"Touya, look at this." = Normal speech.
'Touya, look at this.' = Thoughts/Telepathy.
(One hour later.) = Time skip.
~Yo, it's God.~ = Phone call.
"Come forth, fire!" = Chanting.
[Kingdom of Belfast] = Title/Place/Rank/Weapon Name.
{Gate} = Spell name.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
"Chiyome…?" Touya muttered, he still couldn't believe his eyes, the person he was holding down was none other than Mochizuki Chiyome, at least, this world's version of her. He wasn't expecting something like this, sure, he thought that he may encounter someone with his family name, but he didn't think it would be someone like her, his cousin! Granted, a different version of her but still!
It was like looking into a mirror image of his cousin, except she was wearing a ninja garb, Touya couldn't help but admire, she had a sense of familiarity Touya never thought he missed, a nostalgic feeling yet different all together. It was uncanny to him.
He definitely needs to have a word with God when he has the chance.
"..." Chiyome stayed silent as she tried to move, but her body was kept in place by her captor. Now that he took a closer look, she had a different aura around her, less cheery than the one he knew personally and more… Gloomy, distant to put it simply. He dreads to know why she was like this, but he might as well try saying his name, maybe that can get a reaction out of her and break the awkward silence that was beginning to take over the atmosphere.
"Mochizuki." Touya saw how her eyes widened, even if it was for a split second, he saw her surprise at the name, what did that mean? He doesn't know but he'll remember that for later, the same thing happened with Jutaro. "Mochizuki Touya."
"...How can I believe you're not lying?" She questioned, narrowing her eyes, well, one of them was covered with a fibric sheet, staring deep into Touya's eyes, looking for any indication that he was lying to her.
"You don't, but I don't get anything out of it even if I do." Touya commented. Even though this person is another version of his cousin, she was still technically someone he doesn't know, "Why are you here?"
Chiyome didn't say anything, which made Touya come to one conclusion.
She was here to assassinate someone, seeing as she was actively moving around the area undetected, and seeing as she was trailing him, he must've been the target. He felt a bit of anger within him, the Takeda dared to use his own blood to kill him? It made him feel… Angry, an emotion he usually never let get the better of him but it took a hold of his mind.
The one time he let such a thing happen was with the black dragon that attacked the [Eld Village], and he threatened a sector of dragons over it.
He calmed himself down before he could do something irrational, he still needed to address the elephant in the room. Chiyome was ordered by the Takeda to assassinate him, he doesn't know how to respond to that other than destroying the Takeda Clan but he needed to focus on the female he was currently pinning underneath him.
She tried to maneuver herself out of his grasp, but thanks to his strength as well as his training, he kept her in place, even so, she kept struggling - Touya can't exactly let her go since there is the likelihood of her being sent here to kill him, but he can't bring himself to hurt her either - Still, he needed to think of a way fast. Sighing, he stared into her eyes, the same violet eyes he was so used to seeing before, she was wondering why he gave her a look of longing, but what happened next was obvious as Touya chanted {Paralyze}.
Touya momentarily let go of her, and hovered his hand over her forehead, "{Sleep}."
The spell's effect took over, she tried to fight against it but couldn't, her eyelids felt heavy as the null spell forced her to slumber, even if she could fight back against it, she was still paralyzed thanks to Touya's prior spell, and so, Chiyome succumbed to the sleep spell.
"Sorry about that, Chiyome, but I needed to stop you from resisting." Touya apologized to the unconscious form of his cousin's counterpart. He let out another sigh as he knelt down and tucked his arms underneath the back of her knees and body.
He lifted the sleeping kunoichi up in his arms, carrying her in a bridal carry, he felt her shift herself, burying her head into his chest as she slept soundingly, Touya smiled softly as he carried her out of the storage room and back to the observation tower of the [Kawagoe Fortress] and see if he can negotiated with Jutaro about Chiyome.
When he met the girls, they gave him a jealous look, mostly at the girl in his arms, while Sally and Kohaku nodded, the two were the ones to sense Chiyome after all and gave him a subtle way to corner her.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(At the [Kawagoe Fortress].)
It had been a day after the battle, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Kokonoe Jubei had finally arrived back at the fortress they thought was lost.
During that time, Touya was able to successfully negotiate with Jutaro about Chiyome's arrangements. She would be placed in captivity for now, but with one of them watching her, Kohaku and Sally volunteered to be the ones to keep an eye on the other Mochizuki while the others met up with the two higher ups of the Tokugawa Clan.
Touya thanked the two, telling them that he would give them the news and catch up with them once the meeting was over with, the two told him that it wasn't anything special and it was the least they could do, they didn't have anything to do anyways and being in a meeting would be boring for them so they opt to keep an eye on the kunoichi.
The others asked him why he was going to such lengths in order to protect his would-be assassin, but the news of her being his cousin only brought up more questions and Touya told them that he doesn't want to discuss about that for now, saying that he'll tell them when the time was right because even he's having a hard time wrapping his head around the situation.
The girls dropped their questions for now, but they made him promise to tell him once the dust settled, Touya could only nod as they started the meeting with the daimyo and his retainer.
"Firstly, I would like to give you my deepest gratitude for your aid." Tokugawa Ieyasu bowed his head, the man was a little portly in physique, with a goatee and a mustache on his face, "Had you not arrived, this fortress may have fallen into enemy hands. For that, I'm eternally grateful."
"Please, we just happened to come around at the right time, so no need to thank us." Yumina answered truthfully, the group collectively chose her to represent them since she had the most experience in diplomacy, Setsuna too, but she said that she was lacking in that regard compared to her other siblings.
