different warring states of japan

The Ashikaga shogunate declined, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki Nishikari became a puppet protected by the Mori family. The poor Komikado, who was not recognized by the world's samurai families, had long been discredited.

Yoshigan Shiba, who now controls the Kyoto shogunate and has brought Kanto under his control, is already considered by the samurai family to be the number one person in the world in name only.

His every move was the focus. As soon as he left Tamonyama Castle, the news spread throughout Kinki.

Countless people are speculating on the reason why the saint returned to Kanto in a hurry, but Akechi Mitsuhide has already received the confirmed news from Kanto.

These days, Mitsuhide Akechi has refused many diplomatic missions in the name of paying homage to his late father and recuperating to have a baby.

Oda Nobunaga killed Hatano Hideharu with a single sword, which not only caused a commotion among the Tamba samurai family, but also destroyed the credibility of the Fushimi Castle system and gave rise to a panicky distrust among the Kinki samurai family.

At this time, as the person in charge of the Fushimi Castle system, Akechi Mitsuhide should appease the emotions of the Kinki samurai family as soon as possible and stabilize the hearts of the Kinki people.

This is what both Shiba Yoshigan and Oda Nobunaga want her to do, but she seems to have her own ideas and has stayed put.

Externally, Akechi Mitsuhide claimed that he had a strong reaction during pregnancy and was unable to do anything and needed to rest behind closed doors.

Internally, she privately spread her dissatisfaction, using the reason that her father was killed by Oda Nobunaga to change the public's view of her closeness to Oda.

Akechi Mitsuhide encouraged Hashiba Hideyoshi to write a letter and misled Oda Nobunaga into killing Hatano Hideharu.

This resulted in the murder of her fake father, who was held as a hostage in the Hatano family, and successfully cut off her close relationship with Oda Nobunaga.

Both public and private, Akechi Mitsuhide was a victim. At this moment, she was pregnant with the divine seed of a saint, and she was not afraid even if she showed a hint of anti-Oda tendencies.

Shiba Yoshigan acquiesced out of guilt, and Oda Nobunaga was in a good mood because he was pregnant, and he was unwilling to care too much about forcing too much.

Akechi Mitsuhide, the conspirator hiding in Fushimi Castle, was weaving a huge spider web, slowly closing in on Oda Nobunaga.

Fushimi Castle, the residence of Mitsuhide Akechi.

Akechi Mitsuhide put the information on the case and rubbed his temples tiredly.

The power of the god's seed is indeed extraordinary. I thought that the discomfort during pregnancy was due to the pretentiousness of those women, but I didn't expect that it was really a struggle day and night. Even Akechi Mitsuhide himself complained that it was too much.

For Akechi Mitsuhide, who is working hard and implementing the plan step by step, now is really an excellent time.

The saint spent a year's grace and rain, making all the important ministers, allies, and even Oda Nobunaga of Kinki Spo become pregnant.

This means that everyone is weak during pregnancy, has low energy, and has reached a low point in controlling and handling external affairs.

Akechi Mitsuhide can use this window period to contact the Kinki samurai family and Oda retainers who are dissatisfied with Oda Nobunaga to complete his plan.

The first is Hashiba Hideyoshi, who has been dragged down by Akechi Mitsuhide.

Hashiba Hideyoshi wrote a letter stating that Hatano Hideharu colluded with Betsujo Haru with the intention of launching a rebellion and misled Oda Nobunaga to kill Hatano Hideyoshi, which resulted in the disastrous consequences of the Hatano family surrendering and revolting.

Coupled with her secret contact with the Mori family, Nizi's army was defeated by Izumo, and she also provided information about Nizi Katsuhisa's journey, causing her to be assassinated.

This evidence alone was enough to make the two masters, Oda Nobunaga and Shiba Yoshigan, furious and wanted to cut Hideyoshi into pieces.

