Welcome back! Took a little more time than usual because I've been swamped with recent beta work. On that note, do check out my work with Kingsdaughter613, Sarin555, kokosoko, greyblueflames, and Venompool – all talented authors in their own right throughout various universes. Also, have any of you not watch Heaven's Feel III? Me, too... Still waiting for a reliable source where I can watch it for free...

Still not the real battles yet, but it's face-offs time! Check out the pairings for the next few chapters' duels below!

What a thin mailbag... Haa... Let's fill it up in this chapter!
Stratos263: I'm honestly rather conflicted how to portray this current version of her, who has knowledge of both her Archer & Avenger selves. Should I go with the Mary Sue route or be extremely realistic to the point of near-OOC?
Issei ODR: Somewhat, yes. I'll go into more detail in future chapters and Glossary Updates.
uboNiniM: Both of your questions will be answered in future chapters, so look forward to it! However, right now, she prefers addressing herself as Kagetora. Her view may change in the future.
Kulkulkan-chan: Against Ichibei, they'll lose up front. Like what Yhwach did, the best strategy against him was to get him off-guard, or overwhelm him with greater Conceptual Weight. For Heroic Vessels, the first step should always be deploying their Reality Marbles first to limit the others' power, so that's a potential balancing act.

Okehazama's unique and halfway-house structure made it popular with settlers and warmongers alike, both eyeing its easily-defensible elevation and acceptable inclination for different purposes. For the former, it was lush and fertile enough to perform terrace farming, but not too steep and isolated to prevent transportation in and out of the area. For the latter, the wide expanse and field of view granted by the not-quite-mountain was almost ideal for ranged defensive artillery, supported by stable climate and predictable wind.

Hence, it's only natural techniques and tactics to both conquer using and counter against these advantages were commonplace among tacticians and generals, not to mention the ever-growing rank of ninja clans with their affinity to subterfuge.

As a result, the dead and empty village had been booby-trapped to hell and back – almost literally, since one of the Reverse Side of the World's realms was [Hell] – under Yoshimoto's orders, knowing full well the one blind spot she's going to have would come from the rear. No matter how naturally challenging it was to circle around her set camp to do so, and the path teeming with hostile humans, yōkai, and everything in between after the constant warfare there accumulated too much negative energy, there's no such thing as being too safe.

Thus, despite his protests, Hanzō was sent to ensure everything went smoothly under this tight deadline. Imagawa advisors – Motoyasu included – predicted the Oda forces would attack either tonight or tomorrow, given there were indications they had neared this location by yesterday. Both had its pros and cons, but personally, Hanzō would brave the darkness of night… or, perhaps, the transitory period during dusk – the time where two worlds blurred together – to attack. Momentum was everything in this era's warfare, and if it had to be taken advantage of by sacrificing troops' rest, then so be it.

What he gleamed from Nobunaga's temperament also supported it. The rumours were always of a ruthless genius, one who didn't understand humans' hearts and trampled over set ideologies. While he wouldn't mind the latter – after all, that's part of his goal of liberating his lord from Yoshimoto's grasp – the former could be big trouble.

The 'birth of a new Demon King' type of trouble.

Much as he disliked this mission, Yoshimoto had managed to passively force Motoyasu to order him so. The higher a shinobi climbed the ranks, the more restrictions were placed upon them due to the greater impact every little thing they did would have. The 'shinobi code' – highly personal – was born, binding them the same manner the samurais' own did. Different than bushido, yet just as suffocating at times… when he couldn't even go against the orders of his preteen female lord for her own good.

Safeguarding this path alone was relatively simple, given there's only a true single path through these caverns. Unlike the mines of Inabayama Castle – which he heard had exploded for some unknown reason just yesterday – these were excavated not for resources, but as a genuine alternative pathway through and around Okehazama. The villagers lived on the 'front' side, close to where Yoshimoto had set up camp right now, and this 'road' was created to ease movement towards the 'back' side near some short cliffs, so merchants from that side didn't have to circle all the way to the 'front'.

The village never grew to a size where creating more paths, or a wider one, was necessary, essentially becoming a choke point for this master shinobi to guard.

The only large area where an army could comfortably stay was near the centre, where simple shrines were erected to worship the earth deities on the way to the village. However, once again, going to that place meant passing through these narrow pathways, forcing any sizeable troops to lengthen and narrow.

- Step. Step. Step.

