A surprise quick update! Wow, this speed reminds me a lot of the time of HV-S01: RKR...

Now, perhaps I should address some of the glaring open questions I left in the previous ANs. Not only Izumo-no-Kami, but also Mysterious Ranmaru X won't be making much of an appearance in this story. A toki late and a yen short, to put in an overly-Japanese way. The latter may appear in the 4th HV story, where I'll perhaps delve deeper into Nobunaga's numerous retainers' lives and personalities. This story isn't the right place to suddenly introduce both of them - feels cheap, you know?

Also, I think most of you will be happy when I announce I'll strike most of the crossover characters out of the HV-S01: RKR's remake, replacing them with canon 6th Lostbelt characters. There still will be some, but not disgustingly many like the original version. I'll keep the old story up for anyone to read even after the rewrite's finished, but I won't consider it canon to this series.

Mailbag time!
HoJ Roxas: Haven't heard of you in a while! How have you been finding the story so far? The 'next one'... do you mean the next chapter or volume? Because I have both ready. [...] part of why I'm so passionate about the HV series is similar to what drives Ubisoft employees to create (substandard) Assassin's Creed games: to educate others of a culture unknown to them (inaccurately, though). Of course, as I've been saying over the past 2 years or so, the next work will be a rewrite of HV-S01: RKR.

Chiyome curbstomp time!

'They don't change at all, do they…?'

Chiyome's thoughts went unverbalized, but if they did, it'd be heavily tinged with both pity and sadness.

Solely because Shingen wasn't endowed with the same luck and fate as the current Nobunaga, the all-powerful warlord quickly became outdated and predictable. Well, the latter attribute was difficult to fix because the Takeda army was simply that powerful. It didn't matter if one's enemy knew what they were about to do if there's nothing the former could do about it. That's how the Tiger of Kai made her name: using overwhelming military superiority to run over her opponents and secure her territory. Her cavalry trumped over any and all resistances – whether it's a disadvantage in technology, numbers, martial skills, tactics…

Up till now, no opponent she'd ever faced possessed more than two of the aforementioned advantages. Shingen herself was always learning and improving all the time up to her death, when her immediate family tried to continue her philosophy and hold on to that edge – obviously, they failed – but her current self, most definitively, was the strongest Chiyome had ever known and faced.

Nobunaga had her experience from her previous life, added to this world's enhanced and denser Mystery, before further enhanced and cultivated by a new set of people around her innermost circle. Compared to that, it's certain Shingen was allowed to cry out in injustice, because she, essentially, was only a slight betterment compared to her other self Nobunaga so feared in the past.

In comparison, the Chiyome the entire Takeda generals was fighting could be described as the epitome of Divine Apotheosis.

…in short, a monster. Not human, not yōkai, but something more.

"Sha!"

- Clang!

Shingen swung her massive iron-ribbed war fan, jumping in attempt to follow Chiyome's previous dodge to the air, but her movement bounced off an invisible thing and sending her momentum bouncing back to the ground. This had been occurring with the rest of her Furinkazan as well, their movements slowly but surely growing frustrated, thus creating even more gaps Chiyome could take advantage of.

'They can't even see my snakes…' the kunoichi mulled, now rather bored at how easy the fight's gotten.

It wasn't even a conscious effort to improve her summoning skills. All of a sudden, a few months back, her snakes transformed and acquired this invisibility skill, utterly covering up all their physical and magical signatures from any detection apart from inhuman intuition. In fact, it was solely the latter which allowed the Takeda group to survive up to now, since they were still skilled enough to gauge the slightest killing intent directed at their bodies, enabling them to at least react to the invisible bites and ramming attacks from the snakes.

The small mansion they were in – the place where they intended to trap Chiyome in – had been long destroyed with just the kunoichi's first real counterattack, blasting it into smithereens from the inside by a superheated steam explosion, a compound [Fire] and [Water] ninjutsu she usually used for skin treatment. Since she shared some reptilian physical characteristics with her summons, she really appreciated some 'beauty tips' her captive recommended to take care of the snakes – and she loved repurposing general-use ninjutsu in combat even more, as people never expected it.

Because it was pure, humid heat, typical [Fire] resistance would be ineffective, and that's before accounting for the forced physical expulsion of all the available air around which would cause internal injuries. A multifaceted spell which could also be used as an emergency incubator for snake eggs was compressed into a similarly-ovoid magical structure, before detonated where the user stood. Of course, Chiyome herself wouldn't be unscathed if she stood in the centre of the explosion, so she usually did Danzō's speciality sacrificial clones. What it drained in terms of Od consumption, it more than made up for in terms of lethality and surprise element.

