chiaki asked warily. Takaya’s bloodlust didn’t ease. “Who’s been putting stupid ideas in your head? What’ve they been telling you...?!”

“Lord Kenshin has entered the «Yami-Sengoku»”

“...!” Chiaki goggled. “What...did you...say?”

“Lord Kenshin has created a New Meikai Uesugi ArmyMeikai Uesugi Gun (冥界上杉軍)

Lit. "Underworld Uesugi Army"; the army formed by Uesugi Kenshin to hunt down the onryou so that the peace of modern-day Japan is not threatened by centuries-old conflicts. It is composed of all the spirits who have some connection to the Uesugi and who were called upon by Kenshin. The Yasha-shuu could be called its commanders, though Uesugi Kagetora is the only person with the authority to lead it. and made Naoe its general. Naoe has allied with Ootomo. It started with the SagaSaga-shi (佐賀市)

Saga City is the capital city of Saga Prefecture, located on Kyushu, the most southwesterly of Japan's four main islands. Lady in White being ordered to subjugate Ryuuzouji. They were discovered and killed by Kikkawa Motoharu.”

Chiaki was absolutely stunned.

(Entered the «Yami-Sengoku»... Naoe is the new general.)

Everything clarified in his mind. Kaizaki supporting Ootomo; Irobe and Hakkai keeping their actions secret from Kagetora, saying they were under Kenshin’s direct orders. And Naoe, alive...!

Everything they had said linked up into a single thread in his mind.

(New Meikai Uesugi Army...!)

Chiaki was shocked.

He felt as if Kenshin had thrust a blade at his own throat.

(But that’s...that’s ridiculous—...)

“Takemata Yoshitsuna gave me the details. Akechi MitsuhideAkechi Mitsuhide (明智光秀) 1526 - 1582

Title: Hyuga no Kami
Also known as: Koreta Mitsuhide

A talented general and poet who belonged to the inner circle of Oda Nobunaga's vassals. He later ambushed Nobunaga at Honnou Temple in 1582, killing both Nobunaga and his heir, Oda Nobutada. Akechi Mitsuhide then proclaimed himself the new shogun, but soon clashed against Toyotomi Hideyoshi's forces and was defeated in the Battle of Yamazaki only 13 days later. He was killed en route to his stronghold of Sakamoto Castle in the village of Ogurusu by a bandit with a bamboo spear (though an alternate theory states that he was not killed but became a monk instead). took him as a prisoner of war.” Takaya was expressionless—was he suppressing his emotions? “It’s apparently what Hakkai told him.”

“...”

“Naoe—Lord Kenshin intends to eliminate me, it seems.”

Chiaki was at a loss for words.

Takaya faced him and once again gathered his «power». His eyes had lost none of their wariness as they gazed at Chiaki. At that moment Chiaki understood why he was prepared to kill.

Why there was a blade directed at him. It was for self-protection.

Kagetora, removed from his position as general and driven out of the Uesugi, had only one path left.

He was going to be eliminated.

He knew why Takaya was so on guard. The strong energy coming from him blazed like crimson flames.

Takaya was trying to protect himself.

 
The moon emerged from concealment behind a small cloud, pouring bright light onto Broadview Ridge.

Their shadows fell on the concrete at their feet.

In the strong wind, Chiaki fixed Takaya with a fierce glare.

“You suspect me too?” he demanded in a stifled voice.

“...”

“You think Kenshin has me under his wing? You think I’m gonna kill you?”

“...”

“You gonna «exorcise» me so I don’t kill you?”

Takaya glared painfully at Chiaki.

“Are you gonna kill me, Kagetora?!”

Chiaki’s aura flared from him from head to toe. His teeth set, Takaya manifested his will. The wind surged between them.

(I’m not gonna die at your hands, Kagetora...!)

The place which had sought Asura had now become the arena for a fight to the death.

 
TO BE CONTINUED...