'Speaking of which…' A tense gleam appeared across his eyes as the noise of footsteps approached his position.

- Croak… Croak… Croak…

"Yes, thank you for the information, Kōsuke," he muttered, not wanting to shout away his position just yet. While there's advantages to that tactic, as proven by the samurais who still used them, it's not yet the time. "Can you ask for Fukasaku-sama and Shima-sama to get ready? I may need their services soon."

- Croak!

The red toad wearing comically-sized goggles nodded, mentally confirming he'd received that order. To strangers, this banter was solely between a crazy man and a normal, if oddly-dressed, toad, but conversations between a yōkai tribe and their chosen humans were in fact generally mental. At first, it's due to the limited verbal capability of both sides to speak in each other's tongues, but soon it transformed into a way to maintain secrecy.

Kōsuke was perfectly capable conversing in human speech, but he chose not to in this covert operation. Disregarding whether Hanzō didn't choose them as his Living Weapon – having a nekomata instead – the Hattori Clan was still an esteemed summoner and loyal partner to the toad tribe. He de-summoned himself in a whiff of smoke, leaving a chance for his Guardian Spirit to speak.

- Nya…

"You know, I haven't seen you this tense since… your father died? Somehow, I'm getting this feeling…" the spotted white cat purred, floating in his usual space near Hanzō's shoulders. "Are the ones coming really that dangerous? I can't fathom them escaping everything we've prepared…"

- Nya…

This particular group had chosen the expected solution to the problem Yoshimoto had presented them.

With a great numerical superiority, it's obvious the only way to win – barring an absolute unexplainable miracle – was to catch the Imagawa forces off-guard. That's why Yoshimoto placed such a great importance in pressuring Motoyasu to order Hanzō to use his expertise in ambushes and traps, guarding the only logical 'backdoor' to their formation, straight to where Yoshimoto was located.

The days of a leading general calling out another to duel, in hopes of destroying each other's morale and end things with just one death, was gone. Said Chūgoku culture was no longer adopted even in the Heian Period, where the Minamoto Clan overturned all notions of strategy and 'honour' to become the victor, and re-write all the history thereafter. The Taira was depicted as the villain, while the Fujiwara and Hōjō Clan were pushed by the wayside.

However, Hanzō had hoped the Oda forces would be much more creative than this. Inevitably, there would be a blind spot no one could spot which the enemies – or an enemy – could exploit with an unknown speciality. That was why he was so tense. What if they just summoned a flaming rock from the sky using a forbidden technique at the sacrifice of countless innocents to flatten Okehazama in one blow? Such was an example of scenarios he, as appointed chief of 'dishonourable strategies', must consider.

It seemed he'd be disappointed, as a virtual scroll Kōsuke handed him secretly earlier showed the surveillance footage of the intruding small force.

It wasn't even large enough to be called a 'force', to be honest. It's just a collection of individuals rushing through Okehazama's foot and slaughtering everything in their way… very loudly.

'Isn't the point of this strategy stealth? Who planned this thing?' Hanzō sweatdropped… then nearly did a double-take when he saw the person near the back of the group. 'W-Why is Nobunaga here?!'

The group's formation was simple: one scout, two front-liners, a ranger, and what he assumed to be the one responsible for support at the back.

Said 'ranger' was clearly Nobunaga, considering the skill she's wielding that rifle with. Hanzō was instantly reminded of the skill of 'Yatagarasu' – Saika Magoichi, the foremost expert in marksmanship in Nihon and one of the best in the world. However, it's clear she's doing her own thing, since he never seen nor heard that fighting style performed by that skit-loving voluptuous woman.

Nobunaga was fighting with both gun and sword in either hand, equally as skilled.

Throughout the years, Okehazama had been abandoned after most realized the accumulated negative emotions there, despite the lack of magic stones amplifying the issue, made it too dangerous for normal residents to live there daily. Not just the malformed humans and yōkai – even the air they breathed in and out was dangerous to 'normal' people, filled with miasma able to morph the most devout into their most feared monstrosities. Therefore, like Yoshimoto, most only made temporary bases here in the event of an unavoidable war.

Still, those short skirmishes still left behind bodies and grudges… all of which eventually flowed back to Okehazama, joining the never-ending cycle once more. Those remained feasted on the dead, the dead rose to replace those who disappeared, and so on and so forth.

