Happy New Year! Let's go for 2022!

...thankful for not being hangover enough to avoid posting this, anyway. You guys can thank the presence of family and friends for that.

Just crossed my mind I haven't done any Glossary Updates on Danzō's new series of Noble Phantasms. I'll get to that next chapter. Also, this arc both contains a lot of spoilers for Oda Nobuna no Yabō and requires quite a bit of knowledge of its second half. Apologies if things look confusing, because I just don't have the time or space to insert every tidbit of knowledge for this crossover and make it pretty. Some will be melded into the various omakes, while others, unfortunately, will require you guys to hit up your search engines for explanation.

Just one mail today, courtesy of uboNiniM:
uboNiniM: Countess Bathory, of course. I think I mentioned her a few times already? As you can see, this is SHIROU's PoV, so he's going to address people by breaking 4th walls occasionally.

Nobunaga inhaled deeply, savouring the significantly-lighter air now her lover had departed to chase after some Nanban stragglers. The breath brought with it a refreshing dilemma – she certainly felt less safe, because Muramasa had been the 'safety margin' she had in this life over her previous one, but at times she worried public opinion about her reliance on him would take a turn for the worse if she kept doing so. Neither one of them had any issue about that, but that's solely because of what they knew about and how much they shared with each other. With him here, she would fear nothing coming her way in the form of lethal counterattacks or assassinations, because his skillset was, actually, more suitable for interception than outright assault or siege combat.

Considering the primary makeup of his current soul, this was understandable. Muramasa would always deny he's a warrior first and foremost, instead choosing other occupation to claim to his opponents in order to let their guard down. However, Nobunaga and the girls knew this was what he actually believed as well, thinking limiting oneself to a specialization not only closed off oneself to creativity, but also points of view easily missed via 'grandfathering' into a rigid lineage or way of thinking. To him, everything he's interested in fed on each other in a complicated web: the design of his blacksmithing was inspired by his battles, his cooking was perfected by the fire mastery he learnt while blacksmithing, his mishmash of fighting styles harmonized themselves like the fusion dishes he and Ken were currently championing as alternatives to the boring traditional dishes.

In comparison, even the changed lives of his girls seemed quite monotonous.

Hopefully, that was enough to take care of things without him or the rest of her 'sisters'.

'If only that damned Nobukatsu is more reliable…' she bemoaned, thinking of the wuss who was her biological younger brother. Not to be misunderstood – she was incredibly happy their relationship was much better than how it ended previously, since Muramasa's and Himiko's presence meant Nobukatsu's boneheaded suicidal plot was completely unnecessary – but what didn't change was his ineptitude in combat.

From what she gleamed through Muramasa's Dream Cycle, hopefully his daughter would grow up to be more competent… No, Chacha had to be, or Nobunaga would personally take that girl under her wing as her legitimate heir. Because she had delayed having children with Muramasa, her niece would be a good guide to those eventual kids when Nobunaga was too old to take to the field and the redheaded blacksmith had to leave this world, his mission accomplished.

He lamented he'd failed in leaving a solid succession plan so far, and it's not something he's particularly keen on sharing with them, despite his insistent nosiness into their own personal problems, so the girls took 'revenge' and swore to fix this part of his regrets, at the very least. If he's not happy? Then suck it up; he's been doing the same forcibly to them, so it's only fair if they got to pay him back in full. If that required having as many capable children as possible – to the point slurs about 'baby factories' would undoubtedly come to play – then so be it.

Hopefully, his mastery of Reinforcement was good enough to survive this ordeal.

[Kippōshi-nē, we're in position.] Kazumasu's voice crackled through the communication device, newly-produced and relatively unstable. Nobunaga wanted to mass-produce these, especially since it's in the fashionable shape of a pair of earrings – Mitsuhide's work, no doubt – but technical and economic issues still plagued the project. Hence, it's only limited to the field commanders who didn't have the capacity to cast [Telepathy] during battle. [But… I think there's a problem.]

Through the communication piece, Kazumasu's childish voice was gravelly and deeper than usual, but that didn't make the news any better. Sighing, Nobunaga asked, […what is it, then?]

[There's an unidentified craft swimming underneath us… not quite in position, but clearly having its weapons trained upon the enemy. Though… I think I know who it is, but you're not going to be happy about it.]

[Quit skirting around the subject!] Nobunaga hissed, resisting the urge to yell. The equipment was still too sensitive and fragile in all the wrong ways that any sudden spike in volume would firstly elicit a feedback loop so strong it'd deafen its wearers, and secondly cut off the communication service for a few minutes as the units attempt to reconnect. [Spill it out!]

She heard her first admiral took a measured breath, before saying, […I think it's Heika and Danzō-san. They've stolen your prototype, too.]