"To think that Yae would come so far during her journey…" Jubei sighed, when his daughter told him of her adventures, he didn't think that she would be in the services of not just one but two kingdoms' princesses. To say that he was proud of the fact would be underselling it, he smiled as his daughter came a long way ever since she left her homeland, "Yae, you make me proud, but I am a little surprised though. You not only became a personal guard of Yumina-hime, but also Setsuna-hime."
Yae wordlessly nodded and smiled, happy to know that her father was proud of her achievements.
"On that note, who is the one that saved my fortress?" Ieyasu asked, stroking his goatee.
"That would be Mochizuki Touya." Yumina gestured to her beloved, the lord and his retainer turned their attention to the young man, eyes slightly widened when they heard his family name.
'Yeah, something is definitely up with the way people are reacting to my family name…' Touya mused, first it was Jutaro, then Chiyome and now Ieyasu and Jubei, it definitely had to do something with Takeda since historically the Chiyome Mochizuki served the clan on the pretense of avenging her husband.
Whatever the case, only Chiyome knows what it was, he'll just have to ask her when he gets the chance.
"Mochizuki Touya?" Ieyasu asked, wanting to know if he heard that right.
"Yes, Mochizuki Touya, he is one of my escorts…" Yumina pondered whether or not it would be appropriate to say, but seeing as Touya was more or less understanding his position now, she might as well go for it, "And my future husband."
The news elicited a gasp of everyone not informed, not only was the one that saved them powerful, but also engaged to the princess of another kingdom. Though, one of them pouted at being left out of the sentence.
"Don't you mean our future husband?" Setsuna emphasized, grumbling as Yumina gave her a teasing stare before snapping her attention back to Ieyasu.
"Pardon my question, but what do you mean by that?" Ieyasu inquired.
"What I mean is Touya is not only Yumina's fiance, but mine as well, it has been arranged by our fathers with our approval." Setsuna answered, puffing her chest proudly.
"Oh? I see now." Ieyasu nodded, understanding the young man more, "As the fiance of both [Belfast] and [Mismede]'s princesses - It makes the feat he did much easier to understand, truly a man with such privilege would be powerful enough to have it."
"Indeed, we're proud of what he has and can achieve." Yumina nodded with Setsuna agreeing next to her. Touya on the other hand kept his mouth shut, he was already past the point of refusing so he just begrudgingly accepted the idea.
"Back to the matter at hand." Yumina switched the conversation back to its original purpose, "With the destruction of the Takeda Clan's army here, would it be enough to deter them from any future campaigns?"
"Hmm… It is possible that this battle will set them back a few months." Ieyasu hummed, stroking his goatee as he mulled over the possible moves the rival clan could make, "However, they might regroup and attack us once more, either with more men or with better planning."
"Still… I do not understand what those oni-masked soldiers were as well as the sudden aggression." Ieyasu frowned, "It isn't at all what Shingen-dono would do…"
"How so?" Yumina asked.
"The lord of the Takeda Clan, Takeda Shingen is a fearless and proud leader of the four military commanders known as Takeda's Elite Four, but this battle felt nothing like Shingen at all." Ieyasu answered, he sighed as he rubbed his temple, "So perhaps, the rumors were true after all."
"Rumors? You mean…?" For the first time, Touya spoke, he remembered Yae's mother saying the same thing yesterday.
"There's rumors that Shingen-dono might have already passed away." Jubei answered in his lord's stead, "And a man by the name of Yamamoto Kansuke controls his corpse to manipulate the Takeda Clan's armies. If it were to be true, then this would explain the sudden aggression the Takeda Clan has been taking."
"Seeing those oni-masked soldiers act like moving corpses, it isn't impossible." Leen chimed in, "He might have some sort of artifact that allows him to do such a thing or a null spell."
"If we were to seize Yamamoto Kansuke, would things go back to normal?" Touya asked.
"Perhaps they might… But like we previously said, all of these are just rumors after all." Ieyasu solemnly said, "Moreover, I heard Kansuke never leaves the Takeda Clan's stronghold. If I remember correctly, it's a castle located at [Tsutsuji-Gasaki]."
"Then let me guide you." A mysterious voice suddenly rang through the silence.
"Who's there!?" Jubei immediately stood up and drew out his sword, his son and daughter doing the same, looking around the room and checking every corner for intruders.
From the ceiling, concealed to the naked eye, a woman jumped down, her feet touched the ground and leaving almost no sound other than a quiet 'thud', a purpled-haired woman revealed herself to the occupants of the room, she was dressed in a black kunoichi with dark purple and maroon finishes, black colored stockings hugged her legs, a small sheathed on her hips which was likely a dagger of some kind. And to finish it, a snow-white scarf wrapped around her neck.
Before anyone could react, the woman raised her hand and slowly pulled out an envelope from her back. She placed it on the floor and slightly moved it towards Ieyasu, he accepted it and read what was inside.
"I'm Tsubaki, a subordinate of one of the Takeda's Elite Four, Lord Kousaka Masanobu-sama." Tsubaki bowed her head in respect, "I was tasked with bringing this message to Tokugawa Ieyasu-sama."
"So the rumors were true." Ieyasu sighed, finished reading what was on the letter, and neatly tucked it back up and placed it down, "The Takeda Clan's armies are nothing more than puppets to Kansuke."
"That can't be!?" Jubei exclaimed, but the look on his lord said otherwise.
"I'm afraid so, Shingen-dono has indeed passed away already and all of Takeda's Elite Four except for Kousaka-dono are imprisoned in the dungeon." Ieyasu informed his retainer as well as everyone else in the room, "In short, he's asking us to save the Takeda Clan and stop Kansuke before he becomes too strong."