Only experienced people like Hanzō could stand guarding this place for any extended period of time, because simply the constant pressure of fear and corruption would be enough to drive those inferior off the edge.

…and for that, he had to commend these select group of people for braving what was now his domain.

Yes, Nobunaga was far more impressive a warrior than he expected. Any unsavoury bandits approaching their location, or yōkais drawn to the ruckus they're making, were expertly sniped with one shot each from that exquisite rifle – no doubt the creation of an unknown master from Sakai, because Hanzō had never seen that design either in circulation or in the hands of experts like Magoichi – before any one of her teammates could enter their own striking ranges and actually do their job. He knew full well how difficult a feat that was, even though he used the more traditional bow-and-arrow, since he was mostly advantaged by relying with his throwing arms for accuracy.

The more component a weapon had, the more difficult it'd be to fully control and keep reliable.

Additionally, they… didn't seem to care much about guarding the undoubtedly most precious person in their group. They're travelling so fast it's impossible to keep a tight group, especially with that diminutive supporting member trailing at the back, and allowed so many gaps for potentially fatal attacks to slip through. It's a testament to Nobunaga's own martial ability she could react to each and every one of them properly without any injuries, along with defending whom Hanzō assumed to be the newly-joining Takenaka Hanbei, judging from the discrepancy of physical ability between her and the rest.

Without any hand seals, Hanzō summoned his trusty spear – named simply the 'Demon' – and prepared himself to pounce.

Obviously, the first target should by Nobunaga. Even if he died in the effort, his success should be properly conveyed to Yoshimoto and Motoyasu through his toad summons or Nekomata himself, enabling his lord to earn enough prestige to mount a serious independence attempt to show Kyoto – and the Empress – what she deserved. His [Presence Concealment] was working well, and a sign of a Kage was the ability to maintain it until the very last second… up to the very instant before impact was made, instead of the 'bubble' bursting the instant one's killing intent leaked out.

That technique, a simple meteoric lunge from above, should bypass Nobunaga's marksmanship and better-than-average swordsmanship easily with one thrust.

That's how a model shinobi should fight. In effect, the depth of martial arts he'd learned and mastered were in fact useless, because he should always finish things off with one strike from outside his victims' sensory perception. His concealment tricks for his magical signature was average, but he should be far enough for Hanbei not to notice his current surveillance and location, and fast enough her reactions and warnings to be moot.

He tensed his thigh muscles, bulging them with Reinforcement much like how his deceased father – now a venerated toad yōkai of Mt. Myōboku – showed him the moment he was revived.

He had to admit, despite rejecting the offer to become the next toad summoning heir in favour of the Guardian Spirit which had been with him since he's a child, the taijutsu and movement skills he'd learnt from them was incredibly useful. One of them was this particular brand of Reinforcement, which mimicked a toad's unique physiology to safely 'overload' one particular limb for instant explosive movements, those unique to white-fleshed beings.

While not to the point of [Sage Arts], it's a partial transformation impactful enough to overturn a difficult situation.

And he's using it as a tool of assassination, just like how an Iga Clan leader should.

- Pfhwt!

Not even the sound of splitting wind was made, because that's just the sound effect playing in his mind as he flickered to right above Nobunaga's head – her blind spot – spear extended, still clad in [Presence Concealment], its tip aimed right at the base of her nape…

- Clang!

A short scythe blade appeared right in its path, before sliding diagonally and locking the spear's neck in place.

Hanzō's eyes widened. In his current position relative to Nobunaga, his [Presence Concealment] should still be active. How could anyone react, much less anticipate it in time?!

The person who blocked his attack was the slim scout he spotted to be always running at the head of the group. With their body-covering standard shinobi garb, it's difficult to tell whether they're male or female. Their body was slim and slight, barely reaching up to Hanzō's chest, yet his full-powered, gravity- and Thaumaturgically-enhanced was easily received and shifted aside by a short sickle.

Obviously, any martial artist worth their salt would recognize this weapon in an instant. A kusarigama stood between his spear's tip and Nobunaga's neck… who didn't even look backward – such was her confidence in this shinobi of hers – and maintained her running momentum alongside everyone else.

"H-Hyah…! E-Excuse me, shinobi-san…" Hanbei almost tripped, and awkwardly shifted a few steps to the side to re-join their march. Hanzō had no time to pay attention to the mumbling little girl, because one break in concentration would mean his end. "I-I'll just pass over here…"

Only a few seconds passed, and only the two of them remained in this spacious part of the cavern.