- …

[H-Hello? K-Kippōshi-n-nē?] Kazumasu checked in, nervous when she heard nothing coming back from Nobunaga's direction for several seconds already. [I-Is this thing still working?]

[…yes.] The redhead, once again, resisted her primal urges and confirmed steadily. The worse thing one could do in war was panic, and the worst person to have a panic attack was the supreme commander… which was, of course, Nobunaga herself. [Then, if it's not an enemy, you don't need to bother reporting its activities to me. Speak only when you're winning or losing. Out.]

[Copy. Out.]

These strange procedural words were already hard enough to remember, and this latest twist in the tale almost made her lose her mind. It's already bad enough the man she most trusted and loved suddenly left without any explanation – she had to assume things from observation, as per his teaching – now they also had a VVIP to protect. From what she'd measured the Empress to be, it's likely she'd be able to crush the Mōri Clan single-handedly… heck, even the two armies working together might still lose against Himiko if she went all out – so Nobunaga wasn't particularly worried about her safety, but there were far worse things which could be done to a nation's leader other than physically harming her. The Nanban was brazen enough and nearly successful in getting away with stealing one of the Three Regalia; there's no telling what openings this fateful battle could unearth in Himiko's personal defences.

Besides, as she mused before, among her closest lovers and friends, it's actually Muramasa who's best suited for protection duty. Mitsuhide excelled more overall in terms of defensive warfare, but one-on-one bodyguarding wasn't her forte. Both Chiyome and Danzō trained in every way to bypass this protection and kill their targets, yes, but it didn't mean they'd be similarly spectacular once the roles were reversed. Adaptability, observation, and supreme flexibility in retaliation tactics were critical… and there's no telling whether the Minamoto Clan had prepared Himiko for direct threats to herself.

Nobunaga might be related to them – in a shocking difference to her previous self, who hailed from the Fujiwara Clan – but she's very far down the totem pole, especially when compared to Muramasa and Himiko. Even her long-dead sister, Kohaku – may she rest in peace – was perhaps of a higher internal rank than her due to her marriage to Tatsumi, who's obviously a core member and potential substitute heir if something was to happen to those preceding him.

In fact, she wasn't entirely sure of her family's bloodline in terms of this. Clearly, the Oda wasn't eligible to compete for the position of Clan Head – or even, as she surmised previously, be considered a worthy spare – but where did things change? Her previous self's connection to the Fujiwara was something her clan elders proclaimed religiously, and she couldn't be bothered to check its accuracy if it already granted her a political advantage just by going along with the flow. It's similar here, too, but because of the Imperial Family's far stronger influence and control, there's no way she could play the kanpaku and Emperor like she did in the past, both for personal and pragmatic reasons.

One, she genuinely liked Himiko… and as a potential future family member – since her marriage with Muramasa was still some way away – that little creepy kid wasn't a bad choice for it.

[I can hear you, Fool of Owari. Or should I call you Nē-san already?]

- Static.

That particular sound effect occurred both through her communication piece as well as inside her body – as in the noise her heart was making as it dropped into her stomach.

[O-Ooohhh! H-Himiko-chan! G-Good day to you!] Nobunaga nervously tried to smooth things over, yet her voice got all shrill and high. [W-Whatever do you mean by t-that?]

[Calling me 'creepy'. I can hear your thoughts loud and clear.]

[H-Hahahaha! There's no way I'd call you that, i-isn't that right?! Ah, I'm busy right now so I'll shut things off from this side!]

- Static! Static! Static!

That last rushed part of her sentence was instantly followed by her hand shooting up towards her ear, faster than even her quickdraw for her sword or rifle, to take off the earring-shaped magic stone and stuff it down her armour's inner pocket.

'Dangerous! DANGEROUS!'

She felt like her life had been shaved several decades in an instant.

See? Creepy, right?

Nobunaga's never wrong!

Takakage knew perfectly well she's going to lose. All the knowledge she'd collected, the experience she'd learned, the wisdom she inherited pointed to the same thing: defeat. It's almost as if she's fated to… the Mōri Clan and Chūgoku Region were destined to be subsumed into the greater Nihon as a whole. The latter was actually not an unappealing idea, but the warlords currently and previously feuding were fighting over who got to be the 'rightful faction' to lead this unification, long touted by the Imperial Family.

Solely the result of an ego-measuring contest.

All this suffering, all this chaos, all these deaths… could simply be avoided if all parties involved could agree on one single person to receive the Imperial Family's attention. But, as always, humanity could be counted on not doing exactly that. This description included all living, sentient beings now living in Nihon under a legally- and magically-binding peaceful pact, but had no intention in building on the positives the Minamoto Clan had established, once again, over a pile of corpses and rivers of blood. Just one generation later, those outside the Imperial Family already forgot the sacrifices made by their predecessors, continuing on their puny lives and forgetting the pain which built their then-livelihood.