"Kousaka-sama pretends to be loyal to Kansuke but he's actually planning to save the Takeda Clan from within." Tsubaki clarified.
"Honestly, the Tokugawa have no obligation to help the Takeda, with them attacking us after all." Ieyasu frowned and sighed, "...But at this rate, Kansuke's oni-masked puppets will overwhelm both Clans and take over our lands in no time."
"As pitiful as it might sound, the fate of both the Takeda and Tokugawa are in the hands of these youngins." He gestured to the aforementioned party.
"What will you do, Touya?" Yumina asked, turning her head to her shared fiance, "Whatever you choose to do here, know that we all have your back."
"I'll go." Touya declared, the sooner he could finish this conflict, the fewer people would have to suffer, "I'll go to [Tsutsuji-Gasaki] and end this war fast."
"But this would mean I'll have to enter enemy territory. We'll need to find some kind of way to get in without being detected…" Touya hummed as he tried to think of a way to infiltrate the Takeda Clan's stronghold, he snapped his fingers and turned to Leen, "Leen! I remembered you used some kind of light spell to make your wings disappear right? Can it be used on the whole body?"
"It's possible." Leen nodded, following the idea that he was proposing, "It manipulates the light to make an object invisible, but can still be touched."
"Then that's perfect! We can use that combined with {Long Sense} and {Gate} to enter the castle without drawing too much attention." Touya smiled, he stood up from his sitting position and looked around the room, his gaze falling onto the various members of his party, "Though, that would mean we'd have to again go as a small team, who here wants to join in? We can at least take two more, not counting me, Leen and Tsubaki."
"I'll go again, it worked out fine last time." Setsuna raised her hand, smiling as she stood up and walked beside her betrothed, "Plus I can act as a scout, these ears aren't for show after all."
"That just leaves one more spot, any takers?" Touya asked.
"Can't, I don't do stealth." Elze shrugged, she would love to join in, but being stealthy was just not her thing.
"Neither can I, I'm sorry." Linze bowed her head, like her sister, she would love to join, but she doesn't fit in the whole stealth thing.
"I'm afraid I'm in the same boat." Yumina apologized, she was a little disappointed that she couldn't spend more time with her fiance, but this was just not what she can do with her current abilities.
"I may be able to join you, Touya-dono." Yae offered, while she wanted to catch with her father more, now wasn't the time, so she figured she could help Touya finish the war sooner, "I'm confident we're able to take out the majority of the Takeda's guards should we make haste before they can react."
"Then that settles it." He nodded, turning to Tsubaki, she slightly tilted her head, confused as to why he was looking at her, "Can you recall what [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle] looks like?"
"For whatever reason?" Tsubaki asked, wondering why she would need to do such a thing.
"I have a spell that can recall memories, but I need a clear picture of it, which is why I'm asking you to picture what the [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle] looks like." Touya answered.
"Yes, I can- Ah- Wait- what are you doing!?" Tsubaki yelled as her hands were suddenly held by Touya's own hands.
Due to being a kunoichi, she has never been this close to a guy other than her lord, which meant that she had almost no intimate experience with men, especially one that was so forward as to hold her hands without warning, Tsubaki spluttered and tried to recompose herself but the words that came out of her mouth were just inaudible mutters. That smile Touya was giving her was not doing any favors either.
"In order for the spell to work, I have to hold your hands and touch your forehead with mine." Touya said in a matter of factly, he was way past the embarrassment that came with this spell, so he had no problem doing it, "So please, relax and picture what the castle looks like."
Just like with Yae, Touya wrapped his hands with Tsubaki, the kunoichi was still a little embarrassed by the act, though she steered herself and breathed out to calm her nerves. She closed her eyes and waited for Touya to do his thing, he inched his forehead close to hers until they touched.
Touya used {Recall} and saw images flash within his mind, he saw Tsubaki's memories of the [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle] and what it looked liked, he smiled as the last image ended and he dispersed the spell, he withdrew his head away from Tsubaki, the purple-haired woman had a slight blush on her face as she opened her eyes. The locked eyes for a hot minute until they heard Yumina coughing into her hand to draw their attention.
The two quickly separated from each other, a slight blush dusting their faces, Touya recomposed himself and turned his attention to the strike team that would help him take down the Takeda Clan in one fell swoop.
"With everyone here now, we can take on the Takeda Clan with no issue." Touya declared.
"Hold on a minute." Elze raised her hand, interrupting whatever he was about to say, "You're not thinking of attacking in broad daylight, right?"
"I was actually…" He remarked, the older twin gave him a blank stare before shaking her head.
"That's a dumb idea, with your achievements here, the Takeda Clan would've upped the security, so it's better if you attack at night where there's less of a chance of spotting you guys." Elze explained, her sister agreeing with her.
"That means we should wait till the sunsets." Yumina said as she stood up from her sitting position, "During this time, we should focus on resupplying this fortress."
"Yeah, with how exhausted everyone defending looked, it should be a priority." Setsuna agreed and she turned to the daimyo who was in charge of the fortress, "Isn't that right, Lord Ieyasu?"
"Yes, that is right." Ieyasu nodded, "With the undisclosed time of rest, we should be able to resupply the [Kawagoe Fortress] and prepare for another attack just in case."
"Then I can use this time to show my ani-ue and chichi-ue just how far I've progressed during my journey." Yae smiled, she didn't think she'd get the chance to show her refined skills to her family, but with the opportunity presented to her, she took it in stride.