This technique was even more convenient to Chiyome's unique way of producing clones, which unlike Danzō was literally shedding pieces of her 'old self' to act as catalyst and form a much stronger and denser clone. In turn, it could hold more magic energy before exceeding its natural capacity, and thus the Broken Phantasm-like method became even more powerful.

Shingen desperately blew away the encroaching wall of superheated steam, actually hot enough to melt flesh and bones instantly, but at the cost of the building and surrounding area. Chiyome was able to simultaneously push back the entire Furinkazan and create an opportunity to relocate amidst the near-opaque water vapour, though her inherent heat receptors would be temporarily blinded so long as she's still within the scope of her own technique.

Still, it's not like she lost the usage of her eyes.

People often thought a snake's heat vision relied on their pupils, even though there was nothing further than the truth. It's merely an additional sense one's brain interpreted as 'sight', processed from various different receptors spread across one's body, similar to a master martial artist's instinctive ability to 'see' everything in a spherical area around them, despite not possessing any additional sensory receptors.

This was what Shingen and the Furinkazan possessed – the minimum requirement, really, to achieve their current stature – but their combined five pairs of eyes were still not enough. After all, Chiyome had a combined total of nine, and that's not including the sensory perception sharing she could've done with any of her summon.

It took a few minutes for the group of five, including the now-recovered Ka of [Fire], to blindly barrel their way out of the steam cloud, their bodies a combination of bone-chilling soaked and grotesque roasted skin. Their steps were unsteady as their inner ear canals hadn't recovered from the sudden displaced air Chiyome caused, all under her confident and watchful gaze from her favoured 'tallest tree' perch.

What a convenient place they chose to kill her in. Did they not know a forested area was Nihon's shinobis' speciality? Or were they more confident in Zan of [Mountain]'s local affinity of overwhelming her?

Clearly, as much as Chiyome was disappointed these five's power level barely improved since the last time she saw them, so too they predicted her growth would face similar stagnation. 'Did they not know snakes could live to centuries, accumulating power all the way?'

…big talk for a girl who despaired her body's not growing even after approaching her third decade of her life, but she's not going to tell that to anyone.

Each of the Furinkazan, plus Shingen, mastered different weapons and magic abilities, at times to the point Chiyome thought they're just doing it for style's sake. While not incompetent, she could already gauge all of them would be better served pursuing different specialities, go against the stream of expectations and truly make their lives their own, instead of drowning themselves in a role society expected them to fulfil and dying with regrets.

'Eh… Why am I talking like a geezer in my head?' Chiyome wondered. 'Even doing monologues right in the middle of combat… How disrespectful of me,' she self-chastised.

Her absurdly-long hair should've been a hassle in combat – which was why the five women now surrounding her in a half-circle had theirs either tied tightly or tucked underneath a modified kabuto. Still, with it swaying around like a black curtain alongside her loose red-and-white miko outfit, she was feeling the exhilaration and arrogance she most often saw in Mitsuhide in the way she's not even allowing them to touch the ends of these tempting targets, even with the blindspots to herself they served as. Dancing, flowing, and slithering in-between attacks, and only countering when it's necessary, controlling the battle flow much like how her husband used to do against her when they were young with well-placed weaknesses and pre-planned offensive strikes.

Like earlier, Ka of [Fire] was furiously swinging her flaming spear around, this time not encumbered by a meeting room's restrictive size and the absence of proper battle formation from her peers. However, her previously-mocked fighting style turned out to be far more suited to this situation than before, earning Chiyome's praise at how hard she had to work to keep up this arrogant untouchable charade. The surrounding wooded area grew increasingly flattened and cleared, the trees' charred and chopped remains littering the ground and making it – at least – more favourable towards these warriors who's used to fighting either on horseback or on foot, instead of a kunoichi like Chiyome whose speciality was flitting across three-dimensional space and hit-and-run tactics.

Chiyome craned her neck sideways with enough flourish a thrust missed both her face and her trailing long hair, before flicking one arm circularly to half-wrap around the spear shaft with both her Altered flexible skeletal structure and the weight of her Reinforced sleeves. It's been the way zhenren fought in Ming for centuries, and a symbol of the people's fantasies of the pinnacle of barehanded fighting. What was cooler than parrying sharp weapons with a piece of fabric worn to symbolize one's cultured and educated demeanour? There was a reason this wasn't popular among the mythical Beggar Kings, solely because they usually didn't dress this way. Court dancers do, though.

So did female deities.

The symbolism wouldn't have been lost on this Ming-loving group, as Shingen modelled every single aspect of her current rule over the previous dynasties she adored. Chiyome knew this, but her current garb was more coincidental than any. The irony's not lost on her, though, because her miko outfit was perhaps influenced by this childhood friend of hers in the same way, since she's been wearing them before she met Muramasa.

