Sengoku Basara meets Samurai Warriors: The rise of the Toyotomi
Chapter 4
A/N: Hello everyone! Once again I apologize for the delay, but I wanted to finish uploading all my works on Archive of our Own so that I could update at both sites at the same time. Anyway, let us proceed!
Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Warriors or Sengoku Basara, only this story.
Chapter 4: The Ogre vs The Monkey
Ujiyasu was sitting on a stool, smoking his pipe. The battle with the Uesugi the previous night had been quite the success. Not very far from where he was sitting, Kai was training with his sons. Most of his men were gathered around Kai and Ujimasa and they were cheering for both of them. Hayakawa was also watching them, though she seemed calm and her expression was neutral, not supporting either openly.
Kai easily won the match and smirked. Ujiyasu approached her. "Good job, Narita's son.", he mumbled.
As expected, Kai took the bait and immediately shouted "I'm his daughter!" . She approached Ujiyasu slowly with an annoyed expression. "I see you are as rude as ever, my lord." She then glanced at Ujimasa, who was being taken care of by his brothers and sister. "Well, I suppose it is officially true that there are no men stronger than me here." As she was looking behind her, she noticed Yukimura and Kunoichi talking with each other. " But, I… want…", she was losing her train of thought as she was looking at the two, memories of her time with Masamune Date flooding her mind. "Ah, nothing ever seems to go my way…", she mumbled annoyed.
She wasn't allowed to be around Masamune for long whenever they would meet and it had been almost a year since the last time she saw him. He was the only man that had visibly shown her that he was interested in her and she had been too excited with that. But Ujiyasu kept on saying that this man wasn't meant for her, yet he never explained to her exactly why. He would only say that the One-Eyed Dragon wasn't very famous for being a family person and when Kai would ask for an explanation, he would change the subject, much to her annoyance. That was the reason she had been distant to Masamune whenever they would meet, but she wanted to learn the whole story.
Ujiyasu took a drag from his pipe. "You still have some way to go.", he mumbled, realizing what was thinking about.
"Huh?", asked Kai confused.
Ujiyasu pointed towards her body. "You still have some growing up to do, before you start thinking about who you are going to marry."
Kai blushed and covered her chest, misinterpreting the meaning of his words. "What?!"
"Well, I'm sure you'll be a fine woman someday.", said Ujiyasu and turned around to leave.
"You…!", tried Kai, but Ujiyasu wasn't paying attention to her anymore. The Hojo siblings were snickering, except Hayakawa, who gave her a sympathetic look. Kai's eyes fell on Yukimura and Kunoichi once again. They were laughing about something. Kai vowed that someday, she and Masamune would be like those two. "I'll show him!"
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Oichi opened her eyes. She couldn't see anything but darkness. She could hear a voice calling her, but she couldn't understand who it was. It had been like this ever since she had been shot by her brother. She wasn't certain if she was alive anymore. Every time she opened her eyes she would only see darkness and she could hear whispers all around her. She couldn't understand what the whispers said, but she didn't think of them as threatening. Maybe she had grown used to them, but she felt safer with the whispers echoing around her. Sometimes, like today, she would hear a distant voice calling her name. She could never get an answer of who it was no matter how many times she asked. Another weird thing was that she didn't feel hungry or thirsty anymore, things that made her believe that she was dead even more.
"She's awake again…", she heard someone far away say. She could hear people around her at times, but she could never find where they actually were. She was certain she was missing parts of what those people said because there were many times she couldn't make any sense of what she heard. She hated this place. She wanted to finally open her eyes and see the light of the day. Was that the underworld? Was it hell? She didn't know. She didn't know anything about this strange dark place with the whispers. She started singing a song she knew from when she was still a little girl. It was from the times she was still playing with her brother, before he became a lord, before he became the Demon King. She felt that the song would help her through this hell. She wanted to leave.
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"Her state is the same.", said Shibata Katsuie looking at Oichi. She was sitting down with her eyes open, but unfocused. She was singing softly and she didn't seem to acknowledge anyone around her. She had been like that ever since he brought her to his castle. Sometimes dark shadowy hands would manifest around her. He knew that they were dangerous, so he always approached with caution.
"Well, I didn't expect anything to change overnight.", answered Akechi Mitsuhide or Tenkai as he was now called. He was hiding in Shibata's castle from whoever would want his head and knowing his behavior, Katsuie was certain that many men did. Tenkai was assisting Katsuie with Oichi's situation, not that they had made any progress, since the girl was still lost in her own world.
"She needs to snap out of it. She is been like this for 3 years without much of a change. She doesn't eat anything at all, to the point where I am starting to believe she is not even alive. Are you certain that she can be fixed?"
"I know that her brother was controlling this state. So if he could do it, so can her."