"Then we should tell Laim and the others that we might not be back in a couple of days." Linze added.
"I should as well, I must write a letter to the capital about my reports this weekend." Leen chimed in, she was going to do this after their stealth mission, but with the chance to write her reports, she decided to do it now before she undoubtedly let it stack.
Say what you will about her, she still had responsibilities as both the Fairy Matriarch and Ambassador for [Mismede].
"I guess I should prepare for the mission." Touya shrugged, everyone had plans for now, so he might as well get busy before the whole sneak-in happens.
"Before that, may I ask something." Tsubaki asked, catching the attention of the group as she approached Touya.
"Sure, what is it?"
"First of all, I must apologize for being too late." Tsubaki bowed her head, causing Touya to raise a brow.
"For what?" He asked.
"For not being able to stop a comrade of mine. Her name is Mochizuki Chiyome." Tsubaki sighed, her expression shifted from a neutral to a more saddened look, "When I heard of her mission to assassinate you, I came as quickly as I could, but it seems I'm too late…"
"...You aren't, she's currently locked up and watched over by two of my subordinates." Touya informed her, Tsubaki's face immediately lit back up.
"Then… Can I see her? I have some news regarding her." Tsubaki pleaded. The look in her eyes told him that it might be important to the person in question.
"...Is it because of her clan?" Touya asked, with how much the Mochizuki name has people react, he figured that was the thing Tsubaki was so adamant on discussing with Chiyome.
The kunoichi's eyes widened ever so slightly and then she nodded slowly, confirming to Touya what she wanted to talk with Chiyome about. Tsubaki seems to be close to Chiyome if she was willing to go and see her in what is essentially enemy territory, he would be lying if he said he wasn't curious as to why the Mochizuki was such a big deal here.
"I'm coming with, if it concerns her, it concerns me too." Touya declared.
"I'm sorry, but what are you to her?" Tsubaki asked, wondering why he was asserting himself in Chiyome's affairs.
"I'm her cousin." He answered, he turned and started walking towards the stairs and led the kunoichi to his cousin. He didn't miss that surprised look on her face when he told her of his relationship with Chiyome.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(Near the [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle].)
"Here we are." Touya announced, closing the {Gate} spell he made.
"So this is the [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle]?" Yae inquired, it was massive, maybe as big as [Oedo] was since it housed one of the most important members of the Takeda Clan.
"Indeed it is." Tsubaki confirmed, "It seems as though security is on high alert, there are more guards and patrols than usual."
"Well it's expected after all." Setsuna shrugged, her tail wagging in excitement, "Now, just how strong of an enemy will we encounter?"
"From what was said about him, Kansuke is a sorcerer, so he probably isn't to be trifled with." Touya explained, using {Long Sense} to scout ahead and check the corners of the fortress for any cracks in the system he could exploit, "There's a tree garden that I can use {Gate} to send us over, let's jump over there."
He chanted the spell and tried to go through it only for him to come out the other side, still at the ridge overlooking the [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle], Touya raised an eyebrow in confusion, he tried a couple of times to step into the {Gate} to teleport the designated area, but like before, it was a dud.
"This is interesting." Touya commented, stretching a hand through the spell before he dispersed it, "Is this because of some kind of barrier?"
"It would seem so." Leen remarked, {Gate} had many possibilities of use, but it was easily countered with a strong enough barrier, "If I had to guess, it might be a barrier talisman. Those and other similar kinds are usually enough to prevent a {Gate} spell from getting in."
"Is there any other way for us to get in?" Setsuna asked.
"I might have an idea." Tsubaki chimed in, "I can probably go inside and destroy the talisman, with my loyalty, none of the guards would question me should I enter the area."
"Don't do that." Leen argued, "Once you destroy the talisman, you'll alert everyone there, it's too risky."
"Then what do you propose we do?" Yae asked, checking her swords while they try to come up with a plan for attack.
"Hey Leen, how about using that disappearing spell right about now?" Touya inquired, "We use that spell to sneak in while walking behind Tsubaki and if possible, I can also cast it in case four people is too much for you to cover."
"As I said before it can only make you disappear from sight but… Whatever, we can try." Leen was about to explain the effects but figured it was too much of a hassle so she opted to sigh and nodded, "Bend O' light, guiding curvature: {Invisible}!"
A yellow magical circle appeared over the heads of the four, and the light underneath the circles disappeared, along with the bodies of the four underneath them, Tsubaki let out a surprised gasp as they disappeared from sight.
"You… You all disappeared…" Tsubaki said, in awe of the light spell.
"It worked already?" Touya commented, earning a nod from Tsubaki as she could hear the disembodied voice of the Mochizuki male, "Yet, I can still see myself and the others."
"If you couldn't see yourself and us, how inconvenient would that be?" Leen answered.
"It is certainly a weird feeling." Yae commented as she took a good look at herself, and the others around her.
"Yeah, everyone except for Tsubaki looks transparent in my eyes." Setsuna remarked.
"That reminds me, wouldn't the spell be broken by the barrier?" Touya asked.
"You don't have to worry about that." Leen smiled, "The barrier only repels incoming magical spells, on the other hand, {Invisible} is a magic spell that affects us, so it wouldn't be repealed by the barrier unless specifically designed that way."
"I see…!" Touya marveled, "So that's how {Gate} is able to be used outside of a barrier but not the other way around… I can see now! So that's why I can use {Long Sense} since it only affects me but not the barrier so it wouldn't activate and repel it…"
While Touya was busy musing about the different effects of magic spells, he failed to notice that Leen was out of his sight and was rapidly moving towards Tsubaki, the mischievous fairy locked her eyes on the bountiful mounds of flesh that were the kunoichi's boobs and grabbed them with her hands. The act caught the kunoichi off guard as she let out a surprised yelp when she felt herself getting groped from behind.
