In the summer of 1560 the world was chaos. Opposing clans ravaged the landscape, thirsty for conquest and control. Yoshimoto Imagawa, a powerful warlord of Suruga, raised a huge army and poised to lead a massive attack on the capital city of Kyoto with the intent of crowning himself emperor of all Japan.
He might have succeeded, had it not been for his decision to rest his troops on the plains of Okehazama in Owari. In the middle of the night, the small group of soldiers from Owari, comprised of only about 2,000 or so men, made a surprise attack on Yoshimoto's army. It was a slaughter. The ground grew spongy from the sheer quantity of blood covering the land, and the screams of dying men could be heard for miles around. In the end, Yoshimoto Imagawa was slain in what is now known as the Battle of Okehazama by the leader of the militia, an Owari warlord called Nobunaga Oda.
Drunk on the bitter taste of his violent victory, Nobunaga let his guard down. Holding aloft the decapitated head of his rival, he laughed triumphantly, never seeing the arrow that had been fired in his direction. It pierced his throat and he fell from his horse. What happened then is anyone's guess.
A year later, the story had become a legend.
Suddenly wild stories were spreading throughout Japan from the Mino province. Farms were destroyed and peasants--men, women, and children--were found butchered in their homes. Soldiers and workers vanished without a trace. Few survived whatever horror had struck. No one knew what to believe. Was it a plague? An attack by wild animals? A fabrication? The truth--which some refuse to believe even today --is far more frightening than all other fantastic possibilities.
The truth is that Nobunaga Oda, through some dark conjuring or black deed, was able to rise again. He came back from the dead with as much of a thirst for power as he had had in life--perhaps more so. Demons bowed at his feet and hailed him as their king, and so Nobunaga created an army of abominations, hell-bent on forcing all of Japan under his tyrannical rule.
It may seem incredible, but it's the truth. And I should know; I am Oichi Oda, Nobunaga's sister.