Each daimyō thought they had the 'correct' way to achieve this coveted position: to lead Nihon to a new era alongside the Imperial Family under the shogunate system. It's a testament to the Minamoto Clan's subsequent dominance the petty infighting they're experiencing now didn't start centuries earlier – basically as soon as Yoshitsune passed on, as many feared.

…but then, if the Imperial Family had such a stronghold on power – political, military, economic, etc. – how could things devolve into the state it was now? The key to an empire's strength, mainly, was manpower first and foremost. Letting needless able-bodied citizens die and suffer was simply counterproductive, especially since the Minamoto Clan had long revealed Yoshitsune's dying wish to conquer the main continent and avenge the humiliation and invasion from the Yuan Dynasty centuries ago. Despite successfully beating back the mixed Mongol armies, the then-Shogun didn't take kindly on the fact they were able to land on Nihon soil and stain it with Nihon blood. Alas, fortifying her family's position and stabilizing Nihon took precedence, and she would never set foot on the main continent for the rest of her life.

'As I thought, this is a deliberate ploy…'

Regardless of Takakage's paranoid hypothesis and conclusion, there's also undoubtedly significant advantages to allowing the empire to descend into chaos. Firstly, it was controlled – none of the daimyō participating in this Sengoku Period battle royale had any hope of either controlling or usurping the imperial rule, as was typical in a land filled with powerful warlords. Yes, they were significant and influential, but not that much. Almost like children being allowed to play on a particularly wide beach, thinking it's their world to conquer… not realizing it's a private property with an owner who wouldn't hesitate in executing children who misbehaved. From a safety point of view, it's clear the Minamoto Clan would be content so long as their rule went unchallenged.

Secondly, could this be a sick, twisted version of general audition? To test who was worthy not only to be heralded as Nihon's unifier, but also its foremost spearpoint in its planned global expansion. The reasons they hadn't joined the European superpowers in their desperate form of colonization were many-fold, but primarily because the Imperial Family desired absolute, rock-solid unity between all citizens and power factions before they begun. Knowing what they now know about the internal problems wracking those proud nations and kingdoms, Takakage was glad they didn't waste resources in attempting something solely for pride's sake, like many sponsored merchant and slave ships now rushing across the world like drooling mongrels, eyes focused solely on riches and 'honour'.

Instead of forcing their own place among the international powers, it's better to conserve energy and take control when the opponents were weak, when their own citizens wished for a change in power… or, even better, culture and citizenship.

As much as Takakage could calculate into the future, that was the current Epmress's medium- and long-term goal, regardless of who actually won.

And the white-haired Princess General had a strong feeling Himiko had already chosen a side, no matter how neutral the public stance she always insisted on showing.

As usual, the three spearheads of Mōri – Takakage, Motoharu, and Takeyoshi – were spread out across the strange battlefield they'd agreed on. It stunk of a trap, and only her knowledge the Oda Clan, too, had no experience in engaging simultaneous land and naval warfare relatively close to each other, as near as two pieces of differently-coloured paper put together, across practically three different terrains. Only from knowing they had the local advantage did she agree to take the bait when the Oda army inexplicably shuffled itself closer to the beach, as if exposing its flank to a rapid sideways assault.

Motoharu was the frontline general, decisive and skilled; Takakage trusted her sister to make the right decision even if it was a trap. Ditto with the burly Takeyoshi leading his Murakami Navy, unbeaten across Nihon. As such, Takakage could fully focus on reading the battlefield from the back, controlling everything from her field office, instead of worrying about her safety being endangered constantly if she moved closer up front or chose to place herself in the mix to gain better 'feel' of the war flow.

She knew of Nobunaga's prowess with the rifle. Certainly, from this distance, the redheaded Princess General could combine that with her Magecraft to snipe Takakage easily. With the Mōri Clan lacking in magical defences – or even any level of mastery when compared to other regions, honestly – that certainly would be the most efficient route to take. At this distance, it's difficult to make out any single individual, especially since neither army had officially made contact yet. There's no request for a meeting or parley – they all knew what they're here for.

…or did they?

The feeling she's just being used as a front for someone else's scheme just wouldn't go away. Nor did the feeling Nobunaga was here solely to entertain her, with her other forces working behind all of their backs to achieve something completely unrelated, yet far more important to the wider picture. 'Is it an imperial edict?' She wondered. If so, then…

She bit her lower lip. "Like hell I'm going to allow us to be sacrificed without putting up a fight…"

She was alone in her strategy room, its ceiling traditionally open and with only thin fabric covering all four sides. Hence, no one quite heard what she muttered, or what it implied.