The greedy Hashiba Hideyoshi has been lured into the quagmire by Akechi Mitsuhide, sinking deeper and deeper into the quagmire. There is no possibility of turning back. Her only chance of survival is the death of Oda Nobunaga.

Secondly, there are other Oda retainers.

Although Shibata Katsuie was listed as a member of the clan by Oda Nobunaga because he married Oda City Lord for the second time, he served as the leader of Echizen Ichikuni.

However, the Echizen Oda army suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Uesugi Kenshin, which made the Oda family the laughing stock of the Hokurikudo samurai family. Oda Nobunaga was already very disappointed with Shibata Katsuie.

Although the blame for the final defeat was carried by Hashiba Hideyoshi, who left the field early, and turned to the West, Shibata Katsuie himself also suffered heavy casualties.

Uesugi Kenshin had taken the initiative to retreat, but the Echizen Oda army controlled by Shibata Katsuie lost the energy to continue the offensive.

Shibata Katsuie could only isolate the boundary line between the Oda and Uesugi families through the political method of entrusting the Maeda Toshike family with the Kanazawa Plain.

As the most powerful general of the Oda family, Shibata Katsuie showed restraint and weakness. Shibata Katsuie was no longer as brave as before, which made Oda Nobunaga very dissatisfied. It was only a matter of time before he lost power.

Only she knew what kind of tactics Oda Nobunaga, Lin Xiuzhen, and Sakuma Nobumori had for the unenterprising Oda retainers, and whether Shibata Katsuie was panicking or not.

Tsuneki Ikeda, whom Oda Nobunaga trusted the most, was guarding the newly conquered Settsu Kingdom, and Niwa Nagahide supervised Kitahata Nobubo's expedition to Shikoku.

Her cronies were far away in the West, and Oda Nobunaga was surrounded by retainers who feared her more than loved her.

The time is ripe to take action, and now all it takes is one more push, and the Oda retainers group will subconsciously give up on Oda Nobunaga as the British master.

For the Wu family, the family property under the family name is not the private property of the family governor alone.

Oda Nobunaga centralized power and reformed, and although he swept through the Warring States Period, he conquered 4 million koku of territory and achieved unparalleled achievements.

But from the traditional perspective of the samurai family, her deviance has made the Oda family's Hime Warriors intolerable.

The reason why everyone still obeys her is mainly because of the Wu family's inherent admiration for strength and the fear of her powerful strength.

But no matter how strong Oda Nobunaga is, she is only one person. As long as she is mortal, she can be killed. As long as she is killed, the Oda family's hegemony will instantly fall apart.

The hegemony of the Oda family was based on the peerless talent of Oda Nobunaga. When this strong man died, this foundation would no longer be able to continue.

The Oda retainers group could not tolerate the appearance of a centralized Oda Nobunaga in their family. Even if they divided their belongings and dispersed, and each returned to his own village, they would not support the next Oda Nobunaga.

Akechi Mitsuhide only needs to kill Oda Nobunaga and turn the Oda family into a mess, and her goal will be achieved.

In order to appease Akechi Mitsuhide because his father who was a hostage died miserably, Shiba Yoshigan has granted Akechi Mitsuhide the authority to mobilize the army and attack the Hatano family in Tamba country.

Oda Nobunaga also acquiesced to this. After all, she was the one who killed Akechi Mitsuhide's father, so there was no need to be unhappy with the saint on this matter.

Therefore, Akechi Mitsuhide already had a legitimate reason to mobilize troops and could assemble troops near Kyoto without suspicion.

Tanba Kingdom is northwest of Kyoto. As long as Akechi Mitsuhide sends troops, he will inevitably pass through Kyoto. What she needs to do now is to trick Oda Nobunaga from Azuchi Castle to Kyoto.

Azuchi Castle is the only way from Minami Omi to Kyoto, and it is very close to Kyoto.

Oda Nobunaga chose to build Azuchi Castle as his new residence in order to control the political situation in Kyoto nearby.