The flaming spear almost literally sang through the air, its eternal combustion obviously generating a lot of sound waves as it crackled, flared, and popped all over the place. Its wielder clearly recognized her advantage now, her face contorting in excitement of potentially repaying the humiliation she suffered earlier, as she continued to wantonly yet elegantly sweep all areas around her, striking invisible summoned snakes, trees, rocks, and everything in between, confident at one time she'd catch Chiyome and defeat her in one strike.

Failing that, there were still her comrades to home in on the openings she created – ditto her commander.

The flaming spear wasn't particularly wide – certainly far from some of Nanban's depiction of their own mythologies – but just large enough for Fū of [Wind] to use as a platform. She didn't even need her boisterous colleague's assistance to twist the spearhead surface to match her footing, since she could move about tiptoeing along the shaft with great speed and dexterity. Any potential lack of explosive power in pursuit of speed could, naturally, be augmented by Magecraft, so it's not an inherently flawed strategy. Fū of [Wind] followed up Ka of [Fire]'s wide, arcing flames with bursts of wind, fanning the heat even further towards the direction Chiyome was thinly dodging to, or on occasion matching her timing to boost and use [Unison Magic] to create balls of explosive kinetic heat, much the same way the kunoichi had injured and evaded them earlier.

Rin of [Forest], the designated healer of the group, had long healed them beyond the halfway point which they're operational. Obviously, some more grievous injuries took time – such as their currently shared lack of hearing due to their eardrums rupturing from Chiyome's ninjutsu – but at the very least, they could showcase their fighting skills and not lay around like cattle awaiting slaughter.

The combination of spear and jian was particularly good, to the point Chiyome was nearly overwhelmed by Shingen's large gunbai at times. The Takeda Princess General was as skilled as she remembered – for better or worse – and was simply the culmination of all her generals' skills and strong points packaged into one body. Yes, while she might lose in a battle of specialization, her all-rounded abilities were powerful enough to take advantage of any weakness.

For instance, knowing Chiyome's reptilian features, Shingen chose [Ice] Magecraft to coat the edge of her gunbai. Each wide wave shot forth a wall of cold front, while a slicing motion trailed with icicles sharp enough to cleanly slice masonry. While not particularly powerful or experienced in using this technique, she's sandwiching the kunoichi between the burning heat at her front and bone-chilling cold from her back. For a normal human, this was already disorienting and near-unbearable, but its effects were amplified for Chiyome's particularly sensitive body, bypassing even her Reinforcement and Alteration she maintained whenever she felt in danger.

With Rin of [Forest] and Zan of [Mountain] standing by as rearguards – the latter being particularly excellent at Bounded Fields – Chiyome already had her hands full in dealing with three opponents.

Fortunately, she's not alone.

With Yamata-no-Orochi's literal eight brains constantly talking and feeding information to her, plus partially-controlling her invisible snake summons, plus Shirohami boosting her physical attributes behind the scenes, it could be said the current Chiyome had no weak points to speak of.

…well, technically she still had one, but she's holding it in her possession at the moment, and there's no way her opponents could grab hold of it. Not even Zan of [Mountain], who specialized in traps and large area-of-effect spiritual attacks, could do so, because Chiyome's Conceptual Weight was higher than hers.

What Shingen thought was correct… if she was facing a snake master whose knowledge was strictly confined to Nihon. However, snakes could live in a variety of environments, and all Chiyome had to do was tailor her summons and her own body to each suitable characteristics to greatly resist any kind of elemental effects they're trying to inflict on her, since her speed and footwork – or was it bodywork? – were too much for them to even graze at this point. From the freezing, crushing depths of the ocean, to the hottest and poisonous volcanic tops, to the lush, vivid, humid jungles, and to the driest desert – her snakes had it all.

Not to mention Yamata-no-Orochi's constant support, seemingly more amused by this melodramatic battle than driven by his survival instincts, knowing fully there's no way his contractor and main priestess would die today.

And because they're… well, invisible, Chiyome could alter their characteristics without anyone knowing, making them think whatever they're doing simply didn't work or was just shrugged off.

She lightly jumped, rotating her body so it's parallel to the ground, simultaneously dodging a low sweep from a burning spear and a neck-high one from a frosty gunbai. She also rotated perpendicularly, parrying a jian thrust with the back of her palm while using the momentum to shoot several senbon towards Fū of Wind, who's similarly in mid-air after leaping off Ka of [Fire]'s shaft. Meanwhile, two gigantic invisible meaty tunnels were barrelling straight to the spearwoman and Shingen – which, to their credit, the women dodged – before instantly coiling and releasing their stored-up kinetic energy in a powerful sideways smash, tearing a shallow mud plain into the ground from the force.