Of course, the evidence could only be collected after the battle… if they won, that was. Everything appeared to be set up so perfectly for their total demise, much like how Owari razed Mino to the ground a few years back.

In fact, that was the modus operandi for most of Nobunaga's victories: swift, overwhelming, and decisive victory, going against the norm by relying heavily on individual 'heroes' instead of strength in numbers or superior tactics. Oh, the latter two were certainly present, but solely as an unnecessary backup serving to demoralize the opponents. Takakage also assumed this would marry very nicely into her previous suspicion of wide-scale manipulation.

She simply disliked not knowing who's truly in control behind the scenes. Was it the Empress? Was it Nanban? Or some third party she didn't recognize, but clearly powerful and influential enough to play and force Nobunaga along its whims without a third option?

A flash of light erupting from a certain area along the beach signalled the start of the war, as both parties silently decided it's a good enough signal as any.

"Hmph! How brave of you to stand before me, after your humiliating defeats!" Motoharu exclaimed, typically as loud as possible in accordance to outdated pre-battle taunting tradition. "Come and crawl through shit again… this time towards me, Shikanosuke!"

Even without Reinforcement, veterans were usually able to shout loud enough to be heard across at least half a battlefield, so derogatory messages could be thrown about instantly. Motoharu and Shikanosuke clearly weren't magically talented, so this attribute became even more crucial for the two of them and troops' morale.

Still, it's not as if the newest retainer of Owari preferred it. In fact, the buxom warrior was the bumbling airheaded sort, her voice rising only when a comically masochistic moment occurred to her. She would and could raise her voice only if it's necessary, and because of her string of defeats against Motoharu, she didn't have any more 'ammunition' to trade barbs with the white-haired Princess General. Few would consider the minimal amount of resources Shikanosuke had at her disposal through her 'rebellions', only the fact she's a loser.

Still, despite all her experience, she couldn't help but tremble with nervousness when stood right beside her current sponsor, as weak-kneed as a newborn foal, keen to impress but afraid to fail.

Especially since the lord she'd sword to serve and was thankful for had suddenly left her behind to engage some enemies by the beach some way to their side. Muramasa was the first to reach out to her without any other intention behind it – most were only interested in using her popularity with the masses as a disposable resource, while the rest were solely perverts after her body. Shikanosuke, despite appearances, actually knew what they're thinking, but had little choice to accept their offers because she had so little resources at hand, whether it's money, troops, weapons, or supplies. Those who 'visited' her at night were summarily beaten off to an inch of their reproductive capability, the damage focused on their offending genitals. There's an uncountable number of 'sponsors' who required her precise blend of martial strength and politically gullible nature, so she didn't lose much in crippling those bastards, fortunately.

But Muramasa – and to an extent, Nobunaga – simply wrenched her hand up when she's down, not even looking for or realizing she needed help, and placed her here with all the luxuries she'd always dreamt of.

Hence, she was hesitant to engage Motoharu in this verbal joust because she didn't just represent her army, but also the woman beside her.

- Clap.

Nobunaga patted her shoulder once, before saying, "Close your eyes."

"Huh? P-Pardon me, Nobunaga-sama…"

"It's going to get bright soon. Do it, then attack when I tell you to," she firmly pushed any opposition down, letting go of Shikanosuke's shoulder to grab her sheathed sword. Nobunaga's other hand had already drawn one of her ornate harquebuses free from its holster, though still pointing it at the ground.

The terrain they're on weren't quite the ideal place for a combined army. Preferably, most Nihon units excelled on wide open plains, which was a luxury in this island empire. Thus, cavalry training often included mountain and forest traversing tactics – a far cry from the endurance-focused drills armies from the central continent or Nanban practiced – which prized agility and manoeuvrability. While there were distinctions between them and shinobi units, ironically, the natural settings they often found themselves in were quite similar. Infantry, on the other hand, had to run across swamps and bogs and uneven terrain most of the time, but because they were farmers when out of war, they're still in their element somewhat.

The Sengoku Period marked an era where more specialized or hybridized units were experimented upon, each daimyō looking for an edge over their competition.

In comparison, both Shikanosuke and Motoharu could be considered 'traditional'.

- Pii…!

"U-Ugh…!" The buxom general winced when what Nobunaga warned her about occurred a split second later, though thankfully she managed to avoid most of it. From the beach, an intense ball of light like a second sun illuminated across the battlefield, from the middle of the ocean all the way to Shikanosuke's land-based location.

Soon, a chaotic chorus of horse neighing could be heard from the Mōri side, but the Oda army was curiously quiet. 'W-Was I the last to know about this?!' Shikanosuke mentally complained, not daring to directly speak to one of Nihon's most powerful Princess Generals. Her horse did buck, but she felt Nobunaga reaching across from atop her own mount and forcibly repressed its shock. "Was that… Shirō-sama…?"