Katsuie wasn't that certain. Nobunaga was a terrifying man with amazing strength that made him qualify as the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven. Katsuie had lost to that man and after that he feared him. Oichi, though, had always been a fragile woman that would follow her brother's orders blindly. She wasn't like her brother. If Oichi wasn't supposed to be his future wife, he wouldn't even bother with her. No… that was a lie. He probably still try to bring her back, but not because he was a good man. Because she had been there for him when Nobunaga crushed his forces. She had supported him and she had given him hope. That's why he owed her. He had to save her.
"Try to feed her something. It is very bothersome that she doesn't have any human needs.", commanded Katsuie. He needed to go back to his strategy room. If Chosokabe lost that fight with the Toyotomi, he was probably the next target. And Hideyoshi, being an old ally of Nobunaga, had many more reasons to dislike him.
"I'll try. But I'm not making any promises.", replied Tenkai. As Katsuie was leaving, he was certain that he heard Tenkai mumble that Oichi was worse than his daughter when she was a baby.
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Kunoichi jumped on a tree branch on the closest tree to where Yukimura was practicing with his spears. She noticed that in the Hojo camp, which was pretty close to where she was, Kai and Ujiyasu were bickering once again. She giggled. "Not again." Then her glance fell towards Yukimura, who seemed oblivious to her presence. She admired his quick movements from her hiding spot, glad that she couldn't be seen staring. She jumped down after a while and shook a lower tree branch to make her presence known to him.
Yukimura turned and smiled at her. "On patrol?", he asked.
"Yes, sir! There's nothing to report yet."
"Good. Thank you." Kunoichi grinned at him. "This next battle will be grueling. Conserve your energy."
Kunoichi was staring at him with admiration, a little lost in her own thoughts. "Yes, my Lord.", she said finally.
Yukimura smiled at her once more and then turned to head back to the Hojo camp. Kunoichi looked at his retreating form and whispered to herself: "And you should conserve yours…" She then smiled once more. "So I'll make sure you can rest easy!" With that, she ran after him.
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Ranamru was tense. He knew it was reasonable, but he hated this feeling. The Toyotomi army was approaching them both by land and by sea. There was no way they could win in this battle, despite Motochika's ability in naval battles. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was leading the army on land. Despite his small frame, he looked huge on his horse and with the thought that he would win in Ranmaru's mind. A man next to him jumped down from his horse. He was dressed mainly in white and yellow and he looked really pale. Ranmaru remembered meeting that man, Takenaka Hanbei, when he was still in Nobunaga's army. He was known as one of the two great strategists of the Toyotomi. Hanbei cleared his throat as he stared at Motochika. "Lord Chosokabe! I am Takenaka Hanbei, a representative of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. As you can see, our forces are far superior to yours. We are giving you the chance to surrender and submit your army to Lord Hideyoshi. You have ten minutes to think about it. Choose wisely."
Ranmaru clenched his teeth in annoyance. He wanted to fight, but he knew it was pointless. He heard Gracia whisper to Koshosho that they should consider the proposition and he saw Koshosho actually nodding at her, even though reluctantly. Ginchiyo Tachibana was mumbling that they should fight and die trying, to which her husband, Muneshige, disagreed. Ranmaru looked at Motochika. He seemed to mind no business to the ruckus around him. He was searching for something in the crowd behind Hideyoshi. Suddenly he moved towards the Toyotomi army with a serious look in his eye. Everyone was holding their breath and Ranmaru could feel his heart ready to burst. Motochika stopped approaching the enemy army and looked at them once again. The enemy generals were glaring daggers at him. Suddenly, Toyotomi Hideyoshi broke the silence, without any representative this time. "What are you searching for or rather who, lord Chosokabe?"
Motochika stared at him with a bored expression. "Where is Mori?"
Ranmaru gasped. Motochika wanted to settle the score with Motonari. Koshosho gasped as well. "Motochika…", she whispered.
"I see.", said Hideyoshi chuckling. "You want to fight with him, don't you?"
"I do.", replied Motochika. "He ruined my ships and killed my men with his dirty tricks. He is the one I am interested about, not you. As for your offer, if I don't punish Mori right now, we have no deal."
People around Ranmaru were gasping in shock. Ginchiyo smirked, while Koshosho looked down. "I see.", said Hideyoshi, once again. "The thing is, my general punished Mori for his disobedience himself. And I think it was a fair punishment."
"I will be the judge to that.", said Motochika. "What did you do to him?"
"Kanbei, tell Chosokabe Motochika about Mori Motonari's punishment.", asked Hideyoshi.
Ranmaru saw another familiar face approaching, Kanbei Kuroda, another famous strategist. "We didn't permit him to take part in this battle and we forced him to stop developing his newest military weapons.", said Kanbei with a monotonous voice.
"Is that all?", asked Motochika.
"Yes.", replied Kanbei.