Although the Kyoto shogunate is becoming a decoration and is under the control of the Shiba family, Oda Nobunaga still has great influence on Kyoto.

In order to divide the hostility of the Buddhist sects against him, Oda Nobunaga has been supporting the Daitokuji sect of the Rinzai sect and the Honnoji sect of the Nichiren sect, creating obstacles for other sects that oppose him.

Therefore, Oda Nobunaga often went to Kyoto, so it was not difficult to lure her there.

And while Mitsuhide Akechi was planning to attack Oda Nobunaga, the saint hurried back to Kanto, giving Mitsuhide Akechi a God-given opening.

The saint is not in Kinki, and the important ministers are weak during pregnancy, and the reactions of all parties will become slower. Akechi Mitsuhide will have enough time to do what he wants to do.

Under Akechi Mitsuhide, Saito Rizo and Fujibayashi Mukuro sat on the left and right sides. The information about the Kanto Incident in front of her was brought by Fujibayashi Mukuro. Mitsuhide Akechi smiled and said.

“I didn’t expect that something like this would happen in Guandong, God help me.

The saint will not be able to come back for a while when he goes back this time. He will not be able to take care of Nishi Kuni Katsuhisa's case, let alone keep an eye on me. "

Akechi Mitsuhide, who was in a good mood, turned to Fujibayashi Mukuro and asked softly.

"How are you doing lately? Are you having a good time?"

Fujibayashi shook his head.

"Too bad, Bai Di San Taifu is chasing me like a mad dog, and many of my secret lines have been cut off.

After all, she is the leader of the secrecy team, a veteran jounin, and is still very capable.

It was because of my submissive attitude before that she relaxed her vigilance in the past few years, and that was why I successfully assassinated her.

Now that she has been scolded by the saint, she will naturally try her best to suppress me.

I have long said that the scandal of betraying intelligence will not bring her down. She only needs to throw out a few scapegoats, and the saint will believe her.

After all, she is an old minister who has followed the saint for nine years, so she still has some trust.

On the contrary, I am struggling now.

Being suppressed by her with all her strength, I'm afraid I will soon lose all the hidden connections in the periphery. If you need me in the future, you need to take action earlier.

It's too late, I'm afraid I don't have the strength to help you anymore. "

Akechi Mitsuhide shook his head.

"Not urgent.

The saint has returned to Kanto, and Yagyu Munenomi and his people are investigating the case in the Western Kingdom. The matter still needs to continue to ferment, and I want Hideyoshi Hashiba to be unable to help but jump out. "

Fujibayashi Mukuro has endured Momochi Santafu for so many years, and this time he decided to take action, and he must kill Momochi Santafu.

If he is exposed this time, he will not have such a good opportunity in the future. Momochi Santao will not fall into the same pit twice, and Fujibayashi Mukuo's situation will become more and more dangerous.

Fujibayashi Mukuro has already put everything on the line to bring down Momochi Santafu. She was the first to go. Now she can only trust Akechi Mitsuhide and follow Akechi Mitsuhide all the way to the dark side.

Akechi Mitsuhide is not in a hurry, he still needs to think about it.

After killing Oda Nobunaga, the next step was to pin the blame for Nizi Katsuhisa on Hashiba Hideyoshi and kill Hashiba Hideyoshi.

As the most pioneering and enterprising minister of the Oda family, Hideyoshi Hashiba came from a very low background, was flexible in his methods, and was not as conservative as the traditional martial arts family.

If there is anyone in the Oda family who can inherit Oda Nobunaga's mantle, it can only be Hideyoshi Hashiba.

This is Mitsuhide Akechi's intuition. Both Oda and Hashiba are equally greedy, equally tireless, and equally eager to obtain.

They are not martial arts in the traditional sense. Although their temperaments are very different, they are both anti-system and anti-traditional in nature.

