Sengoku Basara meets Samurai Warriors: The rise of the Toyotomi

Chapter 10

A/N: Here comes Chapter 10!

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

Chapter 10: New Beginnings

Akechi Mitsuhide knew that it was inevitable. Hideyoshi would eventually turn his attention to Shibata Katsuie and given their past, he would definitely obliterate them. It wasn't planned by the Toyotomi leader, but some of Shibata's men had met with the small portion of the army that had accompanied Hideyoshi to the Maeda household and Hideyoshi's attention had returned to them.

Their army was very small and they weren't ready for battle and that's why Mitsuhide had proposed a retreat. Shibata Katsuie had been wise enough to follow his advice. That didn't mean that he was pleased. "So, what are we going to do now?", he asked.

Mitsuhide looked away. He remained silent for a while. In the end he gave his answer. "We could pretend to be monks and gather an army in secret."

Shibata didn't betray his real thoughts on this proposal. "Do you believe that we will be able to gather followers if we pose as monks?"

Mitsuhide smirked behind his mask. "That's why we have her.", he said pointing at a person sitting near a tree not very far from them.

Oichi was still lost in her own world, her body for some unknown reason not collapsing despite her neglect of her basic needs. "Many Oda supporters will follow us if we show htem their princess. And they will be pleased that an old Oda general is her husband."

Shibata stared at her. "Will they follow us or will they kill us? If they see her state they might attack us. Also, there is the problem you pose, Mitsuhide or should I call you Tenkai?"

Mitsuhide chuckled. "They won't recognize me and they won't pay attention to a monk with the name Tenkai. Besides, I've picked someone gullible enough to hide us. He is actually an ally of the Toyotomi."

"Hideaki Kabayekawa.", stated Katsuie

Mitsuhide smirked behind his mask. "He trusts me. I've made sure of it. Keeping in touch with some old allies, despite being risky, was also smart of me."

"Kabayekawa doesn't know your face.", said Katsuie.

"Even if he did, I know exactly how to make him do what I want. He is lady Nene's relative after all. This family doesn't have the smartest members if you ask me. Abd Kabayekawa is an even worse fool than his aunt."

Katsuie stared at him. For a few moments only Oichi's humming could be heard. Katsuie glanced at her as he spoke. "Let's go. I want to keep her out of harm's way."

Mitsuhide nodded. "Don't worry. I would never allow anything to happen to her.", he said. There was no way Katsuie could see his smirk.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Keiji was surprised with how things had turned. First of all, a letter from Ieyasu Tokugawa told them that Kai had fallen and Shingen had surrendered. That was why Hideyoshi decided that they should go there to show Keiji the way he ruled. Keiji had agreed, but on their way they had come across some of Shibata Katsuie's men. Hideyoshi's men easily took care of them, but it was then that Hideyoshi was reminded that Shibata was still an existing threat, even though a minimal one.

Thus the Toyotomi forces that had visited the Maeda castle were now heading to the village the Shibata clan ruled over. Keiji was reluctant about the whole thing, especially since he knew about Shibata Katsuie's strained relationships with the old Oda forces. Shibata Katsuie, after all, had a strained relationship with Oda Nobunaga himself.

Katuie was probably the only person alive that knew what had really happened with Oda Oichi. Her body had disappeared and there were rumors that the Shibata army had appeared delayed after Nobunaga's army. Katsuie being Oichi's new husband was the best candidate to have something to do with her disappearance.

Keiji was so lost in thought he didn't realize Nene had come next to him. "What's on your mind?", she asked with that gentle voice of hers.

Keiji barely contained his surprise at her sudden appearance. He smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry. It's just that I'm curious how Hideyoshi will handle Shibata Katsuie. The man used to be distant to everyone and wouldn't talk unless he was addressed in the Oda army meetings. He didn't really have anyone that he could call an ally in our army back then. I wonder whether Hideyoshi will just obliterate him."

Nene's expression didn't betray any feelings. She was getting better at being a ninja "It depends.", she said looking straight ahead. "How will Katsuie respond? That's the question that will determine the answer to yours. Hideysohi won't just attack for the hell of it. Unlike Nobunaga, my husband wants to unite the land. And he means that literally, Keiji. He isn't that megalomaniac to do what Nobunaga did."

