May, the 11th year of Tensho.

  The fires of Shizugatake had died down. After Katsuie Shibata, the giant star of the old era, vanished like dew at Kitanosho, the very air of Japan shifted. No one questioned the supremacy of Hideyoshi Hashiba any longer. Yet, there remained one monster in the East, maintaining a sharp, silent vigil.

  Ieyasu Tokugawa.

  To celebrate Hideyoshi’s victory, Ieyasu dispatched an envoy carrying masterwork blades, gold, and silver. Officially, it was a congratulatory mission; in reality, it was a cunning ploy to buy time while feigning non-hostility. The man sent to Osaka as this envoy was Kazumasa Ishikawa, a senior vassal and a pillar of the Tokugawa house.

  Upon stepping onto the soil of Osaka, Kazumasa gasped.

  There, as if swallowing the former site of Ishiyama Hongan-ji temple, a colossal fortress was manifesting at a speed that defied human reason. Tens of thousands of commoners labored like ants, as massive stones were piled one after another. In the town below, mountains of rice and timber from across the nation gathered, swirling with an overflowing vitality.

  Exotic treasures brought by Sakai merchants from the southern lands lined the streets. It pulsed with "wealth and desire" to such a degree that it felt detached from the warring world—a dazzling splendor that stood in stark contrast to the stoic, rugged air of Mikawa, making his head spin.

  "So this is the scale of Mr. Hideyoshi’s capacity..."

  As Kazumasa muttered these words, a chilling voice reached him from behind.

  "No... This is the shape of my Lord’s 'obsession'."

  Kazumasa turned to see a man leaning on a staff, dragging one leg, yet possessing eyes of unfathomable depth. It was Kanbe’e Kuroda.

  His complexion was still pale, likely a lingering effect of his imprisonment in the dungeon, with veins rippling like snakes beneath his skin. However, his eyes were sharper than ever, burning with a heat that seemed to carve out the very soul of whoever he looked upon.

  "In every stone of these walls, in every single tile, dwells my Lord’s karma—his drive to surpass Lord Nobunaga... Don't you agree, Mr. Kazumasa?"

  Kazumasa felt a chill run down his spine. This was the tactician who had orchestrated the "The Chugoku Great Retreat" after the Honnō-ji Incident and severed the bonds of Katsuie Shibata from the inside.

  "Mr. Kanbe’e Kuroda... It is an honor to meet you for the first time."

  Kazumasa Ishikawa bowed deeply as the "face" of the Tokugawa. Kanbe’e returned the gesture in silence, but even his bow had the sharpness of a hawk measuring the vitals of its prey.

  "The gifts from Mr. Ieyasu have been duly received. However..."

  Kanbe’e stared into Kazumasa's eyes, closing the distance between them by a single step. The heavy thud of his staff synchronized with the beat of Kazumasa’s heart.

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  "To the master of the realm, tangible treasures are no different from stones by the wayside. What we truly seek is the 'heart' of Mr. Ieyasu. Mr. Kazumasa, when does Mr. Ieyasu intend to visit Osaka? My Lord is waiting, most eagerly, to reunite with his old friend."

  The voice was calm, but to Kazumasa, it sounded like a death sentence: Come, or be destroyed. Kanbe’e’s gaze seemed to see through the very core of his heart. Kanbe’e watched with almost palpable amusement as Kazumasa agonized between his "loyalty to the Oda house" and the "colossal reality" that was Hideyoshi.

  "Lord Ieyasu is a man who has faithfully upheld his alliance with the late Lord Nobunaga. He will require some time yet to settle the affairs within his own provinces."

  "Oh? 'Affairs,' you say..."

  A faint smirk played on the corner of Kanbe’e’s mouth. It was a smile mixed with clear disdain and deep pity.

  "Mr. Kazumasa. It is a true shame that a man of your wisdom is confined within such a small cage as Mikawa... The view from here in Osaka is entirely different from that of your homeland. The era where the fate of the realm was decided solely by the number of swords and spears is over. Soon, you too shall understand that meaning—perhaps painfully so."

  Kanbe’e struck his staff against the ground and slowly turned his back. Even his dragging footsteps felt like a calculated intimidation to Kazumasa. The shadow cast by Kanbe’e grew into a gargantuan monster, threatening to swallow him whole.

  That evening, Kazumasa could not sleep a wink. Kanbe’e’s words played on a loop in the back of his mind, beginning to circulate through his body like poison. Outside his window, the construction of Osaka Castle continued through the night, torches burning incessantly like an eternal city. It looked as if a giant beast had opened tens of thousands of fiery eyes, preparing to devour him.

  The "seed of despair" planted in Kazumasa’s heart took root in a single night, beginning to erode his loyalty from within. A future where the Tokugawa vassals he had watched over were scorched and erased by this overwhelming "light" of Osaka felt terrifyingly real.

  Weeks later, back at Hamamatsu Castle, Kazumasa prostrated himself before Ieyasu, his face pale as a ghost. Upon hearing the report, Ieyasu sank deep into his chair and, after a long silence, whispered:

  "Kanbe’e Kuroda ... So, it was that man after all."

  A terrifying hypothesis floated in Ieyasu's mind. If there were a mastermind behind the scenes of Honno-ji, pulling strings invisible even to Mitsuhide Akechi... it might be this tactician of singular appearance. The suspicion swelled with an unprecedented sense of reality.

  "Kazumasa. What did Kanbe’e’s eyes see?"

  "I do not know... But when he looked at me, I felt as though he were counting the very beats of my heart. He is no mere man of wisdom. He is the 'will of the era' itself, wearing human skin. My Lord, we may not be fighting a mere human. What that man envisions is far beyond the 'battlefields' we see—he looks toward the silence of decades yet to come."

  Kazumasa Ishikawa was a famously brave warrior, but his voice trembled, and his eyes held a fear he could not hide. Ieyasu realized the depth of Kanbe’e’s intent. He wasn't simply threatening them. He had driven a fatal wedge of "doubt" into Kazumasa’s soul.

  Ieyasu stared out the window toward the western sky. He knew that Nobukatsu, the second son of Nobunaga, was growing frustrated with Hideyoshi and making contact with Hamamatsu. If he championed Nobukatsu, he would have the legitimacy of the Oda house on his side. As a warrior, it was a moment where one must take the gamble. The ambition within Ieyasu began to spark.

  But Ieyasu’s intuition whispered: Was this not the very lure of the "next board" drawn by Kanbe’e and Hideyoshi to drag him out?

  "You are trying to drag me onto the stage, aren't you, Kanbe’e...?"

  Ieyasu clenched his fist tightly atop his knee.

  Kanbe’e was not merely preparing a "path of war" to destroy him. He was engineering the "Cage of the Public Order"—a system designed to drive Ieyasu into political self-destruction, no matter how many victories he might claim on the battlefield.

  The Monster of the East and the Monster of the West.

  As they became acutely aware of each other's existence, the distance between them narrowed. The unseen clash of their blades began to scatter sparks, poised to swallow the entirety of Japan.

  Produced and written by a Japanese author, rooted in authentic Japanese history. Translated with the assistance of Gemini (AI).