"Could be. Who knows? I don't care so long as he returns triumphant," Nobunaga's voice answered from beside her. Shikanosuke's vision was still spotty and reddish in some places, her brain mildly dizzy. "Now, attack!"

- Bam!

A crack of the rifle exploded, but Shikanosuke forcibly held down a wince. Instead, she drew her katana and shouted, "CCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

It's quite rare for Nobunaga to take point in any troop movement, much less on horseback. The martial arts she honed incorporated very few cavalry training, and most of that was how to kill the cavalry, instead of being the cavalry. Unlike Shingen or Kagetora, she relied more on her Magecraft, marksmanship, and the rough-and-tumble sparring Muramasa put her through since they were small. There's no need to master how to 'become one with the horse' and all that mumbo-jumbo when she could materialize a gigantic flaming skeleton the size of the all-steel battleship she's been developing who could carry her anywhere without lag.

Therefore, hearing Shikanosuke's belated war cry right beside her, going ever further away as Nobunaga was the first to sprint out on her horse, followed several beats later by the army she'd assembled. There's very little tactics at play in this initial phase of combat, since she specifically prepared her troops to first respond to any opening, believing there's going to be a large one when Muramasa was involved. Indeed, Shikanosuke became the unfortunate victim who's left out, since every single person behind her – from the lieutenants to the ashigaru – were all well-equipped to deal with sudden changes in environment like this, when [Light] expanding not just physically, but also enough conceptually to overwhelm regular winced eyelids or cheap blindfolds. It's all they could do to prepare the mounts for this incident, so they maintain an advantage over the enemy.

The first shot from Nobunaga's rifle, moments before Shikanosuke's rallying cry, pierced Motoharu's shoulder cleanly, the power behind it nearly tearing her left limb off. The redhead had been aiming for a one-shot kill, but the white-haired Princess General was skilled enough to detect the attack even with her eyes closed and horse panicking, the blow only managing to knock her off her mount in the end, since it's very difficult to hold onto a bucking bronco with one hand, much less with the other completely mangled.

Nobunaga didn't know or care what caused the blinding flash to happen. All she wanted to know was whether her armies could win or not. Kazumasu certainly had a technological advantage, but Nobunaga's naval knowledge was clearly inferior to that little girl, and had to concede various responsibilities to the former in regards to victory chances. Therefore, with her personally fighting on these suboptimal wavy plains, she felt the pressure to perform above her usual standards, up to and including taking the enemy general's head off herself.

- Hup!

Jumping from a horse wasn't easy, so she'd forgone her stirrup several strides ago and clung onto her horse wildly. How those Ming and Mongol generals stand and fight on these things was beyond her, but she certainly wasn't going to let admiration get in the way of practical victory. A rifle Traced into thin air acted as an additional foothold, before she leapt down onto the still-scrambling Motoharu.

- Clang!

'Hn?! Again…' she commented, seeing how despite forgoing various noise-inducing self-hypnosis techniques, Motoharu still managed to detect her approach and accurately parried her downwards strike.

The Mōri troops were true to their hardy reputation, and recovered quickly. Still, those precious few seconds they left Nobunaga alone with their general should still be enough to cowardly strike down this loud, white-haired Princess General. Nobunaga would hire someone to embellish her victory later; beheading took priority, now. Hisahide would scold her for not finishing the battle stylishly, but that dark-skinned magus's words were the last she needed to heed right now.

"G-Guh! Medic! To me!" Motoharu grunted, rolling sideways to evade the straight kick which would surely come. Indeed, she read Nobunaga's fighting style perfectly by instinct alone, despite not having fought her before. She used her naginata to parry the strike from before, and the roll managed to create the optimal distance where this polearm came into its own. Blinking furiously to clear her vision, her remaining arm and legs still smoothly entered into a defensive stance – blade held down, shaft diagonally positioned to cover most of the body's centreline – before she had to abruptly and shortly parry a gunshot aimed at her head with the butt. "Mgh! Come here, Fool of Owari!"

"Gladly," Nobunaga replied, coolly charging another shot.

While semi-automatic harquebus did exist among the Oda Clan's current arsenal, it's still in its prototype stage, and clearly something Nobunaga wasn't keen on publicly revealing at this stage. It's an advantage no one in the world had, and she intended to keep it that way for as long as possible. The implementation of Magecraft into the construction from the ground up made the design laughably simple, if a touch too reliant on the magic stones Kelley was eyeing since the beginning, mined from the borders of Nihon's various Textures. Said resource wasn't completely unrenewable – it certainly replenished itself faster than coal, for instance – but still much too slow to produce for sustained periods of warfare.