Keiji stared at her surprised at how serious she sounded. He was used to her babbly personality. "I won't allow Hideyoshi to be consumed by greed.", said Nene looking down. "I don't want to see another Nobunaga being created. And I say that because Nobunaga was my friend. And I know that there was a time that you also considered him one. I hated how he changed…"

Keiji patted her shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sure that Hideyoshi is different. Especially since he has you by his side."

Nene beamed at him and he smiled back. Despite what he told her, he couldn't ease the worries in his own head about Hideyoshi's future. Hideyoshi had remained neutral with the Nobunaga situation and he hadn't answered Keiji's letters about where he actually stood. That was the reason he didn't know whether he could really trust his former friend. Hideyoshi expected people's loyalty but he hid very well his.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagetora realized he had started enjoying his new life, despite the threat on their door. He was learning a lot of things from both lady Aya and lord Kenshin despite being there for only a couple of days. They were actually focusing on him becoming a good leader when the time arrived, something that his real father was mainly doing with his older siblings.

Kenshin had seen his potential and since he had no children of his own, there was no real successor for the Uesugi after Kenshin's death. Many would argue that Kanetsugu or Kagekatsu were being prepared for that but with his new title as Kenshin's adoptive son, this responsibility was officially his.

Kanetsugu and especially Kagekatsu were distant and didn't seem to like him much, not that Kagetora could really blame them. He came in their army so suddenly and he got a new title and name that immediately made him more important than the two previous generals. What had made him feel safe when it came to those two had been Aya. She was really nice to him and she was treating him like a mother would. She reassured him that she would support him if the other two generals turned against him for any reason.

As for the Toyotomi at their doorstep, things were positive for the Uesugi, despite how strange it seemed. It was obvious that they weren't used to Echigo's weather conditions and they were not good at fighting in the cold. Thus only one small battle had occurred and it had ended with the Toyotomi forces' retreat.

Kagetora was in the courtyard, sparring with his new father. Kenshin was exceptionally good at fencing and it didn't take long for Kagetora to realize why he was called the War God. Ujiyasu would never spar with any of his children and he would rather observe them while they fought between themselves and make corrections to their stances and ways of fighting as an outsider. It was significantly different.

Kagetora was currently resting from a sparring match. He saw someone approaching him and he stiffened when he realized it was Kagekatsu. The larger man sat next to him and they both remained silent for a little while, before Kagekatsu decided to break the silence. "I'll be honest with you, I don't like how you just appeared out of nowhere and suddenly became an important member of the Uesugi. And not just because you took a spot from me. After all, that spot was meant more for Kanetsugu than me."

Kagetora swallowed. He felt afraid being alone with Kagekatsu. It was the most Kagekatsu had spoken to him since his arrival and he felt immediately threatened by his words. Kagekatsu closed his eyes. "We're at war. I have no time to spare for you. So prove to me that you are worthy of the Uesugi name and I will be more than happy to let you rule. If you fail, though… I promise you that I will personally fight you."

He stood up, towering over his much smaller frame and left him alone. Kagetora looked down. One thing he missed dearly was his siblings. His brothers were great teachers and Hayakawa was the only person he could really trust with his emotions. Kai was also one of his best friends.

He looked up at the sky. "I will make lord Kenshin proud to call me his son." And I will become twice the man my old family thought I would be, he thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kai was surprised to be called this early in the morning by lord Ujiyasu. It must have been something important to weak her up like that. Had it been a sudden attack, she would have already been told, but the servant didn't know the reason of the summoning. She yawned and opened the shoji doors and she saw lord Ujiyasu sitting in his usual place, while his children were sitting in theirs. Kai sat in her place and she felt a pang of sadness the moment she noticed the vacant spot that Saburo used to occupy. She noticed that Hayakawa was also looking at the empty spot with a pained expression. Their eyes met and they both turned their attention to Ujiyasu who was taking a drag from his pipe, seemingly unbothered by the fact that everyone he had called for was already there.

Ujiyasu exhaled and glanced at everyone in the room. "I've got some interesting news in the form of a letter."

Everyone stared at Ujiyasu with many thoughts running through their heads. "Is it about the Uesugi?", asked Ujimasa.

