บท 19: Chapter 19-And so it begins!
Chapter 19
LORD HAYAMA MAHIRO
Lord Hayama Mahiro sat in his solar skimming over the emergency missive he had received from the Shinoi lands, his mind racing as he came to terms with just what was stated in the message.
"This is a disaster," he snarled in rage and worry as he threw the missive towards his second son, who sat opposite him.
Tsukiyama picked it up and skimmed over it, his eyes widening as he read through it.
"They have captured brother, how?" he questioned, and he nodded.
"Sakazuki underestimated the young lord of Shinoi and found himself too exposed, and with him captured, if he reached one of the two forts, he would have us on the backfoot," he snarled, worried about his successor.
"The letter mentions that the young lord is rushing towards the Western front with Sakazuki. We could send reinforcements; I could lead them," Tsukiyama offered, and though the plan was solid, he shook his head.
"No, that would take too much time and leave us all too exposed to a counteroffensive, we cannot thin out our defenses anymore," moreover, Sakazuki was already captured, he could not lost both his sons to this campaign.
Especially not at this critical juncture.
"A letter came from the capital in the night," he added and saw his son perk up at those words.
"The daimyo-sama's condition is critical, it is likely that he will not make it past a week," and he saw Tsukiyama's eyes widen at that.
"That means…" and he nodded before he could finish.
"Yes, this just makes all this more important, and we cannot afford a blunder at this juncture; we must be cautious not to make a mistake and give this young Akihito any chance," he said as he rubbed his chin.
"Then what are we to do?" Tsukiyama questioned.
"I have already written to your sister to have her Tatsuya gather a force covertly in the capital in case the daimyo-sama dies. He will be able to take the capital swiftly. But for that, we must first take care of this young Akihito," he said as he looked over the map that opened up in front of him.
"Write to Lord Hattori, have him reposition his forces, and allow them passage through our lands," he said as he pointed towards the Western fort in Shinoi lands.
"And have our forces in the West turn back and attack Lord Akihito's caravan," he commanded.
"But this will leave us vulnerable to a counterattack. The forces stationed in the Western fort could attack us at the back," Tsukiyama pointed out.
"Indeed, but all of this will matter on timing, we need to strike first, and neutralize the lord before his forces in Western front realize what is happening," he added as the plan began to take form.
"And what if we fail," Tsiyama's voice cut in.
"What if the young lord manages to do the impossible once more?" Tsukiyama questioned, and his question, while insensitive, was not entirely stupid.
The young lord Akihito had proven himself to be rather troublesome and resourceful. If he was to somehow make out of this once more, then what were they supposed to do? For him to succeed, all he would need to do was to hold off against superior numbers until his forces from the Western front realized what was going on.
"Then we must pray that the daimyo-sama doesn't live long enough to see the light of the next day. For in that case, we must have no option but to rely on help from my friend in Konoha."
And that was the only scenario, for otherwise, with their forces spent, they would be left wide open to an attack from the upjumped young lord. Basically, he is ending the bid of his grandson, and the only way to succeed would be an assassination.
It would be highly risky given their circumstances, yet they would be left with no choice.
"Though speaking of that, how were you able to learn of Lord Akihito's plans so quickly?" Tsukiyama asked suddenly, and he smiled as he looked up at his second son.
"The only way such a thing would be possible is if you someone…." His son didn't need to finish his sentence as he nodded midway through it.
"Indeed, someone in his retinue is not quite satisfied with the young lord."
0000
AKIHITO SHIRAHOSHI
The young jito of Shinoi rushed through the woods along with his retinue of about fifty men as they rushed towards the Western fort as part of their plan.
Everything until this point had gone exactly as he had planned, yet an ominous feeling had filled him for some time now. The news reports from the capital had also dried up as Kirin-san had exhausted herself after utilizing her kekkei genkai for so long.
They were now an hour or two from the fort when suddenly he caught a glimmer in the distance and raised his hand in an instant.
"HALT!" he shouted as he pulled on the reins of his horse, tilting his head to the side just in time as an arrow passed right beside his face.
BOOM!
"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" he shouted as his mind raced at this new intervention. They had taken up a new route specifically to avoid any confrontation with the Mahiro forces.
Yet, for some reason, they had known of their movements.
"My lord, they have surrounded us," one of his men shouted, and he realized that they had been caught in a trap. He looked around and saw themselves getting surrounded by armed men, and he knew that there was only one way for them to get out of it.
"MEN ON ME! WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE OUR WAY THROUGH THE BLOCKADE!" he shouted as the men cheered up behind him as he pulled on the reins of his horse, hitting it with his leg as it roared before it began to gallop straight on.
He reached for his blade with his other hand and saw the sky glitter as one of the samurai's sent another arrow at him, and he pushed his own chakra through his blade and slashed it at the arrow.
"NINPO: World Cleaver!" he shouted as his blade cut through the arrow, his wind-natured blade cut through the chakra-infused arrow as enemy forces began to pile up in front of him.
He saw them get into formation as they put up their shields and spears trying to stop their charge and his eyes narrowed as he pushed himself off of his horse and jumped over them. His loyal horse followed up and jumped over the blockade as he somersaulted behind the enemy line, his sword back in its hilt as he pushed chakra into the blade once more.
A green hue appeared on the edge of his blade, as the enemy forces realized just what he intended to do.
"Get away!" one of their men shouted.
Yet it was too late.
"Ninpo: World Cleaver!"
