Sengoku Basara meets Samurai Warriors: The rise of the Toyotomi

Chapter 3

A/N: Hello everyone! I am really sorry for the delay of this chapter but I was really busy these last few weeks. I had to work for a part time job and study for my university's exams and I barely had any time to even check my stories. I also decided to join Archive of Our Own and I was copying my work there as well. Anyway, enough with my ted-talk. Let us proceed!

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Warriors or Sengoku Basara, only this story.

Chapter 3: The Storm Begins

The Uesugi army was taken by surprise. The Hojo attacked at night and without heavy equipment. They didn't hear them approach and they had the upper hand in the battle. To make matters worse, Fuma Kotaro moved in the shadows with ease and infiltrated their camp first. Naoie Kanetsugu, who was responsible for that camp knew that they needed support. "Kasuga! Go to Kagekatsu's camp and ask for reinforcements!"

"Are you certain you want me to leave?", screamed Kasuga, being the only one able to fight back even a little when it came to Kotaro, who seemed to be amused with her struggling.

"Go!", shouted Kanetsugu as he deflected Kaihime's sword.

Kai heard him and turned to Ujiyasu. "They are going to bring reinforcements!"

"Let them do so.", stated Ujiyasu. Hayakawa and Kai stared at him surprised. "If I have planned correctly, we will have no problem taking them down as well.", said Ujiyasu with a smirk.

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The Takeda were almost in Kyoto. Yukimura was in the front followed by Kunoichi and Sasuke. "Almost there, Danna!", shouted Sasuke from his left.

"I can almost hear that beast's loud voice!", added Kunoichi with enthusiasm.

Shingen, who was behind the youngsters, sighed. "As I expected of lord Ujiyasu. He is attacking at night to catch them by surprise and he is expecting us to join him as reinforcements soon. This way he can take down two of the Uesugi main camps."

Yukimura turned to look at him. "Oyakata-sama, you and lord Ujiyasu have a similar relationship to the one you have with lord Kenshin."

Shingen smirked. "He is a good friend and rival, with smart and not very bothersome strategies. When we were young, he used to fight much more, but now he mainly makes plans to take down his opponents with the most minimal effort. He is truly the Lion of Shagami."

Shingen remembered a battle, some years ago, between him, Kenshin and Ujiyasu. "The tiger, the god, and the lion. If they were to compete against one another, who would be the victor?", Ujiyasu had asked back then.

Kenshin had smirked and answered first. "The god. It can soar into the heavens, away from the tiger and lion's reach."

Shingen remembered getting annoyed with Kenshin's certainty. "Now, now. Don't forget the tiger's climbing abilities. A tiger can just scurry up a tree and catch the god."

Ujiyasu's answer had gotten both Kenshin's and Shingen's attention. "There we have it. The tiger and the god can go at it, while the lion sits back to treat himself to a good meal." His way of thinking was different and yet he was probably the most insightful between the three of them. Both Kenshin and Shingen respected Ujiyasu, despite his seemingly lazy attitude towards everything. Sadly, many people couldn't understand Ujiyasu's way of thinking and so he had gotten the nickname "The Fool of Shagami".

Shingen rode his horse in front of Yukimura. "We are coming, Lion of Shagami!"

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Masamune was woken up by Kojouro shouting his name and opening the doors to his room. "Lord Masamune! We have an emergency situation! Bandits are attacking a nearby village!"

Masamune rubbed his good eye and reached next to his bed for his eyepatch. "Ain't that good, Kojouro?"

Kojouro gave him a puzzled look. "Why would a surprise attack be considered as something good?"

Masamune smirked. "It will help us prepare for the monkey's attack."

Kojouro stared at him and nodded. "We will not let anyone, whether it is bandits or the Toyotomi to take Ooshu from us!"

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Kai was fighting against Kanetsugu and she was winning. Kanetsugu wasn't the best fighter the Uesugi had, but for some reason he was the one guarding the nearest camp. "Oi! I think you just lost!", shouted Kai as she managed to throw away his weapon.

Kanetsugu glared at her. Kai smirked playfully. "Now, you could be a good boy and surrender or-" Horse neighing from the direction the next camp of the Uesugi was interrupted her. "Oh, man!", shouted Kai exasperated. "You guys never make it easy, do you?"

Kagekatsu entered the camp riding his horse and hitting a few men with his two large blades. He was heading towards Kai. Kai prepared herself for the blow she would have to deflect. Kagekatsu was a man with a huge body and obviously much more physical strength than Kai. Kai felt sweat dripping down her neck. There was no way she could possibly win in a real battle against this man and even deflecting the incoming blow seemed difficult with her injured arm. The battle against Oda Nobunaga three years ago almost cost her life. She had been lucky to survive with just an arm injury, but right now she wished she had the full strength of her arm in order to make things between her and Kagekatsu even.

