It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.
Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.
Twenty Ninth Slice – Chaos Trigger
The rain had finally stopped by the middle of the afternoon, finally allowing the sun to shine through and for both Motoharu and Nobuna to depart for the capital on their horses. Since they were going at a relaxed pace, they would make it there by the late evening which meant one long awkward silence ahead.
About fifteen minutes into the trip, the time displaced Japanese man finally spoke up. "I'm sorry for the incident in the inn earlier."
"I definitely recall telling you to wait!" snapped Nobuna while Sasaki winced mentally before he attempted to repair the situation.
"Yes and I apologize for not hearing that in time." He would have bowed his head deeply to accompany the apology but since he was on a horse, he didn't go that far. That way, he wouldn't risk falling off the animal on to the muddy road.
"And I had been on such a good train of thought too before all that happened…" The Oda princess trailed off as she said that while her cheeks began getting a bit flushed.
"Do you want to talk about it? Perhaps discussing it with someone might get you back on track," suggested Motoharu.
She was glad she had her back turned to her retainer as he wouldn't be able to see her cherry red face. "A-are you stupid?! Just keep your nose out of it!"
He sighed quietly once before addressing his boss again. "I understand."
'Did I go too far?' This bugged Nobuna for a bit to the point where she tried to think of a different subject to talk about. But her mind kept going back to the bath incident where that monster came in ready to help.
Wait a second…
"Saru, you said earlier you had that monster under your control? How are you able to do that?"
It took him a moment to understand what she referred to. "It was something I saw Danjou pull off when I crossed paths with her earlier during my first trip into the city."
"What exactly did she do?" asked the Oda princess.
"She used one of these." He held up his Melon Lockseed for emphasis. "And was able to summon and control an Inves from Helheim."
"S-seriously?" Nobuna then remembered something. "But whenever you use one of those, all it does is summon a new set of armour."
"That's only when I wear my special equipment. If I don't wear it, I can bring out a monster and control it," explained Motoharu while keeping his balance on his horse. "I have to be careful though because if I don't handle it appropriately with caution, it can turn on me."
"Dearu ka. It's just like how we handle gunpowder and other weapons. Treat them with care and they are useful tools. Treat them carelessly and you can risk serious injury to yourself and your allies." She tapped her index finger against her chin briefly before making up her mind on the matter. "Saru, let me try doing a summon."
"Eh?"
"I'm not going to be taking any of your…" Nobuna struggled to say the word. "... Lockseeds but at the least, if we do happen to get our hands on some spares, we should know how to use them."
"I guess we can stop for a few minutes and go through how they work." There was no way he was going to risk another incident caused from a dropped Lockseed just like back there.
Elsewhere, concealed within tall grass growing at the top of the hill overlooking the muddy road, Sugitani Zenjuubou grinned to himself. 'There you are, Oda princess.'
He had spent a great deal of time preparing for this moment ever since he got the assignment from Konoe. After scouting out the main road earlier which linked Kyoto to Sakai, he identified the best position which would maximize the effectiveness of his shot and allow him to make a quick, clean escape from the area. And in case someone from the Oda side tried to pursue him, he carried with him additional small items such as smoke bombs and shuriken to aid in his escape. Those were items he was able to craft himself thanks to the lessons taught to him by the Koga School.
With his abilities in crafting, Zenjuubou could probably make a decent living as a craftsman in this time. Whether Japan was in a state of war or peace, the skills of a good craftsman to create various objects will always be in demand. But he liked his current way of life as a Koga ninja. He honestly couldn't see himself living a fulfilling life in an era of peace. There was also the fact that as a ninja, the fees he could charge prospective clients were far above what he could charge as a craftsman.
At first glance, he doesn't appear to be a proper ninja with the type of attire he wore and some of the weapons he wielded. Heck, he couldn't tap into any form of chakra or spiritual energy. Those type of people only came along once per generation like Hattori Hanzo of Iga Province or Abe no Seimei back a few hundred years ago.
But he was still technically a ninja since that term is used to describe any type of covert agent in Japan. For the most part, Zenjuubou had always completed his missions without the enemy being able to detect him until it was too late. He honestly would need to do something about mitigating the loud noise that his arquebus made though since that could easily give his position away and allow archers to zoom in on him.
Without wasting any further time, he took out his weapon and attached a component to the top of the gun. It was a new item he crafted not too long ago after he heard about a foreign invention known as the monocle that allowed for enhanced sight in one eye. With a bit of creativity, he had cobbled together his own sighting device based on the principles of the monocle to improve the accuracy when taking his shot.