However, the snakes' spring was suddenly halted by Zan of [Mountain], who used her three comrades' reaction and position to gauge where the snakes' main bodies were and summoned several torī to nail their lengths to the newly-tilled ground with the gap created by their nuki and hashira, though Chiyome simply de-summoned and re-summoned them in another location to escape. Still, it was a split second of Thaumaturgical calculation and operation her three combatants were able to take advantage of to both recover their footing and counterattack once again, surrounding her with as varied an attack as possible.

None of them had even contemplated using Living Weapon just yet, because they're certain Chiyome could withstand those several minutes of pure oppressive strength to kill them right after the effects ended. Using it consecutively between each other was also not an option, purely because the kunoichi specialized in taking the lives of any one who's weak at the moment, regardless of how well she's guarded. For all they knew, that temporary and sudden weakness would mean instant death.

[Are you stalling for time? Just for your information, my daughter's approaching at great speed," the multi-voiced serpent spoke to her mind. [If you want a specific ending, then do so quickly. Shuten has a tendency of making a mess of things in the name of what she considered 'finished'.]

[Eh…? How rare; Great Ancestor has actually cast aside her laziness and arrived for my aid? I'm flattered,] she replied, not allowing the surprising news to stumble her movements. [Thank you for the knowledge, Orochi-sama. Will she come alone?]

[No idea. Her Conceptual Weight's too great for me to divine how many 'flies' are travelling with her.]

[Noted.]

Shingen powerfully sliced downwards, hoping she'd at least cleave one of the snakes in half, yet stumbled when the resistance she expected failed to materialize, dissipating into thin air much the same way her generals were experiencing. Ka of [Fire] and Fū of [Wind] nearly decapitated each other when a pre-planned pincer attack ghosted through where a large snake was supposed to be, requiring both of their well-trained reflexes and Rin of [Mountain]'s intervention to block their respective weapons.

The Takeda Princess General was forced to bat down several incoming kunais, much faster than the fastest archer in her army could shoot their arrows, with her bare hand, weighted down by the movement of her gunbai. Seeing both Ka and Fū were occupied with each other, she finally decided, "Rin, Zan! No need to hold back and join us!"

- Clang!

Before her words were completed, Chiyome shot forth, tanto in hand, towards Rin of [Forest]. A thrust, much faster and from a much farther place than it's supposed to be, was blocked by a forest-green leaf-patterned Bounded Field, shattering it in an instant yet doing enough to nullify the lethal kinetic force at work. The twin-pigtailed, brown-haired general's eyes were wide at the sight of the kunoichi's hyperextended arm and the tanto tip barely a finger's width away from said orbs, but she was experienced enough to reflexively put up a barrier faster than her colleague beside her.

The actual expert in kekkaijutsu immediately slammed down orange walls all around Chiyome, aiming to chop off her retreating flexible arm in a similar way she's been failing to with her summoned torī.

- Poof!

"Ouchie…"

Zan of [Mountain]'s nape felt cold when she heard Chiyome's lips whisper near her ears from behind.

She whirled around as fast as she could, noticing Ka of [Fire] already sprinting and thrusting her spear towards the two of them, to allow the incoming counterattack land right on the kunoichi's body and not through her, but even as she heard her clothes sizzle from the burning metal's proximity, Chiyome's figure was nowhere to be found. Fū had pulled her aside in the next moment, carrying Rin by her collar like a cat with her other hand, and Shingen arrived two beats later, noticeably jogging once she saw they'd let, once again, Chiyome escape.

…no, she immediately corrected her thought verbally. "She's still around here. Be careful."

Fū inquired, "Should we change strategy?"

"Yes. A defensive one." Looking at Zan, she ordered, "Set up your Bounded Fields this instant. I guarantee she's going to strike before they're all finished, so hurry."

The quiet, tall woman with a hair bun had already started when their gaze met, finishing her second layer right as Shingen finished speaking. What she could erect in this short amount of time and under this much pressure of not knowing when one's head would be separated from their body was relatively simple, focused on quality than quantity, overemphasizing the simple tasks she designed them to have. The first was a pure physical defence, followed by a secondary magical one. She was starting to build up a third one, laced with [Gravity] Element, created to slow anything which stepped through it…

- CRASH!

All three of them shattered at the same time, as nine shadowy figures instantly rushed at them.