Hanzō's opponent's face was mostly covered with similarly-black cloth like the rest of their wardrobe, including their right eye and most of their bound long hair – itself not necessarily indicating sex. As per the norm, there was no other unique identifier for this shinobi – no scents, breathing pattern, body shape, etc. – which he could use to gleam their identity further.

Fair play. He himself was dressed similarly.

He raised the spear's tip, filling it with magic energy. There's no sense in [Presence Concealment] anymore – if they're not a shinobi, then he would've disengaged and reapply that skill. Unfortunately, if he ever showed his back to a shinobi of equal skill, he would've been dead before he had the chance to – ditto the other party if they chose to chase after the escaping group.

- Chink. Chink. Chink.

Their kusarigama's chain links rattled relatively noisily due to the sheer quietness and echoing properties of this chamber they're in, as they casually rotated the iron weight at one end while similarly raising the well-crafted sickle in a defensive posture. It's to be expected – his spear's advantage in range and speed couldn't be overcome if they relied on head-on clashes, preferring an unexpected counter like before. While he's not sure how quickly they could shoot out that weight to surpass his range, Hanzō had no desire to find out.

The longer he stalled things here, the longer his lord – who's stationed beside Yoshimoto – would be in danger of that group. Yoshimoto had showcased how capable she was in self-defence, yes, but Motoyasu would be helpless especially against her 'older sister'.

Hell, she might betray Yoshimoto and try to stab her in the back… which wouldn't do anyone good.

No, on second observation, that swinging iron weight wasn't being rotated through their wrist's movements – it's moving on its own, like a live metal snake ready to pounce anytime.

"Hoh… This will be troublesome, boy," an aged male voice croaked by his shoulder, followed by a similarly ancient female counterpart.

"Pa, why don't you tell me we're going against his host?" Shima complained, much to Hanzō's consternation at the expectation they're going to argue right beside his ears.

To prevent that from happening, he simply uttered, "Elders… lend me your power."

Whatever the 'he' they're talking about, 'Demon' Hanzō didn't care.

All he had to do was defeat this person, and go to his lord's side.

The starting cue was the appearance of a brilliant white snake laying across the other shinobi's shoulder…

Nagao Kagetora's plan was at least as simple and forthcoming as Nobunaga's, though the former didn't know about the latter's current presence.

Charge forwards while yelling out, "Uesugi Kenshin is here!". That's the plan.

More often than not, it worked. Her own skill eschewed the need of complicated strategy – after all, why spent money and time trying to chip away at a brick wall's adhesive cement when one could just smash it down with a cheap and durable sledgehammer? It'd be a waste not to use it, to be honest – and while Kagetora wasn't inept in terms of warfare strategies, this was by far her most preferred one.

Takeda Shingen was famed for her tactical use of cavalry. Hōjō Ujiyasu's impregnable defence was legendary. Magoichi Saika and her ikki had their inhuman skill with the harquebus. Nagao Kagetora was simply a war god, cutting through anything in her path at the head of her troops – itself a rarity ever since such tactic was eschewed in the Kamakura Period's few centuries up to now.

Right now, the main event wasn't her – again a rarity – but the two young Princess Generals who're going to display their own styles and characteristics.

While she enjoyed watching this kind of battle, eager to pick out talents either to poach or challenge to a thrilling duel, she had her own duty to perform.

Unfortunately for Nobunaga, it was to destroy her forces and grant victory to Yoshimoto. In a way, she was destroying the 'pristine' and 'pure' duel between them… but this was war, not her personal duel. She'd execute anyone who attempted this if it's the latter, but the battlefield had no eyes and even less morals or rules.

- Fwip!

Her robes' cuffs cut the air noisily, giving her troops a proper signal.

"UESUGI KENSHIN HAS ARRIVED!"

Using Reinforcement, she yelled out loud across the battlefield from the forests bordering the plains of Okehazama. Even her clan's well-trained horses were spooked, and only her retainers' and troops' skilled hands were able to calm them down somewhat from the sudden noise, just as deafening as a naval cannon.

At the same time, her clan flags – a pair of flying sparrows in bamboo for Uesugi, and nine suns with three tomoe for Nagao – were erected among the cavalry, spreading upwards and outwards like a proud peacock.