'Alright! All set...' He took his position and brought up his scope to see the blonde girl fiddling around with a small object. After adjusting his weapon's barrel position to factor in the wind, one last thought ran through his mind...
'Farewell, Oda Nobuna.'
… before he pulled the trigger.
'Her real family are the advisors by her side.'
Imai Soukyu's words once again rang through Mitsuhide's mind just as she finally reached the capital. After directing the men that were with her to store away the money in a safe place until they can deliver it to the kampaku, she looked around the soggy streets and wondered if Nobuna would be around getting other tasks out of the way so that Yoshimoto can become Shogun. After all, her business in Sakai is now concluded.
"I can't find Nobuna-sama anywhere. She probably went to Mino after the Monkey." Deciding not to dwell on that thought, she began searching for Hanbei to get a status report for how things were in the city. But when she arrived at the complex where the little strategist had said she would be working at, she spotted Zenki in his human form, conversing outside with Inuchiyo.
Hanbei's double spotted the blue haired young lady and greeted her. "Akechi-dono."
"What happened? Where's Hanbei?" asked Juubei.
"My master is resting for the moment after a rather disturbing experience. She is not to be disturbed," answered Zenki calmly but firmly.
"That still doesn't answer my first question. What happened?!"
"Bujin Faiz was defeated and is no longer with Hanbei," replied Inuchiyo recalling what Zenki told her earlier.
As expected, the blue clad retainer was certainly surprised upon hearing that. "W-what? Who could have defeated...?"
"It was Bujin OOO. He came to the capital, behaving strangely." Zenki opted not to mention anything about how the Rider had been seeking Mitsuhide. "My master and Bujin Faiz noticed this and attempted to reason with him but things escalated quickly and Bujin Faiz fought Bujin OOO. In the end, Bujin OOO prevailed but had taken considerable damage and withdrew to recover. He will likely lie low for some time."
"That's…!" Before she could even digest the news, a puff of black smoke flew by before revealing Goemon who had some troubling news.
"Matsunaga Danjou of the Miyoshi clan... has revolted. She... is leading troops to the capital to take... Imagawa Yoshimoto's head."
'And things just get worse! Are the kami punishing me for chasing away the Gorilla back in Sakai?' thought Mitsuhide. At least Goemon and Inuchiyo are still here and haven't yet abandoned her.
"Tsuda Soukyuu and Danjou seem to be... connected," continued the small ninja. "He might be the one who... told Danjou that the capital is empty and perswaded her to invwade."
Matsunaga Danjou Hisahide has had more than enough experience with revolting and betraying others so the credibility of this news cannot be doubted. Besides, she had been part of the coup earlier who attacked the Ashikaga Shogun and drove them out. With this in mind, Juubei began muttering to herself to organize her thoughts.
"Tsuda Soukyuu might have done such a thing to prevent Sakai from falling into the hands of the Oda-clan. If Matsunaga Danjou really becomes the master of Kyoto, she would be willing to guarantee the independence of commerce in Sakal. The importance of the position would increase as well. That's why Tsuda-dono used the culinary showdown to snatch the position of representative."
Honestly, Akechi couldn't blame him for pulling such a move. He's a merchant after all and with his newly obtained position, he would do what it took to protect it and give himself some sense of security.
"The context you provided is appreciated but now we need to figure out what to do."
Zenki's statement snapped the young lady back to reality. "Right. How many men does Danjou have with her?"
"Unknown. Somewhere between 3,000... and 10,000 men," answered Goemon.
"And we have only 800. Besides that, there is no fortress to protect at all. We can only use Kiyomizu Temple to drag the fight out. Even with my intelligence, I can't think of any way to combat such a difference in numbers," admitted Akechi. "Somehow, we have to hold out until Nobuna-sama comes with aid and the Armoured Monkey."
"Understood. Where do you need us?" asked the small ninja.
Mitsuhide looked puzzled. "You're still willing to work with me?"
"Nobuna-sama has ordered us to work with you to protect the capital," said Inuchiyo. "More importantly, Sasaki had told us that once we agree to a task, we have to honour that commitment as best as possible. That is what it means to be a professional."
So that explained why they put aside their ill will towards her and were willing to stay in the capital. The influence of that Monkey allowed her to keep a few more precious assets to help with this daunting task. Deciding not to think too much on it, Akechi began to issue out instructions. "Zenki, I'll leave troop formations to you. Inuchiyo, Goemon… I'll need you to make sure that our army has enough gunpowder and has stable supply lines to maintain a long defense. I'll be back after I report this to Yoshimoto-sama."