Kai was about to move when someone jumped over her and blocked Kagekatsu's hit. Kai stared at her rescuer's back and was happy to see the color red. "Lord Yukimura!"

Yukimura pushed Kagekatsu back with his spears and turned to smile at Kai. "We are finally here!"

Before Kai could say anything back, Kanetsugu, who had managed to get his weapon back, attacked her. Kai easily blocked him with her sword. "Guess we'll talk later then!", she shouted to Yukimura.

Kasuga, who had been watching from a tree, decided to try a sneak attack on Kai, but was blocked by Sasuke who appeared suddenly in front of her. "Damn it! Why are you here?!", she shouted.

"I am here because I heard a beautiful kunoichi is fighting on this battlefield.", replied Sasuke with a smirk.

Kasuga flushed and glared at Sasuke. "You little-"

"Oh, you are fluttering me silly monkey.", said someone from behind Kasuga.

Kasuga turned quickly away from Kunoichi's dagger. Sasuke scratched his cheek. "I think I can take her on my own, Kunoichi."

"Oh, but I have no one else to play with me. You need to learn to share, Sasuke."

Kasuga glared both of them. She had to be extra careful.

Kotaro was watching them from afar. He stared at Ujiyasu who was next to him. Shingen approached them and Ujiyasu nodded at him. Kotaro barely acknowledged Shingen. He only muttered: "Fun is over…"

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The attack against Chosokabe Motochika began very early in the morning. Motochika was glad he had managed to convince the Tachibana to join him and that they had agreed to stay in his castle.

He hadn't expected that the Toyotomi would hire Saika Magoichi and that they would manage to convince Mori Motonari to fight alongside with her. At least the battle was taking place at the sea. Motochika was currently fighting against Motonari on one of the latter's ships and he was annoyed because it seemed like the two of them could hold their own against the other. "What the hell are you doing with the Toyotomi, Mori? And more importantly, how did your stupid pride allow them to put Saika in your care? Weren't you a solo player?"

"Desperate times require desperate measures.", replied Motonari with distaste in his voice. "Sadly, I couldn't even say no to having a partner in battle. But I am doing all these things for the sake of Aki and for no other reason."

"Of course.", said Koshsosho, jumping next to Motochika. "I mean, there was no way you would want Magoichi to assist you. And I am certain that Magoichi wouldn't actually want to be with you even for a small battle either." Koshsosho was smirking and Motochika realized that she was probably trying to anger Motonari. "There probably isn't a woman alive that could stand your company-"

Motonari had attacked by unleashing his green energy against her, but Koshosho was able to dodge. "And I am surprised that there are human beings that can actually stand you.", said Motonari.

"That's not how you speak to a lady. Not that you would know how to do it.", shouted Koshosho as she jumped to a nearby ship. Before she could say anything else though, she was attacked by Magoichi and she had to keep her focus on her.

Motochika sighed. "You are annoying as usual, Mori. Let's end this quickly."

Motonari showed his agreement by charging at Motochika.

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Ranmaru sliced down some Mori soldiers he found on one of their ships. He was trying to pinpoint Gracia's exact location in order to assist her. He glared at the green energy beams he could spot on the nearby ship, angry that Motonari Mori was once again the reason for the fight.

He noticed a light three ships away from the one he was on and he immediately took off, trying to reach there. There was no mistaking it; that light was one of Gracia's attacks.

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Motonari was growing tired of exchanging blows with Motochika. He turned to glance at Magoichi who was fighting against Koshosho and he jumped next to her.

Magoichi stared at him questioningly. "Should we retreat already?", she asked.

Motonari didn't answer her immediately. He remembered Kanbei's words but he wouldn't leave until he could manage some damage to Chosokabe. "I am giving you 10 minutes to gather your men.", replied Motonari.

Magoichi nodded and shot in the air three times in order for her men to come back. She seemed a little concerned, though, about the tone Motonari had used. The way he had spoken seemed more like a threat than anything else and she knew that Motonari was the kind of person that kept his plans to himself.

"Oi! Mori! Why are you leaving so early? That ain't like you!", shouted Motochika.

"You bore me, Chosokabe. And I have more important things to attend to.", replied Motonari without turning around to face Motochika and leaving Magoichi to handle him.

"Stop defending him, Sayaka!", shouted Motochika.

"That's what I was paid to do. And don't call me by that name!", shouted Magoichi and tried to shoot Motochika.

Koshosho blocked the bullet with her shawl. "Something is off. He is planning to do something, I can feel it.", mumbled Koshosho.

Before Magoichi could ask say anything, a loud explosion was heard and three of Motochika's ships were suddenly up in flames. Magoichi gasped and lowered her gun. "He didn't tell me about this! That wasn't planned!"