"Is it about the Toyotomi approaching us?", asked Ujiteru.

"Is it about Saburo?", asked Hayakawa and all of them stopped speculating. They all grew very serious.

Ujiyasu took another drag from his pipe. He had frozen momentarily the moment Saburo's name had been mentioned, but he had regained his composure easily. That led Kai to believe that Saburo wasn't actually the reason they had been summoned. Ujiyasu stared at her, to her surprise and then started talking. "No. The letter I received indirectly might have to do with all these things you mentioned. Date Masamune sent me a letter asking me for a temporary alliance."

Kai couldn't believe what she just heard. Shock and surprise were soon replaced by embarrassment. She had missed Masamune. A lot. There had been times they had met throughout the three years after the first war with Oda Nobunaga, but due to Ujiyasu's presence and insistence, she had to behave herself in order to be around him. Ujiyasu disliked the One-Eyed Dragon and it was obvious to Kai that the reason wasn't just the fact that they had shared kisses with each other. Ujiyasu wouldn't disclose to her what the actual reason was for disliking Masamune, but it was obviously something big for him to react like that.

Ujiyasu took another drag from his pipe as the information settled in the youngsters' heads. "He wants us to assist him with an attack to both the Uesugi and the Toyotomi.", explained Ujiyasu.

"He is planning on attacking them while they fight each other.", said Kai suddenly, getting everyone's attention. She sighed. It reminded her of how the two of them met for the first time, when he was trying to kill Imagawa Yoshimoto.

Ujiyasu exhaled. "Indeed. I have to admit, that ain't half a bad idea."

"What about Saburo?", asked Hayakawa suddenly. "He is a part of the Uesugi now. Won't we endanger him and our safety if we attack them?"

Ujiyasu smiled. "We will. And that is why we are only going to attack the Toyotomi and leave the Uesugi to Date."

Everyone gaped at Ujiyasu's words. Ujiyasu sighed. "Date is planning to attack with or without our assistance. If we do join him, we can claim we were only informed about the Toyotomi forces and thus attack them instead of the Uesugi."

"I don't know if Kenshin will buy this…", said Ujimasa.

Ujiyasu smirked. "He won't. But he won't have any proof either. I will make sure that the Date play their part correctly. Not that I believe they won't play along with what we want. Date Masamune knows that I've sent Saburo… no, Kagetora to the Uesugi. He mentioned it in the letter he sent me. He said that he will understand if we don't want to join him for that reason."

Kai nodded. She rose up. "Come on. We have to meet up with the Date at the right time! Let's get moving!"

She heard the usual jokes between the three Hojo brothers when it came to her relationship with the Date leader, but she paid no mind to them. She had to prepare for battle. She also was beyond excited despite not looking it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Masamune sighed in annoyance. He had sent a letter to the Hojo under Kojouro's guidance and he had asked as diplomatically as he could for their assistance. The thing was, they didn't have the luxury to wait for an answer so they had to attack with a huge risk not knowing whether help would ever arrive.

Masamune usually enjoyed gambles but this one didn't sit right with him. He didn't have the chance in the past to fight with Kenshin and he certainly hadn't faced the Toyotomi generals. He normally wouldn't care about something like that; he was the kind of person that would fight with every opponent that dared to oppose him. But Kojouro wasn't in his best shape for battle and that worried the one-eyed man. If help didn't arrive, he had no idea how would the battle evolve. In the end he could always retreat back to Oshu if things didn't go well, but that would be terrible for his pride as a samurai.

Kojouro glanced at him as they both headed to the spot they knew a battle would soon occur. They were going slowly because they didn't want to be spotted by Uesugi's ninja or by Toyotomi's if they had any with them. It would be ideal for them to attack after the battle would start. They headed to a higher spot so that they could see the soon to be battlefield. They did their best to hide their presence in the trees. No one of them dared to even speak. They were ready to play a waiting game. One that could actually become extremely dangerous if they were spotted. Masamune looked farter to the horizon, praying that the Hojo would join them. That Kai would come.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mitsunari stared at his most trusted general with a furious look in his eyes. Sakon Shima was showing off his skills with dice to Magoichi, Masanori and Kiyomasa. For Masanori and Kiyomasa he wasn't surprised in the least but when it came to Magoichi, he was certain that the woman wouldn't appreciate all this crap. Yet, here she was and she seemed interested in the movements of Sakon's hands. Now, Mitsunari wouldn't care about something as ridiculous as that, but he had commanded his army to prepare for battle like ten minutes ago. And apparently Sakon Shima thought that impressing a woman and the two idiots was more important.