Her shout was clearly meant to demoralize the enemy, but the following, "CHARGE!" died out before they left her throat…

…as her sharp eyesight saw two lone warriors sprinting over here atop their horses.

Both were too far away for her to make out any individual characteristics, though they're clearly dressed as if they're unaffiliated to anyone. Usually, idiots of this kind would yell just as loud as Kagetora, attempting futilely to sacrifice themselves to buy useless time. However, one thing was clear: They're sincerely here believing they could defeat her right now.

Kanetsugu raised one hand, ready to give out orders for a team of archers to barrage these newcomers with arrows, but she hesitated when Kagetora's hand moved up at nearly the same time.

Thing was, her twin-bladed glaive was in it…

- BAM!

An unbelievably large shockwave emanated from something hitting the flat of Kagetora's weapon, almost knocking Kanetsugu's small frame off her horse. The wind bristled and agitated the horses which were already highly-strung from Kagetora's shout earlier.

Kanetsugu only realized what's going on after a dull 'thud' landed near her, revealing a spear-sized arrow made entirely out of steel.

One of those two riders… shot at her before she could even react.

If Kagetora wasn't here, then she had no doubt her entire upper torso would've been blown off by that one shot, sending cold shivers down her spine.

She's no amateur in the battlefield, but… it was the first time she ever saw such a powerful hand-operated artillery strike – and with such speed, too!

"Interesting…" Beside her, Kagetora had already formed a worrying smile. "Hmph!"

- BAM! BAM! BAM!

Three more deafening blasts rang out from near her location – but fortunately her small army was well-trained in their reactions, and had retreated several steps back to avoid being affected from the collateral shockwave. Those heavy arrows were aimed at her head, her horse's neck, and Kanetsugu again respectively, but Kagetora skilfully parried them all and neutralized their threats.

However, inwardly, she gritted her teeth at the effort she had to expend to prevent her arms from shaking. While the men at the back wouldn't be able to see her clearly, the ever-vigilant Kanetsugu would kick up a fuss and mindlessly declared she'd sacrifice herself to 'open a road' or something.

Why couldn't the little girl allow this lord of hers to have some fun at times? Once in a while should be good, right…?

"NAGAO KAGETORA IS HERE! HERE I COME!"

Only Kanetsugu's outstretched, frustrated hand sent her off without a word, as she charged in alone… like always.

Her spear was just as long as Nanban lances, but very different in construction. Japanese cavalry spears had long handles and relatively short steel ends, as opposed to the halfway house of European lances from the Middle Ages where long conical metal fittings dominated their structure. Kagetora's personal one was inspired by the Seven-Branch Sword, the fabled Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, with one elongated tip supported by a mild medial ridge and six smaller hooks, three on each side, adorning the socket's neck.

It's considerably lighter, but relatively fragile for outright piercing motions, because there's every chance the mating surface between the metal and wood would crack due to their smaller size. Nanban lances had no such issues, as it generally had a 'core' running nearly all the way to the tip, and the metal parts simply fit around that core instead of on top of it like Kagetora's. Of course, those lances had mostly evolved into duelling weapons, perverting their structure even further – contrasting her own which was honed purely for killing in the battlefield.

However, this was discounting Magecraft, of which she had very little talent of. What she had was her Reinforcement skills trained beyond what's humanly possible, enabling her to wield this ungainly sharp stick – nearly twice the length of Hōshōtsukige – like a twig.

"HEAR MY WORDS! NOBODY IS TO INTERFERE!" She laughed out loud, rushing in without a care as per her norm.

…though also as usual, Kanetsugu outright ignored her feverish instruction and finally relayed the order to shoot the arrows.

All of them.

- BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

Hōshōtsukige's fast gallop enabled her some head start against her own army's arrows, and her divine spearmanship blocked and parried every single one of those… well, they could already be considered cannon shots, couldn't they?! Her arms were almost numb, here!

She paid the dull 'thuds' and 'clangs' no attention, as the heavy steel arrows came faster and faster. Both parties were sprinting towards each other, enabling this archer – a well-built male, from this distance, accompanied by a… kunoichi? – to be more accurate and his arrows to arrive faster.

Logically speaking, his draw and firing rate should've slowed down once Kagetora got to a certain distance. However, a testament to his skill was he calmly and serenely shot non-stop, aiming slightly off each time to prevent himself getting predictable. She couldn't make out what kind of make his bow was, despite her near-encyclopaedic knowledge of every famous and/or skilled weaponsmith in the land.

