Viper of Mino - Nobunaga’s Marriage and 2nd Battle of Azukizaka - Update 11
In this update a marriage is set up between Dosan Saito’s daughter Kicho and Nobunaga Oda. Takechiyo is wanted badly by the Imagawa, while Nobuhide begins to question his own actions. The character list has been updated as well I have added a map of the regions of Japan duriing the Sengoku period.
Saito clan trust level 100 reached!
Sandwiched between the Saito clan to the north and the Imagawa clan to the south, Nobuhide Oda resolved to make peace with the Saito clan. The peace talks ended in success. As a result, Dosan Saito’s daughter, Kicho, and Nobuhide’s son, Nobunaga, were bound in marriage.
Dosan Saito:
This marriage has brought us into alliance with the Oda clan. Would like to believe it would be of use to us, but rumors say Nobunaga is quite the fool. Kicho! If Nobunaga proves to truly be a useless fool…use this blade to kll him. When you do, I will gather the men and take Owari.
Kicho:
Yes Father. However if he is no fool…thiis blade may end up killing you instead.
Nobunaga Oda:
So, Princess of Mino, what did the Viper tell you?
Kicho:
…To support you my Lord.
Nobunaga Oda:
Support me? Not in fact to kill me? If you don’t kill me now, Mino will eventually be mine. Lady No, can you accept that?
Kicho:
…If I choose to kill you, it will be because I realized you are too much of a fool to take even the land of Mno.
Nobunaga Oda:
Heh…is that so…
Ansho castle defended for one year!
To the Next Generation(Quest)
Completed!
Though the Matsudaira clan saw a crushing period of decline after losing their leader, Kiyoyasu Matsudaira at the Tragedy at Moriyama, they were met with another blow. Kiyomasa’s heir and the current leader of the clan, Hirotada, fell at the hands of a retainer as well.
Sessai Taigen:
With this battle we mourn Sir Hirotada, and we take back his son!
Sessai Taigen of the Imagawa clan overcame the danger of having an absent head of the Matsudaira clan to his people’s advantage by fighting in remembrance of Hirotada. Though it’s soldiers fought bravely, Ansho Castle could not stand against the high morale of the Mikawa soldiers and the deft leadership of Sessai.
Masahide Hirate:
Lord Nobuhide, forgive me. If only had arrived in time with reinforcements…!
Nobuhide Oda:
Don’t blame yourself, Masahide. With that monk on the field, there was nothing we could have done. Yet, that blasted Nobuhiro went and got himself captured… Now that was something I hadn’t expect.
Masahide Hirate:
Must we return Takechiyo, my lord?
Nobuhide Oda:
We must… And Takechiyo will then go on to become the leader of Mikawa. The young Takechiyo will be nothing but a puppet to Yoshimoto and Sessai, making Mikawa…all theirs…
Masahide Hirate:
Lord Nobuhide…
The day of Takechiyo’s return, Oda’s central base…
Nobunaga Oda:
Father should have just left Nobuhiro to rot. You’re far more useful, Takechiyo.
Takechiyo:
Lord Nobunaga, I believe people can hear you…
Nobunaga Oda:
Takechiyo, do you want to go back to the Imagawa?
Takechiyo:
Though I don’t wish to go back to the Imagawa, I do wish to return to Mikawa.
Nobunaga Oda:
And why is that?
Takechiyo:
There are retainers of mine waiting for my return.
Nobunaga Oda:
There you go about retainers again… Do you not wish to stay here with the Oda, to aim for conquest at my side?
Takechiyo:
I can aim for conquest with you, Lord Nobunaga, even from Mikawa.
Nobunaga Oda:
Should you return to Mikawa, you’ll be sworn to Yoshimoto. Are you going too defeat him, now, and embark on a national conquest? Now that I’d like to see.
Takechiyo:
!..
Nobunaga Oda:
That was a mere jest. But know this, Takechiyo – do not say that which you cannot do.
Takechiyo:
It is not something I cannot do! Once Mikawa has gained its independence, I’ll come to your aid, Lord Nobunaga – I swear it!
Nobunaga Oda:
Heh… Well, don’t forget those words.
A few days later, at Nobuhide Oda’s residence.
Nobuhide Oda:
I chose the wrong opponent to focus on… Blast, I knew I should have taken over Owari first. It seems the power of coin is not enough… Now, if only my life would hold… No, it matters not. Should my time run out, Nobunaga will remain. That boy has a talent and a destiny I can’t even begin to fathom. He will take all of Owari as his own; of that I am certain. All I must do, then, is lay the foundation for his conquest.
Taking back the head of the Matsudaira clan allowed the Imagawa to exercise full control over the lands of Mikawa. And Nobuhide, without all of Owari under his control, could do little but struggle before the immense power difference of power between him and the Imagawa.
The Muromachi shogunate, which had endured for more than 200 years, was losing its authority. The 20th shogun, Yoshiharu Ashikaga, was stuck in a deadlock war with Chancellor Harumoto Hosokawa. On his son Yoshiteru’s 11th birthday, Yoshiharu made a decision.
Yoshiharu Ashikaga:
Yoshiteru, do you know what happened on my 11th birthday?
Yoshiteru Ashikaga:
I have heard that was the day you became shogun.
Yoshiharu Ashikaga:
Indeed. I intend to make that a custom of the house of the shogun. Yoshiteru, from today forth you are now shogun. Command the nation as you see fit.
Yoshiteru Ashikaga:
Yes, Father!
The Ashikaga clan, the house fo the shogun, had little power left, but rebellions were common n the Hosokawa clan with whom they were currently engaged, and the Kinai region was in complete disarray. Yoshiteru had spent his childhood alternately fleeing from and returning to the capital. Later, he would become a disciple of master swordsman Bokuden Tsukahara and grow to be the “Swordmaster Shogun”, working tirelessly to restore power to the shogunate.
We get a glimpse at the work of Saka Yamashina. She makes for an excellent diplomat and has been traveling in the regions surrounding Owari making peace with thse who would see the Oda clan as friends.