"Sakon!", he yelled, unable to hide his rage. "Didn't I tell all of you to get ready?! What the hell are you doing?! And that last question is directed to all of you!"

Masanori and Kiyomasa frowned at him. Magoichi simply raised an eyebrow. Sakon seemed to be the only one terrified with his lord's outburst. Mitsunari growled at them. "Get to your positions! I won't tolerate anything else from you! We have a battle to fight and I won't allow you to spoil it because you think that having fun is more important!"

They all left to get to their assigned positions, rather slowly in Mitsunari's opinion. They weren't taking this situation seriously enough, much to his annoyance. He had overheard Kiyomasa telling Masanori that they would definitely win this battle and that Mitsunari was overreacting as usual. Mitsunari sighed once again and decided to search for the one person that took him seriously when it came to the difficulty of winning this battle. It wasn't Tachibana Ginchiyo this time. The woman, despite sharing most of his views was overconfident about their victory as well and no matter how confident he was about the Toyotomi's strength, he couldn't share her view after their last battle that ended with their retreat due to the snowy weather.

He entered the tent of the man he was looking for and was a little disappointed to find him with company. Takenaka Hanbei was covered by too many layers of clothing to fight the cold while Kuroda Kanbei seemed to wear too little compared to his fellow strategist. Hanbei smiled at him. "Mitsunari, how are the preparations for the attack going?"

Kanbei barely acknowledged him and he continued scribbling down something in a map they had open in one of their tables. Mitsunari didn't care about the ghostly man either, so he didn't really bother with Kanbei's behavior. "Everything is going a little too slowly. The men are certain for our victory to the point that they prefer goofing around instead of listening to my orders. It's like our retreat last time didn't teach them anything."

Hanbei chuckled. "They're young and naïve. Confidence is good indeed." He started coughing much to Mitsunari's worry. Even Kanbei stopped what he was doing to glance at Hanbei. Hanbei stopped and gave them a reassuring smile that fooled neither of them. "But being cautious is always better.", he finished in a raspy voice.

Mitsunari looked down. He didn't know the details about Hanbei's condition, but he knew that Hanbei could eventually die from this. He tried to push these thoughts back as he answered. "They won't listen to me. They don't take me seriously."

Hanbei offered him a soft smile. "They soon will learn that they should. This battle from what we predict is bound to take a turn for the unexpected and your soldiers will soon realize that if they don't listen to you, their lives will also be at risk."

Mitsunari flinched. "What do you mean "it will take a turn for the unexpected"?"

It was Kanbei that answered him. "I've sent spies all over the land. They contacted me and told me that the Date are making their moves against us."

Mitsunari felt his blood run cold. "Why didn't you tell me anything about this?!"

Hanbei's calm smile did little to reassure him. "We didn't say anything because they might make things easier for us instead of harder. There's a chance that the Hojo will join Date as well."

"I'm still waiting for the part where things are getting easier for us.", said Mitsunari annoyed.

"First of all, the Date will also attack the Uesugi, not just us. Second of all, the Hojo are the last on our list. They aren't much of a threat and maybe we will manage to defeat them once and for all.", answered Hanbei.

Mitsunari sighed. "Aren't you being a little too positive?"

Hanbei smiled wider. "Maybe."

Mitsunari looked at Kanbei. Kanbei didn't meet his eyes. "We have no choice. This is how things are. We wither fight and manage something or we all die. There is no in between if you think about it."

Mitsunari, despite disliking Kanbei in general, couldn't argue with him. "I'm going to start the attack.", he simply said and walked out of the tent.

End of Chapter 10

A/N: And I finally managed to finish this chapter! It was a really difficult chapter for me to write, because I didn't want to just have another battle in it. I really hope that I did a good job with the buildup for the next chapter. I don't know when the next chapter will be ready, but be prepared for another battle. Thanks to Star-Eyes Pendulum Dragon for always reviewing and I would love to see more reviews from other readers as well. Till next time!