Two theories: It was hand-made by this person, which elicited her desire to poach him to her side, or a Nanban made it.

Either way, things were about to escalate up a notch… as finally the barrage of arrows came from behind and overtook her charge, raining squarely on both these riders.

…or they should've been. Instead, Kagetora widened her eyes when all she saw looking like a porcupine were the poor horses, with their riders nowhere to be seen.

The two parties were still some distance away – at least several more seconds with full gallop – with the Uesugi army now much further. Still, it was enough for the arrows' parabolic trajectory to carry them all the way here, especially from the forests' slightly elevated position. Additionally, unknown to her, the Fūma shinobis had also moved, spreading out like packs of black wolves across the plains to start flanking, confident they could deal with friendly fire without even looking out for their own backs.

She certainly had seen her fair share of tricks to avoid this kind of onslaught, most popular among them was sliding underneath their horses' belly and hanging on from a modified strap. It relied on knowing one's mount well – there's no sense in performing such evasive manoeuvre if the horse just went and fell down, crushing the rider along with it.

But these two… were stepping on the arrows, walking through the air.

Amidst the sound of countless arrows cutting the air, she could hear a pair of synchronous voice muttering into the dark night air.

""[Ghostlight Firefly].""

"Go right now! Or we won't pay you guys!" Kanetsugu's shrill voice was the sole reason Kōtarō signalled for his group to move and spread out, if only to shut the little girl up. "Kill those two!"

The Fūma Clan shinobi were all incredibly well-trained, perhaps even more than the Uesugi Clan's troops, when viewed from the point of danger level during training. Much like magi, they – and honestly, most current shinobi forces – stayed incredibly close to death's precipice since an early age, and the weaker ones were naturally weeded out because… well, they died. A resignation letter was practically unknown to them – survive and thrive, or perish.

While no instructor would deliberately sabotage a student, it's a standard already proven to produce high-quality ninjas. Besides, those seniors were incentivised by the fact the more students they trained, the more they could use as a 'meat wall' in case their lives were in danger. There was no shame in that line of thinking because they themselves would unhesitatingly sacrifice their lives when ordered by their superiors.

For Kōtarō, those who could order him like that had passed away – with only one of them he truly missed.

"Young master, you sure have grown…"

The image of a cold hand slipping lifelessly down his grip, rained on by his tears, flashed through his mind. He mentally berated himself for being immature, shaking his head furiously, forcing himself to refocus on the mission at hand. His body was more than capable of avoiding 'regular' dangers like friendly fire of arrows, but it wouldn't do against a skilled opponent. Hell, Kagetora might've killed him by accident if his mind kept wandering off.

"How pitiful… Allow this Danzō to correct your form."

However, he could take solace in the fact his fellow shinobis – those of the same generation – would be similarly affected whenever those memories surfaced in their minds.

As usual, extrovertly showcasing emotions were frowned upon in shinobi work. Yes, emotions were a powerful tool, but it must remain that way: something to use against others and to defend oneself. Nothing more, nothing less – especially if one allowed them to overrun and take control of one's actions. This rule needn't be enforced, because those who fell foul of it simply disappeared on their own… either dead, in exile, or hiding.

The plains of Okehazama were unnaturally expansive and flat, creating a disadvantageous situation for attackers against the one camped on the small mountain. The grass swayed in the wind freely, painting a peaceful visage, but it was merely the prelude before it's splashed with blood's familiar crimson shade – and much too short for experienced shinobi like him to truly hide his figure.

Of course, there were plenty of ninjutsu which hid its user without the need of much cover, but the urgency of Kanetsugu's voice along with his own impatience meant he didn't give out the order his shinobis to waste magic energy and use them. For example, the skill to blend oneself with shadows or tunnel through the ground like it was water. The distance between them, the charging Kagetora, and the still-unknown assailants were also close enough doing this after they made their first move was futile, because anyone skilled enough to fire off arrows as deadly as those giant metal sticks would be able to determine their position through whatever means necessary and shoot them dead the moment the ninjutsu fell off.

- Step. Step. Step.

Their footsteps were muffled completely against the grass – a combination of skill and terrain – and their body-covering uniform made it difficult to discern their minute movements.

Important, because without any verbal cues, shurikens the size of half a human were flung from their spread-out position around the three combatants, scything easily through the grass in their initial flight trajectory before whirling fiercely through the air.