"Well. I am not satisfied." Many more gasps were heard.
"And what would satisfy you, lord Chosokabe?", asked Hideyoshi with a smirk on his lips.
"A fight against him. Just the two of us."
"The problem is, we don't have him here and I am not going to allow you to harm him. He is my precious ally, after all."
Motochika smirked. "In that case, you'll do.", everyone gasped once again. "Fight me and prove to me that you are indeed capable of conquering this land. But if you lose, you will leave Shikoku in my hands."
What happened next was so fast that Ranmaru barely registered it. A man clad in purple armor had charged with incredible speed towards Motochika, but Ginchiyo was fast enough to block the hit. "You dare insult lord Hideyoshi?! You will pay with your life!", shouted the man.
"I am pretty sure your lord can answer for himself.", replied Motochika calmly, despite the fact that this man had just attacked him.
Hideyoshi sighed. "Yes, I can. Mitsunari, I didn't give you the order to attack. Retreat immediately."
Mitsunari glared at Motochika but he sheathed his sword. Ginchiyo did the same and glared at him. "You are lucky that the God of Thunder was there to save you, Chosokabe." He then turned and walked back to the Toyotomi.
"I am pretty sure that lord Chosokabe would have deflected the hit himself.", said Ginchiyo loud enough, to make certain that she was heard by the enemy swordsman.
"Thank you, lady Ginchiyo.", said Motochika. "Anyway, I am still waiting for an answer in my request."
Hideyoshi smiled and got down from his horse. He was indeed much shorter than Motochika and Ranmaru thought that his nickname, Monkey, suited him perfectly. "I accept."
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Motochika raised his anchor and pointed it towards Hideyoshi. "Let us begin, you monkey!"
Mitsunari was furious with the way Motochika spoke to his lord. An arm on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. Ieyasu was looking at him with a serious expression on his face. "Don't fall for these stupid taunts. If lord Hideyoshi isn't falling for them, you shouldn't either."
Mitsunari tsked annoyed. Ieyasu was right. He shouldn't get in the way of his lord and he should learn to control his emotions. He stared to his right to see lady Nene's worried expression. He sighed. The last thing he needed was to worry lady Nene more with his behavior. "I'll allow the battle to take place.", he told Nene. "But if this bastard tries anything funny, I will have to interfere."
Nene nodded at him. "Have faith in lord Hideyoshi, Mitsunari."
"I do.", he replied. Of course he had faith in his lord. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have dared to say anything, knowing too well that his lord was more than capable. He just didn't trust the other man, who was more of a pirate than a samurai.
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Hideyoshi grabbed his staff and approached Motochika. "Let's see who will win; a monkey as you said, or an ogre."
Motochika smirked and charged at him with his anchor raised. "That's the spirit!" He tried to crush Hideyoshi with his anchor, but the man, despite his age, was extremely agile and avoided the hit with quick movements. Hideyoshi smirked and Motochika got an idea of what kind of warrior he was fighting against. This man had a small frame and from the way he moved to avoid the blows Motochika was trying to deliver, Motochika was certain that Hideyoshi had learned martial arts at a young age. What got on Motochika's nerves was that Hideyoshi wasn't charging at him at all. He was only avoiding his attacks.
Motochika's men were cheering. They hadn't realized that Hideyoshi was trying to exhaust Motochika and that he was actually successful. Only Ranmaru, Muneshige, Ginchiyo and Koshosho seemed to notice and their faces showed concern. "Motochika don't chase him! Try and regain your strength and find a blind spot!", shouted Koshosho.
Motochika stopped charging for a moment to catch his breath. "Are you going to continue to avoid fighting? I can go on for as long as it is needed for you to get tired."
Hideyoshi smiled at him. "I am sure you can. The thing is, I can do more than jump around. I just need to find the right moment."
Motochika smirked. "I'll admit that I underestimated you due to your age. But you really are a monkey."
"And you really are an ogre, relying on your brute strength and all."
Motochika charged again and Hideyoshi continued avoiding the blows with very quick movements. Motochika was having a hard time keeping up with him. It wasn't just the fact that Hideyoshi was avoiding him, but with how fast he was Motochika feared that the short man would find a blind spot. Suddenly Hideysohi's foot slipped and Motochika smirked as he thrust his anchor.
He should have realized that something was off from the fact that Hideyoshi's men weren't making any sound of concern about their lord. Hideyoshi managed to rotate his body so that he could plunge his staff to the sand, in between where his anchor made contact to, and he delivered a powerful kick in Motochika's face.
Motochika fell back feeling a little dizzy, but managed to stay on his feet. "Motochika!" It was Koshosho's scream that made him look back to what Hideyoshi was doing, and he barely managed to raise his anchor to deflect the blow from Hideyoshi's staff. Hideyoshi smirked and twirled his body easily, since he was already in the air, to bring himself behind Motochika. It was Motochika's time to turn on the defensive. Hideyoshi unleashed a barrage of attacks against him and Motochika could barely keep up with his speed.
