A Personal Account of the First Meeting Between Date Masamune and Myself! by Sanada Genjirou Yukimura
Sanada Genjirou Yukimura was training hard so he could be even stronger in the heat of battle and make his esteemed oyakata-sama proud when suddenly! A blaze of passion swept through the courtyard and ignited the dormant fire within his breast! Sanada Yukimura looked in every corner and even leapt into the air, but the man whose burning heart had startled him so was nowhere to be found!
"Reveal yourself! If you are a true warrior, you will accept my challenge!" cried Sanada Yukimura in a strident and masculine voice. "I, Sanada Genjirou Yukimura, wish to duel you!"
A man appeared in a flash of light! But it was only Sarutobi Sasuke: a skilled and commendable fighter to be sure, but not a man whose heart raced to battle, heartbeats thundering like the hooves of a thousand horses galloping!
"I see you're yelling at the air now," said Sarutobi Sasuke. He definitely did not understand the emotions which drove a warrior to pit his sword against another man's in an ancient trial of strength.
"I was yelling at the man whose noble heart I could sense catching fire in the heat of passionate battle!" explained Sanada Yukimura.
"Good luck with that," said Sarutobi Sasuke.
"Do you think oyakata-sama will be able to aid me in my search for the man whose very soul calls out to my own?"
"Well, I sure as hell can't help you," said Sarutobi Sasuke, "so yeah, go ask the big guy."
Sanada Yukimura had an audience with his noble oyakata-sama, the very man who had raised him to be a warrior with a heart that burned true! There was no one whose word he trusted more or who fought so proudly as Takeda Shingen! Sanada Yukimura had even thought there was no man alive whose impassioned heart could move him more than the heart of his own oyakata-sama, but the man he sensed that day challenged these precious beliefs…!
"Oyakata-sama!" exclaimed Sanada Yukimura.
"Yukimura!" replied Takeda Shingen.
The two men exchanged each other's names several times in a time-honored greeting before Takeda Shingen said in his booming voice, "What brings you here, Yukimura?"
"Today as I was training I felt something strange! My heart was shaken to the core when I felt from afar the flames of passion you taught me could only come from a true warrior! Please help me find this man, oyakata-sama! I must duel him!"
"You are as finely tuned to the hearts of men as a weapon to its master," declared Takeda Shingen proudly. "Yukimura! I will help you. The only man I know whose heart burns like a wildfire is… the One-Eyed Dragon, Date Masamune!"
"Date Masamune, Lord of Oushuu?" repeated Sanada Yukimura.
"The very same! Listen closely, Yukimura. I will direct you to the lair of the Azure Dragon!"
So Sanada Yukimura saddled up his horse and set off alone into the countryside. He rode for a day and a night fueled only by his passion and anticipation for the upcoming fight! At dawn on the second day he stopped on a riverbank to watch the sunrise. The flaming orb in the sky was mirrored both in the river below and in his heart! The Land of the Rising Sun, reflected Sanada Yukimura, was truly a country worth fighting for!
Suddenly a figure appeared silhouetted against the glorious horizon! He galloped closer until Sanada Yukimura could see the light glinting off his helmet. It was… Date Masamune!
The other man let out a cry of "HELL YEAH!" as he leapt clear across the river on his warhorse. A wave of heat ran through Sanada Yukimura when he saw the feared warlord! Just the sight of the One-Eyed Dragon was enough to ignite the fire in his chest, which spread throughout his body as he examined his opponent.
As expected, the gleam of the man's single eye belied a warrior's passionate soul! The set of his jaw and the muscles visible through his shirt spoke of strength, both mental and physical! Even the grip of his powerful thighs as he rode without reins showed he would be a worthy opponent indeed!
"One-Eyed Dragon, Date Masamune! I challenge you to a duel!"
"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" yelled Date Masamune.
Sanada Yukimura did not understand the words, but he heard the fighting spirit in the other man's deep voice! Both men dismounted and almost immediately began to spar, so drawn as they were by the promise of this fight! Date Masamune fought with increasingly quick strokes, each one leaving a trail of heat as it sliced through the air!
Their weapons' hard lengths jostled, clashing with the harsh sounds of metal on metal as Sanada Yukimura tried valiantly to dominate his enemy! For mere moments at a time his thrusts pushed the other man back, but the One-Eyed Dragon was always able to force himself onto him again! Sanada Yukimura's soul burnt bright in the exhilaration of the battle, drawing an answering flame from the chest of his new rival, the remarkable warrior Date Masamune!
"I won't hold back!" announced Sanada Yukimura.
"Bring it on!" Date Masamune shot back.
They went at it again with renewed fervor! Date Masamune drove into his opponent again and again until finally! Sanada Yukimura was able to deftly deflect the other's swords and pin him to the ground in a rush of passionate energy! Beneath him he could feel Date Masamune's tight muscles work as he tried to escape, to no avail!
The training had paid off! Sanada Yukimura's strength was enough to hold Date Masamune down long enough to bask in the joy of his victory! The pungent smell of sweat and other masculine odors only added to the ambiance of this experience! For two men who had just fought to lie on a hillside drinking in the thrill that came from a good battle was truly a beautiful thing!
"Have I defeated you, One-Eyed Dragon?" asked Sanada Yukimura as he let up on the other, just a little.
"Ha, not likely! But the burning image of your heart has seared into mine!" said Date Masamune. He successfully worked a hand free and used it to tap his chest in the very place his heart lay underneath! "YOU SEE?"
"Likewise!" replied Sanada Yukimura. "From this day on I will carry your image in my memory as a standard by which to measure other men!"
This exchange spurred him to release Date Masamune, having proven that the warlord was not only a skilled, impassioned warrior but a man with honor and appreciation for the values of others! The sun bore down on the pair from its highest point in the sky as the two men called back their horses, ready to leave this battlefield where their hearts had scorched a reminder of their fight into the very earth!
"Let's do this again sometime," said Date Masamune, and he rode off in the same direction from which he came!
I, Sanada Genjirou Yukimura, returned home and composed this document after Sarutobi Sasuke made a baffling comment regarding the date of "the wedding" and instructed me to "go write in your diary" when I inquired as to his mental state.