"Fuhyaaaaa!?" Tsubaki's face flared, mad with blush as she struggled to remove herself from whoever was groping her from behind.
"Oh my, Touya! Such indecency! Grabbing a maiden's bosoms while invisible?" Leen quipped as she rubbed the bouncy boobs, making Tsubaki let out a soft moan as she felt herself heat up from the groping of her chest.
"To-Touya-san!?" Tsubaki gasped, trying to stifle another moan from leaving her mouth.
"That isn't me." Touya deadpanned, if he looked away from the sight to stop himself from doing anything drastic.
"Wow, she's really going at it." Setsuna commented, watching the fairy molest the younger female.
"I-I T-think we should cease this a-at once!" Yae said, her voice shaking as the sight before her made her face blush a red hue.
"Such a voluptuous chest! Just how many men have you seduced with these I wonder?" Leen commented, her voice laced with mischief and a hint of envy, she began to dig in deeper, sliding her hands underneath the kunoichi's clothes.
Thankfully, before she could further explore the Eashen woman's body, Touya thought that it was enough and proceeded to chop the top of Leen's head, causing the fairy to loosen her grip on Tsubaki and freeing her from the clutches of the perverted 612 year-old fairy.
"Don't do that again." Touya warned, "Try it and I'll smack you again."
"Will you smack my butt?" Leen quipped, a grin on her face as she challenged Touya on his word.
To her surprise, he simply grabbed her arm, turned her around and gave a big smack on her petite ass, even with the skirt covering her behind, the impact made a loud echoing sound, which was thankfully not heard be the Takeda since Touya teleported them just far away enough that only the loudest things would be heard. The smack to her ass and the suddenness of it forced a soft and pained moan out of Leen, a blush dusting her face while she grabbed her ass to smoothen the pain.
No words were said, Touya simply gave a blank stare while Setsuna was giggling, Yae on the other hand held a disappointed yet understanding look on her face, she couldn't fault Touya for taking the fairy on her challenge it was still embarrassing to say the least.
"At the very least, we should focus on the task at hand." Yae coughed, everyone nodding in agreement as Tsubaki finalled recomposed herself from that embarrassing moment that just happened.
"Yes, before we destroy the talisman, we should free the rest of the Elite Four, they'll be a big boon in helping us defeat Kansuke." Tsubaki suggested, the others thought about it but then agreed, it seemed like a good idea and a little more help wouldn't be too bad.
With that in mind, they set the plan in motion with the goal of apprehending Kansuke and putting a stop to this war once and for all.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(At the [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle].)
Thanks to the invisibility spell and Tsubaki, none of the oni-mask troops gave any attention to the seemingly lone kunoichi. Using that to their advantage, they made their way to the dungeon that held the remaining Elite Four of the Takeda Clan. Walking down a long hallway, they stopped just short of a cell holding a muscular old man with gray hair and a beard.
The man seemed to be meditating as he had his eyes closed, he hummed as he felt the area around his cell shifting, it couldn't be the usual undead oni-mask troops of Kansuke, so it was probably someone unknown.
"Who's there?" The man asked.
"Baba-sama. I am Tsubaki, a servant of Kousuke-sama." Tsubaki kneeled, showing respect to her elder, "As per others of my lord, I am here with the intent of freeing you and the others."
"Kousuke's subordinate, huh?" Baba smiled, he opened his eyes and took a good look at who it was that his fellow Elite sent, "So he really was just pretending. What a cunning guy."
"Yes, while these people are the Tokuwaga's guests." Tsubaki gestured to the people to her left as the invisibility spell dispersed under Leen's orders. Baba let out a low whistle as he scanned the group.
"Hey, aren't you Kokonoe Jubei's daughter?" Baba asked, when his eyes fell onto Yae, he couldn't help but wonder why the daughter of one of Ieyasu's retainers was all the way here.
"Indeed I am, Kokonoe Yae, a pleasure to meet you, Nobuharu Baba-dono." Yae bowed. Baba bowed as well, it wasn't every day he would meet the daughter of a rival clan, much less one he was technically at war with.
"And who's this kid?" Baba pointed to Touya.
"He is Mochizuki Touya." When Baba heard of the name, his eyes slightly widened, but came back into a neutral expression, he stroked his beard and nodded, "Mochizuki-dono is a powerful person, he single-handedly defeated the fifteen-thousand strong forces of those dreaded oni-mask soldiers."
"What!?" Baba exclaimed, he heard of stories before about strong men being able to wipe out entire armies, but he never thought it was possible outside of those stories and exaggerated tales, but with how serious Tsubaki's tone was, it may be true.
'Technically speaking, it was closer to fourteen-thousand since the rest were regular and higher ranked soldiers, but sure.' Touya mused, he didn't want to correct them on that so he'll stay silent.
"Ah, let me help you out, {Modeling}." Touya touched the bars of the cell and changed their shape, bending them out the way and creating a hole large enough to escape from.
"What strange power you got there, kid." Baba remarked as he went through the newly made hole Touya created and stretched his body.
"Do you know where Natio-sama and Yamagata-sama are located, Baba-sama?" Tsubaki asked.
"Yeah, this way." Baba nodded and gestured for the group to follow him, they did so and were led to another hallway with two more jail cells.
In one cell was an average looking man in a light blueish jinbei clothing, the most defining feature about him was his above average size of his nose, but other than that, he looked as normal as a person in [Eashen] can be. He smiled as he spotted Baba along with the others.