"Roger!"
"Takeda and Uesugi aren't doing anything?" asked Matsudaira while Hanzo knelt in front of her inside her chamber where she got her paperwork done.
"It's true that they stopped fighting and made a truce. But the report of them teaming up together to head to the capital is a lie."
"Oh my… that certainly does explain the movements of her army recently," muttered the small girl while wiping her glasses. "A trap to draw Oda's forces away from Kyo…"
"What is it that you wish to do in response to this?"
She replaced her small glasses on her nose. "For now, nothing. I'm certain that Nobuna will be able to adapt accordingly and come out on top in this situation. Besides, now that I got today's paperwork out of the way, I can finally spend time on something I've been looking forward to!"
Hanzo kept his expression neutral. "And that is…?"
Matsudaira merely held up a Lockseed with the surface containing an image of a ruby red faceplate. "Getting to know our new friend!"
"Wait… didn't you trade that away to Imagawa to reverse the pay cut?"
"That's right but I managed to find this again while hiking yesterday! It seems that the Gods have fated this Armoured Warrior to be one of our comrades!" With that, the Mikawa Daimyo activated the trinket.
FLAME PLEASE! HI-HI! HI-HI-HI!
After the blue clad Oda retainer relayed the news to Yoshimoto, she then merely responded in a relaxed manner. "Well. Mitsuhide, I have confidence in you! Though the shrine is completely surrounded by enemies, with your intelligence and wit and the aid of those Armoured Warriors, this situation should be easily resolved, right?"
Had Mitsuhide possessed less discipline, she would have snatched the ball Yoshimoto was bouncing around and threw it in the corner of the small room. She could see that the noblewoman did not understand that they were in grave danger. Then again, perhaps it was better this way since she wouldn't have to deal with a panicked VIP. With that in mind, Mitsuhide simply shut her eyes and cemented her resolve.
"Roger. I, Akechi Mitsuhide will defend Kyoto and as long I draw breath, I will definitely protect Yoshimoto-sama."
As she made her way back to her post, Mitsuhide's thoughts turned to her Lord. By now, Nobuna should be in Mino's territory and until the Oda princess can bring reinforcements from Mino back to Kyoto, Akechi must protect Imagawa Yoshimoto at all costs. The purpose of this battle at Kiyomizu Temple was simply to buy time. Maybe if she got lucky, the Armoured Monkey would come flying in on that strange vehicle that he used to get to Saitou Dousan quickly.
The plan was straightforward. The foot soldiers would use their guns to shoot down the generals near Matsunaga, thus scaring the enemy and keeping them off balance. Goemon's ninja abilities would help to thin out the numbers to some extent. While Zenki did have some onmyouji abilities, he would likely refrain from using them to avoid putting any stress on Hanbei and instead focus on strategy. Inuchiyo's skillset would be put to use fending off enemies who manage to make it through the hail of bullets from the Oda side.
To be honest, it wasn't exactly the most ideal of defensive plans due to the high numbers on the enemy side. Akechi could even see that by the time the reinforcements arrive, she will most likely meet her end. All she would have when she takes her last breath is her regret of not being able to apologize to her Lord and to Motoharu properly.
The sound of gunfire in the distance snapped her back to reality. The chaos had started. Raising the tanegashima that has accompanied her for many years, Mitsuhide moved out to the courtyard. Her only goal right now was to defeat as many enemies as possible and buy more time. If she died in the midst of this chaos, so be it.
She stood her ground and raised her matchlock as the gate in front of her got broken down by the enemy troops, allowing them to flood in. "Akechi Juubei Mitsuhide is here!"
"Juubei-chan, eh?" The enemy soldiers parted way to allow an elegant foreign beauty through with dark skin, short hair and an exotic looking pipe in her right hand. "Fufufu...I'm the master of the Tamonzan Castle from Yamato, Matsunaga Danjou Hisahide."
"This woman is...!?" Juubei's eyes widened as she recognized the name of the Witch of the Sengoku Era.
"Please take care of me from now on. Though, it looks like your time in this world is ending soon."
TO BE CONTINUED…
Finally, got another one done after some time. I've been busy with a combination of real life, convention season and my creative energy being directed at making Dissidia 012 mod swap videos for YouTube. Actually did a Kamen Rider Black and Black RX model swap on my channel. Just look it up.
Also started a basic TV Tropes page for this fic. If any of you are tropers and want to add anything there, please do so!