"It's bunshin! Don't hesitate…! K-Kuh!" Shingen grunted as a strangely-heavy steel weight impacted her gunbai straight at its centre, knocking even her large and muscular body back. It was just as fast as those unusually-flying kunais earlier, but with a far greater punch and control, seeing the chain holding this end of a kusarigama was taut and straight. "So there you are…!" She gritted her teeth and dug her heels in, flicking the weight to one side once the impact had dissipated enough, but a series of shouts and yells from her sides distracted her from focusing on the all-so-familiar small figure in front of her.

The rest of the Fūrinkazan was similarly troubled by a sudden increase in physical strength, to a level almost unfathomable coming from such a small and lithe frame. While once upon a time powerful legendary figures were commonly taking the form of children, the proliferation of standard Thaumaturgical education erased the advantage a compressed form would have against an underestimating opponent. In fact, bigger and larger warriors had greater physical potential to be augmented by Magecraft, and thus the era of physically unfit combatants started to wane. In the past, there were stories of handicapped and elderly masters overwhelming their younger opponents with their experience and inherent built-up magical power, but after their passing and their knowledge studied by various parties, obviously a fitter and newer vessel would be able to surpass their maximum output quite quickly once it's spread around.

It's quite rare to find someone more powerful than the Princess Generals who were also physically inferior to them. For instance, Chiyome's latest growth spurt meant she was at least on par with the average body size of that group, also symbolizing her increased magical capacity as her previous body simply couldn't contain the enhanced Magic Circuits her Apotheosis had granted her. Nobunaga was growing very quickly in a short amount of time as her body also had to keep up with the increase in her magic capacity. Someone like the tiny Himiko was the exception, of course, but that's purely due to her family's Sorcery Trait and her inherent talent.

Still, it didn't mean in an equal usage of Reinforcement, Chiyome could simply wrench Shingen's gunbai from her hand using the scythe portion of her kusarigama's inner sharp face, having used a strange variation of the Minamoto Clan's Shukuchi where it's the weight pulling her towards her destination, and not executed by any bodily movement, to close the distance. It might not be as strange if the chain was wrapped around something and she was merely tugging with great skill and efficiency, but since that solid iron structure had been parried into the air, it became quite a bizarre sight seeing the kunoichi's slim figure launch towards her.

"Tsk!" Shingen instantly chose to headbutt, since she's already wearing her kabuto, upon seeing her childhood crush's fingers tightening into a spear point. Since her armour wouldn't be able to withstand that thrust, especially if it turned out just as strong as the attacks just now, she might as well counterattack and attempt to lessen the injury that way, instead of focusing Reinforcement onto a small predicted area, as was the norm.

Thing was, Chiyome was fond of targeting such habits, and Shingen knew this equally as well. She was worried for her Fūrinkazan since they didn't know the kunoichi well – Chiyome got married and departed some years before the concrete ideas for the group solidified and was completed – but she couldn't take her eyes off the threat in front of her, since clearly, Chiyome had found a way to make several bunshin equally as real and powerful as the real thing.

Even she couldn't differentiate whether she's currently fighting a clone or not.

Still, the solution to this problem was quite simple: fight the hardest she could as if she's battling the real one, because this technique surely was burning through Chiyome's magic reserves with how much this was betraying the law of Equivalent Exchange.

…that plan worked well for about a second, before another Chiyome joined the fray. Clearly, Shingen was not going to be faced by one clone only – that honour belonged to Rin of [Forest] – and her struggle truly began.

This tice, the chains of the kusarigama sported barbs, similar to the prized oceanic creatures Nihon regularly harvest at a premium for trendier, in-vogue dishes like sashimi and the new-style sushi, circling and waiting for any opening where they could tighten and tear her to shreds. She had little doubt they could get through her Reinforcement, despite their small size – but that's plenty enough, with the variety of poison Chiyome favoured – not to mention the effects they'd had on her mobility. Thus, she slammed her gunbai face-first to the ground, instead of using its sharpened head like was typical, and casted [Wind] Magecraft at the same time to create a sudden typhoon which blew the chains off-course, giving her a split-second to jump through the gaps and repositioned.

One Chiyome was already flanking her, however, lashing out with a combination of that ultra-flexible arm acting as a whip and a spiked rod held in her palm. The imbalance in weight compared to her lithe frame wasn't an issue if she used this combination more like a perversion of an overly-long morningstar, immediately slamming into Shingen's side from several paces away, causing her to spit blood even when blocking with one forearm braced with her other hand. It's only thanks to her armour and physical Reinforcement she outright prevented an open bone breakage, though the spine-tingling pain it created told her there's at least a compound fracture opening across her sword-arm.