"Oh, Baba-dono, you're looking okay, how's it been?"
While on the other cell was a smirking man with brown hair that looked akin to a lion's mane just shorter, dressed reddish-colored jinbei with matching pants, his smirk widened when he saw Baba and the others approaching his cell.
"Well now, it looks like things are heating up! Hey, can I join?"
"Natio, can't you be more serious for once? Your grinning face always gets me." Baba smiled back to the average looking man, which was Naito, he then turned to the smirking one in red, "Same to you, Yamagata, can't you calm down at least once in a while? Not all your problems can be solved in a fight."
"Kid, sorry to ask, but could you get these two out?" Baba asked.
"Sure." Touya nodded and did the same thing he did using {Modeling} for the two, once he was done, they stepped out of their cells and thanked the younger man for his help in getting them out of there.
"So, what's the plan?" Naito asked, curious about the next course of action.
"We intend to let you all handle the oni-mask soldiers while we go and capture Kansuke." Yae briefed.
"Sounds good to me." Yamagata smirked, cracking his knuckles as he imagined the battle ahead, his expression darkened as the smirk on his face widened, "That trash heap has a lot of nerves throwing me in here and taking over the Takeda Clan, I wanna have some choice words with him once you catch him."
"Ain't that reassuring." Setsuna commented, getting what Yamagata meant, since she also was looking forward to the battle at hand.
"Is there anything else we should know about him, Lord Baba?" Leen asked.
"Kansuke surrounds himself with those oni-masked soldiers of his, so it's unlikely we'll just sneak around and catch him by himself. What's more, he uses some strange magic that even I don't know about, that guy isn't human anymore." Baba sighed as he informed the group about their target, his eyes fell onto Touya, "Can you really beat him, Mochizuki-dono?"
"...Yamamoto Kansuke was once a strategist that served Shingen-sama, he was an aspiring strategist with a good head on his shoulders and had nothing bad about him…" Naito started, "In fact, we thought he was going to be one of the reasons why the Takeda Clan would prosper… Until he showed his true colors, one day, he got his hands on a jewel that housed a demonic power."
"After that, he started to become more and more ruthless. He first killed small things, like dogs and cats, but then it escalated to the point of killing people, and with that he created what you know as the oni-mask soldiers, just corpses that Kansuke uses as puppets to do his bidding." Naito sighed as he continued, "When Lord Shingen-sama heard of his transgressions, he tasked us, the Elite Four, to apprehend him and make him pay for his crimes - But he anticipated this and fought all four of us head on and even defeated us, we were lucky to survive but barely, ever since then, we were thrown in here."
"We couldn't stop him." Naito concluded as he sighed in defeat as he recalled the day he and the Elite Four tried and failed to defeat Kansuke, only surviving thanks to Kousaka swearing allegiance to Kansuke, "The power of that jewel… it was immense."
"What do you think, Leen." Touya turned to the most knowledgeable person about magic he met so far.
"There is little doubt that the jewel made him insane." Leen bluntly said, "A strong artifact tends to have a mind of its own, they could house such things as grudges or even obsessions of their creators."
"Sounds like a cursed item." Setsuna remarked.
"Perhaps, if we were to destroy the jewel, would that bring things back to normal?" Yae inquired.
"Usually, that would be the case… If the curse hasn't overtaken the host." Leen solemnly answered, "But seeing as it has been years from what information we were given, it's better if we kill Kansuke then to let him live."
"I see…" Touya mouthed, he wasn't big on the whole killing thing yet, but it was the only thing they could do… Then he'd do it, he hesitated killing Benson back then and it almost cost him Yumina, he wasn't gonna make the same mistake here, "If that's what it takes, then I'm afraid we'll have to go with it."
"Where's Kansuke now?" Touya turned to Tsubaki. The kunoichi hummed for a second before she gave her answer.
"I believe he might be in the estate in the central quarter of the stronghold." Tsubaki answered.
"Hmm, that's weird, I can't find him." Touya mused, even when he pulled out his phone and searched for Kansuke, his phone came up empty, "I guess it's because of the barriers, Leen, what's the best way to destroy a barrier?"
"Barriers are usually made by placing an amulet, in this case a talisman, at four corners of an area, so just destroying one of these should be enough." Leen answered.
"If that's the case, I know where one is." Yamagata chimed in, gesturing for the group to follow him, "This way, and we might wanna get some weapons on the way, can't fight bare-handed now can we?"
The blood knight of the Takeda's Elite Four led the group, along the way they encountered some oni-mask soldiers patrolling around and were easily dispatched by the group, once they arrived, they were greeted with a stone garden lantern that was oozing a hazy aura and was surprisingly unguarded despite its importance as a defensive mechanism. Either way, it was a lucky break for the group, all the easier to get rid of the magical barrier.
"Huh, thought it would be more secure than this." Touya remarked, earning a chuckle from the Elite Four as they nodded.
"Yeah, it should, but it looks like Kansuke was complacent." Yamagata added.
"Well, there's no doubt that's what we're looking for." Leen said, as she crossed her arms, "What are you waiting for? Shoot it."
"I will once everyone's ready." He argued, turning to everyone and they nodded, giving him their approval to shoot the damn thing and ready up for a fight, "Alright, game time."
Touya aimed his revolver at the altar and pulled the trigger, the bullet easily shattered the structure when it made contact, helped by the fact that he used an explosive bullet instead of a normal armor piercing one. Once it was broken, a transparent barrier flickered and flashed before dispersing, with that as his que, Touya quickly pulled out his phone.