Actually, the research result pointed out the reloading-slash-repeating mechanism speed would be the same whatever the scale. This became more worthwhile to install on the battleship she's debuting today, but even then, they only had enough to outfit one vessel, instead of the armada she dreamt of having to conquer distant lands with.

Before Motoharu could recover fully, her face was directly shot by a crimson energy bullet. The only thing stopping her head from exploding was the instinctive Reinforcement most accomplished warriors could achieve without formal Magecraft training. Still, it knocked her back directly on top of the medical officer running over.

Then, as the two tumbled backwards, Maōken had already pierced the two of them together, right through Motoharu's heart.

"It can't be helped."

She chose her catchphrase as her self-hypnosis essential to a magus… which was why she didn't use it too many times beforehand. It wouldn't do to accidentally set her own castle on fire, or burn her lovers with an uncontrolled outburst of hellfire.

A large amount of concentrated magic energy – more than technically necessary, but she's never one for precision – ran through Maōken, igniting and exploding her first two victims in an instant.

"I was wrong to abandon and shun Mystery in my previous life… and it seems so are you right now."

The curtain for what amounted to the final, decisive battle rose with the death of one of the major players.

"Oi, I didn't let you on board to laze around, Fūma-kun. Why don't you patrol around like the rest of us, your new siblings?" Hisui remarked harshly, knowingly targeting his mental weakpoint. Might as well, since the boy – young man, really – could do nothing more than glower at her, worried his entire team would be thrown off the deck right away. "We still haven't sorted out our familial hierarchy, so just temporarily assume I'm your commanding officer, okay~?!"

Her tone was so saccharine the regular ship crew members winced at her voice, ringing across the entire metal structure. They were comprised of Kazumasu's men and women, though as with any prototype, the operating manual was constantly updated each moment, resulting in several confusing moments during training. Thankfully, most of those were sorted out already, though Hisui still hoped to rely on their apparent technological and magical superiority to overcome any fatal niggles which would inevitably come, judging by how much jinxing was going on by the now-confident crew.

Kōtarō gave her the stink eye, before replying rudely, "We are not siblings."

"Ara… Still salty about the fact Mother chose us over you…?" Hisui drew things out, even resorting to something the two of them knew was untrue. "You know that's just a misunderstanding, right…? She didn't choose us, but simply threw you away…"

"YOU-!"

"What? Are you going to attack me? Here?" Hisui continuously taunted. "Don't you care about the rest of your people? You know full well I'm the type who'll tie rocks to their feet so even ninjutsu won't save them from drowning, you kno- OW!"

A flying mechanical fist hammer-dropped onto her head, hard enough to make her, a kunoichi stronger than Kōtarō, to crouch down in pain.

"That's enough, Hisui. Unnecessary discord, while entertaining, will only take us further from victory," Jō gently scolded. However, his expression turned stern when he faced the redhead. "I won't apologize for her, though. Go find Danzō-sama to complain if you want. Otherwise, work."

All of this exchange was overseen by Kazumasu, but because she had more pressing things to pay attention to, she chose not to meddle. First, they're adults and she… was smaller than them – 'I'm a fully capable woman, just to let you know!' – so they should solve unimportant things by themselves. All above this steel battleship prototype knew they weren't to make trouble, or heavy punishment would be inflicted by the superiors they respected the most – in this case, it'd obviously be Danzō.

Personally and professionally, Kazumasu was 'far' from this group thrusted upon her, since she was more used to working with Chiyome, however seldom that was. At the very least, they came from the same 'family', the Kōga, though they were trained and achieved mastery under different branches. Aside from that, her 'partner' was typically the now-absent Goemon, who was currently running around for errands under Mitsuhide's command. This was also in regards to with whom she felt the most comfort; because of their similar age and stature, it's easy to get along with the white-haired glib-tongued self-taught kunoichi, despite their generally contrasting personalities and verbal mannerisms. Chiyome and Danzō both intimidated her because of their mental age and sheer Conceptual Weights, and this sentiment trickled down to those affiliated to them, like the Fūma Clan and the clanless Named Ones.

Still, they were all nice people, even if they didn't get along… like, at all. There was clear familial tension between them, a change between the 'old' and 'new' guard – especially funny because the Named Ones were actually physically older than the Fūma on average. Their youngest member and leader, Hisui, was a good few years Kōtarō's senior, which at times made their conversation nonsensical with how the woman used inconsistent familial address as forms of insult.

It's easy to see why, if one knew their backstory.

…well, part of it, anyway. Even Kazumasu wasn't privy to from where these Named Ones originated: where they were born and trained, how they got their distinctive physical traits, what drove them to join Owari with some genuine loyalty. That last part was always questionable considering how different every single member appeared to be, and any small group leader could tell how difficult it was to manage just 3-4 diverging personalities, much less more than a dozen. Every single one was stronger than a typical Kage-ranked shinobi, which made the fact both Chiyome and Danzō managed to gather this amount of number even more impressive.