This was smart. Just by having one clone – or perhaps the real thing? – occupying Rin's personal space, any kind of healing Magecraft could be easily interrupted or cancelled. Hence, any injuries Shingen and the rest of Fūrinkazan endured must be factored into their defensive battle, instead of continuously abusing their bodies, knowing they'd be healed again and again, pitting Chiyome's stamina directly against them as they realized there's no way of competing with her variety of killing methods, even as she was technically outnumbered.

The decision to gang up on her was a rather hasty one, they silently admitted. It was born from how easily she was fighting off individual attacks, plus the Minamoto Clan's Noble Phantasm she displayed right at the end of their 'meeting'. It took the combined might of both Shingen and the Fūrinkazan – minus Ka, who was temporarily incapacitated at the time – to resist Bone Collector, Shuten-dōji's famed and favourite assassination technique. Stories of how she… well, filleted her targets in the Heian Period was notorious as bedtime narration for bad children. It got to the point they could recognize it on sight upon its magical preparatory signature alone.

Even now, they weren't sure how they escaped that supposedly sure-kill technique. Perhaps Chiyome made a mistake? It's only natural for an otherworldly being's technique to be impossible to copy even among its own brethren, so maybe that's the explanation?

The fact she hadn't attempted the same trick again, at the very least, supported their hypothesis. Well, that, and the unspoken forbidden rule for shinobi to try the same thing twice.

Before Shingen's feet had even landed from that heavy blow, a palm strike was already heading for her face, enlarging with every foot it approached until it's taller and wider than the Princess General was. However, it's clearly not meant as a physical attack, because ancient Jōmon runes wove through and across its skin like numerous coiling snakes devouring one another.

…or an eight-headed awakening dragon. It's difficult to tell, with the life-threatening situation she's in, as well as magic diagrams' tendencies to form perception tricks to those uninitiated to one particular Thaumaturgical Foundation. In any case, those lines and dots shone to summon an ethereal draconic being, smashing straight into Shingen's figure and breaking most of the bones in her body as she was slammed to the ground, creating a deep pit as the blow continuously pressed down without giving her a chance to breathe or even yell out in pain, leaving a trench where the Princess General now lay, soundly defeated.

"G-Guh…! D-Don't you dare, C-Chiyome…!" She tried to raise her upper body to shout, but before she could attain the proper angle to look at her childhood friend in the face, her injuries took its toll and sent her lying back to the ground again, leaving only her voice travelling upwards and outwards. "E-Everyone, retreat!"

- Puchi!

"U-Ugaaaahhhh!"

"They won't hear you."

Chiyome's triumphant voice barely reached Shingen's ears as her thigh bone was pierced clean through with a shot from yet another chained weapon of hers – this time the pointy end of a rope dart, though calling it 'dart' was a gross mistake, since it was the size of a construction piledriver – the noise of her femur shattering from the impact, despite Chiyome only needing to flick her thumb at her target, deafening any and all response which might come from her generals.

The redhead glared, though still, her body failed her and thus was unable to raise itself to meet Chiyome's gaze, which she assumed was deliberately coming from just outside of her line of sight.

What was in her line of sight was a translucent Yamata-no-Orochi in his full height and breadth, just as Shingen remembered from those old folktales she studied as a child. Sparkles of blue-white light coalesced into the main body, each mote containing what felt like 'one Chiyome' and rushing quickly to join up with its brethren. Specks of blood and flesh and gore flew up alongside this slow torrent of intangible energy, which Shingen assumed belonged to her now-defeated Fūrinkazan.

Chiyome's voice, earlier sounding relatively close by, now echoed across the destroyed clearing, up to and including the inside of Shingen's head. "I'm sorry for finishing our destined fight this way," she cooed, almost sounding sincerely sad. To the now-prone redhead, it's no different than the voice of her mother cajoling her whenever she utterly and stupidly failed in something because she didn't listen in the first place. "But I'll gladly cheat, because I'm in a hurry and you're no longer a necessary factor in the equation."

"…i-is that what w-we are to you…? Just a d-damn… footnote?!" She defiantly growled, uncaring of the clots threatening to clog her throat and make her choke on her own blood. In fact, it emboldened her in how close to death she was. "I may be defeated… b-but we w-will- AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

Her tirade was cut short when the multiheaded serpentine monster stomped on her lower half, forcing those aforementioned clots and their fresh-and-flowing predecessor up through and out of Shingen's mouth, leaving her dead when copious amount of blood burst through her upper orifices like a burst balloon filled with crimson liquid.

And with that, the Takeda Clan was no more.

"Boo! Why do you have to be so anti-climactic?! I don't remember raising you to be such a dour fighter!" Shuten-dōji whined in Chiyome's ears as the two petite women rushed through Nihon's mountainous central spine, with the quiet Tomoe in tow. "Killing your beloved childhood friend… after meeting in such a predestined manner… against all odds…!"