He opened the map app and was rapidly tapping on the screen, targeting the oni-mask soldiers that were guarding the stronghold, and just like at the [Kawagoe Fortress], numerous yellow magical circles appeared overhead, each one targeting a Kansuke's troops.
"Hey… What are those?" Yamagata asked as he looked to the sky and saw it being lit up by the magical circles.
"Are you doing that again?" Leen inquired, looking over his shoulder as he tapped away on his smartphone.
"Getting surrounded is gonna be a hassle, so I'd rather we don't." Touya smiled as he snapped his fingers and let loose a hail of {Shining Javelins} upon the inner walls of the stronghold. Them came down like thunderous lightning, striking true a killing an unprecedented amount of oni-mask soldiers, the ground shook from the enormous impact created by the multiple light spells and when it was all over, silence took over.
Anyone who wasn't there during the Battle for the [Kawagoe Fortress] was left speechless at the power Touya displayed, and he did it so casually too - Tsubaki as well as the Elite Four were stunned in awe, there was no doubt that this man was able to destroy 15K strong army if he had power like this, now that they were able to see it with their own two eyes, little doubt about him remained.
"Oi- Did you really just do that…?" Baba asked, still stunned at the display of power.
"Indeed he did." Yae confirmed, a smile on her face as she was used to this sort of thing coming from Touya.
"Oi, oi, don't you think that took care of Kansuke?" Yamagata commented, there shouldn't be a chance Kansuke would've survived something like this if it was directly aimed at him.
"Nope, it probably won't. As useful as this spell is, it more or less does minimal damage to someone with high magical power. I just use this since it works on undead a lot." Touya shook his head, and then turned to Tsubaki, "If that's all, I want you to guide us to Kansuke, let's finish this once and for all."
The kunoichi nodded and led the group to their destination and where their target was likely located. As they were running, they saw a lone man standing near an entrance of a house, he was smiling as he watched the group coming closer and closer. They stopped just short of a few feet away from the man.
He was wearing an eyepatch over his left eye and wore dark blue samurai armor with a jacket over it, two katanas were sheathed on his hips. Touya assumed that this was Kansuke as he was giving off an aura of danger.
"So all of that commotion was because of you." Kansuke chuckled softly, his one eye scanning the group that stirred up trouble within his domain, "How surprising, tell me, how did you accomplish such a feat?"
"It's none of your business!" Yamagata yelled as he lunged for Kansuke, drawing his massive sword, "So you can just die already!"
Kansuke simply smiled as he watched Yamagata charge for him, not even flinching as the Takeda Elite came ever closer to slicing his body in two - Only to have someone intervene and save Kansuke at the last second. A person clad in crimson-colored samurai armor dashed towards Yamagata and drew their katanas, blocking the swing that was meant for the dark mage.
Yamagata's eyes widened as he knew who it was that blocked his swing, it was the one he served before he was thrown into the dungeon.
It was Takeda Shingen himself, or at least, his corpse.
"Milord…" Yamagata whispered in horror, watching as his Lord pushed him back and tried to slice him, the only reason he was able to survive was with the timely intervention of Baba, using his spear to block and redirect the swing away from his comrade.
"Kansuke you bastard!" Yamagata yelled, angered at the man's blunt disrespect of their once living Lord, "How dare you use our Lord as your shield!"
"My shield you say?" Kansuke asked before he chuckled once more, "Milord is simply protecting me from your attempts of murder, surely that much you can understand?"
"Though I feel guilty for dirtying Milord's hand with your blood, as such, I will call for reinforcements." Kansuke snapped his fingers and out came a multitude of hidden oni-mask soldiers, yet they were different from the usual grunts, they felt more elite, more dangerous.
And they were surrounding them.
Yet that wasn't enough for Kansuke apparently as he chanted and soon enough purple magical circles appeared and out came skeletons clad in armor and armed with an assortment of weaponry, the undead huddled close to their summoner and brandished their weapons at their master's enemies.
"Touya-dono, what are your orders?" Yae asked as she unsheathed her katana and prepared herself for a fight, Setsuna summoned her ice claws and took a stance.
"We fight." Touya said as he took out [Gungnir] from the depths of his coat and unfolded it, switching to its scythe mode, he eyed Kansuke standing there with a smirk, Touya wanted nothing more than to wipe that shit-eating grin off that fucker's face, "Keep them distracted, I'm not letting Kansuke leave out here alive. killing him myself."
"Roger that." Setsuna nodded, narrowing her eyes as she started to focus on which one she would pounce on first.
The battle at [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle] has begun.
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And that's a wrap.
As you can see, things have started to heat up, with Yae and Setsuna joining the trio on their mission! Unlike in canon where Touya, Leen and Tsubaki went to handle it themselves.
With this, I hope to write more actions scenes and interactions with the girls as I plan to extend this Eashen Arc, so, starting with this one as the starter, the next chapter will be the fight and then a relax chapter and after that will be the climax to end the Arc and moving onto our next Arc which is the first Babylon island.
And speaking of the next chapter, you'll get to know why Kansuke orchestrated the massacre of the Mochizuki Clan and why he did it, so look forward to that.
Also, FFnet seems to not be working so well, since I can't see my stats on my stories so I don't even know if people are still reading ASKP and that kinda dampened my mood to write the story, luckily, that means more time for scripting which is why this chapter too so long to publish.
That and I started playing Mobile Legends again, so it's half the reason why this chapter took so long.
Until next time, this is V_KJ, signing out.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
{Omake: Canon to the story.}
(At the [Kawagoe Fortress], the dungeon.)