If they wanted to determine the Fūmas' position from this sound, then the masquerade would've already worked: The intention of doing a relatively flashy opening salvo was to draw attention away from their follow-up movements, which was to flicker to a new formation to-

- Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

'You've got to be kidding me…' Kōtarō nearly clicked his tongue both in surprise and frustration, managing to hold himself back after reminding him they're still fighting. 'That one can block all of them?!'

To be more precise, those giant Fūma shurikens – themselves not much shorter in their longest length than the arrows this mysterious redheaded rider shot out – weren't blocked.

They were shot down from the air… with kunais.

Only the slightest blur from the archer's companion's hand told the shinobis that person was the one behind this… without even changing their posture from on top of the horse.

'A kunoichi…?' Kōtarō thought after he moved closer to the riders, signalling secretly to the others to cover his sudden change in movement.

While their prowess in Magecraft wasn't as well-known as onmyōjis, shinobi's ninjutsu had a deep root in it as well, making them more similar than one would think. It's showcased in the formation the Fūmas were trying to pull right now, though slightly delayed from Kōtarō's change of plans with the need of some restructuring for the ritual.

He knew he shouldn't allow his personal feeling interfere with any missions, but he just couldn't stop his now-accelerating steps aimed right between where the melee was going to happen. From the corners of his eyes, Kagetora's famed lance was nearing at a fearsome speed while the redheaded archer leapt to the air in accordance to the arrival of rain of arrows from Kanetsugu's command.

He followed the kunoichi's movements with his vision – she mimicked what her companion just did by walking on the incoming arrows – but the sheer ridiculousness of this technique they called 'Ghostlight Firefly' failed to register properly in his head. Only the shortest, most efficient path to engage her illuminated in his mind, carving several 'roads' he could follow – much like following the 'wind' prevalent in his clan's name.

Why…?

Why was he so attracted to that figure, who looked so familiar…?

Still, despite his chaotic mind, his body still properly signalled for his shinobis to proceed with their next step.

- Click.

A multitude of mechanical noises rang around the small area they're now congregating in, coming from the centres of those large Fūma shurikens. A near-invisible Shinto inscription was written on each weapon, enabling a remote activation of its second function: to shoot out the four blades out like shrapnel in a cross-like fashion. Some of them were curved and single edged, others were diamond-bevelled and symmetrically straight – but all were certainly deadly nonetheless, especially after some Fūma shinobis imbued them with a coating of poison.

- Twang… Twang… Twang…

'Something's wrong!'

That line of thought was shared across all Fūma shinobis present, after seeing what should be a rain of machete-sized shrapnel join the hail of arrows mid-air… limply flew everywhere else but their supposed targets, stabbing themselves to the ground once gravity exerted enough pressure to break the imbued launch spell. From the sound, it should be… strings? But there was no visible or tangible string around, judging from the freedom the Fūma shinobis still had as they took some distance.

If it was truly a string-based ninjutsu or ningu, Kōtarō would've chosen to have them as thin as possible to cut through the Fūma shuriken shrapnel along with the shinobi throwing them. Most of his clan members shared the opinion, and retreated silently at almost the same time.

Yet, still no sign of that tell-tale sharp string able to behead a galloping horse when placed correctly.

It was an old Fūma trick: tie a near-invisible sharp metal string across a tree at neck-height and watch as it sliced clean through cervical vertebrae, both of humans and horses. Yōkai's inherent physical resistance made it more difficult, but all they had to do was imbue it with the exact elemental weakness of the targets to compensate. The strings could also be used in melee, but it fell out of favour after more efficient grappling methods were refined and codified.

The Fūma shinobis, Kōtarō included, kept their eyes trained on the covered-up kunoichi, asking silently, 'Who on earth are you…?'

No one wished to acknowledge the improbable happening, even after the impossible were already eliminated.

- Ton. Ton. Ton.

"Stop playing kemari and face me, you idiot!" Nobunaga yelled at Yoshimoto, who kept on juggling her ball in full battle gear while humming like a retard. "Don't you care about your life?!"

- Bang!

"Whoops! Ahaha! So close there, Nobunaga-chan!" Yoshimoto giggled, sticking one tongue out as she lightly shifted the ball to one side to avoid it getting shot by the Oda Princess General's shot. "What a beautiful harquebus as well! Isn't wasted in your hands?! Hyah!"