The oni's tone disgustingly went higher and higher with each word, enough to send shivers down Chiyome's cold-blooded spine. Some remnants from her summoning and partial Apotheosis still remained, but nothing debilitating. "I assure you their memories will live on in my heart, Great Ancestor."

"Hah! Don't think you can fool me! You don't have a heart to accept all their regrets and negative emotions!" Shuten-dōji enthusiastically pointed at the kunoichi, despite the fact they're flying through the air at breakneck speeds which forced the oni to turn back and travel backwards to see her descendant's expression straight-on. "Don't pretend you're Shirō-kun!"

Instead of engaging the oni in this verbal joust any longer, Chiyome turned her head towards the white-haired buxom woman she hadn't seen in a long time. In fact, she thought she'd only seen Tomoe… once? During her wedding, perhaps? "Has she been like this lately?"

Tomoe shrugged. "I've only just met her when she barged into my cultivation space and dragged me out to greet you, so I'm not sure. Perhaps she's just going senile?"

"Hey! I heard that!"

Shuten-dōji was summarily ignored.

"Tomoe-sama, what do you think of my performance?" It's not a topic Chiyome's eager to continue discussing, but because they're both practically strangers, it's as a good point to start as any. "Have you ever had the difficult choice of killing your loved ones?"

"There's plenty. I thought it's all recorded in the Minamoto archive, though?" Tomoe guessed. "I know it's hard, but what we're fighting for is worth it. I guarantee you that, young one."

It might sound dismissive or overly objective, but Chiyome knew it came from a good and reliable place. "Thank you, Tomoe-sama. And I… don't read scrolls much. I'm inundated with paperwork as it is… seeing more parchment gives me headaches."

"Ahaha… I'm blessed to never having to be in your position, then. Perhaps you're the one I should ask for advice from," Tomoe teased.

Technically, the two were family. However, Tomoe's blood flowed more through Muramasa's side of the family instead of Shuten-dōji's. While the white-haired woman's parents were of the same tribe, it's doubtful if they had any actual blood relation apart from the same conceptual and spiritual Origin connecting most onis. Hence, it's difficult for the black-haired monster to control Tomoe, though the centuries had certainly brought out the respect existing between them, seeing their number declining through the years despite the increase in Mystery. Being the only two active oni representative in the Outer World certainly forced a sense of camaraderie between them, with Shuten-dōji much more enthusiastic in this newfound relationship than the more naturally withdrawn Tomoe.

Thus, Chiyome hesitated using the moniker 'Great Ancestor' for addressing the latter. She's sure Tomoe wouldn't mind even if the kunoichi addressed her completely as equals, from what she read about the white-haired oni's efforts in developing Northern Honshu, but her upbringing was hard to cast aside as casually as she dispatched Shingen. She had little doubt she's stronger in direct combat, but what would the world turn into if everything's decided on strength? There would be no manners, no social and cultural development, and no history apart from a burning wreck of an apocalypse.

The development in Magecraft had allowed the popularity of spirit restoration. It differed from Greece's ancient use of adventurers-style Spatial Bag – she and the other girls caught a glimpse of its earliest versions through Muramasa's Dream Cycle – because most veteran combatants would simply target the physical presence the bag still commanded to prevent anything from being taken out. Even the slight delay in mentally summoning things out was specifically targeted with the advancement in combat techniques, making the invention almost moot. It's still popular among merchants, but strict regulations meant it's no longer a viable alternative to smuggling too. Besides, the sense of wonderment towards already-displayed objects proved popular among potential buyers, instead of having to personally negotiate with each merchant to take things out for sale.

It's one of Muramasa's sources of frustration, bleeding through the ever-steady façade he displayed to give the girls strength. Despite it not being entirely his own invention, it's still sad to see everything he did and sacrificed for didn't make it past several eras.

…well, seeing him sad made them sad, so it's not something they liked to leave hanging around without some sort of resolution unrelated to sex. With the increasing stress the end of 'Tenka Fubu' brought, as the light at the end of the tunnel grew ever brighter and bigger, it felt like their family's coping mechanism steadily grew towards debauchery instead of a professional, publicly-approved manner.

She certainly wouldn't change anything for the better. The sex was getting better and better as they increased experience with each other, knowing which part and style brought the most pleasure out of them, before delving into the dark art of post-coital pillow talk to coax out anything disturbing any one of them at that particular moment.

"I think how you did it was elegant," Tomoe praised. "Certainly, doing it the way our esteemed Shuten-sama suggested would only serve to make us late. Not to mention what prolonged combat would do to your heart and mind…" She paused a bit to glare at the pouting Shuten-dōji, before continuing, "Still, it's reassuring you're relatively alright. Let us know if you need some rest."