And he swung his blade as once more, a green hue passing from it as it cut through nearly a dozen or so men gathering infront of him, cutting through them, their armors leaving nothing but a puddle of blood as his own horse's rode through the puddle, and as he was about to hoist himself up once more, suddenly he stilled as his horse fell down, and he noticed how an arrow had hit it.
Not in front no. But from the back, and his eyes caught the man holding the bow, one of his own men. And it was cocked once more and aimed at him.
He was sent rolling back as his loyal horse crashed into the ground with a massive grunt. His body rolled over the floor as his men thundered past him, many pulling on the reins of their horses.
"No, don't stop! Ride to the fort, and take deliver secure Sakauzki as a hostage," he commanded even as pain rippled through him, as his loyal man loosed the arrow at him, forcing him to bring up his hilt to block it, and as he was about to race past him, he gripped the hilt of his blade once more, and pushed his chakra through the blade once more, and swung it at him.
Few of his commanders seemed worried, yet as he gripped his blade, he shouted once more.
"GO!" and the one holding Sakazuki ran off, while for some reason, others still chose to pull on their horse's reins and came to a halt and began to rush towards him as he shouted.
"NINPO: Wind Cutter!" and the vertical slash cut through the horse and its rider as it was divided into two, right in the middle. The traitorous captain's body separated into two equal halves as he was showered in horse and human blood.
His men surrounded him, as a small retinue of men raced past, few of the men tried to help him up a horse but suddenly his senses perked up and he jumped back, as a slash cut through the horse's neck, cleaving it straight of dousing him and his men in a fountain of blood.
"Damn, you truly are a monster," a voice cut in from the side, and as he looked to the side, he found a man standing there. His dark brown hair had hints of grey in it as a large scar running down the side of his face through one of his eyes, which was sewn shut.
"You, you are one of Lord Mahiro's retainers," he said as he recognized him from one of the posters. The man smiled as he nodded.
"Yeah, I am Ryouzan Kozuki. Remember that name, for I shall be the one who slays the demon lord of Shinoi," he said with a devilish smile. Akihito gripped his blade as he looked around and saw that they had been surrounded by enemy forces.
This was not good.
Not good at all.
The men surrounded him, their swords drawn, none of them had any fear in their eyes despite being surrounded by a force that was nearly thrice their number.
There was no need for any command as the enemy circled them like prey, the very air thick with smell of blood. Akihito's vision was dyed red from blood itself as he gripped his blade, his mind racing as he thought of a way to get out of the mess he had found himself in.
The men from Mahiro forces were closing in until another voice cut in.
"Stop!" the men halted at those words, and he looked around and saw an aged man step forward, a bow tied around his back, wearing a simple hakama, a katana, and a shinai tied to his belt, his hair thin and white, with wrinkles present over his face.
"You all shall only be a hindrance in this, so stay back and don't interfere," the man commanded.
Akihito recognized the person immediately. He was practically a legend amongst the samurai of these lands. The man had been the right hand of the previous leader of Land of Iron for many years before retiring into Lord Mahiro's lands.
His skill with a blade was said to rival the prodigious Mifune Habara of Land of Iron, the greatest samurai of their time.
"Watashi Masamune-san, it is a surprise to see you away from the Mahiro lands," he questioned the man, who nodded.
"Indeed, it has been some time since I have left those lands, but I couldn't let an opportunity to face a man like you pass over, especially not in this part of my life," he said as he looked at him, making him narrow his eyes.
"Yo! What are you saying, you shitty old man? He is mine; you should just stay back and drink tea or something…"
"Ryouzan!" the old man's voice cut through the air like cold steel, making the very air still with his authority as he looked at his colleague.
"Don't interfere," he warned ominously, and even Akihito was impressed by the man's prowess. He had used little to no chakra and had been able to silence his colleague with nothing but honed bloodlust.
The younger brown-haired man had sweat dripping down his face as he gulped nervously and gave a small nod.
And the shift in demeanor was instant as the man smiled.
"Thank you," he said before he turned to face him.
"Our forces outnumber you three to one. If we were to engage in battle, we would emerge victorious, yet I find all this bloodshed rather nauseating at this point in my life," the old man began as he stepped forward.
"So let me make you an offer, young jito Akihito from one samurai to another," he said as he pointed the edge of his blade at him.
"Instead of a clash of our forces, let us decide the outcome of this battle. You against me, and when I slay you, this whole crisis shall to come to an end, itself,"
"If…" he cut in quickly, making the old man stop as he stepped forward despite much protest from his men.
"If you win, not when," he cut in and saw the old man smile generously as he continued.
"Indeed, it seems in my old age, I am rather prone to making mistakes. As I was saying if I win this whole crisis shall end here and now, and if you were to emerge victorious, then my forces shall give up their arms without a single word," he offered and Akihito's eyes widened.
The offer was too good, and truthfully, there was no way he was going to let this go.
"I accept," he said as he stepped forward, and the old man nodded.
"That is good," he said as he looked at his men.
"Now, please step back. I wouldn't want to kill you all accidentally," he said, and his forces moved back at his words as Ohashi made a similar command to his men, who stepped back, leaving the two of them alone in the center of the field, with nothing but their blades as a soft wind rippled through the air.
Their eyes locked onto each other, their hands on their hilt as they prepared for the fight for their life, and then as a single brown leaf swaddled to the ground in the gentle breeze, motioning the beginning of their clash.
And they were off.
"NINPO: WORLD CLEAVER!"
0000
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A/N: Kirin isn't a shinobi, so she can't use Chakra for long, as she did not have proper training.
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