Still, it's quite surprising to hear Hisui address Danzō so highly, though partially simply to spite Kōtarō and the rest. Both parties knew this was simply childish taunts, yet the Fūma couldn't resist falling for them all the same. It's rare to find a shinobi who couldn't swim or waterwalk, but the humiliation of getting thrown overboard was something no one was particularly interested in experiencing. Compared to her twin sister, Kazumasu was nowhere near strong enough to take them altogether singlehandedly, but just enough to deal with one or two particularly stubborn ones along the way.

A ship captain needed to be able to, anyway.

"Oh, did she overhear us?" The small girl uttered, quite surprised the submarine she detected decided to break the surface.

Well, at least just its top portion, with Danzō calmly standing atop the wet and slippery metal surface. However, the buxom kunoichi, eye-catching as she was with her usual bright crimson clothes, was looking not at them, but across the water towards the land – to be more precise, the beach's various outcrops.

From this distance, it's difficult to hear the submarine moving even with Reinforced ears among the waves, so it's another surprise when it descended once again the instant Danzō stomped on it as a signal, flickering towards the area she's got her eyes on. Kazumasu was well-trained in various movement techniques, but her eyes struggled to keep up with the older kunoichi's all-out sprint.

She took that as a starting signal, instead. "Flag the other vessels! We're attacking!"

It's a shame the magical mobile communication earpiece couldn't be mass-produced and -tuned, so she had to resort to Reinforcing her voice, which could easily be magically intercepted if one's not careful or skilful. There existed a lot of hidden internal messages already established among the naval community, so it's difficult to discern which was useful information even if the opponent did eavesdrop successfully, but one could never be too careful.

'Besides, we have to think of a product name real soon. 'Magical mobile communication earpiece' is too much of a mouthful,' Kazumasu complained, eyes trained on the enemy's formation.

The Murakami Navy's prowess was well-known… but it only meant their tactics, behaviour, and reactions were all well-documented as well. Truth be told, even with that advantage, without the assurance of this prototype being completed on time, Kazumasu would be hesitant to pit herself one-on-one against that burly, hairy admiral on the other side – such was their strength. All this time, they rampaged against Mōri's would-be invaders without care precisely because their offensive and manoeuvring prowess were that good. So what if the opponent knew bits-and-pieces about them? It still couldn't overcome the lack of local knowledge – waves, weather, current, etc. – and a well-oiled navy which had been together for years. Most fleets in Nihon other than theirs were either undersized, undermanned, or underprepared, consisting considerably of hired help instead of homegrown crews.

- Zuu…

The all-metal battleship groaned very differently from the creaking wooden ships around it, its bass seemingly reverberating through the ocean even harder. Kazumasu didn't need to bother with Reinforcing her eyes or using the Nanban tool called a 'telescope' to see the enemy, for once, was panicking. The Murakami Navy never did that, dispatching opposing fleets thoroughly and efficiently, much like its advisor Takakage's personality. According to Himiko, it's unlikely the Murakami would instead have possession of said tool, because it's still in its early development even in Nanban.

That said, even if it's readily available, it's unlikely to be popular here, where centuries of interbreeding between human and yōkai meant the current citizens all had above-average senses, to the point some could be considered supernaturally so. It's a great advantage Kazumasu's twin sister was ambitiously planning to unleash on their neighbours once this farcical civil war was over, so the little girl felt it's quite a waste to shed Nihon blood uselessly like this.

That's a good thing, she thought. It'd be boring if they shat their pants too early if they got a good look at this invincible behemoth of hers.

"Plan A is in motion. Ignore whatever my stupid sister's doing; if you crash into her, that's fine," she coldly commanded. There's no resource left to process wherever the submarine was moving, since this prototype wasn't installed with advanced magical or physical detection for underwater vessels – just enough to scan and check the seafloor for ease of movement's sake. "Let's destroy them in one go."

- Zuzuzuuuuuu…

Unbeknownst to them, the overwhelming noise of metal crashing against the water should've been partially overwhelmed by the noisy steam engine which would only be designed a century later at the earliest. However, this one, naturally, was designed not to copy what the future had in store for them, but purely to take the best advantages of the real technological marvel: the magic core-powered engine. The system was similar to pure electric-powered vessels in concept, in which a central power unit channelled the energy contained within it through several 'wires', each then connected to specific parts of the ship's operations.

However, the similarities stopped there.