"More than 'relatively', Tomoe-sama. I've fully resolved those regrets long ago, and am back to full power. It barely drained me," Chiyome admitted, partially boasting and partially putting a front so as to not look weak in front of her predecessors.

"Physically, I agree. What about your mind, though? If you currently can't identify any weakness, it doesn't mean it won't show up later," Tomoe argued, her tone kind but worried. "There can be triggers which will expose you later on. That is not a prediction, but a warning," she quickly finished when she saw Chiyome attempting to interrupt, emphasizing her last word. "Rely on us if that happens… well, perhaps not Shuten-sama, but you get my point."

"Hey!" The small oni protested once again, but just like last time, she was ignored.

"Thank you for your support. I'll do my best so it becomes unnecessary, either from the two of you or my husband and wives later on."

At Chiyome's reply, Tomoe made a strange expression – perhaps silently disapproving of how quickly the harem was established, while simultaneously torn because she herself was a part of one after her husband died and Yoritomo picked her up – but continued on in silence after an affirming nod. The sudden silence gave Shuten-dōji the chance she's been waiting for since earlier, knowing these youngsters didn't have the gall to continue ignoring and interrupting her arguments.

"Now, listen to me when I'm trying to brief you!"

"Perhaps you should start with that instead Great Ancestor?" Chiyome sarcastically replied with a question. "Of course, I'm expecting it there will be nothing to brief us two about. I trust in Shirō, Kippōshi-san, and Danzō-san."

"Being confident is fine, but even if I know you're probably right, it doesn't mean we shouldn't prepare!" Shuten-dōji devolved into her 'granny' manner of speech, which was completely at odds with how young she sounded. Not childlike, but the sultry tone of young oiran seducing their customers day and night. "While I won't claim to be an expert of current military tactics or how we should attack the Mōri forces, the Nanban agents have nearly triumphed over us once. If the information arrived late, then Yasakani-no-Magatama would've been in Britain already, displayed like a trophy inside a museum or something – regardless of how powerful we are compared to them."

"Yes, yes. 'Constant vigilance' and all that." Matching the short oni's tone, Chiyome retorted with her best impression of a rebellious child. She was never one in her youth owing to her upbringing, so it's rather refreshing to take on multiple roles as an adult, especially since her body could still pass as a late-age teenager, regretfully enough. "That's why I restored my strength as quickly as possible, and treated Shingen like that. What display of might you wanted would've drained me severely in an ultimate clash of willpower and destiny, am I right?"

But at least she had breasts now! There's something for her husband to grab onto, instead of a steep cliff he'd slip off anytime!

"Gunununu… Why do you all grow up so fast…" Shuten-dōji grumbled. "You're no fun anymore! Farewell!"

The oni stepped up her movement technique – a particular variation of body flicker unique to full-blooded onis – and soon gapped the two girls considerably. Chiyome and Tomoe looked at each other, before shrugging and increased their pace as well. While they had little desire to indulge in the old girl's whims, they were pressed for time. While they're sure whatever urgent matter could be contained and delayed by the Owari force already engaging the Mōri coalition, there's nothing to be gained in delaying their arrival so they could appear like the heroes who'd save the day. One of the basics in shinobi action was to pre-empt everything and build things which might be used one day against their enemies, as early as possible.

"From what I can gather, they're already engaging," Tomoe attempted to fill in the void Shuten-dōji had selfishly created. Because they weren't fun to her. "However, I agree with your assessment. It's more likely things would be over when we arrived, instead of requiring us to rush."

"I thought you were in seclusion? If so, then your information network is very impressive." Chiyome momentarily pondered, trying to recall ever bit of information about this distant relative of hers. "Will your work be disturbed with this… event?"

"If this event came to pass with our defeat, then all my work would be for nothing all the same," Tomoe admitted with a small smile. "And yes, most of your current shinobis are my people, so I know roughly what you know. Please go easy on them with the punishment…"

"…hm, don't think I like the sound of that," Chiyome growled. "Information leakage is information leakage, no matter who receives the intel. I'll have to thoroughly go through their minds, then."

"Will that kill them? They are good children…" the white-haired oni murmured, worried about what her slip of the tongue would enact. "If you're asking whether they're replaceable or not, then I assure you-"

"Oh, I'll just break them, not kill them, Tomoe-sama. So don't you worry."

"Ah, that's good, then. Be as gentle as possible, please."

The frightening tone and turn the conversation's taking continued all the way to the current battlefield, where the Mōri Clan was facing its extinction.