Motochika growled and run to check the ships that remained intact. He needed to make sure that his men were ok. He needed to make sure that his children were ok.

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Ranmaru reached Gracia the moment the explosions happened. They both stared in shock as the ship Ranmaru had been seconds ago burst up in flames. Ranmaru felt a fear he had felt three years ago when he fought the One-Eyed Dragon. He was lucky to be alive.

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Masamune was having fun after quite a long while. The bandits weren't very strong, but they were good enough for him to train with someone else besides Kojouro. He realized that the village that was being attacked was the village Itsuki lived and he had been even happier when he met with her. Itsuki used to hate samurais, but after some events that had occurred, which resulted in Masamune helping the girl get rid of Oda soldiers, she had accepted him and she even admired him. It was like he had a little sister whenever she was around and Masamune was welcome to that alternative.

Masamune charged with azure energy and jumped high. He came down on the bandits full-force and he was pretty sure he defeated most of them. He noticed Itsuki attacking some of the remaining ones with her hammer. The men fled after her attack. "Hah! Good job kid!"

Itsuki grinned at him, but suddenly her eyes widened and her expression changed into a wary one. "Blue samurai! Behind you!"

Masamune turned around only to face Kojouro's back. That was a usual sight for him whenever he and Kojouro fought together. What was unusual, though, was the sharp intake of breath Kojouro suddenly took. Kojouro fell on his knees and held on his shoulder. Masamune's eye widened when he noticed an arrow piercing through Kojouro's skin. Blood was soaking his coat and it was obvious that the Right of the Dragon was in a lot of pain. "Dammit! Kojouro!"

Masamune noticed the man that had shot the arrow hiding behind some trees. Masamune immediately charged with energy. "You bastard!" With a swift movement he was in front of the man and with ease he sliced him down.

Masamune turned to look at Kojouro. Itsuki was already by his side and she was trying to help him stand up. "Come on! We have to get to my house! I can treat you there."

Masamune rushed to their side and helped Kojouro stand up. "Lord… Masamune…", mumbled Kojouro.

"Shut up and let's get moving! I ain't letting you die on me by a stupid arrow!" As they were walking towards Itsuki's house Masamune rembered Kai holding the exact same spot one her own arm three years ago.

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Motonari took a sharp breath. He had a headache called Magoichi Saika. She was pestering him since the attack against Chosokabe about the fact that he planted explosives on Motochika's ships. And the fact that he didn't tell her and now some of her men died. Truth be told, he didn't wait ten minutes for them to gather, not that he cared. He only wished that Magoichi would finally leave him alone. They were approaching a huge tent in which supposedly were the Toyotomi generals. Motonari wished that everything would be over quickly.

The first set of eyes he met were the ones of Mitsunari Ishida. He had his usual scowl on his face and he seemed to think of Motonari as unimportant. Motonari didn't care about him either. The man next to Mitsunari, though, was a man of interest to Motonari. Yushitsugu Ootani had his usual mischievous smirk plastered on his bandaged face. Motonari averted his eyes and glanced at Hanbei and Kanbei who seemed to be discussing something. The last person he did stare at was sitting in the middle of the room. Hideyoshi had his usual goofy grin on his face and Motonari couldn't be more repulsed by it. He really disliked that man.

"Lord Hideyoshi! This man right here-", started Magoichi but was cut off by Hideyoshi himself.

"Calm down Magoichi. There is no need to act so angry. You can calmly explain what happened. Now, you both may sit down.", said Hideyoshi smiling.

Magoichi sighed and did as she was told and Motonari followed her example. "Now, Magoichi. You can explain to me what happened.", continued Hideyoshi.

"Mori blew up some of Chosokabe's ships! He killed some of my men in the process!"

Hideyoshi turned serious and glanced at Kanbei for a moment. Motonari did the same, but the ghost-like man didn't seem to care about the two other men's attention. In fact, he didn't show any emotion despite knowing that Motonari didn't listen to his orders. Hideyoshi decided it was time to address Motonari. "Is that the truth Mori? Despite the orders you had, you still caused more damage than you should?"

Motonari kept his cold façade as he replied. "Yes. I thought that it would be for the best to achieve even minimal damage against Chosokabe."

"Minimal damage, my ass!", shouted Magoichi. "I knew nothing about that plan and you even killed some of my men! And now you are acting like what you did was for the best! How?! We were on equal grounds and the plan was to retreat after evaluating the enemy's military capabilities! Your pride got hurt and you decided to do something completely different from what was planned and I was damaged from it by a lot, so yeah, that is no minimal damage by a long shot!"

Motonari closed his eyes for a moment. "I will pay you for the death of your men. Just give me a price and I will give you the money."