After the death of Oda Nobunaga, Akechi Mitsuhide would immediately take care of Hashiba Hideyoshi, remove all hidden dangers before the saint returned to Kinki, and then watch with a smile as the saint became a unique person in the world.

The third husband of Momochi is going to die, but Akechi Mitsuhide is not Fujibayashi's pawn, but her master, so naturally he will not be instigated by her to lose his sense of proportion.

Akechi Mitsuhide looked at Saito Rizo and asked.

"Ryuuki Saito went to Nogun-kun?"

Saito Rizo bowed.

"Hi."

Akechi Mitsuhide nodded and smiled.

Although Nobunaga has reconciled with Oda Nobunaga, his influence is still there.

Nong-kun is still slightly wary of Mitsuhide Akechi, his cheap cousin, but he is very cautious about Ryuuki Saito, his biological niece.

Many words and many things were said inadvertently from Saito Ryuuki's mouth, which was more useful than Akechi Mitsuhide's exhaustion of words.

Saito Ryuuki is already quite young, and Akechi Mitsuhide intends to let her make her debut to participate in next year's Tanba expedition and make contributions.

Only gaining military merit and gaining territory with rewards is the most orthodox way to revive the family business. Regarding the revival of the Saito family, No-kun could not help but ask for help from Oda Nobunaga.

Oda Nobunaga had acquired Mino long ago, and now it has been completely digested. The Oda-Saito battle for supremacy back then is already a thing of the past.

Regarding Saito Ryuuki, the orphan of the Saito family, Oda Nobunaga no longer has the fear he once had, and has long lost interest in eradicating the roots.

The crusade against Tanba must pass through Kyoto. Oda Nobunaga only took a few steps from Azuchi to Kyoto. He came to cheer Saito Ryuuki and promise a future. Isn't it an excessive request?

Oda Nobunaga will definitely give face to No-kun, his ex-husband, and Akechi Mitsuhide has been waiting for this moment of opportunity.

The conquest of Tamba was promised by the saint himself, and Mitsuhide Akechi could mobilize the power of the Kinki Shiba Territory to help him.

Maeda's interests were at odds with Akechi Mitsuhide, but as Kinki Shiba's acting magistrate, and Shiba's faction as the general of Kinki, Maeda's interests were bound to obey the sage's orders and give Akechi Mitsuhide military support.

Mitsuhide Akechi estimated that he could gather an army of no less than 13,000 men and march to the front line of Tamba Country, passing through Kyoto.

The number of escorts accompanying Oda Nobunaga on his trip to Kyoto would not exceed a hundred people.

Thirteen thousand versus one hundred. .

Akechi Mitsuhide showed a smile, but his eyes became colder and colder, like a poisonous snake spitting out a message, ready to attack.

Under her seat, Saito Rizo bowed his head respectfully without saying a word.

The Akechi family was originally a branch of the guardian Toki family of Mino country. When the guardian Saito family replaced the Toki family, the Akechi family sided with the Saito family, which was considered a success.

But when Saito Yoshiryu killed his mother to seize the throne, the Akechi family was on the wrong side, leading to the annihilation of the whole family.

Akechi Mitsuhide's eloquent tongue was exchanged for retaining Saito under the sword of Yoshiryu Saito. The condition was that when the Saito family fell, it would also give Saito's descendants a way to survive.

After that, Oda Saito fought for the Nobi Plains. Saito Yoshitsune suddenly fell seriously ill. Before his death, he ordered Saito Rizo to take Saito Ryuuki to the Kinki Shiba Territory and seek refuge with Akechi Mitsuhide.

Akechi Mitsuhide also fulfilled the agreement he made back then, keeping Saito Ryuuki and taking Saito Rizo for his own use.

Nowadays, Saito Ryuuki has become a pawn of Akechi Mitsuhide's conspiracy, but Saito Rizo does not dare to show a trace of sympathy for his former master.

This may be the life portrayal of most martial arts families in troubled times, just drifting with the tide.