Purple energy started engulfing Hideyoshi. "It's about time we finish this brawl, don't you think?" Hideyoshi jumped around Motochika and charged with all of his might to Motochika's blind spot. Motochika couldn't block the attacks and he got engulfed in Hideyoshi's energy wave. He fell back and his anchor fell quite far from him. Motochika felt pain in all of his body. He heard the gasps of his men and he knew that this was his end.
He saw Hideyoshi jumping at him with his staff raised high and the only thing he could was close his eye as he waited for the inevitable. Suddenly gasps were heard around him from both sides. He opened his eye and he was surprised as well. Ranmaru had jumped in and had blocked the hit.
Ranmaru fell back as well and Hideyoshi jumped back and stared at Ranmaru with an unreadable expression on his face. Koshosho came to Motochika's side quickly and helped him into a sitting position. Ranmaru tried to get up as well but Mitsunari Ishida stepped on him and put his sword close to his neck. "Make a move and I'll slit your throat."
"It's been a long time since I last saw you, Ranmaru Mori.", said Hideyoshi suddenly. "The last time I saw you we were both under lord Nobunaga's command. I had no idea that you had joined another army."
Ranmaru managed to raise his head enough to stare at lord Hideyoshi. Before he could say anything, Koshosho spoke. "We adopted Ranmaru and Akechi's daughter. We couldn't leave them behind. They were just kids."
Hideyoshi nodded at her. "I see. So, little Gracia is here as well?"
"I am here…", said a timid voice. Gracia was hiding behind Ginchiyo and Muneshige. She slowly approached Hideyoshi and bowed. "It's been a while, lord Hideyoshi."
"Indeed. What a pleasant surprise to see the two of you here-"
"Lord Hideyoshi." It was Kanbei that had interrupted him. "You've won the fight. There is no need for us to stay here longer than necessary. Decide whether you are going to do anything to them or not and let's go back."
"Ah, you are such a killjoy, Kanbei. But he is right. I've won. And I want this land I am standing on. You still have the option to die right here or surrender. Which is it gonna be?"
It was at this moment that Motochika realized his predicament completely. He stared at Ginchiyo and Muneshige. Both were ready to die if it was needed. He stared at his men; all of them would follow him anywhere. He stared at Ranmaru and how he struggled under Mitsunari. He stared at Koshoso and he saw the fear in her eyes. Finally he looked at Gracia and realized that the girl was also staring at everyone with a pained expression on her face.
Before he could say anything, Gracia spoke. "We surrender…" Everyone stared at her in surprise and disbelief. "I know that lord Motochika won't risk everyone's future by choosing his death. It's better to ensure that we will live than just choose the easy way out. That's what kind of man lord Motochika is. He is an honorable samurai just like you my lord."
"Gracia…", whispered Koshosho.
Motochika rose up. He approached Gracia slowly with pained steps. He raised his hand and Gracia closed her eyes, fearing that he might hit her. But Motochika simply patted her head. "She is right. That's the kind of man I am. So, we will surrender."
Hideyoshi smiled. "Great. You will keep your land when peace will finally be ensured, but you will answer to me. For now, you will be following me as I try to conquer the rest of the land."
"I will. And you better keep that promise of yours.", said Motochika.
"Get prepared to follow us. The land of Shikoku is officially Toyotomi grounds. The clans of Chosokabe, Otome, Tachibana and whatever has remained of Shimazu will be our new allies." Hideyoshi then turned to Mitsunari. "Leave that boy alone Mitsunari. We have to go."
Mitsunari reluctantly stepped away and glared at Ranamru one last time before leaving. Gracia ran to his side and helped him up. Ranmaru felt pathetic. But Gracia's relieved smile made him glad to be alive.
End of Chapter 4
A/N: And it's finally finished! I am terribly sorry for such a huge delay. I was working this past two months and on September I had my exams. Not only that, I had a small writer's block and I couldn't picture the fight between Hideyoshi and Motochika at all, so I always postponed writing this part. My computer also had a problem and couldn't connect to the internet, so I had zero motivation to write, knowing that even if I finished the chapter it would take me a while to post it. In the end though, I managed to picture the fight and I hope that I wrote it quite well. I will try to upload more often from now on. The conversations between Kai and Ujiyasu and Kunoichi and Yukimura are taken from the Samurai Warriors 3 game. Thanks again to Star-Eyes Pendulum Dragon for reviewing to my story and to answer the question for anyone else wondering, Kai's arm was injured in the previous story by a bullet. She can fight but she has some difficulty with heavier opponents. I would love to see more reviews, so don't be afraid and tell me what you guys think. Till next time!