If Magoichi was angry before, now she was furious. "You insolent bastard! You think that their lives have a price? We are the proud Saika faction and-"

"And you are mercenaries.", interrupted Motonari. "People pay for your lives all the time. Think of this as something similar."

"My contract is with lord Hideyoshi, not with you! This wasn't part of my agreement with him!"

Motonari was getting tired. "And what do you want me to do? I can't bring them back to life and I already offered to pay."

"You bastard! Lord Hideyoshi, I want this man to be punished for what he did!"

Hideyoshi stared at Motonari with an unreadable expression on his face. "Why did you not follow the orders Kanbei gave you?"

"I had planted spies on Chosobe's ships days before lord Kanbei told me what he wanted me to do. I simply couldn't cancel the plan out of the blue." What Motonari said was partially true. He had planned to blow up Chosokabe's ships and the part about the spies was true. The lie was that he could actually cancel the operation, but one of the reasons he is with Toyotomi is actually to ensure his safety. And in order to do that, he needs to make certain that Chosokabe will never be able to attack Aki.

"I see.", said Hideyoshi and then turned to Kanbei. "Kanbei, you are the one who gave him the order to retreat without doing anything. You are the one who should decide a punishment for him."

Motonari flinched at that. He feared Kanbei and he was certain the man would find a way to make the punishment painful. Kanbei stared at him, actually paying attention to him like he had just entered the room. "First of all, Mori Motonari isn't allowed to take part in the attack we are planning against Chosokabe now."

Motonari was expecting that and it was the least of his worries. He knew that Kanbei was planning a worse punishment. "As for the second part of your punishment… You allowed Saika Magoichi's men to die, without warning them about your plan. It would only be fair if you lost some sort of military support yourself."

Motonari couldn't care less if they told him about killing some of his men. But he knew that Kanbei wasn't talking about them. How did he find out…?

"You are developing a weapon that uses solar energy, aren't you?", asked Kanbei calmly. Motonari could only nod. No one was supposed to know about that, yet Kanbei somehow knew and the last thing Motonari needed was to try and find a spy amongst his men. There was no other way he would know about that weapon after all. Not even Aya knew about it. "This weapon will be destroyed completely along with the design you have for it. You will also surrender all your mechanics to us. Maybe, you will understand what it actually means to feel vulnerable to your enemies now."

Motonari bowed. He turned around to leave. He didn't want to be around Kanbei anymore. He felt like he couldn't breathe. His eyes fell on Yoshitsugu before he exited the tent. Yoshitsugu was smiling at him.

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Ranmaru was on one of the destroyed ships searching for anything useful. Crows were feasting from the dead bodies of his comrades. He was angry. Angry at himself for not realizing that there were probably spies among them. Angry at Motochika for not doing the same. Angry at Mori for being an asshole. And finally angry that he felt the exact same way as he did back in Honnoji, when the One-Eyed Dragon had spared him his life.

"Why does destruction follow me?", he wondered out loud.

Suddenly, he felt arms wrap around his torso. He didn't flinch, realizing to whom they belonged from the boldness of said person. Gracia giggled. "Got you Ran." Her voice, despite still having its playful edge, was a little melancholic. "Let's go back. Motochika is having a meeting with the Tachibana about our defense plans."

Ranmaru didn't turn to look at her. Once again, he had disappointed her. He had let people around her die. "I should have been among the dead ones.", he said.

Gracia gasped. "Ran, this isn't your fault-"

"I don't care!" He turned to glare at her. "This is no place for someone like you to be anyway! Let the real warrior take responsibility and go have fun with your magic lights!" He didn't care that he was being mean to her. He was really fed up with the turn of events. He approached her and saw the pain in her eyes. He grabbed the flower ornament he had hidden I his clothes and offered it back to her. "I don't want to be saved anymore. I should have died at Honnoji if I were a real samurai. Yet, despite everything, I am still alive and all the people that put their hopes in me aren't." He dropped the ornament when he saw that Gracia wasn't making any move to take it. He turned back and decided to search at the ship a little more. He ignored Gracia's cries in the process. "Next time, I will protect Motochika and everyone else with my life. Because I am a samurai too."

End of Chapter 3

A/N: It's finally finished! I am apologizing once again for taking so long, but I am still having exams and after that I will have to start my part time job. I will manage to update, but not as often as I used to. Anyway, I want to thank star eyes pendulum dragon for reviewing and for his support and I would love to see more reviews. The scene with Ranmaru in the end is inspired by his Samurai Warriorrs 3 cutscenes and the dialogue between Shingen, Kenshin and Ujiyasu that Shingen remembers at the beginning is from Sengoku Musou 3: Empires. That's all I've got to say, till next time!