It was a troublesome day for one Mochizuki Chiyome.
When she heard of the Battle of [Kawagoe], she thought that it was as good as the Takeda's, imagine her surprise when she heard of the fortress not only being able to hold out for long, but also push back and defeat the 15k strong army that the Takeda Clan sent, ending in a victory for the Tokugawa Clan.
Even more so when it was at the hand of a single person, Chiyome couldn't believe what she heard that a single person was able to beat down an entire force of over 15k soldiers, but she was tasked with assassinating said person. Of course, she took the task, she was confident in her abilities and went to the [Kawagoe Fortress] with the mindset of killing her target and getting out before anyone there could notice what happened.
She followed him into the storage room, looking for something to eat. It was perfect, with hunger in his mind distracting him, he shouldn't be at peak performance and shouldn't be able to do anything when she strikes. She positioned herself on the ceiling, waiting for her moment to strike - But then he started talking to himself.
And he locked eyes with her.
She was so surprised that she almost didn't have the time to react when her target immediately sprung into action, lunging towards her and grabbing ahold of her ankles, he slammed her into the ground, pinning her there and hovering a blade to her next, daring her to move lest she gets a cut to her throat.
For Chiyome, nothing could be more embarrassing for a shinobi but to get caught, especially when the one that caught you was your target even more was when this person was telling her that he was a Mochizuki, that was preposterous! If there were still any living Mochizuki left other than her, she would've known! But here was one claiming to be a part of her clan! It was like rubbing salt on the wound!
She didn't want to believe it, perhaps he was lying, and yet, the look in his eyes when he said that sentence said otherwise - but how! How was that possible! She spent 3 years searching for any survivors! She even scoured through the whole country of [Eashen] and not one did she find another Mochizuki, so how did this man before her say that he was a Mochizuki! She never heard of someone named Touya within her Clan!
Before she could even further dive into her rumbling, he knocked her out with the combined effects of {Paralyze} and {Sleep}, Chiyome's blood ran cold as she feared for the worst she tried to fight back against the effects of the magic effects yet her eyelids felt too heavy, threatening to overcome her willpower but try as she might, she eventually fell victim to the sleep spell, there she was, getting caught within enemy territory and put to sleep, the last thing she remembered was hearing the man who claimed to be her cousin apologize.
Then her fears were for naught, she woke up within a jail cell, her hands tied in behind her and her weapons were taken away, leaving her weaponless and was greeted with a raven-haired woman with a scythe and a white tiger cub. Chiyome didn't know who they were, but she for sure felt that even if she were to escape, the two beings before her could kill her without much trouble.
So she waited for an opportunity to leave, a moment to escape and report back to the higher ups. The raven-haired woman's staring was a little unnerving, it felt like she was stripping Chiyome down, it felt so uncomfortable, she for sure felt like the scythe wielder was watching her for anything. Which was why Chiyome tried not to make it obvious that she was trying to come up with a plan of escape.
Which didn't seem to be needed anymore as she heard the door to the dungeon open.
The sounds of the door creaking caught everyone's attention, turning their heads to the door, who stepped in was none other than Touya but he was accompanied by Tsubaki.
Chiyome's eyes widened, at first she thought her fellow kunoichi was captured, but upon close inspection, she didn't seem to be restrained at all and was freely walking. They walked until they stopped near her jail cell, Touya opened the cell with the key he was given by Jutaro, the first to step inside was Tsubaki with Touya joining soon after. Sally and Kohaku waited just outside of the cell, ready for when things went south.
Tsubaki approached her fellow kunoichi, she knelt down and proceeded to untie Chiyome's hands, the female Mochizuki raised an eyebrow, just what was happening right now?
"Chiyome, we have much to discuss." Tsubaki said, pulling out another letter from her back pockets and giving it to Chiyome, "It's time for you to learn the truth."
She accepted the letter and when she read it, her whole world came crashing down. At the end of the letter, she let out a scream of anguish. She dropped the letter as tears started to fall from her eyes and falling onto the letter, Tsubaki immediately came to comfort Chiyome, bringing her into an embrace as she whispered in her ears to calm her down.
She yelled out denials, pained shouts as she cried in between her sentences all the while Tsubaki comforted her friend in her breakdown, Touya stepped forward and picked up the letter, and proceeded to read what was written on it and what made her cry out in pain.
- Dear Chiyome, this is a letter from me, your Lord, Takeda Shingen.
As I am writing this, I may have already perished, but before I do, I must tell you the truth of the massacre of your Clan.
When news of the massacre reached me, I immediately had Kousaka find out the culprit behind the act. But they were able to undermine our efforts and evade our judgment, and as time dragged on, I thought it was hopeless, but then he appeared. Yamamoto Kansuke, at first, was a brilliant strategist, kind and down to earth, and he was the one who told the news of the massacre as well as the one to recommend you as my kunoichi, it wasn't until Kousaka thought that maybe, just maybe, Kansuke had something to do with it.
At first, I thought it was a ridiculous idea, but after Kansuke discovered that artifact and started to act more erratic as the days went by - the idea started becoming more and more plausible. So I gave the green light and when the fruits of the investigation came, I was filled with dread.
Chiyome, what we discovered, the person behind the death of your family was none other than Kansuke himself - Why? We don't know, but we suspect it has something to do with your family's-
Touya stopped there. He couldn't read through the rest as anger threatened to burst from his body. The hot searing flames of hatred were quickly overcoming his mind, the only reason he didn't just immediately go to [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle] and kill Kansuke himself was the crying form of Chiyome.
He decided that there, he would kill Kansuke, no matter what.