- Ton… Bam!

With one slight tap, she volleyed the ball straight to Nobunaga's face, who nonchalantly sliced it in half with the katana in her right hand. "Finally done playing, hu-!"

She hurriedly dodged to one side to avoid the lightning-imbued crossbow bolt travelling right behind the cannonball-like shot, silently cursing at Yoshimoto's better-than-expected physical ability. Shouldn't this airheaded girl be just a comedic character whom her previous self easily slain because of her stupidity and arrogance?

What kind of Imagawa Yoshimoto equally adept with the glaive, crossbow, and a freakin' kemari?!

As Nobunaga stewed over how different things were now, rendering her knowledge useless – as with many things in this world – the rest of her group were battling in silence, none eager to make any unnecessary noise due to different reason. Hanbei was the ever-naturally shy, Tatsumi was more focused on controlling his anger and tengu side after having flashbacks to Kohaku's final moments, and Mitsuhide was… sitting around?

To be fair, Nobunaga had ordered her to stay as a substitute owing to her recent series of battles. While her body might have outwardly recovered, applying her own elemental control over her own blood was certain to have lingering aftereffects, much as she didn't want to admit it in front of everyone. Perhaps she'd do so if Shirō asked really nicely, but even that would be with great resistance.

She narrowed her eyes at the way Tatsumi was fighting, finding flaws where there wasn't any due to her own prejudice.

Certainly, the Mutsu Clan's taijutsu lived up to its name. Despite Mitsuhide witnessing with her own eyes how her beloved senpai defeated it, she knew it's because Shirō was the exception and far from the rule… as evidenced by the number of bodies littering Yoshimoto's inner campsite, every single one still breathing. Clearly, the her right now couldn't contend with or help him in any way, because any sluggishness would drag not only Tatsumi down, but also Hanbei and Nobunaga.

Regarding the latter, she simply couldn't take any risk, and thus held her tongue.

Most of the remaining yōkai were muscular Enkis and some Ippon-Dataras wielding various bladed implements sized up to their natural physiques. Clearly, these spent way too much time absorbing the negative energy present in Okehazama, which had even begun to turn the unconscious Imagawa soldiers into corrupted humans by the second. The relatively puny and mindless deformed ex-miners and villagers all turned into fertilizer the moment Tatsumi's fist sent their consciousness reeling, showing how far they had fallen that their souls' grasp on their physical bodies was so weak.

In his iconic white top and purple pants – indeed, Mitsuhide had yet to see him wear a different set of clothes – he flowed through the scene of carnage like a ghost.

- Fwoosh!

The yōkais certainly was aggressive, as shown by one Enki who cleaved down with his… well, cleaver strong enough to audibly disperse air in its way. While simple, the lack of technique was compensated by sheer physical attributes, and even Mitsuhide preferred to simply parry its strikes in order to keep up momentum to counterattack.

Tatsumi, meanwhile, twisted his entire body to face one side, letting the thick, rustic blade pass millimetres in front of him, and use the half-rotation to simultaneously launch a left hook against the monkey-based creature's tough hide.

- BAM!

The resulting sound was completely inappropriate with the first visual impact, as the well-built man simply looked casual in his attacks' delivery, yet the unmistakeable crunches of shattered bones followed at the end of every move's shockwave. The Enki slashing earlier was knocked out cold, his spirit leaking out to nourish the budding magic stone reserves buried deep underneath several layers of sediment.

In fact, many experts predicted Okehazama would become a magic stone mine in the far future, purely because how much corpses regularly piled up there unwanted, in contrast to its normally-peaceful and vacation-worthy appearance. The current mines all had forgotten dark histories, which happened so long ago people had begun to forgot about them. The magic stones gave rise to powerful and unique individuals, who in turn create more chaos and nourishment for the land, maintaining the cycle until a rogue variable showed up and broke it.

Mitsuhide knew Shirō wished to become this decider, and had asked Nobunaga and Tatsumi to stay their respective weapons away from blood as possible.

'I don't think trying to save everyone will work, though, Senpai… You have to be ready to make some difficult choices.' She mulled, resting her left palm on top of her katana's buttcap. 'But… the face he makes when he spoke of those ideals… Ufufu… I love him…'

As her comrades battled while risking their lives and honour, Mitsuhide wiggled shamefully while blushing under the surrounding yōkais' sweat-dropping stares.