CHAPTER 263: CHAPTER 193: 1 WHALE DIES, TEN THOUSAND THINGS ARE BORN

Early summer—the time of Japan’s Meiyu Season—the rain comes as soon as it’s called.

Torrential rain surged in like a galloping army, hammering against the rocks with a dense and weighty "thud, thud" sound, filling the world with nothing but this overwhelming deluge, leaving people restless in spirit.

Nozawa tilted his head, glancing up at the string-like rain only to have it sting his face and eyes; lowering his head, he saw in the distance, on the field at Tengaku Plain, even Imagawa Yoshimoto’s main camp was caught off guard by the sudden downpour—a mass of Lang Faction and Ashigaru, in the midst of eating and resting, cried out, threw aside their rice bowls, and scattered to find shelter from the rain.

This is truly heaven’s will to destroy the Imagawa family!

Nozawa, an atheist by nature, gazed at the "wide-open" shogunate tent in the valley of Mount Okehazama, and for a moment couldn’t help but think Oda Nobunaga really was the "chosen of heaven." Twisting and winding east, circling west, piercing two defensive lines straight from Atsuta to Muro Mountain without being discovered by the Imagawa family, then—just as he reached the attack position—a torrential rain descended, scattering the Imagawa army’s main camp before a battle even began, leaving Imagawa Yoshimoto himself exposed almost bare in the open—at this moment, Yoshimoto had only a few hundred attendants at his side, for someone of his rank, this was virtually the most vulnerable moment of his life, barely different from standing naked.

Katsuyori Shibata and other family elders, and the clan leaders, were all astonished, never expecting Nobunaga’s reckless move would actually succeed. Ignoring the fall of Kanie Castle, allowing Shimazu and even Qingzhou City to be exposed to enemy blades, refusing to send reinforcements to Marune and Jiuzhen, letting Sakuma Shigetaka, Oda Nobuhiro, the Iwao father and son and other elder ministers and their retainers fight to the death, forcing the Sasaki family, Chiaki family, Iwakura Castle, Longquan Temple City to launch desperate attacks, using their lives to pin down the main body of the enemy at Nagami Castle...

These hysterical acts of madness, as if his mind were burned out and stubbornly willful, had truly brought Imagawa Yoshimoto, the General of Expedition, the "future ruler of the realm," half-naked before everyone’s eyes.

"Lord, quickly order the attack!"

Katsuyori Shibata stared blankly for a moment, then jolted back to his senses, changing his tune—from persistently advising Oda Nobunaga to retreat, he now demanded an immediate final assault, desperate to seize this earthshaking military achievement.

Oda Nobunaga was at his mental peak, bloodshot eyes wild, but not yet lost to reason. Hearing the words, he drew his long saber, pointed forward, and said in a deep voice, "That’s right, attack! To beat many with few, all we can rely on is heaven’s will! If by fortune we win, our clan will be forever honored, and our names will be famed in this world. Each of you, take this to heart!"

"Ooooh! Hey!"

At last, the samurai behind Oda Nobunaga were fully roused, shouting with excitement; then the Lang Faction joined in, and together, braving the driving rain, wielding blades and spears suited for close combat, they surged over the ridgeline of Muro Mountain, charging toward Tengaku Plain.

Ah Man, too, was fired up, her twin bean-shaped brows bouncing, drawing her gleaming tachi from her waist, ready to dash down the mountain with Nobunaga’s men and cut some heads.

Nozawa hurriedly reached out to grab her, puzzled, "What are you going for?"

Ah Man instinctively tried to shake off his hand but failed, and turned urgently, "To kill Imagawa Yoshimoto! That bastard’s finished—grab his head and it’s a sky-high merit!"

This achievement is almost a free gift—Imagawa Yoshimoto’s main camp only had about four thousand men, now scattered in the valley, looking for shelter from the rain. It was formation against chaos, intent against carelessness, readiness against unpreparedness; she’d fought too many battles not to see the win was certain—even with her ass, she could tell. Why not take the unclaimed spoils? Of course she should try to get a share of the credit.

If she could take Imagawa Yoshimoto’s head—not to mention being made lord of a city or province—even a huge fief would be a certainty, there’s no way Oda Nobunaga wouldn’t reward her.

Nozawa didn’t care for these things, not enough to trade away his good name. He reminded her bluntly: "Forget it. We’re sworn allies with the Imagawa family—it’s not our time to strike."

Ah Man froze, remembering—as long as the Imagawa family hadn’t been driven off the Chita Peninsula, Nozawa couldn’t just go kill Imagawa Yoshimoto, even helping attack them would count as breaking the oath. And the punishment for oath-breaking would fall on the Nozawa family—the gods and buddhas would abandon them, and their descendants would suffer for generations.

What a damn shame...

Ah Man longed for the glory—after all, whoever killed Yoshimoto would be famous throughout the land, become a Daimyo; even if there were no reward, just the renown would be worth stabbing Yoshimoto a couple of times herself. But in the end, family came first—if she killed Imagawa Yoshimoto, it was the same as Nozawa doing it; outwardly, they were one and the same.

Her head full of hot blood cooled off, brows drooping glumly as she sighed and slid her sword back into its sheath. Still, her eyes burned toward the shogunate tent where Imagawa Yoshimoto was, and after a moment she said to Nozawa, "I won’t lay a finger, just tagging along to watch—that’s fine, right?"

This was a killing of the General of Expedition, the "future ruler of the realm," lord of the strongest of the Three Kingdoms—not a show one got to see every day. She wanted a closer look; after all, with the rain so heavy, her vision blurred—standing on Muro Mountain, she couldn’t see a thing in detail.

Just watching didn’t matter, so Nozawa let go—and the moment Ah Man was free, she dashed into the curtain of rain, eager and bright, chasing after the Oda army.

Nozawa didn’t move; he was only here to "dig up history." As long as he knew how Oda Nobunaga managed to fell Imagawa Yoshimoto, that was enough. As for the battlefield details, those hardly mattered.