First, Nihon's magic stone quality was unparalleled in the world not only because of its raw purity, but also their advanced processing which ensured close-to-zero energy loss from ingot to polished gem. In fact, skilled magi were already able to begin enhancing them by binding additional Mana, Elements, and Origins into the stones, though this part hadn't produced a substantial jump in power yet. Under the Imperial Family's jurisdiction, only certain sectors were strictly permitted to purchase the 'rights of use' from the Minamoto Clan, ensuring none would ever be used against it. Of course, this didn't stop the noble families and independent merchants from trying their luck – from attempting to poach state-certified magi to making their own bootleg knockoff versions – but these always led to failure for a simple, singular reason: all resources on Nihon was connected to its Mystery and Divine Spirits… especially their current leader, Amaterasu, who was also Himiko's Guardian Spirit by proxy. It's oh-so-simple for the young Empress to remotely blow up any operation she felt unlawful, and because there was absolutely no evidence of her tampering, everything was always covered up under the guise of 'accidents'.

This unknown fact, combined with the information gathering strength of the Hyakki Yakō, was what brought Kelley's little scheme down. Ordinarily, he would've had an extremely easy time of it, as a 'normal' Sengoku Period was so chaotic a mass-scale resource theft would be simple. Play one pawn against another, control one bishop into another, and corner both sides' kings to exit the gameboard gracefully. It was an established raiding tactic in almost every culture, starting from the beginning of humanity's first exodus out of Ancient Sumeria and practiced all the way to now. After all, his understanding of human nature was still somehow correct, however, condescending and racist he was – most people were short-sighted, happily exchanging their own long-term survival for short-term happiness. A small bribe here, another tribute there, ended with a short, sharp threat…

See? So easy.

Kazumasu wouldn't get drawn on her pride for her own nation and its people for managing to resist his poisonous tongue until the very end. Unity was important, but far too individually personal for her to give justice to any form of explanation. She had a war to win, after all.

The power the magic engine produced, combined by the improbable shapes magical industrial metal sheet and beam forming were capable of achieving, meant this prototype easily out-sped her more traditional escort ships – in fact, already halfway across the distance separating the two naval forces. From here, she could enjoy Takeyoshi's shocked expression, fear creeping into his usually-stern countenance. It's commendable he hadn't hastily rearranged his formation once he saw this battleship – its size, nearly triple of normal wooden war vessels surrounding it, was hard to conceal, after all – so Kazumasu was essentially forcing him to react via a boneheaded move like this.

To go along with the aforementioned boardgame analogy, this was the infamous 'flipping the table' strategy, but employed right at the start.

Of course, this wasn't her main purpose. In fact, she was wholeheartedly roleplaying the strategy her adoptive older sister, Nobunaga, had explained to her terribly simply.

"Show off."

She grinned.

'If only Himiko-nē is here… it'd be too funny!' Kazumasu had to bite down on her lower lip to stifle a laughter, thinking the maniacal sneer she just let loose earlier clearly would be very out of place on the Empress's face… because they're identical twins. Strange, how personality differences could make something foreign somewhat suitable. "Ready for rotation!"

The magic core also had another advantage, other than instantaneous and near-unlimited power output. Because its main component, an ultra-refined, carefully cut, rune-engraved watermelon-sized magic stone – one Kelley would've had a heart attack upon sight – was directly connected to Nihon's Texture, along similar lines Himiko used to locate every single piece all the time, which primarily explained its efficiency. After all, if there's a steady conceptual connection with its very source and 'mother' environment, however physically far, magic energy could be constantly siphoned much like how a Lesser Grail could draw strength from Akasha via the Holy Grail system.

But to Kazumasu, what's most important was 'placement'. Specifically, the ability to move its physical location while ignoring physical laws. It was inspired by how Shuten-dōji used the corridors between the Reverse Side and Outer World to essentially teleport in and out of places she knew would draw the best reaction from her victims. While this was clearly improbable to do since this battleship's magic core was connected to various systems – which could not do the same thing – it was possible to apply minute amount of the Origin [Spatial Movement] to the entire structure.

When one thought of how large this metal object was, small applied vectors to each molecule suddenly accumulated and multiplied into something truly ridiculous. Much like ground magic stone dust would naturally gather and enter any nearby compatible vessels, so too this prototype could perform unnatural manoeuvres.

For example, rotating its entire length right around its central axis, instead of further aft like most ships did.

To Muramasa, who had modern knowledge, it'd look eerily similar to car drifting. Only with battleships.

"Ready arms! Starboard!"

Kazumasu's command already rang out before her ship had completed its on-the-spot spin. Once again, the sound of the waves completely drowned out what should've been noisy pulleys and hinges creaking open to reveal light, portable, simple naval cannons, holding ammunition a touch smaller than the admittedly-petite Kazumasu.

But what greeted Takeyoshi's eyes were barrels the size of an entire shoji door, followed by blinding flashes of bright, but silent light.

"FIRE EVERYTHING!"